Elizabeth started to slip away from the crowd, backing out slowly. She loved attention, but this was far too much of the wrong kind.

OOC: My charecter just asked abut you from Diego as you were withdrawing, Hank might be cursed with something and Rowan talked with the bartender and then proceeded to run to the scene of the shooting and that’s pretty much it.

At the sound of the witch’s voice, Hank spun around, at the same time trying to hide the bottle and his flushed face. As a result, a dense cloud of black powder rose around him, and he bent over, coughing and sneezing. Resting his hands on his knees and trying to catch his breath, he looked up at the witch, both ashamed and frightened. “What—what’s in that bottle?”

“What is it?” Diego asked.

OOC: Aaaall right, let’s get this baby rollin’!

Hank stopped dead in his tracks. Death? That was ridiculous. It took a full three seconds before he realized that in this place, it might not be as implausible.

“…Death?” he stammered. He dropped onto a chair, his hands shaking. “What do you mean, death? You can’t bottle death. Is it—” he leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees and began to retch violently. That little bottle of black powder couldn’t be poison, could it?

He regained his composure and looked at the witch with fear in his eyes. “Am I gonna die?”

Alyesha gave a barking laugh. “No, you will not die – but all that touches your skin will. The powder contains a curse; the touch of death.” Alyesha sighed and rubbed her head. “I thought it was safe in here, for this room is charmed such that no person of ill-intention can enter, and the bottle can only be found by one who is not seeking it. Apparently, that wasn’t enough.” She looked over at the man to see that he was trembling. What a mess he had made of things! “One moment,” she said, ducking quickly into the back of her shop where she lived. Alyesha quickly returned with two cups of tea and a pair of gloves. She tossed the leather gloves on the table near where Grover sat. “You’d better keep those on until I’ve figured out how to fix this.”

“I’ll let him know if I see him.” Diego nodded, then looked around for Tristan and Elizabeth.

Carefully Hank pulled on the gloves. The information hadn’t quite processed yet, it seemed. The cloves were made of a soft cloth, maybe some sort of soft leather. It didn’t feel like any kind of fabric he’d worn before.

Going home was out of the question. One touch from Sarah, and… No, he couldn’t have that. Christ, he’d really fucked things up!

“So,” he said after taking a sip of the tea. It was good and strong. “What do I do?”

Hank stood up, tipping over his cup. The smell of the tea mingled with that of his anxious sweat. “What, so I’m supposed to just be your guinea pig and stay here while you experiment on me?” He ran a gloved hand through his hair.

“I mean, I’ve got a wife, a pregnant wife, waiting for me at home, I can’t go home to her now! I can’t go to work—I’m a living biological weapon!” Hank turned and lashed violently at the air. “Fuck!”

He looked down at her. “There must be something you can do! You know magic, can’t you wave a wand or something? Fuck!”

“You fucking better think, it’s your goddam death powder!” Hanks hands were now ruffling through his hair without him realizing it, turning his previously neat haircut into a greying bird’s nest. He’d always thought of himself as quite, if not handsome, then at least presentable, but with his hair standing straight up and his face distorted into a mask of fear and anger, he looked nothing like the middle-aged man who had entered the shop earlier.

OOC: Yeah, nothing exciting here. Playing an angry man has surprisingly little nuance to it

((I’ll be posting.. but idk how often. I really hope I don’t have to leave.))

Severin felt a tug on his soul, like something hadn’t been done. It made no sense, he’d done everything— then he remembered the favor. He’d never come to collect. But had that really broken the boundry of life and death as Severin had? He followed the tug into a bar and materialized next to a Vampire who was drinking heavily and a younger looking girl. “…And who might you two be?”

Jaden was ordered to go search around the area about the crime scene. “But I’m just a–” but he was cut off, so he moved along. “Alright..” he noticed a woman walk into a bar area. But she looked almost familiar… and suspicious. His eyes started to shift again and he put on a pair of sunglasses, walking into the bar. He looked around but no one was in sight.. in the front. He started to head to the back room.

OOC: I’m not really sure how to jump back into this :/

((maybe a good idea. course, Jaden’s in yo place lol))

Smoke took the scroll, “Let’s discuss this elsewhere…” He said, rolling it up and handing it back, “You’ll have to come with me for a bit, as I can’t keep a solid form for long periods of time.”
He walked threw the bar and towards the door.

OOC: Posting simply to bump up the thread…

Elizabeth backed into Tristan and spun around to face him, “Where’s the ghost?” She asked, brushing a stray piece of hair from her face.