Hold the Line against the Night - IC

[Erulasto]

HOLD THE LINE AGAINST THE NIGHT
A Hunter the Vigil Chronicle

OOC THREAD

I am the pirate signal. Let me in. I am the word virus. Let me in. I am the ear worm. Let me in. I am the brain pathogen grammar. I am the dreamers’ dream. I am what I am. Let me in – let me in – let me in – let me in. Let me in!

---

”Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into the Abyss, the Abyss will gaze back into you.”
- Friedrich Nietzche

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11th, 2019

Fall had come early to Terrace. Like most of Western Canada, the summer had been exceedingly wet with barely any days where the sun had shone and the heat seeped in to warm ones bones. The heavy dampness had brought with it cooler than seasonal temperatures and as the waning days of August passed by, those cooler temperatures had begun to crisp the leaves to early golds and reds. These cooler days had stifled most of the tourism to Terrace. Only the brave, the bold and those with a truly adventuresome spirit had come to bolster the city with forays into the various nature preserves and campsites that littered the thick temperate rainforests that lay vast across the Skeena Valley. Unfortunately, that had also caused some stress among the many small businesses in Terrace, and even the larger chain stores were experiencing a painful dip in profits.

By the end of the first week of September, the kids had returned to their classes for yet another year of school and the leaves were already beginning to fray on their branches. It wasn’t uncommon to see many of Terrace’s residents out getting an early start on raking up the steadily growing leaves that inevitably found their way from lofty homes to an inglorious end, mulched in yellowing grass. The mood across Terrace had been somber, as day after day weather forecasters had been predicting heavier than average snowfall on the horizon. The skies were bleak and grey, and if the sun chose to peak its radiance from behind the cover of clouds, it did little to life the peoples spirits.

The sun had set not long ago, dipping beyond the Kitimat Range of the Coast Mountains to the West of Terrace, casting an early gloom upon the town. The sun had been setting earlier and earlier as Summer made its way into the thick of Autumn. Shortly before sunset, a light drizzle had begun to fall from the grey sky and with a terse wind to break up its continuity, had become more of a misting spray that swirled about capriciously.

The Trainside Café was quiet, for a Wednesday night. Lonesome street lights flanked the small parking lot that encircled the small café, offering a brighter respite from the pervading gloom of early evening. A few stray cars sat in the parking lot. The forest green RAV-4 driven by Claudia Tweed. Luiz Garcia’s off-white Silverado. A silver mini-van owned by the Wells family, and borrowed by their teenage daughter Tanis so she could get to work. Finally, there was a black sedan bearing an out-of-province license plate and the bright sticker for Budget Rent-a-Car.

---

EVA

The week had been particularly unpleasant so far. The moodiness that had settled on the city from the bleak weather had smothered the desire for many of Terrace’s citizens to go out and about if they didn’t have some pressing business to lure them from their couches, their Netflix, and the comforting warmth of their homes. As such, the shift was boring. Even many of the delinquents who would skulk about and cause trouble had opted to stay in this week.

Eva had only just finished her twelve-hour day shift, and that seven in the morning start had seemed so far away. Jill had come down with a nasty cold, and was cooped up in her own house nursing a steaming mug of Neo-Citran and popping Halls like there was no tomorrow. That had left Eva to patrol on her lonesome. Her watch-sergeant, Gill Mayweather, was apologetic. But the aging officer could only work with what they had available, and it seemed like that wasn’t much at the moment.

The patrol car had been parked just off highway 16, with a photo-radar gun propped up on the dashboard for most of the morning. A small stack of traffic violations for speeding had been neatly sorted on the passenger seat. The doldrums of having to sit and file all of them with the Provincial clerk weighed heavily on Eva, but she figured there was time to grab some food before she had to return to the precinct.

As she had been sitting out on the highway for most of her day, the closest place was the Trainside Café.

The drive there was relatively quiet. The road was practically empty as she made her way towards the intersection of a rail line and the highway that the café sat adjacent to.

Eventually, Eva pulled into the small parking lot. There weren’t a lot of cars present. A single rental and a few with plates that indicated they were local. Eva stepped out of the car into the chilly mist that was permeating the air and made her way towards the front entrance to the café. As she passed, she saw Luiz Garcia puffing on a cigarette just out back with a couple overflowing bags of trash sitting next to the dumpster. The cook tipped his head and gave the RCMP constable a small wave of acknowledgement before she stepped foot inside.

The warmth was palpable, heaters already running strong and the air was filled with the smell of coffee, doughnuts and burgers sizzling in the back.

A cursory glance around the diner revealed Claudia behind the counter, wiping down some basic white coffee mugs and placing them on a rack next to the three coffee pots that sat next to the soda fountain. A plump young teenage girl in black leggings, an athletic T-Shirt from one of the local high schools and a black apron was busy handing a plate of rare steak to an older gentleman in a somewhat damp beige overcoat at the counter. He had grey, thinning hair that barely covered the sheen of a balding head and a pair of thin, wire-framed spectacles balanced on a slightly overlarge hook nose. His cheeks were sunken, and his eyes were shadowed by the dark circles that accompanied one who put far too much overtime in at work. A thick, steel briefcase sat on the floor next to his stool and Eva noticed he kept brushing it with one of his legs as if to ensure it was still there. A nervous tick if Eva had ever seen one.

The teenage waitress, whose name-tag proclaimed her as Tanis, smiled as Eva approached, and tipped her head towards one of the many empty booths.

”Have a seat, officer. I’ll be with you in a jiffy!”

---

ROSA

Rosa had arrived via Flight 3105, operated by West Jest Encore from Vancouver a couple weeks ago. The hacker had planned more than enough time to settle into her room, and grab some take-away lunch at the small restaurant on the main floor of the Best Western hotel. The rest of the two weeks had been spent getting the lay of the land, and trying to uncover more clues as to what exactly she was looking for out here from that strange little program secreted away on a portable hard drive.

Presently, she was gazing out of the fourth floor window at the grey and dreary sky, and Rosa was struck by how strange it was to be led out here of all places.

Sure, Terrace was well-situated on several major roads and railways through Western Canada, but it was just on the edge of being considered a backwater city. There was one Best Buy in town, and a couple of folks ran electronic repairs out of their stalls at the Skeena Valley farmer’s market. It was very probable that Rosa was the most competent living person in Terrace when it came to computer sciences.

Sitting on the bed, covered in a faded floral-print comforter, Rosa cracked open her laptop and began to boot it up in between bites of the toasted clubhouse sandwich sitting next to her in its cheap white Styrofoam carry-out container.

When Rosa was sure that she’d secured her connection to the hotel’s WiFi, and ran all her usual sniffer and protection programs, she finally allowed herself to bring up the command prompt for the closed network she’d stored on a portable hard drive.

That had been a challenge, to say the least. The script and programming code she’d stumbled upon seemed unusually hard to contain. It moved – flowing and puddling through the script on her original hard drive. It was only the shock of seeing such elegant, but alien, programming before her very eyes that delayed her responses long enough for whatever she had found to infiltrate every corner of her workstation. It had taken her four solid days to clean that mess up, purge the strange code and transplant it into a well-protected…and well-contained network on the portable drive.

Rosa opened a read-only access to the drive, and allowed herself once more to look upon that strange code.

And the message contained within.


BLUEHAWKBIOS©2017
BIOS Date: 2/22/17 20:54:23 Ver: 03.00.01

Press DEL to run Setup
Checking

777MB OK
Auto Detecting Pri Channel (0)….IDE Hard Disk
Auto Detecting Pri Channel (1)….Not Detected
Auto Detecting Pri Channel (0)….CDROM
Auto Detecting Pri Channel (1)….Not Detected
Pri Channel (0): 1.1 Virtual HD
Pri Channel (0): uVirtual CD

C:\hd program files
C:\Program Files>cd world_engine
C:\>dir
Volume in drive C is Windows
Volume Serial Number is 3929-5BA3

Directory of c:\

08/22/2019 04:42 AM <DIR> inetpub
08/22/2019 05:46 AM <DIR> intel
08/24/2019 07:11 PM 904,485 msdia80.dll
09/01/2019 03:50 PM <DIR> perfLogs
09/01/2019 04:21 PM <DIR> Program Files
09/01/2019 04:31 PM <DIR> Program Files <x86>
09/01/2019 07:14 PM <DIR> Loading…

C:\cd_world_engine\
C:\cd_world_engine\start [world_script.exe]
.
..
…
….
…..
GC.CG.CG.AT.GC.TA.TA.CG.AT.G.A.GC.TA.TA.C.C.G.A.AT .GC.AT.TA...ERROR.

Theh yeh alef-hamza-below noon qaf noon seen reh waw noon beh waw teh waw heh reh yeh alef-hamza-above reh yeh theh yeh beh waw lam dal reh seen

WARNING: SYSTEM FAILURE

That was as far as the code would go. It would continue to repeat, over and over, ad nauseam until it crashed her system. The strange words upon her screen meant little to the hacker, but through careful prodding and poking, she had eventually made out a sequence of numbers buried within. It had taken a day or two, but eventually, Rosa had figured out that it was a set of coordinates in longitude and latitude.

Coordinates that had led her to Terrace.

Rosa hadn’t been able to bring herself to go to that exact point, but she had found it easily enough by surreptitiously accessing Google’s GPS satellite systems.

It was out in the middle of no-where. Out in the wilderness and the woods, on the slopes of the Coast Mountains near an old mine closed in the eighties after one too many industrial accidents. The closest point of interest had been a little truck stop diner called the Trainside Café on the outskirts of town. It was sitting along highway 16 and one of the major rail lines that ran through the countryside. She had driven past it once or twice on her forays through town, but had only stopped in once to grab some lunch before a brief visit to one of the Provincial nature parks that lay between the café and her eventual destination.

Rosa wasn’t sure what she was expecting. Even if she had driven all the backroads through the Provincial park, she would still likely have to walk for a couple hours to get to the mine. The single old road that led there had been blocked with a large chain-link fence capped with rusty old barbed wire and a plethora of ‘No Trespassing’ signs.

Having spent most of her day trying to glean new insight from the alien code, Rosa was drawn from her work by a grumble from her stomach. Maybe another trip to the Trainside Café would serve a dual purpose. Food, of course, and maybe she’d encounter a local who had some more intimate knowledge of the area.

Rosa packed up a messenger bag with what she thought she would need. Her laptop, the portable hard drive, and other odds and ends. Grabbing her keys from the nightstand, Rosa made her way to the parking lot where her hideously orange rented Acura was parked. Just looking at that paint job made her skin crawl.

The trip from the hotel to the Trainside Café was a bit winding, but at least the streets were clear enough.

As she pulled up, she saw a police cruiser parked in the lot next to another rental and a few of the vehicles she’d recognized as some of the staff.

Parking it the lightly occupied lot, Rosa made her way towards the Trainside Café. As she was approaching, she saw a bus pull up to a nearby stop and a young, beautiful teenage girl get off. She was clutching an olive green messenger bag in her thin-fingered hands. The bag bore a white imprint of the Triforce on its side and long, wavy locks spilled around a slightly-too-large black hoodie bearing the visage of Jack Skellington.

The young girl, head down, barreled into Rosa as she thumbed through her cell phone with a pinched expression on her pretty face.

”Oh!” she exclaimed. ”I..I’m so sorry!”

---

JEREMY

The bleary sky was about as optimistic as Jeremy’s overall mood. He’d just spent the day trying desperately to ignore the many housewives who’d taken to coming to the gym since he’d started working there. Husbands off at work, these women had often come in wearing clothes as revealing as they could, trying to attract his attention. Something about the ‘danger’ of a former fighter.

The last client of the day was Lynn.

Mother of two, with a pear-shaped body that didn’t do much to inspire confidence in Jeremy at how serious she was about working out and getting into shape. She’d spent most of the time talking about how she was lonely at home, and rubbing up against him at any opportunity she got. A couple of the other trainers had flashed Jeremy pitying looks across the appointment.

But, all through the day, one thought kept him going.

He’d finally managed to get ahold of Cat. While Liz hadn’t been overly forthcoming, she also didn’t immediately shut him down. His ex had told him, in no uncertain terms, that this decision was entirely on Cat now that she was sixteen. IF she wanted to give him a chance, then so be it. But Liz was expecting the most upstanding behavior he could muster.

And now? Now he was supposed to meet Cat at the Trainside Café for a late dinner. Cat would have just gotten off a soccer game after school, and figured the Café was a safe place to meet as her friend Tanis worked there and could give her a ride home.

Just in case.

Jeremy had time for a quick shower after Lynn’s appointment, and pulled on the nicest clothes he’d managed to pack into his suitcase with him when he arrived in Terrace.

Despite running quite late to begin with, the lack of traffic had made the trip as painless as it could otherwise be and he even managed to make up some lost time.

As he turned the corner onto the street that the Café sat alongside, he saw the city bus pulling away and the slim, leggy form of his estranged daughter bumping rather abruptly into a young woman. Even as he was pulling into the parking lot beside them, he recognized them both. Cat, from pictures on her mother’s social media site, and Rosa – a young woman who he’d encountered at the gym a couple times in the past.

That was a surprise.

---

HENRY

Laying low sucked.

It was boring!

It’s not like he could go joy riding that often. Even in a smaller place like Terrace. Admittedly, that didn’t entirely stop Henry. There was a reason he was called ‘Driver’.

He’d spent the day out in the back country on some old roads in a nearby provincial park. Aside from some park rangers, the area had been desolate of hikers, campers or backpackers since the weather really turned south. He’d been keeping his skills sharp on some of the more treacherous trails, hoping that he wouldn’t hit a root or a stump that would put an end to his vehicle.

He’d stopped after a couple hours, and sat on the hood of his car and cracked a beer open while he took a breather.

Henry had only been hanging out for about a quarter hour when he heard the shouting in the distance, the roar of an engine, and two sudden cracking booms that he immediately recognized as gunfire. Nothing big. Probably a basic rifle of sorts. The kind that a lot of backwater families kept to scare coyote’s and mountain lions away from their yards and their pets.

In his day, he’d learned not to stick his nose into business that didn’t involve him. But some of the shouts sounded like a woman. And that didn’t quite sit well with him, much as a part of him kept repeating a mantra in the back of his mind:

Just drive away. Ignore it. Just drive away.

He was still warring over the thoughts when the decision was made for him.

A young man with a black eye broke through the underbrush at a break-neck speed. He was wearing a black and red checkered flannel shirt that was tattered and torn and he bore some scratches from where he looked like branches had whipped into him during his flight.

The young man came to an abrupt halt as he approached Henry.

”Hey! Hey, man! You gotta help me! We gotta get out of here or we’re dead!”

He was immediately moving towards the passenger-side door of Henry’s vehicle. Henry stared at this young man incredulously, until he heard another gunshot.

And a second later, one of his break lights exploded as a bullet shattered it.

Now they were shooting at HIM! Whoever they were…

Wasting no more time, Henry was into his vehicle and gunning the engine. Even as they peeled away, a couple more gunshots sounded through the forest, and in his rearview mirror, Henry thought for a half moment he saw a dusky-skinned woman covered in blood staring from the foliage.

But he blinked, and she was gone.

They began the trip along highway 16 back to town. The young man introduced himself as Roger, but aside from a soft ‘thank you’, spent the drive back to town staring blankly out the passenger-side window with a glassy, glazed expression. The only words exchanged otherwise was a promise to explain later.

After a bit of a drive, Henry pulled up at the Trainside Café – which seemed busier than he remembered it – and as Roger was getting out of his vehicle, the young man turned back to Henry.

”Hey..uh…man?” Roger asked somewhat quietly. ”Thanks. Again. Really…I…appreciate you helping me out. It’s been a ****ed up day. Do you..uh…want some dinner? I can tell you what happened. Sort of owe it to you, you know? If you want. And my brother…Harvey…he’s got some cash, so he can pay for the gas.”

Even as Roger asked, another car began to pull into the parking lot. The occupant was driving furiously, his tires squealing as he peeled in.

”That’s my brother…” Roger said after looking up at the sound of burning rubber.

---

HARVEY

For a Wednesday, the day seemed like any other for Harvey. He’d idled around for much of it, before meeting up shortly after lunch with some of his friends – the same friends his parents would have called hoodlums and ne’er-do-wells. They’d cracked some beers open, and before long there were even a couple of joints passed around in rotation.

Thus, his day passed in a pleasantly blissed manner.

Until, at least, he got the call.

It was from Roger, but was showing as an unknown name – someone named Henry Baker – and an unknown number with an area code that most certainly wasn’t local. His younger brother spoke in an anxiety-laden whisper, rushed and yet with forced softness as if he was actively trying not to be overheard.

The call was extraordinarily brief, lasting just under a minute.

In a hurried tone, Roger practically begged Harvey to come pick him up. Claimed he needed help. He’d been picked up from one of the local provincial parks by a passerby. The aforementioned Henry Baker. The tone of voice was worrisome for Harvey, but the fact that Roger of all people seemed to be having some trouble with something was all the more concerning for his older brother. Roger was a pretty upstanding young man, and it was rare he ever got involved in anything that would give his parents pause.

Harvey had packed it in right then and there, and made the trek to where his brother had claimed to be waiting – at the Trainside Cafe. As he pulled up, he saw his brother standing next to an African man. His brother was sporting a black eye, and the red and black checkered flannel shirt he wore over an old Metallica t-shirt was ripped. Harvey was sure some of the dark stains on it were likely blood. There was a police cruiser sitting in the lot next to a number of other cars. One of them even looked like one he’d tried to break into a few months back. But he couldn’t exactly be sure. He’d partaken a bit too much of the ganja that day and the details were a bit fuzzy.

The place was popping!

Once out of the car, Roger turned to Harvey and got a good look at him for the first time, and Harvey thought that Roger looked…off.

That’s when he noticed bruising on his brothers neck. At first, he thought it might’ve been a hickey. But Roger was notoriously bad with the ladies.

What the hell was going on?

Spoiler: OOC for ALL

Show

Alright folks. It may seem a touch disjointed. I’ve gone through a couple revisions on the post to try and fit everything in effectively.

Eva got there first. Then Rosa bumped into Cat Coleman, and Jeremy showed up moments later. As they entered, Henry and Roger showed up – followed very closely by Harvey.

For all intents and purposes, I’ve tried to set this up to get you all together in one room within a couple posts.

If there’s any questions, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

On an unrelated note about SPOILER boxes. I’m going to ask that if you see a spoiler box like this:

Spoiler: SPECIFIC CHARACTER NAME

Show

Example!

You don’t read the contents unless you are the named character. This will obviously not be able to be enforced, but I’m going on the honor system here.

Thanks!

And welcome to the Hunt!

[Shadowflick]

Henry Barker

Henry had never thought himself to have a net positive Karma, but, days like these really made it feel like the universe was punishing him. Cursed with an eternal sense of boredom and stuck in the middle of some unheard-of city in Canada of all places. He hated the cold, far preferred tropic places. Why couldn't he have gotten lucky once? Just toss the dart and hit, say, Hawaii. He hasn't been there yet, and nothing ever goes wrong in Hawaii. Taker got to go there once, she even grabbed herself a few souvenirs. Like that utterly disgusting looking flower button up. Henry..really hated that shirt. As well as the matching one she got for him as a joke.

There was, however, one perk about such a place like Terrace. The Back roads tended to be empty of cops...most of the time. The nature trails also offered a good opportunity to practice on less urban terrain. After the Black Forest heist he has learned the perks of knowing how to dodge a few trees's on the off road. Henry usually prefers to dress up on most occasions, sporting a black vest with a white button-down, alongside some slacks..but for practice? he just needs to be comfortable. He goes in jeans and flannel, though, he does take his preferred cap.

Not being chased allowed him to really work his magic, testing out various ways to drift on dirt roads and speed by tree's. it was very hard for him, almost like he was blessed to be one with the car he was in. After some practice anda good bit of near misses, He takes his break. He gets out of the car, and takes a seat, beer and hand. He's about to take a sip..before he hears it. Distant gunshots. His first reaction is to drop the bottle, diving behind his car and fishing for his own smuggled handgun inside his car. He could leave. that would be easy.

And yet, he doesn't. His hand on the wheel, car ready to go..but seeing a desperate man running so close..wait..didnt a woman scream? It's too late though, the man was already at the car....might as well. He lets him in.

Tires screech, and loose rocks along with dirt kick off from the Driver's muscle car. He makes sure to try and take a unique route through the woods, trying his best to make the tracks hard to keep up with before he gets onto the highway


He looks at his mirror momentarily, spotting what he thought was a bloodied woman...until there was nothing there. He shakes it off and drives.

The ride was rather quiet, Henry disliked sudden choices that were not made with some measure of caution. He did, however, let the man borrow his phone. Just a quick call.

They park at the Diner, and Driver hops out of his car along with Roger. He looks at the man, his face flat, unimpressed, and almost annoyed. "I'll do best with an explanation. What happened, and why were you there." he leans down closer "And who was the woman."

[Justanotherhero]

Harvey drives up to the Trainside Cafe in what could at best be described as a rustbucket apparently American car with the driver door in a light blue tone while the rest of the car maintains a rusty red color.
Edward got out of the car fast not even locking it but did take the keys with him.

A tall young man with dark brown messy hair, brown eyes wearing a open brown black checkered flannel shirt and a black acdc t shirt underneath. Blue jeans and brown boots all in a slightly used look.

" Damn who did this to you, you ok?" Staring at Rogers black eye Harvey asks in a tone that leaves little doubt whoever beat up his little brother was in need of a clear message himself.
"Is that.." Harvey steps closer to the two people "Is that blood?"

[Lokio]

It had been a long day. At least with Jill around, the monotony of traffic duty was cut with witty banter and a laugh here and there, but with her out sick, it had been a long day. Alone. With her thoughts, punctuated by the occasional flashing of the reds-and-blues as she pulled someone over for speeding or texting while driving or whatever. Her uniform was a little rumpled after twelve hours in the seat. The kevlar duty vest, her utility belt, perma-pressed pants and combat boots kept her looking vaguely professional, but the end of her shift was apparent in the small details. The occasional fly hair popping out of her tight bun. The hint of bags under her youthful eyes. Things like that.

At least the café wasn't far. She could kill a burger. Salads were for other people today. Future Eva could suffer for the choice at the gym tomorrow. Today, there would be grease and meat. Anything to spice today up a little. The cook's wave was returned with a "hello" as she passed and headed in to find a seat and get out of the cold.

The waitress and the matron of the place earned tired nods as she accepted Tanis's offer, found herself a booth and glanced about the joint and thought about that hamburger. But cop eyes never stopped scanning, and the greying older fellow with his overcoat and his briefcase drew her attention momentarily. She watched him for a short time, absorbing him as she did so many people with her trained sense of how humans worked.

Then, her eyes moved on, looking out the window, trying to relax and just taking it all in...

(6d10)[35] using the Empath merit on the guy with the briefcase (Wits + Empathy)
(6d10)[24] Perception to notice things going on outside

[Lokio]

OOC: Correction - gotta use rollv!

(6d10)[2][1][7][1][6][6](23) using the Empath merit on the guy with the briefcase (Wits + Empathy)
(6d10)[4][9][3][4][4][7](31) Perception to notice things going on outside

[Daishain]

Rosa shifts her weight to compensate as the young girl comes barreling through, "Hey, its okay kiddo, I certainly can't be mad at anyone with such excellent taste." She waves a hand at the triforce symbol.

"Are you looking for something..." She trails off as some kind of encounter crops up in the parking lot. One of the men involved was clearly hurt, it put her on edge. She watches for a moment, trying to assess if the situation was a threat.

[Shadowflick]

Henry Barker

Henry turns to Harvey as he starts to approach, He looks to Robert for a second, working out there relationship. He grits his teeth and takes a step forward. "You're the Brother then"

Henry crosses his arms "Your brother found himself in some sort of...mess in the forest. if it was not for me he would likely not be standing here. He's very lucky but...you two do owe me. I take cash, as well as answers. Youre brothers here Robert...pay up. What happened?"

[Bennosuke]

Spoiler: OOC:

Show

Sorry for the delayed response everyone.

@Daishain: I'm kinda expecting to fail this roll, so we will probably start interacting. Should be fun.

Jeremy wondered if there was a way to get his daughter's attention without being noticed by Rosa. He liked woman (girl is what went through his mind), she came to classes actually looking to learn, and trained hard; she wasn't just there for an instagram photo. Even so, Jeremy was there to see his daughter, and he wasn't too proud of how he was making his money these days. He didn't want his daughter to see him as the fighter he used to be, or the loser he was currently. And he definitely couldn't afford his daughter getting the wrong opinion, that he was "with" other women.

So Jeremy stuck to the wall, hoping to move closer while staying behind Rosa's back.

Spoiler: Rolling

Show

Dex 2+ Stealth 0 (-1) for a single d10 (1d10)[1](1)

[Erulasto]

JEREMY and ROSA

”Oh!” the girl said, somewhat startled it seemed that Rosa seemed to not really mind the solid bump. Or perhaps it was that she seemed up on pop culture. Regardless, the teenager shuffled from one foot to the other awkwardly.

”I’m…I’m here to meet my dad for dinner. He…he should be here any minute.” she said, even as she cast a quick glance down to her phone and the time displayed prominently across some cartoon characters that Rosa recognized as being from a show called “Adventure Time”.

The young girl paused as she looked up from the phone screen, noticing that Rosa’s attention was pulled to the other gathering of people in the lot.

It was at that moment that the young girl – Cat to her friends and family – finally noticed the miserable attempt at stealth her father was making as he lurked just off to the side.

Jeremy saw the crinkle on her brow as she tried to wrap her head around what she was looking at.

”…..Dad?” she asked hesitantly.

---

HARVEY and HENRY

Roger seemed somewhat uncomfortable, standing between his brother and his rescuer. ”I was…out…with some friends. We were gonna check out the old mill. You know...the one they shut down in the seventies? Kyle said something about the kids from the Rez holding keggers there sometimes. We just wanted a drink. Honest…”

Roger lapsed into silence for a moment.

”Do you mind…if we talk about the rest inside? I’d...I’d like to get out of the rain.” His words spoke one thing to the two men, but the furtive glances he kept casting down the road whence they came spoke more to his anxiety than any actual comments given.

---

EVA

The smell of hand-made patties of ground beef mixed with a healthy dose of seasonings, and finely diced garlic and onions was wafting through the café as Eva slipped into the booth. The bright, fire-engine red vinyl of the seats contrasting sharply against the black and white checkered linoleum and the basic off-white formica of the tables.

Ever the consummate officer, Eva’s gaze fell upon the weary-looking man. His shoulders were bunched up as he leaned forward slightly, and he kept wiping his palms on his pant legs as he sat there, and Eva was sure she could hear him muttering under his breath.

He might have been drinking. Or on drugs of some kind. Eva had heard the reports about the precinct that the instances of cannabis-related psychosis in emergency departments countrywide had increased since Trudeau had legalized marijuana. A DUI might be in his future.

It seemed, however, to Eva that she had arrived at just the right moment – for the seemed to be a rather sudden influx of patrons pouring into the parking lot. She caught a glimpse of an older man in extremely good physical condition – with the build of a brawler – talking to a young woman and a teenage girl.

But even as that group began to make their way inside, another group gathered – and one of them had some blood on his clothes.

Before that fact could register fully, Tanis appeared before Eva’s table with a smile.

”Sorry ‘bout the wait. What can I getcha?”

[Shadowflick]

Henry Barker

Henry's patience with Robert was getting close to reaching its end. It was already a risk to bring a man with blood on him to a public space...a diner of all places! Gritting his teeth, Henry moves to the door, opening it for Robert and Harvey. He points his open palm inside not unlike that of a doorman "Go on go on, I'll get you some tea. Maybe a burger Huh?" he says, holding back his aggression...al be it the sarcasm in his voice was evident "I didn't expect my day to be going like this..." he mutters, fishing out a wallet with a decent amount of cash, ready to pay for there meals.

[Justanotherhero]

Harvey answered Henry:
" Hi! Yeah I am the brother Harvey and you are?
If not that's true I do owe you and what I owe I pay.
I am glad to hear some answers."

Harvey looked at his brother with a
lot of questions in his eyes .

"Sure let's go inside. The old Mill that's not a nice place to... "
Harvey stopped mid sentence knowing that
..to drink . That's a place to meet your trusty local drug dealer .. might not go down well with everybody.

" Take my shirt and let's clean you up." Covering Robert with his flannel shirt to cover at least some of the stains. Using one hand to point inside towards the bathroom.

[Lokio]

What...?

Eyes snapped up to what was right in front of her, and she absently replied, "Coffee, water, and a burger with fries, please," but even as she asked, she was rising to her feet slowly, prioritizing in her mind what was off about the man with the briefcase, what was going on outside. The blood was concerning, but there was no immediate violence and he wasn't inside just yet.

It gave her a minute to investigate.

Sidling up next to the fella, Eva quietly asked him, "You doing okay, pal?" She flashed him a smile, something empathetic, her manner direct but non-threatening. No need to rile the dude up any more than she had to. The closer look gave her the opportunity to see him from the side, to check for visible medical signs...

(4d10)[7][2][8][5](22) Wits + Medicine, looking at the guy with the briefcase (1 success)

[Bennosuke]

Jeremy stifles a curse, and quickly pulls together a grin, trying to look like he wasn't just creeping around. He ignores Rosa as he approaches, pouring all his attention and energy into his daughter. "Cat," Jeremy says warmly, stretching both arms out to offer a hug, "I'm so glad to see you kid!" The smile on his face was 100% sincere, though he hoped it didn't make him look like a maniac under all that scar tissue.

[Daishain]

Rosa grins, she could take a hint most of the time, "I'll see you at the Y Jeremy, have fun." She walks into the diner and has a seat.

[Erulasto]

EVA

With a precision and speed born of countless repetition, Tanis scribbled down the order on a small, heavily creased notepad.

”That’ll be a few minutes. Thanks!”

With that parting statement, Tanis sped across the diner and into the kitchen where Eva could pick out her voice relaying the order to Luiz.

With her attention now freed to worry about the older gentleman at the café’s counter, Eva was able to get a much better view as she approached from the side. He really and truly looked ill. He bore many of the hallmarks of withdrawal symptoms, Eva realized. His skin seemed to hang looser on his bones beyond the softening that came with age. His cheeks hung limp from sharp cheekbones, creating small jowls around his thin-lipped mouth. The dark circles under his eyes were sallow like middling age bruises. Hanging from a blue lanyard around his neck was a small plastic sheath that held a stiff plastic ID badge.

Doctor Dwight Edmundson, Lab Researcher for something called Ascendyne Health and Wellness. The name of the company twigged in Eva’s mind, suddenly recalling a police report that crossed her desk about six months ago about a special school for troubled children that was located about twenty five kilometers outside the city in a patch of private land. Supposedly, this school – Brighton House – was surrounded by several acres of wilderness to give the teens who attended there some peace and solitude outside the normal hustle and bustle of Terrace.

Ascendyne Health and Wellness was the primary financier of the school.

As Eva spoke to Doctor Edmundson, the sickly looking man turned his head to look up at the young constable with glassy eyes.

”Hm? Yes?” he asked, as if he hadn’t actually heard her question to him. He gave her a hesitant smile, the expression seeming quite forced. But what struck her as the most odd was the blackened gums she caught a glimpse of behind those thin lips. The way his tongue wriggled in his mouth as he spoke reminded her of a slimy grub. His gums had receded heavily, and the flesh reminded Eva of the old advertisements for cancer she had seen on the old cigarette packages when she was in school.

And his breath, which washed over her the moment his lips parted, held that sickly sweet scent of old blood.

The shock of his ragged appearance, and the tension of the moment was broken as Claudia slip up to the two of them at the counter and set down a plate in front of the doctor. It was steak. Three of them. Large slabs of meat. And at first glance, Eva could tell that they were far undercooked for Luiz’ normal fare. Even if one liked it ‘blue rare’, this would be a bit much. The steaks were pooling in a puddle of red.

Even Claudia looked a bit disturbed by the order as she glanced warily to Eva.

”Here’s your order, sir.” she finally said.

Like a foxhound scenting its prey, the doctors sallow eyes suddenly sparked to vigor and he turned towards the food. Not even bothering with a utensil, he grabbed the first of the steaks and tore a chunk from it with his teeth – a hollow, deep moan of bliss slithering past his lips as a dribble of the juice trickled from the corner of his lips.

---

ROSA

After seeing the heartfelt greeting that Jeremy had flashed the teenaged girl – obviously his daughter – Rosa had excused herself and slipped inside the diner. Giving the place a quick once over as she found a booth of her own, she noticed a lady cop sliding up to a haggard looking man in a damp overcoat at the counter and began asking him if he was alright.

The scene was somewhat strange, but nothing entirely out of the ordinary.

Rosa set her bag on the seat next to her and settled in as a plump waitress named Tanis approached her from out of the kitchen. She set a menu down on the tabletop and a glass of ice water, flush with condensation.

”Hey there. I’m Tanis. What can I get you?”

As Tanis asked about the order, there was a loud DING and a plate of barely cooked steaks were put on the warming tray between the kitchen and the front. Claudia, the matronly looking wife of the café owner grabbed the plate and set it down on the counter in front of the old man.

He immediately began tearing into the meat with his fingers, muttering and moaning as if it was an orgasmic experience for him.

Rosa caught the look of shock on Claudia’s face, mirrored perhaps by the expression on the young police constables own.

---

JEREMY

Maniac or not, it was clear that there was a level of awkwardness that still held strong between Jeremy and Cat. It was clear in the way she stiffly eased into his outstretched arms for a hug. It was clear in the way she shuffled a bit nervously when they finally withdrew.

”Hey Dad. It’s…it’s good to see you too.” Cat said, a bit stilted. Her clear, blue eyes seemed a bit shimmery, as if there was an undercurrent of emotion barely held in check. Not for the first time did he look at the young woman Cat was becoming and feel a pang of longing, and maybe a bit of remorse. She was the spitting image of Liz in her younger years. Strawberry blonde hair, the high cheekbones, the gentle slope of her nose, feathery brows and dimpled – if shy – smile.

”I thought I was going to be late. The bus driver stopped for Chinese along the route.” Cat said with some good-natured exasperation.

Even as she spoke, she began to shuffle through the diner’s front door, a rather loud grumble rumbling up from her stomach. It caused the pinkest flushing of her cheeks from embarrassment.

”Sorry, I skipped lunch today. We’ve got a test already in math this week.” That exasperation didn’t hold nearly the same level of good-naturedness to it.

As Jeremy followed Cat into the diner, Jeremy glimpsed Rosa now seated in a nearby booth as well as a young police constable speaking to an older gentleman in an overcoat.

”So, where do you want to sit?”

---

HARVEY and HENRY

As Harvey helped get Roger covered up with his flannel shirt, the three of them made their way into the diner. It was already a bit more crowded than it had been not long ago. A burly looking man and a teenage girl were picking out a booth while a young police officer that Harvey recognized was talking to an older gentleman at the counter. Another young woman was seated in a nearby booth, hovered over by a plump young waitress whose nametag proclaimed her to be: ‘Tanis’.

As Henry was pulling his wallet out, and fetching some cash, the waitress – Tanis – glanced up at him.

”Good evenin’! Help yourselves to a seat. I’ll be with you in a sec! Oh, and your friend can use the washroom back there if he needs to freshen up.” Tanis said, pointing to the bathrooms tucked in the back corner near the antique jukebox. It was apparent she had at least noticed the black eye that Roger was sporting.

Roger slipped into the bathroom to wash up with Harvey while Henry settled into a booth. Roger was uncharacteristically quiet as he cleaned up, but Harvey noticed his brother didn’t seem to be able to look too long at his roughshod appearance in the mirror, wincing every time he glanced in that direction.

Eventually the two made their way back to the table, and sat down next to one another.

”So…uh….” Roger began, as they waited for Tanis to finish taking the order she was currently working on.

”Oh man. Where to start. So me and Kyle got there and the party was already started. There had to be twenty or thirty kids, most of ‘em from the Rez. I saw a couple others hanging about. But they’re the ones you keep telling me to stay away from, Harvey, so I didn’t really talk to them. We’d only been there a couple hours and I’d only had a couple drinks, you know. Something wasn’t quite…right. A lot of the kids from the Rez were getting pretty amped up. I didn’t see any drugs, but I wouldn’t be surprised. This one big kid brought a few of the kids into the mill itself to give ‘em the good stuff…I heard, anyhow…and when they came back, he took in another group. And then another. And the kids who went in? When they came out they were getting really riled up. Hooting, howling. Real savage like.” Roger shook his head. ”This one girl. Said her name was Sher. She’d been flirting with me most of the night. But some guy got in my face. Got pissed I was messing with his girlfriend. You know?” Roger sighed heavily, and pressed his palms to his face with a groan.

”That’s when I heard the first gunshot. People started to freak out. This big pick-up truck. Ford F-150. The kind that could haul farming equipment, you know? It peeled into the clearing with a bunch of big guys in the back and they had guns, man. ****ing guns! Started shooting. I don’t know what happened after, but I started to run. I was running with Sher. I saw her get shot, man. Right in the back!.”

Roger paused, wiping at his eyes furiously as he tried to calm himself down a bit.

”But…I swear…I saw her in the tree’s as we were driving off. And she didn’t look shot. Just a bit bloody.”

[Shadowflick]

Henry Barker

Henry gives Tanis a smile and a nod "Thank you miss, We'll just take the booth" No need to be rude to the waiter's, I mean, he doesn't need anyone spitting in his food. However, seeing the cop inside the dinner, he tucks his cap down, hoping to remain a bit inconspicuous.

Henry sits in his booth, listening to this rather odd story. Sure, henry's been in shootouts and had his own fair share of close calls. Even in nightclubs. But this? This was Canada. You know, apologize for everything, no gun violence Canada...

Yet, Henry couldn't exactly deny any of it either. he heard the gunshots himself. Worse? He swears he saw that blood-covered woman in the forest as well. Sher....why does that sound like Cher? Single names, maybe she's a singer too. Though, she gives off more of a Stevie Nicks vibe

"So...A gang of random men showed up with rifles and just...shot everyone? You didn't even think t report this to the police? or tell me they had a car to and to be careful? Getting shot in the middle of nowhere is not the way I really wanted to die, i'll be honest."

Henry grits his teeth "And..you left your girlfriend. When we were driving off, I saw her" he says with a shrug "Getting shot isn't always as deadly as you think it is. She was probably grazed and you just...left her behind." This..dosent seem to trouble Henry that much though. it's not a judement of action..more a statement of events.

[Justanotherhero]

"I think he is right. I don't think it was a bunch of random people.. but as much as I know you should tell them just so later nobody thinks you were involved in any of this. You did nothing wrong so telling them what you saw only proves that. We don't want anybody saying you didn't call because you had something to do with this. Obviously you did the right thing I will check it out and take care off stuff while you stay here. If there really is blood and stuff there we obviously call the cops."

If Harvey could have handled this anyway he wanted the answer probably would have been different but Rogers future is to important to be messed with and Kyle would definitely recognize him.

"To Henry: Thank you for picking him up ! I think you are right on how to handle so if you don't mind I would take a look at that place you guys were? How far did you guys drive? There is somebody I would talk to just to be on the safe side. If you give me a minute? Harvey starts whispering: There is no reason to start telling people details if we are not sure anything happened?"

[Lokio]

The waitress gone, Constable Cartwright's attention was fixed on the medical condition of the older gentleman. Jesus, Doc,, she thought as her eyes snapped over his ID badge and looked him over. He looked sick. Not just a little sick, like, very sick. The police report about a special school, about Ascendyne Health and Wellness financing it, flashed through her mind as she processed this man and where he was from.

She took a step back. Glassy eyes. His gums, absolutely trashed. The smell of blood on his breath... well, the steaks that Claudia put before him were just... cow. Just slabs, right off the side. The thing might still be mooing back there, hanging out with Luiz. She knew it, too; Eva could tell, when she looked Claudia in the eye.

The constable stepped back. There was nothing illegal here, but the guy seemed... off.

Training flashed in her mind as she assessed whether or not this was something she could validly call in. She sure as hell didn't want to touch him.

"Doctor Edmundson..."

She slipped on a pair of first aid gloves from her pocket, taking on a more authoritative tone that suggested that no, she was not going away.

"My name is Constable Cartwright. I asked if you're feeling okay, sir?"

Welfare check. That was where she was at right now, even if everything about this guy gave her the heebies.

Spoiler: OOC ST with Rolls

Show

Let me know how much of the conversation the others are having Eva can hear. I'll toss Perception if it matters:

(6d10)[9][9][9][6][1][5](39)

Also, a memory roll to remember details about the report on the special school (Int + Composure):

(5d10)[6][7][4][5][3](25)

Finally, a Wits + Politics - this guy isn't doing anything wrong, technically, but he's giving off crazy vibes. Is this a thing that would be ridiculous to call in?

(4d10)[4][6][7][5](22)

[Daishain]

Rosa smiles at Tanis, "I'll have a coffee thanks, and maybe a small order of..." She stares at the older man as he tears into the raw meat like a starving wolf, "uh, never mind, just the coffee thanks."

Feeling queasy, Rosa busies herself with her phone so that she has something to look at other than that mess. Besides the cop seemed to be checking up on the older man already.

First the guy that came in looking like he lost a street fight, and now this guy doing a coke addict elder werewolf impression... Maybe this cafe wasn't such a great place to stop after a run...

[Bennosuke]

Maniac or not, it was clear that there was a level of awkwardness that still held strong between Jeremy and Cat. It was clear in the way she stiffly eased into his outstretched arms for a hug. It was clear in the way she shuffled a bit nervously when they finally withdrew.

”Hey Dad. It’s…it’s good to see you too.” Cat said, a bit stilted. Her clear, blue eyes seemed a bit shimmery, as if there was an undercurrent of emotion barely held in check. Not for the first time did he look at the young woman Cat was becoming and feel a pang of longing, and maybe a bit of remorse. She was the spitting image of Liz in her younger years. Strawberry blonde hair, the high cheekbones, the gentle slope of her nose, feathery brows and dimpled – if shy – smile.

"Thanks," Jeremy said, keeping the tight ball of sadness at his daughter's discomfort forced deep down in his chest. He allowed his daughter to release her stiff embrace, taking one long mment to study his daughter, hoping that moment wasn't too obvious.

”I thought I was going to be late. The bus driver stopped for Chinese along the route.” Cat said with some good-natured exasperation.

Even as she spoke, she began to shuffle through the diner’s front door, a rather loud grumble rumbling up from her stomach. It caused the pinkest flushing of her cheeks from embarrassment.

”Sorry, I skipped lunch today. We’ve got a test already in math this week.” That exasperation didn’t hold nearly the same level of good-naturedness to it.

Jeremy reveled in his daughter's stories about her day, enjoying her willingness to share herself with him, thinking back to when she was younger and shared everything with him. "Yikes!" he exclaimed, "didn't you kids just start?" He had no idea when school had started. "Well I'm glad you're hungry, because this meal's on me!" Jeremy added, throwing in as much enthusiasm as he could to the statement. He couldn't help studying his daughter, anxious for her reaction

As Jeremy followed Cat into the diner, Jeremy glimpsed Rosa now seated in a nearby booth as well as a young police constable speaking to an older gentleman in an overcoat.

”So, where do you want to sit?”

Jeremy grinned, placing a five pound hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Wherever you want Cat, today I'm treating you like a Princess." Jeremy said, wincing internally at the words and hoping they came out the right way.

[Erulasto]

ALL

The Trainside Café was bustling, all things considered, for this time of evening in the middle of the week. Normally, it would have the occasional trucker, stray tourist or hungry local. But with the final arrival of Harvey, Henry and Roger, the place had officially become the busiest that they’d seen it all Summer.

Tanis practically skipped from Rosa’s table to the trio of men, a bright smile on her rounded cheeks as she mentally calculated the tips she’d hopefully be receiving at the end of her shift. Maybe she could snag a new iTunes gift card and pick up the new Tool album her father had been gushing about all week. She’d never heard of the band herself, but if her Dad said they were good enough to knock T-Swift off the number one spot, then maybe she’d need to take a listen as well.

As she approached the table with Henry, Harvey and Roger, she caught a glimpse of Cat and Jeremy and gave a little wave which Cat returned with her own smile.

---

HARVEY and HENRY

”She…she wasn’t my girlfriend….” Roger said, obviously flustered by the insinuation. It was an obvious tell that he was still a young man and wholly unaccustomed to the fairer sex. ”And…and you wouldn’t need to worry about them drivin’ after us. I ran through the bush to get to you. They’d have to backtrack about eight kilometers to get to the nearest road to follow us. And…” Roger puffed up a bit indignantly. ” I know she wasn’t just grazed.” As sure as he seemed to be, Henry didn’t think that Roger really had enough life experience – let alone experience with being shot at – to make such a claim.

Roger fell into a sullen silence after his tirade, half-listening to the conversation between his brother and Henry when Tanis finally arrived.

”You boys look hungry.” she said with a smile. ”Need a menu or d’you know what you want?”

That’s when the sound of choking began……


ROSA

It was unfortunate that the older man’s eating habits – unpleasant as they were – had caused such a loss of appetite in Rosa, but the sound of his gnawing would drive even the most stoic of people to be a bit queasy.

It begged the question of what the hell was going on in this town though.

With cellphone in hand, Rosa did her best to try and distract herself from the gross display.

And it was working. Especially when her phone – meticulously kept in peak shape for optimal performance – began to glitch. The screen lagged horribly. The blinking icon in the top corner of her phone’s display showed that not only had she automatically disconnected from the local WiFi, but that her hotspot was being disrupted.

Suddenly, her phone screen went black as if powered off.

Tapping the power button a few times, Rosa confirmed that it wasn’t actually off.

Across the screen came a scroll of code far too fast for even her trained eyes to decipher. Again, and again, the screen flickered between the code and simple…black.

Then, all at once, a message blinked onto her screen. It blinked once…twice…then the entire screen of the phone became a rolling, scrolling mass of words.

A single phrase, repeated ad nauseam.

<<Let me in. Let me in. Let me in. Let me in. Let me in. Let me in.>>

That’s when the sound of choking began…….


JEREMY

It was clear that Cat knew the waitress, Tanis, as she gave the plump girl a wave and a smile as they locked eyes. When Cat’s gaze finally returned to her estranged father, she flashed him an awkward grin.

”That’s Tanis. She’s in my social studies class. Pretty cool. She came to my birthday party last year.” Cat offered diplomatically, as if trying to give Jeremy some insight into the life she’d been living in his absence.

”You don’t need to treat me like a Princess, Dad. Just regular, little old me.” Some of the tension Jeremy had sensed seemed to be dissipating as Cat became a little more comfortable with his presence. It was early, yes – but it was enough to give Jeremy a small spark of hope.

Before he had a chance to respond however, the wretched sound of garbled choking loudly filled the Café…..

EVA

Spoiler: ROLLS for EVA

Show

For Perception, that’s a damn good roll, and enough to pretty much pick up on the overall nature of each conversation. Maybe not all the pertinent details, considering the number of conversations going on, but you get the idea. If it’s been said in text, you can assume to have at least heard it in passing.

While the Doc isn’t exactly being a threat, Eva may consider that he’d require medical attention more than anything else. If she was going to call something in, it would likely be to request an ambulance.

One of the things that stood out for Eva was the distinct lack of information provided to the Terrace police department about the aforementioned Brighton House. It was strange. It had been open for a little while now, but never had any complaints or required the police to get involved. For a school for supposedly troubled children, she would have assumed there might have been at least a single call for an officer to head out.

So it was the silence that was the most conspicuous.

Tugging the bright blue latex gloves onto her hands, Eva’s authoritative tone seemed to jar Edmundson from his carnivorous frenzy. His head whipped in her direction, the blood from the almost uncooked meat spilling across his chin and dripping now onto the front of his shirt.

”Fine..” he gargled, voice rough and far deeper than it had been the last time he spoke. It almost sounded like he had something lodged in his throat. Which could very well have been the case, considering how rambunctiously he was devouring the meat. ”Fine. **** off! Hungry!”

His demeanor was deteriorating. That much was obvious. He was becoming more erratic. Almost…feral.

That’s when Eva caught sight of something truly disturbing. His eyes? The tiny capillaries that were visible were all wrong. She had never seen black leaking in someone’s eyes like they’d burst a blood vessel.

But there it was…black and oily. Pooling behind his sclera. Pooling like viscous, vile tears.

And then, his head wrenched back and the sound of choking began…..

---

ALL

The haggard looking man in the beige overcoat with the unusual dietary predilection threw his head back, body convulsing with tremors and spasms. The sound of choking - wretched, gurgled and thoroughly nauseating – filled the air.

From her closer vantage point, Eva saw something bulging beneath the flesh of his throat. It was the size of a cantelope and she was sure it wasn’t there a moment ago. It was throbbing and undulating to his own spasmodic heartbeat. The black veins in his eyes seemed to burst further as his face was locked in a rictus and the black oil seemed to completely consume his eyes from lid to lid.

Claudia, who had been across the counter still, dropped one of the coffee mugs she had been preparing for Rosa’s order and the shattering ceramic mingled with her sudden shriek.

Gasps of shock came from Tanis and Cat, who had pressed one of her hands to her mouth in horror.

From the back, Luiz could be heard shouting to call an ambulance.

A new tremor shot through Edmundson’s body and the sound of snapping bones in his back as he suddenly contorted in a strange angle was very audible above the retching.

This was not turning into a normal Wednesday night…..

[Lokio]

The conversation around her washed over her passively, all the reason in the world for her to call for other units just to investigate a... mass shooting? What?

But then, her attention was drawn back to the doc. His demeanour. As he told her to, ahem, leave him alone, the cop's brow furrowed. But then, she heard it. The hunger in his voice. The deterioration, like he was a frickin' animal. Then, she saw it. The inky blackness in his eyes. And then it happened.

The strange, pulsing goiter rising in his throat.

The breaking of bones, out of nowhere. The twitching. The writhing. Unnatural angles and freakish noises.

Eva staggered back, a hand fumbling for the radio on her shoulder. "Dispatch, Alpha Three -- 10-33, 10-33, Trainside Cafe! What the f*** --"

Ten-thirty-three.

Danger. Help me, now.

She was swearing even as her finger came off the radio button; she didn't even know the curse had gone out over the air.

"EVERYONE! Exit the building, now -- and stay away from him!"

The command came abruptly, sharply. The civilians needed to get out, and now.

She'd seen some things. Live. In movies. But nothing ever like this. Things like this happened in movies and television, not a sleepy little hole like Terrace, BC. Positioning herself as a barrier between him and the civilians so that they could get to the door, the young constable stared into the face of darkness --

[Justanotherhero]

"EVERYONE! Exit the building, now -- and stay away from him!"

Trying to get out with his brother as fast as possible. Harvey grabs his brother and shoves him out of the Door. Harvey walked directly behind him and started looking for the next solid stone or wooden wall to cover there backs and take a look around and see what the hell was going on.

[Bennosuke]

Jeremy was less concerned with evacuating the building as he was with making sure his daughter was okay. It wasn't even a thought that passed through his mind, he simply began to act, putting himself bodily between his daughter and the man with the strange neck condition. Both hands balled into fists, coming up reflexively to cheek level. "Cat, get back," Jeremy snarled as he began to try to take in what was happening.

Spoiler: Rolling

Show

Gonna roll perception here to see if there's anything else that Jeremy didn't pick up on first glance. (6d10)[1][10][3][2][7][5](28) and 10 again (6d10)[4][7][4][2][8][6](31)

[Shadowflick]

Henry Barker

Henry rolls his eye's waving a hand nonchalantly "Even if your not grazed, you can survive a bullet wound. It's painful, but you can live if it didnt hit you anywhere too important. Still, my car might have left tracks. If they wanted to be through, they could try and follow those. THough, the liklenes sof them tracking us down completely is still low. Once you hit the rode that gets a lot harder. As long as they didn't see my car, we'll be fine"

As Tanis makes her way to the table Henry turn, now looking to Tannis in a wide, comfortable pose, leg resting on his other leg "Ahh, yes, I'll take a coffee with two sugars and a dash of...milk..is that man alright?"

That question is soon answered for Henry. He wasnt. Cracking, bleeding...choking? Why was he eating that steak with his hands and why was it so bloody! He was to absorbed with his own issues that he wasnt even paying attention to this....thing?

The man's neck bends in an odd direction, and Henry's eyes widen with shock. He almost falls out off his chair as he fumbles way, holding onto his cap "BLOODY HELL whats wrong with him!" Henry yells, starting to move to the exit. he was by no means a good Samaritan most days. His good deeds for the day have in fact nearly reached his limit. He tries to force his way through the door and get into his car

[Daishain]

With practiced speed, Rosa cracks off the protective casing on her phone and removes the battery, then the micro SD card. After pausing for a moment, she slides the SIM card out as well. What in the hell was that? She hadn't seen code behave like that, other than... No, this was different somehow. The FEEL of it somehow nauseating.

Then the sound of the choking got to her, she'd tuned it out at first but... Her mouth falls open at the disturbing scene by the counter. Forget werewolf impression, this was Stephen King material. Definitely time to go, she'd seen how movies like this end. She grabs her bag and heads for the door. Her first impulse is to run across the boothtops on the way out, but she slows down for Cat.

"Come on kiddo, this way, quick. Jeremy, are you coming, or am I going to have to try that chokehold you taught me? You can try punching it after we get a good look from a distance if you want."

[Bennosuke]

Jeremy says nothing, only following if Cat moves first, and then will try to keep himself between his daughter and the abomination.

[Erulasto]

Like a horror movie unfolding before them, the scene was grotesque. While still seated upon the stool at the Cafe's counter, Edmundson's position was now more precarious as his torso arched unnarturally backwards.

There was no way a human body could bend or contort like that. With the ever-present grinding of snapped and broken bones playing percussion against the good doctor's ragged choking, weathered hands grasped at the tumescent mass erupting in his throat.

Eva was dimly aware of further strangeness the moment her thumb touched the button of her police radio. Beneath the frantic calls for assistance, the constable registered the crackling static. Was the signal being disrupted? Blocked? The specifics weren't important. There was no one able to hear her calls for help.

Edmundson toppled backwards off the chair, landing with a sickening crunch and the white of the dress shirt he wore beneath his beige overcoat was staining with a spreading blot of red. From the tell-tale press of something hard beneath the fabric, it was clear the broken shard of a rib had burst through clammy skin. His head lolled back, lips growing blue and swollen and veins of inky, sluggish black began to pulse unwholesomely across his face and down his neck.

The SIM card had popped out of Rosa's cellphone with practiced ease, but the phone would not silence. She had even thumbed the power button several quick times but it was as if the phone was powered by itself. And still the strangely frantic voice called:

<<Let me in. Let me in. Let me in. Let me in!>>

In stereo, for sounding deep and cognizant from Eva's radio the voice began there. Lights flickered, and a few stray bulbs popped with a sharp snap and a shower of sparks. Claudia, who had been growing pale and panicky at the scene before her, let out a shrill scream and with no further though, bolted through the swinging door into the kitchen and beyond - screams carrying on as she unhinged. Tanis stood with eyes blown wide in terror, hands clasped over her mouth in silent screams - her pen and notepad discarded on the floor.

Roger allowed Harvey to manhandle him to and through the front door. But his gaze never left the writing form of Edmundson.

"I...I think I know him...." The young man mumbled, his attention so riveted on the horror that he seemed as if in a trance. With Henry hot on their tail, the front door slammed open so harshly the chain holding the bell atop the door snapped and the small brass instrument clanged upon the linoleum and the broken links scattering around.

Street lights up and down highway 16 as far as the men could see had begun to flicker in the distance; sputtering like candles drowned in wet wax. One by one they began to gut, dousing the pavement in thick black. The train of dying light was glowing closer and closer to the Trainside Cafe - the last beacon of real light after the last truant waves of the sun had went to rest.

But in the distance, a pair of headlights winked through the dark, the vehicle now turning onto the main stretch. It was still a ways out, but Driver knew...he knew the break-neck speed it must have been traveling from the way they raced onwards.

Harvey shoved Roger towards a small bricked wall that seperated the diner from a small ladder that led up on to the roof. There were no windows here to see inside, but they could still hear the noises filtering from within.

Within the Cafe, Cat was out of her seat in a flash. The fight or flight response pumping adrenaline into the teen.

"Dad...Dad, oh my God!" She trilled, grabbing frantically at Jeremy's arm as her father stepped in front of her. Even as Rosa deftly flowed across the tabletops to drop down next to the teen, Cat was tugging on Jeremy's arm insistently. Jeremy caught the darkening of the streetlights beyond the cafe, and the oncoming vehicle far down the road. It appeared this situation wasn't contained to the immediate horror, but something more. But Cat was on the edge of panic and this scene wasn't the best for her. So, even as Rosa, Jeremy and Cat fell back - the bruiser taking up the lead with hands balled into tight fists - the horror unfolded further.

That lump within Edmundson's grossly distended throat seemed to surge up, his jaw snapping loudly as his mouth tore open. From the depths of the doctor's gullet, a squirming black mass was regurgitated onto the floor. It rolled and bounced, about the size of a graprefruit but covered in some foul ichor that at once seemed thick but grew oily and viscous upon its surface. Another great bulge began to rise in Edmundson's throat again, this time seeming to be flowing up with much less...resistance.

The mass on the floor unfurled like a flower, revealing a starfish-like shape surrounded by a crown of whip-thin tendrils that reminded Rosa of ethernet cables. As it unwraveled fully, the center of the starfish blinked a single, cataracted eye that jiggled as it spun about in its socket before settling on Eva.

[Daishain]

For the first time in her life, Rosa wishes she had her hands on her father's shotgun. She had never liked it, but right now being able to send a few hundred shards of metal into that... thing on the floor sounded like a fine idea.

When she gets the door, she calls out to Eva, "Everyone is out, come on! Let that thing have the diner!"

[Shadowflick]

Henry Barker

This..this wasn't normal. Not that he needed to think that, that old man was snapping himself in half! Add to that the fact that every light on the street is breaking down and the darkness somehow seems..darker? Not even the moon lighting up the area around him. Why couldn't he have hit Hawaii? Or Florida. Sure they have alligators,s but they don't have THIS!

Another car is coming this way, please let them be cops...and...not those mass shooters that he had just escaped. In times like these though, Henry's fight or flight responses activated.

He chose flight

He runs to his card, taking out his key's he tries to get inside his car and start it. Maybe he can make his way Toronto. away from this hellhole