3.2 Toxic

Quotes

Gabe: "Looks like you're going to be free this afternoon".

PeanutGalleryDeaver: "And we've gone from the plot hammer to the plot hook."

Chase: "I don't waste my time calling boys twice."

Deaver: "I was just explaining the way things work."
Chase: "What, you mean the fact that all the monsters have Slay-dar?"

Rive: "You're going to go hunt vampires at a rave club? (pause) I can't believe I just said that."

Stefan: "I'm a half-demon, basically."
Deaver: "Stefan, we need to work on your tact."

Chase (to Rive re: Watcher's Council): "Think Mr. Miyagi."
Gabe: "My point being ... Karate Kid (points to Rive), meet Mr. Miyagi (points to Deaver).
Chase: "... I can't believe I just made the same pop culture reference as Gabe."

Peanut Gallery Gabe & Deaver (re: Stefan's outfit): "I'm ... too sexy for my shirt ... too sexy for my shirt ... so sexy it HURTS ..."

Deaver (re: glass club doors): "What do you want to bet we break those before the end of the night?"
Stefan: "I give us a 50/50 chance."

Gabe: "Here, Rive, have a pacifier! You'll fit right in."

Rive: "So ... we're looking for people who look like they're looking to pick someone up to take home, only not?"
[Ex-post-facto PeanutGalleryChase sez: Well ... yeah. Unless they really are trying to take you home. And some of those qualify as predatory. It's a pretty fine line, really.]

Stefan: "I'm picking up one non-human in the area."
Gabe: "There's only one of them? How lame is THAT?"

Rive: "Hell of a lot of good a stake does you when you're up against a life-sized pencil sharpener!"

Rive sits with a client, a sweet-looking young woman sporting a very vicious black eye. Their time is almost up, and Rive still hasn't managed to get her past making unworkable plans to control her boyfriend's abusive behavior. As the girl leaves, Rive checks her appointment schedule as she jots down a few notes. Elizabeth Grey is her next client, who still hasn't appeared. Glancing down at the morning paper, Rive spies a notice that an unidentified woman has been brought in to the McKennit morgue, and they are seeking any information about her. She's described as 5'3", blonde, blue-eyed, with a birthmark over her right eye. The last part has Rive looking back out at the waiting room - Elizabeth had a birthmark on her right temple. And she has ALWAYS been on time. The room is still empty.

* * *

Rive walks into the morgue and rings the bell. Emerging from the back is none other than Chase. Chase offers a casual, friendly greeting, which Rive awkwardly returns. She tells Chase she's there to help ID the girl, and Chase leads her back in to the examination room. A quick look is enough to identify Elizabeth. As the two women discuss what little Rive knows of the girl, Rive spies a corpse storage drawer slowly opening in the wall behind Chase. Out stumbles a newbie vamp in full game-face (and not much else). The girls quickly dispatch of the vampire, and the conversation turns to supernatural ickies. Chase reassures Rive that insane as it seems, they really do exist and are unfortunately common. She gently tells her that the fifth floor of the Liberal Arts library is a good place to do some reading on the subject - if they won't give you the key, just tell them you're doing research for Dr. Deaver. Rive is still a little thrown by the reality of all this, so Chase invites her to meet up later for coffee and sane conversation as soon as she is done with her shift at the morgue. Rive agrees to come back by.

Making her way to the fifth floor, Rive opens the ornate door to overhear the aforementioned Dr. Deaver on the phone - and swear she spied the legendary campus ghost in the stacks. Deaver finishes his call and turns back to his books, absorbed. She startles him with a greeting and re-introduces herself. After telling him about the morgue incident, the two finally start to really talk about the whole slayer thing.

When Rive doesn't show at the morgue after Chase's shift, Chase assumes she's at the library and ready to talk, so she calls the crew and they descend on the library one by one. Gabe is the last to arrive. Plugged in to his headphones, he continues to jam as he drops a stack of passes on the table, crowing at his success - he's scored them all VIP admission to the new dance club, Toxic, that is having its grand opening that evening. Stefan does a double-take as he sees the DJ being touted as the main attraction and one of the club founders on the passes - her name is Ame Fille, she's an old friend of his from the Paris underground.

There is some discussion of the McKennit vampire preference for the rave scene, and then the conversation turns back to Elizabeth Grey - Chase can't help noting that she died in precisely the same manner as the woman who was killed at a Toxic pre-opening party two weeks ago, down to the missing heart. The coincidence coupled with the potential for a lot of vamp activity (plus the free booze and a big party) bring the group to the decision that they'll hit the opening that evening. What clues there are indicate that this demon seems to be targeting young women who are new to town. Both of them started dating someone very quickly after hitting the ground. Very little is known about Liz, but the girl who was killed at Toxic was a first year med student named Jillian Stewart. She was actually seeing a local boy named Brent Smitts - one of the founders of Toxic.

The gang shows up to the party, dressed to the nines. They get behind the velvet ropes of the VIP line and find themselves in a warehouse decorated with a modern urban flair. It is swank, full of beautiful people, and HOPPING. Chase gives a little wince thinking of Shannon and Lone Star.

Simone comes over and makes a few snarky comments before announcing that she's giving them all free drinks as a thank you for saving her life. Chase is snarky right back, and Simone turns on her heel and heads back to Geoff. About then, Ame Fille comes out to thunderous applause and starts spinning. The crew parts ways quickly thereafter: Chase schmoozes her way into the VIP lounge to info gather (that's her excuse, anyway), Gabe wanders off to some of his old DoH buddies (including Jade) to have their own kind of magical fun, and Stefan and Rachel hit the dance floor. Rive and Deaver, a little out of place, find their own corner and stand in it.

Rachel and Stefan dance their way over to where Brent Smitts is overseeing the party. Once he gets close enough, Stefan realizes the guy isn't human. They try to spread the word to the gang with little success (Chase sucks Rachel into the VIP lounge and Gabe isn't interested in only one baddie), but Stefan does manage to catch the attention of Rive and Deaver. The three of them head over to Brent and start chatting him up, thanks to an awkwardly contrived into by Stefan. Brent takes a special interest in Rive, offering her a behind-the-scenes tour of the club. She agrees ... and invites Stefan along, much to Brent's chagrin.

As the trio approaches the offices, Stefan hangs back, hoping that if Brent gets Rive alone for a minute he'll reveal himself. Rive follows Brent into the office, where sure enough, he apologizes in advance and starts to change shape, turning into something that looks vaguely like a cross between a windego and a werewolf (one can't help but remember the "King of the Werewolves" stage set from the Haunted Trail). He goes on the attack, lashing out at Rive with knives for claws, and she screams like hell while completely kicking his butt.

Stefan hears the screaming and comes running. By this time the scoobies have figured out that Rive is off with the killer and are reassembling. By the time reinforcements arrive, Rive has Brent battered and pinned to the wall with a chair, leaving Stefan little to do but finish the job.

Brent's body changes back to human form where he lies on the floor. The gang quickly decides that they should vacate the premises. They reconvene at Lone Star for an evening of camaraderie.