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Patrick is near Santa Monica investigating one Emma's visions when he sees his ex-wife.
When he follows her into an alley Patrick realizes it is not her when she shape-shifts into a large creature
which proceeds to throw him around the alley. Attempting to flee the creature, an injured Patrick stumbles from the
alley into the path of an oncoming taxi. Worried when they get no word from Patrick, the rest of the group
get the details of the vision and Jalen goes to investigate. He finds Patrick's car near the scene of the
attack, and learn's from a police officer that someone had been attacked by an unknown assailant in the alley
then hit by a cab when they atempted to flee their attacker. Jalen heads to
the hospital and confirms that the victim is Patrick. The doctors are amazed Patrick is alive at all, not
knowing about his supernatural healing ability. Still, the injuries are grave and Jalen knows Patrick will not
be able to tell them anything for at least a day or two.
According to Emma's vision a teenage girl was going to be attacked. Since there was no
indication that anyone besides Patrick had been attacked, the group decides to try and find the girl. Since
the girl in the vision looked like she lived on the street, a quick visit to the East Hills Teen Shelter gets
the group a name, Samantha, and where to look for her. They head for Santa Monica and split up to search for
the girl, with Ethan being to first to find her begging for money with a friend near a laundromat. Ethan buys
Samantha and her friend lunch in exchange for information. She tells him she was near the scene of the attack
last night, and that she thought she saw her older brother there, except that he is still living in Iowa as
far as she knows. She lost sight of her brother and then heard the sounds of a big fight so she ran away. Ethan
gives her some money and tells her to check out the teen shelter.
With that lead exhausted, Dana begins searching the Internet for other clues. It seems there
has been a rash of brutal murders in the Santa Monica area lately. Several people had been killed, some found
in alleys, others killed in their homes. In each case there was no sign of a struggle or forced entry, implying
that in each case the victim knew the attacker. Police are reluctant to attribute the murders to a single
killer, as the only thing in common is the brutal manner of the deaths themselves and the police do not want
the public panicking that there is a serial killer on the loose. In each case, the victims had been torn
apart, as if by a vicious animal, and in some cases body parts were missing. Given Samantha's story of having
seen her brother at the scene, and the apparent familiarity the other victims had with the killer, Dana starts
looking for a demon that can change shape and that feeds on flesh. After some research Dana finds
the most likely candidate, a Hindu demon called a Rakshasa. Rakshasa's are known to take the form of a trusted
friend or loved one in order to lure in their victims and have a taste for human flesh. In addition to their
shape shifting powers, Rakshasas are also apparently very strong and almost impossible to kill. The only known
weakness of a Rakshasa is to be shot through the heart with a crossbow bolt that has been thrice-blessed by
the Hindu god Brahma.
Dana, Jalen and Ethan head for a Hindu temple hoping to get a priest of Brahma to bless some
of their crossbow bolts so they can have some ammunition to use against the demon. Their request is refused
as the temple staff think it is ridiculous. They do learn, however, that they are not the first people to
make this request at the temple in recent days. A "crazy old man" had also been asking for a
priest to bless some arrows. Asking for more information, the group finds out that the man apparently works
at or owns a new Indian take-out restaurant in Santa Monica. They head for the restaurant and talk to the
man, who aside from his Hawaiian shirt looks like he should be charming snakes or lying on beds of nails in a
New Delhi marketplace. The old man says he has been hunting the Rakshasa for a while and that he went to the
temple because he was almost out of ammunition. He has three blessed crossbow bolts left which he gives to
the group for them to use. The old man goes on to give more information on the demon, saying that the
Rakshasa has likely adopted a human guise to hide its true nature. Since Rakshasas are hedonists by nature,
even in its human guise it likely partakes of all manner of indulgences.
In Los Angeles the best place to find a hedonist is at private parties, so the group realizes
that to find their demon they need to get access to some of these parties. Jalen suggests talking to Lorne,
whose Tinsel town connections are the best route to go. Lorne wrangles up some invitations to various parties
for Jalen, who already has some connections to the entertainment industry. With Emma's help, Dana undergoes
a Cinderella-like transformation into a suitable "date" for Jalen and the two begin hitting the
party circuit in Santa Monica. One of their first stops is a private bash being held in an expensive hotel.
Ethan manages to get into the party as well by charming his way into being
the arm candy for a B-list celebrity. Once inside the party the three begin to mingle, and Jalen is a little
surprised by the number of people who seem to know his name. Thanks a little to Ethan's supernatural senses
the group hones in on a potential target, a man named Bryan Alder. They observer Alder in the company of
several beautiful women, drinking and eating and reciting poetry. Ethan tries to provoke Alder into attacking
him but it doesn't work. Instead Jalen and Dana manage to lure Alder away from the party with an invitation
to another party.
The two escort Alder down to the hotel's underground parking garage while Ethan follows a little
ways behind. After verifying that there is no one else around, Jalen pulls out one of the blessed crossbow bolts
and stabs Alder through the heart with it from behind. Alder whirls around, striking Jalen with such force that
the blow sends him flying across the garage and through the windshield of a car. Alder then collapses,
seemingly unable to comprehend how he could have been mortally wounded, mumbling that it shouldn't have been
possible. A strange white light begins to shine out from Alder's wounds and while Jalen and Dana notice only
that the area is getting colder, Ethan notices much more. While the others simply feel the cold, Ethan sees
where the cold is coming from, a swirling mist that has formed a portal. From out of the portal steps (floats?)
a pale-faced woman dressed in a white dress, her lower half perpetually obscured by a cloud of mist. Dana and Jalen watch as Alder's
body lifts from the ground, but again only Ethan can see that it is the strange Woman in White who is responsible. The
woman then realizes that Ethan can see her and she looks towards him. Puzzled, she asks why he is not with her,
which Ethan takes to mean 'why isn't he among the dead?'. When he tries to touch the woman Ethan's hand and arm
are hit with intense cold and he instinctively draws away from the her. A few seconds later the woman, Alder's
body, and the portal have all vanished leaving the group to puzzle what they just witnessed.
In a dark booth at a private club elsewhere in Los Angeles a white-haired bearded man is finishing
the latest of a large number of drinks. Two tall, thin men in dark suits and sunglasses enter the club looking for
a "Mr. Alfred Woodman" and the bouncer directs them to the booth. The two men, Hughley and Muntz,
respectfully address the bearded man and tell him that Alder is dead. This seems to sober up Mr. Woodman, who asks
for details. When Hughley and Muntz are done with their report Woodman comments that "It has begun" and
issues three orders: Find out who did the deed, Find out where "He" is, and Contact
Donner.
Back in the parking garage, after Dana, Jalen and Ethan have left, the old man from the Indian
restaurant steps out of the shadows. He starts laughing and as he does so his body changes shape, transforming from
the old man into Mr. Locke. The seemingly overjoyed Locke comments on how easy the whole thing was, and fades back into
the shadows from which he appeared.
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