Me, Myself, and the FBI

The leather patch (recovered from the super-zombie) turned out to have a small symbol on it; some successful research later, and the group found that it belonged to a group known as the OBR, a Russian intelligence group of some sort. They learned more when they ran into an old friend - Kit Muller, of the FBI! He was following some sort of shape-shifter. He explained that the OBR were essentially the KGB, except their work centered on the supernatural; he had run into one or two of their agents. The group was lead by none other than Maksim Kuznetsov, the old man they had met some months earlier! Kit also mentioned Vladislav Rasputin, an edgy ritualist, and how he really hates the song "What Is Love."

Priya, Will, and Alistair soon found themselves on the trail of another book thief; a local bookstore was hit, and Mary (the owner of the bookstore they use as their hoe base) asked if they could go check it out. They did so happily, arriving to find a slightly damaged bookstore, and one Vladislav Rasputin, possibly more edgy than Kit described. They approached him, and warned him off from the books. Using their connection with Mary, they convinced the bookstore owner to lend them the new books he had received, so they could keep them at Mary Lynn's bookstore.

At the bookstore, late at night, they were awakened by a clatter as someone tried to get in. It was Kit! However, he seemed a little off; they called his cell phone, and found Kit was actually in his hotel room. They delayed the doppelganger long enough to give Kit time to arrive (he raced past, then slammed on the brakes and backed up), but the creature was gone in a flash. After some discussion - and verifying the books were safe - Kit headed back to bed.

The next evening - Friday - they headed to RPG night (I know, I know, no recursive RPGs), and the next day visited their GM's home (yours truly). Alistair tried to steal a brick from the foundation, and after a telling off, settled for a brick from under the house. Using the time to do a bit of studying, they learned that there was some kind of object of power hidden in some Indian burial mounds. That evening, they headed to the woods, and after a bit of hiking, found the mounds. As they were looking around, once again Kit showed up; this time, they didn't bother asking questions, and immediately opened fire! Whatever the creature was, it wasn't human - their bullets seemed to only barely be hurting it. Only Priya's ax did any real damage.

Quickly, Priya began forming a chalk circle; she was grabbed by the creature, who shook her book bag off, spilling books all over the ground. Alistair completed the circle, and as soon as Priya broke free, completed the outline. The creature slammed against the temporary boundary (chalk circles are useful, but don't last long unless they have a ritual to back them up). Throwing its (tremendous) weight against the boundary, it broke free, grabbed the book, and slammed its hand into the open pages. Instantly, it was transformed into a 12 foot tall beast, with demonic red skin, cloven hoofs, massive wings... well, you get the idea. The group had been expecting something like that, however, and quickly got over the fright; they fired a few more rounds at it, hit it with an ax, and eventually killed it. It fell backward into a yawning void and was gone...

Just as Kit showed up, Priya discovered an unconscious body laying in the underbrush: Vadislav! Will immediately began singing "What Is Love (Baby Don't Hurt Me)", to which the injured ritualist responded with a pain transference spell. Further singing caused a massive headache... Kit took Vadislav into custody, after learning what his plan was - calling the demon to do his bidding, Vadislav bit off a bit more than he could chew, and ended up with some greater fiend instead of a ghostly Vardøger. Oops.

The book, however, was gone; whatever it held, that mystery was lost forever...