3.10 The Call, Part Two

Quotes

Stefan: "Should we press on, or should we wait for backup?"
Chase: "What backup?"
Stefan: "Oh, right. We are the backup."

Rive: "Ok where do we need to go? And don't just say 'he's over there.'"

Rachel: "Stefan, I don't need you to keep me safe."
Stefan: "Don't take this the wrong way, but it's not just about you."
Rive [looking at Hera]: "No more confict!"

Stefan: "It seems recklessness is the order of the day."

Gabe [to ???, watching Chase and Phillip]: "It's ok. They only like
priests & virgins."

Stefan: "Knock, knock..."
thing in the box groans and growls
Stefan: "No no, you're supposed to say 'Who's there?'"

????: "That shaking sounded like a 'yes'. You think? Was that a 'yes'
shake or a 'no' shake?"

Rive: "Do you think he needs blood to be more coherent?"
Gabe: "Not it!"
Chase: "Not me. Again. I'm over that."

Rachel: "We were just in a big lab where they had lot of things to tie
people up. We could use some of that."
Stefan: "I like the way you think."

Chase: "Why does it always have to be caves...?"

Geoff: "I'm not so sure that's a good idea."
Chase: "Our last good idea happened in California."

Stefan: "If we actually came across St. Saul, we might have to..."
Chase: "...Run away?"

Deaver [reading prophecy]: "Is that a run-on? Am I missing some punctuation?"

Meg makes prophecy
Geoff [to Chase]: "I think she just called you a guy."

Gabe: "I'm not sure if it was the prophecies or the fish sticks that threw me."

After the giddy newly freed vampires leave the room, the scoobies continue to rifle through Gregor's quarters. Stefan triggers a secret door, and a rectangle of darkness opens up in the floor, leading down into tunnels even further below. One by one the group descends, and finds themselves in a dank room filled with cages and implements that are undoubtedly reserved for grisly experiments, and probably on humans. The only good news is that they don't seem to have been used in a long time. Rive and Stefan force open a door and find themselves facing a dark tunnel. The silence is broken by a tortured scream echoing out of the distance. The three uberhumans (Rive, Stefan, and Rona), take off quickly into the darkness. Unwilling to risk Rachel and the others, Stefan slams the door behind them, effectively trapping the others in Gregor's chambers.

Following the screams, the trio rounds a bend to find two prisoners, a man and a woman, in an iron-barred cage. The man is trying to calm her, but the woman continues her almost inhuman screeching. Both look emaciated, as though they've been here for some time. The man finally manages to calm her, and turns to the scoobies, begging them to release him and his companion. Despite the thinness, he is absolutely gorgeous, with blazing blue eyes. He introduces himself as Philip, and his companion as Hera. He tells them that vampires imprisoned them as part of a long running "experiment." During his soliloquy, Stefan's spidey sense goes off and he realizes that while the pair isn't entirely demonic, they aren't entirely human, either. He and Rive are reluctant to let them out of the cage due to their nature, but one look deep into Philip's baby blues and Rona is convinced it's a fabulous idea ...

* * *

Back up at the torture chamber, Gabe and Rachel magick the door open, which crashes into the wall with a loud crack. The rest of the intrepid heroes come barreling down the hallway until they too are face to face with Philip and Hera. Chase likes being face to face with Philip very much (much to Geoff's disgust), and agrees with Rona that they should let them out. Deaver, too, thinks they seem harmless, even as Philip is barely keeping a demented-looking Hera in check. A battle rages amongst the crew as to what to do. Sick of discussion, Chase picks the lock and lets them out. Closer questioning reveals that Hera has been infused with Fury blood, and even as the gang argues, she looks more and more nourished. She's thriving on the conflict.

Rive drags the starry-eyed Chase off down the hall to try to talk sense into her, and Stefan, on questioning Philip further, realizes that Incubi blood is the source of his unreasonable influence. Philip tells the group that the sword Rive is carrying never belonged to Gregor (as a prisoner he's very familiar with just about every weapon in Gregor's arsenal), so the vampire they killed can't be him. He hypothesizes that Gregor would have to still be alive, so that the current vamp-in-power could question him to maintain the facade. Stefan suddenly remembers a locked room that they passed in their haste to find the source of the anguished screams, which had faint scratching noises coming from within.

The entire group heads back to the door, and Chase once again jimmies the lock and lets them in. They come face to face with ... a really big crate.

Removing a single board from the top of the crate, the Scoobies find a pair of very swanky antique shoes, attached to the feet of an upside down vampire. He's completely incoherent. Gabe takes one for the team and slices open his palm, soaking a rag with blood so that the vampire can get enough strength back to answer their questions, but hopefully not enough back to bust open the crate and munch them all. It works, and the vamp in the box tells them in a raspy voice that he's the real Gregor. The crew pushes the crate all the way back to the torture room, where they lock it in a cage before Rachel mojos out all the nails holding the crate together. The boards collapse and reveal a disheveled vampire in renaissance-era clothing. With a little more nourishment, he starts talking.

Gregor tells them the same thing about St. Saul that everyone else has - he's a wacko that lives a hermit-like existence in a cave on the outskirts of town. He's a prophet, and a very accurate one.

Bannon, on the other hand, was once a "friend" of his. The kind of friend that ditched town when things got hairy and left Gregor there to get locked in a box for five hundred years. Bannon was sired by St. Saul -- an odd thing, since St. Saul never sired another vampire, before or since Bannon; he didn't believe is spreading the "disease" that is vampirism. But he saw something special in Charles, apparently. Charles was a carpenter, and built an impressive ark for a local passion play, in which his son was playing Noah. Something about the whole affair caught St. Saul's attention, and the rest is history. St. Saul exhibits other odd behaviors for a vampire -- he is immune to the usual crosses, holy water, and other religious wards against vampires. Bannon, being St. Saul's only "son", has a slightly lesser degree of resistance to the same things. His "children", in turn, are also somewhat immune, and on down the line.

When told of Bannon's system of organization in McKennit, Gregor sneers at the though of vampires voluntarily adhering to some kind of "contract" for hundreds of years. He tells them that there would have to be something big in it for the vampires individually to go along with such a thing willingly. Teamwork really isn't their thing.

When the gang can think of no more questions, Stefan deals a resigned Gregor a quick death. They suddenly realize that Hera and Philip have slipped out during the interrogation, and are nowhere to be found. Oops.

Back in the fresh air and moonlight, Rona announces her intention to tell Giles and the Watcher's Council everything they've learned about the cave system, the hive of vampires, and the disbanding of the vampire organization in Oxford. Rive volunteers to go with her. Before departing, Rona gives the group directions to St. Saul's cave, as promised, but they decide to go back to the B&B, sleep and tackle the vampire's cave with the aid of daylight.

The following day they set out for the English countryside. Rona's directions lead them unerringly to an unassuming gate in an ancient, crumbling wall. Beyond are stairs descending into the darkness. The group heads down, and finds themselves in a cave lined with unlit torches ... and decorated with crosses. The floor is littered with bones -- human remains. A sickly pool of liquid red covers part of the floor in front of an altar, where sits a chalice and a covered plate. As Chase reaches for the cover, a soft, musical voice calls out,

"I wouldn'a touch that if I were you."

A smiling young woman emerges from the shadows. She introduces herself as Sile (Sheila), and tells the scoobies that she was sent by one of her "sisters" in Ireland who foresaw their arrival. Rachel's eyes brighten with enthusiasm as she starts chattering in Gaelic at the girl. Sile is from St. Saul's hometown, and her coven keeps tabs on his whereabouts. She tells them that he is a wily one, and doesn't even heed the cross -- which causes some to say he's sent by God, and others to view him as an even bigger problem. She informs them that he's currently in Ireland, and that she has been sent to take them to him, if that is their wish. They confusedly agree to go, but first, they take a look around. The network of caves is small, and they quickly find the heart of St. Saul's quarters -- a study lined with books and littered with paper and parchment. It is a mess, as though it was abandoned hastily. A sleeping pallet lies in one corner, and hanging on one wall of the study is a tapestry similar to the one in the Watcher's Council's possession, but with a more complete prophecy. It reads:

"The deeds of the wicked bring Gomorra again. But two by two through waves of blood ride the children of St. Saul, bringing life eternal. And the ark shall be built, the children return, The Saint shall die at the hands of The Chosen, and faith will flow as water."

The phrase "The Chosen" is embroidered in a slightly different size and style than the surrounding text. Other prophecies are written on the jumbled array of parchment -- some are crossed off and recognizable, while others have yet to be fulfilled.

When they finish searching, Sile escorts them out of the cave and towards the ferry. They set off for the misty green coast of Ireland, home of the elusive and mysterious St. Saul ...

* * *

The island is as picturesque as they'd all imagined. Sile fills them in on the local goings on as she drives them to a tiny inland town. Their rooms have already been arranged, and the group takes off sightseeing, drinking, or whatever strikes their fancy. After a long lazy afternoon, they meet up and and settle in with a pint to wait for Meg, the seer who predicted their arrival and who is apparently integral in organizing some sort of event at the local pub that evening. The scoobies chat and watch as people run about setting up buffet tables and such in the yard. A cheerful woman comes up to them, and introduces herself as the famed Meg. She looks at Rachel for a moment, then speaks to her in Gaelic for a bit. Then one by one, she addresses each person in the group with a sweet smile and a small "prophecy". She tells the group

[Jen to insert stuff here -- sorry]

Just as she finishes her thoughts, a gust of wind brings a gentle rain seemingly from nowhere. Meg smiles again and tells them that she hopes a little rain won't stop them from dancing at the ceilidh this evening.

It definitely doesn't. Rachel drags Stefan around in circles, and even Gabe and Deaver take a turn on the floor (not necessarily with each other). Geoff offers Chase his arm, and she takes it with a knee-jerk teasing comment but a delighted smile. The rain keeps falling as the band plays on, the pub a bright spot of warmth in the deepening twilight.