Weirder Stuff - Rainbow In The Dark

[Bannon]

1 hour ago, Sara Hutchins said:

"She thinks it's meth heads," Sara looked back at Jase, saw Mari with her hand on his arm and frowned.

"Wouldn't this place smell if it was," she asked Jase?

"It would have an odor."  Jase nodded absently as he looked into the trees in the direction Lilly had run.  Marissa's scared hand on his arm kept him from running after his friend.  "The free base itself would smell like Geranium leaves - kinda pungent.  The methamphetamine hydrochloride salt wouldn't be particularly stinky - it's odorless - but unless they carted the waste off-site somewhere and buried it..."

"Jesus."  Etienne looked from Jase to Clara to Sara to Marissa, then back at Jason.  "Please tell me that's academic knowledge, not the result of breaking bad!  I mean, I'm cool with weed but meth is-"

"A killer, yes."  Jason nodded.  "Hence why I don't deal it.  It leads to addiction, psychosis, physical deterioration, and I don't despise my customers enough to want to kill them off.  Besides, it's tacky as hell."  He could feel the hum of Marissa's vibrant life through the touch -  okay, death grip - on his arm, he even fancied he could even feel her fear and need to keep him close.  Damn, he'd never had that result from getting stoned before.  He patted her hand in absent reassurance.

"You're a class act, Bannon."  she snarked.  "Now what are we going to do?"
 

24 minutes ago, Clara Lys Wright said:

"...We’ll head back now, right?” Clara looked to Jason, hoping he would be able to lead them back to the party area quickly. 

He nodded, flicking off the flashlight.

"Turn off your phone lights.  Let your eyes adjust." he instructed.  "We heard one shot, we don't know who it is or where they are.  So we go quietly, slowly and dark.  Keep your phones on silent, and if you have to text, shield the screens. Speak in murmurs, not whispers.  They carry in the dark."  He shifted his feet, getting a sense for the direction they'd come and it's bearing to the party, then led them at an angle to it.

"The trail, it is that way."  murmured Etienne, gesturing with a free hand.  Jase nodded, but didn't stop.  Once more his persona had shifted, cool calculation on how to achieve his objectives his only focus.  Get them back safely.

"And if our shooter is between us and the campsite, it's a fair bet that they'll be on the trail."  That shut everyone up, and they followed him into the woods as, without any hesitation, he led the small group via a roundabout route back to the party.

[Jaunt]

6 hours ago, Cassandra Allen said:

"Devin, we have to get out of here," Cass whispered when she trusted her voice. He wasn't her favorite person in the world, but right now she wasn't moving more than two steps alone. He could be Charles Manson and she'd stick with him because what the fuck???!!

Nothing prepared his panicked mind for what he just saw.  The strange stillness in the air after the gunshot and Cass holing onto him tightly.  It felt weird... Cass holding him like she was like he was someone she could trust or depend on... it felt so much different than when he was bullying her or the others.  He cautiously took a step forward as curiosity gripped him like it did Jason.  The tug at his arm was all that slowed him.

"Devin," Cass sounded like she was going to jump out of her skin.  He didn't blame her.  If he could even form words right now he was positive they would have sounded just the same.  "Pleeaaase."

He nodded absently.  "Y-yeah..." He snapped himself away from the scene and looked at her.  "I've got you," He squeezed her hand and it was almost chivalrous, were she not inclined to dislike him so much.  "Don't let go, c'mon."  Together the two of them bolted back the way they'd come as fast as their panic strengthened legs would carry them.

[Coraline Hess]

2 hours ago, Cade said:

"No LARPing here, I promise.  That tooth or whatever is real and was lodged in the tread of my tire..."  Cade replied quietly.  Sean's comment about cosplaying quickly brought up any number of Trap characters, and he knew it was unfair.   He had always tried to see Sean as Sean, no matter how different he was physically from a regular guy.   "You've got alot of options Sean."
 

At what sounded like a gunshot, and then Lona's abrupt departure, Cade tensed.   "Why the hell are you all running toward the sound?"  He asked noone in particular, as he looked to Luis and Cora.  "Let's get Charlie then."   With all of the "Hosts" of the party seemingly gone, he wondered if anyone would actually notice.  With Sean running off too, he sighed.  "This is how horror movies always go."

he began moving toward Charlie, finishing his Coke and frowning.  This was not what he'd planned for tonight.

THE PARTY

Cora followed closely Cade, nerves on edge and expression tense. Grab Charlie. Get him in a car and safe. Make sure everyone was safe. And then..? Warn everyone else without causing a panic? Leave them to be shot up by trigger happy woodspeople? Fuck. Well, her part in the plan didn't make sense at that part, nothing did about tonight, but at least something had taken a step towards the positive despite everything going to shit.

The tall brunette focused through the mental chaos on one very small bit of hope: Cade was here. Finally. He at least had the common sense to avoid running towards an active shooter. They'd all had the school training at some point or the other, right?! Right?!

Didn't matter now. Coraline saw Charlie sitting down between three very big members of the football team. She put on her best emergency smile, stepping out from behind Cade as she closed to less than shouting distance. "Hi! Will! Todd. And... I'm sorry," she apologized to the third of them, smile not quite reaching her eyes, pulse racing, "Thanks for keeping an eye on Charlie. We got him. Please go enjoy the party." 

" 

[WS ST]

At the Creepy Trailer Cabin
Jase, Marissa, Sara, Clara and Etienne

Jase led the group back through the trees, Marissa was right behind him almost clinging to him, at least that's what it looked like to Sara. She looked around then gestured for Clara and her boyfriend to go on, she fell in behind them to bring up the rear. She wasn't too thrilled to be leaving the trailer but she knew That Jase wanted to come back at dawn, how she knew knew she couldn't say but some how she knew just like Lilly thinking that had been a meth-head...

Jase had always had a keen sense of direction and he had no difficulty leading group of friends back into the thinner woods but something made him pause,  a sixth sense or something He held his hand up just like hank had taught not even thinking if the rest would know that that meant stop.

About fifteen yard ahead of them in the direction they were heading something was moving. When Jase crouched everyone else did too even though none of the saw anything then it stepped into a shaft of moon light.

Spoiler

 

[Bannon]

He felt Marissa's grasp on his arm tighten almost painfully, heard her stifle a gasp in her throat just behind him as the group froze in a crouch, staring at this impossibility from a bygone age.  The sabertooth's shoulder would come up to Jase's chest if the lanky teen was standing.  The thrill of fear triggered an increased sense of detachment in Jase, even as he realised he'd never felt so alive as right now.  A slow turn of his head and a glance over his shoulder and he saw the expressions of the others were taut with fear, even hints of panic.  He raised one hand to cover Marissa's on his arm in a brief reassuring gesture, then turned his gaze back to the beast.

It was magnificent, he absently realised.  It must weigh close to half a ton, it's power focused in the forequarters and jaws.  A pouncing killer, it was made for quick pursuit, a savage leap and then to tear the life from fleeing quarry by severing it's spine.  A mere fifteen yards away, the creature had to be able to scent them - indeed, the wind was blowing towards it from behind the small group.  Right now it was turning it's head towards them, mouth opening as though in menace, though Jase knew it was simply allowing their scent to flow over it's vomeronasal cavity, tasting as well as smelling the fear of it's prey.  Moving slowly he reached down, his hand curling around a stout piece of drywood roughly the length of his arm.

Earlier that night, he had held a boy's life under his hands and felt a sense of power.  Now, confronted with his own mortality, he felt a sense of peace mixed with a faint sadness that he would not likely get to do those things he wanted to do.  He smelled Marissa's perfume, heard the breathing of the others behind him, and realised that his death could at least mean something.

"Start slowly backing towards the trailer.  Do not run until I say to run." he murmured to the others, his tone calm yet forceful.  His other hand tugged his Zippo from his pocket, holding it ready.  "Get moving, now."  He felt them moving towards the trailer and stepped back with them, his hazel eyes on the shining gaze of the predator.  It padded after them but did not charge.  It would not charge, not yet, he felt.  It was designed to chase, not so much to charge headlong at it's prey.  He felt his way with his feet, following the sounds of the others as they slowly backed up, and watched the sabertooth like a hawk for any sign of bunching or preparation.

"When I say run, run to the trailer and get inside." he murmured.  "Do not look back."  Still he kept the slow pace backwards, the great feline keeping time with them.

[Lilly Pryor]

Lilly ran as fast as she reasonably could, and maybe even a little bit faster, weaving, jumping and tumbling when needed as she took as direct a path as she could toward the vicinity of the gunshot. Thankfully she had not heard another, or at least could not recall one as right now she was hardly even thinking and instead replying on her years of practice and muscle memory.

Fast though as she was, Lilly was not exactly silent, favoring speed over stealth at the moment, though she did slow to about half her pace as she drew near where she figured the shot came from, and began scanning more carefully, eventually slowly to a somewhat more stealthy pace. Then she knew she had found the right place, she could smell the scent of a recent discharged firearm. She stopped and crouched down, trying to calm the pounding of her heart in her head as she listened for any sounds and fearfully looked for bodies.

She could see the disturbed leaves and other flora detritus in the small clearing as she prowled around it, looking for a body, but hoping not to find one. Then, with a step, she felt something different underfoot. She closed her eyes, silently cursing as fear spiked with panic welled up inside her, dreading the possibility that she stepped on some sort of booby trap. She opened her eyes and looked down, pulling out her phone and turning it on, using just the light from the wallpaper of her lock screen to illuminate around her foot.

Lilly lets out a slow, deep sigh of relief at the sight of the pistol under her shoe. Granted, it was still a pistol, but at least it was not some improved mine of something. She shook out her arms, letting the sleeves of her open knit sweater slide down her arms to crudely cover her hands, and lifted her foot, stepping back. Carefully she picked up the pistol and sniffed the barrel, confirming her suspicions. This was the gun had just been fired. Lilly then held it out a bit from it and looked it over. The pistol was actually one Lilly was somewhat familiar with, the same model her father carried as his newly issued service pistol, the M18 SIG Sauer.

Damnit. This was probably not a good thing to be finding one of these pistols out here. She would ave to figure out what, if anything, to ask or tell her dad later.

Lilly clicked on the safety, kept her finger off of the trigger, and pulled her sweater off the rest of her body, keeping her grip on the pistol and wrapping the sweater around it into a bundle that did not immediately scream 'GUN!' There was no sign of the shooter, nor any injured parties, but it was possible somebody could have been shot and ran. There was a pretty clear swath of disturbed leaves and brush where somebody(s) had moved away rather fast and, much like Lilly had before, was not making an effort at stealth in favor of speed.

Had there been a scuffle where the gun was fired, then dropped and then the teens took off with crazed meth cooker in hot pursuit, not bothering to grab the gun? It was a little unlikely, but certainly possible, and about the only explanation that fit what evidence Lilly had on hand. 

Lilly rose up and took off after whoever had fled, running as fast as she felt she could safely could, unsure of how far she was would have to, or was willing, to go to help.

[z-Avalon Wilson]

Lona knew she should go back to the cars and evacuate. Something wouldn’t let her leave without knowing that Clara was safe. The itching had gotten worse with the increase in stress, and the teen rubbed her shorn scalp, wishing she could scratch her brain instead. “Fucking Bannon,” she growled, trying to gather her thoughts. 

She should go to the car and get to safety. She should wait at home for Clara rather than put another person in danger.

She needed to find Clara. The thought that something might happen to her, right when they were on the verge of at least talking again-- 

Her thoughts veered away. Not Clara, not so soon after her dad. Not with her mom still acting the idiot. Find Clara. Get the hell out. It wasn’t a decision. There was no choice about whether she’d try to save Clara. She just reacted to the thought of losing her.

Turning, Lona hurried into the woods, the digital flashlight of her phone dancing in front of her. The woods closed around her quickly, and the party fell behind her. With the drumming of her heart loud in her ears, her mind reached into horror movies and fairy tales, conjuring monsters in the shadows around her.

Feet pounded in the dark in front of her, and Lona’s flashlight lit up Devin and Cass Allen. Both looked shaken, holding hands and running faster than was safe in the dark. “Jesus!”

“Run!” Devin roared at her, with enough fear and authority in his voice that she half-turned before stopping.  Then he was pounding past, dragging Cass behind him by the hand. 

“Wait!” Cass yelped and Devin let go of her hand. Stumbling, she stopped and faced Lona. “Come on, you have to come!”

“Where is Clara!” Lona shouted. Cass’s panic was infectious, and Lona choked back the desire to run.

“Not back there, and you shouldn’t be either!” Cass replied, grabbing Lona. “Run!”

Lona shook her head. “Clara’s here in the woods somewhere, I have to find her!” 

[Jaunt]

"She's with Jase and Mari, now come on!"  Devin yelled back, skipping backwards not wanting to leave Cass behind.  She was kinda hot.

[Cassandra Allen]

That gave Cassandra a second of pause...she had been following Clara...but she immediately shook her head.

"No, Clara wasn't there. Lona, I SAW it, okay? You CANNOT go that way!"

She extended a hand. "You have to come with us NOW."

There was something terribly persuasive about the terror printed plainly on both Cassie's and Devin's face. Not to mention it was Cassie and Devin running together. And if Clara really wasn't in danger...

Lona nodded, and both she and Cassandra started running, passing Devin for a second before he caught back up. And then it was the three of them, plunging headlong through the forest away from a thing they couldn't name...

[Bannon]

At the Creepy Trailer Cabin
Jase, Marissa, Sara, Clara and Etienne

In silence the deadly procession approached the clearing they had so recently left, the five teens moving ahead of the prehistoric killing machine.  It is fair to say that they were all scared - even Jase, though he experienced the fear as more of a thrill than a paralysing terror.  Despite their fear, however, they kept moving, slowly and surely, until Sara breathed a sigh of muted relief at having reached the clearing.

"Almost there." she murmured so as not to provoke the beast.  Jase's shoulder tensed under Marissa's hand as she looked back in relief to see the cabin so close, and she looked back to see the feline breaking into a slow trot.

"Guys."  Jase said tersely, standing upright from his half-crouch and flicking open the Zippo's cover with a snap. His teeth drew back from his lips in a snarl as he snapped "Run!"

They didn't need telling twice, Clara grabbing Marissa's arm and tugging her along as Etienne tugged her in turn.  A flare of torchlight played over the foil-covered windows as Jase lit the end of the deadwood branch: dry as tinder from the hot summer it caught flame easily, crackling as the dried resin popped and flared in the gloom.  Still backing up, he swung the torch in a slow figure-eight before him, the sabertooth pausing it's trotting pace and growling, head lowered and ears laid back as it slowly stalked closer.  Behind Jase Sara hit the door first, shooting aside the latch and throwing it wide, holding it open as the others bundled into the trailer.  She looked at the lanky figure silhouetted by firelight and yelled to him.

"Jase, come on!"

The great cat leapt forward, checking it's leap as the flame brand swung at it's head.  Snarling, it danced aside, head ducking as it tried to claw the offending branch.  It's primitive brain feared the fire instinctively, but stronger than fear was hunger.  It screamed as Jase swatted one outstretched paw with the torch, sparks showering it's fur making it dance backwards and roar thunderously, ears flat against it's skull.

"Come on then!" Jase bellowed back, his voice filled with wild grim mirth.  "You want your steak well done, cunt?!  Come and get it!"

"Jason!"  Marissa screamed, echoed by Sara, Etienne and Clara.  "For fuck's sake come ON!"  Bannon backed up further, striking the ground now and then with the torch and causing sparks to flare in the sabertooth's enraged eyes.  The hot-flower was causing it pain and fright, but it was only a small hot-flower.  Sara, seeing Jase approaching, readied herself to yank him bodily inside by the scruff of his neck and slam the door.

It happened fast, but to the terrified watchers it seemed almost slow, every frame etched in the nightmare centers of their minds.  Bannon lunged forwards half a step, casting the burning torch full in the cat's face as  it flinched before turning to leap into the trailer.  But his throw was off, the cat crouching and bunching it's hindquarters as the brand sailed over it's head.  He saw the sudden immediate terror in the faces of the others, the pointing finger of Marissa as she warned him, and spun back around as the sabertooth leapt, half a ton of primordial fury and hunger, light gleaming from it's daggerlike fangs as it's shadow covered him and it's roar filled his ears.

All Jase had a chance to do was yell his fury and raise an arm in futile defense...

[WS ST]

At the Creepy Trailer Cabin
Jase, Marissa, Sara, Clara and Etienne

27 minutes ago, Bannon said:

 

All Jase had a chance to do was yell his fury and raise an arm in futile defense...

What happened next stunned the onlookers one and all. The watched it leap its roar still echoed in their ears but the beast never landed on Jase.

The cat simply went away, like fog in a strong breeze.

Jase dropped his arm after a second and looked around for the cat then looked back over his shoulder expecting the worse and instead saw everyone starting at him and the space above him where the cat should be. No not everyone Marissa had been the first into he trailer and her back was to him her phone in hand it's flashlight app moving back and forth.

She had seen the cat disappear and her mind was having difficulty processing that so Marissa did what she did and put it aside and went on to something else. That something else was to turn and see what a Meth Lab looked like only this trailer wasn't a meth lab, it was something else.

"Guys, can this night get any weirder? You need to see this."

One by one the turned and shined their own lights abou tthe living room of the trailer. It was old the sofa and coffee table were circa 1970 as was most everything else, there was no television but there was a large radio set, not the music kind the communications kind. and every surface on the walls and the ceiling was covered with maps.

[Marissa Jauntsen]

Her light shined about the walls.  Marissa was almost in tears, her mental limits for strange and messed up were about at their snapping point.  The walls, as messed as the whole scene was, appeared in a format she could understand.  "What the hell is this?" She asked quietly.

She hadn't forgotten what she'd just witnessed, but she was certainly trying to.  There had to be some reason for it.  The pot?  She didn't have any, she didn't get the chance... but she was pretty sure now was a good time to quit.  The alchohol?  She'd only had three and a massive bottle of water.  Hell, she thought Sara and Jason were creeping off into the woods to pee and was scared to go off alone into the woods.  She was seeing how well that worked out.

"Guys, I think we found that Voorman guys summer cottage."  She said like Daphne stumbling upon a clue.

[Bannon]

Jase stared at where the cat had been, the adrenaline of what he had believed to be his final moments still coursing through his veins.  Stumbling backwards slightly, he sat heavily on the front step of the trailer and just stared into space.  The guttering of the flaming torch where it lay on a patch of earth convinced him he hadn't imagined the whole thing.

He was aware of words behind him, but they were just noises right now, coming from a distance through cotton wool.  He patted his shirt pocket, pulling out a rolled cigarette automatically as his other hand fumbled his Zippo.

"fwah-fwah-weirder? fwah-need-fwah this."  Bannon tried several times to light up, his hands shaking too badly to do the deed before he snapped the lighter closed once more, giving up and taking several deep breaths. The threat was over - evaporated.  He hadn't died.  He was alive.

He snorted, then chuckled, the dry sound of his mirth carrying to those inside as he tucked rollup and lighter away. 

"Guess I showed him."  he stated wryly to no-one, then chuckled, leaning back and looking up at the stars.

"Jase?"  Sara called from inside the trailer.

"Be with you in a minute." he replied calmly, then laughed aloud.  What a fucking night.  After a moment more, he got up and, legs feeling somewhat loose, wandered inside.

4 minutes ago, Marissa Jauntsen said:

"Guys, I think we found that Voorman guys summer cottage."  She said like Daphne stumbling upon a clue.

He looked around, noting the maps and the radio set.  His own face pale with the adrenal shock, he nevertheless appeared calm as he moved to the walls, examining the maps, then the desk the radio set sat on.  

"Let's see if there's any journal, code books or something like that." he suggested, staring at the radio set hard.  He leaned over, examining it to see if it was perhaps battery powered, then stepped back and studied the room.

"Looks like someone was keeping an eye on something, and reporting to someone else about it."  he hazarded, then frowned and went back to the maps on the walls and ceiling, moving steadily and trying to spot some common pattern.

[Charlie Cole]

THE PARTY

Charlie got pulled along, going with Cora but eyes wide with innocent confusion. "Hey, what's going on Cora? This party is great! Jase's great. Does this have something to do with Cass and Devin being all stare-faced?" Somehow he had gotten a glimpse of them, but wasn't inclined to question it in the slightest. "Is she trying to blackmail him with the video of him seizure-ing? Bad Cass. Oh, and someone's blackmailing them both now? That'd make a great thriller story."

[Marissa Jauntsen]

Marissa's hand, for the second time grasped Jason and stole his attention for a moment.  He looked to Mari, assuming maybe she had something to show him but all he met were wide, scared dark eyes looking at him.  Her breathing was not unlike everyone else's, less than calm and more than a bit hurried.  "Jase, um..."

She took a breath, trying not to think too hard it.  "That thing... it... but you're...," she swallowed, rolling her eyes and sighing as everyone could tell what ever it was she wanted to say wasn't coming to her easily.  "A-are you, you know... are you okay?"

"Curious?"  He asked, offering her a smirk in his natural defense to to cope with the insanity unfurling all around them.

Her hand slid down his arm to hand and she squeezed it, offering him something he never expected to see.  A smile filled with more concern and compassion than Marissa had displayed in the three years he'd seen her.  Those gathered never thought it possible either and in that moment Marissa Jauntsen seemed more human than she ever had.  "Concerned."

[WS ST]

Spoiler

The trailer is a 1970s era mobile home approximately 40' X 12'.  As old as it is it is in fairly decent shape due to the somewhat extreme reinforcements. The walls under the maps are all  1/4" sheet metal screwed to the original wood paneling. even the windows visible with foil covering from the outside are covered inside by the sheet metal. even the ceiling is sheet metal with the only holes cut in the metal where the light fixtures are. There is a bedroom immediately to the right of the entrance which takes up about eight X 12 of the front of the trailer. the same sheet metal walls covered with maps are in there there is also a drafting table a with lots of pencils and drafting tools.

The kitchen area has a stove which is electric, and a refrigerator. The refrigerator is humming so yes there is electricity. It is empty except for three cans of coke with old style pull tabs it is also not very cold but still cooler than the outside.  if you try the lights they do come on but they are dimback further there is a bathroom with toilet and showers then a larger bedroom fills the last 1/4 of the trailer in there is a bed with a bare mattress on the mattress is a folded air force officers uniform including and empty holster for a side arm the name tag says cooper and a int+culture roll diff 1 will tell you his rank. while the walls are covered with sheet metal still there are no maps in the bedroom. there are however dozens of file boxes.

The maps themselves are all of Montana some of Canada and the Rockies they are topography geological, weather, rainfall just scientific maps that display data.

The radio is a professional Long range base radio which would have been common in ranger stations and police departments

 

 i will answer specific questions if you need them

 

 

[Bannon]

48 minutes ago, Marissa Jauntsen said:

Her hand slid down his arm to hand and she squeezed it, offering him something he never expected to see.  A smile filled with more concern and compassion than Marissa had displayed in the three years he'd seen her.  Those gathered never thought it possible either and in that moment Marissa Jauntsen seemed more human than she ever had.  "Concerned."

It was rare for anyone to see Jason at a loss for something to say.  Sure, sometimes he'd just treat someone's words with silent disdain, or communicate with a glance and a snort.  But he reacted in some way, even if it was with wry cynical amusement.  But if he had a redeeming interpersonal feature it was this - when faced with sincere empathy, he treasured it and responded in kind as best he could.  It was how he got along so well with Sean, and Lilly.  It was why they tolerated, even liked his grumpy taciturn ass.  His hand clasped hers in turn and he smiled - not the lopsided cynical smirk she usually got, but a genuine slight smile that was echoed in his eyes.

"Honestly?"  he murmured, glancing away for a moment, then meeting her eyes in an uncharacteristically direct gaze.  "I'm okay.  A little shaky, but it's just the adrenaline."  He hesitated, then reached up and gently tugged some stray strands of black hair back from Marissa's face, tucking them behind her ear.  The connection of her hand in his seemed to reinforce her sincerity, and he could feel her own lingering sense of panic in the slight tremor of her fingers.  "Are you okay, Marissa?" he asked gently, addressing her using her full name for probably the first time she could remember.

"Mmhmm."  For a long moment that was all Marissa could say, and she was aware that it was not up to her usual standards of sharp charm as she gazed into Jase's eyes.  They were kind of interesting up close, with copper and pale icy green flecks, and he smelled faintly of cologne (not too much, she liked that) and a faint aura of rich tobacco smoke that-  She coughed and looked away, aware that Jase was doing the same and glad that the trailer was still gloomy enough for the faint red in her cheeks to be invisible.  Smiling where no-one could see, she gave his hand a final gentle squeeze and let it slip from her fingers just as Sara let out a triumphant sound.

"Found the lights!" the burly girl exclaimed as very dim old bulbs flared to life around the room.  Clearing his throat, Jase moved to examine the maps once more.

"These are all sorts - Montana's topographical layout, rainfall indications, weather records..  I mean, I'd say that this was some kind of agricultural research station.  Or maybe geological, looking for minerals or oil."  He narrowed his eyes, scanning the maps.  "Explains why this is hidden - they're on the Rez and this is protected land."

"Uh... I don't think this was Big Oil."  Etienne said from the back of the trailer where the bedroom was.  "I think I just found an old Air Force uniform."

The teens all stared at each other.

"What the hell is going on?"  Marissa asked, voicing what all of them were thinking.

[Clara Lys Wright]

Clara followed Etienne over to the uniform, running a hand along the fabric. "They're a captain and a pilot," she murmured, noting the rank insignia and the wings. She blinked as a thought occurred to her. "This isn't old. I mean, uniforms change style, right? This one looks like what you see from the off-duty soldiers around Shelly." 

She looked around the metal plating and the maps. The everything. "What were they doing? I mean, I'd say mental breakdown or something, but..." She glanced towards the door, shaking her head. Group hallucinations were a fact, but still. The trailer hadn't disappeared and it was just slightly less weird than being attacked by an extinct cat. Well, maybe a lot less weird, but still really, really weird. She opened one of the file boxes, rifling through the page after page of old handwritten notes. They were a mishmash of geological, anthropological, and paleontological information, and none of it was more current than forty years ago from what she could tell - all interspersed with news clippings and old-style video cassettes marked by whatever supernatural or alien entity they were supposed to be proof of. She snorted when she came across an entire box dedicated to Bigfoot and closed the file boxes back up. "I think we found some conspiracy nut's hideout. Maybe they sprayed it with LSD or some hallucinogenic mushroom spoors and that's why we all thought we saw a sabertooth tiger?"

She frowned at the uniform, picking it up. "Maybe we should take this to the base. If they're a deserter or someone that had a breakdown and ran away...well, the commander at the base should be told." She frowned deeper at the missing sidearm. "Especially if they're armed. Oh!" She finally remembered that they'd been trying to get away from this place because of a gunshot; that had gotten lost in the second prehistoric cat inspired adrenaline rush. She turned off her flashlight app and flipped her phone back to where she could use it, hitting Lona's number on the favorite contacts page. 

[WS ST]

  14 hours ago, Cassandra Allen said:

That gave Cassandra a second of pause...she had been following Clara...but she immediately shook her head.

"No, Clara wasn't there. Lona, I SAW it, okay? You CANNOT go that way!"

She extended a hand. "You have to come with us NOW."

There was something terribly persuasive about the terror printed plainly on both Cassie's and Devin's face. Not to mention it was Cassie and Devin running together. And if Clara really wasn't in danger...

Lona nodded, and both she and Cassandra started running, passing Devin for a second before he caught back up. And then it was the three of them, plunging headlong through the forest away from a thing they couldn't name...

As Cassandra, Lona and Devin ran they could begin to hear noises behind them. Something was coming up behind them, and from the sound of it, was rather big, at least as big as any of them. Then possibly worst realization of all hit the fleeing trio; it was swiftly gaining on them.

Renewed strength coursed through their legs as they fled its relentless approach, growing ever closer, moving through the woods swiftly, almost like they were not even there. They could hear the crunching of leaves, the flexing and breaking of brush behind them as it drew closer and closer, right on their trail.

"It's gaining on us!" Cass called out, her voice laced with ever-growing panic as she dared to looked over her shoulder, trying to gauge when it would intercept them. She could catch glimpses of a roughly humanoid figure pursuing them , but hell it was fast and would be on their heels in moments.

To varying degrees their lungs burned and their legs began to feel heavy and made of a soft rubber from such use with Devin, the only real athlete among them (even if the others did not particularly know it) easily the least fatigued and trying to encourage the girls and keep them moving as the potential sanctuary, or least environment with greater target selection, of the party had to be drawing near.

"Shit! It's right behind us!" Cass called out again.

She pumped her legs with every ounce of energy she could muster, fighting through the fatigue as best she could as the thing behind them finally caught them, bursting forth from the brush and darkness to pounce on them.

Only it was not some creature or crazed, naked, man-zombie, it was Lilly, she had finally caught up to what she had been following.

 She slowed her pace to match theirs and called out between breaths, "Are you guys... alright?", Her lungs were starting to feel the burn, " We heard...a gunshot!"

Just then the group of teens burst out of the wood and saw the party still going strong with music dancing and drinking. The teens breathless after their long flight stumble to a halt and gasped for air.

"Whoa Jauntson, way to go three chicks, legendary man legendary!" The teen, Mike Johnson, raised his cup in a salute to Devin and stumbled away obviously drunk.

And just as obviously, no one else at the party seemed to have even noticed anything out of the ordinary.

 

[Sean Cassidy]

The Party
Sean

"So, what's it like having a brother who, like, you know?" Tawny asked Laurie, hands moving to suggest the outline of an exaggerated hourglass figure.

"Has huge tracts of land?" Laurie drawled, taking a sip of her Green Apple Jones Soda. Tawny blinked, chewed on her lower lip, but couldn't hold in the giggles and Laurie joined her. "Looks like he fell off a mudflap?"

Straddling the log serving as a bench, Tawny had a fit of the giggle snorts, knowing she shouldn't laugh and not able to resist when it seemed Laurie didn't mind. "That's so bad, Laurie, and I was trying to be serious."

Laurie finished her soda as she and Tawny watched Liam Day run through the party for some reason, taking a moment to collect themselves. Laurie spun around so she was facing the other way on the impromptu bench and stretched out her legs before her.

"Seriously? Sean is mostly like any other brother, I guess," Laurie said, her lips curving wryly. "He's the only one I have, so I don't have another to compare him to. He's just easier to tease than most, and like, I'm not going to ask him to beat up a guy who's bothering me. 'Sides, we had Teagan for that. Appearances aside, he's still a guy, total nerd into video games and computers and comic books, all that junk." She affected a lofty tone, as though none of that stuff interested her at all. "Doesn't seem to understand that ladies - or those that look like them - don't burp or fart, either or at least shouldn't be seen to."

Laurie leaned back to look up at the stars and sighed with soft self-deprecating laughter. "When I was eleven, twelve, I used to think he was being greedy, having the boob fairy tied up in The Barn and keeping her all for himself. He already had more than Teagan by then. But I got over it when my own finally grew in." She chuckled with more amusement and a glance towards Tawny. "I still suspect he might have the boob fairy on lockdown though. Been hitting the boob fairy dust harder lately than Bannon smokes weed."

"You didn't really believe in the boob fairy, did you?" Tawny injected with amused disbelief.

"No! Of course not. Not really. Okay, not for long. Mom has a dry sense of humour, Teagan got in on it, and even Sean was a bitch about it for a while, retaliation for something or other that I'm totally innocent of."

Laurie sat back up and straddled the log so she was facing Tawny directly, chin tucked in her hands, elbows on her knees. "But really, other than the occasional bouts of envy over your brother's looks - fucker barely even does anything for them - he doesn't seem all that different to me compared to the run-of-the-mill brother. This model even comes with a few extra benefits. One, he actually understands girl issues - some of them at least - since he suffers some of them too. He doesn't even blush if you talk about periods or tampons around him, and never bitches about how long it takes shopping for clothes - almost never.

And two, he's super anal about his bras. He knows more about them than any girl or woman I know. Always wants a perfect fit with the best support, and somehow, he almost always finds it, even if he has to order online from overseas. There's a place he found in Great Falls, too - awesome place, we should go something. They're expensive, not even fugly, and I get my pick of those he outgrows."

"Sooo, it's like having another sister to steal clothes from who thinks and talks like a guy?"

"More or less. Well, not anymore, since he went all ba-dow!" Laurie said with feigned irritation, placing her hands in front of her chest then shooting them forward a foot. "And I haven't been able to talk or blackmail him into dresses, skirts, or heels. Yet. A freak, sure," Laurie admitted, finishing fiercely with, "but he's my freak of a brother."

Before Tawny could comment or ask another question, the girls saw Sean walking - sauntering? Sashaying? There was definite hip action going on - through the party, head swiveling as though looking for something or someone. Tawny caught a good look at his unmistakable profile, glanced at Laurie, and just couldn't help but choke on a mouthful of giggles, recalling Laurie's comments on her brother's figure.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just - you said - and then he's right- and he really does look li--"

"Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice," Laurie added, causing more giggles from Tawny, and as though Sean had heard her, he turned in their direction.

"Come one, Laurie, we're leaving, heading to the cars," Sean informed his younger sister without preamble, gesturing her up with a pair of beckoning fingers.

"What? Why?" Laurie questioned without any motion that she was acceding to his demands.

Sean's somber yet anxious demeanor stifled Tawny's giggles and she sat up, looking around the party, remembering Liam running. "Is something going on? Is the Sheriff coming?"

"Nooo..." Sean hedged, pinching the bridge of his nose. In his concern for his sister, he hadn't paused to see who she was with. But Tawny was one of the nicest girls in school, and actually seemed genuine about it without being saccharine. Aside from terrible taste in guy friends, she was also his sister's friend. He kept his voice low and crouched close to them. "Okay, don't panic, but there was a gun shot."

"Gun--" Laurie and Tawny said simultaneously.

"Shhh! Have you guys seen any movie ever? Want to start a stampede, get someone - who might be us! - trampled?"

Both girls gave a start and went to stand up, but Sean planted a hand on each of their shoulders and slowed them down. "It was just one shot, out in the woods. I haven't heard any other. But just to be on the safe side, ee're just going to go to the cars. Better cover, even better escape."

"What about Devin?"

Sean had to bite his tongue to stop from countering with 'What about Devin?' knowing Tawny liked him. He took a deep breath then let it out slowly. "I texted my gaming group, getting them to gather at the cars. First, we walk - walk fast, not run - to the cars, then you can text him from there, okay, Tawny?"

Tawny looked dubious and Sean added. "If there are anymore gunshots, we'll call the authorities immediately, I promise, but calling them now, it'll just cause more problems. C'mon."

Taking Laurie and Tawny each by the hand, he began urging them insistently towards the parked vehicles.

[Bannon]

Bannon listened to Clara and the others as they discussed the find, frowning a little.  Maybe the cat had been a hallucination, but damned if he hadn't smelled the feline reek of the giant fucking thing as it had nearly landed on him...  He paused, staring fixedly at the wall, through the wall.

"I hit it."  he murmured causing Marissa, who was investigating the radio set, to look up, concern flickering her face as she saw his expression.  Jase turned towards her, a frown of concentration furrowing his brow.

"I hit the sabertooth.  Felt the impact.  I smelled it's fur singe."  he said before moving to the doorway and stepping outside.  Behind him, Clara exchanged looks with Marissa and Etienne.  Outside, Sara was leaned over, peering under the trailer.  She straightened as Jase stalked out with a purpose, shooting him a glance.

"I was just checking to see where the electricity is coming from-  What's up?" she asked, immediately alert at the intent expression on his face.  He didn't answer immediately, instead moving to where the torch was laying, almost completely guttered out.  Picking it up, he blew on the embers, fanning the flame to life once more, then moved to where he had battled the sabertooth.  In the doorway, Marissa watched with concern.

"Jason, it was a hallucination.  A group hallucination.  Your supplier spiked your uber-weed or something."  she ventured nervously.  He glanced up at her, the firelight bright in his eyes, and smiled.

"Unlikely.  I'm my own supplier." he admitted offhandedly, going back to examining the ground.  "And my 'uber-weed' is the result of delicate cross-breeding, precise growing conditions, and careful refining.  It's not a hallucinogen."  As the others absorbed that particular revelation of Bannon's hidden depths, he crouched to examine the ground, then nodded with a grunt of satisfaction.  "And hallucinations don't leave big fucking claw-prints."

Drawing near to where Jase held the torch illuminating the ground, both Marissa and Sara felt their blood turn cold.  Sure enough, the fresh, deep scratches and gouges on the earth where the giant predator had dueled with Jason Bannon were very much apparent, as were the occasional clear , deep imprint of a paw the size of a soup plate.  They remained quiet as Clara and Etienne, wondering what was afoot, came out of the trailer and joined them.  All five teens stared silently at the tracks.

"Might want to take some pictures with your phones, guys."  Jase said quietly, breaking the silence.  In the flicker of the torchlight, the copper flecks of his eyes seemed to float like fireflies in the pale drawn tautness of his expression as he drew a cigarette from his pocket.  Hands steady now, he placed it in his mouth and brought the torch to light the tip, drawing deeply before exhaling his trademark twin plume of smoke from his nostrils.  Around the rollup his lips twisted in a wry grin.  "One for the scrapbooks."

[Sara Hutchins]

At the Creepy Trailer Cabin
Jase, Marissa, Sara, Clara and Etienne

Sara stepped away from the other kids, the paw print was there it was real, all of this was…real. She had so many thoughts going all at once, thoughts that didn’t make sense to her, she had to call Lona, multiple dimensions could be real and this could be an anomaly that proves it, she had to make sure that they could locate this trailer and warn them, Jase is not the boy I thought he was, and what the fuck she couldn’t think clearly.

 She stepped back to the trailer, turned away from them and crouched down again, concentrating on the electrical problem cleared her head, and it was a problem, there simply weren’t any power-lines coming into the trailer from above. Almost immediately the stray thoughts she was having faded into the background and then away entirely. She flashed her light under the trailer again and something glinted she half crawled under and pulled a heavy duty padlock out of the soft dirt it had been broken open. As she studied the lock, she finally saw what she had been looking for, a thin pipe coming out of the ground close to the far wheel assembly. That had to be an underground power line. But why would there be an underground line way out here.

She crawled back out from under the trailer. “Found this,” she held up the broken lock, “and what I think is and underground power line.”

[WS ST]

The Party

Laurie closed her eyes and shook her head; this was ridiculous to say the least. Her, Tawney, her brother, Cora, Charlie Cole, some guy who was here with Lona Wilson and Cade Allister, were all jammed into Cades jeep. In the middle of the summer while people were partying not fifty feet away. Seven people in a jeep.

“You guys do realize that this is a jeep,” she said as she twisted to get Sean’s elbow out of her side, “and that bullets will go right through it and thus into us.”

She glared at her brother. “This is my first party and you guys are ruining it. We didn’t hear anything, they didn’t hear anything,” she tried to point at the kids outside dancing and drinking but only managed to poke Charlie in the back of the neck. “Sorry, Charlie.”

“I should have gone after Lona, I shouldn’t be hiding in here,” says Luis not to anyone in particular, “Let me out I need to go after her.”

“We all need to get out before we suffocate in here,” muttered Tawney.

Outside Sophia Fingleman, the coroner’s daughter, cup in hand, walked up to the front of the jeep stopped and peered in at all of them.  Charlie waved.  She  obviously found what she was seeing odd, so she walked on.

[Cassandra Allen]

Cassandra barely even noticed the asshat giving Devin a thumbs up. She was too out of breath, too tired, and still too scared. She turned away and leaned against a tree with both hands, trying to calm down.

"Jesus Christ, Lilly," she swore, panting, "You nearly gave me a heart attack...twice in one night's gotta be...pushing it or something."

After gulping down a breath or three she turned around and leaned back against the tree so she could see everyone.

"Yeah, so...gunshot. Me and Devin saw this...totally messed up guy in the forest and he was gross and naked and he had this gun. I, uh..." she got her phone out and called up the picture she'd taken, then held it out for the others to see.

"This gun."

[Coraline Hess]

AT THE PARTY

At least Charlie was happy. 

No petite delicate flower herself, Coraline was feeling acutely cramped in the overstuffed jeep. If these weren't her friends in a life or death situation, she'd have gotten out herself already. There was music and dancing and, hopefully, non assholes out there. Combined with the night she'd been having, her good nature was fraying rapidly. This was *not* worth a grounding till doomsday.

"I swear to God. If I die in this jeep before I get to ask Cade out on one date, I'll haunt you all forever," she muttered not quite under her breath, flushing as she realized her inner monologue wasn't quite inner on that last bit, "...Shit."

Somewhere nearby, Todd went to take another pull of his beer and found it frozen completely solid. 

[Jaunt]

"Gun?!?"  Devin panted like a dog in the summer without a bowl to drink from.  He was hunched over resting his hands on his knees.  He waved back into the woods with one arm while gasping for a breath.  "Cass, fuck the gun!  What about that... that thing... that fucking thing with the fucking-fucking... that thing!"

"Some kind of fanged vagina with tentacles... you know," he motioned to Lilly.  "The shit you fucking nerds are into.  It came out of the dark, was the dark... fuck I don't know but it got the dude, man!"

The look of panic and worry on his face was nothing like anything they'd seen Devin with before.  Like Cass, he was scared.  He pointed to the picture on Cass's phone.  "Some bath salts zombie gets fucking eaten by a cephalo-gina and that's your fucking take away?  'Look we took a picture of a gun'."  He laughed in tones border lining lunacy.  "Jesus Christ, man?!?"

[Cassandra Allen]

"I was getting to that!" Cass hurled back. "I was trying to ease into it!"

She covered her eyes.

"This is so messed up."

[Jaunt]

"Ease into it?"  Devin looked at her like 'WTF'.  Ease into it?  Cass it's a fucking cephalo-gina, not surprise butt sex at 2am!"

Cass approached him and cupped his cheeks in her hands.  "Hey, you're scared, I'm scared... trust me I get it.  We have to tell this story, Deejay."  Normally only Tawny and Marissa called him that.  Cass didn't really know any better, and under different circumstances Devin would have shifted gears into setting her straight, but right now, like Cass... he just didn't care.  Everything so small compared to the weirdness.  "I'm trying to calm down here and I can't calm down if you're not calm... help me out, Devin, I need a little support here, back me up?"

Devin tried to control his breathing for what it was worth.  Neither him nor Cass were doing a good a job of it, but she was right.  He swallowed hard and nodded.  "Y-yeah... okay.  Tell her about the cephalo-gina..."

"We are not calling it that..." She smiled seeing a bit of humor in the whole madness driven title of the beast.  She turned to explain it to Lilly, trying to come up with something else to call it and paused.  She sighed and resigned that she had nothing else at the moment that explained it.  "Well, crap.  Now it's stuck in my head."

[Cassandra Allen]

Cass sighed. Fucking Devin.

"Alright. So this guy...and he did kind of look like a zombie, but I think only because he sort of moved like one?"

Devin shot her a look.

"I know! Anyway, he was aiming the gun at us and this sort of...cloud came up behind him. I don't know what else to call it. A cloud. And then out of the cloud came this like..."

She positioned her arm up with her hand making grabby motions, fingers widely splayed.

"Only the 'fingers' would be more like an octopus, and it was big. Way big. And there was a mouth...thing at the center. A mouthgina." Cass gave Devin a scowl, but only for a second.

"And it just...grabbed his head and pulled him into the cloud...and then the cloud flew away. All that was left was the gun. And us."

She shivered violently.

"It was just...so weird. Like, I was right in the middle of being afraid I was going to get shot, and then that happened, and now I don't even know what the world is made of anymore."

[z-Avalon Wilson]

Lona was still panting but her fear had morphed into anger, and she glared up at them while bent over, hands on knees. “Are you fucking kidding me? We ran away from a fantasy monster? Fucking Bannon and his goddamned weed!”
 
“Hey!” Devin snapped. “I’ve not had any weed tonight! So, no, it’s not a fucking hallucination!”
 
“I haven’t even had a drink,” Cass added. “Lona, it was real. I saw it.”
 
“Fine, you ‘saw’ it.” Lona didn’t have to add the air quotes with fingers; they were clear in her voice. “Then this is a fucking terrible practical joke, and you both suck. I expect this shit from Devin, but you, Cass? Some journalistic integrity, there.”
 
Her phone rang with Clara’s ringtone and Lona connected, cutting off the other two -- or at least completely ignoring them. “Where are you? Are you okay?”

[Jaunt]

"We took a picture, but left the gun alone.  Should still be there... we can use it to find our way back and investigate once it gets light out."  His breathing was calming and now he was just pacing about with his fists balled up on his hips.  His phone beeped and he took it out and read it.  "Marissa text me.  Jase, her and Clara found something.  They want us all to take a look.  She said get Titboy and Narc and Glee Club and meet them..." he fiddled with the apps on his phone while Lilly processed and Cass tried to walk it off... and there was a lot 'walk it off' goign around.

"There, I can track Mari's phone."  He showed them his phone which had the Instagram tracker app installed to show him where Marissa was (it even had geocoords, yay!).  "Shouldn't be too hard to find, they're not far."

Spoiler

Fun fact about smartphones ladies and gentleman... if you have certain apps you can kiss your privacy goodbye.  Also, just because you uninstall the app doesn't mean you've stopped them from collecting location data and personal data on you.  Read your terms, people.

 

[Lilly Pryor]

Lilly stood there, catching her breath as she listened to Cass and Devin, her 'WTF?' look growing and shifting back and forth between them as each of the spoke, making their hectic explanation more and more bizarre with each sentence. Certain parts of it she could not dispute, like the gun, but the rest?

"What.... the FUCK... are you two talking about, because you guys sound like you are trippin' balls right now. I mean.. Zombies? Tentacle monsters? Magic clouds? It sounds like some adult Japanese animation or something. We found a tralier that looked like it was used for cooking meth or something, then we heard the shot and though they came out to protect their spot." Lilly asked, almost with a chuckle.

"We're not high! It was not meth head!" Cass blurted out, irritated.

"The guy was kinds skinny? Dead, sunken eyes and stuff?" Lilly asked.

"Yeah!" Cass replied.

"Yeah. That's a meth-head." Lilly countered simply.

"Damnit! We're NOT fucking high! That tentacle.. thing.. ate him! Sucked him into the cloud and he was gone. Gone!" Cass retorted.

"Yeeeah. Then who the heck was chasing you? Did you lose them? Because I sure as hell didn't see anybody." Lilly asked.

"Nobody. We told you. That thing ate him and they vanished and we booked it outta there." Devin explained as he fiddled with an app on his phone. 

"Then you come out of nowhere, running us down like the fucking terminator or something. What the hell, Lilly?!" Cass said, still a little peeved.

"Okay. Okay." Lilly said, waiting her hands, one of which was wrapped in her sweater making it a large ball. "I believe you about the gun. I found it too." she said, slightly raising and shaking her sweater-wrapped hand.

"What the fuck, Pryor? You took it?" Devin asked, shocked and dumbfounded.

"Oh chill out. I'm not just gonna leave it lay there, loaded, where Mr. Bad Guy can come get again and get it, or some high party-goer can find it! I know gun safety and how to shoot. And besides, I grabbed it with my sweater." Lilly countered, a bit irritated and Devin's irritation.

"Look." Lilly said a bit exasperated, "Jase, Sara, Mari, Clare and Et-whatever-his name is, we found a trailer. That's probably where they are now. There is a path to it. We can all group up and figure out what really happened." Lilly offered, pointing toward the trail.

[Bannon]

6 hours ago, Avalon Wilson said:

Her phone rang with Clara’s ringtone and Lona connected, cutting off the other two -- or at least completely ignoring them. “Where are you? Are you okay?”

Clara moved away whilst talking to someone - Avalon from the sounds of it - as Jase took in the broken lock in Sara's hand as well as, more intriguingly, the report that there was a buried power line.  He took a drag on his cigarette, eyes staring at and past the trailer as Marissa and Etienne both took several snaps of the claw marks and paw prints with their phone cameras.

"People are going to think these are faked, or cougar prints."  Etienne remarked, frowning a little as he reviewed the images he'd taken.  Marissa paused as she lined up another shot, then nodded slowly, glancing sideways at Jason.  He didn't appear to notice, his eyes distant and face immobile in the torchlight, and Mari surmised that he was probably off thinking deep thoughts, in whatever special head-space Jason occupied when not interacting with the world by masterminding criminal enterprises, dueling cave lions and scaring people to death.  She turned back to Etienne, an idea coming to her.

"Hold your phone next to the prints."  she directed him.  "It'll give people a sense of their scale.  At least then they won't be able to claim it's a cougar."  She snapped off several more shots as the handsome French-Canadian complied, then sighed as she tucked her phone away.  "Okay.  So what now? Earth to Ja-" she began with a wry smile, only for Jase to toss his cigarette down and step on it, before starting setting off towards the trailer, handing off the torch to Sara almost absently as he passed her.  "-son... Hey!  Damn it."  She cursed as she hurried after him, his long strides already having carried him through the door.

She found him by the file boxes: picking them up, examining them momentarily then setting them aside.  He seemed focused, deliberate in his actions, setting each file box in specific places around him, but at the same time there was a subtle current of frenetic energy to what he was doing, an excitement not conveyed by his stoic expression.

"Jason?"  she inquired quietly, wondering if he'd snapped.  God knows he'd earned a nervous breakdown.  She stepped over a file box and rested a hand on his arm, which seemed to get his attention.  He stopped, animation entering his features as his bright eyes focused on hers with a curious look on his face.  "Heeyyy.  Let's just leave those alone for now, hmm?"  she suggested with a smile.  He frowned a little, looked at the file box he was holding for a moment, then back at her before setting the box back on the stack.

"Looking for the first." he explained - or at least, his tone was that of someone explaining something.  Marissa pieced together what he was saying, though she mused he really needed to work on his verbal skills.  "Start at the beginning, then move forwards.  Put together the puzzle of this place." he rattled out in a terse fashion, his eyes glancing from box to box. "Has to be a dimensional anomaly.  Maybe temporal?  Smilodon was real, then disappeared - but where.  These boxes..."  he thumped a hand down on one.  "Not conspiracy theories.  Reports, military reports perhaps?  This is a lookout post.  Mains power line in the middle of nowhere.  No phone line though.  Just the radio.  Phone lines can be tapped.  Radio harder to pick up, especially high frequency reserved for military use.  Maybe use code too."  It was less of an explanation than Jason letting her glimpse his chain of consciousness, Marissa realised, the words coming out in a torrent with barely any pause.  "All these things, kept a secret. My..."  he stumbled over the next phrase, his eyes meeting Marissa's as his hand closed over hers.

"My friends could have died.  Sean...  Lilly...  Sara...The others.  And you.  I brought you all here.  My friends could have died.  My fault, because I didn't know.  And that would hurt." he said slowly, winding down from whatever humming speed his thoughts were moving at.  He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment, then opening them again.  He gave her a lopsided smile.  "I am curious and concerned.  Concerned and curious."

[Jaunt]

"Chill out?  Pryor you tampered with a crime scene!  You don't pick the gun up, you have a phone... you want to protect people from it?  You wait with it, call the police, but you don't pick it up," he looks at the ball of cloth and shakes his head.  "And you've contaminated the prints... Jesus... we may never learn who the was.  That shit in movies... with sweaters and stuff, it's not true!  Yes you don't leave prints, but you also destroy what's there."

"That's it... I'm dead, I'm pretty much dead at this point... accomplice to not only a missing person but to tampering with a crime scene... I am so going to military school."  He chuckled and threw his arms up to let them fall at his sides.  "Let's get the others... I... I can't even right now."

[Marissa Jauntsen]

"Jason," Marissa said softly with a measure of comfort not often heard in her voice.  "We plan for police, and getting caught.  We plan for stories and alibis and whose house we were staying at.  It's a party.  We plan.  Six foot sabercats disapearing into...," she was at a loss to duplicate his worried words.  "Dimen-whatever... you don't plan for shit that."

Her soft smile was a welcome light in the darkness where everyone's thoughts were dwelling.  "We adapt."  Her tone was so matter-of-fact it was like she was pitching snake mittens as this fall hottest fashion trend and Jason needed to buy at least three pair.  Marissa Jauntsen was the queen of taking any messed up situation high school threw at her or her protected few followers and spinning in such away that negatives were now positives and division by zero had become a thing overnight.  She excelled at adapting any situation to her personal point of view and making it work and she was sure Jason needed that now.

She couldn't help it.  She was hooked.  Whatever nerd treasure trove they'd discovered out here, if she didn't learn the secret along with them it would haunt her forever.  "Don't blame yourself.  It took a lot guts doing what you did earlier, and we all appreciate it, but we're here now, none of this is your fault, and we're going to figure this out together, okay?"

She took a deep breath to refocus her thoughts.  Her dark eyes scanned over all the boxes and he smacked her hands on her knees.  "So, where do we start?"

[Bannon]

Marissa's words had the right effect, reinforced as they were by Jason's sense of her Realness through their hands clasping.  He nodded, letting his customary calm settle over the emotional turmoil that had caused his outburst, and the ever-analytical part of his brain wondered why he seemed to take comfort and support from such a simple thing as touch.  After all, he usually avoided touching people as much as possible, but it was as though Marissa's hand helped him bridge a connection between himself and the rest of the human race.  Without it, he was reasonably certain that he'd never have felt the need to expose his emotions.  His mind turned to the incident at the fair.  He had seen the fear on the faces of Chet and Todd, but he had felt the fear of Cody Sikes as the larger boy had wet himself, and that had felt intoxicating too -  different, but still as powerful in its way as Marissa's touch.  Was touch his key to experiencing other people?  Something to mull over.

"We find the first box.  The dates go back around four decades." he said in answer to Marissa's question, smiling at her as he stepped back and they set to work.

Spoiler

[Insert research montage here]

Even with speed reading and Bannon's other intellectual gifts coupled with Mari's organisational talents, this will probably keep the two troublemakers occupied long enough for the rest of you sluggards to arrive.

Nina, if you want us to do any rolls and stuff, let us know.

 

[Lilly Pryor]

24 minutes ago, Jaunt said:

"Chill out?  Pryor you tampered with a crime scene!  You don't pick the gun up, you have a phone... you want to protect people from it?  You wait with it, call the police, but you don't pick it up," he looks at the ball of cloth and shakes his head.  "And you've contaminated the prints... Jesus... we may never learn who the was.  That shit in movies... with sweaters and stuff, it's not true!  Yes you don't leave prints, but you also destroy what's there."

"That's it... I'm dead, I'm pretty much dead at this point... accomplice to not only a missing person but to tampering with a crime scene... I am so going to military school."  He chuckled and threw his arms up to let them fall at his sides.  "Let's get the others... I... I can't even right now."

"Crime scene? WHAT crime scene? The murder of zombie-man by fictional, disappearing, tentacle cloud monster? Really? You want to go to the police with that one? Really? Or are you going to send a damned owl to the Bureau of Magical.. whatever... from Harry Potter? " Lilly asked as she stepped toward Devin.

"So yeah, go to the police with that and see where that lands you, if you are not laughed right out of the station. Or I suppose you could leave out the fucking disappearing, tentacle cloud monster and report a missing person you came across during your illegal, alcohol and drug fueled party while trespassing on the Res? Who is even missing, mm? "Zombie-man"? And even the prints ID'ed this zombie man, who was the last people to see him alive, or undead, or whatever, then? You two." she says pointing at Cass and Devin. "So who will prime suspects be, if they even take you seriously? You two." she says, once again pointing at Cass and Devin. "Is that your play then?"

Lilly paced back and forth a few times and pulled the hair matted to the skin of her face off of her face and tossed over her shoulder, partially annoyed that she did not have a free hand to tie her back.

"Right now, putting your whole totally and utter trippin' balls story aside, all that's happened is that there was a gunshot that," Lilly looked around at the rest of the party still in full swing, "...either nobody else heard, or at least does not care and probably will not remember it tomorrow anyways, you know, after the weed and booze, and we found a gun on the ground. That's all. There's no crime there. A prank maybe, but no crime. When you guys come down you will realize that." she explained, speaking quickly in her irritation.

"And yeah, I picked up the gun and secured it rather than leaving it laying out in the open. I thought people were in danger, that some meth heads or something were out there protecting their spot, so I was not going to leave it there where it could be found and used against anybody and chased after to.. fuck! I don't know... help if I could. Shit. I dunno! But I'd do it again and every damned time too!" she nearly barked at Devin, her own nerves, fear, anger and adrenaline having their way with her emotions.

The others there had already heard her cuss more in the last minute than any of them had heard her cuss in the last three years, combined and she seemed to be aware of it now, or at least that she was getting angry and emotional, so Lilly closed her eyes while she took in a deep breath and slowly let it out in a sigh, trying to calm herself down.

"So yeah, let's go find the others."

[Jaunt]

Devin just shook his head.  "Do whatever you want.  I'm going to go find my sister.  Go run off and do whatever, I don't care, but dumb ass here has a pistol and I'm sorry, but that's not anything I want a part of and don't care what spin or justification you throw on it.  I've been shot at, seen some weird shit and frankly her walking around with a gun tucked in her sweater is not only retarded, but it's also where I draw the line.  You nerds are on your own."

With a twitch of his thumb the screen on his phone lit up and with a swipe he was looking in what direction his sister was in and proceeded to head off after her.

Spoiler

Devin's heading toward the cabin.

 

[Lilly Pryor]

"Yeah. I'm the dumbass." Lilly retorted sarcastically, accompanied by a roll of her eyes.

She shook her head, dismissing Devin and looked to Cass and Lona. 

"I'll bet they are still at that trailer/cabin thing we found. Come on. I know the way." she said to them, motioning toward the path.

[Sean Cassidy]

The Party

"This is stupid," the Cassidy's said in unison, with the same inflection, though for different reasons, as they glared at each other.

Cramming all of them into a single Jeep hadn't been Sean's intention. He had meant they should wait by the vehicles so they could use their whole bulk as cover as they waited for the others to show up. But as they waited, fear and tension rose up, and the idea of being able to get away began to seemed to take precedence and they had all climbed into Cade's Jeep...

... And continued to wait, no update chirping on their phones. In actuality, it was probably only a minute or three, but it felt like hours. Especially when the party continued unabated almost mockingly and even half their own number weren't sure why they were doing this. Sean wasn't that fond of being touched and as just about the smallest in the vehicle, he was being pressed in uncomfortably on all sides. He was definitely seeing the other girls' point.

18 hours ago, WS ST said:

“We all need to get out before we suffocate in here,” muttered Tawney.

Sean grunted as Sophie Fingleman walked off with her bewildered expression.

"Okay, okay, fine! We get out," Sean agreed, privately admitting to the ridiculousness of the situation without admitting it out loud. He began to push. "Open the doors."

The group piled out like clowns from a garishly painted VW Beetle, stretching out kinks and pulling sweat-plastered shirts away from bodies.

"I'm guessing I should have mentioned, I drove Lona here," Luis said, pointing down the row of vehicles. "My truck is down there."

Three girls, a guy, and a guy who looked like a girl all stared at Luis in sheer disbelief. Charlie didn't, he was busy dancing like nobody was watching to the clashing music of the party.

"No shit." Laurie sniffed in annoyance, giving her brother a cross look as though it was his fault.

Luis shrugged helplessly. "I got caught up in... whatever this is, wor - getting concerned for Lona."

"Well, there she is," Sean said, pointing to where he'd a smaller group of people come crashing out of the trees half way around the party grounds. Though instead of continuing to the vehicles, they were stopping to catch their breaths, and were talking or bickering or something, he couldn't make it out. "Along with Lilly, Cassandra Allen, and--"

"Devin!" Tawney exclaimed, who started walking briskly, just short of a jog, towards him.

"Yeah..." Sean wasn't as sanguine by Devin's appearance as Tawney was. He glanced around, hands on hips. There party was still going strong, nobody with a gun creeping out of the woods. He scoffed in irritation, lingering fear and anxiety fading to almost nothing. He nodded towards the panting group. "Let's join them, safety in numbers and all that, and they might know more about what's going on. It was probably just some dick from the party wanting to show off his dad's gun taking a shot at a beer bottle in the woods, then freaking out not expecting it to be so loud."

The group followed after Tawney. Sean glanced at his sister striding beside him, giving her a sharp smile. "Aren't you so glad you came to the party, sis?"

"Oh, sure!" Laurie chirped with bitter cheerfulness. "At least I danced some, instead of hiding behind a laptop, bro." She nodded to where they were going, her blue eyes narrowing. "That's the dick who probably shot off a round prematurely, wanting to show off his 'gun' to anyone who'd look."

Sean watched Devin stalk angrily back into the trees, though with Devin, who knew. As Tawney had mentioned at the Fair, Devin was being... odd lately.

"It's dangerous to go alone," Tawney said as Sean and the rest of them joined Lilly, Cass, and Lona, Devin being lost to sight in the trees. Sean cut his snort of laughter short when he realized Tawney wasn't quoting the Legend of Zelda. "I'm going after him."

Suiting words to action, Tawney moved into a careful jog to catch up with Devin. Sean looked from her to the sweaty faces of the other girls who'd just come out of the trees. "What the hell is going on? I thought we were all meeting up at the cars? Where's Jase?"