Dawn OOC Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 She was hard to miss. Sitting in the front row guaranteed that the professor would see you at least once during class. He'd seen her there before, but he'd never seen the fever-bright eyes or the flushed face. She looked sick, very sick, but she didn't appear to be in pain or hurting.Titus noticed her about half-way through his lecture. She was hard to miss. He spent a couple of minutes recalling her name - Alessa Johnson. She was a good student, high-Bs, often attentive. Today, she was slumped in her seat, staring listlessly at him. He called on her once, asking her a question, and she just shrugged.Something was very wrong with the young student. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titus Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Uncharacteristically, Titus didn't chide her for not answering (and especially not answering verbally), buding his time till the bell rang. But he was a bit distracted all the rest of class, and did his best to keep one eye firmly trained on her."If you have a minute, Alessa," Titus said as casually as he could, pushing a doorstop into the door, "I'd like to talk to you." Now that class was over he inspected her more closely, looking for signs of tiredness, laxness in appearance, some sort of clue as to her change in behavior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn OOC Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 Alessa stood slouched, her backpack - clearly empty or nearly empty - hanging from one shoulder. Her eyes almost glittered as she stared at him. "What do you want?"Her voice was distressing. It had a strange insubstainal quality to it, as if she were losing solidness. It made his skin prickle with unease. This close to her, there was a strange, wet, metallic smell around her. And despite the thick flush to her skin, she wasn't sweating at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titus Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Titus silently took this in, leaving the disrespect uncommented upon. He leaned back against his desk, toying with a cufflink. "What was that in class today, Alessa?" he asked. "You're usually on the ball; what happened?" And shrugging? he added silently. What kind of crap is that? He looked back up, meeting her eyes piercingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn OOC Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 "I don't care." The comment was stark and flat. "Don't care? About what?" Titus asked, digging a little."About this. Why should I care? It's nothing important," Alessa said listlessly. She picked at a nail, and it tore as if it were wet. A drop of blood welled, but Alessa paid it no attention. As it hit the floor, she asked, "Are we done?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titus Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 "Yeah," Titus said slowly. "I guess we are." And as he said it he screwed up his eyes and sent a niggling of magickal power coursing through his body, settling in the eyes, in a familiar rote.((Supernal Vision. Roll:(13:58:51) ChatBot: (Alex) rolls 9d10 and gets 8,3,6,7,10,7,10,7,7.(13:59:04) ChatBot: (Alex) rolls 2d10 and gets 10,7. )) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn OOC Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 There was not a spark, not a flame, not a flame of magical energy on the woman. She stared sullenly at Titus with her fever-bright eyes before walking away from him. As she walked, her cell phone fell out of her bag. He saw her eyes flick down toward it, and then ignore it and keep walking away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titus Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Titus watched her walk away, mind whirring, and when she was out of sight he bent to pick up the phone. He stared at it for a long moment before sighing and slipping it into his pocket. Titus had another class in twenty minutes. He'd figure this out later.***Three hours later Titus tidying up his office, about to head home, when he felt the weight of the cell phone in his pocket again. He sat down, pulling the phone out and turning it on. He hesitated for a moment and then began to look through it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn OOC Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 It was the cellphone of a girl with an active social college life. Lots of friends, plenty of texts - one month ago. Since then, there were lots of missed calls and her voice mail indicator said she had fifty unread messages. Doubtless there were more; she probably had hit her limit.But she had been fine in his class recently. He thought back, and realized that she'd been growing slowly quieter and withdrawn. It had been a slow process - until her shocking appearance today. As if something had finally won the fight over her body.The question was: what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titus Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Titus spotted a familiar name: Jessica Munroe. They got along fairly well in class. She'd always struck Titus as a levelheaded, down-to-earth sort, and he made a note to talk to her at the latest opportunity.***The next day, the opportunity came. Jessica was in his second period, and after the mass of troglodytes had barreled out the door, Titus held her up, leaning against his desk much as he'd done the day before when interrogating Alessa. Jessica stared back at him with her typical I-respect-you-because-you-are-an-important-educator gaze. "What can I do for you, Professor?" she asked politely.Titus cleared his throat. "It's about Alessa." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn OOC Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 "Oh," Jessica said, and there was a world of information in that tiny word. "What about her?""Has she been troubled lately?" Titus asked."Yeah, some," Jessia admitted after a moment. "I've urged her to go to counselling but she's just blowing me off every time I mention it. I think she's stopped doing her homework and I know she doesn't hang out much either. I have no idea what she does anymore." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titus Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 "I'm a little worried about her," Titus said. "OK, very worried," he amended. "She's listless in class, she doesn't look so good, and she isn't so much disrespecting me as it seems like she can barely be bothered to acknowledge my existence. Do you know what started this? Drugs, maybe?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn OOC Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share Posted January 16, 2009 "No, no drugs." Jessica chewed her lip, considering for a moment. "Maybe she's having a breakdown. She did have a job, and she said that it's tough sometimes. She was putting in a lot of hours before she quit and stopped going. In fact, she may have been fired; her roommate said her boss called asking to talk to her several times, and she didn't sound happy. The boss, I mean." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titus Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 "Her roommate?" Titus asked, eyes narrowing. "Who would that be?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn OOC Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share Posted January 16, 2009 "Becky Williams," Jessica said. "She's a cheerleader, and she works at Kohls, off-campus. She's kinda rich, you know?" She frowned. "I don't think she has anything to do with this. She mentioned that Alessa wasn't doing so well to me, so I think she was worried, too." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titus Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Titus sighed. "I don't think she had anything to do with it either. But she might know why Alessa is behaving oddly." He shrugged. "Thank you for your help."***Titus didn't have Becky, but during her planning period he knew she would be in Schultz's Island Biogeography class, and that's where he waited, when she came out. "Becky," he said, stopping her, "Do you have a moment?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn OOC Posted January 18, 2009 Author Share Posted January 18, 2009 Becky stopped, startled. "Um, yeah," she said, her eyes sliding to the guy standing next to her. "James, a minute?"The guy, who Titus belatedly realized was the tight end on the school's football team, nodded and stepped away, giving them room to talk.Becky looked back to Titus. "What can I do for you, Professor?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titus Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 God, please don't make me sound creepy, Titus prayed. "A few people - myself among them - have noticed that your roommate Alessa is behaving rather...differently. More lackadaisical. More remote. Maybe you've noticed too."He leaned against the wall, reaching to loosen his tie before he remembered it was a clip-on. "I'm worried, but there's only so much I can do at present. Do you know anything about it, what might've brought this on?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn OOC Posted January 18, 2009 Author Share Posted January 18, 2009 Becky leaned back and looked at Titus. "Wow, I've never had a professor be this interested. Well, Alessa really changed over winter break. She was here, she stayed here to help the department she worked for move to a new building. They were going to give her extra pay for it, and she needs money for tuition. After that, she started to act weird. Stopped laughing at funny things, started boiling water in big pots, all the time." She paused. "Honestly, she just lost her mind. I'm not sure anyone can help her." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titus Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 "What department was it?" Titus pressed, feeling that this was a major point."The Earth and Space Sciences Department," Becky answered.***In the bottom drawer of Titus' desk, under a thick sheaf of papers, he kept a bottle of brandy. Probably shouldn't, he knew. It was tempting, but he really shouldn't.At least he had the presence of mind to lock the door first.Over the last few days he'd collected quite a few interesting factoids, Titus mused as he swigged the plum brandy down. He'd spent most of the day poking around the new Earth and Space Sciences Department building. It was an older building, and the E&SS Dept. was on the on the first floor and the basement.After talking to Alessa's colleagues he'd determined that whatever had happened, it happened in the building. Titus wasn't sure what it could be - drugs didn't fit, rape sort of fit, but awkwardly, and it left many unexplained details. His supernal vision had revealed no magic about her person, but he wasn't ruling some sort of covert possession out. In fact, the more he thought about it, the likelier it seemed.It was time he talked to Frank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank White Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Frank was sitting at his desk reading the latest issue of Maxim when the call came. Reaching over to grab the phone without losing his spot in the mag, Frank answers in a rather lackadaisical manner. "CSA office Frank speaking, What can I help you with?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titus Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 "I think I mentioned this in the CalNet chat a few days ago, to you, Frank," Titus said, his cultured voice easily recognizable. "The student is Alessa Johnson. I'd like you to keep an eye on her, if you could. There's something deeply wrong with that girl." His tone changed slightly, becoming both more serious and a bit less friendly. "I'd count this as a favor towards me, Frank, if you could do it. But please be subtle if you do. Don't step on toes. Play it cool. You know what I mean." And leave the rest to us already in the thick of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank White Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 "Ah Professor, good to hear from you. Trouble with a student you say? I think I can help you out with that no prob. Anything in particular you want me to look for?, oh and don't worry nobody will see me." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titus Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 "Look for any suspicious injuries, being places where she shouldn't, or...well, bizarre behavior. Trust me, you'll know it when you see it. And if you see something weird, let me know, alright?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank White Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Frank wasn't sure what would constitute bizarre behavior these days but, a favor is a favor. Besides it would be a nice break from all the paperwork he was doing. "Sure thing prof, want me to bring it to you in person or is calling it in ok?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titus Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 "Just gimme a call, Frank. And again. Thanks." Titus said his goodbyes and hung up. The visit from Declan had been an eye-opener, and wanted to keep an eye on that girl. She might yet be more trouble than she seemed. In the meantime, Emily would've just got home from what was no doubt a stressful day at work...Titus motored out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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