Mythica, the story thus far.
For those curious to revisit my half-built story, we'll be picking up where we left off. Following this post, the remaining posts will be filtered. You'll need to log in to see them, and you'll need to be in my Writing filter. If you'd rather be in/out of the filter, just put a comment on any of my entries.

If you want the full version instead of a synopsis, it's available under the Mythica tag in my LJ. A more convenient full-length recap will be available shortly.

Story thus far:

Dark myths have come to roost in Washington DC

Josi Kimmond knows this. Ever since the accident that claimed her left leg, she can remember the fairytale creatures and nighttime horrors that walk our streets. Everyone can see them, and everyone always has, but only Josi seems to remember them.

Josi had resigned herself to a quiet insanity; she shut up about what she saw to preserve her freedom and her marriage. She was ready to live the rest of her life as the sole witness to the madness of walking Myths, until she met PD. Now everything's different.

Poindexter (PD to nearly everyone) is a private investigator that can't leave a good mystery alone. Understandable, as he's somewhat of a mystery himself. He has a dubious source of regular income, an insatiable appetite for red meat, and an apparent immunity to injury. He can also remember the strange things happening in the city, although he avoids talking about it.

Bach is a man chasing a dream. Literally. His dreams have haunted him halfway across the country, and are driving him inexorably towards DC. He's looking for a cure for his condition: A tendency to grow hooves and horns when angered. The Baba Yaga sent him to Union Station after reading his fortune at a truck stop, which landed him a job waiting tables at the Negative Six, the best restaurant that never existed.

Treant Chesapeake is a man pursuing something far less ephemeral: A killer and a kidnapper on the loose in his town. Someone's been taking children, mostly from troubled neighborhoods, they've also been killing a lot of people, most of them drug dealers and homeless. Treant's a detective for the DCPD. He moonlights for the mythical equivalent of the cops, the Fraternal Order of Mythics. He also may, or may not, be a forest.

The Reaper's Right Hand, (or just Reaper for short) has crossed paths with the FOM more than once, especially since the Throne of God stepped up the killings. It seems she's out every night now, tracking drug dealers and visiting God's vengeance upon them. It's a good life for an angel, following the word of the Lord, but word comes down from the Throne that she's to be reassigned. The throne wants her on hand for an inter-faction effort to find missing children. The Throne's best enforcer is chosen for the role, lest the other factions get out of line.

Things don't really go foul until they all cross paths at the Negative Six. The restaurant is neutral territory. Josi, PD, Treant, and Reaper meet to discuss the kidnappings, and PD drops a massive piece of evidence on the table: The Black Book, a perverse retelling of the Bible which can twist mortal minds. It's missing half it's pages, but the pages have been reappearing all over DC. The sudden resurgence of the book isn't a coincidence, at least that's PD's claim.

He'd explain further, if the presence of the book hadn't caused quite a stir. Bach attacks the group, or more specifically, the book, and fails pretty miserably at his attempt to destroy it. This sparks a string of violent events that leave Bach without a job, and under the protection of Treant. The five of them start searching for evidence.

Reaper finds a school under siege instead. There she meets Cherise, an Apocryphal Angel banned from the Heavenly Host. Cherise is strange, beautiful, liberated, and driven. She's trying to keep whatever's haunting DC away from her chosen protectorate: A school in the worst part of town.

The investigation continues as more evidence begins to surface. The book is being rebuilt page-by-page, each section assigned to a different victimizer. The cases share similar features; every section requires human blood to be complete. Reaper spends less time investigating and more at the school, as attacks against the children grow bolder. She and Cherise encounter a man who calls himself Ford. He's dressed in a business suit of armor, and has an army to back him. The army all seems to be perfect copies of the man himself.

As the situation gets a little more desperate, Bach decides to take drastic action. He summons an incarnation of the Bloody Mary, whom he believes is responsible for the Black Book. Under duress, Mary gives him the clues he needs to track the source, but also threatens him extensively. More potential victims surface, and Bach is left with a difficult choice. If a victim won't believe him, should he attack the potential killer before the victim comes to harm?

He makes the decision, weather right or wrong, and we return to the story with one killer incapacitated, and blood on Bach's hands. He's escaped with the pages from the black book, but the consequences of his choice remain to be seen.