The Don’s View from “Trouble in Paradise”

Notes by Logan; Illustration by Game Master Virtuoso

Location: Armandasanti Family Grave Site

Time: Just past 1 a.m.

Date: Sometime in the Future

“So, Henry left, right? Yeah, we didn’t hear nothin’ about that at the time the other two an I had a little chat and went to go on a hunt for some creep breakin’ the rules. I had to talk with ‘em before they go too far in to their night. I couldn’t have what happened last night to become somethin’ of a reoccurance in our new workin’ relationship. Luckily for all parties involved, it didn’t happen to go that way. They were made aware of my lines in the sand and we all went about our merry way.”

As he spoke so, Vito puffed the cigar again. Waving his hands about in a carefree manner and ensuring that his posture seemed relaxed and put together enough. Things were heating up and his audience, ghost or not, was important to him.

“So, I had this folder with some photos and information on it and the like, right? Awesome. Turns out this guy I was after was some pyscho freak photographer  and used to be really on the celebrities quite a bit. I committed it to memory and the rest of the gang and I took off towards College Park. An would fuckin’ believe this shit? The goon I had drivin’ us there, Rose the Police Officer, got fuckin’ lost on the way! I know...I was beside myself. Luckily I happened to know where I was goin’ and turned us around but that little detour costed us some time.”

Opting to leave out the little bit about the Batman comics and the over all frustration of dealing with new people. It would make the story all the more complex but perhaps it could add some humanity to it all? He didn’t know. He was always grappling with the idea of what seemed monstrous and what seemed human. Caught in-between he was.

“We arrive at the place and get out in to the Park proper. College Students everywhere. Reminded me of my old times and my...well, you know who. We needed to find a Boiler Room. Jinx had this uh...gut feelin’ that this rule breaker might be there. Ironic all things considered. So we talked about a plan and chatted with some of the college goers. I spoke to a couple that was walkin’ by. Good kids. Reminded me that I’m not so monstrous that I can’t still be human on the inside. It was uh...a good feelin’, yeah.”

His son. He was speaking of his Son. A full fledged man by now, the years of his college life was not lost on him in the slightest. In truth, Matthew wasn’t someone that he saw or even spoke to often, no. That didn’t mean that he wasn’t constantly on his mind. It gave him a form of strength when he needed it the most. Even if the idea of hoping for a connection with him was hopeless he still had to try.

“Anyway, we spoke with the manager of the place, of the Campus. Came from the same cloth that Rose did. We explained our business there because we are polite and didn’t need to start a fight now. I told him that we had some business to do and that there could be a good reward at the end. He offered to help and I accepted. I am generous, you know. With that squared away, the couple from earlier told me about some construction site that no one goes to. And with gusto, we fuckin’ went to check it out.”

The issue here was the lack of concrete detail they were given. They were literally chasing a scent in the wind. A plume of air among the storm. It wasn’t impossible given their extraordinary skill in the moment. It wasn’t enjoyable for the Ventrue Mob Boss. He preferred working with solid evidence. Not visions and hearsay.

“Now, the problem here was that we didn’t know which building this dude was in. Jinx said he stinks like chemicals so we figured it had to be the new center that was under construction. Rose is unnaturally good with lock pickin’ so we broke in to this basement building after being led there by Jinx. I’m not the best in situations like this at all so I waited outside in case of an escape.”

It was, after all, something he wanted to become more familiar with. The idea of combat in this new world he found himself in was something that was indeed scary for many reasons. While he was tougher that most, some had ways around that. He needed to be able to give a good punch just as much as he could take it.

“That didn’t happen. Instead, Rose came to get me because they needed help with a certain ‘problem’ that my family is good at doing. There was an issue with that too. The survivor that they had found was damn near dead. If I stayed usin’ my powers on this guy I risked death myself so I pulled back and said that someone needed to save his life. Jinx offered to do it and it was fuckin’ messy. But, she did it. After a brief talk with the guy, I got him to relax and rest. He’d need it for later, for sure. For now, we set up a plan to go after the other building where we had a date with a photographer…