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Jalen is undercover as a homeless person, acting as bait while the others are on
stakeout hoping to discover who or what is behind the recent disappearances of street people. In an
alley Jalen is attacked by a creature that he eventually realizes is a vampire. The vampire is
emaciated, appearing to have not fed for weeks, and has reverted to an almost animalistic state.
The creature fights out of hunger and desperation and Jalen is eventually forced to kill it.
With no luck on the stakeout, Jalen decides to hit the demon bar circuit looking
for information. The demons remember him from his many visits with Patrick and are not eager for
a fight. Despite the demons' cooperation Jalen learns little more than what Dana and Lauren
had learned on their attempt, namely that no one has seen any vampires around for a few weeks.
Jalen thanks the demons and buys a round before he leaves, causing the demonic patrons to comment
that he is "a lot nicer than his boyfriend".
With the demon community little help Ethan decides to head to Wolfram & Hart
to see if he can get anything useful from Alexandra. As he arrives he sees a pair of black SUVs
(W & H security teams) leaving the building in a hurry. He calls the others and Lauren uses
her clairvoyant abilities to see what the security teams are doing. She gets a vision of the near
future and sees the security teams being decimated by a single individual. Determining the location
of the battle from Lauren's vision, Jalen, Dana and Lauren head to the scene. Meanwhile Ethan heads
into the Wolfram & Hart building. As usual he is allowed in and heads to Alexandra's office.
Curiously she has a new secretary, one who appears human (the previous one had been a vampire).
Jalen, Dana, and Lauren arrive at the scene of the fight, an expensive estate in
the Hollywood Hills. They enter the estate manor only to find the fight already well under way.
The bodies of several Wolfram & Hart security troops lie in the foyer and on the main stairwell
and the trio hear sporadic gunfire from upstairs. Proceeding upstairs the trio enter a meeting room
just as a man in a trench coat finishes killing the last of the security troops with his bare hands.
They confront the man, but both they and he are unsure of what to do next. In the end the man
introduces himself as Alexander before revealing that he is a vampire. Alexander then proclaims that
they will witness the power of the Blood God before leaping through a window, falling three stories to
land on his feet, and running away - in full daylight. Jalen runs to pursue, stopping only
to take a security pass from one of the deceased Wolfram & Hart soldiers. He hops into his car
and heads off to try and locate Alexander.
Left alone in the house Dana and Lauren try and locate the owner. They
find no trace of him, but they do uncover evidence that the owner was a vampire. In the basement
the two find an open sewer access, with evidence that something large was taken down it.
The two call Ethan before heading in. Back at Alexandra's office, Ethan has had no luck getting any useful information out
of her. After receiving Dana's call he tells Alexandra that the security team the firm sent is dead
and then leaves to join up with the girls.
Dana and Lauren follow the sewer tunnels and eventually see where the large object was
taken up out of the sewer. They come up into a park, near a dirt road. Indentations in the ground seem
to indicate that the large object was about the size and shape of a coffin. A passing jogger sees the
girls' puzzled looks and tells them they just missed the service. The girls inquire more and learn that
the jogger saw a hearse leave the park about ten minutes earlier. They rendezvous with Ethan and Jalen
(who found no trace of Alexander) and return to the house. The group does some research into the estate
and discover its owner is a wealthy but reclusive businessman. Coupled with what they found at the manor
they confirm that he likely was a vampire, probably a few centuries old and definitely powerful and
influential enough to be a client of Wolfram & Hart. The question now is why would one group of
vampires kidnap another vampire.
That night. In the forests north of Los Angeles, a strange ceremony is taking place. A group
of robed figures are escorting dozens of men, bound and hooded. As the robed figures chant "Hail to
the Blood God" two women approach. The women are the Dusk Lord Keri Prescott and the ancient being
called Sekhmet. Sekhmet orders the ceremony to begin and the hoods are taken off the bound men, revealing
them to all be vampires, including the one kidnapped earlier that day. The bound vampires are forced into
inside a large wooden structure, a Celtic Wicker Man. As Keri recites an ancient Celtic spell from a tome
she carries the robed figures, also vampires, use torches to set the Wicker Man ablaze with the captive
vampires inside. The captives die screaming and when the flames finally end Sekhmet turns to her followers
and tells that Sylvanus has been appeased and that the first curse has been lifted. She then takes
a piece of wood and stakes one of her followers. The staked vampire is shocked, but then realizes that the
stake through his heart had no effect. Thanks to the ceremony Sekhmet's followers are no longer affected by
wooden stakes.
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