Since the changelings being abducted by the privateers were foths who had no known court affiliations, we were in a good position to figure things out. It seems like these privateers have some sort of inside info, being able to pick out Courtiers and avoid them. With us being so new, the hope was that they wouldn't realize we were the threat we were and try to capture us. Sylvan Roberts told us to meet with a relatively new escapee of the hedge, Ugly Archie at Glamour Shots, as he had information that would help us out.
Sylvan suggested we try not to draw too much attention to ourselves when talking with Ugly Archie, so Holden went into Glamour Shots in disguise and fetched him so we could talk in the alley. I wouldn't say Ugly Archie is necessarily ugly, though he did have orc-ish tusks protruding from his mouth and wicked looking bone spikes sticking out of his shoulders. More scary than ugly, I'd say. Anyways, he told us how he was at a club called the Tickle and Spank, having escaped the hedge only a week or two prior and not knowing about the courts. He was approached by this hot brunette or raven haired cutie in fishnet stockings and eff-me boots, and a ridiculously short vinyl mini-skirt. They hit it off, and either he was drugged or some sort of magic was done on him, because his memory gets hazy at that point.
She took him back to her apartment, though he doesn't remember where that is. They were heading to her bedroom, but when they got there, the place was full of thorns, and there were three others there- a frickin' huge guy, a short old black woman, and a molten lava man. He managed to fight them off and escape, and Sylvan found him and took him to the safety of the courts. So we figured we should check out this Tickle and Spank place to see what we could find.
We drew straws, and the group sent me in while they watched the exits. Twas an interesting club, not a full blown sex-club, but close. I sensed this blond cutie on the dance floor had a supernatural air about her, so I zeroed in on her. Tried dancing with her, but she gave me the cold shoulder. Actually, she fixed me with a threatening glance to leave her alone. I figured since she was disinterested, she wasn't one of the people we were looking for. (Good thing I left her alone, I heard Holden started putting the moves on her friend/girlfriend and blondie almost broke his nose) So I went to the bar, hoping the girl Ugly Archie mentioned would show up and try and trap me. After almost an hour of nothing happening, I decided to just randomly start hitting on brunette chicks. I was on fire that night, and managed to do well with this brunette cutie named Laura, and she was up for a little “fun”.
We made out in a dark corner for a while, and when it became clear things were gonna go further, I texted the others saying I would BRB and took the car and drove off to a secluded spot. Girl was a bit of a freak, but it was cool. Don't know what the others were doing. Just when it was getting good, of course Lana texted me saying she was with a lead and to follow her. I said it would take me a little bit of time to get back. Things being what they were, I “finished up” as best as I could and drove back, getting back just in time. Lana was in some dude's Range Rover with a cracked rear windshield. I followed them for a few minutes when he dumped her by the side of the road. Not sure what that was about, but thankfully Lana was okay. She was pretty pissed over the whole thing though, and it was a dick move on my part, but I figured the night was a wash and didn't think anything would happen that would put she or the others in danger. Guess I was wrong.
Using the license plate we got off the guy's car, Jake hacked into the DMV and found the guy's address, which we checked out. He had no hedge gateways, so I suspected this guy was just your run of the mill date rapist, but Jake's apparent actions at the club before I got back scared him off. That kinda made me mad that I had to blow off kinky Laura for nothing!
Lana's still pretty confident this guy is involved, but I'm still a little skeptical. Yeah, it had the same MO as the attempted kidnapping of Ugly Archie, but its not like those kidnappers were the first or only people to ever think of slipping drugs into an unsuspecting patron's drink to take advantage of them. If he was with them, why dump her on the side of the road? Even if the cops were coming, they'd show up at the club first. It could be a while before they even found him. And charge him with what? If he knew Lana was FOTH, then she would prolly have no identification or people to report her missing. Additionally, once he and his companions threw her in the hedge, there'd be no evidence of her existence, and thus what would the cops have to charge or even suspect him of?
Plus, if he did think we were on to him, that's another reason why it wouldn't make sense to drop her off on the side of the road. The fact that he dropped her off on the side of the road made it clear that he thought Lana was indeed drugged, otherwise he woulda done something to knock her out before throwing her out of the car if she was cognizant. Also, if he did think we were following him, it would make more sense for him to try to take Lana hostage rather than dumping her and hoping we'd check on her instead of following him. But you never know, maybe he was hoping we'd chose checking on her over following him. If he is suspicious that we are on to him, then he'd know we know what he looks like, as well as have his license plate. I guess the best bet is to check his house out a few more times in the week. If he is one of the baddies, he prolly won't be returning to his house and laying low. But if he is just a run of the mill date rapist, like I suspect, then he'll be continuing to live his life normally. Or we could check out his place of work and see if there are any clues that confirm or disconfirm him as one of the perpetrators there.
We showed up again that night, all of us going to the club this time. This time, I saw a girl fitting the description Ugly Archie gave us on the dance floor. Fishnets, ridiculously short skirt, a tight fitting baby-T saying “I'm not a whore, I'm a slut” that bared her mid-riff. Day-am, I could see how Archibald found it hard to resist. I made my way to her on the dance floor and she took notice of me. We started dancing, and she was full on grinding on me. After the song, she got me a shot of whiskey at the bar, while she did a shot of tequila. I noticed her slip something into my shot glass when she handed it to me though. So when we drank up, I slipped the liquid under my tongue and tried to surreptitiously spit it out while wiping my mouth on my sleeve.
She asked me back to her place, and said her roomie's bf left her all alone and was hoping it would be okay for her to join us. Like any red-blooded male would say no. Anyways, we drove to her place in her Uncle's Ford Ranger, the others following in the car. I was kinda hoping this wasn't the girl, and I'd be in for a night of hot threesome action, but it was not to be. We get to her apartment in Post Glen in Buckhead and she asks me to wait in the garage with the car. I figured she might be getting help, so I got out of the pick up and hung around the far side of it so the truck was in between me and the door in case anything went down.
The frickin' huge guy showed up about a minute later toting a shotgun. Crap, I hadn't expected that. So I stalled, hoping the guys would get here soon. They led me up to her apartment and were motioning me towards a doorway to the hedge. Death would be preferable to that hell, so I crossed my fingers and hoped the others were nearby and charged frickin huge guy. I took him down and tried to get a hold on him, maybe use him as a shield from the others, but he was too strong. But, he dropped the shotgun and I managed to get a hold of it. Unfortunately, he grabbed me and tried to squeeze me in a bear hug. Though he was crushing me, I guess he thought pinning my arms would leave me defenseless. But I still had my teeth, and tore a huge chunk out of his throat.
Lucky for me, the others were able to kick the door down and give me some help. Hottie and the old hag ran through the doorway to the hedge, while molten lave man started shooting at them. I think Holden managed to shoot lava boy dead, while the rest of us tried to bring the frickin huge guy down. Lana knifed him a couple of times, before jumping on his back and trying to pull him off me. I realized we prolly needed to take this guy alive, so instead of continuing to rip out his throat, I headbutted him a few times, and eventually between me, Lana, and Jake, we managed to knock frickin huge guy out.
We tied frickin huge guy up and threw him in the back of the pickup along with molten lava guy's body and drove off to take him the courts for interrogation. Or at least that's the plan. Lana's standing precariously at the door to the hedge, wanting to capture Nicki and the old black woman. Since that fight with frickin huge guy took a lot out of me, I'm more of a liability than a help right now, otherwise I'd go in with her. Actually, the Hedge is dangerous enough that we should all go in there, but the neighbors undoubtedly called the cops on the shots fired, and its important that we get the one living connection to the kidnappings we already have to the Courts before the police get here. Since I'm injured, I guess I'm the one stuck with having to drive off with frickin huge guy and the lava man's corpse.