Headington

Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston to the north-west, Cowley to the south, and Barton and Risinghurst to the east. The life of the large residential area is centred upon London Road, the main road between London and Oxford.

"Oh shit." Mehdi says the moment that he steps into his flat and sees morning light peeking through the curtains. He checks his phone. "Oh shit." Not only does Mehdi see a message and two missed calls from Liam, but he also sees that a whole day has passed since he went to dump the body parts. Liam must have already gone to deliver Silas' body without him. Quickly he shoots a text to his boss. Hey sorry, you know how the hedge can be, I just got out. Hope everything went alright. Hit me back when you wake up. He plops down on the couch and opens up a new message, this time to Daxon. Hey! I found something very cool in the hedge. Wanna see? Immediately he opens yet another message, this time to the mage Khalid. Hey, this is Mehdi. I found something weird, I need your expertise. Can we meet up?

Khalid sits in the Christ Church Library silently working on a school project as he feels a soft buzz from his phone.  He curses himself as he loses concentration, and pulls out his phone.  The message from Mehdi was a surprise, but a welcome one.  He responded quickly, "Lucky for you I'm pretty free today.  If you're down to meet in the open, I know a good spot near Christ Church Cathedral."

Sounds good. Meet there in like an hour? Mehdi sends the response before bouncing off the couch and going to shower and change clothes.

Daxon's phone buzzes in his pocket and he eyes the text with curiosity blended with concern, then texts Mehdi back:  Cool like free pizza or cool like oh god oh god were all gonna die?

Mehdi can't help but smile at the joke as he responds: Lol, definitely free pizza. You free this evening?

Daxon scratches his chin and thinks for a moment before replying. The Hedge is not a place to fuck around, despite what some of the Queen's court thought. Then curiosity kicks in and he sends back: Absolutely. Where and when?

My place, 7 Bankside, little before dusk? he responds.

Daxon nods unconsciously and smiles as he sets an alarm for 3:30 and puts his phone away. Bit of a leg stretch will be good for me, he thinks before digging back into case notes. When the obnoxious beeping starts, he shuts it off and locks the file cabinet in his little office.  "Popping out early for a meeting,"  he says as he heads out. Making his way vaguely northeast, he's struck anew by the freakish number of cats that seem to have infested Oxford. About 20 minutes later, he turns off of New Cross down Bankside and looks around before walking up to Number 7 as the sky starts to redden towards dusk.

"Hey! How's it going?" Mehdi says, all smiles, as he opens the front door of his flat. The living room Daxon walks into is sparse, just the essential furniture and storage plus a few random odds and ends that the Lost has accumulated since returning to the real world. Mehdi doesn't linger near the door though, nor does he allow Daxon to settle in here. He quickly moves to the kitchen. "Are you familiar with the Gloaming Wood?"

Daxon's Mask grins back and a fragrant breeze follows him into Mehdi's flat. "Oh you know... every free day, right?"  He glances around and sees the same spartan layout of his own lay. Is that one more thing we Lose? Was Arcadia so maddeningly lovely that we can no longer be satisfied with the baubles of our old lives? "Let's say I'm passing familiar with it. What's going on?"

Mehdi doesn’t answer Daxon’s question, he simply smiles and opens the cupboard… [continued in The Hedge]

[continued from The Hedge]  "We can talk about plans for the Hollow later. Should probably have a name shouldn't it?" Mehdi says as they step back into his apartment. He pulls out his phone, going to give Liam a call, "Fuck." he says as he sees that he's just missed a call from the professor. He calls back immediately.  "Heyy, Liam, what's up? Sorry I've been held up, did you manage everything okay?"

Liam picks up in half a ring  "Thank fuck you are alive. I was worried something nasty had got you. Not exactly no, had to improvise and caused some more trouble, I might need to leave Oxford for a while if things don't calm down. That spy snapped out of it and must be trying to get me. Oh, and I have new instructions neither of us are going to like. But for now, I have my gig, how soon can you be here?"

"Leave Oxford?!" he says incredulously, wondering what trouble the vampire could have possibly caused and what mess he is about to be dragged into. "That's crazy. I'm sure we can figure it out." He sighs, both in exasperation and in an effort to quell his own rising concern. "I can get moving now, I'll grab Jetty and be on the way in a second. I'm here with a new friend too, I think you two should meet. Oh and I met up with Khalid today, got some information on these cats."

"Great, I'll see you in a minute. You can tell me about the cats later, though those are the least of our worries right now."

“Is that right? Well shit. Alright, I’ll be there soon.” Mehdi hangs up and turns to Daxon, “I forgot Liam is playing a show tonight. Should probably grab Jetty and ride over.”   [continued in Somerville]

[continued from The Hedge] As soon as Liam enters Mehdi's kitchen, his phone begins to buzz with a multitude of missed calls and messages. Claire and Aisha are in search of direction and yearning for their next fix, while Rebecca Durand is demanding a status update.

"Ah shit". The messages weren't a surprise, but still. It's only been 2 days, bit of a big ask. "Can you upload the video. I have a few messages to send." He starts with the professor. Best not to give details by text, but the task is difficult and requires some lining up of pieces before my plan can be executed due to the quiet nature that you requested. If all goes well, the first part will happen tonight, the other is much more complex and may take some time. Then for his Ghouls I am sorry, there are wonders of the supernatural that you have yet to discover. I am back today and you should join me in Paul's for my gig. I require your support and protection more than ever, and of course, you can have what you crave. OX1 3DQ. He puts the phone away and pulls up a chair next to Mehdi to watch as his video gets uploaded. "Maybe this will cause a stir, make it harder for me to be removed quietly eh?"

“Maybe!” Mehdi replies, not taking his eyes off the slowly moving progress bar on the screen.  Or maybe it’ll make you easier to find.   “What’s the word?” he asks, nodding towards Liam’s phone. “Everything okay, for the moment at least?”

"No, my sire wants to know if I brought final death to our colleagues yet, and my children are hungry and lost. Things won't be ok for a while." Liam shrugs. "But what can I do? Best to forget about it, play the music and at least not piss off any more powerful beings eh?"

Mehdi laughs and shakes his head.  “Fuck, I guess so. Do we even know what Rae and Eve are up to? I could go snoop later, who knows, maybe we got lucky while we were in the Hedge and someone’s already offed them.”

"The girls were watching Rae but I called them off. You could drop a text and see? Neither replied to my messages before. Don't be far though, so many people trying to kill me, I need someone I can trust watching my back."

Mehdi nods and pulls out his phone.  Hey there, you busy tonight? Got some info you might be interested in. It’s not a lie, and he rationalizes that offering free information is a fair trade for spying on her for the Kindred tasked with ending her existence. It’s not like Liam actually intends to do the deed, but it might help keep the professor safe if they can at least pretend to be trying. He sends the text, then resumes watching the upload with impatience.

Liam sits next to Mehdi, sharing his impatience as the loading bar creeps along the screen. He taps a foot and starts humming, then singing softly, tapping the desk. You gave a kick I gave a slap You hit me once I hit you back You threw a plate over my head So I set fire to our bed He gives a grin. Little one I wrote with a girl earlier this year. Got a bit of a mind worm quality I think, but nothing special. She really liked it though, said she'd record it herself if I didn't like it. She was hard under my influence though. Think she was just trying to impress me.

“Were you the one throwing plates or the one committing arson?” Mehdi responds with a smirk. His phone buzzes and he checks to see that Rae is occupied for the night. He doesn’t bother mentioning it though, Liam clearly isn’t pressed. At last the upload completes. Mehdi takes a moment to scrub through the video, make sure it uploaded and posted correctly, then gestures to the screen as he sits back in his chair. ”There ya go, let’s hope it gets enough views to save your skin somehow. Should we get going to the gig?”

"You know I don't mix with fire." Liam smirks. "So did she come to think of it, she was into some crazy stuff though. Very...fighty."  He nods and stands, putting on his jacket and glasses. "The girls will meet us there, then if you want to do some probing, plenty of people around there who might know a thing or two if you know where to listen."

Continued from Cowley Sat safely in Mehdi's living room, Liam texts his Ghouls. "I'm back for the day. It's the weekend so maybe you should come and hang out while I rest? It would be good to see you, and I can give you what you must be craving by now." As he waits for the replies he asks Mehdi: "Can I borrow your laptop? I need to see if that duet with Aubrey has been posted on youtube much." He thinks for a second, running some fingers through his hair. "What are the neighbours like? I need to find some food. Small hours aren't the best for the club diet, maybe a walk of shame, or some early morning shif worker?" He snaps his fingers in realisation. "Maybe a nurse, or a binman? You got anyone like that?"

“Yeah, of course,” he says to Liam’s first question. He opens up his laptop and gestures for Liam to have at it. As for the second question, Mehdi takes a moment to think before answering, “Uhmmm, maybe Jules or Seb. They stay up late, might be coming back from a party, or a friend of theirs could be leaving their place.”

"Perfect. Now lets see... Much as I hate to admit it I suppose searching for Aubrey is the more likely to have a hit." He stops for a minute, listening. No sound from above. He shakes his head. Maybe a classic porn movie car broke down, turns up naked asking to use the phone. He shakes his head again. "Maybe a walk of shame."

"The video is here, nowhere near the traction I'd expected though. Perhaps she doesn't have quite the fanbase she likes to think."  Liam smirks, as much to himself as to Mehdi. "Now where are my girls? Not like them to be so quiet, though it is 4am, I suppose they may be sleeping." He stands. "I should eat regardless. Perhaps I'll get lucky and find a drunk student passed out or vomiting on their way home. Otherwise it's the hospital or the train station."

Mehdi snickers in response to Liam’s jab at the starlet, but he is beginning to develop a distinct lack of interest in the Kindred’s campaign for fame. Maybe that’s just because his own neck is on the line now, not just Liam’s. “It’s Oxford, there’s gotta be somebody out there.”

Liam nods and heads for the door. Despite feeling nothing, he automatically still turns up his collar to brace against the nights chill. He pauses for a second at the corner, before making a left towards the hospital. As he gets closer he slows his pace to a casual amble, puts on a broad smile and stands against a wall outside the main entrance. He looks around trying to catch the eye of a smoker or someone waiting for a lift.