“Not that you have to do what I say. I’m not trying to—I mean, you’re your own—what I’m saying is—um, what do you think we should do?”

“You’re fine,” Olivia chuckled at the awkward attempt at making a first impression. “I think we should go talk to the butler. I am more than happy to be the note taker on a little excursion.” Olivia looked at the map as she finished her remark. The cabin itself seemed a bit further out, near the edge of the swamp. The swamp that was apparently filled to the brim with monsters. That swamp was off limits to the group because it was filled with monsters. Monsters and missing girls. Olivia’s mind peaked at the scene that began to play in her head. The adventures group gets to the cabin in the swamp, an antagonizing force appears and forces them into the swamp itself, and the group would have to defend themselves from monsters of both natural and otherworldly. At least if it was a movie. If it did play out like that, she wondered who would play her in the staring role.

“We should be careful for sure though, I don’t like the idea of spending too much time around that swamp.”

- - - - - - - -

As the makeshift group arrived at the cabin in the swamp, Wyatt cracked a joke that Olivia laughed at. “Well, we should probably not speak to him with the notion that we are reporting on this area. Think about it, everyone here is scared by something and seem to not like when outsiders pry. Maybe we should play the role of dump tourists and slowly add in questions?”



“I like the idea of us playing it dumb to start.” Jordan responded as he pulled his eyes off the swamp. He had wondered what diseases these bugs would carry and was worried that by deciding to join team swamp he would get bitten by something that would cause him to fall ill. What if he got Malaria? Is Malaria even in the states? His mind began to race. “If we play our hand too early it could come back to bite ya-know?

Jordan did not like the way this area felt, whether in town or otherwise. This cabin by the swamp doubled that sense of discomfort. He did not know where this sensation of dread came from, nor why it suddenly washed over him, but there was a loud voice at the back of his mind that begged him to leave. Instead, Jordan pushed forward and headed towards the cabin before he ultimately looked into the window.



Nori had also decided to join the team swamp trip. Not because she had any desire to see the swamp life up close, but because she wanted to try and get away from the murder first and foremost thinking that they would stick to the town itself. Yet as the group traveled away from the coffee house, Nori knew that these crows were following her. She would look back, carefully at the trees behind the group, and watch as they flew from branch to branch, tree to tree, and always seemed to have their attention fixated on her and her alone.

On the one hand she was flattered. She had always wanted a murder to adopt her as their favorite human, and she would love to put in the effort to get them to trust her and reap those rewards when they started to bring her weird stuff. On the other hand, it felt like this was really, really rushed. They adopted her way too fast and Nori worried that there truly was something sinister loose on this small town. When the group arrived at the cabin, she kept back a few paces from the rest of the group. She had brought one of her bags, the one that carried her snacks. Maybe they were following her because of this bag. Crows were smart, and they may have saw her pull the previous gift from the bag before. Nori reached in and grabbed another bag of treats, opened it, and placed the contents on the ground in front of her.

“Another gift I guess,” she whispered. As she did, the murder descended onto the food and began to peck at the feast before them. “Do me a favor, keep an eye out for any monsters coming our way, yeah?” She joked as she turned back to the group.

Interactions: Nori/Jordan/Olivia (@NoriWasHere) and Wyatt @Helo

---

“Please, I’m clearly a responsible adult,” said Neko with a half-smile to Wyatt as she produced a set of keys. She didn’t know what gave her more relief: a teenager giving her their approval or the safety in numbers that came from more people joining their group. “Why else would the rental company trust me with these babies?”

The meeting broke up into their small groups and headed out, Neko managing to shove the butler group into her rental car. As she drove, polite conversation tapered away as a feeling of dread crept over her. Something just didn’t sit right with Neko about this town. Maybe she was just too used to the city life. The lack of bumper to bumper traffic and honking horns felt strange enough as is, but the near total lack of other drivers on the road was truly odd. By the time they left the quaint little downtown area Neko swore the only other vehicles she saw were sitting in front yards up on cinder blocks.

There had been a kind of rustic charm to the old buildings in Quintin, but here on the edge of town signs of true poverty were shown in the torn up shacks and rundown trailers that only gave feelings of absolute desolation. She could only hope that the buildings were abandoned, because the thought of somebody living in them was heartbreaking. Soon, Neko grew to miss the broken windows, fallen fences, and overgrown yards as the road turned from the scraps of civilization and continued onwards toward the swamp.

Neko slowed the rental car as the gravel road faded away into a muddy path, tire tracks grooved deep into the dry mud. She pulled over to the side of the road and killed the engine. As she stepped out of the vehicle the heavenly bliss of the air conditioner immediately got vaporized by the thick heat of the swamp air. She hadn’t taken more than two steps before she took a swat at her arm as a mosquito drew blood, cursing under her breath as she retreated to the car and rummaged around in the trunk before producing a bottle of insect repellant.

She covered herself in a choking cloud then tossed the spray can to her companions. Properly protected, Neko took a few tentative steps towards the tracks and acted like she was able to discern any information from checking them out. Water filled the bottom of the tracks and the ground felt spongy underneath her feet. She gave an uncertain look back at the rental and frowned. Knowing her luck the car would get stuck in the mud further down the path.

“We’re gonna hoof it from here. Shouldn’t be too much farther,” said Neko.

---

---

It wasn’t, but the muggy weather sure made it feel longer than it took. By the time Neko saw the cabin she had tugged open the collar of her blouse to fight the heat and her hair clung wet to the side of her face. She rubbed her wrist, which had begun to cramp thanks to how vigorously she had been fanning herself with a copy of the local map, and took in the scenery around. The cabin was in far better shape than the rundown buildings they’d passed on the way in and there was a kind of fairytale charm to wetlands around them.

If the weather wasn’t so disgusting she could picture herself taking a weekend retreat out here, not that she had the money to do so. Money had always been tight and the trip down to Louisiana was already being funded by skimming from Nora’s college fund. She approached the edge of the water and sighed in appreciation, looking out over the swamp. Mr. Thornton had picked a pretty decent spot to retire after all. Neko’s enjoyment was ruined by Wyatt’s joke about being fed to the gators. She told herself not to look down at the water, already knowing it was clear.

She foolishly looked down at the water anyway and her heart leaped up into her throat. Neko took a defensive step back, her eyes wide with terror, her hand clamped over her mouth, a feeling of ice and static running through her body. Tentatively she took a small step forward and was greeted only by her muddy reflection in the water. She had just imagined the drowned face, choked by a tangle of hair and algae. She had barely been getting sleep as of late and exhaustion must’ve finally gotten the better of her. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, the unease still tight in her body.

Neko joined the others, hopeful that Nori was too distracted with feeding the birds and the others were too focused on the cabin to have noticed her little jump. She must’ve missed a thread because they were coming up with some smoke and mirrors plan to use against the butler. Between the two options Neko imagined that a local would react better to Olivia’s plan than Wyatt’s idea, as she imagined private people would clamp up around journalists. However, Neko didn’t quite like the idea of lying to the man. Most old men were just lonely and looking for someone to chat with—even the old men who built a cabin out in the middle of nowhere.

“Let’s just play it by ear. For all we know Mr. Thornton is just dying to gossip,” said Neko, keeping to herself the thought that he could also be a gid-offa-mah-lawn type and pull a shotgun on them.

She followed after Jordan up to the porch. She hissed out a sharp “Oy!” at Jordan as he went to peek in the window and gave him the “stop that” look perfected by all mothers, motioning to him to join her side. She raised a hand to knock on the door and paused, a wave of apprehension seizing her. Neko took a deep breath to calm her nerves and then lightly tapped on the door.

---

Interactions: Erik (@EpicRoleplay).

---

"I could... But could we not knock?"

This comment elicited an eye roll from Jasmine. The room was either empty or had already been occupied by another guest... hopefully, just a normal person they were going to barge in on. However, Jasmine couldn't help but make a sarcastic comment.

"Oh, ya? I was about to bang on the door and ask if anybody's home!" Jasmine spoke in a mocking tone as she raised her fist up as if she was about to pound away at the door. Which was the last thing that Jasmine wanted to do... especially since she's beginning to see things now. There was the creeping feeling that there was something else out here... maybe there were monsters in the swamp like Jen had said. However, Jasmine had never seen anything magical in the slightest and had no intention of believing in magic.

"Look, if you can get the door open, get to it, then. I... this place is giving me the creeps."

---

---

When Jordan peeked through the window... he definitely got more than what he bargained for. The first sight that Jordan got was an elderly white man, rhythmically thrusting into a woman on a couch that he couldn't make the details out of (or if it was even a woman). He definitely got a great look at the old man's saggy ass, flopping with each pump. When Neko knocked on the door, he stopped, looked over his shoulder with a confused look on his face as he grabbed a red velvet robe threw it over himself, and came to the door.

The door swung open, and the man tilted his head when he saw the little group of men and women before him. His jaw dropped a little bit as he said, "Ah, yes? How can I help you?" Unaware that his robe didn't exactly cover all of his body, and his old wrinkly member was sticking out through the silt of the robe.

"... Ahhhh Blakey, you brought friends?" A tall woman said as she put her hands on Blake's shoulders, and spoke in a soft, sultry tone. Before she looked at the rest of the group. "... That's going to be extra, though."

Interactions: Lily & Odessa @Punished GN, “Carl” @Zombiedude101

---

Twenty-seven? It was a large number of people to wrap her head around. But that many coming to town didn’t mean that they were all dead or something, right? The stranger - Odessa, as she introduced herself - didn’t really make it clear what had happened to them. Maybe they didn’t find anything and left. How would someone stuck in this town know otherwise?

Charlie suppressed a shiver, glancing around but seeing nothing out of the ordinary. This town already gave her the creeps, and all of Odessa’s talk about missing people wasn’t helping. She could see how easy it would be for someone to disappear here.

"Twenty-six of them are missing... the body of one was found in town and umm... it's not pretty. When I say that Eleanor Black is not real: something is luring you all here - and I suspect that something is killing you all."

Charlie stiffened at the mention of a body, lips pressing into a thin line. She ignored the panic that clawed at her chest, taking a deep breath to completely push it away. A body didn’t mean anything without a cause of death. Maybe they’d died of natural causes, like a heart attack, or caught something from the swamp (or been killed by something in there). She’d seen people die before, done a stint or two in the ICU, death was rarely caused by something sinister. It didn’t mean that there was something, or someone, pulling the strings and killing everyone who knew about Eleanor Black. That was ridiculous. What even was the motive behind something like that?

She was pretty sure she wouldn’t be top on the list of a weird, possibly supernatural (doubtful), small town American murderer.

"But do you all have an idea of what's out here?

”Uh, crocodiles?”

What was Odessa even talking about? Strange things that shouldn’t be possible? Surely it was just people getting freaked out by the swamp? It was the perfect place for someone’s imagination to run wild.

Charlie rubbed her head, closing her eyes for a moment. Her headache was only getting worse with all of this insane sounding stuff, and the constant humid heat pressing into her. Maybe they wouldn’t even have to fake her being ill to convince the doctor.

You can't be telling people they're gonna die, I mean how do you even know about all this, huh?"

”Yeah, how do you know?” Charlie agreed, trying to ignore the pain throbbing in her temples. She was pretty thankful that Carl had a hold of Odessa, because she was beginning to appear more and more unhinged. ”Especially since you ‘don't know’ Eleanor Black. So far you’ve just talked in circles without actually saying anything.”

Aside from that there were twenty-seven possible dead people, everything else Odessa was saying was just… nonsensical.

”Why should we trust anything you say, anyway?”

It didn't seem like there was much of a choice for the duo, knock, break in. They were here with less than legit reasons, this was ghost hunt after all. Would they find Eleanor, the thought swirled in Erik's mind for a moment as he contemplated what to do before the loud thundering booming hit the door. Jasmine was loud, maybe not as direct as he initially thought but time was working against them. Standing around and discussing the morales of door kicking was pointless, he looked down at her for a brief moment but whatever thought came to his mind was interrupted by her speech.

"Alright, alright." He didn't want her freaking out, besides they wasted enough time. Looking both ways, perhaps trying to spot a security guard or local cop he turned his attention towards the door. He brought his right foot up to the door just below the handle, he practiced lining his foot up fully to the area he had carved out. After doing this a few times he went for the grand slam as he began to kick the door in. thump - thump - thump

Would it be enough to give them entry, the last thing Erik needed was another night in a cell.

@Punished GN

---

Interactions: Erik (@EpicRoleplay).

---

Letting out a quiet swear in German, Jasmine jolted, feeling stupid for not specifying that she wanted to discretely enter the motel room. Well, can't do anything about that now, and it didn't seem like there was much of an option. A loud boom rang through the motel, and thankfully it was pretty much empty out here so nobody saw. A quick scan of the area also showed there were no cameras (at least, not any that Jasmine could see). That said, she was not going to dilly dally - they needed to see what they could find and get the hell out before the sheriffs showed up.

"Thank you," Jasmine sounded a bit more sarcastic than she originally planned on - having to suppress the urge to roll her eyes long enough for her to be out of Erik's field of vision. That said, Jasmine quickly moved into the room, gesturing for Erik to follow behind, and closed the door before any of these inbreds came to investigate.

A flick of the light switch illuminated the dark room and Jasmine's first sight was a bed and a giant pegboard on the wall. The room was tiny, far too small to fit five girls comfortably, and they had to improvise by having sleeping bags on the floor with luggage posted right next to them. The bed had blocked the peg board, and the scratch marks on the floor implied that they literally had to push the bed back and forth. It was obvious that the girls had settled into here... the first thing that came to Jasmine was to investigate the pegboard. She quickly moved over to the bed, dropped her weight, and pushed it out of the way.

Getting a closer look at the pegboard, it was covered in various photos of places of note. It had pictures of each member of the Black Family, with a photo of Mary Louise with red circles marked around her face with a sharpie or something. Someone had awkwardly written ('The Head Honcho - avoid at all costs.') on it and Jasmine thought that was curious. The only other two things that had a red circle were a picture of an abandoned mine ('Some type of ritual took place deep in the mines before everything went to shit. May have a connection to Eleanor Black.'), and a picture of a mansion ('The old Black manor; Mary-Louise is afraid of this place. The Black Siblings hide here to get away from her. There's apparently SOMETHING here that the Black Family hides.').

"So, what can you-" Jasmine started off as she turned towards Erik... and behind him, she saw her. It was a ghost-like entity that just stood there behind Erik, definitely the one that she caught a glimpse of before it faded away. Jasmine jumped, letting out a scream, as the entity disappeared - if Erik was fast enough, he could possibly get a look at it.

---

Interactions: Charlie (@FernStone), "Carl" (@Zombiedude101), & Odessa Maxwell.

---

When Clayton grabbed onto Odessa, he would find that she was cold as a corpse. There was a strange sensation in her flesh, that felt utterly inhuman.

"You can't be telling people they're gonna die, I mean how do you even know about all this, huh?"

”Yeah, how do you know? ”Especially since you ‘don't know’ Eleanor Black. So far you’ve just talked in circles without actually saying anything.”

"You mistake what I said," Odessa answered with a smile on her face and stared Clayton directly in the eye, "You're likely going to die if you stay here. Which is why I am telling you to leave, for your own safety. You're not prepared for anything here. I don't want anyone else getting in the way of my own investigation into Eleanor Black, and more importantly, I don't want anyone else dying. Because all of you are beautiful."

However, afterward, Odessa shrugged and her smile went completely flat. "But, you're not going to believe me when I say this, but magic? It's real. So are monsters and ghosts and other nasty things. Your fearless leader clearly has magic herself. I wooooould elaborate buuuuuuut... I can tell by the looks on your faces that you think I'm crazy! But, you all will find out on your own soon enough. Just uhhhhh... if you see a deer with flayed skin: run. If you see a tree with a talking skull on it: run. If you see a skeleton in a robe with a gold necklace: run. If you see a green werewolf... you're probably already dead. And whatever you do, stay out of the swamp - especially at night. I'll be around!"

With that, she wrestled her way out of Clayton's grip and just skipped away, and all Lily could do was incredulously stand there. She jabbed a thumb in the direction Odessa went.

"... What the fuck was that?" Lily said, as Odessa eventually disappeared. That was... something else. Magic? Real? Bitch thought they were stupid or something... though, something wrung true with Lily. She couldn't help but think back to that incident with her ex-boyfriend where all autonomy of her body was lifted from her. She didn't like to think about it, so she just pushed those thoughts to the back of her head and pretended that never happened. Keeping that particular incident to herself she just shook her head and said, "... Let's get a move on. Remember: we're going with the heatstroke story."

With that, Lily walked over to the esteemed office of Dr. Harkness and held the door open for the others... she didn't expect the woman to be any more than extremely busy but maybe she could spare a few minutes entertaining the group. Though, sending two black people and a Latina to meet someone who was probably a racist redneck with a degree was not the wisest decision but the white people were a little bit too eager to go to the swamp. Stepping inside, the office was obviously a house that was haphazardly converted into a Doctor's office... they walked into the living room, there were stairs above and she could peek into the bathroom which had a shower and tub and everything! However, right across from them was the receptionist... and Lily walked over and said,

"Hiiiiiii, mami, is Dr. Harkness available?

"She's in the middle of someone's check-up, is this an emergency?"

"Ummm... Mami over here... she hasn't been feeling too good? She gestured over to Charlie, and looked at her... as if it was her cue to start acting like she was about to drop dead or something so Sybil would see them immediately.

---

Interactions: Eugene (@Drag).

---

As the two walked towards the swamp they caught a particular sight... a man and a woman. Definitely not from around Quintin, looking around like they're looking for something. Genesis just had to point it out, however.

"Look, outsiders, think they're look-"

"Genesis, keep it down!" Cody responded.

---

They did not have a cohesive plan. Olivia and Jordan were both in favor of pretending to be dumb tourists, and sure that was simple up until the questions caused an eyebrow raise from the butler. Then, old man Thornton would have questions of his own and five girls went missing after poking around. But a fake podcast on spooky swamp tales or shady small towns would raise those same sorts of questions. Neko suggested winging it, and maybe she was right; who didn’t love talking some shit about a past employer.

Nori seemed more focused on a flock of crows. Had those crows followed them from the coffee shop? Weird but birds were weird creatures, and the group's bird enthusiast was feeding them. “Someone’s having luck making friends with the locals. If anyone’s got a pocket full of butterscotch candies maybe the same trick’ll work on Thornton.” He said, to no in particular, but Jordan was already up at the cabin peaking into a window and Neko was knocking at the cabin door.

Wing it and hope they weren’t the next set of five to go missing. He headed up the porch steps to the door right as it swung open. Blake greeted the group and was quickly joined by paid company. Wyatt knew it was ridiculous, but he had imagined the man answering the door would be in a suit with white gloves, but this guy looked like he’d be right at home at the Playboy mansion. If there was a worse time to interrupt an old man, he struggled to think of one.

Wyatt cleared his throat. “At ‘ease general, yer private’s still salutin’.’” He said giving the haphazardly robbed butler a casual salute before using that hand to gesture towards the man’s robe. “Sorry for the interruption. We’re hoping for a quick chat.”

Interactions: Lily@Punished GN, “Carl” @Zombiedude101

---

Magic wasn’t real.

And Charlie really didn’t need Odessa’s warning to run at the sight of any of those things. They didn’t exist but if they did she wasn’t exactly going to stand around and gawp at it. Just like she didn’t plan to go into the swamp, where all kinds of mundane, non magical things could kill her.

”A bunch of shit, that’s what,” Charlie shrugged in response to Lily. Odessa’s disappearance did something to ease her headache, just because someone wasn’t talking at them anymore, but it didn’t ease the relentless heat. She probably should’ve had some water back at the cafe. Or anything that wasn’t a coffee. She was pretty sure that had been the wrong move.

At least they were going into a doctor’s office.

”Don’t think I’ll have to fake it much,” Charlie muttered, mostly to herself. She rubbed her head again as if it would make her headache go away. How embarrassing, she was probably already getting heat exhaustion at the very least. She’d just have to play it up as way more serious than it was.

She didn’t pay much attention to the office itself, odd and homelike as it was, looking around with dull blinks.

"Ummm... Mami over here... she hasn't been feeling too good?”

“I feel faint,” Charlie mumbled, just loud enough to be heard, purposefully dragging out her words until they were almost slurred. She quickened her breathing, forcing herself to take quick, sharp breaths as if she was struggling to fill her lungs with air. It was painful, but if she didn’t put her all into this it wouldn’t be believable. Her headache got worse, and with it came a tinge of nausea. Well, alright, if she threw up it would just make it seem more urgent (if horrible fo her). “Think I’m gonna be sick.”

She took a step forward, stumbling and closing her eyes momentarily as if she was actually about to faint. Shit- she actually lost her footing with another step, going over her ankle and falling towards her side.

Hopefully someone would catch her (and assumed it was part of the act), otherwise she might really need the doctor.

Mention: Zeltzin@Bartimaeus

Ophrenia grinned. "Time to ruin someone's day." She hated to do, especially in a lie. She's worked a ton of customer service jobs and nothing said 'shit on my day' then someone bitching about something that had nothing to do with you. But it also got fast results from the ones that wanted you out of their face. She hoped they were in for the fast option. '

She opened the door, holding it open for Z, then followed her inside. The place looked as bad on the inside as it did on the outside. Wall paper from the '70s peeled on the walls. There were ladders with buckets of paint in section where the wall paper was taken off to give the building an update. The ceilings had those popcorn bumps and water damage. Maybe when it was done, it wouldn't look like they'd get asbestos poisoning just from breathing. There was a lady at the desk. She could've been anywhere from age 55 to 80. It was hard to tell with her white hair, few wrinkles and her floral granny suit.

She went right up to her, giving her signature creepy smile to unsettle her. Her bright eyes piercing through her soul. "Hi, so we have a bit of a problem and we heard from some locals that a woman named Mary-Louise is the person to go to fix it." She patted Z's shoulder. "You see some kids, we were told they're names are Genesis and Cody, vandalized my friend's friend's bike. She's an absolute nut about her bike. Like ready to commit murder for it. Anyway we can get this resolved peacefully? I'm not trying to catch a charge over some no good kids causing problems, you dig?"

The room was like something out of a movie, with perfectly placed photos and scriptures of people trying to put a mystery together. Erik could have been impressed if the women behind the stunt were still around. Missing, exploring, or stuck in the adventure they were somewhere but just not here. He watched as Jasmine with ease moved the bed and began investigating, sniffing around like some kind of Malinois. There was a lot to take in, obviously, the Black family had something to do with Eleanor Black. Materially there was nothing that stood out in the vignette that was posted, just theories and comments about the household. It was something to keep in mind but it was clear that there should be extreme caution exercised amongst the members of the family.

It's not like it mattered to him and Jasmine, didn't half the group go running after the family manor? Or was it the.. His train of thought was interrupted by Jasmine and a piercing scream. He flinched, caught completely off guard by abysmal noise from the woman. He turned around expecting to see a bloody knife in his back or a killer revving a chainsaw but saw nothing. He looked back at Jasmine a little paler in the face than he was just seconds before.

"Jesus..- Are you okay!?" He asked, Maybe his was some kind of German thing.

@Punished GN

@FernStone@Punished GN
Sybil A Harkness MD

---

"... not going to believe me when I say this, but magic? It's real. So are monsters and ghosts and other nasty things. Your fearless leader clearly has magic herself. I wooooould elaborate buuuuuuut... I can tell by the looks on your faces that you think I'm crazy! But, you all will find out on your own soon enough. Just uhhhhh... if you see a deer with flayed skin: run. If you see a tree with a talking skull on it: run. If you see a skeleton in a robe with a gold necklace: run. If you see a green werewolf... you're probably already dead. And whatever you do, stay out of the swamp - especially at night. I'll be around!"

Clay's expression crinkled as Odessa pulled away, but he didn't take things any further. That girl's skin was clammy, and cold. Only way he could describe it.
"What the fuck wqs that?" Lily asked, and he shrugged. "Better we don't get involved," She didn't have any track marks that anyone could see, and though she was cold she didn't exactly have the rotting teeth associated with meth mouth or sticking to the pipe. "If its drugs, or other issues, folk like that can get unpredictable if you push 'em while they're spiralling." Mental illness was another possibility, but some things didn't fully add up. She was awfully specific, and the spiel she'd run her mouth off on suggested she was going through some kind of episode. Didn't matter, he figured. They soon moved on.

"... Let's get a move on. Remember: we're going with the heatstroke story."

Nodding, Clay briefly gestured his palms towards Charlie.

"Doctor's gonna figure out quick that you're full of shit, so make sure you do it right. Remember, don't talk too much. You're head's gonna be spinnin', feelin' like you wanna throw up even if you've got nothin' in you, maybe your body's gonna feelin' tight like you got cramps everywhere. Head's gonna feel like it's on fire, and you're gonna be thirsty."

Then, as an aside, he chuckled "Anythin' else, we can really just put it down to you being a weak-ass tourist."

For added effect, Clay gently reached out for Charlie's tricep to lead her along into the waiting room.

"Hiiiiiii, mami, is Dr. Harkness available? Too obvious that. How's an out of towner gonna know the doctor's name firsthand? Sure, it wasn't implausible - there was a sign outside that read Sybil Harkness MD - but Clay felt it gave the game away a little too early.

"She's in the middle of someone's check-up, is this an emergency?"

"Ummm... Mami over here... she hasn't been feeling too good?

That was Charlie's cue. “I feel faint," she mumbled, "Think I’m gonna be sick.”

He felt the British girl lurch forward, almost on cue - and braced his feet to take some of her weight, just enough that when the girl accidentally lost her footing, he was better suited to take her weight. Instead of toppling over and pulling him down with her, she ended up swinging around into his side, with 'Carl' propping her up, "Woah, hang on-.." Playing this a little too well, maybe. With a grunt, he shifted the girl's weight against his shoulder to stabilise the both of them, then apologetically nodded to the receptionist.

"Sorry, ma'am," he interjected, not wanting to get on the receptionist's bad side with their unsolicited drop-in anymore than they probably had, "I'm not from around here - but I ran into these girls and this one looks like she might have been out in the sun too long, so I figured to get her checked out. I looked her over quick, but I think she's better off gettin' a professional's eyes on her. I'll wait with her while the Doctor finishes up, if that's alright."

Interactions: Blake Thornton @Punished GN

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What does a bullet getting fired from a gun, a jet breaking the sound barrier, and the speed of light all have in common? All three of these things move slower than Neko’s eyes which immediately snapped away the second she saw the loose sash of Thornton’s robe.

“Oh, god!” cried Neko as she pivoted away from the door, dipped past Jordan, and careened down the steps. She had been worried that a gun was going to be shoved in her face when she knocked, now she wished there was one as well as someone merciful enough to pull the trigger. Neko had been correct about one thing: Blake Thornton was a lonely old man because he was definitely way too excited to have some company.

She was more thankful than ever that Wyatt had tagged along who quickly covered up the awkwardness with a joke. If it wasn’t for him Neko wouldn’t have been able to pull herself together to focus on the task at hand. Rather, she’d be far more distracted with trying to figure out why the man would even bother coming to the door when his partner sounded like she was currently on the clock. Now she was able to refocus. For her daughter's sake they had to gather some information, although Neko couldn't imagine anything productive was going to come from this now. She certainly wasn't going anywhere closer to that cabin until it aired out.

“Yes, we’re all very, very sorry,” said a nervously laughing Neko, hand still shielding her red face from the cabin door as she stumbled through her apology. “It would really mean the world to us if you could answer some questions but obviously you’re busy. Is there a better time we could come by? Or even just a good contact number?

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Interactions: Erik (@EpicRoleplay).

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"Jesus..- Are you okay!?"

He didn't see it, maybe Jasmine was finally losing it. For a little bit, Jasmine thought that the sheer stress of throwing her damn dream away was finally making her snap. She had considered it for a moment when she looked back and her Eleanor looked completely different, with a whole new name and identity, Sophia Weiss. It is an ironic name when you compare it to Eleanor Black. For a few seconds, Jasmine stared at Erik with blank, dead eyes, before her gaze drifted downwards. She took a deep breath, sliding her glasses off and wiping them with her t-shirt.

"I-I am fine... Let's just-"

She put her glasses back on - looking straight head at Erik, then looking to the right, and then towards the pegboard...

"What?" Jasmine pondered what she saw etched across the pegboard almost as if it was burnt.

"'Find the Orb, leave with what you came for'...? Was that always there?"

---

Interactions: Charlie (@FernStone), "Carl" (@Zombiedude101), & Dr. Harkness.

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"... AH, Mami!"

A hand was stretched outwards in a vain attempt to catch Charlie, even though Lily knew she was going to fall down with Charlie. Clayton, thankfully, managed to catch Charlie first with ease as he was much larger and stronger than Lily. She let out a sigh because Charlie was taking method acting just a little bit too far. Thankfully, nobody got hurt and the nurse lady was buying it!

"Thank you, papi." Lily said to Clayton.

"I'm not from around here - but I ran into these girls and this one looks like she might have been out in the sun too long, so I figured to get her checked out. I looked her over quick, but I think she's better off gettin' a professional's eyes on her. I'll wait with her while the Doctor finishes up, if that's alright."

"I was telling her, 'Mami, you need to stay out the sun' and she was like 'Nooooooooo! I'm fine!' and look what happened!" Lily corroborated with "Carl's" story, and the Receptionist finally spoke,

"Dr. Harkness is finishing up now," The Receptionist Nurse said as she got up, "I'm going to take her to one of the rooms, check her vitals, and see what Dr. Harkness suggests. Follow me, we don't have a whole lot of staff so would you kindly help her into this room?" The Receptionist took the three to a room that was directly next to the desk; it was pretty much just a bedroom that was converted into an examination room. Which was one of the most ghetto things that Lily had seen, even while living in New York, but that tracks for this town. The floor was made of wood, opposite to the door were windows that were covered by shades and curtains. The ceiling was that popcorn stuff, except cheap as fuck and the walls had this ugly ass green wallpaper. With a counter with various medical equipment on top of it, some chairs, and most importantly of all, the examination table

The nurse checked Charlie's vitals - the usual, her blood pressure, her nose and ears, and most importantly of all, her temperature - before withdrawing to find Dr. Harkness. After a few minutes: a surprisingly young doctor a tall-ish African-American woman with curly black hair wearing scrubs and a face mask that concealed the bottom half of her face, walked in.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Harkness," Dr. Harkness introduced herself. "How are you all today?"

"Wow, you were not what I was expecting when I saw your name, mami..." Lily said, mildly surprised.

"What? Expecting an old white lady?" Sybil cattily said.

"Yeah... yeah, not gonna lie, mami." Lily shrugged.

"So..." Dr. Harkness said as she looked Lily square in the face. "... Why did you come here? Your friend's vitals are fine - she isn't even close to heat stroke. I'm very busy and can't afford to have my time wasted today."

---

Interactions: Zeltzin (@Bartimaeus) & Ophrenia (@silvermist1116)

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"Hi, so we have a bit of a problem and we heard from some locals that a woman named Mary-Louise is the person to go to fix it."

"... Come now,”

After Zeltzin finished speaking, a man leaning against one of the door frames off to their left spoke. He wore a fancy suit, with a handlebar mustache and he was tall. He had a fancy whiskey tumbler in his hand which he used to swirl around a brown drink... and in his other hand, he had a pocket watch. He had a calm and warming smile on his face as he calmly put the pocket watch in his pocket and walked over with his arms open.

"Whoever told you that was lying to you," The man chuckled for a second before he placed a hand on his chest. "I am the head of the Black Family Mining Co., Callum Black himself, and if ol' Genesis and Cody did something; I'll handle it myself - they are my niece and nephew, after all."

He smiled warmly before he reached into his pocket to grab that pocket watch again and said,

"First thing's first... where is this bike? Where is the proof that my niece and nephew damaged it? Cry and fuss all you want, I won't be lifting a finger until I see the evidence."

---

Interactions: Wyatt (@Helo), & Neko (@Atrophy)

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“At ‘ease general, yer private’s still salutin’. Sorry for the interruption. We’re hoping for a quick chat.”

"Oh, sorry!"

Quickly covering his erect knob with his robe (even though it still poked against it and was noticeable enough), Blake's face went red as the prostitute was laughing. "I was not expecting company, as you could see. I was in the middle of something."

"It's me, I'm the something," The lady of the night chuckled. "If you gave him like sixty more seconds, he would have been prepared for you all."

“It would really mean the world to us if you could answer some questions but obviously you’re busy. Is there a better time we could come by? Or even just a good contact number?

"No, no, no, it's fine, you came all the way out here, how about you come in for some tea and some snacks?" Blake said as he took a step back and held the door open for the group. "I would hate for you all to leave without even a glass of water."

"Yeah, the hospitality of this man is amazing," The lady said as she picked at her nails for a second, "But, what I'm curious about is what kinda questions you trying to ask Blake here? Don't tell me you're trying to take my place, because, heh, he's like a little piston when he pops that pill."

Then she started laughing.

Interactions: Harmony (@Nosuchthing)

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Gene and Harmony walked in silence, not much to talk about, Gene supposed, which suited him fine enough. Though even he was feeling the need to fill in the silence now and then with the odd comment or observation.

He marvelled to himself at how the marketplace - and Quintin as a whole for that matter - was some incomprehensible mishmash of multiple different centuries at once. Clashing designs and architecture that made it feel more like a half-finished movie set than a place where people lived. Not to mention the smell and the heat, coupled together into some evil omnipresent force that clung to your clothes and permeated senses you didn't even know you had.

Gene was about to let out another colourful "Texan" analogy before stopping, tapping Harmony to do the same.

"There." He whispered, looking as if he were instead perusing the wares of the nearest stall and inviting Harmony to do the same as his eyes darted towards Genesis and Cody Black at the edge of the market. It wasn't good for his cover as some huckleberry from the sticks but he needed to get something useful, letting these kids get away with any valuable info due to the negligence of the rest of his group was not something he could let happen.

"Wait here; I'm gonna toss 'em the 'ol Watson charm." He said with a wink to Harmony. It probably didn't inspire confidence in her but he needed to come off a little delusional. "If it looks like things're goin' south then step in and we'll get a move on out of here." It wasn't really a sincere request, more so it was just to keep Harmony content, Gene had already began walking before she could even respond.

In truth, Gene's mind was going a mile a second, taking in the minutiae of Cody and Genesis with every step. You have to know your audience before you can begin a show.

They were both tall, they were both apparently little hell-raisers, they both had fairly stupid names. The girl, Genesis, didn't even bother any attempt at subterfuge as she all but yelled to her twin about the "outsiders" in town. She didn't seem particularly malicious about it though, she spoke as if pointing out a deer to her brother rather than a perceived invader. She was also wearing a disproportionately large amount of black.

Loose lips, lack of malice, weekend goth. There was something to work with.

"Howdy, Sir, Ma’am." Gene said, extending his hand. "My name's Vincent, my friend and I are on vacation to see some…" A sheepish grin escaped him as he scratched the back of his neck with his free hand. "Well we're both fans of the country… and, well, "spooky" stuff too for lack of a better term." He said with an embarrassed chuckle.

"Sorry, I'm babbling. We were told that when it came to Quintin, the Black family would know more than anybody and that you guys sometimes hung around here. Hope I'm not disturbing you?" It wasn't his best work, admittedly. But it was light and open ended. He just needed an in.

Mention: Zeltzin@Bartimaeus and Callum "5 degrees from a porn 'stache" Black @Punished GN

Ophrenia raised her hand away from Z when she slapped it away. She shook her hand out and grimaced. It didn't hurt and she didn't much care, but the lady was staring at her so she had to sell that Z losing her shit would be a bad idea for her if they didn't get what they wanted. She thought they were doing well so far. So well in fact, they summoned a cartoon villain from the '30s.

She's seen a lot of weirdos from her time in LA, but that's west America weird. He most definitely didn't fit with any of the weirdos she grew up around in Tennessee. His whole...everything rubbed her the wrong way. Like who makes the personal choice to look like that in this century? A villain that's who. A tall villain. A long legged villain in the middle of a Louisiana swamp town. Great. She's doubting if Eleanor's worth all this trouble, but he introduced himself as Callum Black so he's gotta be related to her in some way. He's not the one they needed to speak to and she didn't care to keep up the charade if this wouldn't get them their goal. It'd be a bust as soon as they tried to talk their way out of showing him a lie, anyway.

"Wow. Shouldn't you be tying up some white woman on the tracks to heist a train?" She gestured to the disrepair of the building. "Seems like you need to. The renovation budget is like three decades behind. We can't sue you for the bike. The damage doesn't exist, but we can sue you for whatever disease we're breathing in." She scratched the back of her neck. "I'm getting kinda itchy. Are you itchy Z? She's itchy. How much for a disease borne pathogen from your family's back water swamp abomination?"

@FernStone@Punished GN
Sybil A Harkness MD

Clay's brow arched for a just a second as they were led in past the receptionist, the nurse, all the way to Doctor Harkness herself.

This wasn't quite quite he was expecting either; small town family doctor out in the swamps, at the least he expected someone older. That might've gone either way for them, he rationalised.

The act - she wasn't buying it either - not that he expected it would've worked for too long - and he got the impression doubling down hard would throw up walls. Best to go with a soft approach. Before Lily or Charlie could blow it for them, he decided to speak up, projecting as best of a warm, disarming expression as he could.

"Look, bein' honest I just ran into these girls, saw this one seemed a little green aroun' the gills. I help take care of a fire crew up in Memphis, so I get it, but I always figure best to play it safe, but..." he shrugged. "I'm a Tennessee boy, so I know how tourists up north an' east can't take too much sun like us..." he chuckled, trailing off a little, then projected a warm expression .

He offered out a hand to her, projecting a warm expression, "Hell, I bet you get enough tourists on your plate as-is, huh?" he led on, projecting that warm persona. "Name's Carl - sorry for wastin' your time."

Interactions: Lily@Punished GN, “Carl” @Zombiedude101, & Dr. Harkness

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Charlie was surprised with how easily they were led straight past reception and into what she guessed was supposed to be an examination room, but looked more like an ugly motel room. People probably left here more sick than they arrived. She made a show of leaning on “Carl” the whole main, furrowing her brow and trying to look as sick as possible. The intense headache helped, even if it was slightly alleviated by being out of the sun. She sat still for the nurse checking over her, closing her eyes so she wouldn’t just watch the nurse like a weirdo (she was curious how well she’d get it done).

Of course, their lie wouldn’t last long now she’d been checked over. While Charlie wasn’t feeling great, she definitely didn’t have heat stroke.

Dr. Harkness still came - both her presence and what she was like a bit of a shock. She looked way too young to be a full time doctor, nevermind in this small town. Charlie ignored the stab of jealousy in her chest. Not the time.

"... Why did you come here? Your friend's vitals are fine - she isn't even close to heat stroke. I'm very busy and can't afford to have my time wasted today."

“Carl” spun the same tale he had to the receptionist, just with more details. Charlie nodded along - no longer pretending to be suffering from heatstroke, but not hiding a grimace everytime her head throbbed.

”Aye, am not from around here,” Charlie said, rubbing her head. She purposefully played up her accent, as if it wasn’t obvious she was from Northern England. "Am from England, so, like, I can’t handle this heat. I got loads of warnin' aboot heat stroke so I guess I panicked thinkin' I had it. Sorry. Uh, am definitely suffering from dehydration like, so can I at least get some water or somethin’? I got a ragin’ headache."

She rubbed the back of her neck. She definitely wasn’t as good at this acting thing as “Carl”, but she also didn’t just want to sit back and watch. Surely Dr. Harkness would just kick them out now they’d apologised and admitted she wasn’t as sick as they’d claimed?

“My mam’s from here, actually, that’s why am visiting this end of the world… Maybe you know her? You must know everybody. Mind if I ask some questions just, like, while we’re here.

She decided against saying the name Eleanor Black, for now.