WEIRDER STUFF - Rainbow Connection

[Sean Cassidy]

Shelly High, Cafeteria

//Flu vax start today. Could be legit, could be cover... Could be both. Keep eyes open and stay safe too.// Sean quickly texted back as his gaze surreptitiously followed Devin's mom.

Feminine appearance or not, Sean was as affected by the appearance of Mrs. Jauntsen as the senior boys she'd summoned to help her with a few soft words and a smile. As attractive as her daughter - or moreso - and without the viper tongue that lashed the students of Shelly high mercilessly but was ever hidden by the adults. Mrs. Jauntsen had always been kind to him, better than most about taking his issues in stride and not making feel extra awkward about them. It was a wonder the Jauntsen twins were her's.

"I'll be right back," Sean assured Sara with a pair of upheld fingers before he trotted over to Mrs. Jauntsen. Laurie scoffed and rolled her eyes. Nearly every boy, even her brother, fell for Mrs. Jauntsen, at least a little. It didn't help that she seemed every bit as nice as Marissa pretended to be. Every Jauntsen seemed to have a way with people - that way wasn't always good.

"Hello, Mrs. Jauntsen, can I help you find someone or something?" Sean asked with polite helpfulness, the corners of his lips slightly upturned.

[Clara Lys Wright]

Clara hesitated at the sudden influx of the medical personnel. Something was...off. She glanced around and caught Cora's eyes as the other girl looked around, too. She feels it, too. Maybe I'm not the only early warning system in the group. That would be nice - and really helpful.

She pulled Lona closer to her, both wanting comfort and knowing that the other girl was also completely out of it. At this point, one or the other of us is probably going to get sent home again anyways. No bomb threat needed for us. God, what were we thinking. This has us all acting crazy. She cleared her throat, trying to clear her thoughts at the same time. "Whatever happens with the nurse, I should see Etienne before we leave school. Whenever that is." It wasn't clear if she was just talking to herself, to Lona and Lilly, or to the group as a whole. "He's expecting me to and...and he might start digging deeper on his own if I don't show up."

I really hate my life right now.

[WS ST]

Cafeteria

“Are you alright?”

The question caught Clara, Lilly, and Lona completely off guard and brought them to a stumbling halt as one of the nurses, Herbert, according to her name tag, came up to them. Lilly thought she had seen her a few times at the hospital when she was volunteering but she had never worked with her and didn’t know her. That fact made her look at the rest and she could put a name to any of them although she had seen the doctor a time or two and thought his name might be Avery or Avis, or something like that.

“You don’t look well, honey why don’t you sit down over here and let me take a look at you,” said Nurse Herbert as she pulled a chair from one of the now empty tables.

 

Sara had just sat through…whatever that had been, staring down at her bloody eggs now cold and congealed, an ugly sickening scrambled mess. She looked up and saw Laurie still seated. “You better get to class,” she pointed at the younger girls chest and the number on it, “They are going to be looking for you.”

 

[Bannon]

"Time to go."  Jase said tersely, his eyes dancing with that strangely alive light that made Clara and Sara think of the night of the party and the smilodon, and reminded Cora of the terrified expression on Cody's face as the hayhook was pressed to his throat.  The lanky genius's gaze had glittered like this on those occasions, too, an odd mixture of feral instinct and ruthless intellect shining in their depths.  He motioned to Autumn, who lowered the ice pack and grabbed her bag in her other hand, getting to her feet before she could think better of it.  There was a sense of a torrent thundering down a gully behind her, and standing still didn't seem to be an option.  Jase shot Sean a glance.  "Let Devin know where we're headed?" he suggested, then he and Autumn whirled away into the cafeteria.

"Side door." he muttered as they moved around and through the people bustling to and fro, some vibration between the pair keeping their movements in sync even though they were not obviously moving side by side.  The impression an observer would have gotten would have been two wolves trotting through the forest: moving smoothly, causing no disturbance of the brush, and attracting little attention.  The sight of a male nurse in their path setting a file box on a table by the side door made Autumn blink and look at her companion, but didn't even cause Jason to pause.  As the nurse turned away from the box, it slid a foot and toppled over onto the floor, spilling fat manila envelopes everywhere.  The nurse choked off a curse and scrambled to pick the files up as those kids nearest either snickered or moved to help... and just like that Jason and Autumn were past and heading for the parking lot.

"Can you all do that?"  Autumn said as they hurried, walking fast but not running, along the side of the building towards the parked cars.  "I mean, can we?"  She looked around, picking up on his tension.

"Everyone seems to be different."  Jason replied, slowing as he saw Doctor Cook and Etienne walking towards the school's front entrance.  "See the younger guy?  Used to go here?" Autumn nodded as she recognised the handsome French-Canadian exchange student.

"Yeah?" she studied Etienne a moment, then looked at Jason, whose eyes were narrowed as they rested on the other young man with a vaguely unsettling intensity.

"He's part of this.  Don't trust him."  Jase stated tersely, then relaxed as he saw the two men enter the main door.  "Let's go."

They crossed the parking lot in less than half a minute, walking steadily up to the gleaming black muscle car.  The locking tabs inside popped up, both driver and passenger side, and the two teens got into the Charger.

"That was easy."  Autumn remarked as Jason turned the key in the ignition.  He shot her a sideways grin as the car rumbled into life and she fastened her seatbelt.

"Don't jinx us." He eased the car out of the parking space and rolled it casually out of the lot - no revving the engine, no screeching of tires.  In a minute more they were on the main road heading away from the school - and to gods knew where.  Autumn kept one eye on her driver, who in turn seemed to be checking the mirrors a lot.

"There's a can of bear mace in the glove box, if that will make you feel safer."  he said without looking at her.

"You're a mind reader too?"  she snarked, repressing a chill at the thought.  He chuckled, a strangely relaxed sound.

"Not yet.  But people get scared in odd situations, and you've had a lot of oddness." he replied, turning his eyes on her momentarily, then going back to watching the road ahead and behind.

"I'll leave the bear mace where it is."  she said levelly, setting aside the comment of 'not yet'.  "But you promised me a story."

"True.  And I keep promises."  he nodded, unsmiling.  "It all started with a fight in Bunnee's, and the big party we threw on the fair opening night..."

And as they drove, he laid it all out.  The party.  The saber-tooth tiger.  The 'cephalogina', which he described as being a large floating starfish-type creature.  The trailer, with it's odd high tech and it's atomic generator.  The research.  The discovery that most had powers, the formation of the Fellowship. The cracking of the mysterious communication device, the linking of it to Etienne, and the confrontation of the spy by Clara and Lona.  The discovery by Sara of the mysterious Dark.  And the history of Shelly, disappearances and odd violent crimes going back a century and a half, together with Cassandra's work on the prison corruption story.  He did not embellish with emotional editorialising, nor did he leave anything out, but simply stated the facts as he knew them along with the logical conjectures the group had made.  Autumn sat silently, only interrupting to ask for the occasional clarification, but otherwise absorbing the whole insane tale.

"...and so the current theory is that Cody believes himself to be this 'Tree' or a servant of it.  Whether it's the Dark manipulating him or simply his own psychosis, we don't know.  We do know that it apparently serves the Dark's purposes if there's a mass killing or school shooting.  So we need to find him, and without having a better lead, the trailer is the starting point."  he finished.  "The reservation is heavily wooded in that area, it seems to be an epicenter for weirdness.  And so we're going out there with bear mace and super powers to find Cody Sikes before he either gets eaten or starts eating other people."

[Clara Lys Wright]

Lona gave Clara a blank look in appeal of now having two different options laid out. Clara nodded to the nurse and guided Lona into the chair. "It's been a rough couple of days," she said softly as way of explanation to the stranger. "And something's up with her eye. I think maybe she hit her head on the table earlier. Not hard, but..." 

Clara looked away again, the almost itchy feeling still permeating the room. She wanted to scratch her scalp and try to make it go away, but she also knew that wouldn't help. What is that? I hope it doesn't mean a monster is about to attack or something. I think I might beserk on it right now and I don't have the skills for that to be effective yet. Probably just would end up getting myself hurt and look like a moron.

[Cassandra Allen]

These days Cassandra wasn't really sure what she believed anymore. As truth bombs exploded all around her and conspiracies blossomed out of theories into the real world, what was real? What wasn't? There was a constant though. What she didn't believe in was coincidences. The timing on this, for example. Cassie could almost feel this growing like a plant from the same roots as Etienne...as the events at the party and their weird powers. All branches from the same tree, even if all she could see with her eyes was a mass of leaves.

Clara's boyfriend already knew about her and Avalon, but they didn't have details on anyone else. They had to suspect there were more though. What better way to find them than a school health crisis? And who better to whip one of those up than someone named 'The Doctor?'

She leaned over to nudge Coraline with her shoulder. "Hey, Cora," Cass said, "Almost done? We're gonna be late for class." Their next period wasn't together, but that wasn't really the point, right?

Cassie then gave Lona's shoulder a squeeze. "You'll be okay. Meet you and Clara after school."

Then finally she glanced at the nurse and waved a hand around at the cafeteria. "So what's this anyway? Blood donation drive?"

On sudden impulse she dug her phone out and snapped a few shots of the tables being moved and the boys mooning over Mrs Jauntsen. You never knew.

[Coraline Hess]

It had taken *a lot* to hold her tongue when Lilly went off on them and trashed a perfectly good if, yes, extreme distraction to cover the... Ha ha ha... Fellowship's departure, the strain only fading from her face as an annoying static buzzed into being at the edge of her vision. A broken leg to cover the ache of a stubbed toe. Okay. Okay. Okay. That couldn't be good. Just... Do what you could, focus on that, and she'd solve the problem eventually.

Cass's nudge brought her out of her fugue, smiling at the blonde reporter, an actual smile, "Yeah. I'm done. Thanks again for last night. Can I get your number? Your board idea was rather brilliant."

The two girls traded numbers, fingers tapping out the digits in a small bubble of relaxing normality amid the uncertain chaos and parted ways to their respective first periods. Which left Coraline the small problem of who to try and catch a ride with. She really wanted a piece of Cody, 'The Dark' or no, part of that mess had been him not it driving. Stank too highly of 'the Devil made me do it' to completely write off his role in it.  

[Marissa Jauntsen]

The twins slipped out the side and cut around to the parking lot, thankful that Marissa's shoes didn't announce or slow thier escape.  Mari paused and looked over the roof of her Mercedes.  "Do we have a plan?"

"The trailer." Devin replied, hastily donning his helmet.

She huffed, "Jason's text is not a plan, he doesn't have a phone!"

"New girl does!  That's why he left with her.  C'mon, you done lost your school to a ginger, you wanna lose your man to one too!?"

"We're just friends!"  She yelled and got into her car.

"Uh huh, story of my life!"  Devin ignited his engine and the Ducati sped off from the parking lot with Marissa close behind him.

The two made their way swiftly to the bridge that was thankfully still standing.  Marissa parked her car and popped her trunk.  By the time Devin had stopped and was meeting her she was closing the lid and slinging a duffle  bag over her shoulder.

"Seriously?" Her brother chuckled, knowing what it was.

She made a disgusted face at him.  "What?  So I carry a change of clothes in my trunk in case I wake up in a strange place, fuck off."

"No judgments." He laughed, raising his hands in defeat.

"Oh, double fuck off," she rolled her eyes and pointed in roughly the direction of the trailer.  "C'mon, let's go meet Jason and his new play thing."

The trek wasn't going the be easy, and Marissa was certainly not in her hiking clothes.

[Bannon]

Reservation Woods, near the Trailer

There was no need to wonder if Jason and his 'new play thing' - a phrase that seemed to make Marissa almost as unhappy as it would have riled Autumn had she heard it - were ahead of them.  The dull gleam of the Charger parked in the shade of some over-reaching branches on the edge of the old logging camp made that clear.

At Jase's insistence, Autumn was carrying a can of bear mace in it's holster on her belt.  Though she still doubted the existence of the smilodon - prehistoric great cats were not a regular feature of the local wildlife that she knew of - the story of the Shunka Warakin was familiar enough to her.  Apparently a farmer had shot one over at Sun Ranch, a tale which came up in the Keane household when telling spooky stories around the table when she was a child.  Her grandfather had once seen the stuffed animal, and claimed it was not a wolf despite the popular view that it was just an unusually large example of a modern canid.  There was just enough that gelled to the Shelly native about Jason's tale - strange rumors, whispered conversations overheard when she should have been asleep, ghost stories about disappearing folks in the wilderness - that she couldn't simply shrug it away.  If it was a con, then she had the mace and would kick the lanky streak of nothing's ass, strange powers or not. 

She hoped.

His woodcraft wasn't terrible - someone had taught him how to move, and to move silently too, watching where he put his feet.  He was also alert without being jumpy, head turning now and then to take in his surroundings, the late summer sun turning the light under the trees softly golden as they moved up the old paved trail towards the denser brush ahead.  He also had a can of the mace, likewise clipped to his belt, and the flame-haired girl kept a wary green eye on him and made sure she was a few steps behind.  He was odd, he was definitely a criminal with no regard for convention or rules - though he had some strange friends for a burnout dope dealer - and yet he had schooled Mr Jelbert in U.S. History yesterday without ever looking up from his chromebook.  Nothing fit about Goddamn Jason Fucking Bannon, and it made her edgy around him.

Jase glanced back to see how the new girl was doing, pleased to note that she was doing just fine - no puffing or panting, no sign of weariness under the heat, moving well, no sign of being overly spooked.  She was keeping one eye on him, which didn't bother him in the slightest.  Trust had to be earned, not given freely, and she had every right to be highly suspicious of him.  With a wry smile, he reflected that she'd likely be more so if she knew more about him, which brought his thoughts around to his friends.

'Psychopath' was a loaded word.  The monster, the cannibal, the Bundy and the Gacy.  The slasher in the movies, the mugshot of a cop killer on the news.  The terrifyingly Other fictional characters such as Hannibal Lecter - which were probably the ones he personally identified the most with, even though murder and cannibalism of people that offended him was not his personal taste - pun intended.  He suffered no such compulsions, that he was aware of.  But he'd told Lilly, and he'd told Marissa, and to an extent he'd told Lona.  And none of them seemed to mind, or at least seemed to be scared of him, which was gratifying.  Lona had slept with her head on his chest, perfectly trusting him right after he had told her he had no conscience as such, which had been an odd sensation to be close to someone in that way.  He was usually finicky about personal contact, but ever since the night of the party and the awakening of his connection to humanity through his powers, he felt more comfortable with such things, especially with his friends.  Was the Shine his 'magic feather' to connect to people?

Still... The psychopathic elephant in the room was the word itself.  He pictured Sean, or Laurie learning of it and reflected he'd probably not be invited round to many dinners at the Cassidys...  Especially if they told their parents.  Or maybe they would surprise him.  Lilly, Mari and Lona certainly had.  Hell, the Jauntsens would turn up at the farm just to hang out.  Lilly was a little complicated, naturally.  She wanted to see the best in people, and he was fine with that - after all, to waste potential was a crime.  But her idea of 'best' seemed to be thinking that he could learn affective empathy, or perhaps to learn how to be nice when he didn't feel like it?  One of those was impossible, the other felt like choking himself just to spare the feelings of others.  A quote from Heinlein came to mind: "Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig."  It was apt.  His internal code was a careful construction of nearly a decade, designed to give his starkly elemental nature enough leeway whilst preventing it running amok.  It was especially important now, approaching seventeen years of age with all the hormonal chaos that entailed.  Boy becoming man, aggression instincts rising, changes, noticing girls, and now strange and powerful abilities.  No, he needed that code, and more to the point his friends needed him to have it.  This was no time for annotating.

He glanced back at Autumn, taking a mental snapshot of her hair blazing in a shaft of sunlight, as they exited the woods and moved into the clearing.  He glanced around, noting the absence of disturbance, and gestured to the spot to one side where there were still prints of a large paw in the packed earth.

"That's the cat's work." he said tersely, moving to a nearby tree and taking down one of the concealed remote nanny-cams that watched the trailer.  Removing the memory stick, he sat on the trailer step and booted up his Chromebook. "I'm going to see if anyone has been here before we open that door."

Spoiler

Jase will be checking to see if anyone has visited the trailer.  The nanny-cams, if I remember correctly, are set to go off if something moves in front of them rather than run constantly.  I'm assuming the paw-prints are still there, since there's been no storms or anything that I know of to disturb them.  Let me know if that's not correct.

 

[Clara Lys Wright]

Nurse Herbert leaned over Lona as she sat down, examining Lona’s eye and taking her pulse. “Are you hurting anywhere, dear? Did you fall or hit your head?”

“I. . .” Lona struggled to pull herself together. “Maybe on the table when I put my head down. I had a panic attack, I think.”

Clara squeezed her shoulder in empathy. Panic attacks are awful. I hope she’s not go to end up with them like I did. Lilly watched the exchange with concern, hovering next to her two friends. Most of the others had dispersed off to their classes, though Sean and Cass were still around and packing up. 

Herbert placed a hand on Lona’s forehead and smiled at the two other girls. “No fever, but I think we might want to have the doctor take a look anyways, since he’s here. What was your name, honey?”

“Which doctor?” Lilly asked, curious who had been sent over to supervise the flu shots this year.

“Avalon Wilson,” Lona answered the nurse, rubbing her short hair. “I don’t need to see a doctor. I’ll be fine.” And she would, too, if she did the Lona-Pick-Me-Up again, but she didn’t want to recover too quickly not that there medical professionals paying attention.

“Let’s let Dr. Cook be the judge of that,” Herber said with cheery condescension. “It’ll give him something to do and keep him out of our hair.” She smiled at Lona as if the two were sharing a conspiracy. 

Cook was a world-famous diagnostician and someone just about everyone in Shelly had seen for one thing or another in their lifetimes. He was unflappable, charming, and of far too high a pay grade to be overseeing Shelly High’s annual flu shot. Barely a moment later the sound of the swinging doors opening and closing filled the now almost empty cafeteria. The teens all glanced up to see Dr. Cook entering the room with Etienne a shadow on his heels. 

“I want to see Dr. Winters,” Lona said quickly, her breath speeding up. “He took care of our father when he was sick.”

“Well, Avalon, Dr. Winters is holding down the fort at the hospital, so you’ll have to just make do with little old me for now. If we need to send you to the hospital, I’ll make sure we get you directly to him, okay?” He smiled at Lona, glancing over Clara and then landing on Lilly. “You look familiar, but for the life of me I can’t place your name.”

Over his shoulder, Etienne’s gaze lingered on Clara. He didn’t speak or move towards her, but he could never quite fully take his attention off of her. 

“That’s because I volunteer at the Center,” Lilly was explaining with a smile. She twisted and pointed to the back of her Jersey. “I’m Lilly, Cassandra’s daughter.” She held out a friendly hand for him and the two shook.

“Oh, yes, of course,” he said in the pleasant tones of someone that has no idea who Lilly is speaking about. “And you’re friends with Avalon and Clara?”

“We run together sometimes,” Clara interjected, using sheer force of will and concern for Lona to keep her from demanding something more from Etienne. 

“I saw her,” Lilly motioned to Lona, “not looking too good, so I came over to help. I mean, you know how my mom is. How could I not?” Lilly’s probing of the doctor didn’t elicit much response. She glanced around the room, feeling something was off and wanting a good idea of who was there with them.

“Mmm,” Cook responded noncommittally, then took over from Herbert. The woman melted out of the way but stayed close, watching the exchange. “Tilt your head back, dear. Do you feel any dizziness when you do that?” He helped her lay her head back and then roll it from side to side. “All three of you are friends with Devin Jauntson? And, uh, Jason. . .” 

He glanced back at Etienne, who took a half step forward and supplied, “Bannon, sir.”

“Yes, Bannon, that’s the name. You know them both, hm?”

“Jauntson’s an asshole,” Lona muttered. “No, I’m not dizzy. I might puke, though.”

Clara added, “Yeah, Devin’s...around, I guess? He seems to have decided we’re his new project or something.”

Lilly frowned at the odd line of questioning when looking a patient over. “Why is that important?”

Cassandra had been packing up, but at the sight of the well-known doctor tending to Lona - with Etienne lurking in the background - her mind had stuck on something. Was he the doctor? Or just a doctor? She was trying to be circumspect as she dug out her phone and slid around for an angle that would Cook, Herbert, and Etienne will clear shots of their faces. Cook somehow sensed the attention of the camera and looked up at her. “Smile for the yearbook!” she said as cheerily as she could manage. 

Lona flipped her off in pure Avalon Wilson style, though the green cast to her skin wasn’t a flattering look. Clara snorted at her and commented, “Clearly you’re fine, Lona.” 

“That’s what I said,” Lona complained, bringing her chin back down.
 
Cook, on the other hand, nodded Etienne off in Cassandra’s direction. “That’s not very lady-like,” he admonished Lona.

"I'm not a lady and I said I'm fine," Lona protested. "It was just a panic attack."

The young man took several steps in her direction, motioning the journalist over to them. From behind him, Cook said clearly, “Come over here, please.”

Cassandra shrugged and put the phone in her pocket, surreptitiously flipping from camera to video to capture the audio in the room as best as she could. “I’m fine, and I really do have class I should get to. Just wanted some shots for the yearbook and to make sure Avalon’s okay.” She tilted her head at Etienne curiously, “Are you a student here?”

Lilly frowned at the odd tension and pushed in to the conversation to try to protect her friends. “I tell you what, Dr. Cook, I’m going to take them to see my mom and Dr. Winters. Lona’s more comfortable with him. Thanks,” she finished, with her best forced smile.

Cook sighed in annoyance, pulling up a chair across from them and sitting down. “None of you are going anywhere right this moment. We’re going to have a conversation and we’re going to do our best to keep things for getting out of hand or ugly. How does that sound?”

“Like a threat,” Clara said, flipping from amusement at Lona to something stuck between alarmed and angry. Her head hurt from the constant strange buzz in the room and that was shredding her ability to stay collected. She ran a hand over her temples, trying to clear the annoying feeling. 

“Why would things get out of hand or ugly?” Lilly asked, her hackles raised. “She needs treatment and you seem more interested in our social circles.” She was scanning the room more intently now, noting the half dozen or so nurses, all out of earshot except for Herbert, and the lack of other students besides Cass and Sean. 

“No threats,” Cook said, sounding like it was the most absurd thing he’d ever heard. “I have nothing but your best interest in mind, I assure you. So please, just sti down and have a little chat and set some boundaries.”

“I’m a minor, and if--” Lona stopped mid-word and narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re the doctor,” she guessed.

“Clearly,” Clara said sardonically, her expression just as dark as her near-sister’s.

“She needs treatment,” Lilly insisted more firmly. “We are going to go get her some.”

Ignoring the quarter back, Cook nodded. “Yeah,” he said, stretching the word out. “Kind of overdramatic but, y’know, some people simply expect it.”

Lona glared daggers at Etienne and said softly, “Lilly, Cass, it’s fine. Go to class, we’re fine.”

“Not ‘no’,” Lilly folded her arms over her chest, planting herself firmly on Clara’s other side, “but ‘heeeelllll no’.”

“Really,” he chuckled the word in faint exasperation. “I’m not going to ask again. All of you please sit down.”

Lona gave Lilly a stare. “It’s really okay, Lilly. You and Cass go to class. You’re not involved.”

“Sit. Down.” Cook’s voice was cold ice. He didn’t get any louder or change tone, but there was steel to it now.

Clara gave him her best ‘why yes, I am a petty teen and have fun with that’ look and leaned on the table, refusing to even acknowledge that chairs existed in the room.

“I’m not leaving you here with him” Lilly said, shattering any illusion of ignorance Lona and Clara might have been trying to preserve. She leaned back against the table next to Clara, causing it to skip an inch back. Neither teen was willing to admit to the slight mishap, doubling down on their attitude instead. 

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Lona pointed out, trying to reason with Lilly. “He’s a doctor, we’re in a public space, and he wants to look me over. No danger here, even with Etienne being all ‘Canadian Caveman’ over there.”

Cass piped up with, “Uh, are we actually allowed to leave? He’s sounding a little Cape Fear from here.” 

Etienne shook his head and motioned her back over to a chair with the group. Quietly he assured her, “It’s best if you just do as he asks. Listen to him and everything will be fine. Don’t and someone might get hurt.”

“Well, that’s a ringing endorsement of character,” Clara muttered.  

Cass moved over to the group and Etienne closed the social space back off by stepping in next to her. “Oh, nope. Don’t loom. That’s not cool. This is now a no looming zone.” 

The young man sighed and moved back to a few steps behind Cook. Clara gave the doctor a level look, her own tone frosting over. “What do you want?”

Cook watched the exchange and then threw his hands up. “Kids, relax. No one is going to get hurt. For goodness, why would I hurt you? I made you.”

“Excuse the fuck out of you?!” Lona snapped and Clara stared wide at the man, then burst into semi-hysterical laughter. Etienne reigned back the impulse to go over to her, the only outward sign a leaning in her direction and the balling of his hands into frustrated fists. Lilly arched a brow at Cook and pointed to Lona, a clear statement of What she said.

Cass snorted. “Yeah, no way. My dad was way better looking than you. Sorry, notsorry.”

“Children, I am just here because I wanted you to know that you are not alone. You don’t have to shoulder these changes by yourselves.” He looked around at the small group, “I admit that this sudden blossoming took me by surprise. The Bannon kid, that was just incredible.”

He held up his hands in a mea culpa. “The mess with the GPS phone and last night, that was just a mistake. As was trying to get Etienne...well, you know all that. There are no threats here. No worries. I just want you to know that I am here for you all. Any and all of you. That’s all. And to advise you that it’s probably not a good idea to tell anyone about yourselves. Nobody else will truly understand.”

Cassandra opened her mouth to say something, but shut it before sound actually came out. Let the others be the center of attention. Best if they just forget me for now and let me get a full recording of all of this.

Lona, on the other hand, unloaded with full sarcasm. “You gonna tell me about all the magical changes that puberty will bring, doc?” She snorted, “‘Cause the boob fair already came.”

Clara had almost wrestled her demons back into their cages when Lona let loose and now her laughter dissolved in a fit of giggles. Her whole body was shaking and that damnable buzz that had started up a bit early was just itching away on her mind.

“What changes?” Lilly asked, worriedly suspicious that he already knew but also confused as to why he seemed to be including her in this. She slipped an arm around Clara, fearful the uniformed teen might lose her footing or push the table back on accident; she ran her hand over Clara’s arm, trying to soothe her.

Cook watched Lona with concern, ignoring her outburst. “If you are hurting, we can take you to the hospital and run some tests. If any of you need medical attention, I’m there for you. The Center is there for you.”

“Noooooooope,” Lona said, ending a sharp pop with the ‘p’. “No pain here.”

“What. Changes.” Lilly was getting testy at being ignored.

Dr. Cook shook his head, apparently still oblivious to Lilly’s agitated state. “I wasn’t expecting an entire class of you at one time.” He glanced at Clara and sighed, “Look, I’m going to go. Clara, you still have the GPS phone. When you are ready, just turn it on and I will come to you. We can talk privately and work things out, okay?” He tried to catch her eyes, “Deal?”

“Alone? Seriously?” Lilly practically put herself between Clara and the doctor. 

He finally acknowledged Lilly, realizing that she would block the conversation unless he didn’t. “Young woman, I am speaking of the psychic abilities. Obviously. What else would I be talking about?”

“Oh, look, an actual answer.” Lilly snarked, still miffed at being ignored. “Please do go on.”  

“Not the whole class, clearly,” he said as much to himself as anyone else. “There’s what, eight or nine of you?”

“Twelve,” Etienne interjected, making a few of them jump as he’d just melted into the background until them. 

“Yeah, a dozen, that was it.” He laughed, clearly delighted. “And I was hoping for just one!”

Clara just stared at him, her giggles gone the moment Etienne spoke and her mind doing some simple addition. “Why do you think all of us can do things?” Most of us haven’t done much that could be easily observed, so why is he assuming we all can?

“What about Cody?” Cassandra asked suddenly. “Is he one of the twelve?” Clara nodded to Cass, grateful for the journalist for staying on-task with their missing classmate.

“Oh, Lilly. May I call you Lilly?” In true fashion of arrogance, he didn’t wait to hear her response because it really didn’t matter to him. “I know everything. I built this city. I have been watching most of you and your families since before you were born. I have records of at least three generations of all of you. This is my life’s work. Forty years in this remote shithole, all for you.”

“Gee thanks,” Clara said with all the sarcasm she could must. 

Lona echoed with a muttered, “Wow, and I thought Devin was an ass.”

“Cody?” Cass prompted again, ignoring the man’s megalomania for the chance of a solid lead. 

Cook gave Etienne a look. “One of the neutrals, sir. Cody Sikes.” The doctor shrugged, killing the hope of a lead from him.

Lilly frowned, parsing over what had been said. “I’m not from here, Doctor.”

“No, Lilly, you are not. You are involved with the others, though, so I’m including you. Look,” he sighed, “I expected to speak with Avalon and Clara - clear some things up - but I think, perhaps, it’s best to take some time. Come back to this when emotions aren’t running quite so high and when you both feel safe. Like I said, I’ll come to wherever you want and answer any questions you have then.”

“No,” Clara said firmly. “We’re not going to feel safe with you. Not for a long time. You just admitted that you’ve been manipulation an entire town and see us your ‘creations’. You sound like a bad MCU villain. If you want to talk, public is the only place that’s going to happen. You want to clear things up? I’m all ears. Right here and now.”

“You’re all so spirited. I wonder if that’s a side effect.” He leaned back in the chair, the plastic straining against the pressure. “I know Avalon’s just had some kind of episode and I have been watching your eyes as well, Clara. I know something is going on with you as well, so I was offering...well, it doesn’t matter. If you want to talk now, then shoot.”

“My eyes?” Clara asked with genuine confusion. 

“Your pupils have been dancing around like they can’t seem to decide if it’s midnight or noon for most of the conversation,” he said. “That is not normal and we’ve discovered a strong correlation with psychic activity.”

“What do you want from us?” Lona asked, adding sharply, “And it’s Lona to you. Not Avalon.” He didn’t get to call her the same name her father had.

“Want from you?” he asked, shaking his head and shifting to a more comfortable lounge in the chair. “I don’t want anything at all. You are the culmination of forty years of work, of a lifetime of effort. You are alive, you are healthy, and you are starting to display the gifts you were born with. That is all I ever wanted. And now I want to make sure that you stay healthy and safe, so you can develop and grow your abilities”

“Why?” Lilly asked flatly, not trusting his apparent altruism one bit.

“Bullshit,” Lona snorted in agreement. “No one puts in this massive of an effort without a payout in the end.”

“What she said,” Lilly nodded to Lona.

“It takes a massive amount of resources to control an entire town,” Clara pointed out with her own disbelief. “Whomever is footing that bill is going to want more than a pat on the head and a ‘gee, isn’t this neat?’ when it’s all said and done.”

Cook shook his head, grinning a little. “Not really. At one time Shelly was a fully functional secret government project, but we haven’t had an oversight visit since. . .hmm. . .’98? Everyone that was involved in procurement has long since retired and died from old age or hard living. I haven’t even sent a report in since 2001.” 

He waved the issue off with a hand, “Shelly and this project were the kind of secrets you buried in other secrets that had already been buried themselves. No one else knows about you all and I’m not going to tell them.”

“Then how do you pay for things?” Clara challenged, glancing between him and presumably his paid employee, Etienne. 

“The apparatuses that were put in place are still here. Government at this level is monolithic once established. It stays put unless someone key is indicted and convicted. It’s a black ops operation from before there really were black ops. The money was and is funneled in from certain channels that people don’t question unless they’re given strong reason to do so. It’s just a given fact of one of the many budget lines bureaucrats are told not to think to deeply on. We keep to ourselves and don’t overextend, so no one thinks too deeply on us.” 

He caught the look to Etienne and clarified, “Etienne is a mercenary. I hired him when I couldn’t find another good way into your parents’ lab. I thought he might be able to use you to get inside. Clearly not one of my better ideas.” Etienne couldn’t quite meet Clara’s eyes and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, but he didn’t say anything. 

Lona, on the other hand, was more than vocal. “You sent a fucking mercenary after a sixteen year old girl?! You’re a monster.” She glared at Etienne. “I have other words for you.”

Clara stiffened, but she looped an arm around Lona, worried she’d need to actually hold the other girl back. “Not the real important thing right now,” she murmured to the irate teen. She kept her eyes on Cook, asking, “Why did you want into the lab?”

He sighed. “I was caught up in the mission, I guess. I am sorry.”

“I don’t care about your apology and I don’t forgive you,” Clara said dully. “You’ve shown you have no respect for actual people and are clearly incredibly messed up yourself.” She repeatedly herself, “Why did you want into the lab?”

“Frankly?” he held up his hands. “I thought your father was working for someone else out to steal my research. I didn’t believe that he and your mother just so happened to be independent geneticists. It really seemed like to great of a coincidence, them setting up here. I mean, what are the odds?”

“My mother grew up here, you twit. Ever think she just liked it here?” The insult snapped out of her and was well equivalent of Lona’s tirade of cusswords. The man was just imminently dislikable! She drew a ragged breath, realizing that she might have gone a bit overboard, but didn’t retract the denunciation.

“Exactly!” he agreed on a completely different line of thinking. “And then she comes back with a foreign husband from a country that, until 1984, had their own robust Psychic Research Department listed under its government resources. Of course I thought he was after my work.” He leaned in towards the girls, his words intense. “We have been doing this since the 1960’s. Since the ‘80’s every person in this town has been part of the project, knowingly or not. People have been convinced to relocate from all over the country to involve them. And no, most of them have no idea what it’s all about, but that’s what we had to do. It was a different world back then.”

“Bull-” Clara managed to cut off the second half of the word. She narrowed her eyes at the man, her dislike growing. “You didn’t have to lie to them. Don’t dodge your actions. You want to be proud of us?” she motioned to the other teens. “Then you better own to everything that went into it.”

“I’m not dodging anything, young lady. I don’t regret anything. They wanted weapons. We wanted evolution. I didn’t give you psychic abilities. I placed you in an environment that was conducive to their development and then I nurtured you. All of you.” He motioned to the building around them. “The best education. The best health care. I gave you the best chance to develop in a natural, if guided, way. And now we have a boy that can move a football with his mind. Another that seems to be able to move from one place to another without needing to cross the space between. And you,” he pointed to Lilly, “You have some sort of perception that allows you to move and react just a bit before you even know what’s going to happen. That’s three confirmed special teens in this school. And Clara and Lona, you are both experiencing something as well.” He leaned in farther, his enthusiasm sweeping away awareness of the hostility of his audience. “Are there others in your group having their own experiences? Or manifesting abilites?”

“I don’t squeal to pigs, even ones in labcoats,” Lona said quietly. “Or whatever the saying is. Look, you want a clear answer? Fuck. You.”

“I think you’ve invaded our privacy quite enough.” Clara didn’t lace her opinion with cussing, but her tone was just as clear.

Lilly, on the other hand, was blinking in confusion. “Perception that allows me to move and react before I know what’s going to happen? Seriously? Good reflexes don’t make a psychic gift, dude.”

Cook sighed in frustration and dropped his head. “Okay, like I said - when you’re less emotional, when you’ve had some time to think and when you’ve explained all of this to your friends, then we can talk again.” He locked eyes the three girls across from him, either ignoring or having forgotten Cass off to the side. “You kids need me.” He swung his arms out. “You need all of this. With it, when the world learns about you and what you can do. . .” He shrugs, “I’m your shield. And I would like to be your friend.”

“Friends don’t spy on each other,” Clara snapped, his words clearly hitting a raw nerve.

“Parents spy on children all the time,” he retorted gently. “And like it or not, so do adults.” He nods to Lilly, “I have a video I can show you, from Bunnee’s, and help break down what it means for you. But enough for now.” He stands up and motions them to the doors of the cafeteria. “You know how to get in touch with me, and remember it’s on your terms. You should get to class.”

As the four grudgingly went in the direction of the hall, Sean joined them from his conversation with Mrs. Jauntson. Lona fumed as the moved, finally demanding of Clara, “So...you’re dumping him, right? Right?”

The bell rang. 
 

[Sean Cassidy]

21 hours ago, WS ST said:

Sara had just sat through…whatever that had been, staring down at her bloody eggs now cold and congealed, an ugly sickening scrambled mess. She looked up and saw Laurie still seated. “You better get to class,” she pointed at the younger girls chest and the number on it, “They are going to be looking for you.”

"What?" Laurie said, turning from frowning at her brother and the group clustered about the nurse and doctor - was that Dr. Cook? - to look at Sara and then follow her finger down to her chest. Sara had showed them a sight, and whatever was going on, she was part of it too. "Oh! Right! Don't want to be late on game day. I dunno what you did, exactly, but hope you're okay Sara." It seemed ludicrous to ask someone as incredibly built as Sara if she was okay, but she did seem kinda... off. But Laurie also didn't want to be late or do anything that might get her benched for the first game. She so wanted to kick a field goal in her first game.

"I'll get that for you," Laurie said, grabbing Sara's tray of neglected and abused eggs as she stood up and flashed Sara a quick grin. "Hope to see you at the game. Grrl power, yeah?"

Laurie dumped the tray in the trash in passing, lightly tossing the tray on top of the receptacle and hustled towards her first class, joining up with a pair of sophomores who had also made the football team.

Glancing at Dr. Cook's back as he and Etienne left the cafeteria, the buxom boy fell into step with the four girls who had been talking with him, them. The tension was tight enough to strangle an elephant. He was a mite surprised that Dr. Cook hadn't come over to speak with him, he'd always had at least a few words for Sean when they saw each other about town, either of encouragement, some gentle chiding, or just asking how he was doing. Maybe he hadn't seen him talking with Mrs. Jauntsen?

Mrs. Jauntsen had only been looking for her children, and Sean had felt a bit guilty misleading the gorgeous and sophisticated office lady. If I put more effort into how I dressed, a bit more for the body I have rather than the one I should have, a touch more upscale, would I get more attention or less, or at least more positive attention? He told her that the Jauntsens had slipped out of the cafeteria earlier, but he was sure they were around somewhere. He just didn't qualify where they were around... like, say... the trouble trailer.

Sean arched a brow at Sara, tilting his head in invitation to join them as Lona made her demand of Clara.

"So... "

Considering what Lona and Clara had revealed of their prior evening activities, Sean had a good idea of what the ladies might have said to Dr. Cook. What Dr. Cook might have said to them in return - and it had seemed like plenty for a consultation on what was ailing Lona - Sean had a great deal more theories, having only been able make out the occasional word from where he'd been standing mooning over conversing with Mrs. Jauntsen. He had had nothing but good interactions with Dr. Cook. Better than almost every other doctor he'd met, he was one of the few who had never made him feel like a freak.

"... you bust Eddy to Dr. Cook?"

[z-Avalon Wilson]

Cafeteria at Shelly High School

Lona quirked an eyebrow at Sean. “Bust him to Cook? Sean, Cook’s his boss!” At the feminine boy’s expression of shock, Lona nodded. “Yeah, we’re his big science experiment, and he knows there are twelve of us, especially a shaggy-haired showoff and a hot showoff.”

Sean frowned and sorted through her words. “But Dr. Cook’s always seemed so nice.”

“Of course he has, he’s been patting his pet lab rat on the head!” Lona immediately realized how shitty her words were and said, “I’m sorry, that wasn’t what I meant. But he says he ‘made us’ and he doesn’t want to hurt us, or want anything from us other than to see us grow and thrive.”

Catching Clara trying to move away, she snapped, “You’re dodging my question. Are you seriously not sure about dumping a mercenary hired to honey pot his way into your parent’s lab?”

“I have to get to class,” Clara said and left. She didn’t quite run, but it wasn’t exactly a walk either.

Lona glanced at Lilly, Cass, and Sean. “In case you were wondering, that’s Clara-talk for ‘I’m not dealing with this right now’.”

[Cassandra Allen]

Cassandra nodded absently at Lona. Most of her attention was on her phone, which she'd taken out and was reviewing the recording she'd taken. It wasn't great, as one might expect. Every little movement scraped fabric against the mic, but she'd tried to hold as still as possible.

"Goddamnit," she swore as she played it back again. "Fuck!"

Then she looked up at Lona, realizing that some context might be needed.

"Sorry, I...I recorded that whole thing," Cassie said, holding up her phone. "I started taking a movie while my phone was in my pocket. But there's some kind of...interference or something messing up the audio. You can kind of make some of it out, but... Argh! No wonder he was so chatty! He must have had some kind of...spy tech thingy. I don't know. I'll see if I can clear it up some when I get the file on my computer."

She took a deep breath.

"That was really intense. I don't blame Clara for needing to bail on it for a little while. Etienne though? Really? Dude kinda gave me the creeps even before I knew he was a black ops mercenary hired to...whatever...with a high school girl."

[Lilly Pryor]

"We'll deal with them. Right now, we have immediate concerns. But, kudos on even trying to get the recording. THat was a great idea, Cass. Maybe it can be something to fall back on a last resort." she praised and suggested.

Lilly then turned to Lona, rubbing her back lightly with an open plam to try and soothe her a bit.

"Hey Lona. I... I dunno. I'm not sure how your gift works, but can I, like, loan you some of my strength or vitality or whatever, to help you heal or feel better?" Lilly offered, though she was a little unsure of sounding like an idiot since she did not understand how Lona's power functioned.

"I mean, that's at least how it works sometimes in TV and movies." she added, as if trying to excuse her possibly dumbass idea.

[z-Avalon Wilson]

Cafeteria at Shelly High School

Lona leaned in and gave Lilly a quick hug. You could always count on Lilly to offer comfort wherever she could. “I don’t really think it works that way. I haven’t been able to pull something out of someone. Though… I did give energy or something to Sara when I healed her. It was weird. 

“But hey, don’t worry, I’ll give myself a pick-me-up in the next class.” Lona smiled. “I already feel a little bit better, though that is adrenaline speaking, I think.”

A bell rang, sharp and strident. Lona glanced at the clock and sighed. “Gotta go if I’m not gonna skip. After yesterday, I can’t. So I’ll catch you all later.” 

 

She’ll leave unless someone stops her. I don’t know if you guys have the Medical Prep class, but that’s where she’s going.

[Jaunt]

18 hours ago, Bannon said:

Reservation Woods, near the Trailer

The twins approached with no intent on hiding their steps.  Marissa was playing the wobbling game every once in awhile as her shoes certainly didn't match the terrain very well.  Once they broke the clearing and saw Jase with his face in the laptop he smirked at Autumn.

"Careful, this is where he brings girls to murder and eat.  He keeps a fridge in that trailer."  Devin smiled wide as Jase offered him a middle finger without looking up from what he was doing.  "But fear not, I'm here to save you.  Whatcha doin' Friday?"

"Excuse my brother, he's a perpetual moron with a perpetual hard on."  Marissa rolled her eyes, walking around to meet Jase at the door.  "Hurry up, I need to go in and change.  I'm Mariss-"

"I know who you guys are, you," she pointed to Devin.  "Snapped my bra last year and I spilled my lunch all over Tom Winslow, who I kinda had a crush on until he refused to speak to me after that..."

"Yeah, I know.  S'why I did it." Devin shrugged and offered a look like 'duh' with no semblance of apology anywhere in his tone.  "Winslow's an ass anyway... all about granola and hippie shit.  I saved you."

Her lips pursed and she inhaled using the moment to avert her irritation.  "And you..." She looked to Marissa.

"Me?" The other half of dysfunctional asked, pointing at herself with snobby expression like she had no dirt on the glam queen of Shelly.

"You," she said flatly.  "Educated the whole 3rd period class about my rustic appearance and split ends, and poor skin management that stayed home for the Valentine's Day last year, to embarrassed to leave house!"

"As well you shoulda been, sister, that skin was just... wow.  But, I'm glad that seems to have all cleared up!"  She smiled, just her brother, a tone of complete 'we do no wrong, you're welcome' rising from her words.  "See?  It all worked out.  Although, see me later... we'll work on the hair.  See, my brother kinda has me helping with this charity case thing-"

"She means 'making friends'," Jason offered up, shaking his head with a grin.

"-sure, whatever, anyway, I can totally help out with that whole Boondocks frizz you have going there."  She smiled like Autumn should be thankful Mariisa and and her brother were walking ruination of lives and she was both simultaneously insulted and complimented by the both of them.  The beautiful brunette looked to Jason and tapped him her shoe, signaling him to scoot.  "Come on, Jason, whose middle name I don't know, Bannon, move... I have to change!"

[Bannon]

Reservation Woods, at the Trailer

"...are words that no-one ever thought they would hear you say."  Jase said without looking up.  Devin snorted with laughter, causing his sister to shoot him a narrow glare, but the male Jauntsen was intently peering at the ground near Autumn, where the large paw prints of the smilodon were still clearly visible.

"In broad daylight they look bigger."  he remarked.  Autumn couldn't help but nod silently as she looked at the claw marks and the large pads, her irritation with the Jauntsens set aside for now.  The prints were larger than any cougar or lynx tracks she could remember.  Marissa glanced over and shivered as she remembered the cold feral green eyes gleaming at them in the torchlight, then pursed her lips and glowered down at Jason.

"Are you going to move, or am I going to test whether my heel can go through the top of a combat boot?" she said with some asperity.  Jase looked up with a crooked grin, the sun catching the flecks in his pale eyes framed by shaggy hair in dire need of a comb, and nodded.

"I had to make sure nobody was here.  We're good.  A bit of local wildlife crossing the clearing is all." he said, snapping shut the Chromebook.  He stood and unfastened the padlock, opening the heavy steel door and gesturing for Marissa to enter with exaggerated courtesy and a slight smile.  "And I have no middle name."

"Finally!" she huffed as she swept past him, though her own lips curved in an unseen smile of their own as she entered the trailer.  As she made her way to the bedroom at the back of the cabin, Jason gestured the others over.

"So where's this nuclear generator?"  Devin said as he bounced into the trailer a step ahead of Autumn.

"Buried under the trailer., the controls and dials are behind a panel between the bathroom and the second bedroom back there."  Jase shrugged as Marissa shut the bedroom door.  "I want to leave it in place because it's unshielded."

"Wait, what?"  Devin glared at the phlegmatic teen as he leaned over the radio.  "Like, leaking and shit?"  Autumn stared around the inside of the trailer, noting discolored patches on the walls where things had been hanging for a long time, then removed.

"Trace amounts of radiation."  Jase said casually.  "Under the trailer in the ground it's safe enough.  Moving it might cause things to get worse.  Relax. It's safe where it is until Sean or I can do something about it."

"Okay."  Devin said, shrugging.  Autumn stared at his apparent acquiesence, which he noticed as he turned back towards her.  "What?!  Red, I've seen this guy read a library of car maintainence books in a day and teach himself how to restore a classic muscle car.  If he says a nuclear generator small enough to fit in the back of a pickup is safe where it is, I'm not going to fucking argue."

"Thank god for small mercies!"  Marissa called from the bedroom.  Devin shot the closed door the bird as Jason turned on the radio, eyes intent on the dials as he toyed with the controls.

"This radio has a purpose." he explained without being asked.  "While we're here waiting for Marissa to get wilderness-fabulous, I might as well indulge some curiousity."

[Autumn Keane]

Surprise, surprise.

The idea that someone like Jason (who was practically the poster boy for misanthropes at Shelly High) would associate with the Jauntsens should have come as more of a shock, given the disparity in their social statuses... But, with a moment's reflection, it occurred to Autumn that since probably no one else liked any of them enough to hang out, it stood to reason they'd end up together. Just being in such close proximity to all of them at once was enough to revive the headache that had eventually faded after her rendezvous with the cafeteria door, and it had taken every ounce of self-control she possessed to bite back the profanity-laden retort that sprang to mind following Marissa's "generous" offer of assistance. The only reason she continued to exert the effort was self-preservation: she was in an enclosed space with not one, not two, but three people she neither liked nor trusted, and literally everything about the situation was completely bonkers.

Super powers? Government conspiracies? Monsters? Wake up, Autumn, You're in the middle of nowhere, in an abandoned trailer, listening to a conversation about radioactive decay and fashion choices. What are you thinking? I mean... okay, the government conspiracy thing is probably true, because they're shady as fuck, but... Middle of nowhere. The Goddamn Jauntsen Twins. Jason Fucking Bannon.

She was pretty sure he was lying about the middle name, because she couldn't imagine it being anything else.

While Marissa changed clothes, Autumn paced around the room, studying the bare walls and poking around at discarded odds and ends. She had taken her hair out of the scrunchie and was half-consciously weaving it into a braid as she walked, her hands moving in the slow, regular rhythm of someone who'd been doing it all her life. What were they even supposed to be looking for? She was about to ask, when Jase suggested a nuclear generator (portable or otherwise) might be safe.

"What?!" Devin snapped as she turned to eye him speculatively, unsure why he was deferring to Bannon on something that obscure. "Red, I've seen this guy read a library of car maintenance books in a day and teach himself how to restore a classic muscle car.  If he says a nuclear generator small enough to fit in the back of a pickup is safe where it is, I'm not going to fucking argue."

"Okay. You don't get to call me Red," she snapped back, tucking the braid into itself to keep it off the hair off the back of her neck and internally fuming about the unfairness of every asshole and stuck-up bitch in Shelly being unreasonably attractive. She didn't even hear the interaction between Jase and Marissa, focusing instead on the Crazy Rich Caucasian in front of her. "I know where your mouth's been, and I don't want to hear any kind of nickname you've made up coming out of it." There was a moment's pause as the angry flush in her cheeks subsided slightly, and her voice was audibly more even when she continued. "Look, I get it. You don't like me, for whatever reason, or you guys just get off on making people feel like shit. Whatever." She shook her head dismissively, lifting a hand as if the justification for the twins' years of awful behavior didn't really matter to her. "I've spent the last two hours getting bombarded with crazy, and I don't have the patience to deal with your attitude or hers, so if we could just..." She exhaled sharply in exasperation, biting the inside of her lip. "Just, focus on finding whatever it is we're here to find for now, that would be great. Please."

[Jaunt]

"I like you." Devin said casually.  "I mean, not like you, like you but like you.  Okay, Re-Autumn, I get you have no real reason to like us, we've been... ungood to people.  We're trying..."

"Trying what?"  She asked.

"I don't know... be better, I guess?  We don't have, and never have had, any real friends.  We're not good at this, so, just, please... whatever I did, and I'm sure it's a lot, I'm sorry.  Okay?"

"Right now one of us is missing out there and the law can't help, so we need to at least try to do this ourselves.  I won't flood you conspiracy garbage, I barely understand it myself, but I do know that if the tree is around here, I can find it."  He said confidently.

"How so?" Jason asked.  "One tree in all of this?  Those aren't good odds."

"Never tell him the odds!"  Marissa chimed up from the bed room.  "It only provokes his stupidity to out do physics and science... and common sense!"

"Hush woman!" Devin shouted to his sister.  "When Sara linked us all up awhile I saw some weird stuff for a moment.  Lona's dad, your barn, Lilly's underwear drawer... but from Sara, I caught a glimpse of the Tree.  She's seen it.  It wasn't much, just a fraction of a second, but I might be able to use it to kick my spatial location on.  It's about as long of a shot as we can get, but, it's all I have."

He looked worried and genuinely concerned.  "This is my fault.  I made the damn tree up, now someone's using it to torment people.  We gotta find him, I can't live with someone's life on my conscience.  I can't."

[WS ST]

have locked until I have had a chance to post

sorry if you were working on a post but it will have to wait

thank you

[Sean Cassidy]

Shelly High

19 hours ago, Avalon Wilson said:

Lona glanced at Lilly, Cass, and Sean. “In case you were wondering, that’s Clara-talk for ‘I’m not dealing with this right now’.”

"I figured," Sean said with off-hand wryness.

He was still stunned by the revelation of Dr. Cook being behind this, or at least them, and these abilities they seemed to be developing. From the bit he could infer from the few comments the girls' had made, they made him out to be sinister on the scale of Bond Villainy, but their objectivity could be tainted by Etienne's presence. On the other hand, Dr. Cook had been rather dismissive that other doctors might be any help in dealing with his genetic conditions.

Sean glanced down, his field of view largely obstructed by the preposterously prominent protrusions pushing out from his chest. It wasn't the first time the niggling thought had occurred to him, but this time he had a face to go with it. Was his fucked up DNA at least partially why he had these powers? He didn't want to believe Dr. Cook would have or could have inflicted the exceedingly rare conglomeration of genetic anomalies he possessed on him, but could he have prepared an environment where they were more likely to happen? And was being built like a particularly pulchritudinous pin-up girl the price he had to pay for his presuming psionic potential? If he'd been offered the choice, would he have taken it?

He had so many questions for Dr. Cook.

19 hours ago, Avalon Wilson said:

A bell rang, sharp and strident. Lona glanced at the clock and sighed. “Gotta go if I’m not gonna skip. After yesterday, I can’t. So I’ll catch you all later.” 

"At lunch, I wanna know everything thing he said," Sean exhorted Lona emphatically as the bell rang and he started going the other way down the hall for his class. Phys. ed. Yay. He called out over his shoulder, "Everything!"

[WS ST]

“Nothing happens until something moves.”
― Albert Einstein

“Do you think the universe fights for souls to be together?
Some things are too strange and strong to be coincidences.”
― Emery Allen

“If you think this Universe is bad, you should see some of the others.”
― Philip K. Dick

 

The Trailer

Jason was turning the dial on the radio and changing bands at random picking up the usual stuff you would get from this sort of radio, local chatter from the Airports, the local radio stations both talk and the country/oldies one that was all you could usually get around Shelly. But he also tuned into some other stations from great falls and beyond and he could get most of them clearly. He mused that if he had some good speaker this would be great back at his place.

Behind him, he could hear the girls and Devin, but his attention was centered on the radio and then he caught something. It was faint as if from far away but what caught his attention was that it seemed to be repeating itself at different frequency points along a very narrow band. He struggled to bring it in clearly and then he heard it. It was full of a droning background noise and static but clear he heard a voice full of excitement “TORA! TORA! TORA!”, then the signal would fade to static and with a slight nudge of the dial there it was again. Jason tried to stabilize it but all he could do was catch the single phrase over and over.

 

Shelly High

Various Classrooms

Clara and Cora were the ones who really felt it, the buildup of psychic pressure which they couldn’t pin on any one thing. It had begun at breakfast and the argument, then built slowly, but steadily over the next hour. It wasn’t painful, not really, like a sinus headache minus the headache part. But it was there, and it was distracting and made both girls agitated.

By the second half of the first class all of those who had been at the fellowship table, except Lilly, Cade, and Laurie, were feeling something. For Cora and Clara it was a pressure in their heads that made it feel like their heads should be two to three sizes larger just to hold it in, Sara in shop, began hearing whispers but not of sound, whispers of thoughts from those around her and she couldn’t keep them out, Sean saw the fireflies he had been seeing dance and spin in patterns which seemed to spell out words that weren’t words. In the School Papers Office Cassandra had to hold on to her desk her knuckles white as each room where one of her new friends was seemed to become the room she was in, all at once, superimposed over each other. Lona felt every ache and pain every illness of those around her it was close to overwhelming. And Charlie, Like Lona, was inundated with the sense of every single living organism from the human classmates and teachers down to the tiniest microbe. It was enough to make him want to scream.

Then for all of them, abruptly, it stopped.

The Trailer

So engrossed was Jason so tuned into the signal that he started when Mari spoke from right behind him. He hadn’t even registered her coming so close.

“Hey, isn’t that what the Japanese said when they bombed Hawaii in that movie?”

Jason looked back and up at her and opened his mouth to speak but before he did the lights flickered.

The radio got louder by itself the Japanese words repeating over and over “TORATORATORATORATORA”

The lights flickered more creating a strobe effect Jason stood and looked up at the lights. Devin and Autumn were echoing his move and watching the lights as well, Marissa was looking at the radio. The strobe effect and the radio broadcasting continued for several long seconds before the trailer was plunged into silence and darkness.

Devin fought of a flash of vertigo, as if the world had flipped over then righted itself.

Almost immediately the light faded back in but dim and the color was wrong more bluish than yellow, and the radio came back at low volume sounding hollow, nothing but static.

Three of the teens looked around and at each other, one had eyes and ears only for the radio. They themselves seemed unaffected but not so the trailer. All around them the trailer and its furnishings now appeared old, decayed, as if it had stood the assault of the weather on the inside as well as out. The walls were corroded and stained, the floor bucked in places the ceiling sagged.

The radio filled the room with static. Mari had crouched in front of the radio and was moving the dial. “Do you guys hear that?”

At first, they didn’t but as the girl played with the radio, they began to make out a voice, but it was unintelligible as if whatever was being spoken was being spoken backwards.

Autumn looked around and at everyone “What the fuck is going on?”

 

Spoiler

PM me in discord with questions since the site is wonky

you may recommence posting but make sure you write it elsewhere so you don't lose it when the site goes down again.

Oh you may now use your psionic abilities freely at whatever levels you have established. but may not spend xp yet

 

[Bannon]

The Trailer, elsewhere

"Temporal and dimensional anomalies."  Jason said calmly, only the narrowing of his eyes betraying any inner tension.  "This didn't happen when Sean and I examined it before.  The radio picked up a transmission from the past - the drone was aircraft and the words were exactly what the Japanese pilots are reported to have exclaimed as they began the attack on Pearl Harbor.  I believe it was an idiom meaning "Surprise has been attained"."  He crouched next to Marissa at the radio.  "And then we were shifted - though whether through time or across some boundary I do not-  Wait."  

He reached up and gently took Marissa's hand away from the radio controls, bringing his other hand up to turn up the volume.  He barely registered her fingers turning and twining around his in a firm handclasp, their touch cool as he cocked his head and half-closed his eyes.  The sound of the voice was distorted, the words a menacing garble underpinned with a deep bass rumble as if of a train moving past nearby the broadcast point.

"What language is it?"  Devin asked, fidgeting.  He and Autumn tried to peer out of the windows, but they were covered and blocked off.  They both looked at the door, then at each other, then thought better of it.

"English."  Jason said quietly.  "But spoken backwards.  Give me a moment."  He closed his eyes without moving, Marissa studying his profile whilst controlling her own urge to freak out.  His presence was a reassuring anchor right now, as it had been on the night of the party.  He was silent for maybe a minute, but every second was a loud heartbeat in the ears of the waiting teens.  As tense as the wait was, when Jase spoke again it was not reassuring.

"Break the rules, face the tree.  Break the rules, face the tree." he uttered, the words sending chills down three spines present as he opened his eyes.  "Just that, repeated over and over.  And I'm not sure, but I think it's Cody's voice.  The static makes it hard to know for sure though."

"Cody's on the other end of a radio broadcast?"  Autumn blurted out.  "That makes zero sense."

"Yes, it does.  I don't think this 'radio' is picking up a radio signal now."

"Cody's brain?"  Devin hazarded. He saw Jason nod.

"That's my best guess."  He straightened up, Marissa standing with him and showing little inclination to move her hand from his.  Jason turned his head towards the door.  "I think we should probably find out where we are."

[WS ST]

Spoiler

Characters at School may skip to lunch If you wish... it won't effect the trailer kids

 

[Clara Lys Wright]

Shelly High School

Study hall was hell on Clara - an unwelcome fifty minutes of fidgeting, worrying, and thoughts spinning in her head. She managed to focus enough to send out a group text:

//Dr. Cook is Etienne's boss. Not a pretend boss from his cover of working at the hospital, but actually the guy that sent Etienne to spy on my family and then the rest of us. I think 'the rest of us' has just been the past few days? Maybe since Devin's seizure? He - Dr. Cook, not Etienne - says he's been watching everyone in Shelly for basically 40 years. He says he just wants to help us and that he’d like to talk with at least Lona and I at some point to ‘clear things up.’ And that he 'created us'. Also, he saw Jase and Devin showing us what they could do, but doesn’t seem to know exactly what everyone else could do. I’m guessing he has the school wired with cameras or something. Creepy. Maybe more than the school, if he’s really in control of the town. He said he's been manipulating who comes to Shelly as some sort of weird eugenics project or something. We need somewhere else, somewhere he can’t peep on us, to get together.

Apparently the whole deal with Etienne was to get into my parents’ lab because he’s paranoid that someone else will try to steal his research. I don’t think that’s what’s going on at all, but they’re geneticists. Which means he’s sure this is a genetic thing. My parents might actually be people to go to for help. I don’t know, just tossing that out there since apparently the entire medical scene in Shelly was ‘built for us’ and so under Dr. McCreepy’s control.

I’d like to talk at lunch, but not in the cafeteria. Any ideas? 

Also, is anyone else feeling that buzzy feel? It’s driving me nuts and I don’t think it’s just a headache.//

After that, she’d typed up a dozen different texts to her Canadian complication, erasing and rewriting them as none of the words seem to add up to what she needed to ask or tell him. Finally, she just gave up and laid her head down until the bell rang. The rest of her classes went by in a blur of books, spiral notebooks, and classmates giving her side glances both for her uniform and for her distracted withdrawal. When the lunch bell finally rang, she dived for her phone again, hoping someone had an idea for where to meet up. 
 

Spoiler

That text went out while Jase & co were on their way to the trailer. I can edit in any responses people wanted to have made. I know the trailer folks have weird going on now, but they would have had time for a couple of responses, if they were so inclined.

 

[Coraline Hess]

SHELLY HIGH SCHOOL

Bzzz bzzzz. Bzzzzz pop. Pop pop Bzzz bzzzz. Pop bzzzz.

The pressure in Coraline's head made every flicker in the lights overhead feel like a personal insult delivered right in her ears. The sensation got worse over time, gnawing in ever-bolder snatches at the edge of her focus. Note taking was out of the question, a few half-completed scribbles dying off as she focused on seeming attentive, tossing up socially acceptable smiles whenever someone shot a questioning look of concern her way. At least until Clara's text came in.

It took her five or six tries, between the buzzing and having to sneak glances at her phone, but when she did get it... What. Just What. 

The scowl moved in and firmly pushed the half-hearted smiles to one side. Okaaay. Think. Some Cold War reject had effective control of the school and the town or at least claimed he did. Did she have anywhere..? The classroom where the club met? No. Gym, training rooms? No. She looked out a window and huffed in a mixture of pain and frustration. She just might as well admit to herself, she just wasn't sneaky enough for... Her roaming gaze paused as she fixed on a familiar landmark, hours of failure and sweat and occasionally blood painting the small building near the edge of the school grounds in bright colors.

Yeah. Sucks. Toolshed 3 might work. Far enough out the smokers usually don't bother and out of sight of the main building.

And sent to the group. Coraline went back to enduring her headache that was probably not just a headache, picturing Dr. Cook in a lab coat cackling as lightning danced in a jar behind him. Just so weird. 

The headache going away like magic was immediately replaced by the concern something might have happened, had already happened.

[Jaunt]

"I don't know if that's such a good idea..." Devin said softly, a mild tone of fear in his voice.  Unlike Bannon, Devin felt a range of human emotions and right now wasn't liking it.  He knew something they didn't and as he caught his bearings from the vertigo that hit him like a wrecking ball, he gripped Jason's wrist as he reached for the knob.  "Jason, I don't have bearings.  My map, it's gone."

"A side effect of the light, perhaps?" He asked calmly.

"No, I mean... I still have the spatula city-"

"Spatial acuity," Marissa corrected him.

"Yeah, that, but... I know we're here, I know every tripping hazzard around me, but... there is no here in my head.  We're not in Shelly, bro."  He seemed worried, scared even.  Now that he'd gotten used to the spatial locations in his mind, to not have them there made him feel like he'd lost a part of himself.  Like he wasn't whole.

"Okay, light show and game time are over, I'm outta here."  Autumn reached for the door and with a twist of the knob threw the door to trailer opened... and they all stared in a mingling of fear and wonderment.

They were in the same spot, geographically speaking... like a dark twisted reflection of their own world.    The air of the place wafted in and assulted thier senses, smelling sickly sweet and acrid like sugar blackening on a open flame.

From beyond the portal the four teens could see that it was suddenly twilight, a perpetual blueberry haze seemed to film their eyes, yet inside the trailer everything was normal in color, no bluish tint at all.

Everything beyond the doorway, that they couldn't help but slowly get closer to the longer they looked beyond it, seemed... not dead, but... worn.  Like it was alive but weary and tired of its existence.  The grass was withered and hung lazily, the trees were withered and gnarled like a Halloween special and where their canopy of leaves should be, hovered a dense fog instead, thick and blotting out the sky, but not thick enough that the the sun wasn't able to punch its light through... the glowing, blue marble hazily hovering high in the sky.  The sky was grim, the clouds were low and thick threatened rain in a place that seemed to be where misery and depression were born.

"What."

"The."

"Fuck?"

Jason, Devin and Marissa helped each other out as one word sentences were all even the psychopath genius could come up with.

"No."  Devin said, pushing Jase to the radio.  "Fu-huh-huh-huh-ck this.  Get back on that thing... and spin some dials, dude."

A low distant rumble echoed off in the distance, and Marissa turned her head from the doorway, looking at her three companions.  "Guys," she barely manged the words through the fear the squeezed her heart.  "The paw prints.  They're gone."

"Get us home, Jason!" Devin yelled, looking at the door like crazy monsters were going to storm the trailer.  "I'm not dying in Silent Hill!  Hell to the naw!"

Marissa looked to Autumn, who no longer had an interest in leaving.  "After you," she mockingly waved her arm through the portal.  Realizing she passed the threshold she pulled it back in swiftly, making herself foolish in the middle of her jab.

The redhead raised her hands and backed away another step.  "I'm good.  Yeah.  I'll just be over here trying to get my 'what the fuck' up and sorted."

[Bannon]

The Trailer, Elsewhere.

"I'd advise for now that nobody step outside."  Bannon said unnecessarily as he squatted over by the radio and studied it.

"No fucking shit."  Devin said, shifting from one foot to the other and back again behind him.  Marissa just nodded and shut the steel door, her face pale as she looked for something to brace it with.  Autumn silently taking stock noticed that whilst outwardly calm, even weirdo Jason Fucking Bannon was somewhat pale under his tan, though he showed no other signs of fear or anxiety as he pondered the controls of the 'radio'.

"Autumn, little help here?"  Marissa asked without any trace of her usual snark or snap as she tried to tug a couch in front of the door.  The red-headed girl nodded and moved to assist, the two of them easily bracing the door against whatever might come in.

"So where are we?"  Devin asked Jason as the other's slender fingers slowly turned a dial, hunting through frequencies.

"My guess?  Where the cephalogina came from."  Bannon responded without looking up.  Devin went paler as Jason went on in the same matter-of-fact tone.  "The temporal anomalies would explain the Pearl Harbor transmission and the smilodon.  This is a dimensional anomaly.  You and Cassie both saw the creature materialise and disappear through the medium of a black cloud, whereas the smilodon just faded away."  The radio's noise changed from Cody's backwards thoughts / words and the fuzz of static filled the trailer as Jason turned dials.

"The radio can do that?"  Marissa asked, sitting on the couch braced against the door.

"Not the radio itself, but a signal it put out that might not correspond to what we know about electromagnetic waves.  Something that acts like a key, perhaps."  His pale green eyes narrowed intently as he concentrated on his task.  "I'm trying to find the opposite signal, if you'd just be-"

After nothing but static the whole time they'd been talking, the radio suddenly put out another broadcast, though as the four teens listened to it, it was far from reassuring.  Weird sliding waves of sound, static bursts that might have been words, clicks and pops that sounded eeriely regular and cadenced...  It was like tuning in to Alien FM.

Spoiler

https://youtu.be/Sh2-P8hG5-E

Basically that.  Add in creepy staticky voices and you're pretty much there.

"Or perhaps I should not mess around with a device that I know nothing about."  Jason sat back on his haunches, frowning as he turned the damned machine off.  He looked around at the others.  They looked at each other, then him.

"We're stuck, and I'm not sure we can get back this way."

[z-Avalon Wilson]

Shelly High School

Lona expected the cessation of the buzzing to bring relief, but like Cora, it brought a sense of dread. She was happy to no longer know exactly what STI any given member of the student body had (hint, per the CDC half of all STIs occur in young people aged 15–24, even though they make up only 27% of the sexually active population). Worse was knowing which teachers had what disease. It didn’t take long for her to realize she was invading people’s health privacy right and left, and her inability to stop left her feeling dirty. She couldn’t help it, but she tried hard. 

At lunch, she grabbed some shit from the cafeteria, running into Clara. As they cleared the doors together, lugging the food, Lilly caught up to the and immediately took up a protective stance next to them. “If only you could save me from this cornbread,” Lona sighed as she went to the vending machines and bought a soda. Together, they headed out to the tool shed, as no one had texted a better idea. As they approached, Lona looked for cameras and other places where hidden observers might dwell. She didn’t see any but the fuck did she knew about spycraft? All she knew about real-life spying involved an asshat named Dr. Cook and his borderline rapist toady.

Charlie was waiting with his lunchbox when they got out there. It didn’t take long for the others to arrive; everyone was anxious after the stressful morning. Lona picked at her cornbread, realized she was too hungry to not eat after missing breakfast, and said, “So here’s the deal.” 

Between her, Clara, Lilly, and Cass, they relayed the encounter from that morning in detail. “Questions?” Lona said when she was done. “I know Sean had some, so don’t be shy. Let’s hear them.”

[Autumn Keane]

 

The Trailer, Elsewhere.

That fact that she was seeing and hearing things that should not be seen or heard didn't alter Autumn's basic conviction that all of this was crazy; it simply meant that, for right now, she was just going to have to accept that she was crazy, too. If she didn't... She was a teenaged girl, and fairly resilient, but she was not at all confident in her ability to simply disbelieve the entire experience and not suffer a breakdown of some kind.

Her throat twitched in a hard swallow. If they'd just been stranded in the (normal) woods, she'd be fine, but nothing here smelled or felt or sounded like the world she knew. It felt like being trapped in a bad dream, knowing it couldn't be real, but still being terrified that it could somehow hurt you anyway. She was so good at this stuff, and if they'd been anywhere but... wherever they were... or weren't, she would have no trouble getting them home, but- how did you get home when it didn't exist anymore? Like flipping one of the maps in her geography textbook to see the one printed on the back, they were somewhere that maybe resembled where they'd come from, but wasn't.

"Hey." Her voice was slightly lower than normal, tinged with worry. She licked her lips, folding her arms tightly across her chest as she turned from the boarded windows and ugly couch to regard the resident science expert, The Fucking Bannon, with wide eyes and a sombre expression. "You said we can't get back the same way... The radio, I mean. How do you know for sure?" she asked, her words undercut by a quaver of trepidation.

"I don't," he replied matter-of-factly, turning to give Autumn his full attention. There were several things she didn't like about Jason Effing Bannon, and the way he didn't so much look at people as observe them ranked high on the list, but she was too focused on not losing her shit for the annoyance to register. Even the Jauntsens would probably get a pass on shitty behavior at this point- at least until they got out of this. If they got out of this. "This place is, or at least seems to be, a reflection of our world. Given the last transmission, we have a greater chance of ending up somewhere worse than of stumbling upon a way back via the radio."

"Mmm." Autumn nodded, exhaling through pursed lips and turning back to the doorway. She'd been afraid of that. Hell, she still hadn't had time to process all the things the others had said, or what was actually happening- she might not get the chance at all. Alarm bells were going off like shrieking klaxons in her head, and the acrid, bitter taste of fear rose at the back of her throat, but the meltdown her brain craved was going to have to wait a little longer. She'd been taught that, if you were stuck somewhere and people knew where you were, knew how to get to you, it was better to wait for them to find you. If they didn't know where you'd gone, and wouldn't miss you for a while, you were S.O.L. Good luck figuring it out on your own.

"If we can't use the radio, there's no point staying. We'll just have to hope this place is enough like home that we can navigate, find a landmark that's similar to one we know." She started moving then, directing all her anxious energy into productive action. She checked for anything useful she could throw in her backpack, and then grimaced as she dragged one end of the couch away from the wall to create a path. "You guys said things came to Shelly from wherever this is, so... There's gotta be some other way there besides the radio, and staying here just means whatever those things are will have us trapped in a really gross metal box."

[Sean Cassidy]

Shelly High School

14 hours ago, Avalon Wilson said:

Between her, Clara, Lilly, and Cass, they relayed the encounter from that morning in detail. “Questions?” Lona said when she was done. “I know Sean had some, so don’t be shy. Let’s hear them.”

"Sooooo many questions," Sean confirmed, a slight lisp to his mezzo-soprano voice due to a puffy lip, one side of his jaw reddened, as he glanced around the tool shed as though looking for something. "Most of them are for Dr. Cook." There was a soft growl of anger in his tone at the name. "But I have a few--"

"I have two for you, first, Sean," Lilly said, peering at her odd friend - well, the Fellowship was all odd, but Sean was more odd than most. "What happened to your lip? And what are you looking for?"

"First period of phys. ed. of the year, like always, coach ended it with a round of All For One Dodgeball. I got hit with a couple of bad bounces," Sean said offhandedly, nodding as he finished his search, satisfied that he hadn't found anything. He didn't think he had to detail what the dodgeball had bounced off, but that had hardly been the whole of it. Distracted by the fireflies of information dancing about him and still a bit clumsy getting used to his expanded curves in a more active environment, he had made an easy target. "And I was looking for any transmissions from any recording devices here."

Sean turned back to the others, unzipping his cooler bag, digging out a turkey BLT sandwich on a ciabatta bun. "Dr. Cook wasn't exaggerating when he says he's been watching us. The school is wired up with recording devices everywhere, every room I checked, and outside too. Seems to be set up to cover whoever comes and goes. But the tool sheds seem clear." Sean glanced down for a moment, muttering, and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "The... bathrooms too. The transmissions are encrypted, but I can tell they're there, and they aren't routed to anywhere in school." He raised an arm and twiddled his fingers, marking a warbling whistling with some effort. "The recordings are being sent out wirelessly to somewhere. The signals look different from bluetooth or regular cellular frequencies... I think."

Lona and Clara looked pissed anew, and everyone else didn't seem far behind. "Hey, I didn't put them there, just giving you guys a heads up. Be careful of what you 'do' and maybe say - couldn't tell off-hand if they pick up audio as well - in school. I'll look for dead spots in school, and keep an eye out around town to see where else the walls have eyes and ears. And maybe see if I can track down where the transmissions are going."

Sean quickly took a pair of bites of his sandwich as the gang mused on what he'd revealed, washing them down with a sip from a plastic bottle of juice. "Barely know where to begin with my own questions, but let's start with..." He turned to face Lona and Clara directly. "Are you two planning on speaking with Dr. Cook again, and if so, when? Because I'm definitely going to be talking with him. And second..." Sean inhaled a breath with a hiss, casting a quick glance towards Cora before returning his turquoise and jade (?) gaze back to the near sisters. "Is there any chance, however slim, what Dr. Cook suspected about your parents, Clara, has some truth to it? Some were quick to accuse Cora's father of being in on the conspiracy, some part of it at least. What are the chances a pair of geneticists would come to Shelly of all places, and set up shop here? In a tiny Montana town that just so happens to be ground zero some MK Ultra program that never ended. Home town or not, there must be a thousand better places for a pair of respected geneticists to pursue their practice and raise their kids."

[Bannon]

The Trailer, Elsewhere.

"She's right." Jase said without more than a moment's thought. 

"The fuck she is."  snorted Marissa as she peered out the once-again-opened door.  Devin remained silent, thinking.

"Staying here means leaving our fates up to the whims and chance of others stumbling across us, which is unlikely.  I cannot operate the machine - not calling it a radio - without risking making things worse."  Jase said ultra-reasonably as he shouldered the cloth satchel containing his Chromebook.  "Autumn.  Can you navigate us back to where the cars should be through this?"  Face pale but mouth set in a firm line, the girl looked out into the twisted mirror of the woods and nodded hesitantly.

"I think so." she shrugged.  "Assuming north is still north and south is still south."

"Good, then let's get our bearings."  Jase said, gesturing with one hand.  The couch slid fully aside with Marissa still seated on it, causing her to jump off and glare at Jason as it came back to rest in it's previous position.  He gave her a slight grin and stepped out onto the trailer's step, breathing in the air.

"Jas-!" Marissa started to say warningly, but the lanky teen stepped down onto the blackened earth outside without paying any heed, then stepped away from the trailer, looking around, then back at his companions.  "I mean butthead: don't go out there!" Mari finished with a grumble in her otherwise dulcet voice as she stepped to the doorway and peered out along with Autumn and Devin.  He arched a brow at them, then unhooked the holster containing the canister of bear mace from his belt and tossed it underhanded to Marissa.  Catching it, she glanced down then back up at the guy who'd just given away his only weapon, her dark eyes wide.

"You need it more than me."  he stated calmly.  "Use it yourself, or give it to Devin."  His lips quirked in a crooked grin.  "The night is dark and full of terrors, but fire burns them all away."

"You're cocky for someone who only conjured fire and ice a couple hours ago."  Devin said, shaking his head with a smirk.  "Way to swagger, dude."  Never one to be outdone, he pushed past the girls and dropped down out of the trailer as well.  "Hey, we should look for black clouds appearing.  Those might be... I dunno, portals or something.  Or a giant starfish coming to get us.  Either way, we should keep eyes out."  Jason nodded agreement.

"Autumn leads, Devin and Marissa next, I'll bring up the rear."  he suggested matter-of-factly.  "Devin, with your spatula city, keep tabs on everyone?  I'll be keeping my kinetic sense focused too."  He smiled a little as he repeated Devin's term for 'spatial acuity'.  "If we run into something, clear the way between me and it, and we'll see how it goes from there."

"Why are we headed to the cars?"  Marissa asked, grabbing her bag and stepping down out of the trailer after clipping on the bear mace holster.  "They won't be there, will they?"  Jason shrugged as he closed the trailer door without locking it.

"Three reasons." he said, holding up three fingers.  Devin groaned.

"Always three reasons with you, Jaybee.  Always.  Why can't you just do things for one reason?  Or no reason at all?  Live a little!"  That caused Marissa to smirk and nod, whilst Autumn just listened as she scanned the woods cautiously.  Jase gave his friends a slight smile, but continued.

"First, if we find the mirror analog of the old logging site, then we'll know for sure that navigating here is the same as on our world.  Second, it's not too far away and not a complicated trip - we can always come back if we need to.  Thirdly, it's possible that the dimensional anomaly has a limited area of effect and travelling in a straight line away from it will bring us out, in addition to giving us a chance to look for other exits."  He lowered his fingers.  "And if that's all, we should probably get moving."

[Sara Hutchins]

School Work Shed

Sara had come into the shed with a down cast look, everything about today had gone wrong so far and nothing indicated that this meeting would be any better than the last. well except that the evil twins and fucking Bannon weren't here to fuck up everyone else thinking. She hoped.

After the tale had been relayed and Sean had told his story about the surveillance then his questions bout the Wrights, she stood up moving from the wall more into the crowded group.

"I don't think the Wright's are involved, even if Cook is lying about some stuff and he probably is. Why the effort to get into the lab if they are working with him. Personally I think none of our parents are involved or any of the adults in town for that matter, not directly and not knowingly anyway.  I think we are all victims, the whole town." She looks directly at Sean. "Can you figure out how covered the rest of the towns. We know from his efforts to get into Clara's parents lab that he doesn't have coverage out that far, probably not out side of  town at all most likely, which would mean that Bannon's is probably safe too."

She crosses her arms. "Did anyone experience anything weird during first period. almost as soon as I got to shop I started hearing thoughts like whispers and it kept getting louder in my head and more... I haven't had anything like that happen since the night of the party and it wasn't this bad then. Then all of the sudden it just stopped."

[z-Avalon Wilson]

Tool Shed, Shelly High School

Lona washed down the dry cornbread with a swig of Mountain Dew, mulling over Sean’s words. Could Gerault and Lisa be implicated in this somehow? Could the few adults she trusted be part of this mess? Casting doubt on Gerault cast doubt on one of her few remaining foundations, and she shivered a little. 

Then Sara spoke, and while it was reassuring that someone didn’t think Gerault was among the bad guys, it was her last words that made Lona tense. Since the night of the party? And… Mari and Devin and Jase and the new girl are all at the trailer!

Food forgotten, Lona whipped out her phone and texted Devin. How’s it going out there? You find Cody or the Tree yet? 

While Lona waited on an answer, Clara addressed the group. “It is possible,” she admitted, her voice shaky. “Mom always said that Papa didn’t care where they settled and she wanted to raise a family somewhere safe.” She gave a bitter snort at that. “And they get a lot of business from the Res, tracking family lines for the tribal rolls and...stuff? I don’t really know. I’ve never really been interested in it, so I’ve never bugged them to tell me the details.”

She bit her lip and shrugged, “I guess I could, now. If they push back or sidestep showing me, we’ll know something’s up with them. They always said I could ask them anything. And the lab has state of the art security on it - Papa could afford it, so that’s what they did. Maybe there’s more to it than that. And if there isn’t, we could tell them we all have a school project about genetics and could we get our DNA typed out? I mean, they’d be able to see what we have in common or what’s weird with us.”

Lona gave the text one minute, and when he didn’t answer, she said, “Guys, the others… they’re at the trailer. In the woods. And last time shit went sideways, they were in danger.” She stood up, dumping her cafeteria tray to the floor. “Has anyone heard from them? Shit, I need a ride.”

[WS ST]

Tool Shed, Shelly High School

Lona's phone vibrated with a new received text

A line of broken characters followed by    ///Break the rules////     more broken characters      ///Face the Tree///     broken characters fill several more lines then stop...

There is no number return number

[WS ST]

The Woods, Elsewhere

Outside the air was full of the sweet burnt smell and the low rumble they had heard on the radio could still be heard an felt. It wasn’t loud but it was real.

With Autumn leading the way followed by Devin then Jase and Marissa the small party left the clearing with the trailer and entered the dense woods ahead.

Almost immediately both Autumn and Devin began to sense a wrongness to their perceptions of their surroundings. It was quiet and there were no bird or insect sounds, the air was still, but the burned sugary sweet smell seemed to come from the trees and their steps drew it out of the ground.

For Devin his acute spatial awareness was once again functioning or at least it was measuring taking stock and making him very uncomfortable. As he walked and the he became aware of the trees and objects and their location his memory began to play tricks on him, the things he walked past matched what he remembered but everything was on the wrong side…

Autumn led them out of the dense tree wall which hid the clearing and the trailer, and into the regular if now even more gloomy woods and there she became worried. Her compass indicated where north was and that was correct as she remembered but east and west didn’t match her memory. Just like with Devin things seemed to be on the wrong side.

Marissa touched Jason’s arm and whispered, “Did you hear something?”

Spoiler

jason did not hear anything neither did autumn or devin

 

[Bannon]

The Woods, Elsewhere

"Hold up."  Jase kept his voice pitched low, but it carried above the rumble in the air to the other two.  He glanced at Marissa, who's eyes were darting here and there to try and locate what she'd heard.  As the four of them ceased motion, Jase concentrated on listening, trying to hear whatever had Marissa spooked, in addition to stretching out his sense of the objects around him, moving and non-moving, to the fullest.

[Cade]

Something told Cade it was important.  Even as he was finishing his lunch, he was listening to the others.  For him, things had just been normal today as far as classes went, nothing out of the ordinary.  He knew from Lona's tone this was important, and without thought for the consequences, made his offer.  "I'll give you a ride out there, and anyone else who wants to come."   There'd probably be hell to pay later for cutting class, but he  was ready for it.  

He didn't know why, but he just had a feeling something truly strange beyond the grand conspiracy was going on. 

[Clara Lys Wright]

“I’m going,” Clara said, looking a little startled at herself, but absolutely resolute. “I’m leaving now and I have three seats for whoever wants to go with with me.” Lona’s phone beeped, and she read it, turning white. Wordlessly, she leaned over and showed the message to Clara. The Wright girl’s own complexion palled. 

Clara pulled out her phone, scrolling down and then hesitating on the name. She weighed her options and the dangers and finally sent the message. 

//Devin and Jase and a couple of others are at the trailer. Lona texted Devin to check in on him and got a creepy, not-from-anyone according to the phone, message back that has something to do with the disappearance of Cody Sikes. We’re going to go make sure they’re okay and there’s a good chance we’re walking right into something dangerous.// She hesitated again, not sure how to phrase the rest of it. //If you want to help, tell Cook that if he wants to show some good faith with us you need the rest of the day off. We could use a mercenary.//

The second text was easier and sent to all of her afternoon teachers: 

//Having an emergency, I won’t be in for class today. Please let me know if there’s homework I need to do or anything else to make up for missing class. I know this is the second day in a row and I’m sorry. If I need to show up to school early, stay late, or come in on the weekend to make up the missed time, I understand. -Clara Wright//  

Most of her teachers had known her for going on three years, and her hyperfocus on academics and college had left her bereft of friends her own age. She was banking on at least a little earned trust and leeway. Her parents, on the other hand, were likely going to give her a stern and confused lecture on responsibility if they found out she’d skipped again. And she couldn’t really tell them ‘well, all the psychic kids had to go rescue friends and hopefully keep them from getting ganked by Cody Sikes.’

She looked around at the gathered group, Lona giving her a nod at her silent question. “Two seats now, though if Cade’s still going, there’s more space with him too. I’m leaving now, so say if you’re going or not.” 

[WS ST]

Clara's phone vibrated with a text, with some trepidation she looked at it it was an unknown number. Her thumb hovered a second then she pushed it down with alll of her will.

// Clara, this is Dr. Cook. I'm sending Etienne right away, wait for him please. What else do you need? No strings.

Doctor Cook //