[IC] The Clarice Curse

[jaybreezy]

Spencer stared at the clock as he sat in his chemistry class. Five minutes remained in the class, a class that bored Spencer to death. He sighed and tapped his pencil on his book as he read the problems he had to solve. Spencer's mind wandered around the thought of this year's first meeting in his paranormal investigations club. He smiled a bit at the thought before realizing that he was slacking on his classwork. He took a deep breath and finally worked on the difficult questions.

Class finally ended and Spencer excitedly hauled a wagon full of equipment to the room the club met at. He showed up early, jotting down notes and ideas in his beloved notebook. He continued to write as he awaited attendance from his club members. He was excited and it was obvious, a permanent smile stuck on his face.

[Polaris North]

Joshua had been spinning his pencil as the teacher continued to speak. Physics class. It wasn't all that boring to be honest; actually it was an interesting subject. But his mind was distracted with the thought that later on would be their first meeting of the school year. While he wasn't as interested as the others on the curse itself, he is admittedly enjoying his time there. With the nightly expeditions and interviewing others, there were so many things to do.

Thinking about it, he didn't notice time pass by so quickly. He looked down on his notebook and noticed that he hadn't taken any notes. He looked back up to the teacher who had erased everything on the board. Well crap. Joshua looked at his seatmate, one of his friends, and then signalled to borrow her notes. With a sigh, she gave her notebook to him and he thanked her. They were released from class and Joshua hurried towards the club room.

He opened the door and when he saw Spencer, he plastered a grin on his face and greeted, "Heya Spence!" He went straight to one of the chairs and then sitting down on it. He joined Spencer in waiting for the others.

[SaikaAnge]

Emerson watched as the teacher paced back and forth during their PerCalc lecture. Thinking to herself about how much the teacher much love hearing his own voice. Looking from the teacher at her friend, Autumn, in the corner of the class, Em saw she was asleep yet again. That was the second time just in this class! Em nudged the person next to her and nodded at her sleeping friend. "Do you mind, again? Sorry." she whispered in a low voice to keep the teacher from hearing her. The person next to her shook his head and said she should do it herself.

Em sighed and wadded up a piece of paper. While the teacher had his back to the class, Emerson threw the paper at Autumn causing her to yell out "The answer is 42!". The whole class laughed and even Em gave a slight chuckle. The teacher however was not amused and told Autumn to stay after class. Feeling bad, but also thinking it would be good for her Em left at the bell. Putting her papers and drawing notebook in her backpack she waved to Autumn and walked out of class.

Something wasn't right though. She was forgetting something important today. When she got to her locker it hit her. Today was the first meeting of the year. Emerson grabbed her books out of her locker and bolted to the classroom where the meeting was being held. She was hoping she wouldn't be late. To her surprise, she was only the third to get there. Shaking her head at how silly she felt, she caught her breathe and took a seat, pulling her drawing notebook back out to finish her picture.

[jaybreezy]

Spencer was too excited to wait for anybody else. "Hey, Josh." Spencer greeted, happy to see a familiar face at the meeting. He looked at the two members that showed up. He smiled and stood up. He felt a bit nervous, not really sure what to say to welcome these two to the first meeting. He took a deep breath and stood, closing his notes and sliding them off the table into the chair he sat in.

"Hey...uh...welcome to the club. I'm Spencer and I'm glad you came. I guess we're just waiting on anybody else." Spencer said, looking to the clock as he finished. It was 3:04 and the meeting didn't start until 3:15. Spencer went to his equipment and pulled out a few gadgets and tools. "I've got some new goodies for investigations." He smiled, placing some technology on his table.

[GirlOnMarz]

AP Physics was by far the most challenging class that Zoe had ever taken, but she loved the challenge. Much to the girl's relief, it was the last period of the school day. She sat at her usual seat in the back of the classroom, perfectly erect, with her pencil in hand and eyes on the board. However, as her eyes and hands did all of the work, taking a page full notes from the slideshow, she just couldn't prevent her mind from wandering elsewhere. Only a few minutes seemed to go by before the final bell rang, and the sound of chairs scratching the floor snapped her out of her trance. Looking down at her notebook, she saw that the page had been filled with neat numbers and letters, all written in blue ink.

After quickly shoving her things into her bag, Zoe hurried out of the classroom and towards her locker to retrieve her jacket and car keys. It was about six minutes after three when she entered the club room. She'd arrived a bit early, expecting to be one of the first there, but she was very surprised when she saw that the room had already been occupied by three others. Taking a quick look around, Zoe saw two boys, one seated and the other placing gadgets onto a table, and a red-head girl who was drawing in her notebook.

"I'm not late, am I?" Zoe said nervously, glancing at the time on her cell phone before making her way to an empty seat. She carefully sat her bag on the floor next to her, laying her jacket over top of it before directing her gaze to the technology on the table.

[Chao]

Brody Morrison

---

As Brody listened to the loud (and a little obnoxious) teacher speak about math, at least that's what he thought at the moment. Brody kept to himself, resting on his desk. Luckily, and soon enough the bell had rang and Brody ran like a blur out the door.

Brody smiled to himself. He was heading toward his club, and they're searching if the Clarice Curse is real. Sure, teachers and students think they're just crazy nerds, but there's waaaaay too much things around the school that prove something's lurking. Brody placed his ear plugs in his ears, and played a song as he headed toward the club room.

He started listening towards the song known as, well, Song 2 by Blur. It was pretty catchy, at least to him. Brody walked into the club room, humming the song.

"Uh... hi?" Brody asked everyone else in the room, he glanced around the room nervously. Since almost everyone was here, he wasn't sure if he was late or not. He figured he wasn't, and pulled out his ear plugs from his ears. He scratched the back of his neck. He figured he wasn't and clasped his hands together. "So, what are we up to today?"

[Polaris North]

Joshua watched as another entered the room. A redhead. Hm... he was certain he had talked with her at least once, maybe asked her name. Heck, he always did that. He practically knew everyone in his batch. And some from the lower years. It was mostly because he liked striking up conversation with others, and most don't ignore him. Most. Anyway, this girl's name started with E... he remembered that much. She was bullied. He remembered seeing that flash of bright red hair behind a bunch of mean girls before. While normally, he'd step up to at least get the girls off of her, he couldn't. He was late. He later learned that this happened to her a lot of times. Well, maybe he could help her out more now that they were in the same club. With a smile, he waved at her.

It was then that Spencer started placing gadgets on the table. Joshua stared at them, with an eyebrow raised. He wanted to ask the most obvious questions. What were these stuff, where he got it and if it was safe and effective to use. Then again, Joshua knew better than to question Spencer. The guy knew his way around tech after all.

Then another girl entered, asking a question. "Nah, you're fine. Come on in and make yourself comfy!" He replied with a nod of invitation. The girl sat down on one of the empty chairs and gazed curiously at the gadgets. The another one came in, this time he knew this person. Rather, he was in classes with him.

"Heya Brody." He waved at him. He then gestured at Spencer, "No idea. But I bet it's gonna be introducing the curse, what we've all seen so far and what these gadgets do."

@SaikaAnge@jaybreezy@mskennedy615@Chaotic Chao

[jaybreezy]

Spencer smiled as he saw a couple of more people walk inside. "Welcome, welcome! Come on in, guys. Meeting doesn't start until 3:15." He smiled, waving them in. It was now 3:10, and Spencer was getting more excited. He returned to his equipment.

"I was just starting to talk about this equipment I got. Way more professional and reliable. We're going to solve some things this year." Spencer proudly smiled, standing up to set up his laptop. He was getting ready to pull up a list of places he wanted to go investigate. The list was opened and he beckoned everyone to come closer so he could show the list off.

1) Arnold House - abandoned farm house in the country
2) Bright Castle - old, abandoned castle in the hills (illegal to visit)
3) Investigate the "Clarice Curse"

This list had numerous different notes and explanations for each place, but he highlighted what was important. "As you can all see, I've gotten my three ideas of what to do." He went on and on about the information, practically boring those not interested in the history of each location. But then Spencer got to the "Clarice Curse". "This one...would be a huge investigation as well as a very risky one."

[SaikaAnge]

Emerson looked up at the clock then closed her notebook and put her pencil down. More people had come into the room and the meeting was going to start soon. Putting away her notebook Em looked at the equipment for a moment, a little unsure but a bit excited at the same time.

When the club leader, Spencer, called everyone up she stood up and placed her bag against the chair she was sitting in. She brushed her red hair out of her face and walked over with her hands in her back pockets. Looking at the list she was a bit confused. "So, we're going to be checking out three different locations?" Em spoke softly, but loud enough for Spencer and the others to hear. She didn't want to sound stupid, but she was mainly interested in the curse. However, investigating other places did sound interesting. Maybe she could link something or just find more proof.

Emerson went quiet after her question, almost expecting him to snap 'save all questions for the end'. Not that Spencer seemed to be that kind a guy, she just didn't want to cause problems. Em took a step back due to the number of people crowding around the laptop. Close quarters made her a little uncomfortable in groups, mainly because most of the time she was bullied it was a group instead of just one.

Spencer gave a grand amount of information about each location and while she was still listening and taking menatl notes, she really wanted to hear about the curse. What he knew or the others knew. When he got to the "Clarice Curse", Em glanced at the group for a second. "Are we going as a whole group or splitting up for each investigation?" she asked, trying to get more information about the investigations themselves rather than the places. Once she found out how they would investigate, she wouldn't hesitate to want to start the actual searching.

[jaybreezy]

Spencer looked at the young lady. He turned to her and smiled. "I don't know for sure. We could do one at a time orrr we could split up and knock them all out. I guess we could have a vote." Spencer answered, grabbing a notebook and pencil and scribbling down ideas.

Spencer got a small poll set up, having two columns set up on his paper. One side was for doing one investigation at a time with the whole team, the other in favor of splitting up and completing all three around the same time. "Sign your name or initials for what you guys would rather do." Spencer said with an excited smile on his face.

[Polaris North]

Joshua listened intently on what they had... or rather, planned to do. Investigating three different things? He was more or less interested on the other locations. The idea of breaking in a castle seemed to remind of the memories back in his childhood, when almost everything he knew was agains the rules. However, it did excite him. True, breaking the law was bad and they would be thrown into juvenile jail, but it was still an adventure. And besides, most of his memories back then were memories he was quite fond of. He always felt that certain thrill, even before he realized that what he was doing was wrong, and that thrill was something he sought for - and still does.

When they got to the Clarice Curse, however, his smile faltered. The whole reason he was so interested about the club was because of this. Given, he had other reasons and he was sure that the others didn't enter the club for the same reasons as him. He will get her back. He promised it on his father's grave that he will find her. He was quite an optimistic person, so he was confident that he would get her back from this curse, if it even exists.

Upon Spencer telling them to write their names on the column of what they preferred. "I really think we should investigate one at a time. I'm not too fond of splitting up when investigating paranormal activities." He said as he wrote his initials on the side of investigating one at a time with the whole team. It'll take a longer time, yes, but he wanted to be on the safe side. And each are probably skilled at different things and they might need that certain skill at one location, and it would be really bad if that person with the certain skill was on another location.

[GirlOnMarz]

Zoe chewed on her nail as she waited for the rest of the group members to arrive, and stopped once the last boy entered the room. When Spencer motioned for the members to take a look at the list on his laptop, she hovered over their shoulders, her arms folded across her chest and eyebrow raised. Three different things to investigate at once? As uninterested she was about the first two places, Zoe still listened intently, learning a few new things about Bright Castle and Arnold House. However, once he started speaking about the Clarice Curse, her eyes sparkled with curiosity. She'd heard many different stories about the supposed "curse," but never really got around to looking into it.

At the mention of splitting up to investigate, however, Zoe's brows furrowed. Did these kids not know how it went down in the movies? You never split up to investigate paranormal activities. That is, if you don't want to end up dead. Taking in a deep breath, Zoe pushed away her paranoid thoughts and picked up the pencil. "I don't think splitting is such a great idea," she said hesitantly, "I mean, first off, there's only five of us, meaning that someone would have to go alone... which I'm not down for..."

She wrote her initials on the side in favor of investigating as a team, the two letters neat and slightly slanted. "I think that we should start with the Curse or Arnold House, ya feel?" She said, returning to her seat and crossing her legs. "I mean, if that's cool with everyone else. Breaking into that castle would be pretty risky, and I'm not tryna end up in jail."

[SaikaAnge]

Emerson looked around the group. Most were against splitting up, which seemed logical enough. Although part of her did want to go alone and see what would happen. When Spencer put the notebook down to take a vote she didn't know what to choose. Sh was lost on it. Sticking together was smart and safe, but going alone could possibly trigger a phenomenon. "If nobody wants to go investigate the castle, I'll go. I'm practically invisible anyways, I wouldn't have much trouble doing it." Em spoke up after hearing the others concerns. They had every right to stare at her like she was insane. Part of her even thought she was crazy for offering, but she meant it.

Emerson went quiet waiting for Spencer's reaction, along with the rest of the groups'. Again she brushed her hair out of her eyes and gave a slight smile. "If no one else wants to investigate it. It does seem like a good lead for the club, and could lead to something worth the time. And if not, well then we tried." she added, trying to get some interest in the castle. Yes, it wasn't the curse, but maybe it could have some sort of link to it? Maybe? She was unsure, but was curious.

[jaybreezy]

"Honestly, I really want to crack this Clarice Curse that everyone swears is real. I don't buy it, so I'll prove it's just a story." Spencer said as his voice took a mocking tone toward those who believed the story. Sure, Spencer believed in ghosts and swears they're real. But the fact that the school is haunted by an ex-student made him feel like it was too cliche and just another dumb tale told at parties to scare freshmen.

Spencer jotted down some notes before looking to everyone else. "Anyone have any objections or suggestions?" Spencer asked, adjusting his plaid shirt.

[Polaris North]

"Hey, hey, hey, if you're gonna investigate the castle, take me with you. Breaking and entering is my line of expertise." He said with a grin when Emerson said that she would like to take a crack at the castle. Joshua was pretty much pumped up for entering a castle and then escaping law enforcement. Hopefully it doesn't get to the latter since there are other people with him, but he's willing to get his blood pumping with trying to avoid getting caught and ending up in jail. His father always said that jail wasn't a pretty place to be in, especially for people like them.

He looked at Spencer and then shrugged. "Well, if you want to take the Clarice Curse first, then let's do it. You are the boss after all." He was the person who built the club in the first place. He was cool with either the castle or the curse. If they were to get to the curse first and prove that it isn't real, then he'd have to look to other places to find her. However, if it is real, then he's hoping that he can find her alive and breathing.

But then again, just seeing her - dead or alive - would be fine with him.

[SaikaAnge]

Hearing that someone else had interest in investigating the castle gave her some hope. Em smiled and nodded in Joshua's direction. "I doubt we'll get caught. There's not much security around there anymore, I don't think, but then again two people should be able to get in and out without getting seen."

It would be a different story if everyone went. Then they could easily get caught, which wasn't on her to-do list. The curse also interested her too though. The word 'curse' intrigued her enough. Settling if it was a hoax or not was the end game for almost everyone there. Maybe they could find any ties to others first. Do research on the curse itself some more and find out who else could possibly be involved or have some sort of tie to any of the details.

"We could also do more investigating in terms of research. Find and investigate any ties to the curse?" now she was thinking out loud. Em backed off and sat on top of one of the closest desks. She was beginning to embarrass herself without even trying. She just hoped her cheek weren't as red as she thought they were. They would match her hair if they were.