Page 199 - World of Darkness

too, suspecting an affair, mid-life crisis or drug addiction, or something influences him or those around him. On
each of which seems unusual for the subject. the surface, strange events or behavior can be rational-
• The loved one’s life seems to be falling apart in all ized away in mundane terms, such as a loved one having
aspects. Co-workers call looking for him. Teachers won- an affair, suffering an addiction, undergoing a collapse or
der why their student has had such poor attendance. Din- even planning a surprise. But further investigation shows
ner isn’t on the table for the third night in a row. The that events are stranger than that. Perhaps the change in
family member is subject to fits of depression, anger or a loved one is so rapid or sweeping that it can’t just be job
bizarre — even violent — sexual appetite. stress. A husband’s activity is simply too extreme or bi-
• A friend goes to strange places for no apparent rea- zarre to be chalked up to something as simple as a secret
son. He drives to a downtown parking lot and sits in his rendezvous.
car for hours on end, as if awaiting a rendezvous that never Here are some possible signs of supernatural involve-
happens. A child lingers around the school grounds well ment or activity that suggest the truth, without dragging
after classes are over and other students have gone home. it fully into the light.
A brother goes to a coffee shop and stares blankly at an • There is a small amount of blood on a wife’s (or the
alley across the street. character’s) clothes, yet she shows no sign of injury. Nor
• If the character himself is the focus of strange events, does she remember being hurt or of anyone around her
little direct explanation can be found for the seeming plot suffering an injury. (And in a related development, more
being hatched against him. Others claim no reason for pets go missing or a manhunt rages across the city for an
being distant — or don’t recognize that they have been. unknown assailant.)
Possessions are moved from where he left them. His bank • A friend goes missing altogether for a night and is
account is inexplicably low. found slumming in an urban development or among the
homeless, with no explanation for why he’s there or how
Hints of the Supernatural he got there.
While bizarre and frightening events occur to some- • The character knows that a loved one is secure (per-
one in the character’s life (or to himself), and no direct haps a child grounded and sent to her room or a wife sleep-
insight into the supernatural is gained, the character gets ing in the middle of the day — again). Yet, that person is
hints that something larger and more sinister is at work. gone a short time later, with no explanation and no means
It’s the sense that his life is not his alone. That someone of sneaking past or getting out a window.

198
Chapter 8- STORYTELLING