IC: S1:E1 "That's Just Nasty!"

[Dave ST]

Somewhere in Salem's ominous and spooky neighborhood...

 

“Did you bring it?” asked a deep male voice. The mist danced about his feet as he disturbed it every anxious step forward. The remains of ancient construction surrounded him, offering him perfect camouflage in the shadows of the old underground cellar. Broad shouldered but draped in a gaudy cloak and robes his face remained obscured.

 

“I did, it's here.” His accomplice handed him the book she was carrying at her side. “It was not easy, what with the librarian watching every tome like a hawk. We won't have much time, he does inventory every morning, but it was right where he said it would be, a secret passage behind one of the shelves.” She was shorter than the man who snatched the book away greedily. He was an adult, but she couldn't have been anymore than seventeen or eighteen.

 

The cloaked man placed the book upon a make-shift alter fabricated from animal bones and fresh earth and what looked to be duct tape and Gorilla Glue. “Natalie, sweetie, if this works like he said, then everything will be alright and Archimedes can count all the books he likes.”

 

Natalie paced about, feeling kind of stupid in her patched together ceremonial cloak and robe. “Do you really believe all this? I mean seriously, the librarian at the local high school is Archimedes? Some guy tells you that and you just buy it? Dad, this is nuts!” She spread her arms out wide as if to display everything that was set around her. The witchy looking circle etched into the floor, the makeshift alter, the deep, forgotten underground cellar. It wall just too nuts for her. “Dad... I-”

 

Her father spun about, swishing up the eerie mist that coiled heavily on the chambers floor. “No. Natalie, I don't want to hear anymore about this. Look, I don't care if the librarian is Archimedes, or Marlon Brando-”

 

“Who's Marlon Brando?” She asked, with an eyebrow quirked.

 

Her father sighed and shook his cloaked head. “Sweetie, it's not important. What matters is that if that man was right, and this book will do what he said it will do, we can be a family again. You, me and your mother.” He clutched her shoulders and squeezed her tightly, unceremoniously trying to instill her with the hope and confidence he possessed. Jeff wasn't a fool. He knew how outlandish all of this looked and sounded, but if his benefactor was right, Jeff and his daughter had the opportunity to right one the cosmos's grievous wrongs. Denise had been his love, his whole world. She was his high school sweetheart, a terrific mother and devoted wife. It wasn't fair the way she was taken away from him and Natalie.

 

“This is insane, but, whatever.” Natalie finally caved in. When all this turned out to be a hoax and it failed utterly she could go back to her senior year, her dad would head back to the bar and being drunk all the time, and her life would go back to the level of normal she was acquainted with. “What do I need to do?”

 

The ritual was easy enough to set up. They had gathered all the proper herbs and material offerings and set them within their designated spots within the magic circle. It wasn't long before Jeff was prepared to begin. He opened the book, a strange collection of thin metallic foil sheets embossed with various symbols. As he'd flip the pages the embossed inscriptions would press themselves through to the next page, changing and conforming to whatever the new pages contents were. He couldn't read a work of it, but he flipped to a particular page, counting along as he did and began speaking the words as he was instructed.

 

Natalie rolled her eyes at the whole thing as it played out. The words were nothing but gibberish to her and the entire ritual was just a desperate man clinging on to hope. Her mother was dead, if she could accept it, why couldn't her father? Then something most peculiar happened. The air grew heavy and within the center of the circle she noticed, hovering in the center, a strange smoky pin point of mist. Slowly the mist upon the floor started to collect and swirl ever upward towards the pinpoint until it started to resemble a smokey sphere. Stunned by what she was seeing, Natalie took a few instinctive steps backwards as the entire scene began to freak her out just a bit. Then, in a sudden burst that sounded like a head splitting 'thump', the sphere of mist exploded. The shockwave threw Natalie off her feet and sent her dad flying to one of the far flung corners of the cellar.

 

A couple miles away, Michael Lancaster, junior at Salem high and all around great guy had just exited the small store where he worked at the pier and was heading to his car. Mike had a good life, well loved and liked by everyone and who knew him and had a bright future ahead of him, why wouldn't he? After all he was about to be handed one of Fate's cruel moments. He'd never missed a day of school, was a star employee and had an awesome college scholarship waiting for him until a sudden blast of gray mist roiled over him like a smokey tsunami. It tasted like mud mingled various spices. It burned his nostrils and throat, making him feel like his innards were on fire. He coughed several times, supporting himself against his car until finally, he collapsed. As he fell to he ground and his vision grew hazy he noticed a man standing atop the roof of the store where he worked. His eye had a red shimmer to them and he was tucking something that looked like a recorder (the instrument, not a digital recorder) into his pocket. He flashed a toothy smile at the choking Michael. “Let the fun begin,” he said softly, never ceasing to grin.

 

The Next Day...

 

The Scions of Salem had what was pretty much the lamest gig around. They were supposed to be saving the world from some great evils, but ever since their divine parents had awakened their divine powers they'd been nothing but divine bored for the better part of a couple of divine weeks. The start of the school year had gone off without a hitch and they'd reacquainted themselves with school life.

 

The five of them all sat in Ms. Elliot's Spanish class several minutes before the bell was set to begin class. Despite being in separate grades, Grace was an ace in Spanish, so was permitted the more advanced class. Rumors were already floating about how Michael Lancaster hadn't shown up for school today. Considering he'd never missed a day in his life, people were already formulating rumors. So far it was alien abduction, kidnapped by Al-Qaeda, and Stacey Sinclair had totally gone off the deep end and was holding him in her basement. Her crush on him was legendary...

[Fisher Capra]

Weeks of let down, with Fisher expecting something heroic to do, while handling the unheroic fact of Eric Donner's academic whims and feeling like his mom had cheated him of something thoroughly. Nadya, Grace, Richard and Rachel didn't seem to be finding anything happening either. And with all of them together at once, and the questions about Michael Lancaster floating around, the Amatsukami Scion decided that something was gonna give here.

"We should look into that." Fisher quietly told his companions. "It could be nothing, but seriously, I'm tired of waiting for a shinigami to come crashing through my window."

[z027]

The bored sophomore nodded. "Sounds good to me," she said. "Shall we cut out at lunch or wait until after school?"

[Austin Lange]

The time "doing nothing" had suited Austin fine, it let him enjoy life, because from the way the others spoke, it wasn't going to last.  He listened to Fisher and sighed.  "You know, I almost had a feeling you were going to say that."  He shrugged.  "I'm game at any rate, Mike's a good guy, if he actually is in some sort of trouble, then we should help him."

He'd told nobody else, mostly because while he Knew it was all true, it still sounded like pure insanity.  It was incredible to find that he wasn't the only child of a mythical deity here in Salem.

[Rachel Cooper]

“Rachel! Hold up a minute, please.”

Mrs. Tanner pushed past the throng of students heading to class. The Girls Track coach was the poster child for the stereotype, slightly overweight, short boyish haircut, and glasses, dressed in the school's athletics uniform which all the coaches wore, she was heading straight for Rachel Cooper looking at a clipboard flipping pages. Rachel paused she had been avoiding the coach since the first day back at school dreading this moment. And now she was cornered and probably going to be late for class.

“Hi Mrs. Tanner, what can I do for you?”

“Well Rachel, tryouts start Wednesday and you are not registered. Star or not we still have to follow the rules.” She finishes the sentence by thrusting the clipboard full of forms at Rachel like a weapon. Rachel flinches back into the lockers and shakes her head. “I'm not trying out Mrs. Tanner.”

The blank stare that followed was also classic. Mrs. Tanner opened her mouth and closed it twice before she managed to get a word out. “What?” The clipboard had not wavered.

Rachel reached out and slowly pushed the clipboard away. “I'm not trying out this year ma'am. I'm going to concentrate on my academics and I have some other after school activities I want to pursue.”

The coach cocked her head and pushed the clipboard back at Rachel. “Rachel you are gifted, your accomplishments last year are just the start. Now that you're a junior you can compete at a much higher level. Even if you're not thinking of an athletic career, athletic scholarships are a great way to pay for college. I really think you should reconsider.” Her smile masked the fear that she was losing her best chance to make a name for herself as a coach. After all, she wasn't getting any younger. “What do you say, Rachel? Signup, try out and then decide. It's not like it's a contract.” Rachel hesitated. She loved sports, the competition, but how could she compete not her advantage was unfair in the extreme. At the same time, she didn't want to disappoint Mrs. Tanner. She took the clipboard and pen and scribbled her signature. “I'll try out but no promises.” Mrs. Tanner's smile broadened into a grin. “Fair enough. You better get on to class, don't want to be late.” Then the coach turned and trundled off leaving the young girl with less than a minute to get to class.

Rachel plopped into her seat, just as the bell rang, an exasperated expression on her face. She had been just in time to catch Austin saying something about a Mike Lancaster. She had heard the rumors this morning but really hadn't thought much about them. The gang quickly filled her in on their plan to skip school and go investigate. “Guys that seems a bit premature, we can't just skip out on classes, we don't know anything. All we know is he didn't come to school today. Has anyone even tried calling his house?”

 

[Nadya Lunălescu]

Beyond a few antics and trying to figure out how to drown Mercedes and dispose of the body without getting caught, Nadya was kind of miffed how uneventful and even boring being the daughter of a Goddess was turning out to be. Boring enough that she was even typing furiously on her phone, trying to get her Spanish homework done for once.

Nadya may have been able to speak five languages, but Spanish wasn't one of them and she was finding it frustratingly hard to learn. She'd been hoping Salem High would offer a class on one of the languages she did know, so she could coast to an easy A. Alas, she was stuck with Spanish and it irked. Ms. Elliot wouldn't even teach them the fun swear words.

So when Fisher suggested they go search for Micheal, Nadya glad for any excuse to ditch school, and she wasn't about to let Mama Rachel, with her logic and temperance ruin it. Getting to avoid Mercedes in Phys. Ed after lunch was purely coincidence. Yup, nothing more than a nice bonus. Uh huh.

"I was just about to do that, Reach," Nadya lied glibly, closing the word doc and punching in a number. "Well, calling the store he works at, at least, since I don't know his house or cell number."

Nadya turned, so her fancy cellphone was hidden from Ms. Elliot at a glance and kept her voice low. "Hi, is Micheal Lancaster there? I'm working with him on a project, but he isn't at school," she said, her cadence one belonging to a studious and slightly irritated student. "... That would have been ideal, but he neglected to give it to me, and he hasn't called me back, but I remembered he worked here, so I'm giving it a try. I'm planning on going to MIT and need to keep my grades up, meaning every mark is important... Oh, yes, that would be perfect. Thank you."

Nadya disconnected and began adding a number to her contacts list, then dialed the number, holding her finger up to forestall any questions. "Hello, Mrs. Lancaster? Is Micheal there? I'm working with him on a project, but he isn't at school."

"He's here but isn't feeling well.  He got in awfully late last night and went straight to bed.  Who is this, I'll have him call you when he wakes up."

"Sorry, It's Nadya. He might not have my number, so just in case..." She gave Mrs. Lancaster her number and bit her lip, hoping she wasn't one of those who had the completely wrong idea about her. "He must be feeling really bad. Micheal hasn't missed a day of school before..." She trailed off with a leading lilt to tone, encouraging Mrs. Lancaster to expand on Micheal's absence.

"Oh, I know," she offered, a slightly bewildered tone in her voice.  "I heard him come in around 1 o'clock, which is odd, since he was off work at 9:30.  I was going to ask him about it, but he's not awake yet.  He grumbled he wasn't feeling well, and I let him be.  I'll give him your number Nadya."

"Okay, thank you, Mrs. Lancaster. Oh, if he's still under the weather later, if you give me your address, I can bring him any homework he might miss. I know he, and you, wouldn't want him to risk losing that scholarship he earned with all his hard work."

"Oh, actually, that'd be great!  I already contacted the office and was going to pick it up after work.  305 Pearson.  You can't miss it, Michael's car is parked out front."

"No problem, Mrs. Lancaster," Nadya replied cheerfully, while privately regretting this didn't seem like it was going to turn out to be a perfect excuse to skip out on the rest of the afternoon at school. "I'll see you this afternoon."

Nadya gave Rachel a hooded look as she disconnected, her crazy idea to CALL Micheal's house before hand killing a great - a decent - a very thin reason to skip the rest of the afternoon. "Looks like Mike was just out late and can't handle his liquor or something. He only got in at one in the morning. But seriously, that really isn't like Lancaster."

She glanced at the time on her phone and frowned slightly. "Though by now, he should be coherent, even if it was his first time. Anyway... " She sighed morosely. "I offered to bring him his homework after school. You're all free to come with, if you want. Hey, anyone know what colour his car is?"

[z027]

"Good call," Grace said to both Nadya and Rachel. She wasn't used to her peers showing much actual commen sense, so that was cool. "So, we'll head out after we escape government mandated babysitting for the day? Anyone have wheels or are we hoofing it or taking the bus or something?"

[Rachel Cooper]

Rachel thinks it's a waste of time for all of them to go but she's a part of this...whatever, so she might as well play along.

"We can take my car."

[Fisher Capra]

Fisher gave Rachel a firm look as he perceived her hints of doubt. "It starts small, then it gets bigger and bigger. At least in the mangas, and let's be honest, we're meant to be and do the sorts of things they make stories about. Better than letting the anticipation kill us."

[Dave ST]

"Guys," Austin moved his hand across his throat in the universal motion to cut the chatter.  "Let's talk later, Ms. Elliot will give us all detention and then we won't get anything done."

Ms Elliot strolled in and Grace was wondering i this school had any teachers that weren't attractive and looked like they just graduated college a month ago.  Ms. Elliot was a lovely Latino woman with long black hair and today she'd chosen deep red lips.  "Nadya, if you want to keep your phone, put it away.  And good morning class, let's go over yesterdays notes and we'll start some of the more complex contractions..."

 

Later that day...

 

"Left, left up here...."  Nadya pointed, he arm reaching across Rachel's face.

"Nadya, I swear to god, I will gnaw through your arm.  I know where Pearson is.  I pass it on my run every morning."

Nadya snatched her arm back, in case she was being serious.  You never knew with these Scion types these days, what with all the television and internets.  "Chill Rachey-Rae... just trying to help.  Geez."

They pulled onto Pearson and after that finding 305 wasn't too difficult.  Despite not knowing what Michael's car looked like, the house had '305' on it.  Grace was kind enough to point out that it was a dead give away.  Nothing seemed out of place at the home as they approached the front porch.  The home was a nice one, two floors plus a basement and a large garage.

The Band stood on the porch and rung the door bell.

Nothing...

[Fisher Capra]

A long pause, which itself was not suspicious, if the parents were distracted. After several seconds, Fisher reached out and tapped the doorbell button again. The chime rang out clearly. And, still, nothing. Fisher frowned and looked at the others. This was a bit stranger now. It occurred to him to take the next step towards getting in. Simply, Fisher took the door knob and experimentally turned it.

The firm motion showed that no, it was not locked. "Well, we did say we were coming to bring Mike his homework." He pulled open the door and gestured in an 'after you' gesture to the other Scions. There could easily be mundane explanations for all this, but let that stand not between bored semi-divine teens and a chance for some glory!

[Nadya Lunălescu]

Nadya's lips twisted in nonplussed surprise. That there was no answer when Mrs. Lancaster was specifically waiting for them - or her at least - was odd, but finding the door not even locked was just a disappointment, even a waste of an opportunity to get some B&E practice. It wouldn't have stopped her of course, but it was good to stay sharp.

"Very unprofessional." Nadya clucked her tongue, then breezed into 305 Pearson as if she had ever right to be there. More people got caught acting suspicious. Go in with the attitude that you belong there - maybe carry a clipboard - and most times, people wouldn't even challenge you. "And don't get your panties in a bunch, Rachey-Rae, we can claim exigent circumstances for entering the Lancaster residence without invitation."

Though she affected an unconcerned demeanor, Nadya's steps on the hardwood floors were almost soundless, despite the pronounced heel of her boots. Her entrancing grey-blue eyes panned smoothly across the interior, casing the house with a professional's experience. She tilted her head slightly, straining to hear any sound.

Even if you didn't see anything, or hear anything, there was a certain... feeling to an empty house. If you had the experience, you could just tell if someone else occupied the same residence... From the bit of time speaking with her, Mrs. Lancaster didn't seem like one to run an errand when she was expecting company, not without leaving a note in plain sight for her visitors to find to explain her absence.

"Mrs. Lancaster... ? Micheal...? It's Nadya," Nadya called out, just a bit louder than a normal speaking voice. She wasn't only seeing if she would get any response without the door impeding their voices, she was also seeing if the sound of her voice made anyone in the house who shouldn't have been there react and make some noise. "I have the assignments you missed."

[Rachel Cooper]

Rachel bristled at Nadya's use of the absurd nickname she had bestowed on her and her alone it seemed. As the black haired girl went into the house and everyone else followed Rachel took a step and stopped. "Guys; you can't just go into someone's house..." But they weren't listening.

She looked up and down the street to see if anyone saw them. Her dads were going to kill her, breaking and entering, home invasion, my god how crazy is all of this.

She stepped off the porch and walked back toward her car, paused, looked at Mike's car. Nadya had said that Mike hadn't come home un1:30 this morning and his mom said that that was way strange. And it was. Mike was a straight-laced straight A student, this wasn't even remotely like him. She looked back at the house then the car. Dad Bob said that there was always evidence in a perps car. even if she couldn't bring herself to invade someone's house the least she could do was check out the car maybe find out where he had been.

[z027]

The orphan had stepped quietly to the side as the group mobbed the front door. When Nadya found the front door unlocked and the house seemingly absent a mother, Grace circled around to the back of the house, easily hopping the fence. If something sinister was going on, it was sound tactics to have someone watching the other side of the building. 

I wonder how long we'll go before some of us get arrested. Or injured. Or dead. Oh, or cool newer powers. She grinned, having firmly decided on a joie de vivre attitude to the whole peon-for-the-Gods situation. At least it had better perks than just being a run-of-the-mill abandoned child. 

[Dave ST]

"Okay, not creepy at all..."  Austin said as Nadya and Fisher went inside.  He nodded to Rachel as she motioned that she was heading to the car and Grace... well, Grace just did her own thing.  "I'm going with Grace.  Just in case."

 

[Nadya, Fisher] The entered and found themselves in the foyer.  Ahead were the stairs that led to the second floor and to the left was the living room, to the right was the dining hall.  Everything in this house screamed upper middle-class.  It was no secret that Michael's family was incredibly well off.  Everything was very high end, from the expensive sofa set in the living room to the fancy oak dining table that was hand carved by an artisan here in Salem.  Fisher knew his work, his dad had some pretty cool wooden book ends carved for him as a birthday present a few years back.  Off from the dining room was the kitchen, and Nadya and Fisher did what most teenagers excel at: they followed their nose.

"Is that cinnamon?"  Nadya sniffed the air.  "Oooh, and sugar.  Ms. Lancaster?  Helloooo?"

"Snickerdoodles."  Fisher said softly looking around the dining room, mildly creeped out now that Austin had mentioned how creepy this all seemed.

"Snickerdoodles?"  Nadya said, she seemed confused and curious.

"It's a cookie, baked sugar and-"  Fisher's sentence was cut short by Nadya punching him in the arm and scowling at him.  "Ow!"

"I know what they are!"  She pursed her lips and scowled.  "Fisher, who leaves the house with cookies in the oven?"

They both turned their heads towards the open doorway into the kitchen and slowly walked towards towards the door.  Sure they were hardened Scions now, right?  Nothing to be afraid of, right?  They way they swallowed hard in sync, one could easily tell they were seasoned Heroes, ready for anything Fate threw at them.  They walked through the doorway and their eyes widened in horror.

Ms. Lancaster was on the kitchen floor.  Her body was covered in blood, her clothes nothing tattered rags soaked in crimson.  Her abdomen was flayed open, her entrails tossed haphazardly about the kitchen floor.  If that wasn't gruesome enough, her head seemed to be missing.  The kitchen a grizzly horror and neither of the teenagers were prepared for what they had waked into.  No amount of slasher flicks could prepare someone for the real thing, ask any medical examiner.

[Fortitude/Nadya, Fisher/Fail]  The sight was way more than either of them had signed up for.  They turned from their position in the door way and vomited in the dining room.  Sure it was embarrassing, but under the circumstances neither were in any condition to care.

"We never speak of this... ever."  Nadya managed between heaves and unladylike spitting.

Fisher offered nothing but a thumbs up as his lungs gasped.

 

[Rachel]  Michael's car was a red ford focus.  It was purchased new, off the lot, and paid in full.  Everyone at school was talking about it last year, thinking Michael was one of the luckiest kids in school.  She'd watched enough SCI: Miami to know not to touch anything, having a dad who was a cop didn't hurt either.  The inside looked pristine, Michael seemed a neat freak, she could almost sell that new car smell from outside.  [Awareness/Rachel/Success] She was about to walk around the car and peek in the passenger side window until she noticed something on the steering wheel.  Blood, and lots of it.  Some was on the steering wheel, but most of it was on the floor of the driver's side and although she wasn't sure, she could swear there was something mingled in with the bile... it was a tooth, a human tooth.

 

[Grace, Austin]  Grace scaled the fence like a professional teenager and Austin's athleticism did him some credit, allowing him to easily follow suit.  "Wow," Austin said, impressed with the view.  "Nice pool."

Their backyard was massive.  Twice the size of either of them had back home.  The back patio was all worked stone and led guests to the massive pool complete with a diving board.  "Got be an Olympic sized, twelve feet maybe?  Who are his parents the Mafia?"  Grace asked.

"Everyone just knows Mike comes from money.  No one really asked.  They guy's been successful his whole life, not really the social type though.  I don't know him that well, and it's sixteen and a half feet."

"Seriously," Grace quirked a brow up at him.  "You can tell the depth by looking?"

"Cool, huh?"  Austin smiled.  "Take me on the road, we'll make millions.  'Guess how much is in the cup...'"

"Oh yeah, I can smell the cash just rolling in..."  For a moment it felt good for the two to steal a moment and chuckle at their own sarcasm.  "C'mon, patio."

Nothing in the backyard seemed particularly out of place.  The back blinds were closed that led into the house from the kitchen, else the Grace and Austin would have seen the gore that caught Nadya and Fisher by complete surprise.  The house was quiet, the backyard was pristine... everything seemed okay.

[Rachel Cooper]

"Shit!" Rachel backed away from the car looked up and down the street again, then ran into the house.

She stopped just inside the door. "Guys! There is blood all over Mike's car." She takes a couple of deep breaths pushing the panic down. "A lot of blood and a tooth. I think we need to call the police!" She smells the  cinnamon and sugar and below that... "What the fuck is that smell?"

[Fisher Capra]

Fisher turned around and moved to Rachel as she pounded into the house. The pale, shuddering look on his face said it almost before Fisher actually did. "Mrs. Lancaster. Her horrifically butchered corpse. ...Yeah, I'm not going to complain about calling the police." At least, a morbid part of him seemed to whisper in Fisher's ear, they had something to deal with now.

What the hell, Fisher shook his head, wondering where that came from. A women was gruesomely murdered, so how could he possibly have a thought like that cross his mind?

Everything mortal dies eventually.

No, nononononoo. Crazy thoughts. Light Yagami breakdown not allowed! Forbidden! Unacceptable!

[Nadya Lunălescu]

"Also, vomit and snickerdoodles, which are probably burning now," Nadya added, her voice still a bit raspy and her complexion slightly green about the edges. Her bright eyes look haunted and her carefree attitude was no longer in evidence. "Don't go in there!"

Nadya only considered looking around for bleach to contaminate their DNA deposits are a horrific crime scene, but only for a moment. They had a legitimate reason to be at the Lancasters, after all.  Trying to hide evidence there were ever there would just end up causing more trouble. She shuddered, her hand tightening around the stack of assignments she held. She walked up to Rachel and placed her other hand on the much taller girl's shoulder.

"I... I think we should call the police," Nadya said, and Rachel and Fisher looked at her, knowing the Romani girl was being serious if she was the one making that suggestion.

[Rachel Cooper]

"What?"  Rachel pushes past Fisher and walks to where Nadya had come out of the Kitchen her pale face paler than ever. "You really don't want to go in there." Nadya whispers as the taller girl goes by.

She steps into the kitchen the smell overpowering her senses. She stops her stomach turning at the grisly sight her heart pounding. She stares sick and...angry. Pushing her fingers through her hair she remembers Nadya talking to Mrs Lancaster just a few hours ago.This is my fault. If I hadn't of stopped them from skipping we might have been here. Might have prevented this.

She spins tears running down her face and punches the wall sending plaster and sheet rock flying.

[Nadya Lunălescu]

Nadya flinched at the cracking thump from the kitchen. She didn't want to back in there, but she didn't want to leave Good Miss Nicey-nice in there either. She took a steadying breath, dried her hands on her coat, then walked back into the kitchen, careful not to touch anything with her fingertips.

She did a quick sweep of the place, trying not to look at it as a horrific crime scene, but rather as though she was casing a place. She was looking for anything that stood out, that was worth something - In this instance, not worth monetary value, but worth insight into what the fuck happened here and who or what did it. But she didn't look long, she just couldn't. The metallic scent of blood made her gorge rise once more and she swallowed down the acidic bile with effort.

Nadya tugged at Rachel's tensed arm, trying to pull her out of the house bodily, with little success. "Come... on!" she huffed. "How 'bout you leave making signs that might be taken as part of.. of the... erm, assault and we get out of here and you can call this in to your dads, Rach? We're not going to do much more here other than disturb the scene."

[Rachel Cooper]

She looks at Nadya's hand on her arm then pulls away and carefully steps over to the stove. Picking up a dish towel off the counter she turns off the oven. "Don't need a fire. No cops yet and definitely not my dads. You guys were right. We need to find Mike."

They leave the kitchen rejoin Fisher. "Where is Grace and Austin?"

[z027]

Grace heard a thump from the kitchen; frowning, she tried to see past the curtains, but could only make out blobby color-ish splotched. "Damnit," she said softly, wondering if she was going to have to ruin her coat to get inside. Hoping that Mike's mom was a loose with the back door as the front, she gave it try. 

[Nadya Lunălescu]

What was this, Opposite Day, where she was suggesting they call the cops and Rachel was the one saying no? That was almost as disturbing as finding a headless Mrs. Lancaster. Okay, not really, not even close, but it was still disconcerting.

"Not sure 'bout Austin, but I think I saw Grace heading towards the backyard before I stepped inside," Nadya said in reply to Rachel, just as the patio doors jiggled.

Nadya narrowed her eyes as the door jiggled again. She shared a look with Rachel, then carefully, she stepped as close to the patio doors as she could without disturbing the scene, or leaving any incriminating boot prints behind. The smell of Mrs. Lancaster's exposed guts was nauseating.

"Grace, that you?" Nadya called out, raising her voice just enough to be heard on the patio, she hope.

"Yeah, who else would it be?" came the muffled retort.

Whoever or whatever killed Mrs. Lancaster?

"Come 'round the front," she said. "There's a... a mess you don't want to walk through. And big, BIG spoiler alert, it ain't pretty. Reason Mrs. Lancaster didn't answer us is 'cause she doesn't have a head anymore."

That sounded a lot more blunt than Nadya intended, but it was all she could do not to freak out right now with adding being delicate to the mix. The short, sleek, young woman carefully retraced her steps back to the entrance to the kitchen, glancing around for any hint at what may have done this, taut and tense, ready to jump away if something sprang out of the cupboards or fridge or wherever.

Standing next to Rachel once more, Nadya pulled on a pair of tight, thin gloves and made sure the fingers were snug. "Um, I guess we should check upstairs and the basement, see if... see if, erm, if Micheal or his dad are still... hear." Dead. "You know if he has any brothers or sisters?"

[Rachel Cooper]

"A little sister, she goes to Witchcraft Heights, her names Hillery. She's probably waiting to be picked up. You and Fisher check upstairs, I'll look in the basement."

Rachel feeling strangely calm, a burning desire to punish someone filling her heart, heads to the little hall way where the door to the basement should be. She checks the door and takes out her keys. On the keychain is a tiny High Output Maglight. She slowly opens the door and looks in. Dark stairs leading to the basement, she hesitates to turn on the overhead lights, then chides herself for being overly dramatic and flips the switch.

[Austin Lange]

The description was not what he expected, but it did explain the terrible smell once they'd gotten inside.  Once inside after moving with grace to head around front, Austin looked at the stairs, and steeled himself, in case there was something as gruesome upstairs too.  Wordlessly he moved upstairs,  as Rachel made her way to the basement, he joined the rest of the band who'd gone upstairs,.  "God this is terrible.   By the way, who's going to talk to the police?"

[z027]

"We all are, once we call them. Right now let's go check on this Micheal kid. When we talk to the cops, just tell them that we came over to bring him homework, found her, panicked and ran upstairs to look for Mike. No need to complicate anything." She shrugged, "Other than not calling the cops immediately, we really haven't done anything wrong." 

She pulled her shirt up over her mouth and nose to stifle some of the smell, and putting words to action headed up the stairs. "Micheal?" she called out. "Are you here?"

[Dave ST]

[Nadya, Fisher] Nadya made a mental note to get her mom something nice for Christmas, the perfect balance on a blood soaked floor in heels was as absolute, well, godsend.  Still, both her and Fisher took the safest route back to the stairs, trying their best not to disturb the crime scene anymore than they already had.  The moved back to the foyer and were about to head upstairs at Rachel's request when Fisher stopped Nadya.  He pointed at the floor and the steps... they were bloody.

When they had arrived they weren't thinking to look at the floor or the condition of the steps, they had just arrived to speak with Michael and his mother.  Now, however, they were far more alert.  The bloody trail mingled rather well with the dark hardwood of the floor and steps.

"Rachel!"  Fisher called out down through the home.  "Blood, leading up!"

Then they heard it.  Fisher, Rachel and Nadya all looked up  from what he their attention for a moment to listen again for the loud 'thump' that had come from somewhere on the second floor.  IT happened again, someone, or something, was shuffling around and before they collected their senses, there was a loud crash, like the sound of glass breaking...

 

[Grace, Austin]Grace wasn't thrilled about the vague explanation, but was already damn sure something was pretty far from okay.  She let out an annoyed sigh.  "Come on, they want us to go around front..."

The two walked down the patio and along the path that led to the back gate, they figured they go 'old school' and use the latch this time around.  They'd barely cleared the patio towards the pool when the glass on the second floor shattered.  By the time they'd both reacted and looked up to see what was going on, the bedroom window had already spat forth it's occupant.  Austin recognized the figure as Michael, but it wasn't an easy guess.  His skin was pale with deep bruising around his eyes, he looked like Golum with cataracts.  His gums had receded far enough back that his teeth seemed long, when in fact they were the same length, just... sharper?  His clothes were soaked in blood and had they been inside the teens would have known those little bits of sticky flesh sticking twixt his teeth and on his clothes was what was left of his mother...

Austin didn't need to know Spanish to know what Grace had just said.  He was pretty sure it applied perfectly to the situation as Michael landed on top of him and they fell to the ground, rolling in the grass.  Michael ended up on the top and gnashed at Austin who instinctively gripped his attackers throat, attempting to hold off his snapping teeth.

As Michael gnashed his teeth started to fall out.  One by one a bloody, saliva covered tooth fell atop Austin only to be replaced by a new one, a sharper one.  Michael was loosing his teeth and growing predatory fangs.

The bites kept coming, Grace and Austin knew they had to think fast....

Spoiler

This scene is for Grace and Austin until the conflict between those three  is resolved.  No matter fast your PC is, they will not arrive in the backyard until after the scene is resolved.

 

[Austin Lange]

"Kick him in the head!"  Austin called out as he held onto him, trying to keep from getting bitten by him, even as Michael fought savagely against him, seemingly determined to bite his nose off.   "Come on Mike, this isn't you.   Don't let whatever this is beat you, don't let it make you a monster."

[z027]

Grace grabbed her necklace, throwing it to the ground as her divine father had told her to. An Aztec Jaguar Warrior rose from where it landed, dark skin and savage weapons gleaming in the afternoon sunlight. "Save Austin!" she shouted at the man, fighting her flight instinct of her first actual encounter with a monster. 

The warrior closed in on the entangled pair, his spiked obsidian club raised to strike.

[Dave ST]

The warriors growl was a cross between that of a man and a jaguar.  Austin continued to fight Michael(?) off as best he could.  His words just didn't seem to be reaching him so when that didn't work he threw in a few right hooks to stagger Michael enough to let up a bit.  He'd never punched anyone before, yet despite that the punches came almost natural, less of an instinct and more of a muscle memory he wasn't aware he'd had.  He hated that he had to hit the guy, but it was him or Micheal...

Austin grimaced in pain as one of his jabs fell short of it's mark and Michael's teeth clinched down on his forearm.  Before they had the opportunity to bite too deep there was a sudden *thwap* and Michael was swiftly extricated from the backyard tussle.  "The Austin, is safe."  Her warrior said in ancient Mayan, which Grace was stunned to learn she understood!  He casually strode back to Grace's side, his hefty club balanced on his shoulder.  "Stay clear, I will protect you."

He must have flew a good eight to ten feet before hitting the ground and rolling several more feet.  The obsidian shard shredded Michael's side and tore open flesh and broke bone, they heard the cracking easily.  Grace could see the injury and she was no doctor but was easy to see how someone couldn't just get up and walk away from a blow like that.

Michael did her one better, he rolled back up to his feet, hunched over on all fours like an animal, and gave her a raspy roar.  His side was shattered and he seemed completely oblivious to any form of pain!  Ribs jutted from the skin, blood oozed down his side... and like a rabid animal and turned and sped off from the back yard, clearing the privacy fence in a single leap.

She stood for a moment as Austin lay there in the grass holding his arm.  Both were still to busy processing, or trying to, what the Hel just happened.

Spoiler

Michael was meant to get away.  Your search for him and what happened to him are the real case to be solved here.  Austin's arm is fine, it's a bloody wound that will require some cleaning and bandaging, but no actual damage was taken.  His Scion healing will have it cleared up by tomorrow morning.

Everyone is now back in as Grace and Austin's scene has finished.  From here out, it's on you guys to formulate a plan for finding Micheal, dodging your parents, and solving this mystery.  The next combat will be an actual one, but your Scions will be more than ready next time now that the shock will have some time to wear off.

 

[Austin Lange]

Austin held his arm and scowled that his second thought after "What the fuck happened to Mike?" was  "Goddamn I hope he's not contagious."  He gathered his wits, and made his way up first onto his knees and then to his feet, looking at Grace... and the guy with a jaguar skin fetish and a big obsidian axe.  "Thanks for the save" he offered gamely,   "Who's your friend?"

[Rachel Cooper]

Rachel was just about to flip the switch when Fisher yelled for her. The sound made her heart leap into her throat as she jumped back from the basement door then she heard the glass shatter. She slammed the door shut and started for the stairs when  a noise outside caught her attention. Oh shit we're caught, was her first thought but when she peered through the curtains that weren't what it was.

Stunned doesn't really describe what Rachel felt as she watched the thing attacking Austin. But nothing drove home the seriousness of their predicament as the half-naked warrior appearing out of nowhere to smash the monster who used to be Micheal Lancaster off Austin.

She ran outside as the thing ran off. "Are you guys alright?" she was staring at the warrior still her left hand absentmindedly rubbing the plain silver ring on the right middle finger.

[Nadya Lunălescu]

Following the sounds from the above, Nadya had ended up looking out the same window as Rachel. She was no less stunned than Rachel was at what they saw. Guess this was one of the downsides of having a God(dess) for a parent that Archie alluded too. Monsters in the woodwork. Didn't help that it looked like Zombie Micheal was one of the freaky fast zombies instead of a slow, shuffling one that moaned for brains.

Nadya was right on Rachel's heels following her out to the others. It was better than checking upstairs to see what Micheal may have done to his father, or God - Gods forbid, his little sister. Though she looked to where Micheal had jumped the fence, Nadya's gaze couldn't help be drawn back to the well muscled, dark-skinned, and more than half naked man wearing a jaguar skin that Grace had... summoned?

"Handy that," Nadya commented, giving Grace an anxious smirk. Being able to call up a good looking, if savage, guy on command has all sorts of uses... "But now, we have a problem." Nadya frowned and amended. "More problems. Thriller is getting away and who knows who else he is going to eat. And someone will have to go upstairs to see if his dad and sister can still be... helped. No Nose goes. I'm going after Mike."

Nadya touched the tip of her nose with her index finger, then sprinted the way Micheal had gone. Though short and sleek, Nadya had always been athletic, in a gymnast or dancer sort of way, and that quality had been magnified with the awakening of her ichor. Nadya cleared the fence, using one hand on the top to give herself a boost. Crouching easily and balanced on the top - she really did need to get Mom a good Christmas present - Nadya used the vantage to see if she could find out where Micheal had gone.

[Rachel Cooper]

"Nadya! No!...Dammit." Rachel calls after as the darker girl leaps over the fence and disappears after the Micheal-thing. She pulls out her phone "Grace, you three stay here, don't call the police, call Mr. Syracuse, he will know what to do about this that's what watchers are for right. I'm going after Nadya and Mike. I'll call you when I have them. Whats your number?" Austin recites his before Grace answers. Rachel put is in her phone and tosses her keys to Austin. "Use my car and don't wreck it"

She bends down where Austin and Micheal had grappled looking at the ground where the creature, she had a hard time thinking of him as the kid she knew, had left marks and ...drippings on the grass. Drippings she could smell and follow. "Don't worry I'll find them." Without waiting for any argument she bolts off after Nadya clearing the fence with out pause.

[Fisher Capra]

Fisher followed, more than a bit aghast at the ravening form of what had been Michael. Though Michael didn't fit the zombie profile, more like a were-Gollum (yes, he'd read and watched Lord of the Rings). Then, before waiting for much of any answers, Nadya left in a bound.

"Wait-" Because how did they know, given the already disemboweled (and beheaded) corpse of Mrs. Lancaster, that Gollum-ichael was going to strike again, particularly after being ambushed? Retreat into hiding would also be very likely...

And then Rachel descended after Nadya, with the refrain of telling them to contact Mr. Archimedes Syracuse - but not waiting to learn of the information gathered. Fisher stared at Grace and Austin. "Okay... who calls, and who drives?"

[z027]

"Yeah," Grace said, shaking her head, "they're gone."

She nodded respectfully to the tall warrior next to her. In Mayan she said, "Thank you. We are safe for now." She wasn't exactly sure how the necklace-warrior worked, but he was hot. Also, very comforting in a stick-things-with-the-pointy-edge sort of way. Man, I wish I could show him off at school. Guaranteed no foster-kid bullying after that! Her lips twisted in a self-mocking grin. Somehow I don't think using divine whatevers to score points with other teenagers is being a responsible little demi-god or divine gopher or whatever the hell we are. 

"Austin, toss me the keys. I'll drive, one of you call Greek Giles." Catching the keys, she made her way to her Band-mate's car. "Standard police procedure at this point is probably going to get people killed. Hopefully we're not the only Band who's had this sort of crisis in his bajillion years of doing whatever."

[Fisher Capra]

As soon as Fisher was in the back seat - and made sure to buckle up, his next step was to scrabble for his cell phone, taking a moment of searching before his fingers fastened onto the black plastic grip. It struck him that they didn't have a phone number for Mr. Syracuse, but vaguely - he remembered the extension for the library.

First Fisher dialed the Salem High number, and as soon as the automated (annoying) menu started up he punched in the extension. Heart thudding, he waited for the voice of the man who had been Archimedes come onto the line. "Mr. Syracuse? It's Fisher. We're in our first situation." It was hard to come up with another word to sum up the events that had transpired in the haste of the moment.

"Michael Lancaster didn't show up for school, so we decided to look into it. He's gone Were-Gollum." Milli-seconds later Fisher realized that Mr. Syracuse might or might not have read Lord of the Rings - odds were against him having seen Peter Jackson's film series. "I mean, he's turned into some wild ghoul-thing, killed his mom, and is on the loose. We need advice."

[Dave ST]

[Rachel, Nadya] Nadya's feet hit the soil and by the time she looked up from her landing, Michael was gone.  Maybe he leaped another fence or fled and dipped into an alleyway... but where he'd gone he was gone.  A moment later Rachel hit the ground behind Nadya.  She hit hard and with little grace in her landing.  She was a runner, not a gymnast.

"Gone."  Nadya mumbled, still wondering where the hell he went.  "Oh, come on..."

"Gone, how?"  Rachel said, looking around.  She looked around the alleyway that they'd landed in, an alleyway that split the yards across the block.

"Gone like yesterday."  Nadya replied, fuming internally that she'd lost her freaky classmate.

Rachel looked about and as she did she grew disoriented.  Her senses suddenly felt like they were cranked to eleven.  He vision focused and suddenly zoomed in on a soft imprint in the soil seven yards ahead of her... fresh track.  One inch deep.  171 pounds of pressure indentation.  Micheal's.  Her olfactory senses overloaded with information.  Her nose was suddenly sifting through more data than she'd thought possible as it separated pollen, aftershave, Nadya's shampoo and even the pool chemicals back in Michael's backyard.  Blood.  She could smell Michael's blood!  Better yet, she could follow Michael's scent!  She didn't wait to figure it all out.  Grabbing Nadya by the arm, the two sped off down the alleyway.

 

[Fisher, Grace, Austin]  Mr. Syracuse did all he could to understand what Fisher was trying to convey.  "Fisher, I have more than advice.  Gather your band and meet me at the school library in thirty minutes.  If what I fear has happened, Michael is the least of our worries."

[Fisher Capra]

Fisher's lips partly slightly in shock. At least, that was what he thought. In the rearview mirror, Grace saw Fisher's jaw drop and work. Whatever he was hearing from Mr. Syracuse, it must be bad. Fisher was wondering what precisely would be worse? Well, it would seem they were about to find out. "Ok. We'll be there. Bye."

Fisher snapped his phone shut, and redialed Rachel's number. When she picked up, Fisher kept his voice level. "Rachel, you and Nadya need to get back here. Forget Michael." Before the athlete could protests, Fisher went on. "Mr. Syracuse wants us to meet him at the school library. Apparently, this is only the tip of the iceberg."

[Rachel Cooper]

The two girls took off, Rachel leading the way  her senses screaming with laser like focus. "Stay close Nadya and be quiet."

Through an ally and over more fences trough several yards then she stopped. The ally opened onto a main road and the trail all but vanished. A bloody foot print led into the middle of the road but the scent was now masked by the smell of oil and exhaust. "Is he close?" Nadya stopped bending over breathing hard hands on knees. Rachel never took her eyes from the ground. "No." She went to the foot print in the road and got on her knees. To Nadya it was looking like she was sniffing the road and lots of quips were coming to mind but she bit her lip and stayed silent not wanting to distract the weird blood hound show. "This way." Rachel crossed the street but ran along it they were crossing out of town on the north side. "He jumped on a wrecker or a trailer hauling a wreck. I can smell the gas, oil, transmission fluid all mixed together, burned rubber and his blood too."

They ran for several more minutes, Nadya was keeping up and neither were as exhausted as they would have been a few weeks ago from such a long run. Finally they came to  a long high fence surrounding a junk yard, they could see a truck with a trailer. On the trailer was a twisted and burned Camaro but no sign of Micheal.

Rachel took out her phone . "He's in there I think, I'm calling the rest of the band." She started to dial Austin went it rang.

19 minutes ago, Fisher Capra said:

Fisher snapped his phone shut, and redialed Rachel's number. When she picked up, Fisher kept his voice level. "Rachel, you and Nadya need to get back here. Forget Michael." Before the athlete could protests, Fisher went on. "Mr. Syracuse wants us to meet him at the school library. Apparently, this is only the tip of the iceberg."

"We're outside O'Toole's Pick Your Parts, that's the junk yard on the northside. We think Micheal's inside. Meet us here, we'll call Mr. Syracuse again when we're all together."