Vampire with a Soul

April walks through the newly opened PINpoint portal into the Caritas, leading Rhys through it. Even though they had just met, April's voices were already guiding her into supporting this decision. That positive benefits would be discovered for Rhys.

And perhaps, the Initiative members would learn a lot from him.

The Caritas was not as lively as it had been, when Lorne was alive and running the joint. In several ways, it was like the building itself was still mourning the loss of Lorne.

But as the new managers, the Initiative put their hearts and souls into keeping it as an Open Door sanctuary for any demon or human who might need it. They all had taken different jobs around the bar too. So it was Rhys' chance to get to meet many of them in person.

Hulk was one of the bouncers. He could be seen standing in one of the corners', his glowing green eyes a constant reminder to those who might consider starting an incident.

87 was the bartender today. She was chatting up a rather large demon, who took up several bar stools, as he drank away his woes for the day.

Mouse was playing the DJ for the afternoon, with her cybernetics hooked into the karaoke machine to give any singer their chance on stage. She had some great songs playing now in the background.

"Welcome to the Caritas." April smiled at Rhys. "Where not everything is black and white."

For those who might not have Clark-mun's journal bookmarked -- don't miss our announcement.

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For the general public, tonight the Caritas is closed.

For those who have a special invitation however -- there is a party to attend. And the bar is decked out with every single decoration in the world. There are helium balloons floating up by the roof, in all sorts of colors. And we mean all the colors. There are plaid balloons up there!

There are dozens of candles decorating each table. And these candles fire off little tiny explosions of fireworks every half hour.

There is a bubble machine and a fog machine by the dance floor, so people can mix it up and have fun. There is every kind of beverage (even the 'rich red' for vampires) at the bar.

And right now Lorne is on the stage, belting out a song to "Memory".

((here is the deal -- this is a mixed interaction thread. NPCs will interact with everyone who posts, but I encourage others to interact as well. There will be a point when a major plot point will occur, and hopefully I can bring everyone into a posting order))

In the past few weeks, Clark and April have been helping to mentor the Dryad spirit in her mental mindscape. They took the opportunity whenever they had free time -- which didn't come very often in their busy lives. But step by step, moment by moment, the Dryad was learning more about the world.

And with each visit, April felt a little piece of herself heal and get stronger.

The Voices were still not quite completely back, and there were times when they would have been a great assistance to the situation at hand -- but they took each day at a time. They handled each emergency the best way they could, using the strengths and abilities of other members of the JLA team.

Usually, Clark and April found time right before bed to take a moment in the mental mindscape. It seemed to suit their schedules. The children were asleep. And the their day was done. The only thing that would come up -- was the occasional need for Superman.

Tonight was one of those nights when they had no emergencies to handle. April was sitting on the bed, brushing out her hair quietly to herself. She felt they were closer to resolving the issue -- so she could have those abilities back in her life. In truth, she missed them.

It has started a few weeks ago, with the disturbing nightmares that forced April to wake up in the middle of the night. Nightmares that while connected to her voices, were so real and visual, that it was like she had been there in the moment.

In the moment of a death. It was not like most deaths that she saw through her voices... instead, it was like the person has disappeared. And April knew each time it happened it was like a little piece of the universe had been stolen.

Clark had advised her to go to the research library hidden in Lorne's bar. And that was where she was, when a commotion was raised from the meeting area of the Scoobies. Coming out of the library, she saw her father, Spike, placing Dawn onto a couch. The young girl was flickering... disappearing and reappearing... it was so shocking, she thought she was dreaming again.

"Someone help her! I am nothing without her!" Spike called out.

April frowned. Something was seriously wrong. And her intuition was telling her that whatever was going wrong, had to do with some serious magic. Returning into the library, April used her PINpoint to call up Harry Dresden. Hopefully he could provide some insight...