Salem's Secret

[QUEENIE]

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April 9th,

The group and I will be heading out today for Salem. This is huge, because no other documentary team has actually done one within the city limits of Salem. They say the city had been cursed a long time ago by a witch, who was hung, named Penelope. Legend has it that the town was abandoned a few years after, and no one has returned since; however, those who do never come out. Though most of the team and I think people are just scared of the truth behind Salem. There was either a bunch of true witches there, or some crazy religious people hung innocent civilians because they were scared of change. Either story, we are going to document Salem.

-Avery
​

¤ Avery ¤
"Listen up everyone!" Avery called out. "This is the last stop before Salem. Get everything you need and meet back at the cars." Avery wasn't the leader of the group, in fact the group had no leader they were just independent people who knew how to function together and get things done without someone hovering over them. Avery pushed up the trunk door of his jeep. Pulling out a cooler, he took stock at the water that was left, realizing it was next none he figured he should buy some more. Placing the cooler back into the trunk, he slammed the door down. Turning he made his way into the gas station, seeing some of his other crew members raiding the food section, he walked passed to the 32 case of water bottles. "Ahh, perfect." He checked the price and than walked over to the cashier, handed him the money, told him what it was for and that he could keep the change. Walking over he picked up two cases, and carried them out to the jeep. Looking over to Mika he smiled. "Man, we are almost there. Just think of it, you with your editing skills me with the photography and what not." He smiled, he and Mika had been close friends since Mika stumbled into Avery's photo shop a few years back.


∞ Mika ∞
Mika looked up from the editing software he had on his phone. "Yeah, man. Just glad to come out here and explore this shit." He laughed and returned his attention to his phone. He was editing the interviews of the team, before they left for Salem. the ridiculous questions everyone was asked, made the video long and dreadful, which made Mika's job easier to cut the unneeded parts, but a little harder on the finding the important pieces that would make for the beginning of the documentary. "Man, who made up these questions. I mean yeah there smart, but the answers are like never ending." Mika sighed and looked at his friend. He remembered the day he walked into the shop. Mika was hot and dehydrated, he had not planned leaving his house in such a hurry, he forgot that he would need money. When he meet Avery, he let Mika move in with him and well they were best friends since than. Looking up at the windows of the store, Mika chuckled. "Are they almost done in there? We need to make Salem before night fall."​

 

[alexianFireflies]

Aspen
Aspen hummed to herself as she hopped out of the car--she was getting a ride with one of the others because she'd never actually learned to drive--and made her way into the convenience store, grabbing a few snacks and a coffee. She was going to be up late, guaranteed, and she was going to need this--she was sure of it. Aspen paid for everything, tossed the snacks into a back, and headed back out to the cars, taking a quick peek through the window at her camera in the backseat, tripod and all tucked away safely. Good. Still there. She often worried about her camera being taken or something....shaking off her worry, Aspen took a sip of her coffee and listened to the noise around her, thinking about Salem. She'd always been eager to go there, and filming a documentary about it was like a dream come true, in all honestly. Salem intrigued her, and she couldn't wait to get there. Listening to Mika and Avery chatting, she heard Mika say that they needed to make it to Salem by nightfall and nodded to herself. They did have to get there before nightfall, especially if they wanted to be able to start filming while there was any light left in the sky at all--although that would only be if they were extremely lucky. But no one wanted to drive through the night, and that was a worst-case scenario. She wondered if she should get back in the car, but decided to wait until the others came back to the cars.​

 

[IceQueen]

-|Astrid|-​

Astrid had been in the back with Aspen. They where both camera women, so they both spent a lot of time together. Astrid felt like they where friends, though she didn't know where Aspen was with it. "Ahh, finally, a break." She grumbled, stretching up her arms. She had decided to wear something a little more casual for the trip and went with a casual band t shirts, comfortable, flexible stretchy jeans, a necklace with a yin yang sign, and her hair tied back in a long braid down her back. Popping open her car door, Astrid jumped down from the truck that Eric was driving, her black combat boots thudding against the pavement as she landed. Smiling, the adrenaline junkie walked over to the convenience store, walking inside and grabbing three packs of monster energy drink and six or seven twix bars. She smiled at the thought of all that sugar, knowing it would keep her up the entire trip, and she was going to need that if she was going to be filming. And for the heck of it, she grabbed a bag of dorito's and beef jerky, checking everything out and walking back to the car with all of her stuff. Climbing inside the truck, Astrid dumped her bag next to her feet, smiling at Aspen who was sitting with her. "I got all the junk food I need, what about you Aspen?" She asked nicely.
@alexianFireflies

 

[alexianFireflies]

Aspen
Aspen glanced at Astrid and gave her a smile. The other girl was a camerawoman like Aspen, and Astrid had always made her a bit more comfortable than the others as a result. Despite Aspen's killer social anxiety, she'd managed to talk enough with Astrid that she felt more at ease with the other woman. Astrid was always nice to her, and that was enough for Aspen to feel relatively comfortable with the other woman. "I think I'm good to go--got my coffee for the late night, which I guarantee it's going to be, and plenty of junk food for the time being," Aspen answered with a smile. She'd purchased a bag of Twizzlers (her favorite kind of candy), a bag of chips, and a few candy bars, so she was pretty sure she was set on the junk food front for now. And the caffeine front, she added to herself, taking a sip of her coffee and then adjusting her gray plaid shirt. She'd worn a black tank top under a stretchy white long-sleeve, with a gray plaid shirt over it as a jacket, a pair of dark blue jeans, and her own pair of gray tactical combat boots, bought from the army surplus store when she was sixteen. They still fit after several years, and they didn't even show signs of wearing out yet. Aspen then put down her coffee for a second and adjusted her ponytail. She always pulled back her long hair on trips so it wouldn't be a huge hassle, and right now it was starting to tangle with the hair elastic she'd been using. Gritting her teeth as she pulled on a knot, she mumbled, "Stupid hair elastic..." Sighing as she fixed it, Aspen glanced at Astrid again, wondering when Eric would be back so they could get this show on the road. "So are you ready for Salem?" she asked Astrid.

((@IceQueen ))​

 

[CelestialCellar]

|| S H I L O ||

Shilo examined the junk-food-ridden shelves of the convenience store. After doing a couple of laps around the store, she finally settled on a soggy-looking ham sandwhich, a dozen granola bars, a bottled coffee drink, and another case of water --- just in case. Heading toward the casher, Shilo plucked a pair of sunglasses from next to the counter as a last-minute thought. She'd lost hers somewhere in the car, and didn't want to bother looking for them.
"That gentleman out there said you folks are headed to Salem," the cashier commented, ringing up Shilo's smaller items and placing them into a black plastic bag.
"Yep," Shilo replied cheefully, grabbing the case of water and holding it clumsily under her arm. "We're shooting a documentary."
"That's what he said. Well, be careful, ya' here?" The man's face was stern, and he looked over his spectacles wearily. "I seen a lot of folks head up there, but ain't never seen one come back."
Shilo nodded, handing him her debit. "Thanks for the concern, but I'm sure we'll be fine."
The man didn't look convinced as he handed the card back to Shilo. Thanking him, she carried her things out to the car, popping the trunk with the button on her key-ring and shoving the snacks into her backpack that was located there. Her Canon DSLR was bagged in a separate case with an assortment of different lenses. Shilo's responsibility was primarily photographing, though she did plan on doing some of the filming --- she loved her lighter-weight equipment because she was able to move more freely with it.
Closing the trunk, Shilo circled around to the front of her car, climbing back into the front seat to wait for the okay to go. ​

 

[Chris_Reaper]

llJasonll

Jason Suarez casually made his way out of the small convenient store the film crew had stopped off at carrying a can of Red Bull and a large protein bar that he was happily munching on. He got into one of the many vehicles in the caravan that several of the other crew members were sharing on their way up to Salem. As he slid open the door of one of the vans, he pops into one of the back seats. Jason had a back pack and a very large metal carrying case that held the bulk of his equipment. He opens the case while still chowing down on his protein bar and an assortment of high tech equipment greets him. As a paranormal investigator, Jason is armed with the cutting edge of the latest and most advanced of supposed "ghost hunting" apparatus. He carry's an EVP Recorder, a generation 4 Spectrometer, two FLIR infa red cameras, a pair of NVG goggles, a laser grid surveyor ,a highly sensitive EMF detection meter and finally a moderate size IPAD. All tolled he has more than twenty grand worth of equipment at his disposal.

Jason grins like a proud dad and retrieves one of his infa red cameras from it's case. He hooks it up to his IPAD and begins to meticulously re-calibrate the device, several meter bars and display items popping up on the screen. However, Jason is equipped with more "traditional" items as well. Around his neck he wears a hemp necklace adorned with a plethora of charms and talismans from several cultures and regions around the world. Finally, to complete his array, he carry's in his jacket a small brown and leather bound book. This he calls his personal "Necronomicon" and is a tome containing an assortment of ancient folklore dealing with various spells, incantations, conjuring and the various demons and entities associated with each of them. To say he was prepared and quite serious about his chosen profession is an understatement.

Jason sits back and takes a swig from his Red Bull "Alright, let's get this show on the road..."

 

[IceQueen]

-|Astrid|-​

Astrid smiled at Aspen, fiddling with the end of her braid. "Yeah, I am so ready for this. I can't wait for the documentary. I am going to make some sick scary movie sounds to go along with it too. This could be my shot to rise in fame. Maybe one day I will be able to work on scary movies or maybe action movies!" Astrid mused, her eyes almost sparkling. Anxious for her chance to come sooner, Astrid leaned back, and popped open her door again, stretching her head out. "YO LAZY ASS! GET MOVING!" She yelled, waiting for him to hurry up.

_|Eric|_​

Eric was inside the store, buying more coffee for himself, some first aid supplies since he was pretty accident prone, and a bit of sour patch ropes to keep him from getting hungry, not that he would have much time to eat. He was is the middle of his checkout when he heard Astrid start yelling from the car. Groaning, he finished his checkout and went towards the car, bag in hand.

As Eric popped open the door, he chuckled. "You could have waited for me to at the least get out of the store. I think you scared everyone inside." He said, sliding into the front seat and turning on the car.
@alexianFireflies

 

[QUEENIE]

∞ Mika ∞
Mika looked up from his phone to see the crew beginning to file out of the store. "Finally." Looking at each of the crew members, he noted their names in his head and purpose. There was Jason, who was older than everyone here and was the official paranormal guy. Mike didn't understand why the team needed a paranormal investigator, but they did. Then there was Aspen and Astrid, who both worked cameras. I then there was Shilo, who too worked with cameras, but she really did most of the professional shots that he would use to promote the documentary. And Finally, Eric, the voice behind the film.
Mika laughed as he heard Astrid's voice soared into the air, telling Eric to hurry. Looking over to Avery, he laughed. "Everyone is pretty alive today. Seems like Salem magic works even from afar." He smiled a cheesy grin. Looking over to Shilo, he noticed a absence of people riding in her car. "Hey, I think I am going to go ride in Shilo's car. You know get to know her more." He patted his friend on the back. "Remember man, I love you." Mika smiled.
Walking over to Shilo's car, he grinned. "Hey, you mind if I ride with?"
@CelestialCellar

​

 

[CelestialCellar]

|| S H I L O ||

Shilo jumped at the sound of a man's voice, and looked through the window at him over the top of her sunglasses.
"Yeah, of course! Hop in," she said, unlocking the door for him. She kept quite a lot of assorted recording equipment in her car, and had to clear off the passenger's seat to make room for him before he could sit down properly.
"Quite the crew we've got," she commented. When she'd accepted the gig, she hadn't expected so many people to be interested in the legend. Shilo found it pretty cool to have so many different perspectives working toward a common goal.

@Autumn_Burns_Red​

 

[alexianFireflies]

Aspen
Aspen grinned at Astrid's enthusiasm. Personally, she just wanted to see Salem, get some good footage, and make this documentary, and see if it went anywhere--she wasn't sure she'd ever be comfortable at the thought of the big leagues. All the constants pressure and the people watching you, paying attention to your every move...no. Those weren't for her. Aspen was quickly lost in thought, forgetting she was talking to Astrid after the other woman had finished talking about Salem and hoping to get into the big leagues. She jumped a bit when Astrid yelled but smiled slightly when Eric came hurrying out, grinning when she noticed him carrying a coffee cup and wondering if Eric was a caffeine addict like her. She climbed back into the car, grabbing her camera and picking it up off the floor where she'd put it down and placing it back in her lap. Mustering up her courage, she spoke to Eric for the first time since she'd gotten in his car, saying, "So are we going to get the show on the road? The sooner we get to Salem the better." Aspen waited anxiously for a response--she really did want to get the show on the road and start filming.
Aspen had done her research before coming here, and Salem was crazy--both in a cool sense and in a literal sense of what had happened there. She'd been up late the night before, reading and rereading stories about the witch trials and burnings in Salem, and how one man had been crushed to death by rock rather than confess. It all sounded sensational, gruesome, and like a perfect story for her and her camera, and the sooner they got there, the sooner they would start filming.

((@IceQueen ))​

 

[IceQueen]

_|Eric|_​

Eric smiled as he looked in the back, seeing Astrid a bit peeved at Eric being late, and had plugged in her headphones. "We will be getting on the road as soon as possible, which is about now." He said, starting the engine and rolling down his window. "Let's go guys!" He called, pulling his car away from the small store and back onto the road to Salem.
@alexianFireflies
@CelestialCellar
@Autumn_Burns_Red
@Chris_Reaper

 

[Princess Rose]

Chloe was waiting outside her home on the outskirts of Salem for the crew to show up. She had several members numbers in her phone, ~Hey Eric are you guys nearing my house? My coven wants to do a protecting spell on us before we head the fifteen minutes to the border of Salem~ she sent the text as she fiddled with her pentacle necklace nervously. This was her first time as a guide for the Cursed Salem. She really did not want people to get hurt in thw bad lands as her coven called them. She sat on the hood of her GMC cusom pickup from thebmid sixties that her father had given her as she watched down the dirt road for signs of the crew. The wind blew eerily through her messy blonde hair and she could feel how alive Salem was now.

 

[QUEENIE]

∞ Mika ∞
After descending into the set of the car, Mika took a breath as the reality of going to Salem sunk in. He wasn't always the greatest person at showing excitement, but he was excited to go to the cursed land of Salem. Looking over to Shilo her nodded. "It's a lot bigger than I thought it would. I guess a lot more people are interested in going there." Mika smiled and pulled out his phone. "The footage, you guys shot from the interviews was well done. Kinda long, but good." Mika laughed at himself. In all honesty, he didn't mind editing hours of footage, in fact it made him happy.
Looking out of the car at Eric, it was time to roll out apparently. Avery followed after Eric in his Jeep, and Mika looked back to Shilo. "Shall we?" He asked as he buckled himself into the seat. It was going to be another hour before arriving at their guides house just outside of Salem, so Mika got comfortable and relaxed in the car. Screening some footage on his phone, he made quick notes of parts to cut out when he got to his actual computer, that was with the twins. After pulling out of the parking lot and getting on the road, Mika looked up. "So, Shilo, why are you interested in the legend of Salem?" He smiled and placed his phone in his lap. He was looking forward to her answer.
@CelestialCellar ​

 

[CelestialCellar]

|| S H I L O ||

"I actually didn't end up shooting much of the interview footage --- field work is more of my specialty --- but I still helped out here and there."
Eric's horn made Shilo jump, and her eyes snapped to the source of the noise. Clearly, Eric wasn't about to wait around any longer, so Shilo turned the key in the ignition, putting the car into first.
"Shall we?"
"We shall." Shilo responded with mock formality. As they pulled back onto the road, she couldn't help but admire the scenery; they were pretty far out in the country, and though the sea wasn't visible just now, the smell of salt water was strong in the air. She kept the window cracked just enough to let the scent fill the car.
"So, Shilo, why are you interested in the legend of Salem?"
"Yeah, of course. I definitely wouldn't come all this way if I wasn't." Shilo cracked a teasing smile, before continuing. "I don't really believe it's all true, but the people from that time period definitely did, and I'm curious to know why. It's unfortunate, really. A lot of people died for no reason, and the people who killed them totally thought that they were doing the right thing."
Several dark clouds were rolling in from the east, despite the sunny forecast for the evening, but Shilo didn't think much of it. It wasn't uncommon to get surprise thunder storms in Massachusetts due to its proximity to the Atlantic. Frankly, Shilo the whole documentary would gain a lot from a thunderstorm, and couldn't help but hope for a down pour.
"Anyway, what do you think?"

@Autumn_Burns_Red​

 

[Chris_Reaper]

ll JASON ll

As the caravan pulls out of the rest station, a shrill beeping noise can be heard emanating from Jason's large carrying case. In haste he begins to rummage through the contents until he retrieves one of his many devices and in this case, the source of the irritating sound. It was his EMF meter, which measures the magnetic flux variations in a particular environment. The higher the readout the more potential for supernatural or paranormal activity there is in any given area. The needle on the display monitor was spiking wildly in the positive direction, which definitely indicated that there was unusual magnetic field variations present in the atmosphere.

"What the hell?" says Jason confused.

He didn't expect there to be anything unusual this far out from a given target location, and since they were still about thirty minutes out from Salem proper, he first suspects the device to be faulty. Jason gives the machine a thorough look over and inspects it for signs of malfunction, but finds none. He flips over the meter and the readout still reads a high magnetic flux in the area, which he deduces will get much higher as they got closer to the town.

Jason looks over to the two girls sitting directly behind him in the van, which he overheard the names of Astrid and Aspen. With his tongue in his cheek he remarks "I gotta bad feeling about this trip..." after which he looks back down to the EMF meter.

 

[MST3K 4ever]

Derek Moran



Technically Derek was a lighting tech, but for a project like this where everyone pitched in and jobs overlapped, he was the lighting crew. Everything was on him in terms of everyone be able to see what was going on. The equipment he was using he got from some connections of his at the University. To say the equipment was past it's prime was an understatement. It's prime was in the late 80's/early 90's, but it was free and was going to be tossed out anyway. In this case Derek was grateful, because he was furnishing his own lighting gear it got him the job. To him this was hopefully his ticket on to bigger and better things. Which of course meant another paying job, because before this he was looking at the prospect of taking on a job where he asked, "You want fries with that?".

The car was crowded to say the least and Derek had managed to squeeze, literally, into a space that if he was any taller would be completely uncomfortable. He was looking forward to getting to know the members of the crew, but this wasn't exactly what he had in mind. Derek had pretty much started to doze off when Mika talking to Shilo about Salem. Their conversation was interesting in the sense that Derek didn't pay much mind to the legends and so forth. The impending thunderstorm made Derek shake his head. He had tarps and so froth for his gear, but Derek hated dragging all that crap out.

Derek started to check his phone when he suddenly realized something. His cell-phone signal was dead.

Derek said, "Hate to interrupt you all, but I suggest you all look at your cell phones. I have zero signal and in an area that doesn't have too many obstructions this is like something out of 'The Twilight Zone.' I know the weather is getting intense, but to completely knock it out..." He shook his head and said, "That ain't normal. All we need now is a talking Great Dane and we have all the makings of a great 'Scooby Doo' episode."​

@CelestialCellar
@Autumn_Burns_Red

 

[QUEENIE]

Mika
Looking back to the guy that had basically scared the living daylights out of Mika's poor little head, Mika smiled in embarrassment. Then it clued in what the guy he recognized as Derek had said. Pulling out his phone, he examined it. There was no signal. "Wow, that sucks majorly! Looks like I won't be calling for pizza any time soon." Mika joked with the two.

Looking out the window at the nearing storm clouds, Mika felt the chill in the air become known. This was perfect scary movie weather, especially if it was to become apart of a documentary.

Focusing his mind back into the car, he smiled. "Um, I guess I believe that something is out there, but I'm not sure what. So I guess this is just another adventure in discovery of the truth." Mika smiled and put his phone in his pocket. This was going to a interesting view days, or weeks, spent inside of Salem. Mika was extremely excited to be going there, yet the legend kinda gave him the creeps. Though it wouldn't have been such a problem if they weren't being blessed by a group of Pagan's, without that Mika would have thought Salem to be another joke.

◊◊◊

Avery | Destiny | Hilary
Pulling up to a old fashioned house, which was very inviting, Avery exited and walked over to a girl sitting on the hood of her Pickup. "Hey, I'm Avery. And the mess that is crawling out of the cars and trucks is the crew. You must be Chloe, Eric spoke about you to the team, and we appreciate you doing this for us."

Just as Avery introduced himself a small honda accord 2006 edition, Hilary and Destiny were inside. Exiting the car, they ran over to Avery. "We were able to get the final papers, so we are completely ready to go on the legal side." Destiny spoke through huffs of air. Waving her small, rough, hand at Chloe she smiled. "I am Destiny. I am the publicist, promotion manager, and historian for the group."

Hilary, as if on cue, smiled and introduced herself. "And I am Hilary, or Jordan. Um, I do producing, and I am a scouter for good filming areas." Hilary smiled at the girl. Looking around at the other members of the time she noted that they were all there and ready to get this show on the road.
@Poisoned Rose ​

 

[Princess Rose]

Chloe gave a bright smile before hopping off the hood of her pickup. "Fantastic timing. My mother and father have prepped some sage to do a smudging on all of us before we head into Salem. I am a bit of a knowledge reserver, I know everything there is to know about Salem. Growing up with two pagan parents in a prodominately pagan community that revolves around the protection of Salem, you gotta know just about everything." She looked the group over and nodded her head before grabbing her necklace and rubbed the pentacle that hung from a leather braided choker. She lead the group to the back yard her blond hair blowing in the wind. "This is going to be a protection spell for all of us aso well. The land is not so welcoming to outsiders."

 

[CelestialCellar]

|| S H I L O ||

Shilo had almost completely forgot about poor Derek, sitting uncomfortably in the back of the car between mounds of equipment, and couldn't help but chuckle at Mika's reaction.
"Glad you're awake, sleepy head!" she called, peering at Derek through the rear view mirror, "and we don't need a Great Dane --- we've got you." She winked in the mirror before checking her phone, confirming that they were indeed in a dead zone. "It is weird though, I didn't think we were getting that far from civilization."
Redirecting her attention to Mika, she nodded her head at his response. "I agree about the last bit --- if there's any truth to be found here, I guarantee that we'll find it."

Pulling up behind the rest of the caravan of cars, Shilo hopped from the drivers seat and walked toward the rest of the group that was already assembling. Smoke reached her nose, and Shilo recognized the scent --- sage. So... Shilo thought, standing toward the back of the group as the woman waved the smoking herb around in the air, she must be Wiccan or something. Interesting.
"I'm Shilo! Photography and filmography." She offered a small wave, eying the sage skeptically.

@Autumn_Burns_Red
@MST3K 4ever ​

 

[MST3K 4ever]

Derek had always had a somewhat questioning nature when it came to things of Religion and others points of view on the subject. He was respectful enough of them not to mock them, because though he was a practicing Roman Catholic Derek was the first to admit he didn't have all the answers when it came to Religion.

As he joined the others out of the car Derek stretched his legs and himself as much as he could. He felt like he should check his equipment, but he remembered what Mika had said about this being the adventure of discovery. Besides no one else seemed to be fretting over their equipment and it was now Derek's anyway. He said to Mika, "Calling for pizza? Right now I'd be willing to be able to call Mulder and Scully. I am so getting an 'X files' vibe here."

Listening to Chloe Derek wanted to ask where the nearest Priest was, but thought better of it. He was somewhat curious but somewhat cautious about all this. Suddenly the whole "it's just a job" vibe was fading. His priest Father tony call it Spiritual Thrillseeking as he started sniffing the sage. Derek said, "Derek Moran Lighting. It's a very unique aroma, and I've sniffed my share of aromas in my day. I lived Southern California for a while they are an interesting group to say the least."

He approached Shilo and said, "Remember that remark you made about me, and us not needing a Great Dane? I got one thing to say to you..." Derek lowered his voice and said, "Rut roh Raggy."

@Autumn_Burns_Red
@CelestialCellar
@Poisoned Rose
​