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Post by 0 on Dec 12, 2016 16:43:53 GMT
GHOST HUNT!
EXPLORE THE RUINS ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF TOWN
MEET AT THE QUADRIVIUM BAR ON THE TWENTY-SECOND OF NOVEMBER AT FOUR-THIRTY P.M.
GROUP LEAVES AT FIVE
The posters had been plastered up all over town for a week, the terrible scribbles of angry-eyed ghosts haunting no one as they walked by.
Sunday was the day.
Or night, as it was.
The leaves had all fallen, and the wind was weak but icy, bitter as it wove through the display of decaying bricks and wood that sat on the abandoned outskirts of a small town.
Houses and trees alike creaked as the sun slowly began to dip below the horizon, brown-spotted yellow leaves flipping through the cracked pothole streets.
The distinct odor of old mud encased the entire district, and was no less strong around a quadrangle of worn structures on the outermost limits of town: a gas station, a general store, a medical center, and a schoolhouse; they were surrounded by unused fields full of weeds and wild grasses, though the road that passed through them disappeared both into that field and the dilapidated neighborhood that sat half a mile away to the southeast.
The closest building still in use was a squat block, its white paint chipped away, its metal shingles dripping off the roof; closer to the quadrangle than it was to the private neighborhood, it was an old bar that rarely held any new customers.
A dumb-looking (yet still somehow scary-looking) dog sat chained to the handle of the bar's glass door, ready to not bark, bite, budge an inch, or otherwise do just about anything on its own when someone so much as passed by, much less tried to open the door, which it had plopped down right in front of.
Inside the bar it was rather empty, the single room dark save for the dim amber lamps that sat at regular intervals along the walls, and the bright blue display case that sat behind the bar counter itself.
The bricks held bumps and dents all over, the steely black chairs with ripped-open red and silver cushions, the tables scratched and tilted; one wall-lamp flickered, another was out completely, and yet another was simply missing, leaving only its metallic base screwed into the wall.
The counter and its stools, however, were nice and shiny, almost brand-new, though not particularly inviting smack-dab, as they were, from wall to wall at the end of the dismal room.
On one of the bar stools there sat a particularly tall child, clad in black-and-red fur-lined leather clothes, a black-and-white patterned head bandana, and red-and-white polka-dotted rain boots.
Various equipment lay next to the child, some of it resting on the counter by his hands, while the rest had been leaned against the wall beside him.
Spinning and twisting on the stool with an absentminded hum, the child was fiddling with a piece of paper in his hands, his eyes flicking between it and the glass door.
The sun had almost set, and time was almost up.
Where was everybody?
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Post by Hun on Dec 13, 2016 2:13:07 GMT
Come out ye black and tans come out and fight me like a man! A ghost hunt, huh?
Couldn't see how that'd go wrong at all.
Especially considering the "anti supernatural" stand of the entire area...
Oh well. It'd be fun.
"22nd, Quadrivium bar..." The evening was fading, the wind was up, and holy crap it was freezing.
Was she even in the right place?
Then again, this was for a ghost hunt. Ghost hunts weren't known for being in fancy, high class locations..
"Aaah...I think this is it..!" A large building, chipped and worn...the perfect place for a ghost hunting expedition to start!
Let's hope that the ad wasn't fake. Hun didn't want this expedition to end in failure...
Carefully nudging the dog to the side, she entered the quiet bar.
It was dark and dingy and really...not well taken care of? Well not all of it. The bar itself looked pretty clean and new.
Speaking of bars, it seemed like the host of this event was sitting just over there! ...No, wait, it was a child?
But look at all the stuff they had!
That all had to be ghost hunting equipment!
So Hun walked over.
"Are you the one hosting that ghost hunt..?" She took a glance at the items laid out on the counter. She didn't know what any of it did, but it all looked cool.
"Pretty fancy things you have here...are there more people here, or is it just me so far?"
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2016 5:33:05 GMT
Braz wandered to the building, raising her eyebrows in slight surprise. Quadrivium Bar? It was practically falling apart, but yep. She checked her watch. 4:42 PM.
So she wasn't too late.
She pushed her way through the glass doors, and gave the interior a cursory glance after. Believe it or not, she'd seen worse.
Tugging her jacket more tightly around her shoulders, she walked over, standing next to the other person, who she didn't really pay attention to. Braz offered a nodded to the kid behind the table, who was exuding a sort of bluish aura.
This probably wouldn't end in successfully, but the addonexus was bored, and this seemed like a good way to keep herself busy.
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Post by 0 on Dec 13, 2016 20:14:59 GMT
The child looked up when he felt the cold air rush in with a bite, pulling up his collar as the stranger who walked in approached him. He grinned when she spoke, eyeing his equipment. "Yawp, sure am!" he stated proudly, beaming even brighter as she vocally noted his equipment. "Yeeeup, sure are," he answered again, somewhat less proudly, but no less enthusiastic than before. After all, at least ONE person had showed up, and two ghost hunters were better than none! After all...someone had to be the bait. He unfolded the piece of paper he'd been toying with -- now crumpled as a result -- spreading it flat on the counter. With a flick of his wrist, the child took out a ballpoint pen, and offered it to the visitor. He nodded to the paper, which at the moment stated:
| NAME | EMERGENCY CONTACT | TIME IN | TIME OUT |
| Doppler | Fizeau 3184631059182 | 4 PM | |
| | | | |
He looked up as yet another person walked in, saying nothing but still walking up to them both, giving Doppler the immediate assumption that she as well was here to join them in their quest. Either that or it was an undercover officer. Pleasedon'tbeacop. Doppler didn't let his smile fade at the thought, pointing the second stranger to the slip of paper as well. "We still have about fifteen minutes left before heading off. Feel free to grab a drink in the meantime. Under the bar." He most certainly did not slip himself any alcohol (ignore the shot glass hidden behind the mounds of equipment). "If not," he continued "you can help me prepare the equipment for transport. There's a couple of wheelbarrows outside, south side of the bar. Small stuff goes in one, big stuff goes in the other." That said, Doppler himself stood up, and began to rearrange all of the equipment laying about. Most of the larger stuff was comprised of cameras, microphones, speakers, and stands, while all the stuff on the counter seemed to be a number of ghost-detecting equipment and smaller recording or otherwise...SOMEwhat related items: a bag of cassettes and tape recorders, a box of matches, a couple dousing rods, an ancient-looking flip phone, an unopened box containing both seven hand flares and six scented candles (limited edition variety pack), black light fluorescent tubes, electromagnetic pulse detectors, flashlights, one giant remote control-looking thing with several buttons and screens on it, and several two-way hand-held radios; plus a pair of night-vision goggles and, oddly enough, some blue mittens and a big, rather bumpy grey pouch. Dragging one of the video cameras along with him, Doppler went behind the counter, disappearing behind the display case. There was some clattering and scratching as the boy climbed onto a step stool, stretching to set the video camera up on the top of the case. It had wide-angle lenses so that, hopefully, it would be able to capture most of the bar from one end to the other, including the front door. Moments later he would come back out, and set up one of the camera stands in one of the brightly lit corners behind the counter, situated so as to capture whatever the other camera could not. Assuming the strangers were still around to bear witness, Doppler would mouth 'don't tell' to them with a subtle gesture towards the two cameras. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2016 23:45:54 GMT
Drinks? No thanks, although she wouldn't dare do anything to dampen the child's attitude. Braz took the pen, and scrawled the information on paper. Doing her best to blot out their auras--she wasn't 45 anymore--she began to pick up two of the microphones. She straightened just in time to see the kid's gesture, and Braz gave the smallest of nods in response. To draw attention away from the nod, just in case the cameras were confiscated, she said, "I'm Braz."
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Post by Hun on Dec 14, 2016 2:06:53 GMT
Come out ye black and tans come out and fight me like a man! So she did find the right place!
And look, someone else showed up!
This was going great!
...Alright, less great. Was this a waiver?
Nope, a time sheet of sorts. Wasn't this child well organized?
"Alright...Name...Hun...Emergency contact...None...time in...4:45-ish.." She muttered to herself, filling out the piece of paper after the newcomer. Wait, emergency contact? Well it was too late to question it, it was signed.
Whatever would happen is going to happen.
"I'll pass, I get rowdy when I drink." Hun watched the other two before walking over and picking at some of the smaller equipment. "Are you sure we're going to need all this? Then again, I've never hunted the ethereal..."
She carried some of the smaller electronics, such as the flashlights and some radios, outside and to the wheelbarrows. In doing so, she missed Doppler set up the cameras.
But she came back just in time to hear Braz.
"Braz and Doppler. Cool names, nice to meet you two!" Hun grabbed another few items from the table. "Where are we going anyhow? Some sort of old asylum? Oh, what about an abandoned hospital! Those are always cool!"
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2016 2:20:45 GMT
Braz had to bite back about something about how they probably should not go to an asylum. If there were ghosts there, then they would most definitely be angry ones. No need for them to know that she knew so much about the supernatural. She could be arrested, and then she would be killed. Instead, she made a noncommittal hum, and began to walk the microphones outside.
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Post by Nivei on Dec 14, 2016 3:46:49 GMT
(character bio here if interested: abstractreality.boards.net/thread/93/nivs-characters)Arden slipped into the bar, looking around until she saw the cameras. After some friends had been talking about how scary one of the recent movie releases was, she had laughed and said that they were just wimpy. They had claimed that she would be just as scared, so she said she'd rather go on a real ghost hunt than just watch some stupid movie. Unsurprisingly, about 10 minutes later they'd seen a flyer for exactly that, so she'd shrugged and said she'd go. It was better than watching some ridiculous horror film were she'd definitely get made fun of for claiming bravery when she always got startled by jumpscares. It's not like she was actually affected, she just had to be able to react quickly to that kind of thing, with how many times she'd been in danger. She walked back and quickly filled out the slip, her time of entry 4:45 and her emergency contact her uncle (since her parents would freak out if they knew about this and her uncle was more relaxed). "Phew! Looks like I almost missed you." She grinned. She had seen the flyer only 15 minutes ago, and it had taken a while to find the right place. Plus she had grabbed an old pocketknife from home. Supposedly haunted places were sometimes not in great neighborhoods and she didn't want to get mugged or something. Ghosts weren't real, but people sure were. |
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Post by 0 on Dec 14, 2016 6:23:21 GMT
"Can never be too prepared," Doppler replied to the first stranger's question, checking each of the blacklights to make sure that each of them worked.
One did not, but he left it in with the rest of them anyways.
He piled some more of the camera stands in his arms, pausing as the first stranger returned, introducing herself after the second, Braz, had.
"Nice to meet ya too," he returned.
A thoughtful look crossed his face as she began to question where they were going.
He thought it would be rather obvious, considering the locale, but perhaps it was not.
"Naw, though that WOULD be sweet," he said with a chuckle, imagining all sorts of creepy shenanigans that could occur in those sorts of places.
"But we ar--" he stopped as another person barged in.
He would never have guessed he'd have so much luck; was this town really that small and boring?
Getting a team of four total strangers together was pretty good for a week's notice on flyers pasted in random alleys and streets.
He glanced at the glass door, where the dog still sat.
Make that five.
Almost felt like '69, really.
"One sec," he said, hurrying to inch out the door, around the side of the building and set the stands down into one of the wheelbarrows.
He wheeled the same one out to the front door, and went back for the second, doing the same.
He gave the dog a pat on the head, taped a note onto the door's glass (it was telling latecomers to head inside, sign in, and read the instructions therein), before heading back inside.
"All right folks, gather 'round!" he called with a clap of the hands.
"Got a few more things to put into the 'barrows, but otherwise, we're nearly good to go."
He poked into his jacket, pulling out a sheet of paper, which he unfolded on the counter.
"Ghost hunting's not all fun and games, ya know, and we're gonna be startin' with the borin' stuff before headin' on to the more interesting parts."
He pointed to the new sheet, which was a simple outline of the street that they were going to be venturing forth on.
It showed a planned route in red ink, leading from the bar and first to a building marked as gas station, the general store next to it, then to the medical center across the street and a little ways down, close to the end, until finally, after a long, somewhat winding route, to the large school.
Each building was also marked with a time -- 5:10, 5:15, 5:30, and 5:50.
"The times are rough estimates for latecomers," he explained.
"I expected to reach each building around those times, though with our numbers that may be shortened."
His eyes scanned the three strangers, glancing at the entries in order to log the name of the third, Arden.
He hadn't expected so many adult-lookers to be arriving, but maybe it's his fault for not advertising in schools more.
The group didn't look...TOO lackluster, but it wasn't exactly promising either.
At least the lady in the leather jacket looked ready to beat up some ghouls.
"So, what do you guys say to splittin' up for this first part?" he asked, finger sweeping across the gas station, general store, and medical center.
"Gas station and general store are connected, two folks to there.
This third building has two floors, so two folks'll head there.
Don't know how you guys wanna split up, but someone's gonna have to be able to push a wheelbarrow in each team.
"For the first two buildings"--he pointed at the gas station and general store--"we're just setting up cameras there; try to make sure they'll be able to catch every corner.
The medical center will be involving cameras plus microphones, and will have the additional inclusion of black light investigation.
"First team shouldn't take too long, so we can all meet back up at the medical center.
If second team's not done and out front, team one'll head in and help ya guys finish.
Afterwards we'll be heading out to our final destination, the school, and I won't explain more on that front until we get to that point."
He slipped his sleeve up a little, checking the digital watch on his wrist: 04:55.
He began to grab a hold some of the remaining equipment and walk back towards the front door.
"We leave in five.
If ya don't know how to work any of the equipment, lemme know before we each reach our destinations.
Now, who wants to be with whom, and which team wants to go where?"
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Post by Nivei on Dec 14, 2016 10:21:52 GMT
"Well I'm okay with anyone as a partner and I'm sure I can push a wheelbarrow." Arden said cheerily. This was actually sounding like it would be cool - she liked cameras and other technology. Plus a little less action was always a good thing for her.
It was interesting to see that she wasn't the only one to show up, especially with the meeting place in such a sketchy neighborhood. She liked abandoned places, they looked cool, but most people shied away. It felt like the kind of place that could actually have ghosts too, and Arden was secretly hoping maybe she'd see proof of one. She had always sort of wanted to become a ghost after she died. Well, so long as she wasn't the violent type anyway.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2016 0:28:33 GMT
"I can push a wheelbarrow. And I'll work with anybody," Braz said, returning just in time to catch the last statement. She doubted that they'd met a real ghost, but one: maybe that was a good thing, considering the anti-supernatural sentiment of this place, and Doppler didn't seem like the type to keep a secret. two: this was only a distraction for her.
Braz swallowed. I'm not gonna get attached, she promised herself. Plus, none of them are anything like my old pack.
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Post by Hun on Dec 15, 2016 3:49:45 GMT
Come out ye black and tans come out and fight me like a man! And another person walked in!
Amazing, this was getting to be a party!
A...ghost hunting party...
...Oh look, Doppler was calling everyone over!
"Starting at the boring parts, eh? Get used to the pan before jumping into the fire, bit of a shame but completely understandable." Hun smiled and watched the boy explain the plan.
So, there were going to be 5 buildings to hit, with the grand finale being the school.
Sounded like fun!
"...Wait a moment, so we're just setting up security stuff around the buildings..? Kinda boring if you ask me...buuut if this is for ghosts, then I'm down!" Maybe it'd be different at the school! Maybe it'd be a real ghost hunt then, one where Hun can use her animancy!
...Assuming no one would report it..
...But everyone here was on a search for the supernatrual, so they must have been all open minded...
"Aaaanyways, if this is how the game will be played, someone can meet me over at the gas station! Don't keep me waiting!"
With that, the excited magus ran out the front door. If you looked out the window you could probably watch her push one of the wheelbarrows to the gas station.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2016 3:56:04 GMT
Braz laughed. "I'll go with her," she offered. Without waiting for a reply, Braz walked out of the bar, and chased after Hun. When the addonexus caught up, she slowed to Hun's pace, trailing a half-foot behind her.
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Post by 0 on Dec 15, 2016 15:49:19 GMT
Doppler, having already loaded up the last of the equipment, was still pondering how to order the teams when Hun spoke up, rushed out the door, grabbed a wheelbarrow and booked it.
Without a beat Braz had volunteered to join her and slipped out.
The boy, startled, began to chase after them, pausing at the open door.
He looked at the remaining person and stated, "Well, time ta book," before hastily untying the dog, hooking it to one of his pant's belt loops (yeah, that won't backfire at all), and grabbing hold of the wheelbarrow.
He'd wait no longer than a minute for Arden to approach before he would rush off on his own, otherwise he'd be going at the same pace as her.
His eyes scanned the road ahead as he pushed the wheelbarrow, noting that Hun had taken the one with all the cameras.
He wondered if that was on purpose or not; it did sound like she was in a rush to get the security stuff over with, and he couldn't blame her.
He felt a bit guilty over having not set it all up before now, but he wanted to give folks something else to do just in case the school turned out to be a bust.
Which, considering the rest of his hunts, was about...ninety-eight? percent likely (hey, that fridge was rattling VERY aggressively!).
And, who knows, there might actually be something interesting that two or four minds together could find, that one alone could not.
Otherwise, hey, free labor, how can ya complain?
The gas station sat right at the edge of the little street where the other two buildings sat, its roads cracked deeply, fill-stations weeping, and roof seeping.
The general store sat not far from it, with an alley between them, but what looked to be a hastily-slapped-together wall constructed to connect the two, and was in considerably better structural condition, though its windows were broken, its front door ripped off, and lewd graffiti had been spray-painted all over the facade.
Doppler had no idea what any of it meant, but he got the feeling that it was incredibly crude.
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Post by Nivei on Dec 15, 2016 16:09:44 GMT
So I guess the medical center is the one left then?" Arden said, glancing at the map. She had been in hositals a couple times, but it had always turned out that she wasn't injured nearly as bad as she probably should have been. Or at least according to her mom, who probably thought she'd die if she fell out of a tree. "Alright... I guess we're together then!" It kinda made sense, since they were closer in age.
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