Prushka
Location: Big Boy's Gas Station - Bar
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain
Eventually, without too much of a fanfare aside from the grunting and panting of the two combatants, Billie Boulders found the back of her hand slammed against the surface of the counter. The woman let out a sheepish laughter, sounding like guffawing bellows, while Ahti snickered a bit and wiped his nose. All in all, it looked to be a surprisingly good-natured competition - one the two had focused on so greatly that they had not even noticed Xandra and Prushka arriving to the bar.
"That means a free pint, lady," Ahti grunted, motion a gimme with his fingers. "Pay up, pay up."
Billie scratched the back of her head and chuckled again.
"Ahahaha, you sure are a merciless lad, aren't you? Fine fine, promise is a promise - and I got one hell of a challenge for it. I guess it's only fair for letting me experience something like that," the woman said with a grin and grabbed one of the pints from the hooks. "Have to say, you have quite a bit of muscle there, even if it doesn't look like it. Or rather, I bet you ten bucks that there's nothing but muscle underneath there."
Ahti cackled, leaning his elbows against the table while stretching his wrist.
"Yeah, you could say that. Haven't been able to pack the pounds lately," he replied, watching as the bartender filled the pint from the tap. "No time for alcohol either, so this certainly is nice."
As the two of them laughed at that, another voice joined their merriment - this one much deeper for a woman's voice, almost to the point of being husky. A second woman, one with brown hair and the sultry look of someone classy part-timing as a bar floozy sauntered from the back room and rounded the corner, taking her place right next to Ahti. The woman, Carrie Lakes, batted her eyelashes at the young man in clearly over-exaggerated way, causing him to jerk back a little bit.
"Mm, I must say, it was quite thrilling to watch," Carrie purred, a teasing glint in her eyes. "Not many have beaten Billie here in arm-wrestling, or been able to lift a pint with their good hand afterwards. You're certainly in the league of yoru own, tiger..."
Ahti, looking like he didn't know exactly how to react to this, hid the panic in his eyes and buried his face into the pint overflowing with beer that was handed to him.
"Y-yeah, I guess..." the boy grumbled, for once appearing to be more like a prey than a predator. "I suppose I'm pretty awesome that way..."
Xandra, overlooking this all with a raised eyebrow, snickered quietly and elbowed Prushka lightly to the ribs, as if telling her to pay attention to the fun show about to begin. Or perhaps to join in on it now that the boy was, for once, on the defensive.
Still, the aura around that woman, Carrie Rivers was quite... something. It was like with a flick of a switch she was smoldering.
Liana Skye
Location: Spade Queen Country Club
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain
Almost immediately, the mood at the table grew... silent. Darker. Like there was something outside, in the windows, watching and listening to the three.Originally Posted by Liana
Ferguson finished up his whiskey as well, but instead of reaching for the tea, he went and poured himself another one, like he was going to need that to steel his nerves. Hawthorn, on the other hand, reached out for the thermos of tea and poured himself a cup... and for some reason, he didn't seem to mind too much about Liana hanging onto his arm. SUre, he had looked annoyed before, but now... he looked almost glad that the girl was there.
They could all feel it, that much was for certain.
The incessant glare from within that onyx statue.
The malice radiating from it.
That hunger for... whatever it was.
Vengeance? Against whom?
Revenge? Who?
It was impossible to say...
"I... have to admit, I do not much care for it. It's a... frankly filthy piece of artwork, if I'm honest. My all accounts and sensibilities. Sure, the subject depicted on it might look like a human, but I have my reservations. Somehow... I feel as if it's nothing like us. Something that merely looks like a human, like those old tales of monsters wearing people as guises," the agent replied with a dry, humourless smile. "If anything, I'd like to question the owner of this place for having built such a ghastly thing in the first place. It can't be good for the otherwise beautiful garden..."
Hawthorn chuckled at that, but he didn't sound especially amused either.
"You got that right. And if you want to bring it up with the bossman, you can try. I think he's up in his office for once. Well, who knows? Hearing some complaints might be good for him once," the younger man replied. "Knowing him, he's spending his evening with another one of those big shot dreams of his. Wonder what it is this time? Underwater theme parks named after Lemuria, or maybe moon hotels... he's brilliant at what he does, but his aims are always way too big. One time I heard him thinking about an escape room built as a to-scale copy of the Titanic, where the rooms would realistically flood in order to simulate the sensation of being on a sinking ship."
Hawthorn simply rolled his eyes and lifted the cup of tea to his lips.
"I swear, he's got more than a few screws loose... oh." The younger man blinked in surprise, gazing at the tea. "Huh... this is pretty good, you know. Why, if I didn't know any better, I'd say your skills in the kitchen aren't just tall tales you like to spin."
With a hint of a smile, he patted Liana on the head... and in a way that almost felt genuine. Like he wasn't even trying to tease her. Which, of course, made the gesture most confusing of all.
Ferguson, on the other hand, was still having hard time hiding his smile.
Elaine Winters
Location: The Lighthouse
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain
"Hrm... I suppose, in a way. For some reason, that one blasted family, the McLampets, ended up having similar eyes and hair."
Joshua grumbled that while rubbing his chin in a manner that was in no way fitting for his youthful looks. Rather, it looked as if he should have been sitting in a rocking chair with a pipe in his hands and a blanket over his legs.
"Maybe they're relatives of hers, maybe not... at the very least, I didn't see too much of those kids while they were still here. They weren't exactly interested in the sea. To the contrary, they were far more interested in the forest, which is why the town changed as it did. From what I understand, there was some hullabaloo with them some decades ago, but as for specifics, beats me," the ghost continued with a dry smirk. "I can't very well leave here, what with being stuck and cursed and all, so all I can do is watch from windows and chat if a person or two happens to come snooping around. Been a lot of them lately. That redhead lass, of course - she feeds me even though I don't really need it, but then there's been that tiny foreigner too."
Joshua laughed slightly crudely and hovered her hand somewhere around the height of a relatively short person... or perhaps a short person with a rather big hairdo.
"She came here because of all the spirits traipsing about, but she's been pretty good for a chit-chat or two. Likes to stand atop the lighthouse and keep people away for their own good... well, that and recite all sorts of poetry when she thinks no one is looking. Scared the daylights outta her when I first interrupted her during one of those times," Joshua explained with a cackle. "Then there's been all the one-off visitors like you, Miss, or the tiger-striped lady with a tail, or that lady who reeks of perfume... yup, lot of visitors these days."
Then, suddenly, the ghost with the mismatched eyes paused and leveled a momentary stare of confusion towards Elaine - almost like he had realized something.
"Oh, actually, speaking of which... what was that you said? House of amber light?" Joshua asked, before patting the wall of the building with his incorporeal hand. "You wouldn't happen to mean this place, do you? I mean, it's hard to see now since they took it off, but once upon a time this place used to have the prettiest light on the whole west coast up there. Amber Eye they called it. Was made by this guy, a real artist back in the day... heh, I bet his house stands even to today. Had this fancy amber glass pane on the front door, too."
Suddenly, Elaine felt a strange shiver pass through her body... and it wasn't just because of the cold.
Ougi Outis
Location: McLampet Manor - Study
Phase: Evening Phase
Date: 09.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain
"G-go outside...?"
The mere idea seemed to stun Allene for a moment, but then...
"Hot dog! That sounds amazing! O-of course I'll come, that'd be just utterly incredible!"
Throwing her arms up in the air, the girl once again avoided splashing tea everywhere just by a hair's breadth. In the next moment that same cup had been slammed against the table between the two armchairs, and Allene looked like she was about to jump at Hisa and catch her into a big hug... only to catch herself just before that and slump back into her chair, cheeks once again red and looking quite embarrassed at her outburst. Still, even in her flushed-up state, she couldn't hide the big, big grin that was spreading all over her face, or the giddy excitement flashing in her eyes.
"I-I mean, that certainly sounds wonderful? I'd be happy to accompany you outside... t-though, we'll need to do it a bit sneakily if we are to avoid Josie. She doesn't like when I head out on my own, even at night, and I've gotten more than a few scoldings because of it. Buuuut, she doesn't know that I have my own copy of the master key these days, so if we can just sneak past her or distract her with something, it should be a piece of cake!" Allene continued, trying to act more mature and calm. "Oh gosh... what should I wear? I better take my parasol with me, even if it's cloudy, there's a chance I might get a migraine, but if I shield myself a little bit, things should be okay and... oh, I just can't wait!"
Truly, for such a simple promsie to cause such an outburst of joy... this girl really could derive joy from the most mundane things. Though in this case, it appeared to be more than just the fact that she would go out, it was also that she had someone to go out with. To become this excited at the prospect of spending some time with a person they barely even knew... Allene McLampet, or whoever she was, must have been starving of human contact.
How long had she spent alone in this house, with only Josie for her company?
"O-oh...! Oh, oh dear... that reminds me... oh, oh gosh..." Allene suddenly said, her expression falling and her shoulders sagging. "I... I completely forgot. Oh gosh, I completely forgot! Stupid, stupid me! I should have thought about it before-hand, but I always figured people would come during the day...!"
With an anxious look in her eyes, the girl leaned closer to Hisa.
"I'm sorry Ougi, but are... um, are you a good climber? Good enough that you might rappel down to the ground from the third floor if I provide a rope?" She asked, sounding worried. "Y-you see, as it happens, it's already close to night and it's getting dark, which means... oh, it means that..."
She looked deathly serious, far unlike she had looked when she had claimed to be a vampire.
"... The monsters in this mansion are waking up and start patrolling the hallways."