She was shaken up, almost as if she had seen a ghost. This motel already gave off some kind of 'Bates motel' type of vibe when they arrived but Erik hadn't felt it only up until now. He found himself consoling Jasmine as she reacted to whatever trauma caused her to scream like that. Admittedly his ears were ringing, she was a loud one but he found himself at a loss not seeing what it was. That was a sign that they needed to leave this place, urgently. He went to turn to leave but saw Jasmine talking about an orb... "What, no no. I don't think there was, listen Jasmine it's in our best interest to leave here. Something isn't adding up here, let's go meet up with the group." He said trying to pull her away.
"What, no no. I don't think there was, listen Jasmine it's in our best interest to leave here. Something isn't adding up here, let's go meet up with the group.
"Yeah, let's, uh, go,"
That was a good idea, honestly. The last thing that Jasmine wanted to do was hang around in the ghost motel, so she just let Erik pull her away. They both went out the door, and, honestly, Jasmine had no clue where they were going, or where they go could go, only that they were getting the hell away from that damn motel. Jasmine let out a sigh of relief...
... Until she saw the blue and red lights cut on, and saw it was a nice little Crown Vic. Not just any Crown Vic... a Quintin Sheriff Crown Vic. "Hold it right there!" The Sheriff said as she rolled down the window.
"Hell no!" Jasmine shouted, as the first thing that came to mind was to sprint out of there. Thankfully, she is still in amazing shape and was able to bolt away like it was nothing. "Erik, split up!"
"Hey, get back here!" The Sheriff said as she got out.
The doctor remained stoney-faced as Clayton went on to explain who he was, then Dr. Harkness calmly and coldly responded with:
"It's great to meet you, but. Get. To. The. Point." Sybil just couldn't hide her irritation in her voice - even while trying to force herself to be polite.
Ah, damn, Mami's a tough one. Lily thought to herself as Dr. Harkness almost immediately saw through their bullshit, and requested that they just get to the point. Lily honestly had respect for and, unlike Charlie and Clayton, probably was more used to this kind of behavior (Because Lily was the same way!). Clayton was keeping up with the guise - even though it was obvious that Dr. Harkness wasn't having it. Lily remained quiet because Charlie spoke and she wanted to see what Dr. Harkness had to say about Charlie's dilemma.
”Aye, am not from around here,”
"Honestly, I couldn't tell," Dr. Harkness sarcastically said with a little chuckle.
“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.
"Look, if this is what you came here for; you didn't have to come up with that heat stroke story," Dr. Harkness started with a shrug, "You could have just came straight to me and asked, I'm not like the others in this town. I'm not poisoned by that bitch Mary-Louise and her family. That said, it would be veeeeeeeeeeeeery helpful if you - you knoooooooow..."
"Wow. Shouldn't you be tying up some white woman on the tracks to heist a train? 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. I'm getting kinda itchy. Are you itchy Z? She's itchy. How much for a disease-borne pathogen from your family's backwater swamp abomination?"
"I see said disease has eroded your mental facilities..."
These were the words that Callum Black said in response to Ophrenia, he turned his lip upwards as he gripped his glass of whiskey. Before he took a little sip, his other hand was slowly climbing from his side - with a finger already ready to point at the door - cot amused by Ophrenia and Zeltzin's antics. However, the latter spoke - and naturally, he ignored everything that came out of her mouth until she said...
"... Where is Eleanor Black?"
He stared at her blankly for a few moments... as he took yet another sip of his whiskey. That was when Callum flatly said, "... I have no clue who you are talking about. There is nobody in my family by that name." He shrugged.
He then pointed at the door as he said, "I tire of your antics, please leave immediately before I have Sheriff Parts remove you all..."
"Howdy, Sir, Ma’am. My name's Vincent, my friend and I are on vacation to see some…"
The two twins looked at each other when "Vincent" spoke and Genesis broke out into laughter as if Cody had said something hilarious - but not one word had come out of his mouth!
"Well we're both fans of the country… and, well, "spooky" stuff too for lack of a better term. 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?"
The two smiled at each other, before laughing again... Cody jabbed Genesis with his elbow and then he was the first to speak.
"You're not disturbing us at all," Cody started, "There's th-"
"You can go into the swamp!" Genesis proudly interrupted Cody with a wide smile.
"What? Are you trying to kill him?" Cody weakly said.
"There's the abandoned trainyard by the swamp, the old Drayton Family Slaughterhouse out in the swamp, the Quintin Graveyard, the abandoned warehouse, the old Black Mano-" Genesis blabbed on, only to get interrupted.
Neko winced at the woman laughing at her own joke, her face scrunching up in a look of disbelief. Neko let out a soft, singular ha and tried to smile like she found the woman even the slightest bit entertaining instead of simply annoying. In that moment Neko suddenly found herself understanding men like Blake Thornton more than she thought she would, because if she had the dough then Neko would also pay this woman to leave. What she couldn’t understand was Blake not jumping on her out but instead inviting them all in. Maybe it was an ingrained buttling instinct, maybe it was good ol’ fashioned Southern hospitality, but either way Neko found herself missing the fuck off they would’ve been given had this been her hometown.
Nevertheless, she found herself walking back up onto the porch. They’d come here for a reason. If Mr. Thornton was going to offer them his time then she was going to take it, although she’d skip the finger sandwiches after seeing where his hands had been. As she passed by the others she gave them a wide-eyed look of uncertainty that begged them not to let her go in alone, eventually stopping just short of the threshold into Blake’s cabin. Neko clasped her hands behind her back and won a valiant battle against her natural instinct to look down when she made eye contact with a stranger.
“Thank you. I’m Neko Carbella. We appreciate your generosity but…” but Neko grimaced. “But I, um, we’re, uh…” A hand escaped from behind her back and wiped away a bead of sweat. She shot a look back at the others and mouthed, I’m sorry. The others didn’t need to know Neko to tell what she was thinking. It was plain by the look on her face: she was a desperate mother terrified that something awful had happened to her daughter. She was incapable of playing this cool. She was about to let the dam burst. “But—”
But she had hesitated, giving someone the chance of cutting her off before she let it all loose.
Location: Swamp Cabin Interactions: Neko @Atrophy, Olivia, Jordan, & Nori @NoriWasHere
“She really wasn’t kiddin’ about the hospitality. This is the warmest welcome we’ve had in Quintin so far. And I sware we’ve done nothing to ril’ up the locals.” Wyatt took the opportunity to peek inside the cabin. Nothing looked suspicious, neither Blake nor his company felt threatening, but Wyatt still felt like he was watching some scary movie, just waiting for the jump scare to happen. But nothing happened, and tension just kept solidifying.
Wyatt glanced at Neko, who wore that same tragic expression as mothers on the nightly news asking for the safe return of a missing kid. A look like that was almost enough to break a fella’s heart, and it’d probably work wonders on a kindly old butler, but maybe not on a jaded hooker.
“I gotta pass on the water, just came from a little coffee shop up the road, stuff’ll run right through ya. Think I could use your bathroom?” Wyatt asked Blake, before turning his attention to Thornton’s paid company. “Maybe you could show me where that’s at? I’m Wyatt. I think I missed your name.” He almost offered his hand out as he introduced himself, but thought better of it and tapped his chest instead. It seemed like a good plan, to separate the two, and maybe make Blake easier to question.
Ophrenia didn't take offense to Z moving her out of the way a bit. She saw what she was trying to do with her placating gesture. Callum was all but ready to kick them out and Z swooped in and saved the day, which was what she wanted...kinda It's good cop, bad cop reversed this time. Instead of her coming in as the voice of reason when they tried to get the secretary to get them in contact with the old lady, now it was Z's turn. Half of what she wanted and half her need to tell Callum what she thought of the...look he achieved. Whatever he was going for. It was a nice touch that Z took him off guard asking about Eleanor. He got quiet for a moment, hesitating right before he lied through his teeth and kicked them out.
"Sheriff Parts? Is his first name Private?" She looked at Z. Cops are a big deal, but she's not about to be punked by some cop name Parts. She'd get them sooner arrested cracking jokes at his name, than they would for being brown in the South. "Before we go, I just want to confirm you're aware that we're aware that you're a lying liar who lies." She pointed to everyone in the room for confirmation, but didn't really wait for one then gave a thumbs up. "Okay, great. We're all on the same page. And since you're a liar, you can bet your ancestors' slave owning wealth that you will see us again. Of course, I'll take reparations to guarantee you'll never see me again, but you're not going to cut that big a check."
She nudged Z with her elbow. "Let's go, before Sheriff Penis escorts us out of this...fine establishment." She whispered, "I've been kicked out of way better places." But she didn't actually whisper it. It was very much staged and in a near empty room anyone could hear her. She headed towards the door. Time to go to her Plan B, knock on the old lady's door and see if they can get answers that way.
But her reaction to what Charlie said was a lot better than expected. Sure, she basically told them that their previous plan was stupid. But how were they supposed to know? Was it normal in America to rock up and ask to talk to the doctor about a family member? Or like, anything not medical? Back home you'd never get anywhere near the doctor. The poor doctor would probably be fully booked for months anyway.
"I mean," Charlie held up her hands with a relaxed smile. "Kinda safer to assume you are... Everyone's been looking at us strange so wouldn't really expect any different from the town doctor."
That wasn't important anyway, no point dwelling on what they could've done.
"Well, uh, speaking of Mary-Louise..." And that family that possibly included Charlie, who knew, it was difficult knowing who you were related to when your mother completely disappeared. She fiddled with her hands, which were way too sweaty thanks to the heat, and tried to figure out if it was smart to just give a name. But what else could she do? It was the person they were all here to look for. "A relative, I guess? Not the ones running this town and all but my mum's definitely a relative."
"A relative, I guess? Not the ones running this town and all but my mum's definitely a relative."
"If your mother's also black, she's no relative of them. The Black Family are, despite their name, white as they get." Sybil said in response.
"Her name's Eleanor Black."
Sybil was quiet for a few seconds before she let out a chuckle.
"... Ahhhh, why did I just think you here for that?" She gave her thigh a little slap as she continued to laugh, obvious that she wanted to laugh harder but suppressed that urge because she didn't want her nurses to get suspicious. However, her face went deadly serious as she faced Charlie, Lily, and Carl. "Look, I don't know an Eleanor Black, but there were others that came into town looking for her."
"Like those five girls that are missing?" Lily finally injected, tilting her head slightly as she narrowed her eyes at Dr. Harkness.
"... And I'm going to tell you the same thing I told them," Dr. Harkness started, before she looked at the window to ensure that it was closed, "Keep your heads down... plenty of people have come into town askin' around for Eleanor Black and guess what happened to them?"
"They're missing?" Lily injected again.
"Oh no sweetie," Dr. Harkness chuckled, "In Quintin, "missing" is just a nicer way to say "Haven't found the body yet"."
"Figures, mami," Lily said.
Dr. Harkness looked at every member of the group, pointing a pen at each of them as she was deadly serious,
"I would suggest that you all just up and leave for your own safety but taking one good hard look at you all; I can tell you're not going to do that. So what I will tell you is that need to keep your heads down, and your mouths shut..."
That was when Sybil glanced at the closed door, ensuring that nobody was listening as she spoke in a hushed tone. "... And keep your damn head on a swivel, especially at night. There are some things here that are a lot worse than an alligator, or a methhead."
“I gotta pass on the water, just came from a little coffee shop up the road, stuff’ll run right through ya. Think I could use your bathroom? Maybe you could show me where that’s at? I’m Wyatt. I think I missed your name.”
"Of course," Blake said.
However, the prostitute shifted her weight to one hip popped out a cigarette, and gave it a light as she puffed it. She gave Wyatt a narrow look as she said, "Maggy - but I ain't the butler here, find it yourself." Maggy blew out a puff of smoke as she threw a hand up, "I'm smokin' here."
“I’m looking for a missing girl—my daughter. She disappeared a couple of months ago. For the longest time, nobody believed me. Nobody helped me. I thought…I thought I was… The thing is, I heard you might be able to help me find her. I’m not accusing you of anything or saying you’re involved, it’s just that maybe you know things about someone who is. I know you used to work for the Black family. My name is Neko Carbella, but before my divorce, it used to be Neko Black. My ex’s name is Anthony Black. He grew up in New York. From what I could find online there isn’t any relation between his family back home and the family down here, but somehow my daughter knew about this town. She knew about the family you worked for. It doesn’t make sense, like, it’s actually impossible, it’s—Any information about the family would be, well, it’d just be amazing. Please, I’m just trying to make sense of all of this. I need to find my daughter Eleanor. She’s only seventeen. If anything happened to her, I’d…I’d…please, I need to know.”
"Has it ever occurred to you that other people have "Black" as their surname, genius?" Maggy injected as she leaned up against the wall, smoking her cigarette.
Blake was quiet as he carefully took in all of Neko's words, when she finished he didn't speak for a few moments.
"I'm sorry for your troubles, it is unfortunate... but the sad truth is that I can't help you find your daughter. What I can do is give you all the information I know on the Black Family... I was their butler for over forty years!" Blake said as he leaned forward in his chair, placing a hand on his chin as he let out a quiet "hmmmmmmmm" as a sort of hum. He paused yet again as he leaned back. "I honestly don't know where to start... Well, I'll start from the top! The Black Family runs a monopoly on coal mining and exporting it to neighboring cities and getting big bucks from it. It's how they remain so rich. The family is headed by Mary-Louise and, ah, I can remember when she was just a little girl! She was so sweet... Well, I was the butler from around when her father, Albert, was around but unfortunately... uh...."
Blake trailed off, scratching the back of his head as if he was unsure of how to explain before he continued, "... There was an incident when she was a little girl. Her whole family was wiped out except for her, her brother Grant Black, and her grandfather Walter Black. My God Walter did a number on her, turned a sweet girl into a monster! A massive control freak and, I hope this doesn't get taken the wrong way, bitch. I'm getting off track here, aren't I?"
Blake awkwardly laughed as he scratched the back of his head, "Mary-Louise has five kids with her husband Marcus; Callum, Augustus, Mary-Louise Jr, Levi, and Justine... each of them are as fucked up as their mother; just in different ways. But, I never heard of an Eleanor - a name that has been popping up a lot lately - but let me give you a word of advice."
Blake then leaned forward as he said, "Keep your mouth shut about Eleanor Black, people have come into town before looking for an Eleanor, and every one of them has turned up dead... matter of fact, I heard about a group of girls that went up to the Old Black Manor and they went missing last night."
Maggy perked up and turned her head to look at Blake... before she went back to her cigarette.
If there were an official track team in Twin Towers, Erik would be the best runner in the Asian Car but these cliques and achievements paled to the reality of the situation. As he was helping poor Jasmine out of the motel, the law decided to stick it's ugly, and female head toward the two. Perhaps she just wanted Jasmine but knowing his street sense, the intelligent part of his brain said "Erik, run!" almost as if it mimicked Jasmine.
Erik took off heading into the nearby woods, leaving the scrambling Sheriff to choose who she wanted to go after. He wasn't going to take the fall, hell no. Not again, not like L.A. he took off and the race began. He'd try to lose her if he could but being wanted again was going to be a pain in the ass. No one wanted to deal with a pain in the ass, he just had to navigate back towards the town or SOMETHING lest he meet the fate of the girls he was investigating.
"... and keep your damn head on a swivel, especially at night. There are some things here that are a lot worse than an alligator, or a methhead."
Clay's expression crinkled at that - there was something about Sybil's phrasing that seemed deliberate. A gut feeling at the pit of his stomach. Fuck. What was he caught up in? It wasn't completely out of the question that some backwater place like this, families with old blood and deep roots, there were some folks pulling the strings. He'd not run into the local sheriff's department yet, or even seen a passing cruiser at this stage, but he could've guessed they knew who everyone was, and could pick out everyone who wasn't.
He'd heard stories of just how far that could go. Hell, he'd lived it back home, having to deal with things a certain way, well outside the realms of due process.
Instinct was that he could cut and run, but he was committed to this now. If he went home, tail between his legs, there was a fifty fifty chance he could end the year with the clothes on his back and nothing more. Riskier chance he might end up in a cell. That wasn't ideal, and given his history, he wasn't sure if those were the terms he wanted to go down on.
Leaning forward, he pressed the doctor further; "What's been said here, stays between us, so just level with me," 'Carl' asked, "Who are we talking about - people willin' to hurt folks for asking questions?" Briefly, he glanced off to one side, keeping his tone fairly hushed. "Look, she's just trying to find someone who mattered to her. You figure where these girls went? At least, y'know, I can keep an eye on these two, keep 'em outta trouble."
Zeltzin's brow rose a few slight degrees at the pause that followed her query. But her expression grew into flat annoyance at what followed. Of course he wouldn't be helpful - she could've bet money on that. She supposed he could've genuinely had no clue what they were talking about, but it was.. unlikely, to say the least. With the noteworthy pause, and the clear same-last-name thing in a town as small as this, it was clearly not coincidence. Which meant that, even though he told them nothing, he told them something. There was something to hide here.
But how was Eleanor something to hide? That she had to know.
In a time past, the presence of a witness would've meant something in a situation like this but, even still, it had admittedly been a while since Zeltzin had put on her.. charms. Eleanor had made sure of that. But in any case, it was clear that Callum wasn't going to give them anything. She began to turn away as she allowed a knowing glare to stick onto Callum for a second or two. After the moment she turned and began to step towards the door with Ophrenia, shifting her shoulders to adjust her jacket. Had she really thought they'd get solid results from this place, her frustration might've led her to spit on the floor at Callum's feet in anger - but this, while uninformative, was at least a little revealing.
What they would do with the knowledge that Callum - or in other words, the Black family - was hiding something? She didn't know quite yet. But she'd figure it out. Well, they'd figure it out.
Zeltzin didn't speak another word until they were out of earshot. It being obvious that they wouldn't get what they wanted here, it was better not to reveal anything about themselves in case they were to run into Callum again later. Which she had a feeling they would, considering the size of the town and, well, the fact that they were looking for a Black-family-member.
This time she held the door open for Ophrenia as she held back the urge to facepalm. "Que mierda, Ophrenia.. you're really not good at this.."
Ophrenia walked out the door with Z. The image of a woman flashed in the window right before she left. She frowned. That was interesting. Spooky town and their ghosts. Or maybe it's the mix of humidity and the exhaust from the truck that just passed by. Anything was possible. She thanked Z for holding the door open for her.
"I'm very good at this. I just don't do well with dudes that mustaches are a few snipes away from looking like Hitler. I'm sure he says the n-word in private and probably committed a hate crime in college." She put her arm around Z's shoulder for a split second, then took it off. It was way too hot and she remembered that Z doesn't seem to like being touched. "But let's put that vexing man out of our heads and move onto plan B. The Black house. We could knock on the door and ask if the old lady will talk to us."
Seemed easy enough. She knew old people would open the door for anyone who knocked. Or in the case of rich old people, have a maid or butler or assistant do it for them. She used to be a door-to-door saleswoman for knives. She knew who to would budge and who wouldn't. Old retired people living on their pension and desperate to talk to anyone would gladly let her through the door. Not when she looks like she does now, but back then it was all uniforms and clean image.
"I promise I'll try harder this time. I doubt we'll run into anyone else that looks like him. Think the local bar will have people willing to point us in the right direction?"
Wyatt’s valiant attempt to divide and conquer was countered by the surly Maggy and Neko proceeded to vomit out her life story. There was only one important piece of information she held back, and that was how her daughter Nora had been replaced with a fake that had all the memories of her actual daughter. It was something she had even withheld from the group and something she would continue to withhold. Neko knew that if she mentioned it then those who didn’t know Eleanor Black would think she was insane, while those who did know might think she’d abandoned her daughter. She hadn’t. She’d abandoned a stranger, a parasite. Something awful.
Now that Neko had shattered her self control and been charmed by the temptation of the waft of Maggy’s cigarette she fumbled through her own bag and found a sad, crumpled cigarette to smoke as Blake began speaking. Truth be told, Neko almost broke down and cried when he said he couldn’t help find her daughter, but if the information helped Jen and the others piece together something from their leads she had to power through. Neko leaned against the railing of the porch, her fingers nervously picking at the paint as she listened.
Neko had a few observations as Blake continued. One: either Mr. Thornton was much older than he looked, the Black Family was okay with child servitude, or Swamp Grandma was not referring to Mary-Louise. Two: the massacre of nearly an entire family was horrifying, almost as scary as the vagueness of it all. Three: five children was a ridiculous number; Neko had her hands full with one. Four: did he just say dead? Fifth: Maggy seemed certainly curious about those girls. She would’ve asked about the second thought if he’d said anything else, but obviously the second to last thought was what she fixated on.
“I'm sorry, you said they turned up dead?" asked Neko, ashing her cigarette over the railing. Immediately, her mind turned to the group. Everyone had someone to watch their back with the exclusion of one individual: Jen. She had insisted on going alone, but if she had pursued a lead—Neko’s heartrate quickened. She pulled out her phone and began to call Jen. She announced to the group, “I'm checking on Jen." Then she nodded to Blake and stubbed out her cigarette. "Go on. How many dead people are we talking?”
Erik ran towards the swamp while Jasmine remained hauling ass towards anywhere not here. Staying in town was foolish, especially when she didn't know the layout, but she would rather get arrested than be eaten by an alligator (or whatever the hell else was out there). Jasmine didn't look back as she managed to cross the street, a car came to a stop right at her, and she quickly darted around it. Thankfully, the years upon years of being an athlete paid off! Unfortunately, they were probably going to be looking for her later. Erik went towards the swamp, and the sheriff was on her.
"... Git' yer' ass back here!" The Sheriff shouted at both of them, but mostly Erik.
.... Because, of course, she is, Jasmine thought to herself as she continued sprinting. Maybe Jen could use her white privilege to get her out of this. That was when Jasmine's vision got blurry... it appeared as if there was static around her eyes. That was when she heard her voice.
"̸̤̹͗Î̶̜t̵͉̅̽'̷͔͘s̶̱͊ͅ ̷̣͠c̷̡͐̿o̸͍̼͒̐l̵̬̘͝d̷̜̠̔̃ ̷̝͖͗b̶̨̠̂͘ṷ̶͘͠ẗ̴̳̳͂ ̷̩͔̾w̴͓͈͘ã̵͔̬r̶͍̅m̶̛͕̪͂.̷̺̉͜ ̴̼͎̎B̸̙͖̕l̶̤͑a̷̞̅̚c̴͎͛̕k̵̲͎̄͠ ̵̮̄b̶̝̔̍u̷̮̪͋̾t̸͉̬́ ̷̥̑̇w̴̩͎̑ȟ̴̳̒i̴̘̓t̵̰̾e̷̫̾͋.̶̛͛͜ ̸̥̬͠U̸̎͜p̵͎̯̈́ ̴̖̜̌̌b̸̝̖͒́u̵͍̅͜t̸̼͖̋ ̵͈̏ͅd̸̩̻͐͊ơ̶̺̩͝w̶͈͂̚ņ̶͉̏͒.̸̯̪̓̈ ̷̻̮͐É̸̺̫̍v̷̢̞̂ḙ̶̮̇̔ṙ̷̢̳y̵̜̺͑t̷̹̿͐h̶͈̊̈́i̴̫͐̇n̶̛͕͂g̷͈̒̚ͅ ̶̱͇̈́̈ḧ̸͍̜́e̸̞͝r̶̢̓ë̴̪́̈ ̷̻̦̇̕m̵̛̼ͅa̴͓̦͌k̵̩͋͑͜e̷͎̖͠s̶̲̍ ̸̪̖̚n̷͚͐o̸͖̼̔͝ ̸̩̍̄ǵ̷̼o̵̗͊͜ḑ̵͖͗ḋ̴̘͘a̵̪͉̾̋m̵̘̀n̴͎̣̽ ̸̻̜͑̍s̸͙̽̋é̸̺̰̀n̴̯̈́́s̶̖̓͊è̴̩.̸̻̉͆ ̴̟̰́T̵̢̹͛̑ḣ̸̩̜é̵̡̟r̷͈̾͜e̴̬̚͠ ̷̥́a̷̢͍̍ŕ̴̮̿ḛ̵̄.̵̏ͅ.̶͓̖̐.̷̺̜͒̀ ̵̤̇͠t̷̩̞̽̎h̵̖͍͛͒í̴̝͠n̷̝̑́g̴̞̟̎s̷̺͌ ̸̲̦̀͊h̷͈̮̎͘e̵͚͙̓͘ŕ̴͉̠̚ẻ̶̯͔̕.̴̜̀̂.̶̮̥͋.̸̳̭̅ ̴̟̺̊͗I̴̧͓͗́ ̵͕̑̓c̷͖̹̋͒a̷̯͓͝n̵̯̺͊̒'̷͕̊t̴̙̍̂ ̵̲̟̉͑b̴̼̅l̵̪̓ṏ̵̲͓c̶̣̹̔̚k̸͍͉̓̉ ̴̫̽t̶̹̽̀h̸̢͍͑̕e̶̟̽͒m̴̾̐͜ ̸̖̙͗ǒ̸͓͠u̸̧̒ẗ̶̯̼ ̸̦̯͂͗f̵̺͑ỏ̶͙̀r̸͖̈̊ḛ̸̓v̵̳̟̔̑e̴̠̓r̵̹̹̓̀,̶̢̖͗́ ̶̢̈b̷̲̘̃u̸̠͕͋͘ṫ̶̛̤̬ ̸͇̈́̇Ḭ̵̼͝ ̶̛͍̀͜n̸͚̫̈́e̷̪̩̎ë̴̯͙d̶̰́̽ ̶͈̳͒ỳ̴̘̬̈o̷͖͆̒ù̶̡.̵̖͇̈́̃ ̴̮̐̕Ì̴͍̤ ̶͎̘̽̆l̶̠̏͠o̶̠͐͑v̵̘͕͑ȅ̴͈ ̴̭̈́͊y̸̳̙̎̌ô̷̬̰̽ú̵͎̞̐.̶̙͗͘ ̸̳̈͘Ą̴̟̈́n̴̜̑̚͜d̷̙̋ ̴͍̌͊i̸̳̽̃f̶̡̋ ̸̺̿y̴͈̾͐ȯ̶̱u̶͇͛́ ̸̼̙́̽c̵͉͑a̸̻̦͆ṇ̶͕̓̕ ̸̭̼̕͘g̸͙̺̾ȩ̴̤́̋t̵̬̱͛ ̷̥̾̍ẖ̴̭͊ẹ̷͐r̸̢̩̾e̵̘͌̽,̶͕͎̏ ̷̘̞̇͋I̵̡̠̐ ̴̜͇͌c̴̰̋ä̴̩͌͜n̴̂̑ͅ ̸̧͚͂̋c̶͇̀̐h̷̟̊̽͜e̷̳͐r̷͊̒ͅi̵͓̼͘̕ṣ̸̢͝h̸̖͆ ̶̧̨͗̓y̷̢̛̍ö̷́͂ͅù̴͙̝.̷̬͗ ̵̗͌̄I̴͊͜ ̷͇̫̽j̴̪͝u̸͓͂s̴̡͇̊͘t̷̞̰̚ ̷͇̋n̵̥̈e̴̠̦͆e̷̳͗d̵̠̩͆̏ ̵̮̮̇̽y̶̺̑̅ö̶͇́u̵̧̩̽̆ ̶͇͕̈́̈́t̸̞͙͒o̴͚̓͂ ̸̹͋f̵̲̫͗̽ȋ̸̲̿n̷͔̊̃d̵͇̀ͅ ̸͔̤͆̇a̴̪̞̾͒ ̶̱́w̷̪̑̆a̸̗͔̅y̷̗̒͠ ̶̖̊h̶̯͙̅̓e̸͈̓͝ŕ̶̲̪e̴̢̹̾ ̷͍̔̽ä̸̩́n̸͍̄̊͜d̸̓̌ͅ ̷͙̀͠Ḯ̴̮ ̵̧̓c̵̻̑̈́a̷͉̾͂n̸͖̂ ̸̞̳͒f̵̭͒ẽ̶̱͑e̷̾̈ͅl̴̜̪͐ ̵̭͚̓̐ỳ̶́ͅọ̷̡͑ǘ̶̩r̷͎̈͘ ̶̜̊f̸̺̔ͅǎ̸̻c̵̘͍̒͠é̸̫̆.̸̼̋ ̴̣̊J̷̥̤̔̓ù̶̢̟s̷̬̟̆t̸͇̺͘ ̷̡͓͛f̶̰͆o̶͇̼̍͝r̴̳̗͒ ̵͙̔a̸͖̻̾ ̴̩̻͠s̴͓͓͠e̸̪̳͗͠ć̸̩͚ỏ̷̻ṉ̷̖͛d̷̗̥̈́̓,̷̯͂̍ ̸̘̥͊͝t̵̛͜h̶̢͐̈ạ̵̠̃̂t̶͓͐̊'̸̻̺̋̕s̴̬̙͆̍ ̷͚͑̉a̸̿͗ͅḽ̸̐̈ľ̸̗ ̴̼͔͠Ȋ̵̬̝ ̸͚͈͑͗w̶͉̽a̴̗͉͛n̶̲̚͝t̴̰̮̍́.̷͍͐"̶̧̎͗ ̴̭̿ ̵͉͒͂ ̷͈̀ It was hard to comprehend, and Jasmine saw that phantasm again... just out in the open on the side of the sidewalk. The people were gawking at Jasmine and didn't even notice the ghost lady, or maybe they couldn't see her. She disappeared in thin air and Jasmine wondered if she even exi-
"... AAAAAAH FUCK!" The Sherrif screamed and Jasmine looked back and the Sheriff had fallen flat on her face, seemingly tripping over a stick that was not there before. Jasmine took whatever life threw her way.
Callum calmly said as he completely ignored everything Ophrenia and Zeltzin said, and made sure to stand there and watch to ensure that they left. Afterward, Callum walked over to his office and sat down behind his big fancy wooden desk. The whole room was a mess with papers scattered all over the place... the very first thing he did was refill his glass of whiskey as he turned the dial on the candlestick phone that sat in the middle of his desk. It rang a few times...
"Yes?" He heard a feminine voice say.
"Mother," Callum started, "We had a pair of ruffians trying to see you..."
“I'm sorry, you said they turned up dead? I'm checking on Jen. Go on. How many dead people are we talking?”
"Well..."
Blake scratched the back of his neck as it took him a second before he spoke, "Nothing confirmed, but it is Quintin." He shrugged, "If someone is missing for a few weeks, you have to assume the worst."
"Heh, you might as well be declared dead the second you step into this shithole," Maggy injected with a devious snicker.
Even though Maggy shot down his attempt to separate her and Blake, Neko’s honesty worked anyway. Whether it was wise to ask these questions around prying ears, well the time to worry about that had passed. Blake’s answer contained a whole lot more things to worry about; everyone who’s turned up looking for Eleanor Black was dead. Or missing and presumed dead which wasn’t much better. Weird. It wasn’t much better to realize the whole town was likely aware of this and just pretended that a whole lot of dead tourists weren’t worth investigating. Suddenly this felt a lot less Scooby-Doo and a lot more Wicker Man.
“Got many families here in Quintin named Black? Cause, otherwise, would be strange for so many people to come down here looking for an Eleanor Black in the middle of a swamp. Almost as strange as having such a small town with so many people going missing. A well-connected man like yourself must have some guess about all that.” Wyatt asked, looking at Blake, and everything about the butler seemed to say he wasn’t hiding much. Not in that robe at least.
“And these missing folks, all out-of-towners? No trouble here for any locals?” He looked only at Maggy as he asked that one. If anyone was going to have the details on dark going-ons in town a working gal with no filter was a good place to start. “Any creepy characters lurking around dark alleys?” He asked.
"If your mother's also black, she's no relative of them. The Black Family are, despite their name, white as they get."
"Yeah, got that from the past slave owner thing," Charlie snorted. "But she's white, it's my dad's side that- yknow, that doesn't matter. She told me bout this place, so unless there's another Quintin Black family..."
Any humour she'd felt quickly left as Dr. Harkness continued. She hadn't quite believed it from Odessa, who was a weird stranger approaching them on the street, but the town doctor? Her words were more credible. But didn't Jennifer had mentioned that the last girls went missing after they talked to Dr Harkness... Had she really just warned them?
Fuck. This was a lot more than Charlie was equipped to handle. Keeping her head down she could do, but they'd already screwed it up with keeping their mouths shut when there were a whole bunch of other people just like them around town asking questions. It may not actually be them, but they'd made themselves targets by being in that group.
"You're right, I ain't leaving," Charlie ran a hand through her increasingly messier hair, pulling half of it out of the bun it had been in. "It's my mum, yknow, not just anyone..."
What was out there that was worse than an alligator? Rich, angry white people with guns? Surely it didn't matter when the end result was the same? Both Dr Harkness and Odessa seemed so certain Eleanor didn't exist. Was it a family coverup? The problematic child they'd abandoned, wiped from the records? Something town wide?
Charlie suppressed a shudder. The whole thing didn't make sense, and the death of multiple girls just a night ago felt like a lead weight in her stomach.
Stay calm. It was fine. She pushed away the anxiety creeping in as "Carl" talked. She didn't know what he meant about keeping them out of trouble, but it was a small comfort that he probably wouldn't just abandon them. Sure, he was practically a stranger, but he was probably best equipped to deal with small town mass murderers. If any of them could.
"We need to know what we're dealing with to protect ourselves," Charlie said quietly, agreeing with "Carl". Not that she could protect herself against anything but mundane threats. Her only self defence experience was one free judo class when she was ten. She really should've bought pepper spray when she got here like her dad suggested. "And..." She paused, trying to figure out how to say this. Jennifer had said to not trust Dr Harkness, but Jennifer also had told them a lot of things. "How come you're warning us when talking to everyone else in this town seems to be a death sentence?"
Her head really hurt trying to think this all through, but she had to figure it out. If Doctor Harkness couldn't tell them, she'd go to the next person. Then the next, and the next, until she found her mum. Or Eleanor Black, whoever she actually was.
Escaping should have been easier said than done, his heart was racing and the next thought was jumping through his mind. Erik looked back to where he was once pursued, expecting a grizzled LASD deputy or police officer he quickly found that he would not be a victim of young hick-town justice this fateful night. It washed over him as he saw that he was no longer being pursued, what had happened? Was Jasmine grabbed, the feisty German cuffed up for the actions of a brave and rash investigator? He shook his head before slowing his pace down, he had really carried his ass out here. The track star from Twin Towers remained vigilant for the brief respite as he looked around, he was far from home. In fact, Erik was no longer by the motel but deep in the swamp somewhere.
Just his luck.
It was getting dark out, something smelled and it wasn't him. Someone might make the joke that Erik was in someone else's swamp, the kind that you don't want to trespass in. All that mattered was returning to the town, somehow. With the sun setting and the evil lurking near Quinton finally emerging in one way or another, Erik had to find his way back to the meeting point to brief everyone on what was found. What was left of it, but he was missing one important person.
"What's been said here, stays between us, so just level with me. Who are we talking about - people willin' to hurt folks for asking questions?"
Sybil shrugged.
"Beats me," She answered, as she looked at "Carl" with a very flat look on her face. "Quintin has always been a place where... strange and unexplainable things have happened. However, there are not many people in Quintin who have the power to... make people "disappear", if you know what I'm saying?" To accentuate her point, she pointed her pen at Carl, as there was a hidden meaning in her statement.
"You're talking about Mary-Louise her inbred children, mami?" Lily caught on the drift fast, as she placed a hand on her hip. Subtly was something that Lily caught onto very quickly, as in New York running your mouth was a quick way to end up floating in the Hudson River.
Sybil shrugged again.
"I'm not saying I am," She started, "But, I'm also not saying I'm not. I'll tell you what I told those girls: stay the hell away from Mary-Louise and the Black Family."
"Mind telling us why, Mami?" Lily asked again, "You wanted us to get to the point a minute ago; but here you are, talking in circles and wastin' our time."
Lily narrowed her eyes, "Now tell me how that's fair?"
"Whatever that whore... whatever Mary-Louise cannot control; she destroys," Sybil explained, "She has turned the town against outsiders, simply because they ain't in her... "design"." Sybil finger-quoted on the last word.
"They'd be here a few months and then suddenly they commit murder or go on a crime spree," Sybil said. "It's why people have been less than friendly to you... back when I was younger, people would have loved to have someone visit their quaint little town, even for a day or two."
"And how the fuck does Mary-Louise do that, Mami?" Lily put a hand on her hip.
Sybil was quiet for a few moments... upwards to a minute as if there was some turmoil in her head. A decision on whether to go left or right.
"There's a lot more to the Black Family - and this town - than them just being a bunch of rich twits,"
Lily shrugged and stuck her hands up, tilting her head forward a bit.
"Talkin' in circles again, mami," Lily pressed.
Sybil sighed before she just up and said it,
"You're not going to believe me until you see it with your own two eyes, but..." Sybil briefly glanced at the peculiar silver ring on her index finger before she sighed yet again, "... Magic is real, and each member of the Black Family has it."
Lily was awestruck, and she glanced at Carl and Charlie for their reactions.
"There are monsters out in the swamp that wander into town at night, an incestuous werewolf family, an alligator monster deep in the swamp, and I could go on..." Sybil continued to explain.
Lily just laughed, placing a hand over her mouth, thumb over her nose as she shook her head from left to right. Wondering if everyone in this goddamn town was crazy.
"... You're as crazy as that bitch we ran into outside, mami!"
Sybil shrugged.
"You'll find out soon enough,"
"Look, she's just trying to find someone who mattered to her. You figure where these girls went? At least, y'know, I can keep an eye on these two, keep 'em outta trouble."
Sybil was quiet for a moment, tapping her grey pen against her chin a few times before she answered, "I know you all are going to go straight there the second you walk out the door..." Then she shrugged again, "But, that's on you."
Sybil raised her pen in the air as she answered, "I told them if they wanted to find out where the Black Family hides their secrets: they need to go to the Old Black Manor out in the swamp. It's technically abandoned, but Mary-Louise is terrified of the place. I know it's where the Black siblings go to get some breathing room from mother dearest, and where the Black Family keeps their old-old documents. Maybe the Black Family already scrubbed any information on who you're looking for. Maybe not. You'll have to see for yourself because I never really explored the place."
Sybil looked between each member of the group yet again, before she continued, "It's out in the swamp, so be very careful when you go there. Go there during the day. Make sure you bring some type of weapon with you, and definitely bring some water." She glanced at Charlie and started chuckling.
"And... How come you're warning us when talking to everyone else in this town seems to be a death sentence?"
"Because I care about people," Sybil answered damn near instantly, "I don't want to see anyone getting hurt, and I know you all aren't going to listen to me when I say you're in over your heads, but I hate to see another person go-" Sybil finger quoted, "-'Missing.'"
Suddenly the door swung over and the nurse from the desk popped her head in and said,
"Dr. Harkness, Ms. Kirk is here for her appointment,"
"I have to go, but hold on," Sybil stood up for a moment as she walked over to the cabinet that had a padlock on it. She bent forward, producing a key out of her pocket, unlocked the padlock, and opened the cabinet. She grabbed a mason jar that was full of a clear liquid (water?) with various herbs and other stuff sprinkled inside of it. At least that's what Charlie and Clayton saw...
... Lily saw that it was glowing, and she tilted her head off to the side for a moment as her jaw dropped.
"Trust me when I say this," Sybil started as she handed it to Lily, "If one of you gets injured, drink it or pour it on the wound - use it conservatively. Trust me, it'll save your life. Trust me."
She walked over to the door and held it open for the tree, "If you need anything, come back here, and my house is right next door."
With that, all three promptly left and Dr. Harkness went about her day.
“Got many families here in Quintin named Black? Cause, otherwise, would be strange for so many people to come down here looking for an Eleanor Black in the middle of a swamp. Almost as strange as having such a small town with so many people going missing. A well-connected man like yourself must have some guess about all that.”
"No families other than... you know,"
Blake answered the first question, pushing his glasses up his nose with a finger, and he thought for a moment as he answered the other question. "Well... don't go telling everyone this, but the only people with the influence and power to make people disappear on this scale would only be the Black Family."
He sighed.
“And these missing folks, all out-of-towners? No trouble here for any locals? Any creepy characters lurking around dark alleys?”
Maggy shrugged.
"I don't know why you're looking at me, Carrot-top," Maggy shot a sharp glance his way back, narrowing her eyes and tilting her head. That was when she took a puff of her cigarette and shrugged. "I don't know a whole lot. As far as I can tell, yes, only outsiders are going missing... maybe I know more, but I also need to pay for my room." She stuck her hand out in a gimme motion.
While this was going on, Jen was on the phone with Neko.
"Jen!? Oh thank God you're okay. Sorry, I just got a little spooked. Mr. Thornton said that other people have gone missing, or turned up dead, or I, I don't know, but it sounds like it has been more people than that group of girls. I don't think it's safe for you to be by yourself."
Jen was quiet for a few moments.
"I'm, uh, fi-fine," Jen started, "Ho-however, uh, um... Yeah, I'm, uh, going to, call everyone back to the Summit Motel. Wrap up what you're doing, and l-let's meet up there. It'll get dark soon. Um... I'll, uh, get back to you. I'm... I'm in the middle of something."
That was when Jen suddenly hung up the phone.
"How long have people been coming here looking for Eleanor?"
"About... two months," Blake stated, "The first person that came looking for her, it was just a coincidence. Then more and more people started coming... and all of them were 'missing'. Look, whatever you do, be careful out there."
He gulped.
"And stay out of the swamp. Please."
Afterward, the group bid farewell and parted and Maggy went back to work.
Gas Station ---> Blake Thorton's Cabin.
Good grief.
Maggy sighed as she stared at the gas station attendant, across the counter she had several things laid out. A couple of packs of cigarettes, some gum, and snacks that were a mixture of meat sticks, chips, and nuts. She didn't say a word as the cashier said,
"$62.83, miss."
"God everything is so expensive here," She moaned as she pulled out a few twenties that she got from Blake Thorton and slid it across the counter. "Here."
He grabbed the money, popped the register open - and Maggy was tempted to pull her pistol on him, but she didn't want to attract the attention of the sheriff... as shitty at her job as she seemed. Maggy had to remember that she was still a death row escapee and she had the virtue of being able to escape into the one place that nobody was going to bother looking for her. Though, she didn't like that she was practically forced to get plowed and blow fat sweaty rednecks for money.
He handed her the change, and Maggy paused (for just a moment) before she took the money from him, turned around, and went out the door as fast as she could. This gas station was about a fifteen-minute walk from Blake's cabin, and while the old bastard offered to drop her off, she wanted a bit of space from him. Maggy stepped outside and it was already sunset... from her experiences in Quintin, the town was about to shut down and if she didn't get her smokes now, she wouldn't be able to last the goddamn night.
She walked alongside the side of the road with a plastic bag in hand as if there was not a care in the world, swaying her hips from left to right. There was the temptation to pick up a new client while she's out here but Blake officially has her for the night and he'll get a little bit suspicious if she's gone for too long. Which was fine with her, because he was also giving her a bed to sleep on - then she would have to figure out how to get another room for herself.
Hopefully, no other weirdos would show up, though she was still getting paid whether or not Mr. Thorton decided to take a break. So, it was no big deal to her, but there were quite a few things that Maggy could have said but chose to keep to herself. Maggy couldn't help but grin as she walked down the side of the road as the night sky hit her. Just like how there were a few things that Blakey-poo was hiding from them, Maggy knew that being a chatterbox would result in her ending up like those girls.
Or at least what the town thinks happens to those girls
Maggy's grin got a little bit wider as she finally approached Blake Thorton's cabin, she was certain that he would be ready for round thirteen by now. So she walked up the stairs and groped her breast as she opened the door with the hand with bags in it.
"O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-h Blakey..."
She moaned, but the second she opened the door, she saw blood everywhere. Along with bits and pieces of what had to be Blake, in the center of the living room was a hunched-over figure, gnawing at Blake Thorton's dead body. After a moment, the figure turned around and gave Maggy a full view of itself. It was nothing short of a werewolf, with green fur, and strange root-like claws, and stood at around five feet, and it growled at Maggy...
Maggy sighed.
"Good grief girl..." Maggy facepalmed so hard that she almost gave herself a red mark.
"... Just what am I going to do with you?"
The Mansion on the Hill.
A bright light shined through a dark tunnel, accompanied by the smaller light of a cigarette... there was very little light down here and Augustus Ashton Black did not want to flick on the primary lights. He took another drag of his cigarette as he went through the tunnels, and on his right were several cells with thick metal bars - with a door. He shined the light inside and the inhabitants - large, humanoid, rat creatures with knotted, messy grey fur - began scurrying. Loudly squeaking as they quickly fled the light Augustus shrugged and said, "Nope."
He went to the next cell, did the same thing, and repeated himself. "Nope."
Then he went to the next cell, shined the light inside, and then a wide smile appeared on his face as he said, "Ah!"
Augustus cut the light and walked over, he got on one knee, stuck his hand inside the cell, and shouted, "Whiskers!" Quickly, one of the strange rat monsters walked over and rubbed against Augustus' hand, making content squeaking noises. The one rat in question was missing its left arm, and Augustus pets it. "I thought you died, boy!" He laughed as he ran his hand through its matty hair, and then he reached into his pocket to pull out a key ring, which was messy.
"Lemme finds the key and we can-" Augustus was cut off by another person in the tunnel.
"Augustus," Callum said as he leaned up against the wall, surprising Augustus. He probably snuck up on him under the noises that the rat monsters were making. Or was it something else? "You know the Gnawers don't like it when you smoke."
Augustus looked at Callum, as he quickly put his cigarette out on the floor. "So, big bro, how have you been doing?" He asked.
"Mother wants us in a meeting," Callum said.
"Well, Mother can kiss my ass," Augustus smirked, "Unlike you, I'm not on her leash."
Callum reached and grabbed his pocket watch.
"Augustus, come to the mee-"
"If you use your magic on me, Callum..." Augustus gave Callum a narrow look as Callum put his pocket watch back. "Thank you, now if you excuse me..."
"Look, it's important, Augustus and I understand that we haven't seen eye-to-eye growing up-"
"You can say that again."
Callum clenched his fist as he continued, "-but, you know what's going on and we must come together and devise a way to resolve this."
"Yeah," Augustus rolled his eyes, "The mess that she created by being a nonstop dumbass."
"While I'm not arguing against that, it's still something that threatens our very family either way." He said. "Me, you, Maryland, her kids, Justine..."
"And we still have to find a way to fix Levi and his kid on top of that!" Augustus snorted.
"We must stop fighting," Callum said. "Or this whole mess will consume all of us."
"Fine, fine, fine," Augustus said, "... But, then, you're giving me and Whiskers our play time." He patted his favorite rat on the head as a goodbye before he walked alongside his older brother through the tunnels and the halls of the Black Family's manor. As they approached the meeting room, the halls were lined with strange creatures. They silently stood as they walked through their white-lined halls and once they made it to the end - a pair of massive double doors - they opened it for them and revealed their meeting room. Each member of the Black siblings was sitting down with Cody and Genesis standing in the corner... and at the very head of the table was Mary-Louise herself and she looked at the two as she said.
"... How nice it was for you two to join us. Did you two get lost?"
"Could do without your sarcasm, Mom," Augustus sat down and spat the words back. "Would make this a lot more tolerable."
"Maybe if you weren't fucking off we wouldn't have to sit here waiting for your asses," The next to speak was Maryland Black, wearing a black and white striped dress and had her hands together, leaning over the table.
"Don't start with me, Mary-Louise Jr," Augustus shot back.
"Enough." Callum injected.
"Hey! Don't call me that! Why don't you worry about that hit on you!?"
"You shut the fuck up about that! Worry about your damn kids blabbing to every nobody that wanders into here instead!"
"Just ignore him! Both of you are dumb as fuck!" Justine, Augustus' other sister spoke up, rolling her eyes wearing jeans and a white dress shirt. "God, every time..."
"Keep your neck out of this, Justine," Augustus answered.
"I'm just trying to get this over with, but if you want us to discuss your sad, sad, sad little act of rebellion against Mother, then go ahead!"
"Enough." Callum tried to say again.
"I swear every one of you hangs off her teat," Augustus started before he threw a thumb towards his brother Callum. "At least he can say he's the favorite and not some bastard born from a one-night-stand!"
Justine slammed her hands on the table. "You shut your mouth, you stupid bastard!"
"Fuck you, bitch!" Augustus shot back.
"Hey, don't call my sister that, asshole!"
"Fuck you, too!"
"You should have stayed in New Orleans!"
Callum snatched his pocketwatch out of his pocket and raised it high as he screamed.
"E-NOUGH! STOP BICKERING THIS GODDAMN INSTANT!"
Suddenly, everyone stopped yelling at each other and quietly sat at the table... before the silence was broken by Mary-Louise's clapping.
"Bravo, thank you so much, Callum," Mary-Louise spoke again. "I was wondering when you were going to do that."
"I was wondering if my siblings were going to stop acting like children, but I guess not," Callum finally sat down as everyone looked at Mary-Louise. "Now that distraction is out of the way... let's get started."
Mary-Louise sighed as she said, "Another group of people came into town looking for Eleanor Black. They assembled in the Webb Coffee House and then split up. I'm not sure where exactly they went, but two members went to our office and had a little... interesting chat with Callum." Mary-Louise couldn't help but chuckle.
Callum groaned, "Those two were crazy, I'm not even sure what the point of those theatrics was, but we were able to track them to a far larger group. And they're, by far, the largest group of people that came into town."
"And then what?" Augustus asked with a raised eyebrow. "We disappear them too?"
Everyone looked at Callum as he leaned back in his chair. "More and more people are looking for Eleanor, we can't keep making them 'disappear'-" He finger quoted, "-because people are going to, eventually, start asking questions. Start coming into town looking for these people. Hell if the reputation about Quintin is that we're spooky."
Mary-Louise was quiet for a moment.
"... It's better than letting her get to them." She answered.
"We need to find a way to solve all of this," Augustus spoke. "If we keep putting a bandaid over the cracks, eventually that dam is going to blow."
"I hate to say it, but he is right, you know," Callum answered.
"Yeah, especially since this is all your fault,"
Mary-Louise was quiet for a moment.
"... It's not my fault, Augustus."
"How about this?" Augustus started, "I know a few contacts in New Orleans, maybe we can all make a big old trek there and see if anyone knows anything about what's happening there."
Mary-Louise was quiet again.
"I refuse to step foot in New Orleans, and neither should any of you,"
"Heh," Augustus chuckled, "You do know that the people that killed your family are probably old and senile - just like yourself - or, you know, dead."
"How about I, Justine, and Maryl-"
"Don't volunteer me!" Maryland shouted.
"I and Justine go," Callum said.
Mary-Louise was quiet.
"Fine, but before you go," Mary-Louise answered, then she looked at Callum.
"... Wake the dog."
Eleanor Black is
Jennifer Caspin
Interactions: The Whole Group.
The Webb Family Coffee House
Jen stared at the text message as she sat in the very same chair that she sat in yesterday. It was sudden... and it felt a bit odd, to the Caspin. It didn't seem like anything that Eugene would physically write down or say but then again she didn't get a good enough grasp on his personality to tell. However, any attempts for Jennifer to reach out to them proved that she had either been blocked or their phone had no connection. Which was peculiar... however, while Jennifer knew something was up this, she knew that there were more pressing matters to attend to. Like, the mystery of Eleanor Black and the huge amount of leadway that the group had gathered on the mystery. She sat at the table... with the map sprawled across, and waited as the group trickled in one by one.
Once everyone was here, Jennifer got started,
"Uh... you a-all must know why I... uh, gathered you all here today," Jennifer started, then a little smile appeared on her face as she said, "We... we, uh, made some huge progress yesterday! We found some, um, more leads! I've compiled everything that everyone has said and I, uh, believe that theeeeeeee.... the best place for us to look is the, uh, Old Black Manor. The, ummmmmm, only problem issssssssss..."
She looked at the map and traced from the edge, all the way to a brand new circle that she had drawn.
A dying light spilled through a hole in the moth-eaten curtains of the dark motel room, flickering on and off in a slow, steady rhythm. The room smelled of stale cigarettes and creeping mildew while the bed groaned and creaked with the slightest shift of weight. Still, despite this Neko should've been fast asleep. The day of travel and investigation had left her exhausted, yet Neko watched the alarm clock on the bedside table roll past two in the morning. Her mind refused to let her sleep. Her body jumped at any unusual noise. She kept thinking about Blake, and about all the missing people he said were dead, and how it had all started two months ago.
The timeline checked out: it had been two months ago when her daughter Nora disappeared and was replaced by a stranger. Hesitantly, Neko reached over to the nightstand and grabbed the heart locket her daughter had given her over a decade ago. She flicked it open and stared at the picture of the child. Parts of it looked right, the chin, the eyes, but the rest? Wrong, all wrong. The girl in the photo wasn’t Nora. Neko closed the locket, wrapped the chain around her hand, and let her head fall back against the pillow. The girl wasn’t—tap tap tap.
Neko bolted upright and looked at the door as a heavier knock rapped on it again—rapt rapt rapt. She froze in place, a chill running down her spine, Blake’s words ringing in her ears, fearing for her life that the Black family had sent their goons out to get them, and then she shook her head and laughed. It was more than likely that one of the others was also unable to sleep and had seen her outside smoking a little bit ago. Normally she paced herself, but this evening she’d already gone through half of a pack since settling down for the night. Neko pulled her body out of the bed and placed her eye to the peephole: nobody.
She turned and was halfway under the sheets when another knock knock knock came from the door. With a frustrated sigh, Neko went back to the peephole. Once again there was nobody. She had hardly turned around before another trio of knock, knock, knocks rang out, followed by the sound of feint, girlish giggling. Irritation got the better of her. “Hey, seriously!?” She unchained the top lock, undid the deadbolt, and flung the door open before whoever was fucking with her had a chance to run away.
Nobody.
The hot night air did little to prevent the chill that ran through Neko’s veins. Quickly she closed the door and locked it. She wrapped herself in a blanket and sat on the edge of the bed, watching, waiting. The bed creaked. The light cutting through the curtain flickered. Her hands shook and she wrapped herself up tighter still. Her breathing slowed, her pounding heart slowed, everything slowed until time seemed to stop. Then the door: bang, bang, bang!
The frame shook, the knocks heavier than ever before. Bang, bang, bang! Neko, wide-eyed, looked on in horror as she saw the chain hang freely out of the lock, swaying with each knock, mocking her forgetfulness. Bang, bang, bang! She watched, terrified, frozen, as the deadbolt jiggled and then flipped itself from the locked to open position. Bang, bang, bang! The door burst open as Neko launched herself from the bed.
Neko tripped over something and stumbled, driving her shoulder into the door hard and closing it. She screamed as the flash of pain that shot through her arm was pummeled into submission by the adrenaline kicking in, allowing her to latch the chain before another. Bang, bang, bang! The door buckled but the chain held, supported by Neko pushing her full weight against it. “Go away, go away,” she begged, her pleas drowned out by the banging of the door. She felt the door strain and heard the frame splintering and animalistic growls as something rabidly beat itself bloody against the door. She closed her eyes and covered her ears as she continued to cry out, “Go away, go away! Please, go away!”
Then, miraculously, it did. Neko opened her eyes and she was back in bed, the alarm clock reading a quarter to three, the rest of the room black as the bottom of the abyss. The dying fluorescent must’ve finally bit it. She rubbed her shoulder, sore from the awkward way she’d slept on it, and winced. She wouldn’t have to worry about getting murdered for trying to find her daughter because the bed was already killing her. Neko grabbed a pillow and the blanket and stumbled around in the dark, searching for the big chair in the corner of the room.
She found it only after her hip found the tv stand, cursing and rubbing as she curled up, sighed, and buried her face in the pillow. Neko fidgeted in the seat for a few minutes, trying to find a way to make herself comfortable. Eventually her head drooped, her chest began to slowly rise and fall, and her vice grip around the blanket loosened. It was only then that the shadow moved away from the window, a flickering light once again spilling into Neko’s room.
Dark, bloodshot eyes with dark circles glazed over without focus as they stared into a cup of dark coffee, closing themselves as Neko stifled a yawn by nearly punching herself in her mouth. She rubbed her eyes and blinked rapidly, trying her best to pretend that last night had not been the pinnacle of bad nights of sleep in a two-month streak of bad nights of sleep. She’d never slept so roughly that she’d bruised herself before, but the welt on her shoulder had already started turning purple.
Neko stared across the table and nursed her cup of coffee as Jen spoke, absentmindedly drumming her fingers upon the table in a series of triplets that mimicked the knocking from her nightmare the night before. Something had been bugging Neko about Jen since the first day they’d met in person, exacerbated by their abrupt call yesterday. Sometimes through the fogginess of sleep deprivation there would emerge an island of clarity, and such an epiphany hit Neko this morning: Jen acted like an awkward, twee kindergarten teacher—Oh, wowie zowie class, you all played together so nicely today! Gold fucking stars for all! The keyword there being “acted”.
“The, ummmmmm, only problem issssssssss...it's in the swamp," said Jen. So make sure you get mommy and daddy to sign your permission slips!
“Um, yeah no, I’m sorry but that’s not the only problem, Jennifer,” said Neko, carefully setting down her mug of coffee and then placing her hands in her lap to hide the shaking. The way and the weight with how Neko chose to use Jen’s full name would send echoes of the past through any at the table who had been scolded by their mother before.
“Yesterday, you told us some girls went missing. Later, we heard from Mr. Thornton that people who came to Quintin to look for Eleanor have gone missing over the past two months. No, not just missing: dead. Dead, Jennifer. Dead.” Neko’s eyes burned but she didn’t blink, forcing herself to keep her gaze locked on Jen. “It’s not right to tell everyone that things are hunky dory and that we’re doing a real bang up job when there is actual serious danger involved. Life threatening danger.”
“I’m going to look for my daughter no matter what,” said Neko, freeing Jen from her glare and turning her attention towards the group. Her voice waivered with discomfort before she found her stride, exhaustion and frustration holding down her anxiety. “I have to. I have no other option. I won’t think less of anyone who wants to leave. Honestly, I encourage it. I’m sure you all noticed that one of the groups from the other day is already missing—maybe dead. Apparently Jennifer didn’t notice. Jennifer’s too keen on getting us to go into her skull swamp. But you know what I think?”
Neko shifted her tired eyes back to Jen. Neko thought that nobody cared about what she thought and that she should just apologize and shut up. Somehow she didn't.
“I think Jennifer hoped that we didn’t notice, just like we didn’t notice that she didn’t mention what she did yesterday or how she didn't mention how she knew Eleanor. Sorry, Jennifer. I noticed.” Beneath the table Neko's knee bounced uncontrollably, hitting against the frame. Bang. “Where are Harmony and Eugene? We should inform somebody if they're missing.” Bang. “And what did you do yesterday? Seemed real out of breath on the phone.” Bang. “Oh, and who is Eleanor Black? To you, I mean.”
It wasn't the best night to be stuck in the stixs but that's where Erik found himself, having escaped a sheriff who seemed to want to do more harm than good he eluded the law once again. The 'career' felon eventually made his way back to down, sweaty, smelly and worse than he was when he left in the pursuit. It was a sore night, not one he had to repeat but he had to think did he just get Jasmine arrested? Was it all his fault and what did she see at the motel? A ghost, poltergeist, zombie? He didn't have time to see or check, it was something that was missed. There was something about that wall, the orb and other things that happened within the day. They were being watched, by someone or something.
Answers.
That's what Erik needed, answers to his questions. These would have to be pulled from the mouths of the unwilling, the Black family and anyone associated with this whole mystery. It was a lot, and violence never resulted in anything good. Heading down to the meeting he was torn, on what to do or what to say. This left him in a cold kind of side-stepped stance as he orbited around Caspin and those who showed their ugly mugs to them.
He'd have to think on this for now, let people speak and double back. Though nothing about this felt right.
