Elswen: Trapped Island

O

Ochalla

Guest
Original poster
(OOC)

The morning started so well. That is to say Sasha woke up to her cloak radio at the start of the ELSWN Morning Show. Lazily she listened for a while until the first commercial break before heading down stairs.

On slippered feet Sasha walked into the kitchen. "Good morning Harrison," she smiled at the family butler as she ran a hand through her long red hair

"Good morning Miss Sasha," the tall butler said in his deep voice just above a whisper. Harrison was not known for speaking much but he was as much a part of Sasha's family as her own sister was.

Adjusting her robe as she sat, Sasha looked down at her breakfast. It was oatmeal today, and it smelled wonderful. As she ate, Sasha thought about the things she needed to do at her shop and half listened to the morning show, now on in the kitchen since Harrison knew how she liked her mornings. As she was about to reach for her coffee she noticed it. It wasn't anything big, just like someone had tickled the back of her hand, or at least that was the best way she could describe it to someone that did not have magic coursing through their veins.

Sasha looked up and noticed Harrison looking at her with a slight frown. "It wasn't my imagination. Where's Kendal?"

"She is already at The Chronicle," Harrison replied and was already handing Sasha the cordless phone. Sasha could tell from his expression that he wanted her to watch her temper, but unless there was a very good explanation...

Impatiently Sasha waited for her sister to pick up her cell phone. "Kendal that was your spell!"

So it wasn't you." Kendal's answer reply quick, and sounded a little confused. It was then followed by a long silence and finally... "...Damn."

"Of course it wasn't me, you know how much I dislike..."  Sasha frowned and if only her sister could see the frown it would make her blood freeze.  "Damn?  What do you mean damn Kendal?  What have you done?"  Sasha voice had gone up half an octave and she was trying to keep from yelling into the phone.  The implication that someone had a hold of one of Kendal's less savory spells.  Sasha wouldn't call it black, but it was a very gray spell she had noticed.

Kendal went silent again. Which was alarming coming from the older sister who never had a problem bitching about something going wrong. Her tone was soft when she finally replied. "It's a spell from my book."

"Why are you giving people spells from... Kendal where is your book?"

Silence again. "I don't know."

"Kendal how by all that is above and below can you not know?  No, no, I don't want to hear excuses right now.  We need to get it back, and we need to get it back now, before they try one of those spells you and Blair developed!" and the youngest Novellino slammed down the phone.  Then glared at it when she recalled it was a cordless and pressed the button.

Sasha by the end of the phone conversation was on her feet. "I'll be in my study," Sasha said though it wasn't like Harrison wasn't liable to know where she was going. As she started up the stairs at a run.

On the third floor, Sasha went into a small room. It was a clean room with rugs thrown across the wooden floor. Sasha needed to think. She knew that there was a chance that this person, or people could escape. Already they'd used a spell that should not be used indiscriminately and if that was but only a test then she needed to act fast.

Going to the center of the room she sat on a large round rug whose edges were starting to fray slightly. With a absent flick of her hand the radio in there turned on. It should have been a distraction, but it wasn't, the voices were comforting. Half closing her eyes Sasha started to map out the first phase of a plan. She needed to buy time somehow.

Something cold and wet touched one of her fingers and Sasha looked down. In front of her was a small hedge hog. "Hello Cloud," she said with a smile. Would you like to help?

"Call in now with your story," she heard one of the DJs say and suddenly she knew what she was going to do.

(Intro to be continued)
 
"GOOD MORNING ELSWEN! It's Natalia Davenport and Aidan MacGregor here with your daily dose of the exceptionally weird mixed with fabulous local music. All by you, the city that never gets called back by the cute guy you just dated because you freaked him out at the local sushi place."

"...Sounds like you had another bad date, Tali." the male voice responded to his female coworker. Those listening to the ELSWN Morning Show couldn't see the quick of an eyebrow Aidan Mac was shooting across the switchboard at Tali. Her response was waving her middle finger at him.

"Oh yeah, big words coming from the unluckiest DJ on the island, who can't even score one chick? Haha, in anycase, this morning we're continuing yesterday's chat about the weird and the freaky. Real life stories from you guys on your experiences here in Elswen. Who do we have for our first callers, Macadoodles?"

"Heh. We've got Gary on line one, says he was recently abducted by a pair of space aliens that believed Earth was still stuck in the 70s. On line two, we've got a mysterious caller with a story about locational dimension travel, and line 3 there's Old Man Bess complainin' about his morning coffee getting stolen by garden gnomes."

"Damnit Bess, stop calling the station. We know the coffee in the break room sucks. Hoho, gimmie line 2. ....Hey there, you're on the air with Tali and Aidan Mac. Tell us your story!"

"Oh good," the voice on the other end said. It was a soft feminine voice. "I thought I'd explain what ever happened to the cardboard castle that was set up for the fair that was in the downtown square a while back. The one that wasn't there by nights end."

Outside the studio it was a dreary morning. The sun was trying to peak out of the clouds but the constant drizzle of rain was the more predominate meteorological features this morning. It wasn't an unusual sight to say the least.

There was faint, almost humming sound on the other end of the phone line as the woman continued to speak. "I think first it should be understood that the castle was not made of cardboard, but of stone. It was authentic, and only illusions caused it to look smaller then it was."

Elswen, being an island community was use to more extreme weather then the mainland and had never relied on it for things like power, water or sewage. In fact most businesses had their own generators for the too often even of power outages.

"Now you might wonder how I know this. It was in a dream. The same dream where I stood out on a field in Germany, another's coat over my shoulders, gazing at the sky as he came away from the camp to my side," there was a pause. "But I'm getting off of topic," she said with a slight giggle in her voice.

The ferry The Mossy radioed to shore saying there was something ahead and they couldn't proceed to Vancouver Island and were returning dock. In many households the TV stations were coming with heavy static from Seattle. The local public access station was the only one that seemed to be coming in clearly.

"The castle ended up going under an inn and for a time had a trapped Englishman. He was very confused when he got out and found out what year it was, for he had only been in the castle for a few days, but decades had passed on the outside."

The rain stopped, but the sun did not finally win against the clouds. In fact there seemed to be a dark haze across the sky and the island community seemed to be in a twilight. The internet was down. The cell towers were not sending or receiving signals and there was no pings from any of the illegal satellites that the university had in low orbit. It was as if the entire island was separated from the rest of the world. Nothing was coming in, or going out.

"So here's a puzzle for you, what do you do with a no where castle? I'll tell you, not having a biker gang with antlers on their helmets trying to raise a god. They have unusual pets like over sized spiders and snakes."

Elswen, off the coast of Washington state could have been on the other side of the moon and no one would be able to tell.

"Thank you for taking my call."
 
"Stupid piece of Chinese junk." a few loud bangs penetrated the thick walls of the tail end of a drug induced sleep.

"I told you not to hit it like that, we'll catch the scores when they repeat them at eight."

"Huh you just know the reds lost and don't want to pay up."

The voices faded down the corridor outside the padded as his face moved against the soft floor. So they had thrown him in the tank again and left his to sleep....

"I tell you what, the service in this hotel stinks." the cat mused stretching out on the floor its claws digging into the padding.

"Aw god no." He kicked against the padding pushing himself away from the cat trying to ignore the smell of his own waste coming from the soiled strait jacket. "Shelly is dead, I killed her." The ginger tom said as it sat on his chest. "No I didn't" the one next to it said "I need to find Shelly, she needs me. My little girl needs me." He yelled and rolled over in an attempt to dislodge the cats crawling and rolling towards the corner.

"Oh Uric McCrazy if starting up again, stronger sedative." The tabby purred by the door looking at him.

"Noo noo."

"You stink." the tabby added.

He screwed his eyes shut his arms working furiously against the strait jacket. "Go away, make the catt go away."

"There is no cat Gregory." the calm voice of Dr. Heineman reached his ears.

"Crazy cat man." The tabby spat.

"SHHEEEELAAAA." the gingers yowled in unison.

"I'm NOT crazy, Doctor yell it I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy..." he sobbed. "Why does it call me crazy."

"Theres nothing there Gregory, now hold still I have your medicine."

Gregory opened his mouth and swallowed the tablets fighting his gag reflex drought on by the condition of his clothes and waited as the needle pricked his shoulder, seen afterwards his head began to swim and the voices of the cat became indistinct. "Thanks Doc." he said groggily, "I' think I'd like a bath now."

Arms helped him to his feet and one by one the straps were undone. Things were blurry but so long as he didn't look at them he could pretend the cats weren't there. "Doc?" his voice was slurred slightly as he was walked towards the showers. "When am I getting out of here?"
 
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Vel Rhys did not need to sleep and it was curious to most demons why he would even bother wasting his time with the pathetic human ritual of throwing away half of one's day for lounging about in bed. Admittedly, Vel himself had been skeptical of the practice but he'd been coaxed into it by a human woman... Vel now understood why it was that humans loved to sleep so much.

When he woke up after sleeping, it was as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders and his body felt more supple and ready for the day. He did not sleep every night but usually when he did, he had wonderful days and he expected today to be no exception when he opened one bleary blue eye. The room was dark, black as pitch really, because Vel enjoyed the dark. If he could have, he would have liked some sort of fire feature but there were two problems with that: one, mortal dwellings seemed awfully prone to catching fire and two, it felt a little like taking work on his vacation with him.

Vel slept entirely nude because clothes were still unusual feeling. After all those hundreds of years of his life being nude, putting something on his skin was absolutely peculiar. Not that the demons had not heard of clothing, but they were reserved for special times like meetings with opposing demons to conceal weak points. For everyday usage, they were simply awful but Vel had no choice if this was where he chose to vacation. Now, preparing to go out for the day, Vel put on baggy khaki pants and a blue shirt with long sleeves and shiny silver buttons that caught the light in a way most pleasing to Vel.

Without further ado, Vel stumbled into his living quarters of the tiny apartment and had to double over, shielding his eyes from the sunlight filtering merrily through his window. That damned sun, he thought, was a real pain in the ass despite being the source of these silly mouth-breathers' life. Without that irritating ball of blazing gas, there would be no earth to vacation on for Vel. It was a love-hate relationship.

Going outside would be even worse, he considered. It was freezing at all times though he'd begun to learn to cope with that also. He had a shop to run, a clever way for him to meet and talk with humans without their alarm. Even the children, who tormented him endlessly, could sometimes offer real insight into humans. It was with that uplifting thought that Vel dragged his groggy ass out the door of the apartment and down the stairs.
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The classic 1980's winnebago, dirtied from decades of use but still mostly functional, cruised down the main boulevard that bisected the capital town of Elswen Island. It was a dreary town (only because of the current weather, with grey skies and a downpour of rain forming a thin curtain to block out the sun). The street had little traffic, which was well and good for the large RV that took up a large chunk of it.

Samuel Bremen, or Sam to his friends and colleagues and most acquaintances, didn't want to be charging up through main street inside his massive RV, The Millennium Falcon. The name was stolen, he knew that, but it didn't stop him from naming it that. He even had it scrawled out on the side, right at the front of the winnebago. It was hand painted, and fading by now, but it was there.

The engine whined as he attempted to drive and maneuver through town. Thankfully, due to the weather, the pedestrians he nearly ran down were few and far between. He had nearly run down an old lady crossing the street, leaving a bookstore called The Page Turner. He blared his horn loudly, and repeatedly, as he hit the breaks and was nearly hit from behind in turn. The little old lady, however, simply crossed the street at her leisure. Sam had hit his steering wheel with his forehead out of anger.

He had just arrived in town on the last ferry just yesterday. Having felt a tug of some kind from half-way across the country (he had just finished work in Chicago involving a greater Mayan demon of a kind), he decided to pack up in his Millennium Falcon and go cross-country. The RV was all he had as far as possession went, honestly. He lived out of it almost entirely, save the few times he went out of the country or was invited to a residence overnight.

The RV was filled with all manner of magical item, looking more like an occult shop than anything. The lighting was low and intimate, almost like candlelight, and the few shelves had jars and books locked down tight. Few decorations lined the ceiling and the walls, and those were of the occult variety, including a sword and more than a few wands and staffs. At first glance, to any normal person, this was either the home of a nutjob or a traveling salesman of some kind!

After a near-disastrous trip down main-street proper, Sam finally found his destination-- the local community college. Elswen Island, he had learned, was more or less self-contained. It had it's own fishing industry, one, and ran it's own infrastructure for the most part (or so he had read in a guidebook he found on the ferry the night before). It was also, he learned from the ferrymen, a strange place to be. Lots of tales were told of the weird things found on the island, and from those tales he realized we he had felt such a pulling.

One of the primary parking areas for the community college was mostly empty. He pulled into a few spaces at the very back of the lot, and parked it. "This is where I make camp," he said proudly to no one in particular. Himself, mostly.

"And now to see how the confluence of destiny falls here. Who, oh who, will come a-knockin' on my door," he asked with a sparkle in his eye. He began to fiddle around in the back of his RV, gathering up his day bag and stuffed it with numerous binders and items he felt he would need. He'd would pay the front office a visit, ask about some part time work, then he would travel back into the town-proper and maybe find... well, he'd probably just shut his eyes and let his feet guide him, then!
 
The sky looked... weird. Andrea stood near the docks where she had just gotten off one of the ferries. Looking up at the sky with curiosity as she dialed her older brother's cell-phone number. A few minutes ago it had been raining, but it seemed to have stopped, only for the the clouds to look like they were boiling.

Riiiing. Riiiing. Riiii- "He-lo?"

"Aidan! Hey, it's Andrea. I've got a big surprise for you."

"Hello? I--- the- -- ere?"

"Fuck. Aidan, can you hear me? It's your sister! I'm in town?"

"--one not, so--- ca --- ck." Beep!

"...damnit." It figures. She lands on the island and now she can't get ahold of her brother. At least she has his apartment address, but getting across town and trying to find it was a different story. Andrea came all the way from Portland and this wasn't her scene. What the hell, she figured she'd start walking and take a look around before attempting to hail a cab.

Shoes clicking on the sidewalk as she carried a suitcase in one hand and a laptop bag in the other, Andrea found herself a little perplexed by the people ambling on their way. A lot of people were looking confused. Apparently, she wasn't the only other person having cell phone trouble. Some were shaking theirs or shouting in to their phones. A couple people actually looked horrified or startled about something. On a whim she glanced back up at the sky. Maybe that was it. Something just didn't looked right about the sky.

Andrea passed by the local college, still staring up at the sky, unaware that things in town were getting even stranger than she thought!
 
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[Size=+3]Woogie[/size]

The dark dank warehouse that sat amongst it's fellow brethren in Elswen's industrial sector had seen better days. It's roof was cracked, with numerous patches from the previous owners, and the bottoms were beginning to rust out from the sea air. Not to mention the fact that the various catwalks, and other equipment left would have been an OSHA agent's wetdream. Woogie didn't know though, nor did he care! There were much more important things, such as figuring out exactly how far up a particular stair case went.

The tiny Shade, stared intensely at the piece of welded, and fixed metal, as if deducting just how old it was, and exactly what it was made of when in fact he had no clue, but was more intrigued at the reddish brown patches along the grey, and black bars. Sniffing at it, Woogie concluded that it smelled like the rest of the building, and then stood back up, rocking on the worn soles of his boots, while running a hand along his chin, a brow turned up in a moment of systematically deducting thoughts.

Then, leaning closer to the railing, he reached out with a hand, and broke a piece of the rusting metal off, and brought it a few inches from his face, so he could examine it in more detail with his glowing orange eyes. It looked a lot like what he'd found in the trash, and that could only mean one thing... "SNACKS!" Woogie chirped out, and tossed the flake into his mouth, letting it disappear between a smashing of white teeth. Then... seconds later...

"Ugh... EHECK!" He coughed, and spat the remains of the rusted flake from his mouth. "Bleah! Nasty!" Woogie said with a grimace, and began wiping his tongue with his hands, trying to get the taste from his mouth. When he'd finally managed to rid himself of the taste, he turned his newly acquired frustration on the stair case. Placing a well honed foot to the step, a dull ring resounded along with a muffled cry of pain as Woogie began hopping around holding his booted foot.

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Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.

The sound echoes through the silence, the deafening empty silence.

"Doctor? Hello?"

Silence, for the first time in years there was nothing to hear. No cats, no people.....

Dressed in the lose white shirt and pants he had been dressed in after his shower Gregory stepped cautiously around a puddle of condensation front he conditioner.

"Kill me."

The whisper came from behind him and he turned, the glowing eyes of the cat coming from the darkness of the generator room. Then there was an inhuman scream.

Like a worm the patient came for him rolling and flopping in the strait jacket, blood from bitten through lips and severed tongue running down his chin. "Run, Die, Kill me" the cat whispered coming closer.

"No."

Gregory stared in horror at the eyeless cat and deranged gibbering prisoner and backed against the wall of the corridor before turning to run as the howls of cats started around him. Gregory screamed as he fell to the floor lights dancing in his head as a cut opened up where his forehead hit the floor. Blood began to flow down his face as he bit down on his hand to stop himself screaming again, fighting the urge to curl up into a ball as every one of the hundreds of how;d penetrated his skull and echoed in his mind.

"Stop." he pleaded collapsing fully to the floor with a whimper. More blood poring from the cut on his forehead and the bite mark on his hand, when he saw escape. Slowly at first then faster he pulled himself towards the light coming through the service door's reinforced window. Soon he would be out of here, and then he would escape the cat.

The sky had changed, or had it simply been so long since he had seen it? Its was bright outside compared to the asylum, but he did not shield his eyes. No he was too bust blocking his ears as tears from his stinging eyes joined the blood staining his shirt, his bare feet pounding over the parking lot and out the gate. No one stopped him, it was like the only ones left were the patients.....

He ran across the road and down a grassy embankment, scabs formed finally halting the flow of blood as he found a public toilet block and steeped inside to clean himself up.
 
"This is Sgt. Rodriguez to dispatch," the large woman called over the radio. Her sunglasses on despite there being no sun in sight.

"Dispatch here."

"We're at Crystal Lake. There's no sign of any sharks. However there appears to be a whale swimming in the lake."

"Please repeat. Did you say a whale? Like a humpback?"

"Negative. It looks to be more like a Pilot Whale."

~~~~~~~~~~~​

"911 please state the nature of your emergency."

"This is Doctor Pennyworth at Haverghast Insane Asylum," the voice on the other end of the line nearly shrieked. "There's a large fire in the south wing. The sprinkler systems do not seem to be doing any good. Please hurry!"

If only the operator realized that Doctor Pennyworth was not a psychiatric at the asylum, but one of the patients. The doctor on the other hand was just grateful to had found a land line after the last two bodies he'd found's cellphones did not work.

~~~~~~~~~~~​

There was a large explosion in the science wing of the university. This by it's self was not all that unusual to anyone that had tenure. The bubbling form that seemed to take on the vague form of a human was a bit unusual and the fact that the grass seemed to deform as it walked over it was a sign that this was not something you wanted to shake hands with.
 
KABOOOOOOM!

Just as Andrea was passing by the local Elswen Community College there was the explosion in the science wing! By instinct she shrieked and ducked while covering her head. But then as she looked up to see what the damages were, in the distance one could see a big bubbling jello-like thing sliding out from one of the windows and taking a human shape. Where it walked, the ground sizzled and grass died under it's feet. It looked straight out of an old school horror movie.

Andrea looked dumb-founded for a moment. Her first thought being that it was some sort of hoax or movie set up. But with several college students on the campus starting to run away screaming, she wasn't so sure!

'Okay, I'm just gonna walk a little faster then!'
 
The cat shat itself.....

Its hair raised and it hissed violently looking at the univercity building before running off. "I. haate cats." Gregory breathed holding his chest, the shockwave of the explosion and the violent reaction of the cat had really taken it out of him, but no he had to keep heading away from that place. Visions still blurred he fixed his eyes on the path ahead, it wasn't far to town now, and from there he could get off the island, and from there he'd go as far away from the cat infested asylum as he possibly could.

One foot, the other, then the first. He was running, it felt good, adrenaline from the exertion and from the explosion, nothing could stop him now. He his something, something hard and upright, something that had arms and legs. Then his face his something else, something covered in grass. "This is not the day I thought it would be." he mumbled into the ground gathering his arms underneath himself to push his face off the ground.

The cat greeted him with a solitary stare, one paw raised as if it was been about to take a step. It's green eyes looked into his, the black fur of her coat shining in the sun, the white tip of her tail swishing slightly as her white paws remained still, it seemed to be waiting for his to make a move.

"Hi?" he greeted the cat wondering why it remained silent, "You don't talk? Do you?"
 
Risako yawned loudly as she felt the ferry taking her back to the mainland took an abrupt halt. She rubbed her eyes and walked over to the edge where she could see where they were headed only to find them back at the dock that they had departed from not more then an hour ago. With a confused expression she disembarked at the instructions of the crew.

"Um, excuse me, why did we return?" She had asked, only to be met with confused expressions and shrugs. From what she gathered, the captain had seen something that blocked their progress and there was no telling when another boat would be able to make it out to the mainland. She gathered her things and set off to the road where she could hopefully catch a cab to the hotel. If she was stuck here she could at least stay somewhere nice, hopefully it would fit into her budget.
 
Andrea was so busy eye-balling the weird goopy thing, she didn't see the man until AFTER he had slammed in to her and her ass hit the ground. By the time she was back on to her feet and peering at him curiously, he was asking if she talked. Weird.

She dust the grass off her skirt with a slight frown. "Yes, I can talk. I'm sorry if this was my fault. There was this boom and I don't know what the hell is going on over there." Andrea glanced around until she found her suitcase... with it's handle near broken off! She fussed with trying to fix it.

RAAAAGHHHHGGHGH! ~ AAIIIIIIEEE~!

Andrea paused mid-fuss, looking up in the direction of the gurgling growl and the girly scream that followed.

"...I wouldn't lay in the grass too long. I think some kind of slimy animal escaped the college."
 
Opening his eyes slowly, Jacobson shook with the explosion across the street. He rolled over in his bed, groaning softly and reaching for his watch on the nightstand. Placing it on his wrist, he sat up and yawned quietly, glancing through the window above his headboard. Students were running out of the community college, but he couldn't see any reason why. He assumed it was the science kids putting the wrong chemicals together again.

Rolling his eyes, Henry stood up and opened his cabinet doors, grabbing a shirt and slacks from the hangers and dressing himself. He was happy to have the day off, but nobody would know by simply looking at him. Henry brushed his teeth and walked into his living room, grabbing a book and sitting on his couch. He just wanted to enjoy his peace and quiet, but the second that he opened the book his shelving unit completely fell apart, spilling his books all over the floor. He stared at the clutter on the floor for a minute before turning his attention back to his story.
 
Gregory looked to Adrea, why did she think she was talking to her when he was clearly looking at the cat.... the slimy cat? "So thats where its from, Id almost feel sorry for it only....."

"My brother." the cat said looking at Gregory "I need to find my brother."

"Well not that I know you do talk at least everything out here is the same.... except the sky what happened to the sky, has it always been like this?" he decided to ignore the cat as best he could and instead turned his attention back to the girl. "I wouldn't worry too much, I mean they were everywhere at the asylum, though if you'd like I'd walk you to wherever you're going."

He became painfully aware of his bare feet, loose fitting white linen bloodstained cloches and his highly visible cut on his bald head. "Where is my brother, I need to find him." the cat pleaded making Gregory's face twitch as the continued to pay it no heed but just knowing it was there put him on edge.
 
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The sound of people screaming, made Woogie grow nervous, and curious at the same time. It sounded like it was coming from the direction the college was in. At that, the little shade turned around, and began leaping up another set of stairs two at a time, until he came to the door that lead to the roof. Flinging it open, and rushing out onto the rooftop, his eyes were instantly blinded by the sun's light, and he stumbled forward with one hand covering his eyes, and another waving around in front of him to grab a hold of something. His booted steps carried him towards the building's edge, and before he knew it, he'd tripped over a boot lace, and sent himself head over end, over the edge.

Falling a few stories, he hit the lid of a dumpster with a dull thud, along with an audible "OWIE!" as his head bounced cleanly off the sheet metal, and he rolled off onto the ground of the alleyway. Laying there for a few moments, Woogie slowly sat up, rubbing his forehead with a grubby hand, tears trailing down his face as he sniffled heavily. Curling his knees up to his chest, he tried to tuck himself as close as possible to the dumpster in it's shadow, and buried his face into his knees, as the screaming was much louder, and more frightening now.
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Priscilla could tell it was going to be one of those mornings. She had left her apartment without an umbrella and found that just wasn't going to work so had went back up and retrieved it. It was only a light shower, but there were darker clouds to the west and she'd be a fool to not have something to keep her dry.

Then the espresso girl mixed up her drink. They quickly fixed it, apologizing along the way, but it was just another delay for her morning.

Finally, once she was finished with the caffeine goodness, she got around to calling her client about his delinquent son who was currently locked up do to contempt of court. The idiot! The conversation was not pleasant and when the signal started to break up Priscilla wanted to scream.

Now here she was, her umbrella about as useless as her cell phone. Perhaps it was time to just try to catch a cab to her office. As she walked to a busier street she noticed that besides the sky being an odd shade, there were a lot of emergency vehicles driving around. Usually there weren't that many out except during Halloween.

"Have you seen any cabs drive by?" she asked a young asian woman who was standing not too far from her as yet another fire truck raced by.
 
Risako sighed as another firetruck sped past, siren wailing. It seemed like all of the emergency units were out today, yet not a single cab had passed and it was starting to border on the ridiculous. Another sigh escaped her lips as she noticed the darker clouds rolling in, she wasn't bothered by a light sprinkle but she wasn't in the mood to get drenched. From deeper in the city she could hear more sirens and what sounded like explosions. She tugged at the collar of her shirt a little as she debated on whether or not she should pull out her book of shadows, or at least a map and use the thick crystal that hung around her neck to see if she could try and divine where a cab would be. It seemed, however, that her decision would be made for her as a woman came to stand near her.

"N-no, I'm sorry, I haven't seen any...it's just been a ruckus though, any type of service vehicle you'd like me to hail though?" Risako attempted a joke, unsure if it fell flat or not on the woman's ears, "Do you by chance know where a hotel might be? Or at least somewhere to get out of this rain?" She smiled softly, hoping for a favorable response.
 
The explosion didn't shake Sam off his feet, though it should have, for all that boom it made! Sam had been walking through the parking lot with a dark ashwood cane in hand. The handle consisted of a dark, heavy brass knob that looked like the pommel to a sword. Along the shaft was a series of Nordic-looking runes, etched into the wood itself. The cane had a polygonal-look to it, consisting of four sides as opposed to a round or oval shape to the shaft.

Looking up from the pavement foyer leading to the front main offices, Sam could make out the black plume of smoke rising up from one of the wings. "I should help," he told himself aloud. While he stared off at the smoke, he found himself taking steps to the front door. Agh, lazy lethargy, you've gotten the best of m--wait, what is that?

Before he could reach the front door and force one of the Deans to sit down with him and discuss employeeship as opposed to investigating whatever degree of damage had been done to his school, an odd sensation crept up Sam's spine. It was the same kind of sensation that let him know something odd was happening nearby. While not all odd things were magical in nature, a surprising number of odd things were magical in composition. Hell, what most people called science today was still magic, in essence. Strange, how that worked.

"Aw, hell," he muttered as he let his long legs give him speed without moving too hastily to the damaged school building. He hadn't even arrived half-way there before he could hear the screams, and see children (well, children to him) running. He let his gaze travel behind them as they scurried away, and he picked up the stride of his step as he passed more and more. Soon, he was moving with too much haste!

It didn't take long for him to arrive on the sight of an odd man-shaped ooze taking slow, lumbering and disgusting-looking steps across one of the few landscaped areas just outside of the building. He could follow it's trail back to it's window-of-origin, from the still-sizzling-and-burning path it had wrought where it stepped.

Eye-balling a girl that was still standing nearby, fiddling with her now-broken suitcase, he walked up to her and addressed her:

"What's that?" He asked innocently, a dumb look on his face as he pointed nonchalantly at the ooze-man.
 
"I don't know," Priscilla said looking at the sky. A hand out to catch any moisture that she wasn't noticing. "I thought it was going to rain more, but the sky is just odd now." She looked as a police car was coming back the way she was sure it had just come just a few minutes ago. It was speeding something horrible, but the sirens were not on.

"Weird," Priscilla shook her head. "A hotel you said? Hmm, there's the Wyatt or if you want something more economical there's always Hemingway's Stop. It's a lot cozier then it sounds." In all honesty only out of towners seemed to go to the Wyatt, which was a rip off of a hotel. Sure it had a view, but that was about it. Anyone with family on the island chose to avoid it. It didn't even have anything to do with the rumors of the demon in the furnace room.

Priscilla might have said more, but then there was a loud explosion, or at least she assumed it was an explosion as debris started showering on them from the next block.