Act 1, Scene 2: Divers Alarums [Another Kind of Poetry]

Hyrune

Hyrune

One Thousand Club
To Theo


The morning dawns... well, dustily, light streaming through the windows in thick rays generated by so much dead skin cells. Pretty. The house could do with a good airing.


The reason for your waking at all is a rather insistent knocking on your door.


To Jack


... DRRRRRING. DRRRRRRING.


To Cahaill


You've barely closed your front door before something slips underneath it. An envelope.


To Liam


There's a man leaning over you. "You should really get better locks, man."
 
Cahaill Ward


Stripping his wet shirt off, revealing a lean body criss-crossed with scars, Cahaill walks over and kneels down, picking up the envelope. As he does so, he flicks the letterbox flap open, checking to see who delivered it.
 
The rays of the morning sun shine directly in Liam's face. It was his favorite alarm system. Except today it wasn't, at least not as bright as it usually does. This would be due to the man leaning over his bed. Of course, having had a particularly sobering night last night, Liam screams. Liam practically jumps out of bed. "How'd he get in here?" "you should probably ask him that." How'd you get in here?" He pauses for a moment, remembering the line about the locks. "Scratch that, What are you doin' in my apartment?"
 
To Cahaill


There's no one there. Typical.


To Liam


The man wiggles his little finger in one ear. "First of all: ouch. Second of all: nice lungs, good projection. Thirdly, I'm here to give you this!" He presents you with a little envelope, accompanied with a lot of flourish on his part.
 
Cahaill Ward


"Hmph." Letting the letterbox click shut, he turns his attention to the letter.
 
"Okay...Who are you, again?" Liam is fairly skeptical of all this.He's not in the most trusting of moods, and let's it show. Still, he takes the offered letter and looks it over.
 
To Liam


"Dear sir,


Your presence is hereby requested at Pery's Hotel at 10 PM sharp this evening.


Do not be late."


"Catch ya later." As your eyes scan the missive, your messenger takes his leave, cool as a breeze.


To Cahaill


"Cahaill,


There's a party on tonight in Revelry, you're gonna be there, right? No backing out on me now!


Marty"
 
"...the hell..." He stares at the letter a while longer."We're not going, are we? you haven't had the best of luck with strangers lately." "I know. But what if this is related. I'll go, just to see what it's all about. First sign of trouble, we'll go." And I think some recon beforehand wouldn't go amiss... First things first. Liam makes himself some breakfast. Eggs and toast really hits the spot. A pot of coffee helps to wake him up, and he writes down everything he can recall from last night. He pays particular attention to emotions and imagery. After he gets the notes down for his next novel, he hops on the net and looks up all he can on this Pery's Hotel.
 
Theo Harvey


"Coming! Coming!" He shouts, struggling hastily into a pair of trousers and last night's shirt.


Who the hell could it be at this hour? What hour is it, come to that... Actually. who the hell is it at all.


"TV License inspector or some irksome charity vulture..." He mutters, rubbing his eyes and stumbling to the door, opening it wide.


"Hello?"
 
To Liam





The Pery Hotel is part of the Best Western chain of hotels in a somewhat out of the way part of Limerick. It's odd location means people often refer to it as having three addresses, sitting as it does at the end of Glentworth St, Pery St (naturally) but also a bare stone's throw from Baker's Place.


It's the usual arrangement of tidiness and charm typical of any hotel in the chain, cradled between a printmakers, an unused casino, a Dominican Church and a decaying courthouse...


To Theo


Something square and not all that soft smacks you - hard - in the face. "Yo, letter for you."
 
Cahaill Ward


Groaning, Cahaill gets back up and goes upstairs to run the shower before sleeping for a few hours. "Fuck's sake...." Oh well, wanted to go drinking anyway...
 
Jack awoke slowly, as the ringing of the phone slowly faded into reality. He picked it up, held the receiver against his chest as he yawned and sat up, and pressed it against his ear.


"Mahieu speaking."
 
Liam Moore


"Alright then...time for a trip." Liam says to himself as he gets off the computer. "We're scoping the place? "Yea, why not? Can't hurt to know the layout. Plus, I wanna check out that courthouse." "Looking for her? "Course."


With that, Liam grabs his coat and things and heads out. This time he'll take a cab. The plan being to check out the layout of at least the first floor of the place, then look to see how easy it might be to sneak into the abandoned courthouse.
 
To Liam


Early morning Limerick, with people still staggering home to bed. You could be charitable - a number of them are probably actually returning from a night shift of some sort (the blonde over there is clearly some sort of nurse, for starters, that guy could be a security guard) - but let's face it, a lot of these people are just drunk, evidenced by the puddles of vomit they leave in their wake. Do remember to watch your step when you get out of the taxi...


For his part, the driver is quiet as he motors up along Glentworth St, turning sharply onto Catherine St at the corner and looking at you in his mirror. "A fiver even there, sir."


 
To Jack


"Goooood morning sir, this is your wake-up call. Today's breakfast menu includes full continental. You should really get to the Pery Hotel at 10 tonight! Guests are reminded to tip generously! Hehe! Don't be late."


beep...beep...beep...
 
"Five it is. Cheers." Liam hands the cash to the cabby, including a nice tip, and hops out of the cab. He spends some time roaming about, has a cigarette or two, getting to know the street and surrounding area. Once the day picks up a bit he'll move to the hotel itself.
 
Theo Harvey


"Th-thank you." Scowling, Theo retreats inside and opens the letter.
 
Jack stood outside of his hotel, wearing his business attire, since he'd have to be getting to work at some point. He lit a cigarette for Grieves, and started his walk to---well, wherever it is that his office would be tucked away.


This is to say, unless you have something interesting planned before 10 tonight, Little Jack is heading to work.
 
To Liam


The lobby of the hotel is a modest affair, brightly lit with that unique sort of light that only certain hotels possess, the kind seemingly designed for brochures. There's a stairs to your left, leading down, with a velvet rope barring passage, and another short set of stairs directly in front of you, leading up onto a landing where the Reception is situated, along with a small sitting room, for lack of a better term, and a bistro of sorts on the left.


The bathrooms and elevators are located at the very back of the lobby.
 
To Theo


"Git," the messenger (a girl) mutters before she starts to walk down the steps and away from the door.
 
To Jack


You'll mosey away from the Clarion, all the way down Steamboat Quay and towards a roundabout outside another hotel, Jury's Inn, with a rather odd fountain outside. A quick glance at its plaque reveals the title: "Broken Heart". The River Shannon is to your right, the longest river in Ireland, which empties into the Atlantic in Limerick. Of course, you can probably get a much better view from your hotel room.


You take a right here, passing Jury's Inn and, a bit lost, making your way towards what seems to be the Main Street... O'Connell St, you think... you're nearish to something called the Crescent if your memory serves at all, which it probably doesn't.


None of this really matters anymore, of course, as Mr. Grieves decides to give you a kick in the back of the head. Metaphorically speaking, of course, but Mr. Grieves being who he is/it is, it still manages to hurt. "Look, look!"
 
Theo Harvey


Theo watches her go, briefly, then settles at the kitchen table to open the letter.
 
To Theo


"Mr. Harvey,


We would appreciate your presence this evening at a get-together at the Pery Hotel at 10 PM.


Yours,


Jessica Alworthe"


Ah, Jessica. She's part of one of Limerick's krewes: the biggest one, really, the Adhocracy of Prophets. They tend to throw good parties...
 
Theo Harvey


"Hm. I was in the mood for a soirée." Theo goes to get dressed properly for the day, electing to have breakfast out, and then look into hiring some help.


Care and caution, Theophilius.


"You worry too much."


You do not worry enough
 
Liam Moore


Liam does a round or two of the ground floor, getting a good map in his head. Then he'll exit and start giving the perimeter of the old courthouse, looking to find a likely entrance that's out of sight of the street. He'll try to look like he's not casing the place. But he's totally casing the place.
 
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