The Game Before the Fall

Chapter 24: Erin Storm (Part 2)

Vanter and I stood in the convention centre lobby dressed incognito. For me that was relatively easy, for Vanter it meant covering majority of this face. A large group had already started to form, many of them wearing Erin's merchandise. We watched from a good distance away, our primary target still waiting to appear.

"Hey Vanter, the other day I saw a photo of you at the fashion show," I began some small talk.

Vanter flinched, "You saw that...."

"Yeah, what was that about? You could make some good cash as a model though."

"I was kind of swept into that," he huffed. "Let's just fo-, hey isn't that Aria?"

I looked to where Vanter pointed and sure enough Aria had joined the growing crowd. I wasn't sure where she had purchased it from but she was also sporting one of Erin's signature shirts. If Aria was there it also meant Endi would be too.

"And there's Endi," I gestured. Endi followed a few steps behind Aria and was dressed relatively normally.

"Well at least she's doing like we asked and keeping an eye on Aria," Vanter shook his head. "On the plus side, seeing that I asked Ana to look out for Endi, she's bound to be somewhere too."

We waited another few minutes before Erin arrived. Her entrance was spotted quite quickly and her groupies including Aria began to chant as she appeared.

"Storm. Storm. Storm. Storm!"

"Okay that's enough," Erin calmed them down. "Wow there's more of you than I thought would appear. Thanks for coming to our spontaneous community meet and greet. I think I recognise a few of you from your profile pictures." She looked around, noticing that the large group was taking up quite a bit of the space. "Let's head outside the centre."

"Here we go," I nodded to Vanter. "Keep your senses sharp."

"Will do," Vanter nodded back and we followed the group out of the lobby and into the open area outside.

Now in the open of the outside world, the group of fans spread wider and surrounded Erin almost full circle. Erin was all smiles and continued to comment on the individuals present, making small talk and signing whatever was given to her. They seemed like really good fans, a community with Erin's stream at its centre. There were a few odd balls but none that I could pick out as someone who would intentionally do harm. They were happy to talk to each other and for many of them it was the first time meeting in real life despite talking online for several years.

Half an hour passed quickly with nothing amiss as Erin started to contemplate ordering the whole group some pizza. It was at that point my instincts picked up on it. Blood lust. The intention to do harm. It was a prickle on my senses and I turned to the source. A skinny and hunched figure dressed in baggy clothes and almost fully covered. He was still a good distance away but the way he walked was full of malicious intent. His hands were buried in his pockets, eyes locked only at Erin.

"Vanter," I straightened myself.

"I see him," Vanter pulled a can of soda from his pocket.

"I'll split to his right. There may be more than one."

We moved closer to the group of fans. The man reached the 20 metre mark... 10 metres. He was close enough and the crowd parted just enough for a straight line between him and Erin. The man stopped and pulled his hand from his pocket.