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Life’s Not A Party and the Kinfolk Dilemma… (Game 24)

After we did our moot, we decided to wait until Jonathon could burn off the excess spiritual energy like Bjorn did. It was a long two days, but Cliff finally came and told us he was awake on July 4th. Jonathon sat up, but didn’t remember anything of our journey save for his brief time in 31 B.C. where the Drowned King first appeared.

After mentioning this, Jonathon looked for and talked to Tick, but obviously, we couldn’t see her. We spent the next couple hours explaining what had happened with the Sept since our disappearance. We then told him about the kinfolk we were getting ready to bring, something I was excited about.

After this, Eli decided after several near misses of trouble to define the rules for the pack. We were to follow orders obviously, we needed permission to speak when in from of others, but could use our link through Q in order to relay information to him. Any rewards like fetishes were to be awarded by him alone. I was appointed acting Beta in case something happened to him, a position I was willing to do all I could to make things run smoothly.

Eli then suggested Jonathon get to know the new Sept members. Jonathon talked about new knowledge from the ancestors, which wasn’t surprising since I now had new fetishes and gifts from our journey. As he spoke of this, Gina entered and suggested going to Kelly’s party like we did years ago. All of the other kinfolk besides Cliff were interested.

I didn’t feel like it was such a good idea. I was more worried about the Kinfolk. None of them had contacted us about how things were going and I could not get a hold of the kinfolk who were watching Ryan. As we were debating on going to the party, Gruffy entered the room and told Jonathon he was here to do his tribal artwork.

Jonathon was apprehensive at first, but decided on a Celtic cross with the symbols for spirit, umbra, and his Garou name on his chest. As Gruffy did the tattoo, he went over the rules for challenges so we could be clear on what would happen in the future. He obviously felt that some of us are going to challenge for the positions in the Sept. I considered it, but at the moment I had more pressing matters to take care of.

After details on challenges, we were briefed on punishments. Most punishments were to be handled at the pack level as they could grow much more severe if they escalated to Sept level punishments. Our actions reflected on the Sept as well as our pack and bad deeds could taint our reputation with other Septs. However, we were allowed to determine the equivalent punishment. The Philodox was supposed to administer it, but I could think of some devious punishments to suggest.

As Gruffy finished the tattoo, we finally agreed to go to the party. As we left the lodge, Q appeared to us and reminded of our ban and how things with the totem are reciprocal. It was more of a nudge like the lesson we learned early on with the kinfolk to treat them better. We had been quite demanding of Q lately so I resolved to be more polite and open with him.

Gina and Lindsey picked us up at 7 pm. She was still driving the SUV as before, but the car clearly wasn’t running well. The smell of burning oil was nauseating to say the least. Inside her car were other items that equally smelled foul to me. We had been in the distant, clean past for so long I wasn’t used to the smells of the world I was born in. As we headed to the party, Gina stopped by McDonalds and bought us hamburgers like before. The completely processed nature of it was repulsive compared to freshly killed meat or anything cooked normally. Still, I tried my best to choke it down and appear polite, but I could see the other packmates felt the same.

Arriving at the party like before, the smells were more tolerable. The smell of the ocean and cooked hot dogs was more inviting. We went up to the entrance where Larry Ward greeted us as before. He didn’t remember us, but I wasn’t surprised. He went over the rules again and we went down to the party.

As we made our way to the bar, we came across Jason Cripe. He was scruffy looking compared to before and smelled strongly of alcohol. He remembered us, but didn’t seem to notice me. I gathered he was too drunk to care. We didn’t say anything more and he left. Gina was glad we didn’t mention  his volleyball days as three of his teammates were killed in a car accident. Afterwards, he quit the team and began to drink heavily. I felt bad for him.

We made our way to the bar and Gina suddenly had a guy put his arms around her. It was Brice. Bjorn obviously didn’t like this and the feeling was mutual with Brice as he seen Bjorn had returned. Gina tried to defuse the situation, but it didn’t look to be working as Bjorn might snap at any second. I wanted to do something, but I didn’t know what. Jonathon tried to spill a drink on him, but didn’t do it very convincingly. Eli finally offered to get Brice a drink, but he wasn’t having any of it and left.

After this transpired, John had his rear grabbed by Regina. She wanted to have sex with him again and John was more than willing to oblige her as they head to the beachhouse.

[John’s POV…]

John has sex with Regina as before, but finds himself struggling to contain his Rage. As he is having sex with her, he notices the ring on her finger. She mentions she is married and needed a man who would take care of her. It grates on John a little, as they stop having sex. She asks him if he cares and the conversation goes back and forth until he convinces her he does care. She takes control in the sex for the first time as they resume.

[Returning to the rest of the group…]

Gina and Bjorn left so he could calm down, which I completely understand.

As we get drinks and settle into the party, Tina Carter comes up and speaks with us. She tells us about how things have been and well she gets along with her “cousin.” Afterwards, Kelly Ward comes up to us and happily tells us she is going to New York soon to become a star. She is excited to see Jonathon telling him how she grew out of Captain Amazing, but still keeps all the toys and offers to show Jonathon them. She bends over to entice Jonathon and the subtlety isn’t lost on him. They head to her house and he bumps into a disheveled business man.

The man goes to Larry and says something and begins looking around the party. William tries to politely help the man find what he is searching for but he curses William out. William tries one more time, but is rebuffed again. Finally, Eli tells him to drop it in order to avoid a scene.

As we are trying to mingle at the party, Lindsey’s cell phone rings. Cliff tells her some of the kinfolk are arriving. Lindsey relays the information to Eli and says it’s time to go, which I’m relieved to hear. Jonathon is having sex along with John and they are forced to stop and return to us as the unknown man gives up his search and leaves.

Returning to the lodge, there was a phone call from Miguel’s uncle to call him back. Two phone calls have also come from the police. John’s family died in a car crash on the way to the Sept. Another call came from California about William’s mother. He calls his father finally who wants to know where he has been. William lies and says he went to Europe to live without his money for a time. His father tells him something has happened to his mother and to come home.

William began to plan to go to his father’s and determine what was up with his mother while Miguel got a hold of his uncle. The conversation was fairly lopsided as his uncle showed no interest in coming to the Sept. He did say that he would get a message to Miguel’s mother to call him.

We then went to the main area of the lodge to meet Bjorn’s kinfolk. His sister was Lizbeth, but preferred to be called Lizzie. His older brother was Magnus. He was a large man, but very gentle. I thought he looked pretty cute and was my age so I made a mental note to spend some time with him at the next moot.

After consulting with Eli, we all decided to go to William’s father and find out what was going on. The trip there only took a few hours. Arriving outside of his father’s estate, we stayed somewhat back from it while he conversed with his dad.

William’s father told him his mother committed suicide in her car a couple of nights ago. The revelation made absolutely no sense as he had just talked to her a few days ago and she was happy to hear from him. William’s father wanted him to stay for the funeral and work on family affairs so we agreed to do so. We stayed a short distance away and hunted as we could for the next three days.

The funeral went on and William was visibly upset by it, the first time I had ever seen that kind of emotion out of him. William had also found out that his real kinfolk father took the blame for William’s First Change and was in prison. During that time, he tried to escape and was found just outside the fence with what appeared to be animal wounds.

We returned to the Sept, more disturbed than ever. The odd coincidences were jarring and I began to fear for my son. Eli suggested we look for bugs, both physical and mystical, but we didn’t find any. With the other kinfolk taken care of or dead, only mine remained. At the suggestion of Jonathon, I made questing stones for both my father and my son. I could only hope we found them alive.