P. R. I. A. [Inactive]

[Killigrew]

Spoiler

It's been a dead week. It's been a dead month. No calls or emails have come in for too long. Silas was pretty sure the business was running on dead. But breaking the doomful destiny was the clear ring of the office phone. Nearly the entire group attempted to pounce on it, but Silas was the closest.


Lightning fast, he snatched the phone off its receiver, calling out a customary, though nervous, "Hello?"


To the silence, he continued. "Waugh Paranormal Research and Investigations Agency, how may I help you?"


The receiver was silent but for the sound of shallow breaths that slowly broke into hitched, broken sobs.


Silas eyed the phone. He considered hanging up.


And then a voice, tiny and sad, mournfully relayed its tale. The speaker was the daughter of a famous baker, a commodity of New Jersey that has been attracting tourists and media attention for the past number of years thanks to a TV show that hit off the popularity. It was a high rise to success until a small group of devil-chasers came in with a request for a cake; an exact replica of the Jersey Devil. The request seemed harmless, and her father took it on with all excitement. The cake was sculpted, they came to meet the ghost hunters in the appointed place; the outskirts of the Pine Barrens. They arrived with the cake in tow, a celebration for the Devil Hunters set at the location in the dead of night, a swampy park in wait. As they approached the group, the woman on the phone mourns, the cake fell to pieces in front of them. One of the chasers called out in alarm.


From across the river shone glowing red eyes, and the flying, hooved creature let out an ominous screech. The woman blinked, and it was gone.


And ever since, nothing was working out. The milk curdled without explanation, water dripped down on their customers, inexplicable screams rang through the bakery at night. They were cursed, but more importantly, they were going bankrupt. Because WPRIA had come so highly recommended, the woman was willing to pay for five members, no questions asked, to take care of this threat.


It was their first mission out of state, Silas realized. He looked over the group of co-workers at his disposal and ran his thoughts over them.


Abby, Leo, Aretha, and Lauren came along with Silas to New Jersey.


Silas Eagleton


Hoboken, New Jersey

The creature was in the chimney.

That was the great reveal, and it had been right under their noses the whole time. Their searches had turned up without results for a few days until they'd figured it out. And then came the even larger, sudden, truth shoved right into their faces.

Spoiler

The creature was flesh and blood.


It had crashed right into Silas, who had been standing atop the chimney, trying coaxing it up, and the confounded thing ran over his face, its rock-hard hooves pelting him with bruises as it escaped, little 3-foot nasty that it was.


And then the chase was on.


Silas leapt over the narrow roof as the creature flapped its wings on ahead. He yelled out at the rest of the group behind them to follow, barrelling after the terrible creature. Silas knew Leo was parked in the rental car out front, and had a few nets in the back. Catching this thing would put PRIA far ahead in the financial stability zone for a good few years... maybe more. Silas brushed away the thought of money as he jumped over a second outcropping, stumbling onto the third rooftop. They were slanted, and he heard the clattering of shingles tearing off at his feet crushing into them, but he kept running anyway. Jostling at the impact of his own careless, breathless sprint, Silas pulled his own shining cell from his pocket, squinting at it, snapping the cheap thing open, and didn't stop once.



"Hey!"

He said, and panted. He searched the sky, and found the moon.

"Westbound!"

He leapt again, and grunted as he landed, hard, against the slippery rooftop.

"It's flying! You need to get around it...."

Leo said something indistinct. Silas pressed on, not bothering to decipher it.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever. Just hurry it up!"


The thing was fast, zipping on ahead, already quite the array of yards beyond Silas' own position.


The grouping of trees was just ahead. If it made it through, they'd lose it. And have to come back again tomorrow. Spend another 200 bucks on a cheap hotel room. Maybe even get lice.


Silas did not like this idea.



"Leo!!!"

He roared, careening over the edge of the last rooftop, seeing the creature zipping ahead, too far to reach.

"C'mon!!!"





@Jason Rorstiel @Lovable Dark-side @Shadow Michaelis

https://www.rpnation.com/profile/3044-the-pooka/@The Pooka

https://www.rpnation.com/profile/3044-the-pooka/

https://www.rpnation.com/profile/5075-vainrochester/@VainRochester

https://www.rpnation.com/profile/5075-vainrochester/

https://www.rpnation.com/profile/4929-taqhart/@Taqhart

https://www.rpnation.com/profile/4929-taqhart/

https://www.rpnation.com/profile/2405-sol/@Sol

https://www.rpnation.com/profile/2405-sol/

https://www.rpnation.com/profile/3545-karma200/@Karma200

https://www.rpnation.com/profile/3545-karma200/

https://www.rpnation.com/profile/40-kaine/@Kaine

https://www.rpnation.com/profile/40-kaine/

 

[Kaine]

Lauren - Main


Her beady little eyes barely peered over the armrest of the back seat to peer outside. Leo had been the driver and was still sitting in the back. Quietly, her eyes shifted as she watched for anything but it was rather boring. She let out a long, elaborately loud sigh. The windows were open and the air seemed quiet.


“Leeeeeeeeeeeoooooooooooo” She complained, “It’s sooooooooo boooooooring. You said this was gonna be fun...”


She fell back into the seat and umphed as she did. The seat made a creaking noise and the car shifted slightly. Lauren sighed again. What was all this jumbo about cases and paranormal. Nothing seemed exciting in the field. Everything she had seen in their office. Recordings, pictures, accounts, google. It was great and now there was just... nothing.


Suddenly the radio cracked and Silas was screaming over it. Something was coming towards them, or at least she thought. Were they westbound? Flipping over excitedly she fell in the floor before scurrying up the seat and back to the window, nearly jumping out as she clamored on it to hang out and get a better view. Frantically she looked up and down and side to side. Where was it?


Finally deciding that this view simply wasn’t good enough, she climbed out the window and with a foot planned climbed up on top of the car. The roof sank a little under her weight and her hand planted on her forehead like a plank or fake binoculars as if it would better her view. A huge smile emerged.


“LEO IT’S RIGHT THERE!!!!” She freaked, other arm shaking, pointing at it violently as if she was going to stab it with her index finger. “OH MY GOD ITS RIGHT THERE!!!” Jumping up and down, darting her eyes between Leo and the thing. She couldn’t make out details but by god she was going to point out the obvious!


((OOC: Killi, for humors sake, feel free to do what ever you want to lauren at any time. You have my permission to do anything except make her talk or maim/kill her. LOLOLOL!!!))

 

[Taqhart]

LEO - MAIN MISSION


Leo sat compressed in the little rental car. Times were tough and Silas could only afford the cheapest and even worse smallest rust bucket available. All of the equipment could barely fit inside, Leo was proud of himself for using super packing skills to puzzle all of it into the car.


Lauren sighed and complained, Leo held his arms in close and compressed his shoulders to turn around and look at his adopted daughter.


"I know Lauren.... Just hang in there little trooper." He said as he gave her a loving slap on the shoulder.


Suddenly Leo's radio sputtered to life. As soon as Silas said Westbound, Leo forced his way out of the car as fast as he could.


"I'm on it!"


CAMERA Leo's mind screamed, he was standing unarmed, he needed to get this thing documented. With some evidence they could break even on this mission if they by any chance can't catch the little beast.


Leo ran to the back of the car and flipped open the trunk. Bags and stands and all of the teams stuff was nicely packed and organized inside the tiny space. For a split second Leo hesitated, before he started throwing stuff out to find his red camera bag.


Finally had his camera ready, he slipped a back up lens and a zoom in his pockets. A few nets were scattered on the ground and Leo only picked one up. Lauren started screaming and pointing in the air, his eyes followed her little arm and finger to a little winged beast flying over them.


"LAUREN! WATCH THE CAR AND THE GEAR!" Leo started sprinting to catch up the the devil.

 

[JellyFish]

Main Mission - Aretha


Living things were so troublesome. They could walk and run, think very easily. Ghosts were just so much easier to handle. Confused and befuddled as they were. But here she was running after a demonic looking beast instead of a haunted house. Just beautiful.


The half moon glowed high against the giant tree's though black clouds of ominous doom lingered overhead. The shadows cast by the tall tress, wavered eerily in the chilled darkness and at times it seemed as if more than one creature lurked. She did not like this. Breathing steadily, she followed quickly after Silas and his pursuit. Snapping twigs and flinging branches, scratched her face and bare legs. She should have worn jeans.


Aretha soon learned to duck and swerve, her eyes adjusting to the night scenery. But her lungs trembled at the effort it took to keep up. Her tongue was dry from moister and continuing to run seemed hopeless, the beast was much swifter than a human's unstable legs. Yet she pushed forward and could clearly see that Silas was about to loose the damned creature. "Perfect", she grumbled in irritation.

 

[Jays]

Spoiler

Nathan's spiritual awareness flared one morning. It was the sign of someone tempering with the Barrier, the power signature led to a leakage of the spirit world in Texas, creating disturbances and abnormal energy level, resulting in powerful unrested ghosts that can manifest physically for a short period of time.


The local news had already reported several incidents of people seeing their dead relatives, and some of them started believing. Their faith created links to the Other Side, further widening the cracks. It's a small time job, only with the potential for a severe paranormal outbreak unless put out within a month.


But an average psychic didn't have enough power to close the crack as long as the mysterious source of the leakage still existed, and the nearest ghost specialist was him.


So Nathan set out.

Nathan


Texas

​

It felt as if the girl was only sleeping. Her body was still warm, the skin still held a healthy pink color, her face relaxed and peaceful as her head rested on his shoulder. He could almost feel her breath on his neck, half expecting her to sit up and rub her bleary eyes like it was early morning. But of course she didn't. How could she? The girl was gone, in every sense of the word. If it was any other circumstance, he would wish that she would find peace in the after life, that her soul would reach Elysium. Except it won't. Her soul was ripped right out of her and destroyed. There was nothing of her left except for a chunk of useless meat that still looked alive.


The cool breeze of midnight caressed his cheeks and ruffles his clothes, throwing the long trech coat back to flap on the wind. It was a pleasant night, Nathan observed, with the cloudless sky leaving a curtain of darkness decorated by countless stars blinking like a light show. The full moon stared down at him steadily, its gaze never wavered, illuminating the night with perfect clarity. At the back of his mind, Nathan could feel a familiar buzz, like the noise of a huge machine running in the background. It was the sound of thousands of ghosts whispering, pleading, screaming in anger, fear and confusion. Just like it had always been. It was the very sound that had driven this girl crazy.


He looked down at her again for the last time, his face emotionless. She might have been beautiful. She might have been young. He didn't remember. He didn't even know her name, or her story, or anything at all. From the moment he laid eyes on her, she was a corpse. More than a corpse. An useless pile of meat. Nathan peeled his hand from around the body and watched as it slid along his arms and tumbled down into the darkness, hitting its head on the wall of the well once before it was out of sight. He turned away and raised his head to the stars, enjoying the fresh wind on him, washing away her scent of nail polish and cheap perfume, before he started walking away again. It was a pleasant night indeed.


It started small. Don't they all? A little leakage in the Spirit World Barrier, a little access energy trickled through, a few abnormally strong ghost with desires to meet their relative again. A few cults formed in a small community, God and Satan and newly pulled-put-of-someone's ass gods were worshipped with activities from praying everyday to cutting themelf to prove their dedication, to the extreme of sarificing. The usual, with a little bit of luck that the cults were relatively secretive with small scale, and they hadn't gotten pass the animal sacrificing yet. Their prayers, although holding no religious value or meaning whatsoever, did provided a small energy boost to the disturbance, like poking a sewing needle through an wound, slowly widening it. It was an amateur job for Nathan. He stomped hard on the powered up ghosts, stripping their new spiritual power away and hauled their ass back to the Other Side. Closing the Rift, however, was a trickier business. Slamming it shut would mean that he couldn't find the source, and it would be a pain in the ass if whoever was behind it managed to built a back door or had already taken something out of the Spirit World. Nathan went into investigation mode.


And found an unpleasant suprise. The power signature...was his. It was exactly like his, though no where near as precise and delicate, a hole created by a club rather than a scalpel. But the energy was unmistakable. It was caused by one of his kind, another ectomancer. From that point on, a walk in the park turned into a trip down Memory Lane. The worse side of Memory Lane.


Signs began to apppear, now that he knew to look for them. The patterns and spiritual waves were all too familiar. They were the same when he first found out about his abilities. Bursts of randomly generated power, the images flickering on and off at the corners of his eyes. And the voices. The voices were the worst, they never stopped, they never get any clearer, and they were never anything but pain and despair. Nathan shivered at the memory. He always wondered what would he become if he had given into the madness of the dead, if he had let go of his sanity.


Nathan found his answer. She was all too regular. Normal clothes, normal friends, normal car, everything. But the eyes betrayed her. He had seen those eyes before, on the lingering souls of ancient ghosts, their mind warped into unrecognisable monsters by thousands of years wandering the mortal world. And not one pair, but 8 of them stared back at him through the girl's eyes.


She ran. She tried to fight back. She pleaded. She begged for mercy. She shouldn't have. They shouldn't have. The girl was no more, and so was her soul. So he showed her the only kindness he could. It had to be done.


Nathan flopped into the driver seat of his car tiredly. He looked into the seemingly endless desert before him, at the rocks and hard soil covering the landscape all the way to the horizon. It wasn't far enough. Wasn't far enough for him to escape either his past or his guilt. He had killed again that day, another piece of his soul lost. Doesn't matter that she was no longer human or his kind, her death was on his hand. Nathan wiped his face warily and pulled the car onto the road again, heading back to Waugh.


Just another judgement day.

 

[Sol]

Spoiler

Two days after Silas and his team left, another request called in.....


A family went hiking last week, a young married couple, a tween, and the kindergartner son hiked their way around the Black Mountain, settling in for a quiet night. Both boys were bundled up in their sleeping bags, their soft breaths prodding their parents to sleep.


And when they woke up, their 5 year old son was gone.


The parents, Bill and Sally, went immediately to the police, and the park rangers, and every authority in the town they could get. A search was conducted, twenty-strong volunteers roaming the forest, calling out the young boy's name. But not a trace of the 5-year-old Norman was uncovered.


The parents are at their wit's end. And they're willing to do anything to get their son back. There is no price too high.


"Please, will you help us?"


-The Traveler's Light-


Eraniel.


The Black Mountain, somewhere near Waugh.


One day after the call.


It was strange to say the least. Eraniel couldn't pick up any sign of the lost child. He had spent close to an entire day scouring the mountain itself and surrounding area. Not a single sign of the child, no scent of his droppings and the tracks seem to be erratic a best before simply looping back onto itself and then going cold. His bear form could not pin point the child and he couldn't take to the skies due to the canopy cover.


He may have been sitting on the mountain side with quite the breath-taking view but his mind was not focusing on that. On any normal day, he would simply bask in this cold weather and see the sun kiss the nature that he gazed upon from his vantage point. Perhaps there is more to this case than any of them believed. It may not just be an ordinary "lost child" case after all.


He wondered just how Mae was doing, keeping the family updated, comforted and especially calm. It wouldn't exactly be good if they found out something not human is looking for their son. Well to be precise, a large white bear padding around the mountain and the area is looking for their son. They'd call animal control and he'd be locked away for a long time.


Eraniel pulled out his phone and called Mae. However, there was no response, so he decide to try out this "voice mail" people do when no one answers their calls.


"Hello, Ms. Osbourne, how is the family? In any case, I think it would be wise to call the other members of PRIA here. We are not dealing with an ordinary case of a lost child, something else is at work. I will camp out for the night here in the woods and see what I can find when night falls."


With that he put the phone back in his pocket, took in the view one more time and leapt off the mountain. He still had enough prayers saved up this week to spread his wings and soften his landing. Besides, the day was coming to a close, the sun was dipping on the horizon and it'd be much too hard to try and descend the mountain in darkness.


They had thought that this was just an ordinary case of a lost child, so they had decided to just send Eraniel and Mae to investigate. One to track down the child and bring him back, the other to talk to and keep the family occupied, calm, and updated.

 

[Auren]

xxxxAbbyxxMain Missilexxxxx




Abby rested her arms behind her head as she sat against a nearby tree. The bark from the trunk dug into her back as she looked up at the moon and stars. Silas had told her to stay near the woods, and that would be her vantage point. She figured he just wanted her to stay away from the house and the little beastie or whatever. She had almost started climbing up the chimney to investigate the noises before Silas shooed her to the woods. She had grown bored with waiting for a sign. There wasn't anything in the woods that was interesting.





A cold hand touched her shoulder, and she looked up at a rather pale fellow. He was dressed in some old garb, looking rather solemn. Abby grinned at the ghostie.

"Hello,"

she said before standing up. The ghost looked back in the direction of Silas and the others. Abby, of course, had to look as well. She giggled as she noticed Silas slip. Then the beastie caught her eye.

"Well, lookie there!"

she exclaimed before feeling a weight on her right shoulder. She glanced over to see the ghost man shake his head. "You need to move," he said. Abby's brow furrowed.







"Why?"

The ghost pointed toward the beastie. It was a ways off, but it was coming her direction.

"I'll get it!"

she giggled before running out. The beastie was flying, but if it wanted to go into the woods, it would have to pass her first.

 

[A Five Headed Dragon]

-The Traveler's Light-


Mae


Home of the missing boy.


One day after the call.


Mae tensed when she felt the book bag that was resting against her leg start to buzz. Oh! It's just my phone. I hope it's not too important. She knew she ought to answer it, but couldn't bring herself to leave the room while the parents of the missing boy, or Bill and Sally as they insisted on her calling them, spoke. They chatted about meaningless things, anything that would keep their minds off of the young boy. Mae couldn't stand the look on Sally's face whenever she thought of her son, so she would carefully change the topic whenever he came up. Mae had made it clear that they would find the boy and bring him home safely, and saw no reason to push the parents into thinking about him.


Bill got up to make some tea for the three of them, and Mae smiled reassuringly at Sally once more before excusing herself to check her phone. On her way out of the living room, she passed a picture of Bill, Sally, and their two young children and shivered.


Mae leaned back against the front door of the home, and held her phone against her ear, struggling to suppress her giggles when Eran called her 'Ms. Osbourne.' It sounded so mature, and so unlike Mae. The young psychic frowned when she heard that he'd made no progress in finding the boy, and made a mental note to call him back herself later. In the meantime, she needed to talk to Kenia and Hageshi about joining them in the search for the child. She slowly paced the sidewalk as she called the P.R.I.A. office, and prayed that Kenia would answer the phone. He was so much easier to talk to than Hageshi was...


( @Lovable Dark\-side)

 

[Lovable Dark-side]

~A Traveler's Light~


Kenia


At the P.R.I.A Office.


One day after the call

​

Kenia walks into the small P.R.I.A office building on the corner of Maple Boulevard, sporting nonchalant smile, and a emerald green sundress that he just happened to borrow from his wonderful Mae. He moves with ease in 5 inch stilettos, his balance almost perfect as he walks on the drab carpet that covered the office's floor, his foot snagging on a loose thread, causing Kenia to fall with a loud. OOPH! The skirt of his dress, riding up showing off his black boxer briefs,"Well, that was splendid wasn't it." He mutter to himself in a quiet voice, that neither sound feminine, nor completely masculine, making it hard for strangers, or anyone who hasn't known him for at least a week tell wither he is male, or a creature of the female gender.


He forces himself off the carpeted floor, and pulls back down the green, satin skirt of his dress and made it to his dead, sighing loudly. He spins in his high backed chair,bored, and wondering what the day would hold for him. Mae and Eraniel were busy searching for the missing child. Leo, Lauren, and Salis. Plus a few others attempting to catch some kind of devil from Jersey.


Oh, how it bored him sitting alone in the office with only Hags and whoever came to work today as company. Leaning back in his chair he starts to day dreaming, letting his mind fade from this world, and into a lucid dream like state. A peaceful since of joy washing over him. Then the phone rang. It was a loud blare disturbing his calm seas, filling them with storms. He grabs the phone and answers, his voice growing higher in pitch as he talks into the land line," Hello this is Kenia of Paranormal Research Investigation Agency. May I help you?"

 

[VainRochester]

ANOTHER SIDE:


-THE TRAVELLER'S LIGHT-


Hageshi Arasoi


P.R.I.A Office Building




​

"Boss, get the hell out of here right now!" Bullet casings fell on the wooden pier as she emptied clip after clip of her pistol.


"Not without you, Hagesh--"


"GO!" The gun clicked empty. Cursing, she tossed it aside, and leapt over the crate of fishing supplies that she had taken cover behind. Barely flinching as two bullets struck her straight on her abdomen, she sprinted straight towards the source of the gunfire. Just at the corner of her eye, she caught one of the men aiming down his sight, directed towards the speedboat that held her boss. Abandoning all else, she took a running tackle.


She was a second too late. As she connected with the triad member, the gunshot damn near blasted her eardrums right off. She whirled around, and saw a blossom of red spread across the chest of her boss, a red mist fading away in the wind.


"BOSS!"





Hageshi's eyes snapped open at the moment of the cry. It was the same nightmare that plagued her over and over the same event she wanted to forget because that day was the day she had failed to protect her boss, her best friend and her brother. She muttered something in her half-awakeness and raised her head from the table, her hair cascading around her face. She must have fallen asleep after the rest of the team went off. Without Silas and Eraniel to entertain her, she must have dozed off in boredom. She gave a disgruntled snort and touched her eyepatch, making sure it was still over where she was supposed to have a right eye. Satisfied, she brushed her hair away from her sharp features and pushed it back over her scalp.


Keep doing this and I might just regret not marrying you instead.





"Shut up, Boss." Hageshi gave a small laugh and rubbed her neck, sore from having been bent over from lying on the table. She silently wondered how that bastard was doing right now. Probably happy and rich with his family somewhere in the world. Probably. She reached for the cup beside her and raised it to her lips, but promptly stopped when she realised it was empty. She had most likely drained it before falling asleep. Coffee really didn't do wonders after all. That or someone decided that her coffee was better than their own. Flattering.


Her attention turned to the computer monitor ahead of her. An article regarding "Will-o-wisps" was open on the browser. She must have just been reading this before drifting off into that recurring nightmare. Strange, what had driven her to peruse this article? After all, she knew what they are. Odd lights that appeared in forests and the like to lead trekkers and hikers astray, where they would most likely perish from being completely lost. Was she looking for something else she did not know about here? Her wonderings of why she was reading this article was interrupted by the ringing phone at the office. Her muscles still sleeping, she really couldn't be bothered to get up and go. It was so far away and she was all the way here. But it might be an important call. Torn between two evils, between sleeping and exerting herself to get 5 steps away, she remained upright on her chair and static. Before she could make up her mind whether to take it or not in her groggy state, Kenia had helpfully retrieved the call.


Good going, Kenia. Hageshi idly closed the browser page and started up Solitaire.

 

[A Five Headed Dragon]

-The Traveler's Light-


Mae


Home of the missing boy.


One day after the call.


Mae tugged nervously on her navy blue skirt, and sighed in relief as Kenia answered the phone. "Hey Kenia, it's Mae. Eran is having some trouble finding the little boy. He thinks that there's something supernatural going on, and we need your help. How quickly do you think you and Hageshi can get out here?" Mae continued to pace the flower-lined sidewalk on her tiptoes, holding her free arm out to balance herself. She dragged her toe along the ground and yelped in surprise, nearly dropping the phone. She felt her face turn red in embarrassment, and looked around wildly to make sure no one saw, and then put her focus back on the phone.

 

[Lovable Dark-side]

~A Traveler's Light~


Kenia


P.R.I.A Office


A day after the call

​

Kenia quirks a singular, perfectly shaped eyebrow in interest, as Mae explains the rather dire situation," Supernatural you say?"He says, with a little less than shock in his voice. It wasn't unusual for a case that would seemingly be normal to become that of supernatural origin. He stands up from his rather comfortable chair, revealing a nice imprint of his behind, he looks back it for a second smiling. It looked rather nice," I will talk to the lovely Hageshi and call you back once we get some stuff planed out. Oh! I borrowed your green sun dress. You know with the gold embroidery. It was just so cute I couldn't help but take it." He laughs, then attempts to go back to all seriousness," We can probably get to the mountains in a few hours, maybe a sooner if I don't do teh driving. No promises though"


The young man then hangs up his phone, then walks into Hageshi's office, poking his head in first before walking right up to the older woman, one that most feared, and found scary. Yet, he thought of her as a regal queen, who if angered would kill you slowly, without mercy, and probably with a great deal of pain,"Hello Hageshi my lovely flower." He says in a flirtatious voice, leaning on against her desk with a smile upon his face," It seems we have been summoned, and must report to duty asap!"


Kenia blinks once then leans forward, and places his hands on her's," So, we are going to need a car and to start packing before sunset today."

 

[A Five Headed Dragon]

-The Traveler's Light-


Mae


Home of the missing boy.


One day after the call.


"H-hey! STOP STEALING MY CLOTHES! Wait, how did you even get into my apartment?!" She squealed. Sadly, Kenia hung up before answering her. She grumbled angrily under her breath as she stopped pacing and leaned against the mail box, scrolling leisurely through her notifications.


There were a couple of texts from Kimberly, one from that cute guy from her english class, a missed call from Era-Oh! I almost forgot to call him back! Mae bumped her forehead with her hand, mentally chastising herself for being so forgetful. She tapped Eran's name, and pressed the bright green 'call' button, hoping that he'd answer so that they could discuss the case more extensively. Mae wanted to know what he thought had happened, and why he couldn't find the child. They also needed to plan out when and where he'd meet up with Kenia and Hageshi. She recommenced the pacing of the sidewalk as she waited for Eraniel to answer the phone.

 

[Killigrew]

Silas Eagleton


Hoboken, New Jersey


--=Main Mission=--




​

Even under the night's bleak shadow, even with the stars blotted out by streetlights afar in the distance, Silas could make out the muscled, shadowy blob that was Leo charging after the Devil in the darkness. He saw the man's camera light beam out, catching the demon's eyes, reflecting the unnatural red glow in a coruscating manner. The Jersey Devil, small, 3-foot, winged beast, dodged a tree branch in a quick flutter of its wings, zipping ahead, even as Leo's steady experience followed it, the camera light always just a centimeter off the blur of a beast. Its speed was devilish, and it looked like they had no chance in gaining on it, but there was one thing neither the group of investigators nor the Devil had anticipated.


A slight girl with twice-colored hair breaking out from the trees to block its path.


"Come on, Abby," Silas whispered.


But his muted support meant little. The Devil veered to the right, wings flapping, hooves cycling, breaking into the assortment of high, narrow trees.


Silas slumped. Leo was still chasing it, rushing past them. But it looked to Silas that this mission had ended in failure. Sighing, he dropped down to his feet, pushing off from the roof. He'd found the bright white of the rental. It awaited below, its roof ready for the catching.


The impact was softer than he'd thought it'd be.


He looked down, shifting his hips to see why.


There was a small child. Apparently they made comfortable pillows.


"See, Lauren," Silas groaned, shifting to his feet, regaining his balance before rolling his eyes at her prone form. "This is exactly why you're not allowed on the roof!"

 

[Sol]

It just occurred to him that he had never once gone "camping" during his almost year long stay with the humans and PRIA. Eraniel had wanted to try and "camp out" for the night but had no idea about the etiquette or rules to follow. Well as far as the human rules went at least. It was accurate to say that he had been "camping out" all his life before Blythe took him in a few months back. It would be shameful indeed were he to suggest it and not come prepared for whatever the human standard for camping was.

Breaking his train of thought and the silence in the forest was his phone's ringtone. Not only was it playing but the phone was furiously vibrating in his pocket. Someone had the goodwill to get him his first mobile phone when he began earning the trust of everyone or mostly everyone at PRIA. Well less of trust and more of doing his job as the Dean of Custodial Affairs. When he wasn't cleaning or talking with the other members, he was usually tinkering with his phone.


The caller seemed to be Ms. Osbourne.


"Good evening, Ms. Osbourne, how might you be?"

 

[Kaine]

Just like he had always said, Leo pulled out his camera and equipment and started doing his own thing. Lauren followed the creature with her hand and with her body, turning as it headed towards the edge of the forest. She knew Abby was over there somewhere but she wasn’t part of that plan so the idea of Abby jumping as tall as a tree to catch the beastie mid flight made her giggle.


At least that was before...


Thud


Lauren squealed sharply as Silas jumped from the roof right on top of her. She fall flat on her tummy and the roof of the crappy little rental car caved in even more. The girl grunted as Sileas removed his butt from her back. She rolled over and sat up and just kind of ignored him as he spoke to her.


“Shuddup. You're the one who jumped off a roof and onto me. I was clearly directing the mission from up here while you were chasing an oversized turkey.”


She turned letting her legs hang off the side of the car. Her head tilted and soon, she realized that the trunk was open. The same trunk that housed all of Leo’s little goodies and boxes of toys. Looking back up at Silas, she harumphed at him with her nose raised before sliding off the car. Her long sleeved hood hiding her arms and hands as she crossed them. After a few moments when no one seemed to be paying attention any longer, she quietly ninja’d her way around the car and casually took a peek at all the goodies inside the trunk.


Now she knew way the car was so small. All the free space was taken up by the trunk. There was a large box. She popped a few latches on it; this one was a net with some sort of cable and launcher. Shuffling through a bag, it had zipties and other small hand held gadgets. Most of them were for getting statistics though nothing of any use. finally there was a small box, about a third of the size of the longest one she opened first. It’s lever was undone, so what harm would come from peeking inside?


Her little fingers slowly lifted the lid and when she took sight of what was inside, she kind of tilted her head. They were solid black, kind of bulky, about twice the size of her hand and had two protruding melt prongs on either side. She pulled one out of the box, as they were tilted sideways and there was actually 4 of them total. Her fingers poked one of the prongs. It wasn’t sharp, but it was smooth and just had a normal cold metallic feel.


Turning it over and rotating it around she saw a large O/I button and with its slight handle curve, what looked like a trigger. Flipping the button green and taking it in both hands she gently squeezed the trigger like button. Within an instant, electricity arced between all four prongs and made a somewhat loud crackly pop is it did. Immediately she released the button and it stopped. Her lips parted in a sinister smile as one word came to mind.


Tazer.


Quickly she turned it off and put it in her hoody pocket with both hands before Silas or Leo caught on that she had it. Now all she had to do was wait until the giant turkey was down and she would take victory would be hers! Before they had a chance to question her she took off in a trot.


"Common guys! We're gonna lose it!" After pausing for a second she turned her head back, her eyes slanted with those conniving gears of hers turning, "Silas, you're being slow. That's why it got away from you!"

 

[A Five Headed Dragon]

-The Traveler's Light-


Mae


Home of the missing boy.


One day after the call.


Mae put a hand over her mouth to smother her childish giggles. "I'm doing good. And Eran, please, just call me Mae." She started to give him the update, but stopped as she saw a flash of light in the corner of her eye. She turned towards the house, trying to locate the source of the light. The curtains are drawn shut, so it didn't come from inside the house...


Mae shook her head, pressing the palm of her hand against her forehead. I must be going insane.


"Uh-I talked to Kenia, and he said that he and the others would head this way as soon as possible." She switched the phone to her other hand, and leaned back against the mail box, keeping her dark brown eyes trained on the house. "I wanted to talk to you about the case. Did you not find any traces of the boy?" She tangled her free hand in her short auburn hair, racking her mind for any decent explanation of what could be happening. "Children don't just randomly disappear off the face of the earth." She muttered to herself.

 

[VainRochester]

"Huh?" Hageshi leaned back on her chair when Kenia called her. Her screen showed that she had gotten three decks down and was on her way to the fourth. She had started to have very selective hearing with regards to Kenia's rampantly flirtatious ways with her. It reminded her a little of when the Boss often joked that he and Hageshi were going out and would openly flirt with her using the most unsubtle choice of words possible, and he did it loudly enough that anyone around them would hear. His wife and his other two lieutenants laughed it off as a joke. And it was a joke. They were merely the best of friends. She wasn't sure if Kenia was kidding like the Boss or actually serious, so she had no idea whether to punch him in the face or play along as she did with the Boss.


"I can get a car, if that's what we need." Hageshi said, pulling out an outdated phone. An old, clamshell model, ancient and still using 3 by 3 keypads for texting. "Also, who needs to pack? I've got all I need." Her eyes floated over to the desk, where three packs of Salem cigarettes lay in wait. Before Kenia could blink, all three were stuffed in her jacket's pockets. "Okay, now I have everything I need. You go ahead and pack your....necessary items." She gave a forced smile, which did nothing to reassure anyone, and keyed in a number. "I'll meet you outside the office."


--------


"很好。谢了你的帮忙。" Hageshi grasped the hand of an Asian man and shook it. The recipient laughed and patted her shoulder.


"No need worry. You are good friend to Xiao Long, you are good friend to us." He said, his accent ridiculous and racially stereotypical. "Just don't break it, okay?"


"I'll try." She waved as her Chinese compatriot left the vicinity in a taxi. She massaged her neck and took another look at the car. A metallic red Mazda 3. It wasn't that shabby. The paint job was good, the inside still smelling fresh. Hageshi leaned on one side of the car, contemplating whether to take a drag or not.

 

[Sol]

"Of course....Mae and yes, I found not a track nor his lingering scent. It is almost as though he's been spirited away but I have no idea what could have done it, there are just too many creatures that fit the bill. I shall stay out in the forest tonight and see what I could find, our culprit may just be nocturnal."


It was difficult to address one so casually for Eraniel. After all, he was only ever a pet in PRIA. It was unthinkable to refer to one with such authority in an informal manner. He patiently listened to Mae as she went about giving him an update on the situation with the boy's parents. If anything, they were quite relaxed about the matter but that could snap at knowledge that he has been too incompetent at his job. The child was a parent's pride and joy and he had no doubt they would go to any lengths for the child. He had to do the same and go all out looking for the child as well.


"So what's the plan, Miss..Mae?"

 

[Killigrew]

Silas Eagleton


Hoboken, New Jersey


--=Main Mission=--

​

No point in following it now.


Silas dropped down from the roof after seeing Lauren stride haughtily away. He rolled his eyes at her childish antics and dusted himself off, face scrunching up in disgust when the girl complained, an array of dialogue that was somehow interwoven with her incessant bragging.


She really thinks she's all that.





Silas snorted at the thought, spreading his gaze out over the forest and not bothering to reply. There was barely a glimpse of the group now; only the flickering light that pricked out from the bushes in thin beams. The young man deflated at the hopeless sight; he wouldn't catch up, he wouldn't be much help, not like this. This night looked to be ending in a resounding failure and accusatory stupidity. No matter Silas' desire to be helpful to the baker that had hired them on, his actions had been far too rash to really make a dent in the bakery's current dilemma. The curse of the Jersey Devil would return stealthier and more elusive the second time. It would adapt, because that's how animals, most animals, are. Silas didn't believe it to be more than a misshapen beast; demons were strictly spiritual beings in Silas' mind, after all, but he knew something of the basics of hunting; namely to never let your prey escape, for rare it is to see it times twain.


But escaped it had. What was he to do now?


The only real option presented him seemed to be to wait in the car. Sighing, he turned back around.


His hand grasped the rental's door handle, and he had only managed to swing it half-open when Lauren's high, taunting voice pierced his ears.


As always, the child set his teeth on end. "I'm not letting it get away. I'm getting out of the way." He said angrily, but even as he said this, the accusation pricked him deep. Giving up like this wasn't something a leader should do.


"Fine, kid. Fine. I'll humor you." He sighed a white puff out.


Silas slammed the car door shut and finally realized Lauren wasn't at the back as he'd thought--she was running across the dirt road and headed straight for the reedy forest. His eyes just about bulged out his head. Moving quickly, Silas grabbed a thickly woven net and wrapped it around his arm before grabbing another and closing the trunk.


Silas faced the forest again, perceived the slivers of light, and followed suit.

 

[A Five Headed Dragon]

-The Traveler's Light-


Mae


Home of the missing boy.


One day after the call.

​

Mae made a face, pressing her lips into a tight line. "The plan...Well, Kenia and the others are about to head this way. They can spend the night at the house where I can fill them in on everything, and then we could meet you out there in the morning. Does that sound okay to you?" Mae asked as she tugged nervously at her skirt. Something felt wrong. She didn't know what, but it definitely wasn't good. Mae's eyes drifted back towards the house, where she saw Sally pull back the curtains. Mae realized that she'd been gone for a while, and bit her lip.


"I have to go Eran. Call me if you find any clues as to where the boy is, and stay safe."


Mae hung up immediately and smiled in Sally's direction, giving her a small wave. Her limbs felt heavy as she went back inside, and she sighed as she collapsed onto the couch. Mae tucked her phone back into her backpack and kicked it away before accepting a cup of tea from Bill. The young psychic could feel the waves of overwhelming sadness coming off of the couple, and wasn't sure that she could last much longer before bursting into tears herself. I hope Kenia and the others get here soon.

 

[Karma200]

*A Traveler's Light*


Karma

​

The short haired brunette was walking in a black tank top with shorts and dark grey army boots. A pair of black earphones that were in her ears, blasting a song from a band that she favored known as 'Fools Gambit'. Her name is Blythe Foster, a 20 year old woman working at a business called P.R.I.A. It's a place that deals with... well, the supernatural and when Bly's high school friend Abby had introduced her to the work she was definitely against it in the beginning. She was walking over to the victim of the case she had been assigned to in order to meet up with Hageshi and Kenia, two co-workers that she got along with perfectly fine.


Something at the corner of her eye caught her attention to the alley she was just about to pass, three men had a tall and lanky man cornered at the back.


"Ignore it..." She muttered and she took a few steps away from the alley, biting her bottom lip in thought. Without thinking Blythe reached up for the earphone in her left ear and pulled it out. Different noises that didn't have physical appearances made her flinch from the sudden sound she preferred to ignore.


"Leave me alone!" The voice of the guy, whom she was guessing was the tall victim, was shouted out and Bly couldn't help but sigh as she turned around and jogged into the alley.


"Is it really that fun to gang up on someone?" Blythe asked in a firm tone and narrowed eyes. Of course because her reflexes seem to react before her thoughts, Bly's hand balled up into a fist before swinging it around. A satisfying 'crack!' echoed from the contact, for a moment Blythe felt a bit of regret for taking action before asking what was going on but when she looked at the tall and fear shaken man she noticed a bit of bruising on his arms.


"What do you think your doing?!" One of the men returned Bly to reality, his arm lifted and Bly already knew what he would be doing. So typical. Grabbing his arm she spun around and leaned her back against his stomach before bending forward and flipping the stranger over her back. Without hesitation she turned to get the other man but he surprised her when he swiped the air with a knife, scratching her on her cheek.


This seemed to flip Bly's trigger and before she knew it, she used the palm of her hand and slammed it against his chest; before he flew back she added a bit more power in her leg before striking him in the stomach. All three men lay on the floor knocked -out.


"Look, I'm pretty busy right now and you just made me waste a lot of time. You have height, use that to your advantage," Bly huffed at the guy who was shaking, his mouth had opened to say thank you but Blythe was already gone and jogging toward the direction of the house. Taking a taxi the rest of the way would be better seeing as how it was much farther than she had expected.


It took her at least 10 minutes by taxi to reach the house and in truth Bly was a bit nervous on how to deal with grieving parents, she was sure that she would have something to say and right now there was no way she wanted to open her mouth and sound rude so instead she decided to just be quiet around the parents.


Taking a strawberry lollipop from her pocket, Bly unwrapped it and put it into her mouth before walking over to the front door of the house and knocking 3 times. She began to think how she would feel if she was a mother and her son had gone missing when they were out on a vacation... vacation would probably never be on Blythe's mind if that happened.

 

[Sol]

He couldn't even get a word in before she hung up. Still, it was worth it knowing the rest of PRIA would be here. There was something quite unsettling about this case, yet there were also so many reasons why this one was unsettling to begin with. It could range from a malevolent entity taking the child elsewhere to Eraniel just being incompetent. Hopefully, the arrival of the rest would quicken this search's progress. It had to, a five member strong team of PRIA could track one child down where twenty normal men would fail.


The whole forest felt different at night, yet the change was minor as minor as the sun going down. The air was colder and oppressive all the while carrying a whisper throughout the forest 'leave.' The trees in this forest in particular looked like they housed all sorts of sinister residents waiting to pounce on the generally oblivious human. The earth threatened to rip as if it was a thin sheet holding one up rather than solid ground.


However, that could all just be his hypersensitivity at work mixed with a little suspicion. The humans couldn't sense it and nothing has happened to them until now. Accumulated offenses perhaps or simply the random whims of a malevolent entity?


Eraniel tried to continue the hunt yet found himself on the ground after two steps. No external force except his own was responsible for this. He had never tried going bear form for an entire day and not think to take a break. He put too much confidence in his overall ability to skip sleep for a few days on end. He could skip sleep for a few days but that was mainly because he wasn't exerting too much effort on those days. It was only ever lots of walking with either a broom and a dustpan, a mop or any of his implements as the resident Head Engineer of Sanitation. This time, though, he had all of his sense on alert at all times, he couldn't afford to overlook anything after all.


He stood up and shambled over to a forest clearing not too far from where he collapsed and lay down there. Eraniel's body felt heavy during the transition but he would be damned if he didn't give himself a good view of the night sky. A black canvas with all manner of white dots on it, a few of those dots felt the need to race through the black canvas. It was bright and it was peaceful and yet it was dark and unsettling at the same time.


"So this is what it means to be tired then?"

 

[Auren]

xxxxAbbyxxMain Missilexxxxx




The beast had dodged her! The nerve. Abby huffed before she ran after it, jumping over logs and using her hands to swing around trees. She saw Leo's camera light behind her, but was using the moon to light most of her way. Sometimes she'd see a different kind of light in the distance, and assumed it was the ghosts of the woods showing her the way.


She stumbled over some underbrush, but the beast had decided to settle on the top of a tree nearby. Abby creeped her way closer, making as little noise as she could. She noticed a ghost not far away, the same one from earlier. She pointed up a the Devil and mouthed

Please.

The ghost gave a slight nod before disappearing. In the next moment, the beastie screeched and fell. Abby jumped on top of it as it landed and dodged its sharp hooves. It shrieked again and Abby couldn't feel her ears anymore.


Thankfully, her vision still worked. When she spotted Leo's light, she called,

"I think I got- oof!"

The Devil had kicked her in the stomache. She winced and moved her knees to pin the beasts limbs. Or at least try to.

 

[Lovable Dark-side]

~A Traveler's Light~


Kenia


PRIA Office Building


A day after the call.

​

Kenia lifts his hand up to a small curl that falls into his eyes, making it quiet hard to concentrate of the older woman's face. And only seemed to smile when she shoved some cigarettes into her pocket, but he didn't say anything despite the rabid urge to tell her that smoking could only harm his good looks, for he knew if he even tried to give her a lecture about how smoking will kill her lungs and poison her already slightly charred soul, that she would probably break his arms, and take a finger as a trophy.


He sighs, then exits Hags office and ran into his own office, leaning down and looking under his desk and finding a large, hand woven bag, that his adoptive mother, or Nana as he called her had made for him. It was made with dark blue, and red yarn, his initials in it. His real initials. J.S.R. Kenia grabs the bag by its strap, and picks it up, lugging it over his shoulder. It was his emergency overnight bag, which held three different dresses, a couple pairs of shorts, a few shirts. His makeup, backup makeup, a suit (just in case), and 3 pairs of shoes.


A few minutes later Kenia runs outside, finding Hageshi in front of a red Mazda 3," So, I see who has the connections in this group," He muses, while quirking a singular eyebrow.