Realistic or Modern If December Freezes (IC)

[Rhyme]

Indy

Location: On the run
Tags: Out Of Words Worthlessplebian Mentions:

Bernard definitely said something, but the actual what was lost on Indy as the screaming in her head paired with the absolutely fucking manic way he was speaking paired together to rain hell on her brain. She waved him off noncommittally, starting off toward the woods--he would follow if he wanted; hopefully, he hadn't said anything important.

The screaming, thank all that was holy, finally stopped like a candle flame that was suddenly pinched out, leaving only the throbbing ache in her skull once they passed the treeline and entered the woods. It was strange; she could tell there was some kind of pattern to the pains in her head, but it was still too inconsistent to be of any use. Everything hurt, except for certain areas--although, even those hurt sometimes, depending on...something.

She huffed, arms crossed tight over her chest. Right. Useful. At least Bernard had seemed similarly affected, even if not quite the same way--she got a musical lobotomy, and he got...metaphorical cocaine, from the sound of it. Again, just her luck.

Every muscle in her body had ached after dragging that corpse out of the water and now, following the walk that was quickly becoming an uphill hike, she felt absolutely fluid and ready to melt. Bernard, frustratingly, seemed entirely unaffected. If anything, his steady steps were quickly becoming stomps beside her--more powerful and confident with each passing second. She chanced a glance at him, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

What she saw sent a chill across her skin. Phantom fur stuck up in nervous puffs; if she had her tail, it would be a goddamn Q-tip, as Bernard looked like he literally wanted to eat her. In fairness, he had always looked a bit intimidating--but he was positively predatory as he stared down at her and she had no fucking clue why.

"You need to hit me with something..." Why did he almost sound excited?! "Because Indy... you may want to run."

"Ah shit."

Indy was a notoriously poor student throughout her life, but there were certain occasions where she learned her lessons quickly; this was one of them. Loose limbs suddenly regained their strength as she immediately began to sprint ahead through the trees, stumbling over only to grab the largest stone she could find and whip it back toward Bernard--not even pausing to ensure it hit him as she scrambled ahead toward the station.

"Don't do this!" She screeched desperately. "Please--I literally just got the fucking voices to stop screaming and now this shit!"

It did, in fact, occur to her how bad that sounded.

She really needed to get back to the city once this was all over.

coded by: @s e v e n

 

[Worthlessplebian]

Bernard Greve
Location: On the hunt;
With: Indy;
Interactions: Rhyme Mentions: Out Of Words
Art by leevolt on DeviantArt
Mood: Horrible Hunger Hemorrhages Humanity;​

Bernard, or whatever shred of humanity was in him, chained the beast with the last pints of willpower. Like an alcoholic however, those pints were quickly gulped down. An animalistic snarl exploded from him. Jabbing fingernails into palms as he balled his fists. Slumping forward with his head down, an arc of electricity bounced from skull down his spine then bifurcated into his legs. A literal jolt in his limbs as dirt flew in the wake of his sprint. Run, little cat, run. Scat, little cat, scat. Less you go splat when the big bad bat digs his fangs into you! He smells her through trees, he sees her through the greens. There is no where to hide, no time to bide, only time to cry! She stumbles, she trips, his lips wet with hunger. He is set to feed and no stone would stop him now, not even on the head. Now with hands a'hone, he pins the little cat with one by the shoulder and raises the other to feast. Her pleas fall to deaf ears as eyes blank of intelligence or ego stare through her. Until he stops. Shoulder stuck in a vice grip, but he stopped like a statue. His claw still hovered in front of her, one that moments ago would've clasped around her neck and sucked her dry.

A shade of red pooled at the front of his forehead then snaked down between his eyes down his cheek and dripped from his chin. Bernard's legs buckled as if they couldn't support his weight. Hand still clutching her shoulder, though less tighter than before. The professor began to breathe, short and desperate for air. Min Gud, min Gud, min Gud, min Gud kept repeating over and over in his head. Bernard was never religious; not out of disdain for the faith, but if there was a God then he thanks Him for sparing Indy.

"I... My deepest apologies, Indy..." Bernard grieved, shook with regret. He did not have an excuse, he did not want to conjure an excuse. If he feeds when empty and feeds when full then when is it safe to be around him? His hand clutched dirt, finding the will to stand up. His pant legs were tarnished by the dirt, but his pride and soul even more so by this detestable deed. His eyes look at Indy, the blue -oceanic almost- had returned to the iris. The calculations were still there, but the coldness was replaced by a sincere sorrow. Bernard only now realized that he was still holding her shoulder and reluctantly he broke the hand away. Indeed, he even took a few steps back to relieve Indy's assaulted personal space.

Leaned against tree with his shoulder. An awkward silence took before the academic side of him explained. "My hypothesis was that I would not need to feed again, but I... Seemed to have sunk that ship indefinitely." His gaze finally broke away as he could not look her in the eye. Not chancing another outburst. "All this energy," He lamented inspecting the red dents left behind by his fingernails on his palm. A thought occurred to him, what if he need not release it so futilely? What if instead he gave it to Indy? A tiny part enough to energize her? The poor girl was exhausted beforehand, but... No, after that Bernard rescinded any courtesy of being near her.

 

[Out Of Words]

IF DECEMBER FREEZES​

IC Thread - Discord Compilation (Riley)
​

Apparently, the further he moved away from Augie, the more the voice seemed to loosen its tongue, for once. Yet it still wasn't being convincing enough. If anything, it sounded desperate by attempting to appeal to his good intentions, especially after it'd just broken Augie's arm.

But if it was willing to answer, Rio was willing to ask.

Protect my pal whose arm you just broke?

That was good to start.

The voice chuckled low, "Well, if we were working together, that wouldn't have happened. You would have been able to stop the fall, perhaps even from happening in the first place. After all, it wasn't the wind that broke his arm, was it? It was the landing. And your piss poor attempt to soften the fall."

The dog let out a snort.

It wasn't the wind and it wasn't the landing. It was who pushed him.

Was it saying breaking Augie's arm was just an attempt at making a point? Sounded like a shitty excuse to him.

"Oh, did you see someone push your pal? Looked like he was the only thing in that tree to me."

Fuck off.

He stood up, shaking his fur off again as he started trotting back to Augie.

How could he potentially make a deal with something that was mocking the accident that almost killed his friend, and on top of that denying an obivous responsibility in it? No. It was all cards on the table, or nothing.

The darkness made a sound like a clicking of the tongue. "Tsk tsk. All right. Think it over a bit more. Just be careful it's before they come for your friends. They need them for..." But Boy was close to Augie again and the voice seemed to cut off abruptly.

The dog froze in place, but it was too late. The phrase had already been cut off, leaving him wondering what it could possibly be 'they' needed his friends for. But the voice never really left him, did it?

He turned around, and moved closer to the entrance of the cave, to a spot where he'd been hearing the voice before it disappeared.

Why do you care? It didn't care, was his bet. But it's interest had to be explained somehow. What would you get out of it?

There was mirth in the tone. "Why, we'd both be stronger. I wouldn't be abandoned to the shadows, you wouldn't be helpless to help those you care about."

With that answer, the dog was quiet for a good bit, but he didn't move any closer to or further from Augie. He just lie on his stomach right on the spot. It wasn't a good answer by any means, but he liked that there was a dialogue. Back and forth. Not random apparitions and riddles. Although perhaps the riddle aspect of it all wasn't completely gone.

But while he wondered whether he'd ever get a true answer to any of his questions, he couldn't help but ask.

Why can I see?

"A gift." The one was a bit softer in his head, like a snake oil salesman. "A token of trust." And then a little lower still. "A reward."

Followed by a couple of seconds filled with silence before the voice returned to normal volume. "Take your pick, whichever one helps you sleep at night. Bottom line, I need you to see things now."

He tried to pick out little bits of hidden information that might be between the lines, or might be carried by the voice tone, but it was hard. His attention span was only getting shorter, the more information was thrown at him. He, too was quiet for a bit before he 'spoke' again.

Because of what's in the water? What do they need my friends for? What even is that?

"Yessssss." The 'S' was drawn out, and the word itself felt heavy. "It's better you don't know, but if we don't work together, none of us will be leaving alive."

With the voice's answer, it felt like his stomach was slowly but surely sinking. For once, he didn't really know what else to ask or what to say at all. He stayed silent for a good bit, and didn't really move, not getting any closer to Augie and the muffin that still sat on the ground. He kind of wasn't really hungry after that conversation.

Of course there were still more questions to be asked, but his mind was having a hard time formulating them. But he eventually did have something else to say.

Then I think knowing it would probably convince me. Besides not harming my friends.

There was a good lengthy silence, though the presence of the dark Riley never lessened. "Knowing what it is, will make it be more aware of you. You don't want that."

Whatever lived in his head, it was good at dodging questions for sure. But one thing was true, and it was that they shared a body. So Boy at least knew they had one common interest, which was to keep this shabby black dog alive, which still didn't mean the voice was being truthful.

More aware of me? The one reason it didn't take me was because Augie stood between us. I bet it's pretty aware of me.

He paused for a while, too. He was now getting used to that presence that had been creeping him out whenever it made itself known, and no longer felt the urge to shut it out. As he lowered his head and rested his chin on the cold stone floor, he decided to stay quiet for a little longer, not sure what to say next. Perhaps the voice in his head had ideas.

The voice gave a confused grunt, followed by near maniacal laughter before it spoke again. "Oh.. oh... you think.. OH! This is rich." There was a bit of snickering and snorting in the merriment. One could picture Dark Riley rolling around on the floor with the sound of it.

Several soft little hiccups of sound followed, as the dark laughter subsided again and it attempted to clarify. "Oh, nonono. That is not it. It is much, much, much worse than you can even fathom. Best to not fry your little brain on it. Just know the one you're talking about, is akin to a mouse in the house of a giant."

When the voice finally realized what he meant, the sudden laughter startled him and had him standing up and shaking off again. It was annoying, the way it laughed, as if he had any chance of knowing what the hell he was dealing with. He barely even knew who he was talking to in his head.

But despite being annoying, it was talking and telling him things, so he sat down and didn't complain. Yet it still felt like the thing was laughing forever, until it finally stopped and clarified. And it made Boy not really sure whether he felt relieved to be finally learning something, or scared. At the very least, more worried.

Again, he didn't really know what to say right away. What he really wanted to do was get as far away from Marasong as possible, to be honest. But for now, he tried to distract his mind from such thoughts.

'What's happening at the beach tomorrow? Should I be worried?' He asked when he found himself staring blankly at the makeshift wall Augie had built. Perhaps the voice wouldn't really know it, if it really lived in his head. But it did seem to know a lot of things.

There was always an underlying tone of mirth, of some amusement at the question perhaps. Or a gloating that the darkness felt like it had the answers and could eke them out in small portions as it wished. "Not you. Very few suspect you're more than a mutt. Best to keep it that way."

The voice was determined to not give him a straightforward answer regarding whatever kind of thing was going on in Marasong. Fine. He paused for a moment as he tried to think of what else he could potentially ask to take advantage of that opportunity.

'Who's Tilly? What is she?'

"Simply put. A force to be reckoned with. The best and potentially the worst thing that could happen to you. I'm bored now, though. Go do your doggy things. Think on my offer. I'll be here." Its presence faded, but still remained in the back, never quite letting Boy feel 'free' from it.

And just like that, the voice went from mirthful to bored. In less than a minute. And Boy was left with yet another vague answer, unable to tell even where the voice's opinion of Tilly lay. Had he really learned that much after all?

It left him alone, but not really. Its presence was still there, which made the dog wonder whether 'bored' was anything other than a shitty excuse. What could a voice that lived in his head be possibly doing right now?

He got up from where he was, but resisted the impulse to join Augie and walked to the entrance of the cave, where he had a good view of the beach. He knew the voice couldn't talk to him when he was close to Augie, so if he kept his distance, the voice would have the opportunity to speak if it wanted to.

But the voice remained silent, as the day waned. The waves in the water seemed a little more turbulent than usual. Angry slaps against the land, as if by doing so it could wash it away. There was a chill in the air which grew sharper and more biting the closer to night it became.

Tomorrow was a new day, but something was unsettled tonight, enraged even. The darkness shifted about in the back of Boy's mind, but it remained silent all the same.

Watching the waves wasn't as relaxing of an activity as it used to be. Something felt off, though he couldn't pinpoint exactly what. Perhaps it was just a change in the tide or the season, but something told him it wasn't, something he also couldn't pinpoint.

But the expectation of possibly hearing from the voice again kept him from moving until it was considerably later. He also couldn't stop thinking about its proposal, and how he still didn't truly understand what it entailed. It scared him.

On and off, Tilly face crossed his mind. Could she potentially help him? She sure seemed to know everything. But a glance toward Augie made him brush off the idea to go find her right then. After all, she'd said herself to Augie to keep him close. It sure wouldn't be smart to leave Augie alone, at night, after hearing something like that.

So Boy finally approached Augie, grabbed his cold muffin and curled up by his side. Perhaps the next morning they'd go see Tilly again.

IF DECEMBER FREEZES
A story by Out Of Words​

Season One: A Night Bleeds​

 

[Out Of Words]

IF DECEMBER FREEZES​

IC Thread - Discord Compilation (Leif)
​

The state Leif found himself in wasn't one he knew well. He knew he wasn't transformed, not fully at least, but his mind wasn't fully his own. Or was it? Was the beast truly a separate being? He didn't remember consciously relinquishing control, and it still felt like he retained some. Yet when the bubble was finally pierced, he was hit with a wave of panic at the thought of leaving Chase to the beast's mercy.

The moment the so desired blood finally touched his lips, however, it calmed down, not entirely retreating but giving the vampire some more clarity of mind. It'd never simmered down like that without killing someone before. But the brief moment of clarity lasted barely a second. The spell had been broken, and with it any sense of peace left in the room.

Chase woke, but not by any means in the way Leif hoped he eventually would. He woke in a sea of pain, cold and chaos, drawing Leif in with him, a sea so very different than the quiet waters Leif found himself in last time he tasted Chase's blood. It was too much to allow the vampire to organize any thoughts, and all he could do was hold on the best way that he could, being completely swallowed into Chase's mind and out of whatever reality he was currently in. The dreadful realization of having broken a protective spell remained in the back of his mind a little longer, but the physical pain soon took completely over.

Had it not been an anchor, he might've gotten carried away into those waters, into that curse. An anchor which was nothing less than the shifter's blood itself, the one thing that tied all those realities and timelines together. The one thing that let him stay remotely aware of his surroundings, remotely aware of where he truly was despite that overwhelming attempt at taking over his senses.

Yet fighting back felt like trying to suppress something ethereal with metaphorical hands, something that just slipped through one’s fingers. But he’d been able to break a spell, hadn’t he? And while he felt powerless attempting to fight the thousands of screaming voices in his head, the thousands of staring eyes, tasting Chase’s familiar blood allowed him to claim enough control to (ironically) stop.

He stopped drinking, and it felt almost like emerging from a sea of pure chaos. A sea from which he emerged alone, leaving Chase to face the cold, the pain and the choir of furious voices by himself, which immediately caused the vampire to want to dive back in. But if only there was something he could do there. While sharing into the turmoil of Chase’s head, there was little he could do besides holding on and hoping for the best with him. Outside, though, trembling hands let go of both Chase and a cracked bed frame, guided by instinct, or perhaps something else beyond Leif’s perception, for his conscious mind was caught too far into the sounds of Chase’s screaming to be able to register much else.

He pressed his weight into his elbows to keep Chase from moving too much, upper body still leaning forward over the man. Almost as if with a will of its own, his right hand moved to hold his left wrist in place, and a fingernail the shape of a claw dug into the skin, tearing through flesh, veins and ligaments with unmeasured strength as it dragged across and blood gushed out. Blood that was black like tar and smelled like something was burning.

Leif half guided, half watched as he moved his wounded arm up so the blood would gush into Chase's mouth. The logic was that the power that was able to break a spell that was keeping that curse at bay ought to be powerful enough to hold it off. But it'd be a lie to say Leif was simply and actually following logic. All he heard as he lowered his head and rested his forehead on Chase's chest, arm still stretched out, was the shifter's painful screams, his thumping heartbeats, and the echoes of the thousands of voices that still haunted him.

It was difficult at first, to get Chase to drink while he was screaming and writhing in pain and confusion. Rivulets of the black blood trailed out the edges of his mouth, but eventually the shifter did drink. There was a small bit of coughing and natural resistance, but slowly, Chase seemed to be settling. He was screaming less, squirming less.

Until he lay there, silent and motionless.

Blue eyes were wide and staring up at the ceiling, though it was clear he still couldn't see anything. Or hear anything outside whatever was in his head now. And yet, there was a sign of improvement, as one hand curled the fabric of the shirt the vampire wore. Trembling fingers held on tightly to the side of the material. They clenched enough to be a white knuckled grip.

But he wasn't screaming.

It worked. Or at the very least, Chase stopped screaming and fighting back, which was something that was gradually registered by the vampire as screams gave place to stillness. A stillness that would have been dreadful, had Leif not been quietly feeling and listening to the quieter but steady sound of the shifter's heartbeats, still there, always so comforting.

Chase was there, or at least partially. As Leif lifted his head off the shifter's chest, he noticed the man couldn't see and couldn't hear, but his grip on the vampire's shirt showed there was some sort of connection to the outside world that had been preserved, or restored.

A connection that Leif'd also partially lost himself, and now regained as radiating pain started traveling up his wounded arm, and as he fully took in the scent of Chase's blood tainted by his own that still flowed from his wrist, a flow that was slowed down by a slow but steady healing process. It'd clearly be a while before he had a fully functional left hand again. He hadn't suffered an injury that deep since perhaps the middle ages.

But he didn't truly care about that, just as he didn't truly care about finding an explanation for whatever had just happened. It was a whole new way to look at the relationship he had with the curse that lived within him, yet it was one that wasn't very clear yet. The curse was still very awake, restless, but quieter and calmer than it was a minute ago.

Chase's neck still bled a little, droplets trickling slowly and teasingly while the bite wound wasn't fully closed. Leif's eyes were glued on his face, but they involuntarily started trailing down to his neck. And it wasn't without a pinch of guilt that the vampire bowed his head down to drink again. Yes, he wanted to know what was going on in Chase's mind. What had changed. He had to. But he also wanted to taste that blood again, just for a little, short minute.

IF DECEMBER FREEZES
A story by Out Of Words​

Season One: A Night Bleeds​

 

[Out Of Words]

IF DECEMBER FREEZES

IC Thread - GM Post

GM Updates​

Hatsu checks out the box, but there's barely a chitter to be had. Mary still isn't anywhere to be seen, and when Hatsu didn't get a response from Bill, a quick look revealed even more trouble with a capital T.

Bill didn't seem to be responding to Hatsu, or to anything really. She seemed frozen in front of the computer screen, fingers lightly resting on the keyboard. She was breathing, blinking, but beyond that she seemed a shell of her former self. Eyes were open, staring at the screen, and nothing Hatsu seemed to say caused a reaction.

Roje was having a heck of a time herself. Bleeding, blind, and deaf, it was becoming harder and harder to even know if she was talking out loud. If the words she was thinking even made sense coming out of her mouth. In other words, being deaf was starting to become a hindrance more and more.

One good thing however, the warmth of the sun seemed to be lessening. Perhaps it mean the day was nearly done and the sun was setting. It might provide a better opportunity for Roje to find some way back to town. Then again, being blind, the vampire might have equal chance of finding the edge of a cliff first.

Meanwhile, Indy and Bernard had a close encounter they'd both likely not remember later. Tension was high, as was Bernard's energy, fairly crackling loud enough for Indy to hear. Like static shocks erupting along Bernard's skin, causing small pops any time Indy came in contact with the other.

Thankfully, in the run, they were that much closer to the ranger station and could see the outline from where they were. There weren't any lights on inside, but it was a might better sight than a body at the docks. The sun was setting soon, and a chill already in the air. Or was that just a result of the predatory chase?

Augie shared some secret bacon he was trying to save for later, but apparently felt bad with Boy's apparently depressed demeanor. He unwrapped it from the bag Tilly had hidden deep in the bag, and offered it to Boy. "Eat up. We should have plenty of food stored away, but we can get out some early in the morning tomorrow. Past afternoon, we don't want to be outside until Saturday." He gave the dog some good chin scritches and finished another muffin as he slipped into silence again.

While in Leviathan's house, Leif dipped down to take another taste. Whether the vampire rationalized it as just wanting to know what was going on in Chase's mind or not, he drank again. It was quiet, there wasn't any screaming, chanting, voices directing the shifter to do this, or that. It was a whole lot of... nothing.

Chase was alive, breathing and all that jazz. However, the curtains of seaweed were gone, replaced with simply darkness. The sound of the water in his ears were silent, leaving nothing behind. The blood tasted the same, there was no mistaking it was still Chase. However, it was a dark abyss that greeted the vampire.




OOC Information

Roje Britt-21 : The sun is definitely less intense, and you figure it shouldn't be much longer if it was indeed setting. Then you're free to explore the area if you're okay with possibly finding a cliff or other natural danger before you find town again.

Hatsu, Bill silverwhere BillieRoss : Bill's gone comatose while staring at the computer. No matter what you do or say, it seems to have no effect. Combined with the cat suddenly disappearing, this is likely very disconcerting. More so when you notice the goose bumps along Bill's arms. Bill, before you post message me in Discord for some more details.

Indy, Bernard Rhyme Worthlessplebian : The ranger station is close, just a few minutes walk. Indy, you get small shocks any time Bernard comes into contact with your person. Better than being bitten and drained, amirite? Bernard, mortified about your actions, or not, you know the electricity needs to be released somehow, somewhere, or you risk another surge of bloodlust.

Riley KodakWolf : The mood in the cave is more mellow than depressed, at least from Augie. He's seemed to have settled in, even has a few smiles and chuckles as he gives you good chin pets. Though there's something in the way he's looking at you that leads you to believe he's not saying everything on his mind.

Leif KodakWolf : You are greeted with nothing, no sound, no visions, nothing aside from the steady calm beating of Chase's heartbeat, and the rhythm of his breathing. Yet, it feels like what made Chase who he is, has gone missing temporarily. You hope it's temporary. It suddenly makes you think of Marius, sitting in the cafe starting out at nothing and mumbling nonsense, but even that is more than what you're sensing from Chase at the moment.

IF DECEMBER FREEZES
A story by Out Of Words​

Season One: A Night Bleeds​

 

[silverwhere]

Hatsu Black
- He/Him -
Bill's Room | Why does it keep getting worse?
Tags: Out Of Words BillieRoss ​

There was no cat hidden under the bed with the dust bunnies, in fact, the was no cat to be found anywhere. The mysterious disappearance of Mary left an eerie silence in the room; the white noise from the beatles had ceased and there was still no response from Bill. It sent a chill down his spine and his gut twisted to warn him that something was wrong. Hatsu turned to repeat his question to Bill but the words were lost in his throat when he noticed how dangerously still she was. Part of him worried she had somehow died in her chair but he let out a sigh of relief when she take another breathe in. Maybe she was just ignoring him.

"Are you okay?" He asked a bit louder than he intended as he watched for a response.

After some time, he got up and walked towards her. He hoped she was playing some sort of prank, similar to the one where a kid would be as still as possible with wide eyes and would jump out with a yell when a concerned person approached them. Expect, nothing happened when he approached, she remained still with eyes glued to the computer.

"Bill," He asked as he reached out and gently touch her to no response, "Well shit."

Another string of curses exited his mouth as he rubbed his face and paced. How could things possibly get worse? He didn't want to know the answer to that actually. Fuck, okay, he'll just have to figure this one out. He let out a deep sigh before he went back over to Bill's computer to take a look. Everything looked fine, the clock still ticked so it wasn't like he was frozen in time. Maybe there would be a clue on the web page she was looking at. Hopefully, he wouldn't suffer the same fate as Bill or they'd both be frozen stuck. Upon examination, the web page looked like another other site. It had text, images, and even a gif - but for some reason he couldn't decipher anything off of it. It was like it was written in a foreign language. The more he looked at it and tried to gather anything, the more he felt a headache brewing and nausea that was starting to grow in his gut. Eventually, he gave up and looked over to Bill. She was still frozen, but he wondered if she could even hear or see right now. If she could see, was the webpage causing her to feel sick? Hell, if they were lucky, maybe taking the laptop would solve all their problems.

"No clue if you can hear me, but I'm going to close this," it felt weird talking to her, even weirder when he didn't get a response.,"worried about your eyes."

While putting the laptop away he noticed the goosebumps that littered her arms it was most likely from whatever was causing this. After closing the screen and putting the laptop not to far from her, he went over to her bed and pull a blanket off it to wrap around her shoulders. The goosebumps was most likely from whatever was causing this, but he might as well help make her comfortable if she was going to be frozen.

There wasn't really much else he could do but sit back down and wait to see what happened. He didn't really know anyone else who could help. Well, he knew Alyce but he didn't want to figure out how to find her. He didn't want to leave Bill either.

 

[Worthlessplebian]

Bernard Greve
Location: Meandering Stations;
With: Indy;
Interactions: Rhyme Mentions: Out Of Words
Art by leevolt on DeviantArt
Mood: The Electric Bill;​

In the quiet aftermath of Bernard's frenzied assault, the professor kept his distance of the feline shifter. Precautionary measures, he did not even look at the young woman. The man's thin lips twisted into a vexed frown. The analytical portion of his mind should've expected this outcome, it stared right at him in a mocking manner. Of course, a high energy system would prove to be unstable. A cold sweat poured out from his brow, fingernails scratching the left temple of grey hair. The diabolical desire to devour was known to him, but never this strongly. Except when it came to extreme starvation. Like his female victim months ago. He sighs loudly.

"Stop." Bernard commanded with a raised hand. "At this instance, I am an unstable explosive." He testified to Indy. "I require a moment." There were many ways that Bernard could drain himself of this power. Several are gratuitously flashy, others were benevolently oriented, a few are devilish and unequivocally evil. But there are banalities.

Taking a knee Bernard lifts a loose hand above his head. His face haggard, but dignified. The hand flattens like a sharp knife before vampiric muscles bury it into rows of dirt, vegetation, and earthbound invertebrates. The professor's eyes focused keenly on the buried hand before lapsing to look at Indy. "Though it is not hazardous, it would be wise to pace back several steps." He warned seriously, coldly.

The nostrils flare as they siphon air through his parched throat. The muscles grew taut under his skin, a low hum began to sound through the air. Indy could hear it, as well as any animal that just bolted away from them. It began from his head, a plum of crackling bolts spat like a drunken sailor's mouth spewed obscenities. Absorbed into him, they traveled down his cerebellum to the first cervical spinal nerve then down the steps into his brachial plexus, radial then at last, the ulnar nerve of his hand. But that was not all, the lithe chest boomed like a slammed door as the intercoastal nerves fired off sparks. Much like the first instance, the energy snaked up through his ribs to his right hand and into the dirt.

He effectively grounded much of the electricity within him, but he left himself enough to function and not to feel hunger for five hours at least. A migraine shook him as he rose unsteadily. This was like vomiting most of the food eaten at a buffet.

The dirtied palm gripped his stomach, a formerly human reaction when one felt sick. It felt so foreign to him despite him doing it.

"We can... Proceed." He bleakly breathed.

 

[Rhyme]

Indy

Location: Alexa, play Firework by Katy Perry
Tags: Worthlessplebian

Indy could tell Bernard was frustrated with himself, and a piece of herself almost felt bad for contributing to his embarrassment with her obvious hypervigilance. Still, she didn't bother to try and hide how she kept herself at least five paces away from him. Vampires had to eat too, she knew that--but shit, understanding the food chain was only really comfortable when you could safely pretend you were at the top; getting chased by a maniac, energy-hungry European did not do much to comfort her.

"It's cool, it's all good, just, you know. Do what you have to do." She hesitated. "Aside from, you know. That." She gestured to the space between them. It didn't matter how hungry he was; she was off limits. Not even Roje had fed on her and she damn well was not letting this guy either. He didn't seem to want to, either. After he regained control of himself, he didn't seem to make any movements to resume the chase--though it seemed, from what he said, that the whole event had taken him by surprise as much as her.

The quiet electric pops rattled her, though. Every slight crackle sent a spark of anxiety through her chest, another flash of memories as she heard the wet pop of the man's skull from way back when, exploding onto Key's marble floors. Indy shivered.

It made her want to be much, much farther away than Bernard's recommended distance when he dropped to the ground, essentially growling at her to move back as she jogged a few meters away. Even that far back, she could feel a soft humming current dissipate through the earth as Bernard...discharged. Or, whatever he called it.

"You look..." Awful. The closer she came as she slowly edged back, the worse he looked. "Did that even help? Let's just, come on. You need to sit down." Or find someone to eat, who isn't me.

The ranger station was only a few minutes up the path and Indy kept a close eye on Bernard as they approached the door. It looked deserted, not a single light on inside. When Indy climbed up to the door and jiggled the knob experimentally, she met a predictable resistance. "Fuck." She waved Bernard over, still watching him for any sudden movements. "You okay to hang for a bit? I can try and find a rock, or something to pick the lock with, but it's going to take a minute."

coded by: @s e v e n

 

[Worthlessplebian]

Bernard Greve
Location: Well, we're here!;
With: Indy;
Interactions: Rhyme Mentions: Out Of Words KodakWolf
Art by leevolt on DeviantArt
Mood: Knock, knock! It's the Missing Persons' Police!;​

"No... We proceed." The professor protested. He would not admit it, but Indy's concern heartened Bernard and hardened his resolve to find her sister. Though he looks like death warmed over, especially after the stunt of rapid discharge into the ground, the professor's pride hurt more than his nausea. The firm-faced man kept vigilance of his distance to Indy, ensuring that the gap never shrinks between them. He still did not look at her, but knew innately that she kept her own brand of awareness against him. There is no fault in this, Bernard admirably concludes. At the very least, her instincts of self-preservation are sharp.

The day's end is coming closer and closer, but likewise the path to this ranger station is as well. Bernard spotted it, blue eyes rapidly adjusting to the growing darkness. He dragged behind Indy further as she climbed up to the door before stopping entirely. Why had the blond man, who the academic presumed to be a creature of the night, urged to reconvene at this location? Is this retreat a place of power or rest? What sort of advantages could it provide; solitude apparently, and the rangers here apparently act as de facto LEOs, however the man did not appear to be one. Then is the ranger a friend of the man's? A lowly, groveling ghoul?

These prodding thoughts stopped when Bernard notices Indy waving him to her. The inquisitive qualms put aside, he steps aside her with hands lodged in his pant pockets. He listened to Indy's suggestion, before offering his own thoughts. "Or," Bernard raises a knuckle slowly. He rapped thrice against the door awaiting a response. Bernard could easily spread out his sensory net of electromagnetic reception. Inquire into the building with acute certainty, but he declines. He was too close to the weary woman. Still, an uncanny hunch told him that someone would be here. Or he fancied that it is so.

If nothing comes of it then he'll simply resort to forceful methods of entry. A window wouldn't be an obstacle against a strong elbowing.

 

[KodakWolf]

Leif Hjalkarssen

Leif wasn't immediately affected by the void that surrounded them. Chase's blood was as powerful as ever, and it still affected the vampire just like before the shifter's mind was stolen by Marasong. He felt its power coursing through his veins like an electrical current that for a time kept everything else at bay, and it might even be true to say that the void itself intensified what he could, indeed, feel.

But the steady rhythm of Chase's breathing and heartbeats slowly came into focus, as did the absence of the screaming voices, the absence of the sound of the waves, the absence of the curtains of seaweed, the absence of everything else. Was that what death ultimately felt like? While the sounds of the beating heart were reassuring, they sure weren't reassuring enough. And no matter how hard the vampire tried to grasp with metaphorical hands, there was nothing. Nothing to be pulled out of the darkness and back into existence, nothing of Chase left to recover.

When Leif finally pulled back and stopped drinking, he still sat there, watching Chase, for an amount of time he had no concept of. It felt like instants, but when he finally blinked and felt the sudden grasp of reality around his lungs, perhaps it'd been hours, even. He had no idea, and he couldn't really bring himself to check. But the dimmer streaks of light that came through the narrow gaps between the closed curtains indicated nighttime was near. And there was nothing else Leif could do for Chase there. He couldn't drink anymore without damaging the shifter's health, and he wouldn't risk forcing him to drink any more of his poisonous blood.

It was a struggle to organize his thoughts and figure out what the next step had to be. But he couldn't take the image of Marius out of his head, and how whatever happened to him could potentially be connected to what was going on with Chase, even if Chase seemed to be in worse shape. As he tried to remember the ranger's notes, eyes still on Chase, he wondered whether Sage had listened to his request to meet up. If he had any doubts as to where to go next, now everything pointed to the ranger station.

It wasn't easy, but he eventually made himself stand up and move away from Chase, the movement sending a bolt of sharp pain up his arm that made him wince as he glanced down the deep cut on his wrist that still bled slowly.

He let the wounded arm hang as he made his way to the closed and pulled the boxes with Chase's stuff, digging around until he found an old t-shirt he could tear and make into a makeshift bandage around his wrist. He wouldn't want to mess up any of Levi's stuff, and thankfully the scene looked clean enough. There was no trace of Chase's blood, and the wound on his neck was closing up already. Leif's tar like blood was everywhere, but that'd vanish in a matter of minutes.

Once he was ready to go, Leif still waited for some time, but nothing seemed to be about to change anytime soon. Not if all he planned to do was stand and watch. So he eventually left the same way he came in, leaving the door untouched as smoke shot into the woods and toward the ranger station. At least he knew where Chase was, or where his body was at the very least. But Turid was still out there somewhere.

 

[Britt-21]

Out Of Words

Roje made sure to move away from the poke against her skin to the best of her ability before reaching her hand out to feel the sun upon her skin, finding it not as intense as it was a while ago. Which thank goodness for that because she really was shit out of luck for now. The only thing keeping her chugging her along was the sheer willpower she kept mustering up "I cant keep moving like this. The sun is still up. I'm going to wind up wondering into an open field with no sense of direction on where to go to hide." gathering her stick, she helped herself up while her body slowly healed Do I have any choice at this point? Sharks keep moving to stay alive... the Vampire thought while she limped along the trees. Using her hands on the bark as guides on what she could be touching. In all honesty, she was betting that she had been going west still. Is this west? I really fucking hope so. it was the direction she hoped would get her to where she needed to go. All the while using the sun as a way to "Not go that way"

You head in a direction, following the trees, checking for the deadly warmth of the sun every few feet. There were just more and more trees for what felt like a very long time. Until Roje reached her had out and instead of a tree, or the warmth of the sun, it felt like pressing against a balloon.

Roje finally touched something that wasn't a tree. However...She was afraid of what could be underneath her hand. What in the hell is this..? unfortunately for her, as much as she didn't want to keep feeling; There was no other choice. She had to at least try to figure out what it was that her hand had been feeling up. Slowly she felt some more, trying to be gentle and not aggressive in case it was something that could potentially hurt her in return with her aggressiveness.

It yielded to the pressure, but didn't break. Like some type of barrier, keeping her in, or keeping something else out. It wasn't cold, it wasn't hot. Best way to describe it would be imagining the inside of a bubble, only a little stronger than soapy water.

Of course, after figuring out this thing wasn't going to eat her, a sigh of relief had escaped her lips "Thank God..." was all left Roje's mouth before she continued to push onto the mysterious wall before her. Was it going to flex back like a rubber band if she pushed hard enough? Would she fall through instead and smack her face on the ground? One way to find out. With this idea in mind, Roje began to press as if she was opening a door to a store, or perhaps a door into a kitchen that was two-way.

Roje pressed against the resistance, meeting only more resistance, but the vampire continued determinedly. She could feel it slowly but surely yielding, bowing outward, giving way until after what felt like several minutes, finally broke with a pop the vampire could only feel, not hear.

The vampire pitched forward, having put so much pressure on the strange barrier it was impossible to catch herself when it burst open. However, instead of grass and dirt meeting outstretched hands, it was...

Carpet?

The vampire didn't expect to eventually just go through with the amount of resistance it had given her. In fact, she didnt expect to smack herself into some carpet either. Now hitting grass was different; it was soft. Yeah a little hard with the dirt but was easy on the skin. Carpet on the otherhand was a little more rough and definitely more scratchy, unless it was a fur rug. Her walking stick had dropped from her hand and instead of searching for it, she felt the rough texture underneath her palms. Slowly, the Vampire sat up from the ground just so she hadn't been laying there still. If she was on carpet, she had to be indoors right? A gentle noise of sniffing came from her, using her nose much like an animal would to tell her if she was in the fresh air still or in a stuffy dusty room.

It held familiar scents, a touch of flowers, and fur. Most recently, she could smell a certain wolf and a little older than that, a cat. There wasn't anything currently present nearby, but the scents weren't very old, maybe less than a day or so.

Eyebrows furrowed in confusion due to the scents she was picking up. That certainly is a wolf...wet dog as usual for me... There's also a cat... Indy and Silv? ( Rhyme Silver- ) There's no way I managed to just wonder inside our room at the town... from what she could tell, there was no real strong scent to indicate someone was in the room with her. Roje continued to sniff, running her hands along the carpet in hopes to search for some sort of furniture to pull herself up with. "Hello?" she called out to the room, wondering if she'd be able to get some sort of attention. Though, she couldn't tell how loud she was. In all honesty, probably not that loud since she couldn't even hear herself.

There wasn't any answer, and the vampire did not have the sensation of someone else nearby. It did feel like a closed location, secure for the most part, maybe. Feeling around the room would reveal a couple of beds, a chair, and other items to remind Roje of their hotel room.

Roje kept in mind where the chair was before she tried to finish up feeling around. If I got teleported again, I swear... the vampire moved around back to the chair and climbed upon it before slowly sitting down. Was there a door that was locked nearby? No clue. It was just about damn time she had a break. Another one of her sighs escaped her lips while she sat there and contemplated what a blind/deaf person could do in this room. But then again, she was the safest in the confines of a bedroom. Shield from light, a bed and some blankets, probably a shower if this was the hotel. Maybe it was time to just chill for a second while her body repaired itself. Give her basically a time out from the game for the time being.​

 

[Worthlessplebian]

Bernard Greves, Leif Hjalkarssen, Indy Sanderson,
A Discord Collaboration with: KodakWolf Rhyme Out Of Words
Ranger Stationed​

The door was locked, but it was a normal door. The windows were shut, but they were normal windows. There was nothing supernatural about the ranger station itself, and it seemed to be empty. No one responded to the knocking on the door.

Indy wanted to laugh when Bernard politely rapped his knuckles against the door--but, honestly, would it be that crazy for someone to be hiding in the dark inside? She had already pulled one corpse out of the ocean and had just nearly been fried by Europe's answer to Static Shock; some creep hiding in a dark shack in the middle of the island would not be too outside the realm of her new normal.

Except, no one answered.

"Here." She tried the doorknob, confirming it was locked before leaning down and grabbing a rock. "Before we take the extreme route, you don't happen to have any pins or something on you, do you? Not like a, I don't know, cuff links?" That seemed like the most likely thing for Bernard to have, rather than bobby pins.

Bernard smacked the seams of his pockets in search of covert entry tools. Unfortunately for the bargain-deal Catwoman, there wasn't anything there that could help. "Nothing. Also, cuff links? Not on this attire, I'm afraid." The professor rubbed his sharp chin thoughtfully. There is still a trick that he could use. It helped him once, it could again.

"Do you see a thin piece of metal around?" Said Bernard looking about. "I've used a knife before -- preferably high silver content, but any would do -- to bypass a lock's mechanism by sliding the dead bolt away." He explained in a low, conspiratorial tone. This moment made him feel like he was in one of those old quasi-thriller movies; the stern protagonist and his plucky partner breaking and entering, circumventing the law for answers. The thought made him uncomfortable if he started dramatising his life like that.

“Forgive me, good sir, for not knowing the customary cuff link fashion.” Indy grumbled as she patted her pockets down. The only metal-anything she had on her was the button to her jeans and the coin around her neck—neither of which she was going to readily hand over to the vampire.

“No, but this place is like Disney world for tetanus, I’m sure we’ll find something.” It was hard to believe a few minutes of blind stumbling wouldn’t result in, at least, one rusty nail.

Bernard suppressed a chuckle by coughing into his hand. Indy's observation, cynical and grim as they were, proved humourous to the professor. It freshened him up. A few moments of searing the ground with his eyeballs, Bernard caught a glint near the sill of the station. Bending down, Bernard scrapped the piece of metal with his fingers. A thin, partially rusted piece that tapered on one end. It reminded of a scalpel. "This should do," he whispered.

He shimmied the metal in between the door and frame, sliding up then down to find the bolt. Two small tinks were heard as metal hit metal, almost imperceptible if Bernard or Indy weren't standing so close to the door. Bernard breathed with the wind's howl, a pithy crackle of electricity is heard. Then a click. The door wanly opens inward with the help of a gentle push. Hard to see through the darkness, but Bernard stepped forward anyway. Prepared for danger.

The darkness was growing, indicating the sun was setting and the day from hell was nearly over with. There was a light switch next to the door, which would illuminate the main part of the ranger station. There was a desk, a coat rack, some shelves and boxes along another wall with a door leading to a back room. Things one would expect to see in the ranger station.

Though what wasn't so expected was the sound of something metallic being kicked a few feet into the room with their entrance. Closer inspection would reveal Indy had kicked a key that was just inside the door.

Okay, Bernard was enjoying breaking into the station way too much—not that Indy blamed him. It was nice, going back to the roots of her more criminal activities. Maybe once they were inside, they could still break a window or two—just for the fun of it.

And he had no trouble getting in; maybe only a second of jimmying and the lock popped open, earning a respectful hum of approval from Indy as she followed him inside the station.
“Anyone home?” Indy called over Bernard’s shoulder. “Well, someone was here recently. I was expecting a lot more dust. Oh, shit.” She leaned down, plucking the key from where it had slid across the floorboards. She let it dangle between index finger and thumb, showing it to Bernard. “So, whoever locked the place slid the key back under the door? Either they didn’t expect to be back, or they were…”

Indy froze, her gaze trained on the door to the back room. Either they hadn’t expected to return, or they were protecting something—or someone—inside.

Alright, Bernard whistled in silent admiration. The darkness from outside mixed with the interior sludge made it difficult to peer inside. Luckily, Bernard's fingers found the lightswitch planted on the wall adjacent to him.

He had expected more from a presumed vampire's den but realized that this likely isn't his permanent dwelling. As secluded as it is, there were risks that Bernard only considered that came from its position as de facto law enforcement and forestry services. "None so far, I'm afraid." He spoke solemnly with a dignified look. The distinct bouncing of a metal thing alerted Bernard, as well as Indy's squeak.

"Secluding something or someone." Bernard whispered and concluded with the cat's prediction, his word choice had been more careful. Although he went a step further with his observations; they could have been detaining someone. Sure, THIS key was slid under the door but what if that door is also locked? It is not outside the realm of possibilities.

Bernard hesitated from speaking, not wishing to give away the tactical advantage further. He balled his fists in anticipation of threats. No matter how close Indy was to him, the sensory net spread out like an invisible, living shadow to the door if anyone had been there then they should not be able to hide from him.

There was no bio-electrical response in return, just the quiet intermittent hum of the lights in the office.

He did not turn to Indy, but kept her within the periphery. "If there is someone or something in there, it is deceased... Or nerveless." The quiet theory was given. Uncertain elements were never to Bernard's liking.

He shuffled stealthily to the backroom door. Shoulder foremost. He tried the door. It was unlocked. Bernard's lips curled. He opens the door. One hand to the door, another waiting to strike should anything attack them.

Indy winced as the lights flickered to life, watching as Bernard did his…thing, which presumably went well—though his description of a “nerveless thing” gave her horrifying mental images of a body stripped of all its nerves, all of them left to lie in a puddle like thin spaghetti on the ground somewhere.

“What’s another corpse?” She muttered lowly, her voice dropped to nearly a whisper even after Bernard confirmed there were no other living creatures lurking around.

She followed him to the back door, picking up a small lamp off the desk and wielding from behind Bernard as he pushed the door open. Better safe than sorry.

It was dark in the back room, but enough of the light from the office filtered in to show rows of shelves. Like the kind you'd find in a garage, or stockroom. And they were full of stuff one would expect to find at a petrol station that doubled as a ranger office.

It was sort of L shaped, with the very back part requiring someone to turn around the corner to see. Only it was encased in darkness as the light from the office could not breach the deepest part of the room.

Hands slacken as the drifting door gave way to no attacker. Bernard gropes for another lightswitch, wading through the beginning layers of dust. Fingers find the corner then wrap around it. The movement is agonisingly slow, so much more like a snail. A snail into darkness. If only he could call upon the thermal sight that afflicted him moments ago. Muscles under his skin grow taut, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice. His head now rounds the corner. Expecting the worst horrors imaginable.

Somewhere in between the town and the ranger station, the trail of smoke condensed into the shape of a large black wolf. It was a form Leif was comfortable in, and one that temporarily alleviated any and all physical pains, a pretty welcome effect at the moment.

It wasn't the scents he was following that made him stop, though. The cat shifter and her strange companion, Leif already expected them to be at the ranger station at that time. It was something else in that scent, something more intense at that spot where he was that made him stop.

Fear. Whatever had happened there, someone had run for their life, or lives, as cats are known to have many. The wolf could almost taste the adrenaline in the air. Had she succumbed to whatever the man she walked with truly was? No, she was alive. Leif couldn't smell death, no recent death in the area. She was alive, which had to be a good thing, she knew things about Marasong others didn't, didn't she? But if she was alive, it meant she could still be killed. Oh, how Leif wanted to finish what that other man, for whatever reason, couldn't. The wolves eyes flashed an intermitent yellow hue over the usual pitch black iris.

He walked on their footsteps, taking in the powerful energy in the air that made the wolf's hackles raise with excitement. It wasn't an uncontrollable urge to kill that threatened to take over anytime. No, it was more like a sweet, nagging voice that whispered in his ear, that incited him to forget whatever backstory he had with those people, to forget whatever reason it was he had to meet with them, whatever objective he had in mind, and just do what he was meant to do. Just hunt. Hunt until no life remained to be hunted.
But that voice, that presence, was an old companion, so old it was a part of himself. So old, Leif knew when to yield to its tempting propositions, and when not to. He continued tracking the alluring scents as if he didn't know which way the ranger station was, as if his mind had been too focused on the adrenaline in the air that it'd forgotten. But as he got closer to the station, the energy lowered to normal levels, the electricity that seemed to be in the air gradually vanished, and the tracks he followed had turned from those of predator and prey to those of two people merely walking towards the same objective. The persistent urge to give in to predatory instincts didn't fully subside, but it lessened considerably as the large wolf found himself in front of the station.

The door was open. They'd found their way in, but had River found his way out? The large black wolf stepped closer, soundless and trackless pawsteps of something ethereal, apparently solid but utterly weightless. He spotted the reflective shine of the key still on the floor, which suggested an answer to his question, together with the absence of River's scents and tracks outside the station. But he still got closer, hoping to catch River's scent inside, and listening closely for the movements of the two newcomers. He made absolutely no sound, and his presence would only be noticed when the massive dark animal stood in the doorframe and looked inside. It looked like they were about to run into River. Or so he hoped.

For a moment, Indy wondered if Bernard’s static energy had been passed to her, as the air crackled with tension. She could see the clouds of dust bursting open under his moving hand, the room too dark to make out much else except a few more…boring objects of plain furniture, hunched asleep in the dust.

Indy stepped around Bernard and into the room, waving the lamp as she let out a rush of breath. “Jesus, thank god. I don’t know if I can handle any more stress on my—oh fucking shit.”

She has turned to face Bernard when she noticed it—a massive black shape, lurking behind his back—between them and the door. Without thinking, Indy shoved past Bernard to charge forward toward the massive lurking dog. Fuck, why did it have to be another dog?!

Rearing back, she slammed the lamp forward before the beast had a chance to bite—biceps braced to feel metal on bone, ready to rip into another attack—

When the lamp swung straight through the dog’s skull, sending Indy spinning and onto her ass with a horrified gasp.

Bernard wondered whether if there was anything in this pitch darkness at all? Out of fantastical elements, mundane ones were just as common. And what is more mundane than an ordinary closet? But the tension as thick as molten chocolate was undeniable. He could feel it on his skin like an unnatural static.

In fact, he could feel more than just phantom static. The hairs on his back stood on end, like tiny spear tips pointing to the lurking danger behind his back. Him unawares. His eyes followed Indy as she stepped around him. He watches. Her face contorts in abject horror at the sight.

Bernard's body was shoved aside by Indy's mad retort, but the professor remained icy even as Indy spun onto the floor ass first.

He knew who this is, despite the fact of his altered form.

"Enough of your dramatics, blondie." He barked commanding with an outstretched hand and firm palm. The professor stared down the dark animal with eyes of shimmering coals. This posturing of the blond is unbecoming of what Bernard now assumes is a centuries old vampire. One who fit all the criteria of vampiric folklore. Gaseous form, lycanthropy. These are but some of a classical vampire's abilities.

But Bernard, reduced to such a state, could still deny the vampire the pleasure of an easy kill. Beneath the veneer of his skin, worms of electricity swam. Eyes that were once coals now lit up like violet plasma globes.

Leif was honestly more interested in what was inside the dark room the man was peering into than in him and Indy themselves. He knew they were in the station. But River? His scent was inside, and it wasn't the scent of a corpse, at least not yet. Despite all that happened in between, it hadn't been that long since Leif last was in the station after all.

But before the other man even saw what was in the back room, the cat shifter was charging with a lamp toward the wolf. If a wolf could chuckle at Indy's reaction when the lamp went straight through his skull he might've. Might. Perhaps he'd be too busy listening to her racing heartbeats and her ragged breathing as adrenaline once again flooded her arteries and veins, giving power to his mind's voice once again.

Yellow eyes focused her, but all the wolf did was stare. He was no slave to his nature. Yet how much good would it do him, how satisfying would it be to pin her down, chew through her ribcage and unearth her still beating heart. It'd be just the right amount of easy he needed it to be right now. He could even give her a head start, give her some minutes to get away before giving chase. How long would it take him to catch her? He couldn't give her enough time to get too close to town. Even with no law enforcement to worry about, he wouldn't want to cause a scene.

His thoughts were interrupted by the man's commanding voice, and eyes that were fixated on the terrified woman turned to him to find a preposterous outstretched hand that seemed to believe him docile enough to obey it. Then the wolf actually scoffed. But it remained where it was, ears pricking forward at the sight of the man's violet colored eyes.

Leif had seen a lot of things, including electricity based magic. And in fact, that was one annoying kind of magic, to which his non corporeal form wasn't completely immune.
But there was something else about that man. Something about him didn't make his hackles raise and his jaw drool with hunger. He wouldn't just run in fear, it seemed, he'd resist. But a fight could be just as enticing as a chase. Yet why were Leif's instincts barely awakened by the man's energy? It wasn't even close to what he felt just being in Indy's presence.

It was a gradual realization, during which the wolf simply observed the man with curiosity. His life force wasn't alluring, because it wasn't his own life force. It was stolen. And Leif had no interest in life force that didn't come fresh from the source. How rare could an electrical vampire be? Pretty rare, he bet.

Eyes turned back to Indy, the yellow hue flashing a bit brighter, but he quickly looked back at the door to the back room the other vampire was blocking. And the wolf suddenly vanished into smoke that shot towards the room, but made a quick and clear motion upwards to go over the man's head before it landed inside the dark room, where it condensed into Leif's 'human' form. No point in pretending he was a werewolf if Indy already did him the favor of sending a lamp through his skull, therefore revealing his true nature.

"Chill out... I'm not interested in undead." He spoke, not turning to look at the man behind him as eyes trailed in the dark to where River was supposed to be. Good thing he didn't need to turn on the lights to be able to see.

Bernard's face cracked a smirk when the vampire-turned-wolf scoffed. He invites them to this place with the allure of Indy's sister only to act like contemptuous scum. The professor couldn't help but roll the violet orbs in his skull in abject annoyance. Thankfully, if Bernard's brand of vampirism IS immortal then he'll likely not turn into this loathsome thing. And it's not as if his surface thoughts weren't easily discernible. He could spot that hunger in those yellow hues. The jowl wetting, stomach rumbling, devilish craving.

A similarity they both shared. His own eyes tracked the smokey form dashed over him into the backroom. It is quite clear that the blond is searching for something or someone, likely stashed away deep into that darkness. Closing his arms in front of his chest, Bernard gives the man a sidelong glance as he spoke.

Not interested in the undead, Bernard betrayed mocking astonishment at the traditional vampire's deduction. "Likewise." The professor finally stepped out of the doorway, back turned to the man but not unaware of him. He extended a hand to the fallen Indy, her neurons activating like a shooting range. At this rate, she might suffer a heart attack from all this excitement she endures.

The man turns to the vampire still observing in the darkness, the focus gaze told Bernard that his vision is not impeded by light's absence. Bernard couldn't discover exactly what had been in that storage room. But the vampire unintentionally gave him answers: one, his keenness on it eliminate the possibility that it was empty; two, whatever is inside does not produce energy so either it is an inert commodity, possibly artifact or a... Corpse; three, he seems to be wary of it so it is not harmless.

 

[Out Of Words]

IF DECEMBER FREEZES​

IC Thread - Discord Compilation (Riley)
​

It kinda felt nice, being in the cave next to Augie. The muffin was cold but not too bad, and the bacon Augie revealed later was tasty. Almost enough to make him temporarily zone out and forget the uncomfortable conversation he'd just had with the voice that lived in his head.

But while Augie seemed to be in a bit of a better mood, it was still only marginally close to his old self. Of course, Dusk's corpse had just been laid on the docks in front of everyone, so that might be it. But Augie was still looking at him funny. What was on his mind? Why didn't he just say like he always did before?

Boy got up from his spot, and moved to sit right in front of Augie, staring at him. So he knew he was ready to listen.

Augie just stared at Boy for a while, with the occasional sideways grin and a head pat or chin scratch. After a couple of minutes of this though, Augie let his head rest against the wall, his posture taking on a much more relaxed position.

"What is it, Boy?"

What is it, Augie? was the real question at hand. Sure, Boy had his own issues he was still working on, but he was talking to someone, even if the someone was the voice in his head. And even if the voice itself was actually the issue. But Augie, he just wasn't sharing, and something was clearly wrong.

The dog just sat there in right in front of him, not really intending to move. He kept staring, only doing the occasional head tilt when Augie said something.

Augie was at least moving his arm every so slightly, indicating whatever Tilly gave was actually helping. He still favored it quite a bit and tried to just let it rest. "We'll be fine." He said it again as if convincing himself.

"It's just a day. We have plenty of food reserves, most are too focused on the camp out to worry about some little cave to the side, anyway."

He sounded tired, but lately that was more the norm than not. "We'll be fine. This is fine."

Well, if Augie was so worried about the camp out thing on the beach, why were they staying there in the first place? They had all of the woods to hide in, all of town as well. Damn it, the dog'd bet Tilly would probably let them sleep in the cafe if things were really that concerning.

He barked once, and continued sitting in front of Augie, watching him attentively, hoping he'd continue to speak.

No, he couldn't read Augie's mind, and if the man wanted to reassure himself, he should've done it without saying anything out loud. Since he was talking, he might as well give Boy the whole story. Did he really think Boy couldn't understand and didn't care about what he was saying? That he was just a dog, that didn't care about the full picture?

"Yeah, it sucks. I know." Augie started to run hands through his hair, but his arm wasn't that healed, drawing a grunt of pain as he grasped onto the arm instead of his hair. "Whew, yeah, okay. Mental note, don't move arm. Got it."

He gave a dry laugh and stood up. "Let me check the supplies to be sure, but think it's time for a nap. You want some beef jerky? Saved it, might as well use it now, eh?"

The dog got up instinctively, ears forward when Augie grunted in pain, caught by surprise by it. He'd almost kind of forgotten about Augie's arm with everything that was going on in his already forgetful mind. But how could he forget? How could he forget, considering who he was just talking to? The thought sent a renewed wave of anger through his body as he set back down right were he was, unable to do anything about it.

The tail wagged lightly as he watched Augie get up to go check the supplies with the mention of jerky. No, that wouldn't be a bad idea at all. A pinch of 'normal' in a day that was anything but usual. Yes, he was ready for it to end.

But perhaps... wouldn't today be his only chance to check out the shore before tomorrow's grand event Augie seemed so afraid of? He couldn't help but wonder what he could possibly find there the night before.

IF DECEMBER FREEZES
A story by Out Of Words​

Season One: A Night Bleeds​

 

[Out Of Words]

IF DECEMBER FREEZES

IC Thread - GM Post

GM Updates​

Bill didn't improve with time. Hatsu kept her company, but she didn't appear to notice. She did blink, breathe, and she was most certainly still alive, but aside from her physical state, she was somewhere else. Closing the computer just left the witch staring at the spot the computer screen had been. A creepy quiet settled in the house.

Hatsu could wait there and hope Bill snapped out of it sooner than later. There were people who could help, as he had already thought of Alyce. There was the clinic, not terribly far, there was the inn, and the other witch who had been with them when Bill first came cross the box and cast a spell to open it. There were those other sorts at the inn as well. Or Tilly, in the cafe. There were a few options, but nearly all of them would require leaving Bill alone.

Roje found familiar items in the feel around search of the hotel room. Items the vampire would recognize as clearly hers, or Indy's. She was indeed safe for the moment, though still blind and deaf. The seaweed filled her vision, and the sound of water obscured every other noise. However, the vampire could still feel, including vibrations when someone walked down the hallway, or a door shut with a little bit of force on the same floor.

And then, there was the vibration of someone walking down the hallway, and definitely pausing by her door. There wasn't any vibration of the person moving away, or attempting to enter the hotel room. Usually, a person would keep on walking if it wasn't their room, or enter, but whoever this was, did neither for at least a good minute.

Meanwhile, the ranger station was full of activity. Leif could see the package he left here still remained. And once Indy and Bernard's eyes adjusted to the darkness, they'd see it too. River, left laying on the floor with a glass of water, and paper and pen next to his quiet and still very much deceased body. Indy and Bernard were likely less acquainted with the fellow, not a face seen often around town, but one of those vaguely recognizable regardless.

The trio didn't have a lot of time to ruminate on the corpse before there was a strong knocking on the ranger door. It was with a heavy hand, followed by a deep gruff voice identifying the person as Sage. "Hello?" The lights were on, but he wasn't one to just open the door on his own and waited for a response.

As for a boy and his dog, Boy, Augie seemed content to dig out some jerky, some other food, and just bunk down for the rest of the day. The sunset over the water was pretty spectacular, but Augie had seen more than his fair share. Missing out on one now and then didn't seem to stress him out. What was stressful, was the lingering pain of his arm healing. Augie had a few winces as he settled on the mattress with some of the blankets partially tugged his way.

"Here, Boy." Jerky was held out for the dog with his good arm, but already Boy could see Augie was tired and exhausted. It wouldn't be very long before he fell asleep, doing his best to avoid laying on his healing arm. Chances were strong Augie would be a sound sleeper that night, leaving the dog with... options.




OOC Information

Hatsu silverwhere : It's horribly quiet, to the point where you can hear things like the ticking of a clock, the creaking of the building, people moving in other rented rooms, and so on. You might even be hearing the scuttling of the insect legs inside the box in Bill's bedroom. Even whispering from what must be another of the rented rooms. You can't make out the words, but it's like a constant thrumming noise that seems to never stop once you started hearing it. Feel free to use one of the IC discord channels to continue.

Roje Britt-21 : You definitely sensed someone outside the hotel door, but blind and deaf, you only have the vibration to tell if they move away, or open the door. After a minute, as far as you could tell, the person was still standing outside the hotel room. Feel free to use an IC discord channel for the encounter.

Indy, Bernard, Leif Rhyme Worthlessplebian KodakWolf : Sage will repeat the knock after another minute, and there's the chance he might try the door if there is still no answer. His voice sounded strained, stressed, and a little bit sad, which given the recent body on the beach is understandable. Feel free to use an IC discord channel to continue.

Riley KodakWolf : Once Augie falls asleep, you definitely have options. You can explore the shore, and the area of the camping to be, near the cove. Or you can call it a night like Augie. Feel free to use an IC discord channel to continue.

IF DECEMBER FREEZES
A story by Out Of Words​

Season One: A Night Bleeds​

 

[Larry]

Aódh McFaol
Location: The Marasong Inn.
Mood: Discombobulated...
Interactions: n/A.
Mentions: Silver- | Britt-21 | Out Of Words ​

Faint reminiscences pricked at the young man's unconscious mind, almost as though they were trying to coax him into waking up, or, at the very least, aiming to recapitulate the importance of what had happened, seemingly moments ago. It wasn't long, with Aódh rustling and rolling about in his sleep thanks to the resurgence of these images, that he would soon bolt from his slumber, and when he did, the shock was palpable, due to a number of factors. The young man awoke sprawled across his duvet, much like how the chalked-out visage of a person in a stereotypical, hypothetical crime-scene would appear in old cartoons. His eyes, perhaps in a similar vein to somebody rising too quickly from a sitting position, were struck with a sudden bout of languor, a happening that Aódh had to struggle against, straining to combat this bout of lethargy. Whilst still aiming to remain alert, the sight of his bedroom at the Marasong Inn, benighted by the sun's setting, proved even more odd to him. I don't recall heading off to bed all that early, the young man recalled, if somewhat in a probative fashion, not entirely sure of his own recollection; the slight shift of his form into a sitting position however, alerted him to an even more mysterious situation: the bed, and himself, were soaking wet. Amusingly, his having become conscious of it also made the cold bite even more, or so it seemed, almost as though it breached a liminal barrier of some kind. In a moment, Aódh disrobed and immediately dressed himself in a set of grey sweatpants, a dark-green T-shirt and a dark-grey hoodie, though he wasn't entirely as to what to do with the duvet, sheets or the mattress. He thought about going to tell Seraphim about the predicament, but given the time of day that it was, in addition to his own lack of excuse for the bed ending up the way it did (aside from the outright ridiculous), the young man decided, probably for the best, to waylay that idea for the time being.

Besides, there were more pertinent things to think about, should his befuddled, and quite bedraggled mind itself capable of the task.

Finding the carpeted floor to be a more suitable location to concentrate from, the young man sat down, crossed his legs, folded his arms and attempted to tackle the explicandum, namely his drowsiness, the nature of his and the room being wet, and most importantly, the dearth of his short-term memory. Almost as though they tried to beckon him towards a desired position, those fleeting flashes of moments, whose veracity he wasn't sure of, emerged to the forefront of his thoughts. He wasn't sure how much weight he could give to those visions, uncertain as to whether or not he should call them 'memories', since he wasn't certain enough of them happening to give them such credence. But even if they didn't occur, what could possibly explain himself and the bed being wet? The one connective aspect of those sequence of events was the submergence of himself in water, oppressively circumfluous about his person...and around Silver and that other lady.

That's right, Aódh mentally commentated, feeling as though a sliver of clarity had managed to eek its way through, perhaps unreasonably so. Why on Earth were they there? It wasn't as though the young man hadn't ever had dreams of a more purposeful kind; 'purposeful', in the sense that they weren't the complete clusterfuck they tended to be for him more regularly. But this instance, the more he kept it within in his mind's eye, the evocation of certain feelings, like a loss of breath upon imagining the water all around him, pushed him to reach a conclusion he didn't want to make. If he was there, if those things did indeed happen, he reasoned, what would be the best way for him to verify them? A voice at the back of his mind pipped up, 'Corroboration!', and it wasn't the most ludicrous idea. If Silver, giving that she was one he remembered most vividly, didn't know anything about them, then so be it, he looked like an eejit. But if she did, then there can be no doubt it happened. This was Marasong after all, anything can happen here. Whilst he wanted to try and suss out the truth as quickly as possible, the time of day, not to mention his own fatigue, both mental and physical, precluded the young man from seeing it through. Feeling the heavy hand of sleep falling over him, Aódh acquiesced to its influence, and quickly, effortlessly fell to sleep once again, content to let tomorrow's issues bear themselves out in the morning.

 

[Britt-21]

Roje Jenkins & Boy

KodakWolf Out Of Words

The Vampire sat there pretty content despite the blindness and the constant ocean in her ears to deafen her from anything else. There was finally time to just sit, do nothing, and breathe. However, she did feel vibrations from her surroundings through her feet, but found it easier to lean forward and keep her hands placed on the floor. Seems the floors may have been thin enough to have vibrations travel through. Better than nothing at all I suppose. another vibration had come to play and got stronger, indicating no doubt it was closer. Suddenly it stopped, giving Roje a strong chill up her spine and causing her to hold her breath. Her chest was tight and felt that sense of fear creeping up on her. What if that thing was coming back? Pulled itself from the ocean to drag her dumb ass back to the ocean and trap her in the seaweed again.

Thing was, could it really travel on land and track her down this fast? Especially since she's in a closed off space with clearly more people in the area. There was a risk to speaking up, but what if it was someone that could help her? Be her eyes and ears? Fuck fuck fuck! Think Roje, Think! the first time in a long time that she was really thinking out what to do, what her best action was and which to take for better results. All she was, was brute strength and violence. But now she was forced to play the cautious game and take everything into consideration. Slowly releasing her breath, her mouth opened but still was too afraid to speak. The worst that can happen is I just die, right? Do I really want to die? Fuck I never thought this far. Just went with the flow, did what I wanted. sitting there for a moment more, she finally forced herself to speak "Anyone There?" How the hell am I gonna respond when I cant fucking hear. Dammit!!!

It felt like the vibrations had started to move away, then she made a sound. There was a pause in the vibration, then they quickly retreated until they couldn't be felt any longer. (roll a d10)

The moment was intense as she waited. In the process she had held her breath once again, wondering if the door was about to be busted open any moment. Her palms spread on the carpet, getting as much area with her hands as possible. The vibrations were quick to fade away and once again she was left alone Well that could have gone worse... Roje felt for the bed and got up on top of it, wondering if she should trust her nose to take her outside of the safety of the room. Reaching for the pillow, she started to sniff, going forward with the blankets as well. Never in my life did I think I'd have to do this. she spent the next ten minutes trying to get a good scent that she could follow whenever she had the balls to step out.

When Roje peeked her head out of the room after getting a good whiff of Indy and Silver's scents, there was only one of the two strong enough to try and follow. It had left the room and then dipped down, where the vampire could assume the stairs were.

No doubt she looked like a weirdo walking out of her room and dragging her hand along the wall. Seeing nothing but blackness and hearing nothing but the ocean, she could only hope no one was trying to talk to her. Continuing to sniff, the scent seemed to have dropped a bit lower which made her eyebrows furrow before her hand searched for maybe a rail? Was she going downward? Roje used her foot and gently felt around, waiting to see if her foot would go further down than the other. Soon she found that drop and shortly after; the rail. Time to play "Which step is the last one" and hopefully not fall the adventure down the stairs began, holding onto the rail for dear life as she slowly descended down the stairs.

There wasn't a lot of vibrational traffic as the vampire made their way step by step. Then the railing ended, but it didn't mean the steps did. Roje was cautious however, and managed to not fall down the last couple steps without the railing.

The scent took a turn and following it led the vampire down a hallway with a couple of doors on either side, but the scent didn't go behind any of those. Instead, it ended at what felt like an emergency exit door.

Roje continued onward, biting her lip in the process while she basically hugged the wall. There were some doors she had passed (as she could feel the different texture and sometimes a knob) till she came up to a dead end and almost smacked herself into whatever it was. Using her hands, she felt the door up and down, wondering why this door felt different than the rest. Is this an employee door? Storage? No...it wouldn't feel that different. It's...it's not the normal doors I was feeling before. should she push it? Ah fuck it. with enough force, she opened the door and kept track of the scent to the best of her ability.

Once the door was opened, Roje's sense of smell was flooded by all the outside scents, but Silver's wasn't one of them. And there was a strange pulsing vibration as the vampire kept a hand on the newly opened door. Like a regular rhythm, like an alarm or something was set off, but she couldn't hear it.

The vampire's hand remained clutched onto the door - or at least what she could just to avoid having it close on her. There were a ton of scents, so many that she tried to sniff through but could no longer pick up that one scent that stood out of them all. Slowly she moved closer to the door, continuing to feel that pulsing vibration What is that? I don't feel it on my feet so its not an earthquake... Roje continued to sniff because she was determined to find just about anyone who could assist her in her time of need. I will find that scent again. I just have to try harder. Much harder. I'm a vampire. I can find almost anything if I try hard enough. or so she liked to believe. However, that regular vibration was still going on underneath her hands. Wait...She was in the hotel (or wherever she was), sniffed her way out to a door that is now vibrating? Oh well fuck me and call me sally. No way I did not just do what I think I did

The vibrations soon grew from the pulsing rhythm caused by the emergency exit alarm. It felt like a lot of people in various hurried states of being. As if a fire alarm went off and they were trying to evacuate the building.

And more than one set could be felt moving closer to where Roje was, heavy footsteps.

Roje's other hand felt that door and felt the vibrations get worse from it. Fuck fuck fuck. What do I do? Should she risk bothering to walk away from the door? Those vibrations became stronger and it was making her pretty fearful. Releasing the door, she moved toward the building and ran her hands along the exterior to use that as a guide to get to at least one of the four corners. If I can get around the building, I can avoid being seen...Hopefully.


Roje did find the side of the building, and aside from a brush here or there, had a fairly uneventful trip to the corner of the inn. Touching the building let her feel when the vibrations seemed to reach the door she had been at, and then the powerful slam of the door closed as it rocked through the walls easily enough.

With the slam of the door, the alarm pulsing seemed to disappear, leaving Roje at one of the corners of the inn.

Roje moved around the corner of the building and drew in a deep breath. That was close she thought while leaning herself against the wall. The vibrations stopped, and she let out that sigh of relief "Fuck..I don't smell her anymore." She said aloud, using her sniffer once again. There was not much she could do now but go back into the building. If she found the entrance that is.

The closer he got to the alarm, the closer he felt he needed to get in order to be able to actually see what was going on. It turned out being a fire alarm, but there was no fire to be seen or smelled, and no concerned or scared citizens evacuating the building or checking the noise out. Except for him, maybe, if Marasong's Mascot could be considered a proper citizen. But he did see the emergency
door to the inn shutting, which made the alarm stop shortly after.

Was it a voice he heard once the alarm went silent? Was someone just around the corner? It did seem like the alarm going off had been just an accident, some clueless guess trying to leave through the wrong door. No big deal. But he could go around the building on his way back to the shore anyway, so he did.

And what he saw was anything but ordinary as hackles raised in alert. It hadn't been an inattentive guest that exited through the wrong door. There was nothing ordinary about the young woman he spotted standing by the building, one hand glued to the wall as if it were her only reference. Perhaps it was. It took a few seconds of observation to realize she likely couldn't see, and also to realize that the strong oceanic scent he was smelling came from her. Upon closer inspection, she had bruises along her wrists and arms,
and pieces of seaweed stuck to her here and there. Boy couldn't make much out of it, but the sight itself was very unsettling. He knew something was very, very wrong.

He should've learned at this point, he should've learned that something like that should mean one thing only: turn around, and get as far away from it as possible. Yet the distressed woman seemed clearly in need of help. If anything, she was a victim, which didn't mean approaching her carried no threat. But Boy couldn't just turn his back on her. Yet he was cautious, and at first stayed some yards away, out of reach, and just barked.

She didn't seem to listen, though. Whatever was wrong with her, it'd apparently made her blind and deaf, no matter how much the dog barked. So he eventually stopped, fearing all the barking might attract undue attention. Had she said the word smell? He wasn't sure. But if she had any supernatural abilities, she might be able to smell him. So he approached slowly and cautiously, hoping she'd be able to notice his presence and not be startled by it. Regardless, once she was within reach, he carefully nudged one of her hands.

The Vampire really wished she could see. It would make her life so much easier in this instance Great Roje, what's the next plan? what more could she do? With a shake of her head, the woman began sniffing a bit more. Was...Was that dog she was picking up? A Dog? with furrowed eyebrows. Definitely wasn't a smell she could differentiate from other dogs she's smelled before. Then suddenly her hand was nudged, causing her to jump a little but slowly reach her hand out and try to pet the animal "You're not going to hurt me, are you?" even though a dog bite wasn't the worst that could happen. Her fingers eventually found the fur on his head and she gently petted the dog "I can promise you I'm not gonna hurt you." Hey at least I have a buddy now I guess? "Granted I can't see you or hear you, but at least I can feel this soft fur you got."

It was curious how the woman seemed to be sniffing him out before he actually nudged her hand. And in fact, there was something off about her scent, something he knew would come to his mind if he tried hard enough. He'd smelled that before.

In fact she was in trouble, as he assumed. Her words were a little garbled, and she spoke louder then quieter in apparently random intervals, which could be because she couldn't hear herself. He let her pet his head for a bit, which made his tail wag almost involuntarily, and with a bit of attention he was able to pick up what she was saying. Yet it didn't really give him any guidance as to what to do with her.

He stepped around her, sniffing at her feet, and trying to find any clues on her, such as the bruises and the seaweed, when he noticed he was wearing a t-shirt from Marasong Health Clinic. She'd probably been in the water, and Boy had an idea of what might have taken her. But how she got out while blind and deaf was a mystery. Suddenly, something clicked in his mind. She wasn't the first one he'd seen in that state. How come he only remembered after several minutes of spotting her?

Whatever that really meant though, he couldn't do anything about it at the moment. Should he lead her back to the clinic? Last he was there, there wasn't anything sketchy he remembered. Worst of all was how the staff just seemed oblivious to Marasong's oddities, so worst case scenario they'd have no idea what to do with her. But at least she'd be safe.

So he walked around her again, and nudged her in the calf, trying to get her to move forward, then quickly circled her again so he could stand in front of her, tail wagging high and tapping against her hand several times. Hopefully she'd get the hint.

Roje felt the snout of the dog towards her feet. Guess he was wondering what she was gonna do to him or something to that extent. She felt his fur brush her legs as he seemed to probably be sniffing around her before feeling the nudge in her calf. If only she could see what he was doing, it would make sense to her. Of course, she moved a little bit forward but stopped. If I move from the building, I lose all hope in coming back to it... The vampire then felt the fur from the dog brush her hand a few times. With the pattern it was moving at, it was probably his tail. Her hand grasped his tail gently in hopes he wouldn't turn around and just nom her hand off. "Are you going to guide me?" was he a special kind of dog? Service dog? Shifter? Either way, she was gonna get lead to his favorite digging spot or he actually knew where he was going in this town.

It was hard to keep his tail from wagging itself when the woman seemed to have understood what he planned to do. Who would've thought one day he'd be a guide dog?

He started walking slowly, making sure she wouldn't let go of the tail, and picking the pace up a little bit as she got used to it.

He couldn't help but think of heading back to the cave, to Augie. Perhaps Augie would know something, but he honestly doubted it. Besides, Augie seemed to he dealing with enough problems for the time being. So clinic it was, and he made his way there, making sure the woman was able to follow.​

 

[Rhyme]

Indy

Location: In the Ranger Shack aka OML this encounter is a beast
Tags: Out Of Words Worthlessplebian KodakWolf @ a corpse in the backroom

The professor shuffled again to the L-shaped storage which hid an unusual, but not unexpected package; the blues took seconds to adjust, only for them to just see the corpse of an unknown man. As Bernard suspected, it was a corpse. It would explain why he had not detected anything: no action potential meant no electrical field meant no detection. Admittedly, this imagery made the lanky professor with the stiff-upper lip leery. Not out of human revulsion, that part has been excised from himself even before the vampirism. But it was getting too common to see dead people and he was no medium with a sixth sense for the dead.

However if you asked Bernard for his five cents then he'll tell you that something felt off. Who would give a carcass a cup of water, pen & paper as if he were about to write down a dream diary. A psychopath, that's who but they don't have that luxury to assume. Hardly any decay could be spotted, circumstantial evidence suggest this to be freshly done and yet, Bernard swears that the body is older than expected.

His eyes swiveled down, but head remains pointed at the cadaver. "Reanimation?" Bernard utters a word in a hushed tone, one edged with professional curiosity. As if that word can explain what Leif is waiting or watching for.

Then he hears a knock. A solemn, gruff albeit distressed voice pleads from behind the closed door. Bernard shoots up like a cat with its tail in the doorframe. But he does not panic. Motioning to Leif to shut the door, Bernard picks up the lamp that Indy vainly used as a bludgeon and replaced its original spot. He looks to the others, someone else should answer that.

Leif felt a mix of relief and concern at the sight of River's body still lying on the floor. He didn't need to get any closer to know he was still dead. His silent heart was louder than ever in the vampire's ears. But it hadn't been that long since Leif had the privilege of breaking his neck, even if it felt like it'd been ages ago. Plus, the last time he'd tripped so hard in the blood he had no actual idea how long it took for the man to come back. At least he knew where River was, and was just back in the waiting game. Hopefully.

The others' reaction to the corpse was a secondary concern of his, and thankfully the strange vampire didn't seem too fazed by it, which would make some sense since he was probably a killer himself.

"Something like that..." he spoke in response to the man's guess of reanimation. He might have elaborated more, but the knock on the door interrupted him, and the sound of Sage's voice made him quickly shut the door as suggested and leap to the front door.

"Sage. Come in." He quickly stepped out of the way to let the man inside upon answering the door, and right after shutting the door behind him, Leif was already moving to get the ranger's notes from the drawer in the desk.

"Sage, what's your take on what's happening to your father? He's clearly not the only one." Then he gestured to the notebooks he'd placed on the desk, and shot a glance to both Indy and the other vampire as well. "The ranger left some notes, but I figured more brains would be more effective in putting them together."

Sage looked a little blindsided by the question, having had his focus on Rhevens and Dusk. It took a few blinks, grunts, and hands run through his hair as he digested what all Leif was asking, and he hadn't even begun to look at the ranger's notebook.


"He does not have dementia." He sounded very sure of that fact, and then he was registering all the notes from the ranger. "What the.. fuck?" He looked like he needed to sit down.

Leif waited anxiously for Sage's next words, and there was a small smirk of satisfaction when the man finally answered.

"Yeah. Neither does Chase. And neither did Dusk, I bet." He gave a small pause as a thought popped into his mind, just as Sage was looking over the ranger's notes. "When your father went missing the other day, he didn't happen to be trying to drown himself, did he?" The words escaped his mouth before he could give them much thought, but if that was in fact what'd happened, pieces of the puzzle seemed to be finally starting to fit together.


"I know... take a seat." He pulled the desk chair for Sage when the man really seemed to need some time to process all he was reading. "It's not a coincidence the ranger's out of town." Then he finally forced himself to shut up and stepped back to lean against a wall, giving the others time to take it all in.

Everything moved fluidly. Acceptable was the word in Bernard's head. His vampiric kin seemed adept at lying, or at least acting as if nothing is amiss. An expected forte really.

Seeing as he was anything but a townsman, Bernard kept to the side of the station. Listening still to the two men discussing past disappearances.

An academic look was thrown to Leif when he mentioned attempted drowning. He taps the bony cheeks of his with a finger.

"I cannot speak with certainty, not until the medics or coroner, if avaliable, completes the autopsy, but it looked as though Dusk had suffered pre- and post-mortem damages to his body." Suggested Bernard dipped in his Danish accent.

"May I examine those notes after you're satisfied with them?" He has suspicions of what they contain, but perhaps parsing them side by side would reveal a crucial detail in the matter.

Indy was more than happy to let the men discuss something amongst themselves while she did her best to melt into the floor. Two bodies. Two fucking corpses within spitting distance, and Bernard was muttering shit like reanimation under his breath, as if the prospect of a zombie being locked in the ranger station with them was a mildly intriguing development to an otherwise unimpressive evening.

The world tilted as she accepted Bernard’s offered hand. She was going to vomit on the floors, hopefully everyone kept talking to each other and ignored her—especially since she couldn’t keep her eyes from that backdoor, no matter how guilty she felt as a result. Fuck.

More drownings. More disappearances. Indy glanced at Bernard, finally able to peel her eyes away from that back door. “Sorry…exactly how many deaths have there been here the last few months?”

Indy's uncomfort had been noticed by Bernard though he did not draw attention to it. A face of sincere pity almost broke through the stony visage.


She finally had managed to tear her eyes from that door; a small pill of relief washed over Bernard, he was afraid that her lingering gaze would give up the jig.

"Two with similar circumstances pertaining their demise. It isn't the timeliness, but the parity." Bernard articulated in an academical manner. "It would be easy to suspect foul play when all the contemporary facts are considered."

Sage was pretty engrossed in reading the notes after having taken a seat. A lot of their conversation seemed lost on the large man with larger shoulders still not big enough for the burdens he bore.

"His.. mom was... hurt. They went to another clinic more inland. Larger, better technology. Uh.." He blinked a few times, glancing up and only just now registering the presence of the other two. He still had a good hold on the books, not done with them yet. However he did lift it for emphasis as he asked Leif, "What the actual fuck is this?"

"You said pre-mortem damage?" Leif gave it some thought, eyes finding the other vampire before he continued. "I wonder if checking it out would help in any way. Although... what was on his mind might be more meaningful than whatever wounds we might find." It probably wouldn't be too hard to sneak into the clinic at night if he had to. For now, he kept the thought in the back of his mind.

Leif noticed Indy wasn't faring too well, but he felt that mentioning the fact that River wasn't just yet another dead body might diverge the focus of everyone else, even if it might help Indy's psychological state once she was convinced of it. They'd get to that, eventually. But she did pose an interesting question, and the answer to it was even more interesting.

"What deaths are we talking about? Dusk and...?" He asked, eyes trailing back to the other vampire that seemed to know more about Marasong than Indy. Yet however long he'd been there, there wasn't an entry for him in the ranger's notes.

Speaking of such notes and the ranger, Sage's voice was soon to be heard again. "Are you convinced that's just a coincidence?" It might be, of course. But Leif doubted it, even if he didn't exactly know what the ranger's role entailed in Marasong. But Sage wasn't done talking, and he also wasn't done examining the notes. Nor did he seem at peace with what he was reading.

"Notes the ranger left in his locked drawer. That's all I know about them." If felt like he was stating the obvious."But I've reason to believe you're at least partially right about the sirens."

"Veraciously said." Bernard concurred with the ancient vampire, he continued. "however, actions, of the victim and potential perpetrator, often give us the tools to pick at the brain. And the damages sustained could allow us that sliver." Reasoned the professor, by and large Bernard agreed with the vampire substituting the ranger: the damage to Dusk's body may not be entirely fruitful, yet it still cannot be ruled out. He could tell with a glance at the vampire that his words did plant a seed of thought anyway, which Bernard settled for as a victory.

Bernard folded his arms across his chest moving to peer out of the station's window. The similitude of the two deaths still dug at Bernard's mind. In an illogicality the professor saw a minute connection. Not founded on evidence, but intuition which Bernard would argue does hold certain weight in detective work. The ancient one's voice filled his ears causing Bernard to look over his shoulder with those knowledgeable blue eyes.

He turned to face them. A fact became apparent, they were not as well informed as he had thought. This didn't add new wrinkles to the case, but perhaps he could elucidate them now; see if his hypothesis holds consensus. He answered in succinct fashion. "A Mister James "Jimmy" Miller." thumb rubbed against his fist. "Disappeared unexpectedly, discovered dead. The cause had been drowning." Bernard opened his closed fist. "The incident occurred weeks ago when I first read about it, I had assumed nothing, but now..." He let the words trail as if letting the silence clue the occupants on what Bernard thought of the two, seemingly, unrelated incidents. An ominous conclusion.

He watched the two men, the broad-shouldered Sage and the blond vampire, converse. A skeptical wrinkle appears in Bernard's brow. The concept of sirens would've appeared ludicrous months upon months ago, but having suffered the preternatural Bernard is agreeable to that fact.

Actually, it would've explained that delirium-inductive tune that he heard a mere day or two ago. Could that hypnotic hymn be the Siren's song? Another thought then occurred... What drew Leif or at least Sage to this conclusion? Sirenic interference is not something that one immediately assumes upon a drowned victim. "Sirens?" Bernard feigned ignorance to get one of them to elaborate. "There was... An interesting melody that I suffered recently. At night, approximately twenty minutes after midnight."

"Does anyone happen to know what kind of thing was Mr James "Jimmy" Miller was?" Again, that might be relevant, might not. But if someone had that information, it was worth it to share. Especially as it might be way too late to examine the corpse for clues.

Leif didn't move from where he was, but his eyes moved back and forth between those in the room, and they moved to focus the other vampire when he talked about the sirens and the melody he, too, seemed to hear. Only, Leif remembered it being almost constant, and the mention of a specific time made him frown slightly.

"Yeah, they know how to scream too." He made a small pause. "You hear them just once? Their humming's everywhere." Then eyes shot back to Sage with some underlying impatience, hoping he'd finish reading soon and pass the notes on to the others, which would avoid a lot of unnecessary questions whose answers the ranger had already answered. "They're... were, maybe... in Chase's head. Took over all of his senses. What do you think happened to your father?"

Bernard rubbed his chin thoughtfully. No indication of peculiarities were alluded in his sources, then again it would be highly unlikely for eccentric features to be ignored if present at all.

Bernard nodded to Leif's precis of the sirenic hypnosis, however the blond's sullen countenance indicated otherwise. "I presume elaboration is in order. The specificity of time was when my consciousness became observant of the Siren's song, it could've been perennial." He clarified neatly. "It remained. The entire night, a constant edge in... To my thoughts. Felt as though I've had a tumorous mass under the occipital lobe." Bernard stretches a hand to massage the lower portion of his head, demonstrating where said lobe was in fact. "Pulsing. My dreams weren't spared either, I seldom thought still capable of." He said in a discontent voice. Reminisces of that night proved alkalic for the professor. With every word uttered the mysterious melody made more manageable.

He pulled away from the conversation, retrieving a chair for Indy. "Sit awhile." He advised. Minutes ago, she had offered him the same advice. He felt it only right to return the level of concern.

Sage's frown didn't lessen as he set aside one notebook to look through the next. It was set on the ranger's desk for the next in line to look at. His speaking paused here and there, as he fought with the thoughts in his head, and the notes in front of him.

"He started being distracted, seemingly.... seemingly looking and hearing things no one else did." There was a bit of a growl, and his expression turned a little darker. "They wouldn't dare. They know what my family is. That isn't a war they want."

Bernard moved subtly. Sliding the notebook off the desk into his hands. Once again he wheeled to the side, next to Indy, sifting through the content. The work would prove fascinating if Sage's declaration of war went unnoticed.

His eyes forcibly tore themselves off the open pages. A wide-eyed look was cast to the men, mouth clenched shut like a steel bear trap. The momentary crack in his icy-demeanour soon reset itself. These spits of incredulity were becoming increasingly exponential in accordance to his time on Marasong. This particular revelation had an elation on Bernard, the professor wanted to laugh in a high-keyed, sardonic laughter with fiendish, ghoulish mirth. However, they would only see the mirage of a thin smile impressed on the lips.

His eyes return to the book now accompanied by a finger which underscored the words.

Sirens. Indy felt the color drain from her face as her hand lifted reflexively to tap the coin, cool and heavy against her sternum. How long had the vampire been investigating? It felt like he was leagues ahead, privy to all sorts of information that had flown past her--and, looking at Bernard, at least some of the information seemed fresh to him as well. That was comforting, at least. She wasn't the only one not fully clued in.

She sucked a quick breath between her teeth as the two vampires discussed the drownings, remembering her own strange experience under the water. That desire to dive deeper, that voice... Fuck.

When Bernard mentioned the melody, Indy's gaze jerked toward him. Then Leif agreed. How many of them had been hearing that song? How did she not realize she wasn't the only fucking one?

"It-it's constant." She jerked her chin at the blond vampire. "Since...before. You know. We arrived. It hasn't stopped. I didn't realize it was you too." She tried to avoid Sage's eyes.

The blood rushed from her face again as she considered what this meant; did Roje hear it too, then? And Silver? Was that tied to Roje's disappearance? If only she hadn't been so goddamn stupid and put the pieces together faster...

Bernard was there with the chair just as the revelation dropped to her knees. "Thanks," she murmured, dropping unsteadily into the chair. Her gaze flicked to the door again--she couldn't help it. Only when Bernard grabbed the notebook could she bring herself to look away, focusing instead on the words hurriedly scrawled across the page.

Her heart clenched. Each page flip was a turn of the screw, tightening an invisible band across her chest until she was struggling to breathe. "Every one," she whispered in awe. Dapper, Augie, Dusk-- "Every fucking one... they're all..."

Abnormal. Inhuman. Supernatural. Exactly like herself, exactly like the two vampires in the room--most likely the same as Sage, if he had been let in on the secret.

And oh, what a secret this was. She would have had to be blind not to notice the influx of supernatural creatures in Marasong, the one haven dedicated to ward itself against such vile creatures, yet here they were.

Dropped and drawn, pulled and pushed together. "This isn't right," she murmured. "The ranger knew this wasn't right. Marasong was never like this, Beth wasn't like this." She turned to finally address Sage directly, trying to keep her voice steady as she questioned, "Think back, do you remember this ever being different? Can you remember any point where things started to change? Even just the smallest shift, one strange event--the first drowning, someone acting especially odd, maybe someone skipping town, anything like that."

Leif nodded as the other vampire elaborated on his experience with the melody, eyes focusing him the whole time. If only the man would speak in a way that required less attention to follow. Odd fellow.

When he did turn to speak with Indy, so did Leif, but the sudden movement made him wince slightly as a bolt of pain shot up his bandaged wrist. Still, it didn't divert his focus for long. Indy knew things they didn't, he remembered that, and it was about time she spoke up. Yet Sage's voice drew the vampire's attention before he got to question Indy. There were a lot of questions to be asked, and he didn't mind talking to three people at the same time while waiting for the fourth one to come back from the dead.

Leif didn't know the details of what happened to Chase, yet he couldn't help but feel sure he wouldn't see something all that different if he drank Marius' blood. Chase did see and hear things no one else did. Perhaps not anymore, but he did.

"I could've been tricked, but I saw them." He answered Sage. He potentially saw them when drinking from River, which could or couldn't be tied to whatever else was going on with Marius and Chase. Leif bet it was. "Doesn't mean they're leading whatever's happening, though. You say they wouldn't dare; who would, Sage?"

Indy's reaction to the whole thing didn't go unnoticed, and it was easy to tell the corpse behind that closed door wasn't the cause of it this time, nor was the siren's song. When she finally read what was in the notebooks, her face turned to wax yet again and when she spoke, it only confirmed that she did have some exclusive information on Marasong, exclusive information that apparently didn't really match was Marasong was presenting them with at the present time.

Like Indy was saying, every one of them was not human. Yet why did most of them seem somewhat at home in Marasong? They knew how they got there, they might or might not have had a purpose, but they knew. They got jobs, bought houses. Why had only Leif himself and a couple of others been teleported there? It was a valid question, and one that had to be answered. Yet it just wasn't as important as rescuing Chase and Turid, regardless of the timeline they were at. And potentially Roje too, who seemed to be still missing.

"This coin was in Chase's possession." The vampire spoke again as he reached in his pocket for the coin he'd almost forgotten was there and placed it on the table. Perhaps it'd been Indy's motion of grabbing something that hung around her neck that reminded him. "And this is the last picture on his phone." He also fished the phone from his pocked and pulled up the picture Levi couldn't stand to look at, turning the screen to Sage but also letting the others see it.

"Who would dare, Sage?" It was a lot of information and questions pouring upon the poor man, but even it Leif felt a little bad for him, they had urgency. And so did Sage, and his father.

Indy couldn’t help her gut reaction as the coin was laid flat like an ace on a poker table before them all.

Her words came in a rushed exhale. “Oh fuck.”

Sage had paused in reading information in the second notebook and just stared at Leif silently. One could figuratively see the gears turning in his head. "Been here for a long time. I.. I don't recall picking up on any changes. It's been so peaceful, then..."

Light bulb moment.

"There was a hell of a storm, about.. ten years ago? Maybe? Thereabouts. Things felt... off? Can't say how, or why... just oppressive."

Blue eyes pierced Indy when she reacted to the coin, but quickly turned to Sage when the man started speaking again.

"And did anyone new show up shortly before or after the storm?" He paused, also thinking. "Could you make a timeline of when each person mentioned in the notebooks arrived in Marasong?" He raised the phone that still had the picture open. "What about this?"

Another pause, and Leif suddenly turned to the other vampire. "And when did you get here?" He wasn't distrustful of the man, but he did just remember that he had no idea how that man came to join Indy. He sure hadn't been teleported with them, and Leif was pretty sure he'd never seen him before.

Sage snorted. "New people show up all the time. I couldn't answer that." He peered at the photo, but there wasn't a sign of recognition. "I don't know. It's difficult to make out, but I don't remember seeing anything like that."

Leif nodded, letting out a sigh as he lowered the phone. Fair. "I think you'll find mention of him in the notebooks."

Bernard's eyes scanned the contents in similar vein to a drug addict looking at his next fix. It was tantalizing. All this time these people who've met Bernard and in turn, he them had been supernaturals. Augie, that strange dog's owner, had been one as well! His face was granite, but eyes gleamed with a matchless flare. If Bernard is correct in his mathematics, supernaturals would be exceedingly rare elements in modern society. Yet this congregation of them was too unorthodox, clustered and well... Unnatural. Artificial in a way.

Indy's reaction had been both telling and horrifying. Her hampered, half-breath ramblings almost seemed incoherent but Bernard managed to pick up on certain key words. A change had occurred. In what? People had been Bernard's initial guess, but the way she spoke held a depth. The change had been foundational. A conclusion as insane as the existence of vampires, ghosts, and ghouls was birthed in Bernard's mind. Was the fabric of their reality altered? The implications this held for physics almost shattered Bernard's academic acumen, but silence for now would be better.


He listened in awe as the blond spoke more about this until it came to question him.

"Two weeks ago." Replied Bernard truthfully. The blues eyes in Bernard's head pierced the vampire in turn. "I came here in search of exactly this," he gestured to the trembling Indy with a hand. "She knows vaguely after our hallway conversation. But time to pull the curtains. I've seen what you've discussed and I believe the chronology of Marasong's supernaturalism to be older than current evidence suggests." He spoke with gravitas.

"Kai Tangaroa, current owner of the Careless Shark Pub, is perceptively immortal. My estimates place him around 150 to 216 years old. Possibly older, though I hesitate to speculate without further evidence. He has operated a variety of parlours relating to consumables; from alcohol to marine delicacies. All of them under anagramized surnames, apparently passing off as different families. I learned this via a documentation request to the city's municipal building. They were quite forthcoming with the documents. I still have them sequestered in Marasong's renowned Inn." He finished speaking, allowing them to gather their thoughts.

A storm, a cleansing wrought by vengeful skies--it would have had to be of biblical proportions to cause the sort of change the men were all describing, yet this man--Sage--he mentioned it so offhandedly, like only a slightly significant event that managed to just barely shake up a tumbling pattern of small town mediocrity.

Leif was staring at her, so was Bernard--obviously she was doing a downright shit job at hiding the way her gut was spinning, but she couldn't help it. Each piece of evidence laid flat for viewing was like a hammer blow to the pillars of her psyche; how the fuck was she meant to keep it together, when the very first laws she ever learned were being proven suddenly false? Not only false, but totally scrambled. Marasong did not have supernaturals, yet, now they were running the town?!

And that photo. Just looking at it--it was like swallowing molten lead. All amber heat that brought familiar feelings of comfort as she leaned closer; she had never seen the humanoid creature before--but something about it beckoned forth the familiar sensation of cool, smooth keratin under tiny paws. She could remember how it felt to dig fresh, pinprick claws into the slick horns like handlebars as she sat between them--but the memory swirled like a stream circling the drain, the details lost to the broad sensations of safety and warmth.


God, did it ache to remember. A bubble of bile gurgled up her throat, threatening to empty whatever was left in her stomach.

"I knew you were hunting down something specific." Indy glanced at Bernard, one hand raised to tap at her throat as if she were warding off a dainty cough rather than an onslaught of vomit. "Kai...I don't remember a Kai. I don't think, anyway"--not that she would have spent much time in a pub as a kid.

"But if he's been here that long, wouldn't he be in the notebook? Wouldn't the ranger have noticed something? Even if he's changing his name, someonemust have recognized him at least once--and why stay here of all places for that long? Jesus, you could walk to California and back in a third of that time."

Sage held up the notebook he was reading. "There's more than the one you have. Just.. give me a bit and you can read the next one." And he frowned, attention focusing on the words in front of him again.

Bernard gave a passing glance to Sage. All this information became a monsoon in Bernard's stomach. It agonized him the more he kept quiet, but every inch wished to ask Indy or Leif about his hypothesis. He felt as though he had drank the waters of Mímisbrunnr, such terrible clarity impounded his mind. The taste of alcohol was on the tip of his tongue. Volatile. Bitter. A gustatory hallucination, but so poetically apt.

And Indy once again alluded to a difference, indirectly. It was as if she had just stabbed him with catlike claws in his back, further driving the pain of ignorance. "Perhaps he enjoys the scenery." A rare note of humour escaped Bernard. "Comedy aside, he could be privy to certain esoterics, wouldn't you agree?" Speculated Bernard.

coded by: @s e v e n

 

[KodakWolf]

Leif Hjalkarssen

Leif nodded at the professor's answer to how he got to Marasong. So he really hadn't been teleported there, but what exactly was he looking for? Yet one word he said, 'older', made Leif's stomach sink just a little. It brought back memories of another place, that might not really be another place. Could this be that same village?

"Kai's in the notebooks." Leif spoke, eyes moving between Indy and Bernard, and occasionaly throwing Sage a glance, trying to pick up on his reaction to the ranger's notes. "But what do you want with him?" Being an immortal wasn't that big of a deal, honestly. It made Leif slightly suspicious of the other vampire, but not suspicious enough to consider him an undercover threat yet. He didn't look dangerous. But then again, neither did himself. "You're probably an immortal as well." He shrugged.

Indy's spiraling reaction was still being registered, and when everyone had had enough time to look at the blurry picture, Leif put the phone away and turned to her.

"You know Dapper. What's the history? Who's Beth? Fill us in." He did his best to keep his tone calm and not demanding. She'd been teleported just like he had, yet this seemed to be a very familiar place to her, for some reason.

 

[silverwhere]

Encounter - Helping a Friend
Out Of Words
​

His leg bounced in the uncomfortable silence as he waited. Hatsu hoped that removing the laptop would free Bill from her trance but she sat still. Mary wasn't there anymore to paw at the beetle box and the beetles were quiet. He didn't like it. It made room for him to hear the small things like the ticking of a clock and pipes settling in the building. The noises continued and he noticed the whispering. It hadn't bothered him at first, but they didn't stop. It didn't help his wandering mind.

"Damn it." Hatsu grumbled as he got up.

He was stressed and he felt like he had to do something. He picked himself off from the chair and reached over to Bill's mug. He poured what remand down the drain before he started to wash it.

What options did he have? He didn't want to leave her here. He was worried that she would disappear like her cat and he wouldn't be able to find her, but it wasn't safe for her to stay in this catatonic state. Was he worrying about this too soon? Should he wait to see? He didn't want to wait. Sitting made him feel worse so he had to do something. He could get help, but from who? Hatsu thought of Alyce again. She knew that Bill was a witch and that he knew. He quickly decided against it. He didn't need someone with a bubbly personality who spoke in riddles- it would just frustrate him and make him more stress. That also cut out Bug. Maybe Augie could help, but he hadn't seen him in days. Who knew where he and Boy could be? Tilly could maybe help, but she was an older woman. He felt bad pulling her from her work and possibly into a dangerous situation. So he wouldn't ask her.

That eliminated about everyone Hatsu felt he could trust. That just left the clinic that was busy with the newly discovered body. Then again, they probably care more about a living person than a dead one. What if they couldn't figure out what was wrong with her? What if it was magic related? They'd have to transfer her somewhere else. Would getting her out of this town be what helped her? She didn't want to leave and he didn't want to force that on her, but it felt like the only thing that could help. It made him feel sick, the idea of her leaving, but he rather her be alive then this. That just meant he had to leave her but the clinic was close and if he ran maybe nothing bad would happen to her. Hatsu release a deep sigh before rubbing the bridge of his nose. The whispering still didn't stop and it made him nervous. He really didn't want to leave her. He pulled his phone out and went to the camera to hit record before propping it against the kitchen wall to face her. If something happened, maybe he'd get a video of it. It didn't bring him any peace of mind though. Another heavy breathe and he grabbed her keys before pulling on his boots. He made sure to lock the door on the way out before he made his way to the clinic.


The clinic was still busy, with a couple of dock workers outside being told to go back to work as they wouldn't have any autopsy reports for likely weeks. One of the clinic staff saw Hatsu approaching and tried to cut him off before any inquiry began. "Okay, yes, Dusk is deceased. No, we don't yet know the cause. No, we won't know the cause, today, tomorrow or even this week. Thank you for checking." They had a few apparently as she had it down pat now.

"Dusk?" He blinked. Oh, that was his name. He hadn't know the man but there were plenty of people who did. The clinic had been busy with Dusk and the kind heartedness of the town who was worried for him...or curious. "Oh, no. I'm not here for that."

"My friend," he paused and fidget in place "She's unresponsive to all stimuli. Or at least sound and touch...She's conscious though- at least I think she is."

The staff member tilted her head to one side, giving it some thought before answering. "Okay, describe what she was last doing. Did she eat something? Does she have any known health issues?" She lifted up her clipboard to take notes just outside as the inside was still quite a buzz with activity.

"She was on her computer. I don't think she ate anything, I think she had coffee. Or maybe some tea. And I don't know about any of her medical history." He said as he crossed his arms and tapped his finger on his arm. There wasn't time for this.

The clinic member looked up and around before stating the obvious. "Well, she isn't with you, is she? Can you bring her in for an examination?"

Why didn't he think about bringing her with him? He had been so wrapped up in his own head that he forgot that was even an option. "Sure. If she can't walk herself, should I just come back here?"

She blinked a few times and glanced toward the clinic, clipboard held to her chest as she gave it some thought. "Welllll... I think we have a spare wheelchair. If that doesn't work, we can send a crew with a stretcher?"

"Awesome." Hatsu responded, "I'll see what we can do then." He didn't want to pull the nurses and staff away from their work to help. He'll have to see if he could figure it out first. After locating the wheelchair and reassuring that he'll bring it back, he returned back to Bill's place.

Once back at Bill's place, the cat was still nowhere to be found, and Bill hadn't improved. However, she wasn't rigid, she just needed a little guiding. While she didn't seem to register any assistance, all it took was a nudge here, a tug there, and she would be able to sit in the wheelchair without much resistance.

Hatsu had hoped that the cat would magically reappear, but she was still missing. He'll have to figure out how to find her and take care of her while Bill was gone. It would be bad if Bill came back and the first thing he had to tell her was that Mary was still missing or that she had died under his watch. Afterwards, he guided her towards the wheelchair and made sure she was comfortable. He grab her blanket and put in on her lap before going into the kitchen to stop the recording and pocket his phone. It didn't seem like anything happened while he was gone, but he'll still watch the recording at another time.

Taking Bill back to the clinic via wheelchair would seem like it would be fairly smooth, however there were parts of the path that didn't go in the way Hatsu thought it might. To keep it smooth, Hatsu would need to push the wheelchair though the heart of the town, up and back around to get to the clinic. Otherwise, it might get stuck in the grass and dirt.

He had hoped that he could just push her straight towards the clinic, but instead he was met with a choice. Push Bill through the town and risk having people see and ask question (that he didn't want to answer) or through grass and dirt. Part of him was ready to just push her through he dirt to avoid any unnecessary conversation, but the chair wasn't made for off roading. With a heavy breathe, Hatsu turned her towards the smoother path.

All in all, it added an extra thirteen minutes to the time it took, but eventually Hatsu wheeled Bill to the clinic. The same staff member was outside, but the lingering crowd had dispersed for the most part by then. She held the door for Hatsu to wheel Bill inside and was directed to a small side room. And when we say room, we mean an area with privacy dividers rather than a separate room. "Okay, uh.. can you fill this out? A nurse will be by soon to do an initial examination." He was then left with a clipboard, a pen, an form to fill out typical information like name, age, and so on.

"Um hm, thanks." He said as he took the pen and clipboard and started to read over the information

Tap Tap Tap

The pen went as it hit against the clipboard. Hatsu didn't really know how to answer the majority of the form. He didn't even know Bill's last name. Hell, he couldn't even remember if she told it to him.

Tap Tap Tap

It made him nervous not knowing. What if she had an allergy that he didn't know about? All he could do was answer the best he could.

Name: Bill
Age:
Birthday:
Address: Renting a room
Allergies:

By the time he finished, it was still mostly empty. For the emergency contact he put his own information for the time being. He'll have to find her phone and go through it to get her family's contact. Something he probably should have done before hand. He'll just have to do that afterwards.

A nurse came in and checked his progress on the form before giving him a small smile. "Ah, did you just happen upon.. Bill?" She paused to read the name on the form. "Okay, we'll check her pockets for identification." She started doing basic stuff like shining a light in her eyes to check pupil response, measuring her pulse, very basic look over. "When did this start?"

He felt nervous for some reason, but who wasn't a bit nervous when going to the doctors? "Uh, no.," Hatsu started as he watched the nurse examine her, "We were in her apartment when this happened. About, 15-30 minutes ago."

"Really?" She noted that down quickly, and pointed out a part on the form to fill out his information as point of contact. "Fill that out if you would please. Then we can contact you after she's been examined. There's nothing more you can do here. We are a little busy but we will keep checking in on Bill, run some tests, and the doctor can contact you once they've had a chance to look at her."


"Right," he said as he took the form and carefully filled it out, "Let me know if you need anything else." He got up to leave. Now all that was left was to figure out where Mary the cat went.

 

[Worthlessplebian]

Bernard Greve
Location: Ranger Station Sesh;
With: Indy, Leif, and Sage;
Interactions: KodakWolf Rhyme Mentions: Larry Out Of Words
Art by leevolt on DeviantArt
Mood: Inquiring;​

Bernard's eyes peeped the antsy gesticulation of the elder vampire when his lips evoked the word, "older" as if it carried notes of shame or harrowing daggers, but he decided not to act on it. He handed the first notebook to Indy after his thorough review of it. Leif's words earn a cocked eyebrow from the professor; did he seem too prevaricating? Suffused with knowledge, there is no counter for Bernard to not answer truthfully. This fellow has been honest so far as he could discern.

"Not to impugn my bearings, but it is professional intrigue which led me to this immortal." Remarked Bernard with a flat tone, eyes sliding between Leif and Sage, studying their expressions. "Howe'er, that's been replaced, and in its place the need to resolve this mystery." Bernard scratches an index with his thumb. The cheeks on the man push up as he realizes that the real ugly work has only just begun. This paranormal enigma of Marasong and its effects on the human condition rattle the conventions of the world. Just as Bernard grappled with the notion of diverging timelines with conclusions brought to the forefronts of his thoughts, Leif raised an equally interesting notion.

"Whether I am or am not is inconsequential, though it is an interesting prospect. Longevity is oft assured with the utilities of preparation, as I'm sure you know." He contests to the elder vampire, brimmed with certainty that this man hasn't gone through life haphazardly. Plus it echoes his raison d'etre for being here, one which he illuminated his luminary, McFaol, foul Kai if he determines the immortal's actions to be... Unpalatable.

Still, he waits for Indy to continue before speaking again.

 

[Out Of Words]

IF DECEMBER FREEZES

IC Thread - GM Post

GM Updates​

Bill was left in good hands at the clinic, while Hatsu returned to Bill's house. It was even quieter than before, and still no sign of Mary, Bill's cat. It was a little strange, being in her space without Bill being there. However, maybe there could still be answers found, answers to what she was looking at, to what happened to her, maybe even a secret or two Marasong didn't want to let go of. Hatsu had nothing but time on his hands it seemed.

Boy and Roje had a bit of a difficult time of it. At first, Roje wasn't navigating off the path very well. It wasn't too overgrown, but the occasional rock did cause a few stumbles along the way. As such, the pair just missed Hatsu's departure, but there were still one or two people milling around. A staff member emerged from inside, only to spot the dog and Roje heading their way. "How can I help you?" She addressed the woman direction as it made the most sense.

For the ranger station crew, Sage clenched his jaw and seemed to be focusing more on what was written in the second notebook. "Fucker had notes on most of us. What the hell was he doing?" It was a statement mostly for his own ears, before he all but slammed down the second notebook and started reading the third. He wasn't answering any questions yet, and if one of the three attempted to distract him from reading, his growl rumbled in his chest.

And Aódh was determined to sleep until the next day, Despite the strange dreams he already had, the body and mind were exhausted. Sleep was a respite from the unthinkable, from things one didn't feel ready to face yet. Aódh's sleep was black, without any further dreams, images, sounds or the like. And definitely without being submerged in water. Though something deep in his core felt unsettled, and there was a strange sense of loss. In the farthest reaches of the young man's mind, a wolf howled in mourning.




OOC Information

Hatsu silverwhere : You have several options in Bill's house. There's the laptop, her books, all of her rented room if you're inclined to try and dredge up some answers. Or maybe you'll just find more questions. If you do search, roll a d20 in discord please. No roll if you leave her house.

Roje, Riley Britt-21 KodakWolf : You make it to the clinic eventually, however, Roje can't hear the nurse, and Boy can't talk to the nurse. There's still a good bit of commotion, but only here and there, with Dusk's body inside. Once the nurse realizes she's not getting a response, she'll reach out to touch Roje's upper arm, and ask her question again a little louder.

Indy, Bernard, Leif Rhyme Worthlessplebian KodakWolf : The second notebook is there for the reading, edges slightly bent as Sage had gripped it hard toward the end. He did not look ready to address anything anyone said until he finished reading the books. Meanwhile, in the back, there's a small sound, like a glass fell over and rolled without breaking. Sage did not seem to notice it yet.

Aódh Larry : Something big happened, something other than your underwater nightmare. Separate and yet part of you can feel deep down, it was important. Like the tide being sucked out to sea before a Tsunami slams against the shore, something wicked this way comes. The protector instinct in you is screaming into the void.

IF DECEMBER FREEZES
A story by Out Of Words​

Season One: A Night Bleeds​

 

[Larry]

Aódh McFaol
Location: The Marasong Inn.
Mood: Sleepy...
Interactions: n/A.
Mentions: Silver- | Britt-21 ​

Given all that happened, it was no surprise that it didn't take too long for the young man to fall asleep, though, in so doing, there was more than a slight concern that the experiential nature of the previous night's dream might somehow impose itself on him once again; despite all this, noting as well that he had survived the underwater episode (albeit by the skin of his teeth), Aódh fell to sleep on the ground, preferring that to cocooning himself with the still-drenched duvet on the bed. He realised that he was taking something of a risk in not seeking out Silver straightaway, given the volatility of the town as it stood, with its arbitrary displacement of time amongst other strange phenomenon. Yet, he had no way of contacting her without inconveniencing her at this time, and yes, though Marasong may be small, it wouldn't have done any good for either of their states of mind if he were to tell her that he had a dream, not only about her, but also about her friend and how she had been entrapped by seawood, all whilst being underwater. The more he imagined the likely turns of that conversation, the more he felt assured of his decision to leave seeking her out until tomorrow, when he had regained enough physical, and more importantly, mental strength to elucidate the finer points of the dream and how the effects commuted themselves into reality. And thus, with consummate ease, the Irishman found himself drifting off into that murky abode, where all his worries, or so he hoped, would come to naught for a short time.

If his dream the night before was of unnerving vivacity, tonights was one of unerring haze. Feeling, yet not sensing, Aódh seemed almost suspended in the air, buttressed by the sheer blackness that enveloped him. Nothing that would have engaged him sensorially occurred, not that he would have been disappointed by this, were he sufficiently aware to his state of being. But, throughout this murky rest, something felt wrong...something was wrong. A part of him, restless by this perceived error in the world, prevented him from completely drifting off as he would have so hoped, prior to curling up on the floor. What could it have been, that it disturbed a part of him so much that it prevented him from altogether sleeping, but not enough that it would rouse him awake? Aódh, havering between being conscious and unconscious of this fact, could do nothing but rumble about on the floor as this strange gallimaufry of irresolute sleep shrouded him only ever so much. Not only did this sensation prevent him from resting fully, but it was tinged with a sourceless remorse, or dolour. As though a part of him, and only a part of him, had reason to mourn that didn't extend to the whole. A maddening trifle that he had no means to resolve, so Aódh tried to sleep, hopeful that the coming day might clarify such sentiments.

 

[KodakWolf]

Riley Adler / Boy & Roje Jenkins
(Via Discord)​

Roje stumbled, fumbled, and more. At first it was annoying but she accepted the fact that she wasn't falling flat upon her face. Holding onto the dog's tail definitely was a plus, being lead to wherever God knows. He eventually stopped, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. The dog didn't seem to turn around and nudge her or anything. Did he see something? Suddenly, she was touched on the arm which made her flinch away Who the fuck just touched me? she thought, using a hand to reach out toward the thing that touched her. The vampire came into contact with that familiar scrubs material Wait... at least she was touching a person, the more she continued to feel with what seemed like a shoulder. "I uh..." oh shoot, what if she was being asked a question??? How does she respond to that?

With a little bit of a struggle, she just kinda blurted out her problem "I can't see. I can't hear either." if it wasn't a nurse then so be it. If it was a person to get her help, then she'll take that. "Help, please?" Roje hadn't let go of the dog's tail, knowing that pure soul was the only thing she could trust right now.



The nurse gripped Roje's arm a little more firmly and squeezed as if to be reassuring. Then she started to guide Roje forward and into the clinic. Boy was allowed in, as it was assumed he must be her guide dog or something similar. There was a good bit of activity and talking, none of which Roje saw or heard.

Inside there were a few people toward the back, being ushered into the back room before the door was closed. There was a small visible part of a body on a table before the sight was blocked from Boy.

"Does anyone here recognize this patient? She can't see or hear, did she start out that way? I'm going to put her in triage two soon as someone is free to examine her please!"

Roje and Boy were ushered into a makeshift section with privacy curtains, like one might see in an ER. Roje was directed to sit on the edge of a small bed, then the nurse held up a hand to the dog. "Stay. Sit. Stay. Uh.. Good..." She dared to try and peek at the dog's gender but gave up. "Good dog. Stay."



Roje felt the squeeze but learned that she was being guided by the person within her grasp. Eventually she felt a rumbling underneath her hand coming from the woman, assuming that maybe she was talking or something to that extent. The vampire continued to allow herself to be guided cause God knows that she was not guiding herself through jack shit. Coming in contact with a soft-ish bed, she let out a sigh, glad to be in the comfort of soft furniture once again. Reaching out, she tried to feel for the dog that was with her "You here buddy?"



Too focused he'd been in getting the woman to the clinic safely, he hadn't given much thought to the communication challenge they were bound to run into once they reached the clinic. Yet once they did, he didn't really need to get creative with communication, or even nudge the woman into the clinic. The nurse was quick to notice something was wrong, and the woman was able to realize Boy'd found some help and was able to verbalize what was going on herself.

However, Boy'd half expected the nurse to recognize the woman as some runaway patient or something. Yet she seemed to have never seen her before, even if she wore a t-shirt that said 'Marasong Health'. But they were being let in, so all good so far.

Yet the moment he walked in, his attention was completely stolen by the presence of the body he already knew was in the clinic, but apparently forgot in his dedication to guiding the woman safely. The strong smell was kind of nauseating, and while part of him was curious to inspect it and try to understand what might have happened, the other part was kind of glad the sight of it was blocked from him, at least until he got minimally used to the stench.

He moved to sit in a corner, where the nurse seemed to hope he'd stay. He wasn't new to people trying to peek at his gender, but it always felt nice to not be a short haired mutt. She thankfully gave up shortly, and he'd have stayed put if the other woman hadn't reached out, looking for him. He carefully stood up and stepped closer, hoping the nurse wouldn't tell him off, and nudged the woman's hand, all the while trying to peek in the direction he'd seen the body out of the corner of his eye.



Once they closed the door most of the way in the back room, it was quite difficult to see anything of value. There was a lot of jibber jabber going around, normally it wouldn't be audible enough to understand, but those with stronger than usual hearing could make some conversations out. Not Roje.

"...another one... but livelier... can't see, hear..."

"...reacts to outside stimuli?"

"Yes. Not like... Put in triage three... any response... in other?"

"No. They're .... catatonic... no discernable cause..."



The Vampire smiled softly as she gently petted the dog. There was nothing like a man's best friend. Despite her severe condition, petting a dog gave her the comfort she needed to get through this horrible situation. Her fingers gently brushed his ears and silently wished she could admire his beauty with her eyes. Unfortunately, she had no choice but to look at the practically-nothingness within her vision.



Eyes and ears were turned in the direction he could hear the voices talking about what seemed to be yet another catatonic patient. So there was more than the dead body to investigate.

Still, he stuck to the woman's side for several minutes. The pets were good and she did seem happier petting him. But he wasn't able to resist too long. He kept an eye on the nurse in the room, and when she seemed briefly distracted with something long enough, he silently turned around, tail brushing against the woman's leg,and attempted to sneak out into a different room, hoping the woman he'd been helping wouldn't give him away.

 

[KodakWolf]

Leif Hjalkarssen & Bernard Grave & Indy (Mittens)
(Via Discord)​

Indy watched as Sage's rage quickly became more apparent. Right, that was fun. Probably not the best idea to reveal this tidbit of info at the moment, but fuck it. She saw no reason to continue hiding her origins, especially seeing as Beth seemed to have no problems flaunting her and Roje around town.

"I grew up here." Indy's gaze flicked up toward Leif briefly. "Beth, she's a local, and she's my"--Indy froze as a crash sounded in the storage room. Her eyes widened, immediately channeling in on Sage who, thank christ, didn't seem to notice. Fuck fuck fuck. She really hoped that was just a raccoon or a very large rat.



Bernard had moved lightly to retrieve the notebook but paused when Indy spoke. His gaze switched to her upon mentioning that she grew up here. That's interesting, yet she seemed as caught-off guard as him at times. Setting aside the fact that she is herself is an uncanny, inhuman element, the supernaturality of Marasong appears of dubious origins.

The crash that cut her off forced Bernard to snap his neck at the backroom. Eyes narrowed with focus, they flick from the source then to Leif then to Sage who was still engrossed with the third set of Ranger's notes. The professor's hands balled into fists as he looked to Leif. His body displaying a question to the blond vampire: What's next?



The other vampire's answer gave away the man truly didn't know whether he was an immortal or not, which could only mean he wasn't much older than he appeared. Now how he became that unusual sort of vampiric creature was an important question that Leif wasn't about to ask, but that stayed in his mind. The man's answer to the question of why he was looking for an immortal wasn't very enlightening, certainly not enough to push away any suspicions Leif might still have. Although for the time being, it did seem like they were on the same side, at least while Marasong's mysteries proved to be bigger than any personal objectives each of them might have.

Turning his attention to Sage didn't yield any more answers. The man seemed too immersed in the notebooks to pay attention to anything else, which was somewhat understandable. The vampire hoped Indy'd be able to read and answer the questions he posed her simultaneously, and she didn't disappoint. He expected she'd be familiar with the area, as she 'd said so herself, but not to the extent of having grown up there.

But Indy was interrupted by a promising noise coming from the back room that made Leif instantly turned to look at the closed door. He knew the two others were looking at him, and he knew what their glares were asking, but his eyes were set on the door when he got up a moment later, still holding his breath, and casually headed to the backroom.




Sage was engrossed in the notebook, still fuming over something he must have read, but the second notebook was there for their reading pleasure as he delved into the third. Face slightly flushed from anger or... something. However, when Leif went to open the backroom door, Sage's attention lifted. "What's wrong?" He had caught wind of how everyone else was paying more attention toward the back.



Oh good, so everyone did hear that. Shit. She didn’t know for sure whether this guy was on their side, but she wasn’t about to test that theory by showing him the literal skeletons in the closet.

Standing up, Indy made a show of slapping her hand on the desk and pointing toward the notebook. “What’s wrong? Seriously? This guy—look, that’s a note about you, isn’t it? This guy was stalking all of you, he was keeping tabs on everyone here. Human or not. You seriously have no clue why he was doing this?”

As she spoke to Sage she quickly glanced at the two vampires, pointedly widening her eyes as she looked from them to the door. Whatever was going on in there, it needed to be sorted out. Fast.



Leif stopped briefly when he heard Sage's voice, hand grasping the knob to the back room. Was it a big deal if Sage knew River was in that closet? Or rather, that River was potentially dead in that closet? Before he could come to a decision, though, Indy took a shot at distracting Sage, and whatever Leif's decision might've been, it didn't matter anymore.

"Just a noise." He half mumbled, half spoke with a shrug, and didn't wait for an answer before he half opened the door and peeked his head inside, doing his best to make it look like he was actually just investigating a random noise, not waiting to hear what might be some of the most important information of his life so far.

 

[Out Of Words]

IF DECEMBER FREEZES

IC Thread - GM Post

GM Updates​

Aódh did their best to get some peaceful rest, but alas, 'twas a nightmare fest. Not long after the darkness of slumber overtook Aódh, he had a vision, a dream, a nightmare, call it what you will. Light filtered and moved, reminding the werewolf of the time of being underwater with the way the illumination waved and moved. He wasn't alone, but it wasn't Silver, or Roje. Instead it was a tall and broad shouldered shadow seemingly floating in place in front of Aódh.

Step up.

The voice was deep, clear but ragged. And despite the light from above the water's surface, the figure remained cast in shadow.

Be what you were meant to be.

One arm lifted to gesture toward Aódh, as the voice began to grow more gravelly. It reverberated around the werewolf, and there was a hint of familiarity. Aódh had heard this voice before, it set off goosebumps all along his arms.

My son needs your help. Marasong needs your help. Save us.

A shaft of light finally penetrated the shadow, revealing the disfigured, bloated, very dead face of Dusk Wells, eyes pure white with the shroud of the other side. The growl felt as much as Aódh heard it.

Save them!

Meanwhile in the clinic, Riley, aka Boy, was attempting a little sleuthing. He left Roje's side in favor of sniffing around at another curtained off section, where another patient waited. The figure lay on top of a bed similar to the one Roje was waiting on. Only this figure had been covered with the blankets up to their neck. Black hair, always a little messy, framed a round face, and wide open brown eyes. Only these eyes didn't register the dog, nor did any sound or touch Boy might make to the hand that hung off the side of the bed.

They didn't respond to anything. Eyes blinked now and then, the body breathed regularly, but like the nurses said, catatonic otherwise. While Roje, remained sitting on a strange bed, in an unfamiliar place, unable to see or hear anything but the seaweed and the ocean. The sheets feel crisp and clean under the vampire's grip on the bed, the air is slightly chilled, but not needing a sweater yet. Vibrations can be felt from the floor from people walking around, but the vampire is in a waiting game now.

While back at Bill's house, Hatsu discovered strange phenomenon of books seemingly throwing themselves off the shelves. Only, they weren't. With some squinting of the eyes, and careful study, Hatsu found a feline shape, mostly transparent, and definitely grumpy. An offering of food drew the feline off the shelf and down to the floor, but it took a lot of staring without blinking to track the strange translucent outline of what was hopefully Mary.

The food offered began to disappear, but didn't show up inside the feline, meaning it wasn't invisible like the invisible man. There was something going on, but what would require additional resources. At least the feline shape gave a meow after eating all the food, though it sounded like an echo of itself, faded but clinging to reality with all its claws.

At the ranger station, Sage grumbled and gruffed quite a bit as he all but shoved the third notebook at Indy in favor of skimming through the last notebook. His expression was sour as a lemon, and his knuckles still white with the tight clenching of the book edges now and then as he read further. However, that did help the others, as it was clear Sage hadn't heard what they had heard from the back.

The back room that Leif peeked into and saw the tumbled glass and what looked like a small water puddle. Only the water was more than what had been in the glass, and it was still flowing. Soon there was the sound of coughing coming from the back, quite at first, but clearly about to get louder and rougher.




OOC Information

Hatsu silverwhere : After discovering what you hope to be Mary, and giving her food, she still remains quite translucent. You can't even see the food she ate. You might need help from someone else to solve this current problem, or you can always just leave food down, close the door behind you and be on your merry way. Yet for all Bill has tried to help you with, and the good and not so good results, can you just leave her and her cat to their fate? Perhaps... Tilly can help. Or that other witch, Alyce?

Roje, Riley Britt-21 KodakWolf : Riley, you've in the very least seen the other patient around town, you might even know their name. However the catatonic state you're not as familiar with. Definitely different from what Roje seems to be experiencing, since the latter does still respond to stimuli. Roje, you know it's night at least due to the lack of sunlight on your way here, and the temperature dropped. Otherwise, you're somewhere you can only hope can assist, and you likely won't be a fan of seaweed or ocean for a while after, assuming you get your sight and hearing back. A minute feels like an hour when you've nothing to tell you otherwise. Ah, the waiting game, gotta love it.

Indy, Bernard, Leif Rhyme Worthlessplebian KodakWolf : Sage is focused on the notebook, but with the door open, the sound of coughing begins to filter through. It's only a matter of moments before surely Sage becomes aware of it as well. Leif, it sounds like someone is gagging and with the amount of water on the floor, you can likely put two and two together.

Aódh Larry : You could feel every moment of the dream, from the wetness of the ocean, to the vibrations of a near roar in your direction. When you wake up, the last words echo in your head for at least a minute, making sure you remember them well. NOTE: You can wake up in the morning if you prefer, which means your next post can be in Discord, or wait until we skip to the morning in the story thread.

IF DECEMBER FREEZES
A story by Out Of Words​

Season One: A Night Bleeds​