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Post by Kasen Rowe on Mar 3, 2010 20:00:34 GMT -5
Kasen gave a nod.
"We could," he agreed. The man looked skyward, enjoying the calmingly crisp air, but wondering for the second time in two days whether keeping his hair so short was a wise decision in winter.
"South Dakota..." Kasen gave a sigh and thought back to only a minute earlier when the rude mustard stained man had pulled out his paper. Something about the article had interested Sarah considerably. Thinking back on what little he knew about her, he wasn't sure he got why.
A suspicious thought flashed through his mind then. Sarah had shown up just after he'd found Wheton's Shield, an item that could protect him from getting taken over by the group he searched for. She'd tried to take it and failed. When asked why she'd wanted it, she'd told him vaguely that she was cursed and given him a sad tale about murdered fathers and implied that through the curse she'd had an unwilling hand in it. And thinking on it, it had eerily similar aspects to his own story. Then, straight away, Sarah had been able to lead him to someone who not only knew about and opposed the supernatural, but had a whole folder of cases that could help him find the cult? Then Sarah had flipped out on him when he hadn't woken her in the parking lot. Maybe she was worried that he would run off and she would lose track of him and she'd have to go back to her malicious superiors and explain herself?
Was Sarah a plant? Did the cult know that he was on to them and send someone to keep track or him? To stop him? Or maybe even to lead him straight to them so as to dispose of him in person?
Kasen considered this conspiracy seriously for several moments, then nearly laughed out loud. That was a little paranoid. There were a lot of holes in that theory. Despite his long quest, what did people with... with the ability to take complete control of another human being and use that being to murder their own father possibly have to fear from him?
What did they have to fear from him?
Kasen clenched his hand around the folder as his answer came. Magic powers or no, they were still human, right? They couldn't use magic to harm him anymore, not while he wore the Shield. But he...
He could walk right up to them and put a bullet in their heads.
Obviously it would be a bit more difficult than that if he were being led to them... but if he played it right-
He was doing it again. There were too many flaws with the whole idea for Sarah to be a plant. With a long sigh, Kasen looked back to Sarah. If his conspiracy idea was just paranoia, then Sarah had some other reason to be interested in the disappearances. And he was curious.
"I think you know why I'm interested in this place, but... Why are you interested in disappearing townspeople?"
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Post by Eve Vardell on Mar 18, 2010 13:34:38 GMT -5
They had a lead, but for some reason Kasen seemed loathe to follow up on it. Eve's brow arched at his non-committal reply, and then waited as he fell into a short, contemplative silence. Something was bothering him. That urgency, that drive to find that cult of his now, now, now, was being weighed down by something else.
And then he flashed a glance at her, and she realized what that "something" was. He hadn't been planning on their being an "us" in South Dakota. "Thanks for the Roadhouse tip, it's been great, but if it's all the same to you I'd rather just let you stay and get better acquainted with the Mustard Man while I head on alone."
Well, not exactly. What he actually said was more along the lines of "Why do you want to come along?" but she thought she could pretty well read the hesitation in his tone. Well, no way was she getting left behind here with nothing while he drove off to his next lead, cheerfully toting the Shield - the only reason she'd come back into the country in the first place. Not to mention taking with him the only ride away from this gas station.
"Look, like I said at the motel, it's not like I have anywhere else to be. The Shield was a bust, the Roadhouse... didn't go as well as it could've." She sighed softly, shoving her free hand into her sweater pocket for extra warmth. The sun was all the way down and the winter night was chillier here than it had been down in Nebraska the night before. "I've got no leads. Right now I'm thrilled to see anything that might have a supernatural connection." She paused again, studying his face, trying to see how much he was buying her explanation. Giving him a more solid reason couldn't hurt... or could it? Would it really be smart to say "Well, that and that missing people sounds like a good lead for me. See, this curse I have actually makes people around the victim go disappearing on full moon nights"? No, not without explaining to Kasen he was safe as long as she didn't sleep, because when she went to sleep the curse would actually take effect by her ripping out his heart and eating it. And watch him dive into the car, heading full speed back to the Roadhouse to tell Molly exactly where she was.
No, vagueness was definitely better.
"I just... I really have to check this out as soon as possible. Tonight."
Tonight was the last full moon night in this cycle. If there was a wolf there'd be no way to track him in his human form. He'd be gone in January and Eve would be back to square one. Again.
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Post by Kasen Rowe on Mar 19, 2010 15:15:38 GMT -5
Kasen watched her reaction carefully as her expression became somewhat distressed by his question. He waited as she considered -considered what he wasn't sure. Her facts? If he was hoping for a straight up answer, he was disappointed. Again she was vague. Vague, but earnest and urgent it seemed.
Kasen held up a calming hand (the one full of an atlas and snacks rather than the one holding the coffee). "Ok, keep your secrets. For now," he replied. God knew he had enough of his own. "I'd like to go there ASAP as well, even if only to make sure we've really lost those psychos from the Roadhouse. If you want to go too, fine by me. I could definitely use a navigator once we get out of this... nowhere."
He lowered his hand and looked skyward. The moon was out now, still as big and round as the night before. He found it soothing, though he wasn't sure why. He took a slug of his coffee then grimaced. It would keep him awake, that was for sure... But that was all it would do for him. After casting a quick glare back in the Mustard Man's direction and scraping his tongue on the roof of his mouth in an attempt to cleanse it of the acrid taste, he turned back to Sarah and was suddenly reminded of their little shouting match earlier.
"Just do me a favor? Next time you'd like me to wake you up or anything of similar significance, let me know that it's of the most dire importance, huh?" He gave a small laugh. "It's not like I was just going to leave you there or wasn't going to get you your cup o' coffee, you know."
He shook his head as he reached the car, fumbling with the stuff in his hands while reaching for the handle.
"To South Dakota, then."
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Post by Eve Vardell on Mar 19, 2010 15:40:30 GMT -5
If only she could tell him why waking her up had been of "dire importance." Bad plan, though. People reacted a lot of different ways to learning that she was a werewolf, and she didn't have the luxury to risk discovering what his would be. Luckily, he seemed content with accepting her incredibly random requests without explanation... for now, anyway. She quirked a genuinely thankful smile and slid back into the passenger seat of the car.
"Alright, so the article said this was happening in a place called Haven Valley. What does your info from the Roadhouse tell you?"
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Post by Kasen Rowe on Mar 19, 2010 16:52:13 GMT -5
Sliding into his own seat with minor effort, Kasen took turns freeing his hands. First the drink went in the cup holder, then he could grab the folder free of it's place tucked beneath his arm, and then the snacks and atlas went onto the dashboard.
"Ok..."
Opening up the folder, Kasen had no trouble finding the article Sarah was referring to. He pulled the damp mess of papers out by the staple that held them together and began gently to skim.
"This one's written by some hack journalist who wanted to write horror novels," Kasen replied with a scowl. "Uh... 'The peaceful town of Haven Valley awoke one sunny morning to find that thirteen innocent citizens had vanished into the night without a trace'." Kasen skimmed some more. "It looks like this was the second place in two nights. This place called Elsburrough not too far from Haven Valley had the same thing happen. Ten people instead of thirteen though."
Kasen flipped the page and found a separate article, this one looking a little more professionally written and he held it down between them so Sarah could make it out.
"Looks like the police are stumped. Elsburrough cops say either it's the largest one night kidnapping in the history of the state or, more likely, all those who disappeared were involved in something." Kasen frowned. "Something? What kind of something?"
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Post by Eve Vardell on Mar 19, 2010 21:14:04 GMT -5
Thirteen was a lot for a werewolf to take in one night. Maybe it was something else, after all. Unless it was some kind of a pack of them...? From what she knew, werewolves tended to wander alone, just trying to keep their heads low, but if there were a few who actually enjoyed the transformations, the killing, it might make sense for them to band together...
Was it even possible for anyone to be happy about this curse? They had to be, or else they would've done something to lock themselves up after the first night's killings.
If they were werewolves at all, she reminded herself again. There were a lot of creatures that went bump in the night. Just because it had happened on a full moon, didn't necessarily mean the two were related. Correlation doesn't equal causality. The thought floated through her mind, accompanied by a sharp flood of nostalgia. Who would've thought, those years ago when she'd left home, that she'd regret not getting to finish that silly elective psych class?
Shaking off her depressing thoughts, she reached across the dashboard to grab the atlas, and flipped through the pages until she found the general area. It took a few minutes before she managed to find Haven Valley, written in such minute script that she'd swept her gaze over that area at least four or five times before spotting it.
"Got it. Haven Valley, and..." She squinted. "There's a teensy tiny Elsburrough only a few miles away. Shouldn't be too hard to get to, though we'll probably have to navigate a couple tricky back roads once we start getting close."
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Post by Kasen Rowe on Mar 28, 2010 16:06:38 GMT -5
Kasen skimmed the article another minute. It seemed as if the police thought drugs might be involved. The journalist thought cult or gang actions were to blame. Well they'd see soon enough.
He looked to Sarah who already seemed to be planning out the route and almost reluctantly passed the folder her way.
"Haven Valley was the more recent of the two incidents. That's the place that'll be more likely to still have some evidence of what happened," he said as he touched the open wires under the dashboard to start the car. There was a spark and the engine roared to life.
Kasen put them into reverse and noted that the Mustard Man was watching them through the glass windows of his little gas station. Ignoring the hard stare, Kasen turned the car around quickly, wind whistling in through the broken window in the back as he did.
"Would you mind reading the articles aloud? If you can see in the dark, that is."
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Post by Eve Vardell on Apr 22, 2010 10:01:02 GMT -5
Eve was glad to take the articles. Having them to focus on, and to read out loud, was a good way to negate her sleepiness. So was the coffee, and the chill that burned her cheek every time she rested it on the car window. In fact, she was feeling much better than she would have expected to be at this time of night. The one good thing about the amulet having conked her out the night before, she supposed - it had given her a few extra hours of sleep, even if she didn't quite feel like it.
As she read over the important points of the article, her mind drifted back to the amulet again. Kasen was still wearing it, still had its protection. But how much would that mean, really, if she went wolf and set her sights on his heart? Would the amulet be able to subdue wolf before its unnatural speed and strength allowed it to take the life of its wearer?
It would have to, right? It wouldn't be much of a protective amulet if it couldn't even manage that?
She forced her attention back to the articles, which described the sudden and unexplained disappearances of almost a dozen people two nights ago in the small town of Elsburrough, and several more than that in Haven Valley the night after.
"'The police in both towns are declining to make public statements at the present time, but rumors of mass kidnappings, cult suicides, and even alien abductions have sprung up among their citizens. With fear and suspicion running rampant, the only question on everybody's minds is this: have we seen the last of these alleged disappearances, or will this terrifying trend continue in another nearby village tonight?'" Eve couldn't help rolling her eyes, in spite of the situation. "Wow, this news writer really wants to be a horror novelist, huh?"
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Post by Kasen Rowe on May 19, 2010 18:33:47 GMT -5
Kasen's lips pulled into a smirk and he gave a nod to his companion. "Journalists like that make the job more difficult. You have to pick through their dribble to find the facts," he replied with a tone indicating he'd had to do just that many times before. "Well, whatever. Keep reading. Maybe we'll stumble across something useful. At the very least it'll help keep me awake." To Be Continued...
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