Somewhere in Arizona...As the midday sun begins to set, signaling the coming of the night, a stripetail scorpion emerges from its burrow home and crawls across the cooling desert ground. The blurred backdrop comes into focus, revealing a highway road and, situated just beside the road, a blue 1962 Volkswagen Beetle with its hood propped open; the car is not being operated. A man hidden behind a detailed map of the contiguous United States traces his finger from the West coast to the East. He stops at one spot and makes tiny taps on the map with his finger.
"Right, right, this spot. Right? Is it this spot? 'Innsburg'?" He mumbles to himself before becoming frustrated and setting the map down onto the trunk of his car. We see a man in his late twenties, possibly early thirties. He's clean-shaven with bright eyes; dressed in a trench coat and, more noticeably, a navy tie with prints of little brown dachshunds in red collars on it.
"No, this is fine. This is fine. The universe has never failed me before. Uhhh- Oh! Maybe-"He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a quarter. Kissing it for good luck, he closes his eyes and flips the quarter into the air, allowing it to fall all the way onto the map. A second passes and he opens one eye, pleased to see that the quarter did in fact landed on the map. Both eyes open, he gingerly removes the quarter and simultaneously fingers the location marked by the coin. It's a location in the New England region of the States; more specifically, a town in Massachusetts.
"'Innsmouth'." Slamming shut the hood of the car—revealing the eviscerated corpse of a rather large raven on the other side of his car—he gets into the vehicle and starts the engine.
voooooRRRR...!A young woman in a black 2016 Toyota Camry drives down a quiet road in a dark countryside. There is an overcast sky above her, hiding the sun and adding an atmosphere of gloom to her environment. Fortunately, she's used to such weather by now, being an Arkham native and all—a city not far off from the destination she's heading to. Her eyes are intense with an unparalleled amount of focus behind them. She's on some sort of mission it would seem.
August 21
st, 2018 / Innsmouth, Massachusetts
Sometime later, she arrives at the sleepy seaside port of Innsmouth and parks her car on the curb of the main street. She pauses for a brief respite, taking in the scenery around her. The old-timey architecture lends the town a rustic charm, harking back to the days of antiquity. Innsmouth—after all—has been around for a long,
long time. The smell of the sea hits her, carried along by a refreshing breeze. It's almost worth a smile. But the sweetness would turn bitter in her mouth as the breeze then brings upon an ominous chill, one that sinks its teeth into your very bones. She is only brought out of her thoughts when an old woman walking her... dog(?) strolls by. Black of fur and skin of wrinkled leather, its head is cocked to one side as it prances about, pale tongue dripping copious amounts of droll onto the pavement below.
"Excuse me, Ma'am."The old woman stops. "Hmm?"
"I'm looking for the Gilman House Hotel. Do you think you can help me out?""We rarely get visitors to our little town. Nothing but fisheries here. Wouldn't you be happier touring the sunny beaches of California or the towering skyscrapers of New York City?" Her speech is slow, methodical and akin to pouring molasses.
"Oh I much rather be here. I'm a journalist, here to do a story about the missing girl. Suzanne Moore, was it?""Ohhh. Yes, poor dearie... The police couldn't find anything, but, they're trying. Maybe you'll find something if you look close enough."
"Well I'll certainly do my best. And about the hotel?""Ohhh, yes. Of course. Take main street down and left at the high school."
"Thank you. You have a good day.""I hope to read your article in the papers someday, dearie." The old woman waves her off. She gets in her car and turns on the engine but, as she slowly drives off, she notices the old woman's head following the car as it drives away; the old woman, herself, still smiling and waving and, most importantly, her dog(?) has somehow escaped from its leash and has vanished from view.
DIIIIINNNNGGGG!The clamor of freedom: the bell signaling the end of the school day reverberates all throughout Innsmouth High School from the silent halls to the raucous classrooms where minds are molded. In Mr. Scott's Physics classroom and lab—fifth period—a balding, lanky gentleman in big-framed glasses steps in front of the teacher's desk to address the class. "Alright, settle down. Now before you all go meandering off to partake in whatever debauchery you have lined up for the day, Ms. Hall would like a moment to address the class concerning our dearly missing Suzanne Moore. So listen up." The teacher—presumably Mr. Scott—motions to a female student holding a bunch of cards to take the stage, figuratively speaking.
And so she does. Standing in front of the class, a teary-eyed girl with long red hair glances at Mr. Scott. "Well, actually..." She stops and turns back to the class. This girl is Olivia Hall, one of Suzie's closest friends. "Some of you may have heard but Mr. and Mrs. Moore have decided that they'll be holding a funeral for Suzie. They felt closure would be better than waiting around for news that may never come. And since school is closed tomorrow for staff meeting, they would like for some of Suzie's classmates to attend," she sniffles. "So, I just wanted to hand out these invites. Please attend if you can. For Suzie and her parents' sake."
Olivia walks to each one of the students' desks and hands out an invite that reads "In loving memory of Suzanne Moore. August 22
nd, 2018. Celebrate the life, cherish the memories," followed by the address of the town's cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Moore will be burying an empty coffin it would appear. "Here you go. I hope you can attend." Olivia hands one invite out to Kanna Saitou
@Migyudon. Kanna never really knew Suzie but they did had a brief moment to get to know more about each other on the day Suzie went missing when Suzie's lab partner was absent and Kanna was assigned to be her lab partner for the class period.
"I'm sorry, Quincy. I hope you're doing okay." Olivia handed the star football athlete
@Cryfest an invitation and placed one of her hands atop of one of his for a brief moment. Is this a simple show of comforting Suzie's boyfriend or could it signal something else entirely? In any case, she moves onto the next person and then the next and the next. Finally, as Olivia approached the desk of outcast Gwyn Thatcher
@ProPro, she moves right past him and, instead, hands an invite to the student one desk over, but not before giving the young man a glance of resentment. It's to be expected. After the photography incident a few weeks prior to Suzie's disappearance, Gwyn has since been eyed by nearly every student as the prime suspect in this case. Soon, the last of the invites were handed out and the students are allowed to take their leave.
Dezuel
