[IC] The Haunting of Emily

[Kenshi]

tunes

You all met up at Dennys around six thirty in the morning, it was gonna be a long drive out of the city comfort zone, and into the rough,rugged country where cell phone usage sucks.
After a small light breakfast, y'all climb back into the nice fancy coach bus, which happens to double as the Headquarters of the Podcast show.
In front of the coach bus, is a black SUV with y'alls logo on the side.
Music is blasting on the bus, as you all await anxiously and some a big nervously.

This was it for some of y'all, if this fails thru, then you have to face reality and get real jobs, sitting behind a desk and answering the phone all day.
To others, this was the moment that would be the beginning of something grand and special, books being written and published, maybe a television series, or a movie deal.
Each one of you had a different reason to be here, some to prove the paranormal exists, and others to disprove it.
One thing for sure, it will be a weekend no-one will ever forget.

As the vehicles turned the corner, you could see a small country town, and I do mean small coming into view.
Deciding you could use a good stretch of the legs, and needed to refuel, y'all pull into an old gas station that looks like it's been around since the beginning of time.
An old man in coveralls comes over to the window of the bus to greet ya.
"Fill er up?" he asks, wiping the sweat from his brow.
One of ya get off and show the old man where to fill it up, since he seemed a bit puzzled.
You begin small talk about the orphanage and ghosts of witch woods.

The old man shakes his head from side to side, "Ain't nuthin but trouble up there, you kids stay away from that place, it's pure evil. "
" I been there when I was a teenager, on a dare, I will never forget that feel."
He replaced the gas nozzle and went inside to ring it up as you follow him, encouraging him to continue his story.
"Evil place, I will never go back, I heard children playing and laughing, thought it was my friends playing a joke on me, well it wasn't. "
He looked at the driver, "$14.68, out of 20." You tell him to keep the change.

" I heard her scream, came from the woods, nearly gave me a heart attack, I ran home and never looked back."
"You kids stay away from there, or she will come and take you away."
And with that, your back on the road, heading for your destination.
Which didn't take long to reach after leaving town, nestled up in the mountains far away from civilization, you see the massive stone structure beckoning you to come for a visit and stay forever......

[Laser Kiwi]

"The old man was right," Pandora said as soon as she stepped out of the bus. The sense of looming evil and dread had been growing ever since they turned off the highway onto the desolate, winding road up towards this place, and now they were near its epicenter. The doors seemed to her almost like the maw of some terrible beast, and they were about to step into the belly.

Despite that, the adrenaline pumping through her veins was more excitement than anxiety. She was with a group of capable and prepared people, people who believed her, and they were equipped with all the scientific and spiritual gear they could ever need. Clutching the crystal pendant around her neck, she took a calming breath and stepped forward, staring up at the darkened windows while the others started unloading. Lifting heavy stuff wasn't really her thing.

"This is the place, guys. I can feel it. We're finally going to prove that all this stuff is real," the young woman continued, talking more to herself than anyone in particular. The fame and fortune that would come with the discovery didn't really excite her, nor was she afraid of having to go back to waitressing - but the idea that she could prove once and for all that she was sane and special, not just some paranoid lunatic, was intoxicating.

[ForsakenBySleep]

At Pandora's words, Danny found himself stifling a groan as he followed her off of the bus. It was bad enough that they were poking at a dangerous hornets nest here, but it just had to be an evil and dangerous hornets nest didn't it? Choosing not to say anything about his current opinion for the moment though, he instead focused on busying himself with starting to unload the gear.

He had just finished unloading his camera and was just turning back to grab something else, when a quick glance at the house caused his blood to run cold. He froze, eyes remaining locked on the glowing red eyes in the second story window for a full two seconds before he was able to move. A startled curse escaped him and his hand shot up to tightly wrap around his gran's cross. He only looked away for a second, a quick glance to see if anybody else was looking at it, but it was gone when he looked back, causing another curse to slip out.

"G-guys, there was - tell me you saw -" eyes wide and knuckles turning white from his grip on the necklace, he took a deep breath before trying again. "In the second story, there was a black freaking mass thingy in the window with red eyes and it looked right at me." Eyes darting between his teammates and the house he took a few more deep breaths to calm down. Had he been alone, he would've channeled his inner Shaggy and be long gone right now, but he wasn't so he'll just suck it up. He knew the risks going in after all, he just hoped the precautions he took would be enough.

[Maglar]

Philip climbed out of the bus, it was awkward with his heavy backpack on and his notebook in his hand. He had been taking notes of the different personalities in the bus and what talismans or totems they brought for protection. It was all important because there was no telling which symbols the noncorporeal entities might react to.

He looked up at the house as he was bent over in the van's doorway. There he saw two red orbs in one of the second story windows. Oh, Good, he thought to himself, that's a good sign this might be a lucrative investigation.

Then he heard a voice coming from the back of the van, ""G-guys, there was - tell me you saw -" it was Danny, the camera man.

"I did," Philip hopped the rest of the way out of the van, "two red eyes, just there," he pointed to the window as he walked up to the psychic, "I've studied Ghosts and Demons for a while and red eyes aren't usually a good thing. Can you tell us anything specific Pandora? If I understand the characteristics of the things I might be able to identify if there is any demonic entity involved."

[Xandrya]

Ready to stretch her achiness away from the previous evening’s work-out once more, Denise stepped out of the bus in somewhat of a brisk manner. She didn’t know the rest of the group; they were practically strangers and so she had kept to herself for a good portion of the trip. But now that they had arrived, she got to work immediately. She was excited and maybe a tad nervous, though she was naturally a skeptic and so she was more concerned with falling for a prank than with facing a ghost or two. Sure, the abandoned building menacingly loomed over them, but Denise figured she shouldn’t let appearances make her feel threatened. On the other hand, there was plenty of gossip circulating the net regarding this place. She herself had done a bit of research once she was clued in as to what the job would entail and therefore Denise wasn’t going in blind, so to speak.

The young woman was surprised once someone mentioned they saw something on one of the upstairs windows. She looked behind her, peering over her shoulder but being unable to see what he had described. Denise pulled out a heavy piece of equipment, taking a moment to catch her breath after setting it down on the ground. Apparently, the mysterious red eyes wasn’t a fabrication as someone else backed up the story.

“We don’t know if the place is empty, do we?” she chimed in.

[MST3K 4ever]

Thomas parked the SUV behind the bus as he saw everyone disembarking. He thought it was good for the crew to bond on the bus, and while he was on friendly terms with everyone and got along with everyone Thomas felt it was important for them to remember a couple of things. One, his family's company was bankrolling this operation so that made him the de-facto leader. Though he rarely would ever play that card, and only in extreme cases would he. Two being the lead investigator meant that he had a bit more responsibility in terms of knowing about the site, so while the crew was listening to who knows what on the bus Thomas was listening to audio files about the orphanage and the town around them. He reached over to the passenger seat and grabbed his tan fedora. Putting it over his heart Thomas said The Lord's Prayer, and when he finished Thomas crossed himself and exited the car.

Putting on his hat, his leather jacket, and grabbing some folders Thomas was now in what was called "TJ" mode. Thomas mode was like someone who was straight-forward like Agent K from "Men in Black." TJ was a hybrid of Indiana Jones and Captain Kirk. He knew that everyone would be a bit on edge, so TJ took it as his responsibility to set the tone for exploration and science but also embracing a rare opportunity. He overheard Pandora and said, "Between the old man at the gas station and your feelings Pandora, that's probably the nicest things I've heard over the last 24 hours." He looked at everyone and said, "My family once again tried to pull the plug on our 'Ghostbusters' fantasies as they call it, but luckily my fiancée-slash-my lawyer pointed out that if our business fails I'm back in charge of everything again. She had that proviso hidden in the fine print. Also, you all are to receive a healthy severance package from the company." He took a step forward and said looking at the orphanage, "I firmly believe though that at the end of all this..." he nodded and said, "It'll be worth it." Turning back to the crew he could feel the uneasiness from Danny, Phillip and Denise and said, "Keep an eye out for each other and do your jobs. This is the chance we've all been waiting for so let's make the most of it."

TJ started handing out the folders and said, "These are your assignments as to where things should be placed, some more history about the orphanage, and reports about what the locals have seen." TJ turned back to the orphanage and took a couple of deep breaths and thought to himself "Now I just have to convince myself that everything is gonna be all right."

Mentions:
@Laser Kiwi
@ForSakenBySleep
@Maglar
@Xandrya

[sassy1085]

Maxwell Sawyer didn't agreed to go on this trip. All they know is that their boss say a group of podcasters need a investigator for their trip, they didn't want to join at first but they do need money for the rent, they guess they have no choice. At least they are not the only investigator in this trip but why does he sound and act like a douchebag, like, seriously, give Max a professional one...Or a pretty one.

The group finally made it to the orphanage and Max has to say, it doesn't look that bad, it looks abandoned, sure but at least it still look intact and it look nice, they think they could live in that place, it just a little wash up, that for sure. While getting their notes and coat out of the van, the camera guy and researcher say they see red eyes coming from the window, Max try to see from the guys direction but couldn't see anything ".....I Think it was just a cat." Max say with a stone face and then they made a fake gasp "Oh my god! I think I see a demon leprechaun! OoOoOoOoOoh! So spooky!" Max say sarcastically with a chuckle.

@Maglar@ForsakenBySleep

[Kenshi]

As if the building knew you were all here, the front doors creak open, and a tall shadowy figure emerges from within the orphanage.
"Howdy y'all, I'm Pete Smith, caretaker." said a skinny fella in overalls.
He spat a wad of chewtabbacky on the ground, "Which one of you is PJ?"
Pete cleaned the smudge and grime from his hand on his overalls, and extended his hand to each of you.

"Woooooheeee, didn't know there was gonna be some lovely ladies here, I would done got better cleaned up and put on deodorant. " smiled a toothless Pete.
"I gots yer text do hicky message, and yes sir re Bob, the whole shit n kaboodle is y'alls for the takin."
He bowed like an actor on stage would and said, "Y'all follow me and I'll show you around."
Pete led them thru the front door, "its a might messy, and do watch for Falling debris, don't need nobody getting hurt."

He pointed to stairs over in the corner of the room, that lead down.
"That leads to the basement, and solitary confinement for kids who were bad."
"A lot of the children that stayed here, were nothing but trouble makers and runaways. "
"Hell, those kids killed a nurse up on the roof, pushed her to her death."
"We get a lot of voices in here, mainly little kids who are lost."
Pete led on, and went to the chapel next, " in here, a nurse was raped by some older teenage boys, and then they sacrificed her to Satan."
"Of course, there is no legal proof other than the EVP I caught admitting to it." Pete said.

Continuing on , Pete took you all around the orphanage, showing you all the hot spots for activity, before y'all ended back again at the front room.
Pete looked outside, a what light was left, "Y'all want me to show you the woods?, where Emily lived, and died?"

[Laser Kiwi]

Distracted by movement in the shrubs, Pandora missed the red eyes some of the others and could only shrug uselessly, following it up with a second useless shrug at Philip. "Nothing specific yet," she had to admit. There was a lot going on in the area - not just inside the building, but all around it, a tangled web of darkness that would take her time to isolate anything useful from. She had often heard the psychic sixth sense described as a third eye, but in Pandora's case it had always worked more like her sense of smell. This place metaphorically reeked of death, and smelling a more subtle clue like blood or gunpowder or cyanide would be difficult through the stench.

Pete immediately radiated off a psychic energy that made her uncomfortable, so Pandora only smiled when he extended his hand and refused the shake. Though she was tempted to pry a little deeper, he wasn't their target so she decided to save her energy and follow him meekly through the house, carrying just her own personal backpack and the supplies TJ assigned. The tour of hotspots was very overwhelming, each place holding its own special brand of doom and gloom with the chapel worst of all.

Almost brought to her knees by the weight of the evil presence looming, Pandora could only stand in the doorway, shaky, as Pete took the others deeper inside. Rape and murder, however tragic, didn't seem like enough to account for the horror emanating from the desecrated holy site. Though not a Christian, the young woman believed that all religions served their purpose, and she sensed that whatever dwelled now in the chapel was working contrary to that purpose. She dared not examine it in more detail for fear it might become aware of her prying, but it had been waiting a long time and would doubtlessly be there when they returned... if it didn't hunt them down first.

Yet there was still more to see after the chapel. By the time they got back to the front room she was starting to feel tired and frazzled, but there was still work to be done and she didn't want her teammates to think of her as the weak link. "Sure, I think we should check it all out to get the lay of the land," she answered, trying to sound braver than she felt.

[ForsakenBySleep]

Frowning slightly, Danny bit back his response as to where exactly Max could go and stick their demon leprechaun and busied himself with going over the folder TJ handed out. He saw what he saw and he’s not about to start something over it now, but dang it if he wasn’t going to relish saying ‘I told you so’ if the opportunity pops up and…well, the ghost hasn’t killed them yet. At least Philip saw it too…

He was just busy double checking the placements for his cameras, when the caretaker came out of the house and introduced himself as Pete. He seemed harmless enough, if a bit…eccentric, but seeing Pandora refuse the handshake, put him on edge and he made a mental note to keep an eye out. Daniel could just be paranoid, projecting his unease over this whole thing onto anything he sees, but he’d much rather be safe than sorry and taking cues from their psychic seemed like a safe enough bet. Grabbing the assigned supplies and quickly checking his pockets to make sure all his prevention measures were in there, he grabbed one of his smaller portable cameras and started filming the tour. They’ll get all the official shots later, but having a reference to work off of couldn’t hurt.

If he wasn’t happy about this outside, being inside the building was nearly enough to send him packing. Not only was the rooms creepy to the max, but the stories that accompanied them and Pete’s blasé way of telling them set his nerves on edge – it also didn’t help that he kept expecting that bloody enderman from earlier to jump out at them from around every corner - he's surprised that he managed to keep his hands steady while filming.

He was almost relieved to see the chapel, hoping that whatever entities lived here wouldn’t be as strong in there, only to be proven completely wrong when Pandora refused to step through the doorway. He only stepped in far enough to get a quick shot of the room before quickly retreating. The last thing he wanted to do after they finally completed the tour of the horror house, was to go into the woods – especially with the light fading, but he couldn’t exactly refuse if the rest of the team was going. Pausing his recording until they’re closer to the woods, he took a moment to just hold his gran’s cross, before addressing Pete. “Do you know the woods well?” which is his way of subtlety asking 'we will be able to get out, right? This isn’t going to turn into the Blair Witch Project, right?'

[Xandrya]

Taking the folder, Denise looked it over quickly, flipping through the pages to more or less get an idea as to what was inside. In all honesty, she wasn’t sure what to expect; after all, she’d never been ghost hunting. For that reason, she would keep an open mind during this adventure, and maybe she would see something that would truly surprise her.

Denise then followed the others to the front of the mansion, and it wasn’t long before the caretaker stepped outside to introduce himself. Just as crazy as they come… she thought to herself, walking inside the building along with the rest of the group. She hugged herself after a moment, suddenly feeling a little chilled which could simply be due to the temperature change. The young woman remained without saying a word, her attention instead drawn to the interior decoration...or what was left of it. Indeed, it was just as every bit messy as Mr. Smith had described, though such fact was not surprising given all of it was old as hell. As the group pushed forward with the tour, Denise couldn't help but feel intrigued by the brief descriptions Mr. Smith was providing. The backstories were terribly tragic, but that's what made them all the more interesting.

As the tour pressed on, Denise couldn't help but notice Pandora looking a bit uncomfortable. She couldn't blame the poor girl, the stories that they were hearing were indeed unsettling, to say the least. But their little tour didn’t last too long, so she must have been relieved.

Then the question popped up, which didn't surprise Denise. "I don't have a problem going to the woods once we bring in the equipment."

[Maglar]

When TJ's RV arrived Philip was buried in one of his notebooks. He looked up and Phis heart did that extra THUMP-A-DUMP thing it did whenever a person meets someone they consider a celebrity, for Philip had been listened to the Doctor's podcast for years and was a huge fan. TJ walked up in his super cool hat and gave the team a little motivational speech, then he casually handed out folders which Philip accepted with an awkward stutter. Bookworm that he is he immediately immersed himself in the folder, but there wasn't much new in there that he hadn't already dug up on his own. The story that stuck out to him was about the young girl who murdered all her school mates in 1986 before hanging themselves. Possession definitely spoke of a demon, and that's what he was here to find.

Pete the grungy looking caretaker had been talking for a minute before Philip realized he needed to look up. Pete folded up Philip's hand in a crushing hand shake before he knew it and soon they were being led through the old house. Philip looked back and saw Dany was already recording, that was good. Even so, Philip clicked on his digital recorder in his pocket just in case they might pick up an extra EVP.

At the door to the chapel Pandora became obviously shaken, which was such good news. Philip took out his notebook and made a mark, Chapel- nurse raped and sacrificed to 'Satan' by two adolescent males, confession caught on EVP, Psychic distraught on initial review.

Pete had led them back to the front before no time and asked if they wanted to check out the woods. Philip was unsure there'd be anything left there that's remarkable since the site had probably been picked clean by looters but the gang seemed up for the trip. Denise, the tech person, said something about her equipment and Philip piped up, "I'll help you bring it in."

[MST3K 4ever]

TJ made mental notes as Pete led them along the tour of the orphanage. Pete wasn't giving them too much new information although it was affirming to here about the stories from a local. Pete's use of the English language took some getting used to, but TJ was able to discern what he was talking about. TJ remembered some on the crew talking about seeing red eyes, and he was certain that what they saw was not a figment of their imaginations. TJ noticed that the inside of the orphanage was scruffy and morbid. Which meant that the red eyes were real, because there wasn't any wires that TJ noticed for running wires into any areas for holographic projections. Besides with the horrid cell signal there was no chance of a wireless projector. The housing areas and stores around them were built old and needed a lot of work just to look passable for condemned. Which meant that the electrical grid could short out if they tried to run anything more than a couple of computers and an I-Pad charging at the same time. TJ also took note that the ground outside was relatively undisturbed. Which meant people avoided this place as much as possible, and that they weren't being set up for some kind of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" situation. The locals were legitimately scared of this place, and that was enough for TJ to accept that there was a better than average chance that there was legitimate paranormal activity happening in this place.

TJ made sure he observed how the crew was taking in all of this. There was a sense of dread and healthy level of fear among them. This made TJ feel a bit more confident in his crew, because they wouldn't be treating this like some kind of training exercise, or like when they would watch some paranormal videos on YouTube. The videos were so cheap and campy that it was impossible not to laugh at them. TJ never laughed at them, because videos like that gave legitimate paranormal crews like them a bad reputation. TJ and the crew had discussed what some of the possible areas for the cameras and other equipment would be. Some of the outlaying areas to be aware of and potential trouble spots. This crew was the best that TJ could have picked to be involved with, and he trusted them to do their jobs without his interference. His challenge was to be a scientist and try to make discoveries, but also as a leader to remember that his crew's well being came first above all else. If it came down between a major breakthrough/discover or his crew, the crew took priority ten times out of ten.

Upon hearing Pete's offer TJ replied, "Sure, but first we need to get our bearings a little more and the tech crew needs sometime to get settled in a bit more. Give us about twenty to thirty minutes Pete."

[Kenshi]

About fifteen minutes later Pete gets a phone call, an emergency, and has to rush to the hospital.
His replacement to guide you in the woods, is his young teenage nephew, Joe.
"Hey so I'm Joe, uncle Pete had to rush to hospital, his father ain't doing to good."
"Anyways, I'm supposed to take ya to the woods, we got maybe three hours before sundown, I don't wanna be out there when the sun goes down, so keep up."
Joe begins leading you down a narrow path that leads to the forest behind the orphanage.
"There's evil in these woods at night, oh hell, I can't say all this dumb shit."
Joe stops for a second and faces the group, " I was told to lay it on thick and heavy, but I don't believe in this bullshit to tell ya the truth."
" Sure some kids went missing, and they Hung the bitch that did it."
"And yeah, the girl who killed everyone and herself, she was suicidal and pumped up with drugs."
Joe spat on the ground, "There ain't no such things as ghosts."
He continued walking along, saying "You can quote me on that to."
About forty five minutes later into the trek into the woods, the quiet, no sounds whatsoever, so quiet Joe said that you could hear a mouse, fart .
Grayish Black stones of a foundation could be seen, and within the midst of the old burnt down shack, is a circle of toadstools.
Suddenly as if drawn to the circle, Denise walks to the center as if in a trance and kneels down, stretching her arms out to the sky, and speaking in an inhuman language.

[Xandrya]

Denise panicked. Without explanation, she suddenly felt an extremely sharp headache, but the painful sensation didn't last long, morphing into something stranger a moment later. The new sensation could be best described as weightlessness, though she obviously wasn't floating. For a moment, Denise thought she would faint, never having experienced such thing before and thus not the least bit knowledgable as to what would come next. But it was then that she saw something not too far from her that caught her attention. She was trying to figure out why it was calling to her, but then her body started moving on its own. With each step, her hearing diminished until it was practically gone. She knelt down, afraid for her life at this point, and then she was shouting at the sky. What that was exactly, she couldn't say.

Next up, Denise's vision started to fade. She got up, turning around to address the others. She moved rather quickly towards them, pointing at each individual as she went on with the same incoherent speech. In between her ramblings, she said three words that the others could understand: "Suffer, evil, innocent." Her expression was menacing, and her eyes were jet black. She was acting as if she were accusing the others of something, though even more intriguing was the fact that her voice was practically unrecognizable. It had a deeper tone to it, and it seemed to mysteriously echo off of the surrounding trees.

The second she was done, Denise took off in a full sprint deeper into the woods. She was running faster than she had ever ran before, easily dodging obstacles along the way. Her body then started burning up, almost as if she were in a sauna where the temperature was set too high. She slowed down, ripping her clothes off to include her long sleeve shirt and pants. During the disrobing process, Denise tripped over herself and fell to the ground, the fall increasing the burning and making it that much worse for her. She started to claw at her bare flesh as she screamed, the cuts from her fingernails leaving some scratches on her skin but not going deep enough as to draw blood. Denise then pulled herself away from her remaining clothes, dragging through the mud and fallen leaves and eventually slowing down, nearly passing out.

A moment later, she regained all her senses, and the burning sensation faded which in turn made her feel extremely cold and left her in quite a bit of pain, a pain that was different from before. Denise started to sob uncontrollably as she continued to drag herself towards some form of safety, though she wasn't exactly sure as to what that was yet.

[Maglar]

Philip stood in quiet amazement. His ability to think through events was over-ridden by an icy terror that had settled in his stomach and froze him in place. It was the sound of her voice, an inhuman growl that seemed to fill the forest and echo off the trees, that shriveled his testicles and stole his breath.

"Suffer! Evil! Innocent!" Denise screamed at them between incoherent grumbles.

Philip recognized similarities between what was going on and what he had studied in possession videos and his mind began to slowly work against the terror. He checked the digital recorder in his pocket, it was still recording, good. Denise wasn't attacking anyone but seemed to be thrashing against her own will, good. Then suddenly, she bolted into the woods and left the group at the toadstool ring!

Philip didn't think, he took off after her, his long coat getting caught on the branches. He couldn't see her, but he could see the path of broken limbs and the occasional piece of clothing left behind. He finally came upon her huddled, naked, and sobbing uncontrollably. Philip took of his coat and draped it across her shoulders.

"Denise," he said hesitantly, "are... are you okay?" He put a tentative hand on her back.

[ForsakenBySleep]

Let is be known that Daniel James had been against going into the woods from the start, hell he has been against this entire venture from the start. He knew something bad was going to happen, something bad always happens in these situations – that Joe was blatantly jinxing them didn’t help any. Now, Danny respects people, he respects peoples’ right to their own opinions regarding the supernatural, BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN YOU GO AND PROVOKE A DING DANG DEAD GHOST WITCH ON HER OWN FRONT YARD GOSH DARN IT! Joe did, now look what happened! Denise was…Denise was…she was possessed.

Oh fuck, she was possessed, she was full blown possessed. How did this happen? One moment he was just trying to get a decent shot of the location, the next thing he knew, she had black eyes and was moving towards them, pointing and rambling incoherently, only three words registering “Suffer, evil, innocent.”

Whenever he pictured a situation like this, he always thought that he would do the sensible thing and run for the hills, instead he blanked out, limbs locking up, the small camera falling out of his hands and onto the forest ground. He didn’t even have enough presence of mind to break out his impressive array of mental curses. It wasn’t until Denise bolted into the woods, closely followed by Philip that his senses slammed back into him.

“Ffghhnnnnn!” doubling over slightly, he took a deep breath clutching all of his necklaces for dear life. “Its got Denise, oh damn, its got Denise. We need to do something, what do we do, we can’t just rush in, it could be a trap, oh fuck, Philip rushed in, damn.” Taking another deep breath, he straightened up, grabbing the dropped camera, shoving it in his hoodie pocket and started reaching into his trouser pockets. “Alright, alright, we need a plan, anybody know anything about de-possession? I’ve got candles, salt lavender and sage, will that help? Damn, I knew I should have tried to get my hands on holy water. Pandora, did you pick up anything? How screwed are we exactly, because, damn I’m pretty sure we’re really screwed.”

[MST3K 4ever]

TJ had heard the crap that Joe was spewing out. He heard it from his family and a few others at the University, but TJ had learned to block it out. TJ had seen enough paranormal activity to know that it was as real as the trees that were around the orphanage. Just the sounds that TJ had heard over the years from paranormal activity would've made Joe crap his pants. TJ merely glanced over it Joe and said with a tone of sarcasm, "Noted. Thanks for your well thought out conclusion." The silence as they walked was not entirely unsettling there were times that TJ forgot how truly beautiful in all of it's splendor sounded. He was a scientist but TJ also knew when to appreciate the beauty of creation and not be so analytical. Just then all Hell broke loose.

TJ had seen demonic possession before. On video usually but he did see it once when he was consulting, off the record of course, with the Local Roman Catholic archdiocese for a case they were struggling with. Seeing Denise act the way she did TJ said under his breath, "Oh my Lord." Every fiber of his being wanted to run towards Denise but he also knew running in head long without some caution could make a dangerous situation into a situation of certain death. TJ followed along as close as he could without compromising the situation further. He had his reasons for believing that Denise wasn't in mortal danger yet, but TJ realized that could change. TJ was more concerned about the damage to Denise's psyche more than anything else.

Once he saw it was over and Phillip was trying to comfort Denise TJ made his way back to the van quickly. He grabbed what appeared to be a black duffle bag, a bottle of water, a granola bar, a first aid kit. TJ didn't run because he didn't want to show any signs of panic, but Daniel was already doing enough of that. TJ stopped next to Daniel and said very slowly, "Pull it together. Denise is already in a fragile state you panicking is not helping her. If this thing wanted to kill her or us it would've done it already." TJ motioned towards the van and said, "Take five at the van and pull it together and get back to setting things up." TJ shrugged his shoulders and said, "Or if you don't think you can handle this I'll arrange for a pick up. No harm done and not gonna hold it against you. Your call Daniel." TJ hated playing the "no feeling scientist" in front of Daniel, because the truth was he was just nervous as any of them. TJ's breathing and vocal tone were saying "Okay that wasn't normal and I'm somewhat concerned." However, the situation called for someone to take back some control for them and not let the situation spiral out of control any further.

Walking over to Phillip TJ said, "I'll get it from here. Gather her clothes analyze them and the area near the stones, but do not go to the stones." He patted Phillip on the back and said, "Good job. Try to keep everyone else away from here for the moment. Especially Joe I'm not going to turn this into a peep show for him or anyone else." TJ knelt very slowly in front of Denise and showed her the first aid kit, the duffle bag, the granola bar, and the water. TJ then slipped on a set of rubber gloves. He said moving his hand towards her and touching her shoulder, "Denise, I'm going to treat your wounds first. Inside the duffle bag is a pair of sweats and running shoes you can get dressed once I've treated your wounds. Lastly, I want to eat the granola bar and drink some of the water." TJ nodded and said, "I realize that you may not be hungry right now, but your body has been through a tremendous amount of stress and strain to say the least. Which means your blood sugar is going to start falling rapidly so this is to avoid you having a diabetic emergency." TJ opened up the first aid kit and said, "I'm going to get started. Just try to relax and know that it's over for the moment. I'm not interested in questioning about this right now. Just try to take it easy."

Mentions:

@ForsakenBySleep
@Maglar
@Xandrya

[Laser Kiwi]

If Pandora had known it was going to be a forty-five minute hike through the forest, she would have been a lot less enthusiastic about getting started right away. By the time they made it to the ruined shack she was tired, thirsty, and far too focused on the looming dark and buzzing mosquitoes to even attempt any psychic investigation. At most she felt a vague pressure in the air as she opened her backpack to grab her water bottle. Just as she got her first sip, all hell broke loose. The bottle fell to the ground as Denise walked into the middle of the circle, the looming evil suddenly becoming tangible, a choking presence that made it difficult for her to think, much the less speak.

And then, suddenly, it disappeared. Rather, it disappeared from the air and manifested itself in their teammate. Pandora could only stare in shock when Denise spoke to her, every hair on her body standing on end. What language was she speaking? Better question, who was speaking? Lost for any practical way to help, Pandora found herself rooted in place by fear as Denise tore off into the woods, followed by Philip and then TJ, but it was Daniel's question that finally snapped Pandora back into the present.

"I-I don't know," She had to admit, picking up her water bottle with shaking hands. "I've never- I didn't- I don't..." her explanations all failed and she forced herself to take a deep breath and a drink of water, trying to find her center again. "I didn't go to school for this, okay? I'm going off of instinct here," She explained, leaving out the part where her instincts were telling her to take TJ up on the offer he made to Daniel and just fucking leave while she still could. "The best thing I can do is figure out where it went so I know if it's coming back. I just need some peace and quiet," She explained, mostly to herself, as she ran her hands through her hair and tried to slow her breathing, let her mind expand, and focus on the signals the spirit world was sending. They were hard to decipher with such a font of evil nearby, but as her heart rate slowed some details began to emerge. She couldn't sensate whatever had possessed Denise, but she could feel a trail it had left and started mentally examining it for clues, searching for any hints of identity whilst also being watchful of another ambush.

[sassy1085]

Max didn't pay that much attention to the tour, they just walk around in the orphanage, just taking a good look of it. Max jump a bit when they spot a spider “Should at least clean this place up before we came here” jokingly. Then sudden, Denise started acting crazy, Max couldn’t do anything but just stay there, helpless as they watch as group try to calm Denise and Danny down....What the hell did Max sign up for?