FG: Vampire - The Apolyton University

[Theben]

OOC: @ Snowflake- thanks. It's been a while since I've been able to flex my creative writing. Not since high school I think.

Also I haven't voted because, well, as far as the story goes I see no reason for my character to have done so.

And there's been some fine writing done by others. Vovan, self, and nikolai in particular.

[vovan]

OOC: I counted four votes this round, so it looks like under half the people voted, so nobody dies. There are some other interesting developments however. I am starting to write the story, so this round can be considered closed. (Unless you are a vampire and want to make some last-minute changes, or would like to make further sleeping arrangements.)

[Ljube]

Originally posted by Theben
OOC: @ Snowflake- thanks. It's been a while since I've been able to flex my creative writing. Not since high school I think.

OOC: Then you should GM Mafia 31. Congratulations!

[vovan]

The janitor had finished his daily chores, and kicked back in the bed. He was thinking about the experiment, and about the death of Dr. Vovan. He was pondering also the incident in the bathroom. Was he going mad or had it really happened? And what in the world does the medical student's name have to do with anything?

There was a knock on the door. It was the nurse, who had come to check that Gamecube had put all of the equipment on correctly for taking the measurements. Behind her was standing Hercules.

"Good evening, Mr GameCube," said the nurse, "I just wanted to check that everything is in order here. Also, in this gentleman's room, the equipment seems to be acting up, so he will have to sleep with you tonight, if you don't mind."

"No, I don't mind. I was just getting bored in this bare room any way. Would be nice to have some diversion, at least."

"Good then, you can use the second bed by the other wall there, Mr. Hercules," said the nurse as she started setting up the second set of equipment for the cook. "You know, it's weird. It's like electronics just don't want to work in that one room. I received a shock when I touched one of the electrodes for measuring pulse, and when we checked the data for Hercules, it was all screwed up for last night, so I'm afraid we'll have to scrap his previous readings altogether. Today, when I went to his room to check everything for the night, half of the stuff wasn't even turning on. That room is not the only one either. Others nearby showed some strange readings that we will have to discard."

"Yeah... I think there's the same thing in my room," came a new voice from the door.

The nurse looked around, and seeing the archeaology student said: "Mr. Self Biased? What are you doing here?"

"It's like I said. I may be no expert in them wires and things, but I tell you, there's something weird going on with your electronics. So I was wondering if I could spend the night here, as well."

"Well, I am sorry but you know that is impossible. All the rooms are furnished the exact same way. Have you seen how many beds are in your room?"

"Two, but can't I sleep on the floor here or something?"

"No, because then we can't take measurements, and in that case, you might as well sleep in your own bed at home."

"Hey, I wouldn't mind that much."

"I'm sure that is so", said the nurse with notes of anger appearing in her voice, "if it wasn't for the little piece of paper you signed, which means as soon as you leave, you lose all the pay. Come now, I will see about the electronics in your room."

With that, the nurse departed, pushing self biased out the door. She returned a few minutes later to finish the arrangements here, shanking her head.

"That man is afraid of something, though just can't see what. He is quite scared. The equipment in his room is in perfect working order, though he still insisted that I transfer him to a different room."

***

Father Nikolai, couldn't sleep. The man of superstition fought, within him, the man of faith. His own religion was telling him that there was no such thing as Vampires, only wicked men, who drink the blood of others, figuratively speaking, and that he, of all people, would be able to cope with such evil and eradicate it. Yet, the rumour did not let him fall asleep. As soon as he dozed off, he could see pale faces and fangs, and he would jump up in the bed with a start. After rolling in the bed for an hour or so, Father Nikolai decided that it would indeed be best to go visit one of the other subjects of the experiment. Maybe someone else can't sleep either. Maybe someone else needs company. Nikolai chose Dr. Spike, for the reverend man had got the impression that the doctor was not quite himself earlier today, when they had a chance to talk. With that thought, Nikolai took off for Dr. Spike's room.

Father Nikolai passed by self biased's room, and by the deserted room of Hercules, and by the rooms of the professors. The last door was Dr Spike's and Father Nikolai saw a strip of light under the door. He went in without a knock. Dr Spike didn't quite notice the guest at first: he was sitting upright on the bed, his elbows on his knees, and the face buried in his hands. Father Nikolai stood, somewhat embarassed at the door, looking at the man on the bad, but not calling out for him. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, and made a sort of a coughing noise. Dr Spike lifted his head and looked at the other man with somewhat dazed eyes.

"Ah, hello, Father. It's hot in here, isn't it?"

"It is a little stuffy, yes."

"Well, what brings you here, any way?"

"I couldn't sleep. To be honest, I feel there is evil in this building, and I believe we should stick together."

"Evil huh?", said Dr Spike with a chuckle, "Well, then we need all the strength we can muster to battle it, don't you think, sir? Let us get some sleep and replenish the vital energy!"

"Indeed. I will sleep on that other bed there, if you don't mind."

"Help yourself", said Spike, lay down into his bed, and turned towards the wall.

The priest set up his own bed, and even was so kind as to take out the second set of measurement equipment and affix the electrodes to his body, in as proper fashion as he could, and fell asleep before his head hit the pillow.

***

The door shut with a bang, and Father Nikolai jumped in his bed with a scream. "Who's there?!" he cried, thinking death itself had come for him. But when the light turned on, it was nothing more scary than Dr Spike in his pajamas and with a bottle of water in each of his two hands.

"Sorry I woke you up, Father. I just went out for a drink. It was so hot in here, I thought half of my fluids came out through sweat in the few hours I slept. Here, I bought some water, too," said Dr Spike, passing one of the bottles to Father Nikolai, "It's nice and cool - straight out of the vending machine downstairs. Will cool you down in no time flat."

"Thank you, Doctor, I am sure my body needs that. But you look pale. Is anything the matter?"

"No, no, father, I am just fine. Just a little thirsty is all."

But Dr Spike was clearly not fine. He was growing paler by the minute, and his hands started shaking. The Doctor tried to smile, but produced only a strange grin that seemed to make his face very animal-like, and for a moment Father Nikolai had thought he saw elongated dog-like canines lifting the upper lip of the Doctor, but as he blinked staring at the suffering face of DrSpike, the vision disappeared. The economist tried to lift a bottle to his mouth, but his hand went limp, and the bottle fell down and hit the floor, and soon thereafter, the professor followed.

***

Ladies and gentlemen, I regret to announce that another tragedy struck last night. As if the horror of Dr. Vovan's death was not enough, we have lost another man that was dear to the academic community, and to us all personally. Dr. Spike has left this world last night.

Medical anlysis shows that there is little reason to suspect he was murdered. He has died of severe dehydration. His body was otherwise healthy and undamaged, save for a little scar on his neck, which seems to have been inflicted some days ago - certainly before last evening - and could definitely not be the cause of death. As to the reason of the man's dehydration, we haven't much clues at the moment. It was almost as if he had spent a few days in the desert. Father Nikolai here says that the deceased had complained of unbearable heat in the room, whereas he himself did not feel any such inconvenience. Indeed, the physical data from the Father shows that he must have been feeling perfectly well during the night, whereas the Doctor's readings seem to indicate a rather high level of dehydration that peaked around the time he had left the room. The coroner is currently investigating the precise cause of the loss of water by Dr Spike's body.

Now, let me tell how our own experiment is progressing...

***

OOC: Well, there you have it. Another death, and hopefully some reason for rumours to start going around.

[civman2000]

Odd that DrSpike tried to go out and kill someone else instead of just getting Nikolai...

OK, I'll shut up now, just my thoughts as a spectator.

[self biased]

the plink-plonky sound of a cell phone ringer goes off around three in the morning. a bedraggled Self Biased answered it.

"mrrfffle?"

there was static, but something was barely audible over the din.


breathe... breathe... breathe... breathe... breathe... breathe... breathe... breathe...

PUSH!

PUSH!

PUSH!

the object grew hot and self dropped it to the ground, where it exploded with a sharp snap.

[Snowflake]

@ DrSpike. OMG you did it again!!!

[Nikolai]

OOC: So, I decided to sleep in the same room as the vampire himself? I was lucky that he didn't dare to kill me, but that was quite smart of him, since he would have revealed himself then. I mean, this was only the second round, so he couldn't have tried for the second time after all. Then we only have the head vampire left...

BTW, I will probably not be able to write much or be very active before tomorrow, I will be without internet from in about an hour to late this night. Good luck folks, I'll try to write something and vote tomorrow or tonight.

[Ljube]

Originally posted by Nikolai
OOC: So, I decided to sleep in the same room as the vampire himself? I was lucky that he didn't dare to kill me, but that was quite smart of him, since he would have revealed himself then. I mean, this was only the second round, so he couldn't have tried for the second time after all. Then we only have the head vampire left...

OOC: Yes, you. Any sensible vampire would kill the innocent person who came to his room to sleep. Vampires need blood every night to survive. Why risk death of blood deprivation and search out for another victim if a victim just came to his room. He would have been notified of your arrival and could have moved to another room and drank your blood. But no. He went out in search for his victim. Why? Because you are the head vampire Nikolai.

[Snowflake]

OOC: Oh my. What interesting development. If Nikolai is the head vampire, he is an evil one indeed. Because the head vampire always know who the new vampires are, but the new vampires wouldn't know who the head vampire is.

[Ljube]

OOC: Really? I thought it was the other way around too. That means the regular vampire would die trying to drink blood from the head vampire? Then I guess Nikolai probably isn't the head vampire since he wouldn't play with his disciple like that. Can I undo my vote?

[Nikolai]

OOC: So, I am the new suspect now? I am sure I can't convince you otherwise, but I hope the others use their brains and don't just join the docpile.

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Father Nikolai wandered around in the living room. He felt quite scared on the thought that he had actually slept in the same room as the vampire. Or was it one of the vampires? The thought of there being more vampires had not striked his mind before he heard some of the others discussing the possibility. Suddenly he discovered Snowflake and ljube sitting together, whispering. From time to time they looked towards him. He sighed. Everyone was suspicious towards eachother at the moment.
"Father Nikolai?"
The priest turned around. It was self.
"Yes?" he replied.
"I..." self began, "...I was wondering... DrSpike was the vampire, right?"
Self looked ill, the priest though. He looked pale and tired. Maybe he had slept badly last night? Or...? No. Nikolai tried to clear him mind. He had to think of something less negative. Ah, yes. Thinking postive was always the best thing to do, he reminded himself. That and prayer always helped. He looked back on self.
"It looks like that. Of course we might never know, but the possibility is high. I, on the other hand, is more worried on the possibility for it being another vampire around..."
"Do you suspect anyone?" self continued.
"Well... I am not sure... Besides, I can't be as good at knowing the human nature as I thought, since I didn't suspect DrSpike. God have mercy on him."
He got a thoughtful look.
"On the other hand, he was hardly a human anymore, I guess. Vampires have lost their humanity I've heard it's said. Anyway, I won't say anything for sure regarding my suspicions yet. Let me think and collect my thought for a while, ok?" the priest smiled.
Self smiled weakly back.
Father Nikolai looked at him.
"You slept bad tonight, right? You seem so tired..."
"What? Oh, yeah..." self responded, but his mind seemed somewhere else.
"Remember, God's peace are always there for you when you need rest." the Father smiled, and pointed at a vacant sofa.
"There, sit down a bit, it will do you good."

[Nikolai]

Originally posted by Ljube-ljcvetko
OOC: Really? I thought it was the other way around too. That means the regular vampire would die trying to drink blood from the head vampire? Then I guess Nikolai probably isn't the head vampire since he wouldn't play with his disciple like that. Can I undo my vote?

Be my guest... But honestly, I don't think we have any rules for vote changing, so it's up to vovan to decide.

[vovan]

You may change your vote if you wish.

[vovan]

Originally posted by Ljube-ljcvetko
That means the regular vampire would die trying to drink blood from the head vampire?

Firstly, it is true that "made" vampires do not know their master. They are in the perfect darkness as to the identity of that which had given them their gift of immortality. The immortality that comes at a price.

However, does it really mean that an attempt to drink blood from the head vampire will necessarily fail? May the beastly prince of darkness not summon the remnants of humanity from his wicked heart and feel pity of that which he had helped create? May he not therefore nourish his subject on some of his own blood, so as to strengthen his clan of vampires?

Hmmmm...

Vovan