Liana Skye
Location: Spade Queen Country Club
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain
"Ah, overheard that, did you?"
Ferguson offered a slight smile, while Hawthorn was still rolling his eyes sarcastically about the previous comment regarding him and smiling. It was almost like the man wanted to flash his sharper-than-average set of pearly whites, but refrained from doing so with the FBI agent present.
"Well, our earlier discussion got me thinking. As said, I was doing a bit of investigating today, though looking into the letter B hardly got me any closer to the truth. Only the feeling that there's something a bit off about Ms. Boulders and Mr. Briggs, but it wasn't a direct hit. In case of a the former, the stone I threw bounced off the tree and nearly hit me in the face, while in the case of the latter... a glancing hit that certainly made the bottle fall - yet it did not break," the agent explained, casting his investigation into an even more mysterious light. "Later I phoned about it to my assistant, but she merely scoffed something about it 'being yet another study in scarlet' and dismissed it... honestly, sometimes even I wonder what she's thinking."
Scottie chuckled a bit at that and took a swig of his whiskey before continuing.
"Well, with the local law enforcement running a bit of a check on the two I mentioned, this left me with time to think... and my thoughts returned to things we discussed earlier today. Namely, the nature of the cuckoo, and how that strange riddle might relate to all of this," he continued. "And since all I had to myself at that point were theories, I decided to discuss about it with Mr. Hawthorn over here... and he had a suggestion for me."
As the agent's eyes turned towards the other man, Hawthorn simply shrugged, a sarcastic smile floating back to his lips.
"Well, I simply suggested running a background check on the Pinefall students. If there's something fishy going on, if there's something of a cuckoo hiding about, the batch of new arrivals would be a good place to start. And it's not like they don't have a fair share of skeletons in their closets," Hawthorn spoke, and for a moment his expression grew cold as he gazed towards the corridor where Colt and Cathie had disappeared. "See, for example, I happen to know that one of them is hiding quite the sordid past. One could say that he's directly responsible for killing his parents, and almost the rest of his family as well... it's a miracle that anyone survived."
An awkward sort of silence was left in the wake of those words, spoken with the sort of bitterness that told there was something personal in the man's words. Hawthorn did not elaborate further, however - merely allowed the implications to hang in the air as he took a sip of his whiskey. Ferguson, quietly gazing at him and Liana, gestured with his eyes to the latter that this wasn't the first time he had acted like this during the evening.
That being said, the agent pressed on, switching gears a little as he did.
"Oh, speaking of background checks, my assistant did a little digging... and found out the name of the other person sponsoring that orphanage, my dear," he said. "Suzume Bianchi. A relatively famous medical researcher in her own right. Both her and your mother took an interest to the orphanage and the children in there, though the money actually came from a different source - if through them. That source being, strangely enough, a company called Gottlieb Pharmaceuticals. But, that's not all..."
A strange sort of twinkle appeared in the agent's eyes.
"--- Apparently, one of the former residents of that orphanage back in the late 70's and early 80's, happened to be a girl named Nora Norumbega. I take it that sounds familiar?"
Prushka
Location: Big Boy's Gas Station
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain
"Montauk..."
Xandra fell silent and folded her arms, gazing up at the grey skies above. Something in her stance seemed to freeze up a little bit upon hearing the word, and it was almost as if the girl was trying to stop herself from shivering.
"... That's a name you don't hear often, even on the Turnside. Or rather, it's a term people dismiss even over here. It's the Turnside Boogeyman, said to be one of the arms of a... certain hypothetical organization attempting a total control of the world from the shadows. Whether it is the one seeking the utter destruction of the superstitions of the Turnside or not depends on who you ask. That being said, Montauk is as hypothetical as that organization itself. Allegedly, as you said, it's a group that was born out of the Philadelphia Experiment - an attempt to send a warship through space and time - and is being funded by the lost Nazi gold, along with groups such as the ITT and Krupp AG," Xandra explained with a quiet voice. "In all honesty, the existence of such a research laboratory is a bad nightmare... nightmare I don't even want to think about."
The silver-haired girl leaned against the dirty wall of the gas station and let out a quiet sigh, rubbing her temples as if to defend herself against an oncoming migraine.
"Psionic experimentation, time travel, teleportation, metahumans, bioengineering, black technology, mind alteration, falsifying of history... if you can think of a subject of conspiracy theories, you can bet your ass that Montauk's been said to have done it," she groaned. "That's why people don't believe it. Why people don't want to believe it. Because the existence of something like that is just... too big of a can of worms to open. What would we even do if they were real? What could we do? Yet..."
A humourless smile spread to her face.
"... You said you found some evidence about it, right? Which means that either someone is playing a really bad joke on us, or it's real and this town is in far more trouble than anyone would have thought," Xandra finished, letting out a snort. "Not only that but... what? Second meeting? Are you saying that my memory's been altered, or that you've been time traveling as well? Or..."
Her eyes narrowed a bit.
"--- Does this have something to do with the fact I have an odd gap in my memories - a gap between approaching Road's End and arriving to town?"
Alexstrasza Lockhart
Location: Road's End - Back Alley
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain
"Wait... what? Iron? You mean..."
Travis's eyes shot wide open.
"... Blood?"
It did not take more than that for the boy to realize that something was going on. He reached out, grabbed Alexstrasza by the hand, and let her half pull him up from the chair. With that the duo was off, trailed by Stephanie who kept to the back as if sensing that something strange was going on. They rounded around the store and headed down the street, until they found the back alley that cut behind the buildings and became a criss-crossing maze of tight gaps between the old buildings. In this small, separate world from the rest of the Road's End, shadows became long and sharp while the city itself almost felt like it faded into the background. Smells were strong, sounds were muffled, and the old age that was ever-present even in the facade of the town felt even more pronounced here.
While it might have been hard for a normal human to find the right way immediately, for someone like Alexstrasza it posed no problems. She only had to follow the smell she was so familiar with, taking one left and two rights as the maze whistled past them. Travis (and in turn, Stephanie) had to only follow her, which for the boy was easy since she was still practically dragging him along.
And then, they arrived there.
The particular stretch of the back alley that ran behind the End's Store & Post.
The one where the smell originated from.
And there...
... There lay a freshly-killed corpse.
A man, by the looks of it. Long, dark blue hair. A five o'clock shadow. Dead, empty eyes.
But strangest of all...
He was wearing a hospital gown.
A fact that made Stephanie let out a wordless noise of shock, and hug Alexstrasza's leg tightly, as if searching for comfort and safety.
But... that wasn't all.
The fresh corpse wasn't the only one at the scene.
There, standing over him, towering over the dead man... was someone.
Like a blood-speckled, wild-fanged shadow pressed against the page of the world.
An unhinged presence that stood there, his jeans covered in that very same blood that was pooling under the corpse.
And as that shape raised its eyes to meet those of Alexstrasza...
"... Haah?"
Travis responded to its mocking sound by tightening his grip on the blonde girl's hand, as if readying to put himself between the two.
Yet, the one who had spoken out with such a crackling sound didn't care.
Instead, he kept looking at Alexstrasza.
"... The hell you staring at, dumbass?"
The young man asked Alexstrasza, as if questioning her very right to look upon his form.
Hisa Momoi
Location: McLampet Manor - Study
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain
"Hot dog! I-if you wouldn't mind, could you perhaps tell me about it in more detail? Perhaps write down some instructions? I would love to try it out on my own, if it's possible."
Allene's simple joy at Hisa's suggestion was frankly rather contagious. For such a thing to cause such genuine joy... it was beginning to dawn just how withdrawn from the rest of the society this girl must have lived. Not only did her actions, mannerisms and speech tell of a certain sense of naivety, she felt rather acutely sheltered from the world at large, which could have explained a lot - especially if she didn't exactly venture out during daytime.
"A-and, well, what comes to being a vampire... isn't it obvious! Everyone knows that Allene McLampet is a scary figure from the town's history, and some say a reclusive vampire at that! Not to mention, w-well..." The girl stopped for a moment, sheepishly avoiding Hisa's gaze as she lifted the ready kettle from the stove. "... sunlight is actually pretty darn painful for me. It hurts my eyes, I always feel a terrible headache when I go outside, and most of all, it almost feels like I'm going to break out in hives when I am outside during the day."
Scratching her cheek a little, the girl looked at Hisa with a gaze that was almost pleading for confirmation.
"What else could that mean but that I am a vampire, r-right?"
As the girl started preparing the jasmine tea properly, all the while filling the tray with the aforementioned jam cookies that brooded over the silver surface, more than a few possibilities rose to Hisa's mind. Sunlight sensitivity wasn't exactly rare in Turnside creatures, it only tended to affect those who were extremely attuned to the night, or were some low-level monsters with hardly any intelligence to speak of. Meanwhile this girl, her naive mind aside, certainly had her full cognitive function. Which could mean...
... Well, there were all-too human conditions that could result in something similar. Photophobia and solar urticaria were the major two that came immediately to the girl's mind.
But then, why the belief that she was a vampire? Just some sort of mental denial of an actual condition? Or perhaps something that Josie McLampet, or someone else, had indeed made her believe?
"There! All ready!" Allene announced, proudly lifting the tray that now contained the ready kettle of Jasmine tea. "Shall we relocate to the study to enjoy this spread? Those fancy armchairs rarely see use, so this is a rare chance!"
Then, after suggestion that, the girl blushed slightly and stared at her feet.
"A-after all, as you said, I'm... rather anxious at times, especially when talking to other people. So now that I have this chance, and for once am feeling alright even in the company of a complete stranger, I'd like to make use of it as much as possible..."
It was almost as she was ashamed, or rather, that she thought she was imposing on Hisa with her hope of just getting to talk to someone.
Elaine Winters
Location: The Lighthouse
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain
"Hmm... classical is good. I doubt we'll run into any annoying symbolic resistances or mismatches with belief systems with that. Solid basics are sometimes the best, as in this case. While it might not work in complicated cases, the sun's the sun. Ain't no bugger going to deny that, unless they're a nutjob. And this guy, as loony as he is, was born and raised in the real world. In other words, his common sense is his weakness against that. Good."
Joshua nodded sagely after Elaine's explanation, offering his own opinion on the procedure. Then, after thinking some more, he lifted his hand again, along with his index finger - as if making a point.
"But you're right. As long as he's piggyback-riding your tin man, he'll be a sonuva gun to actually banish. The real trick is to get him to leave. And you're on the right track here. Castigation, when done properly, should do the trick. The problem is, neither of us knows him well enough. We'd need people who have him pegged and know the things he's done proper-like. Those who know of him or used to share a bond with him," the ghost continued. "The closer the better. A mental barrage is sometimes a right proper weapon against a spirit, so you have to know which ammunition to load."
Then, the middle finger was raised, making it two.
"It might also be possible to bait him, like you said, but the thing is... he might be a crazed, vengeful, ornery one, but he's not stupid. If anything, he's fiendishly clever. It would take something that'd put him off his game and scramble his thoughts to trick him into doing something as stupid as leaving his perfect host," Joashua explained. "You think you'd really have a bait good enough to get him to nibble, much less chomp on, hook, line and sinker? That's a risky business, after all, and you'd be opening yourself up for troubles too, Miss..."
And, finally, a third finger was raised.
"... Of course, there's also the method that is unfortunately common. Make the current residence of the spirit too unbearable, and he'll scamper away like a snake seeing steel-toed boots. In other words... give that abode a right good whacking. Beat the devil outta it... literally, in this case," Joshua grimly added. "Though, as you can imagine, it's not going to be fun for your man either, and he'd need some quick help right after. So, out of all of them, I'd say that would be the last ditch option... unless you think he can take it?"
It certainly was a grim option. And looking at it, none of the three presented were going to be easy. Michael had most likely latched onto Kean like a tick, and it would take some real work to get him to leave, at which point it would even be possible to try to banish him. So, in other words, it looked as if the biggest hurdle was going to be the first step... and who knows how someone like Michael would even react when he'd understand what was going on.
It was not as if church members were strangers to banishing spirits and other creatures.
"--- Hm? Oh, that monster? Right right... I'm talking about the thing that built this lighthouse here. Ol' Red-Eye-Blue-Hair herself..." Joshua lastly commented, almost like an addendum. "Miserable girl and a miserable monster. World's better off without her and her name."
He spoke of it like someone recalling a fishing trip that wasn't particularly interesting.