A Confrontation - and Saturday Evening Vaudeville!

Lake woke up early, a man with a mission. He told his landlady, Mrs. Inez Rostankowski, that a locksmith would be visiting this morning, and he called the aforementioned locksmith promptly at nine o'clock. Having dealt with this pressing issue, he took a brisk walk to Jules Pollack Fine Antiques, hoping that Mrs. O'Flaherty might have some breakfast ready. Arkham was definitely showing signs of entering fall, with a bit of a wind and the leaves just turning in Independence Square. Oh, well, it would all be better after breakfast, and perhaps a chat with Dr. Queeg. This may be the right time to tell her about the issues with Violet.

The intrepid investigators were indeed having breakfast at together with Jules, although Moira was missing. They were about to finish up when Howard stepped into the dining room, and he instantly saw Violet. The lively conversation ended right away as the siblings stared at each other. Violet started yelling at Howard, tears welling up in her eyes, while her visibly shaken brother accused her of stalking him and hiding out in odd locations, spying upon him, and smiling weirdly all the time. Violet said that she needed to leave, but Mackie's steady hand and reassuring voice convinced her to stay. Mrs. O'Flaherty's fortified sherry settled the matter. The exchange was uneasy, not to say unnerving, but it was decided to not leave the siblings by themselves until it was sorted out what had really happened. Was Violet insane, or Howard, or both - or neither?

As it turned out, Moira was staying with Dr. Queeg, and Howard left to collect some things from his apartment, since he would be staying with Jules a couple of days until things were sorted out. Felix and Franz followed him to the apartment, which had a new lock. The odd list was still lying on Howard's desk, and Felix decided to discreetly place the note in his pocket to share it with Mackie.

• Cultes des Goules, 
• De Vermiis Mysteriis,
• The Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan, 
• Charaka Samhita, 
• El-Mansuri, 
• Die Behandlung der Irren ohne mechanischen Zwang, 
• Über Sprachstörungen im Traume,
• Al Azif 

Mackie and Jules looked over the note back at Jules Pollack Fine Antiques while Lake installed himself in an upstairs bedroom. It was indeed a strange concoction of texts, all penned in Lake's meticulous handwriting. Professor Armitage had talked to Mackie, Moira and Jules about the two first books, the Cultes des Goules by Comte d'Erlette, and De Vermis Mysteriis, as well as the Al Azif, the dreaded Necronomicon, written by the mad Arab Abdul Al-Hazred many centuries ago. The tome is said to hold clues to a dark and troubling past, and perhaps also to an equally disturbing future. The ancient text was supposedly very difficult to penetrate, and a real challenge to both mind and will. The remaining five titles were not known by either investigator. Something in Hindi, something in Arabic, and two German titles? And what was Hsan? They discussed the matter at some length until it was time to get ready for this evening's vaudeville show, which was conveniently located at  Myrtington House, just across Independence Square. The lineup seemed promising:

• The Moxies, America’s MOST Exciting Dance Troupe
• Little Miss Crusoe, a humorous take on the novel, performed by real Midgets
• Nimble Norman, A Yankee Acrobat and Real Rubber Man
• The Stunning Miss KitKat Le Noir and her Tame Cats
• Senorita Carmen LaFlor, The Latino Singer Extraordinaire
• Victor Vega, the Legendary New York Comedian
• The Pickle Sisters
• The Mysterious Dr. Z

And the Master of Ceremonies, Mr. Kyle Kelso.

The theater was fairly small, with a small reception area leading into the theater itself. The show was sold out in what promised to be an amazing evening. The intrepid investigators arrived just before Dr. Queeg and Moira, who were accompanied by Victor Ventura and a figure that Felix Jeremiah recognized: a certain Henry O'Reilly. But what was Henry O'Reilly doing in Arkham? Felix knew that there were all kinds of rumors surrounding O'Reilly. He had a reputation of being a real sadist, and he supposedly had a collection of various taxidermied body parts, especially ears. 

Henry O'Reilly

However, the evening started with a loud disagreement between Dr. Henrietta Queeg and local celebrity author Ella B. Cocker. Jules could not hear what the argument was about, but he made a mental note to self to inquire further during the intermission.

The first part of the show was most entertaining, and the crowd was loud and cheerful when it was time for intermission. Mackie went up to Moira, who was glad to see Mackie, although she seemed, well, drunk. She was distant, non-focused, and not attentive at all. Weird. Jules did spot Ella B. Cocker, and the author did recognize Jules Pollack. They had tun into each other on a couple of occasions, although they've never really had a lengthy conversation. Jules found her "Order of Taarna" to be quaint, as he considered the "secret society" to be a haven for dilettantes. Cocker, being a warm and engaging person, albeit a bit full of herself, was more than willing to discuss the argument with Dr. Queeg. Ella claimed that Dr. Queeg, a former member of the Order of Taarna, had attempted to convince two of the members of the Order to partake in strange psycho-occult experiments. Cocker saw this as potentially dangerous, and she had made sure that there'd be neither experiments, nor volunteers to be had. 

Ella B. Cocker

Howard Lake thought that Kit Kat Le Noir seemed more than a little bit interesting, and he wanted to make a move on her. Franz Alter was, as always, only a pace behind him, and irritating as that might have been, Howard nevertheless decided to approach the stunning beauty and her feline friend. Despite Howard's good looks and charming comments, Kit Kat Le Noir seemed less than interested, and as Howard changed his focus to one of the Moxies, Kit Kat Le Noir started engaging Franz Alter instead. The result was chemistry on several levels. It turned out that they shared similar interests regarding recreational drug use, and Franz Alter even got a bit excited, despite the cat draped over Ms. Le Noir's shoulder. Franz thought of the enormous cat that lived with his mother, and he suppressed a slight shudder before reengaging in the stunning Ms. Le Noir. What a pleasant woman, and now even more so on amphetamines! Meanwhile, Felix struck up a budding friendship with Nimble Norman, whose real name was James Tipton. Nimble Norman was rather eager to include Felix as a guest star in his show, and Felix promised he'd take this under consideration. 

Nimble Norman

Kit Kat Le Noir

The second act was equally amusing, and Victor Vega (or was it Ventura?) did put on quite the show. His stage persona was quite different from his shy and reserved private personality, and his witty puns and incredibly wide smile really captured the audience. He announced that this would be his last performance in Arkham, and that he would be heading back to New York City tomorrow, after a small cocktail gathering.

The evening had been interesting so far, and Lake had taken quite some interest in the young dancer he had flirted with during the intermission. The feelings were clearly mutual, and Lola followed Howard to the after-hours party at Jules's. There were cocktails to be had, and Jules rolled out the bar cart in front of a small crowd that consisted of Howard, Lola, Burlington Jones and a couple of Moxies who had introduced themselves as Trixie, Roxanne, and... Kunigunda.

Howard and Lola managed to extract themselves from the frivolities downstairs for some private and adult time, and as they closed the bedroom door behind them, Franz Alter took up, post outside the bedroom. After some time, Franz noted a strange sound, or perhaps an absence of sound. He entered the bedroom, only to find Lola fast asleep, and the window open. No Lake. Franz dashed up to the window, and he saw Lake marching down the street at a breakneck pace, heading towards the Miskatonic River. Climbing down the gutter presented little difficulty for Franz Alter, and he managed to alert Jules before pursuing Lake. Burlington Jones was left all alone with Trixie, Roxanne, and Kunigunda.

Lola

Mackie and Felix had already left for Violet's house after the Vaudeville show, and they were greeted by and anxious Violet. They searched the house, and Mackie placed an incantation on Violet's room to alert them if there were any intruders of human - or any other - kind. They had just settled in the living room when they heard a shriek from Violet: "He's here! He's coming for me! Howard!" Mackie took a peek through the window, and she clearly saw Lake marching up the old cobble-stoned street. He was followed by Franz Alter immediately behind him, with Jules Pollack running 50 or so feet behind. They decided to stand by the door to give Lake a proper greeting, whatever that might imply.

Howard was running as fast as he could, his heart thumping in his chest and his muscles aching, and yet it felt like he was running through molasses. The shadowy presence following him was just a pace behind, and no matter how hard Lake exerted himself, he did not gain on the dreadful shadow. It was a shocking and uncouth black thing with smooth, oily, whale-like surfaces, unpleasant horns that curved inward toward each other, bat wings whose beating made no sound, ugly prehensile paws, and a barbed tail that lashed needlessly and disquietingly. And worst of all, it never spoke or laughed, and never smiled because it had no faces at all to smile with, but only a suggestive blankness where a face ought to be. Lake ran in what seemed to be a thick forest, or perhaps a never-ending corridor in a lunatic asylum. The images changed at will, and just as he was about to collapse, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Lake woke up outside his mother's house, trembling and drenched in sweat. Franz Alter had placed his long and narrow hand on his shoulder, and for some reason Mackie and Felix were standing at the door. Lake was more than a little confused.

Howard was in a sad state. He had clearly left J. Pollack Fine Antiques without taking time to get dressed properly: no hat, no shoes or socks, no jacket and no collar with his shirt. He was drenched in sweat, and yet chill to the bone. His wide-eyed gazed clearly indicated that he had little idea of how he he got here. although it was comforting to be at his mother's house. But what if Violet was there? The issue of Violet's eerie stalking was still unresolved, and Howard felt both uneasy and confused. And cold. And miserable!

Mackie, being a caring human being in her own very special way, handed Howard a cigarette from her expensive sterling silver case, without offering him a light. At the same time, Felix picked up a blanket from a stool in the foyer, handing it to the much taller Howard. Franz considered various chemical options, but he had really never seen a case of such extreme somnambulism. Running all the way from J. Pollack Fine Antiques to the Lake House had also left him a bit short of breath, despite being reinforced with his own drugs. Meanwhile, Felix Jeremiah could not help thinking what a stunning photograph it would be if someone shot a picture of him handing a blanket to the frozen needy, a look of grave concern and compassion on his face. It could all be put into good political use in due time.