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Character you have created: Djarrawi Hunter
Alias: Sleepwalker, Dingo Girl, Today Girl (These aren't codenames, just nicknames from her people)
Speech Color: Dark Orange

Character Alignment: Hero
Identity: Known


Character Personality: Djarrawi is quiet, watchful, and aloof, but quite friendly if you actually engage her. She loves playing with animals, tending plants, and watching children, and is an extremely adept storyteller. She loves creativity in all its forms and will actively encourage anyone she sees struggling with a hand on the shoulder, hug, and warm smile. Her concepts of personal space and ownership are a bit off from Western values, but she is quite firm in her beliefs. If she didn't have the status she had, she'd probably have been arrested for numerous misunderstandings. John also helps with this, as does Tree.

Theft, oppression, and mistreatment of nature will probably be met with anger, if not physical force.

Origin Info/Details: Djarrawi is the daughter of Samantha and Powa. Samantha was part of the Stolen Generation, born in 1978, but found her way back to her roots with the Djabugay in Queensland and settled there as a farmer. Djarrawi is their only child. As a young girl, she was curious and playful, and very quick on her feet. Showing a keen awareness for the world and for spirits, Djarrawi began to learn her trade as a medicine woman by the time she turned seven, though training isn't necessarily the best word.

When she was fifteen, she went on walkabout, and journeyed out into the Outback for some distance, saying hello to other tribes and the ranchers and farmers out in the scrublands. Out there, she chanced upon a nest of vipers along the edge of a cliff, and she dodged their bites, only to jump and land on a loose rock, which sent her careening down the slope and off the edge, a hundred feet below. Normally, this would have killed her, but Djarrawi was clever, and twisted enough to catch a branch sticking out of the cliff to slow her fall. It snapped, but allowed her to land with only a broken femur and spine.

As she lay there paralysed, a voice came to talk to her. She looked around and saw a dingo, watching her carefully. It told her that she had killed it, as well as herself, because she had gone and broken the sacred branch that he was. But there was a way to save them both, if she was willing. Since she did not want to die yet, she agreed that they should do this thing. The dingo directed her to shove the piece of branch she held into her leg, where the bone was sticking out. It took many minutes for her to work up the courage to do so, but she did. She immediately passed out from the pain.

When she woke up, it was night time She could stand, and, better, she could move much better than she had before her fall. She could see in the dark just fine, and breathed easier than she ever had. And the dingo's voice, barely a whisper, taught her all the ways of the ancestor spirits and how she could effect bulurru now. This took several weeks, during which time her family assumed she was still on Walkabout.

When she returned, and showed what she could do, her tribal leaders convened. Then the entire regional council conveneed. Phone calls were made, other shamans from as far away as the Great Western Desert came to see her. Eventually, over the course of a month of poking, prodding, and questioning, she was instructed that she must tour to all the other peoples of the continent, and see the whole of the place and check on the land. She did this for four years, during which time, to keep her company, she made Tree.

Last year, when she was twenty-five, the full council tasked her with travelling off-continent, to seek any evidence of sacred sites outside of the lands they had lived on forever, and to return any sacred items that might have been stolen by Englishmen. She agreed to do so, on the condition that she be supported by someone with actualy diplomatic powers so she could have authority. This led to John Mulvaney going on his first trip by sailboat, and his first trip to America, accompanying a strange girl in traditional clothes and face paint and a giant man who stood too still to be normal.

Hero Type: Acrobat/Supernatural
Power Level: Street/???
Powers:

Physical Stuff: Aside from just the physical strength and toughness growing up in the Outback gave her, Djarrawi's unique spirit and training allow her to accomplish astonishing feats. She can run at nearly sixty miles an hour for half a day, leap up to twenty feet vertically, hit like a kung-fu master, and twist in ways professional gymnasts would be jealous of. She's resistant to disease and venoms and toxins, but not to a metahuman degree. She is just Australian.

Bulurru: Bulurru started the world, but hasn't ended. But Djarrawi, with her newfound powers and responsibilities, can shape some aspects of bulurru to suit her needs. She can, when physically touching any solid object of any make, mold it as if clay, and while doing so transform the material to anything else she wishes. This cannot however, create man-made materials, only naturally occurring things. For example, she can turn sand into iron, but not into steel.

Living creatures, upon being touched on the forehead with her fingers, or simply held if they are small enough, are turned into whatever other living creature she wishes. This is temporary, the length of time depending on the willpower of the person in question and how much effort Djarrawi put into it. At a maximum, the most weak-willed person that Djarrawi thinks should be changed permanently will stay in their new form for a week. Animals and plants effected by this, however, are only changed back when she wants them to, and she can accomplish that simply by willing the change to go away. This change has no detrimental effect on the subject, and sentient beings keep their minds, though if she turns you into something without speech parts, you cannot speak. Subjects inherently know how to use any part of their body as if they had been born that way. Interestingly, once returned to normal, some bleedover effect remains, and dreams often tend to be from the view of the thing the subject was turned into, and ever after there is an unwillingness to hurt aid creatures.

Water can be instantly cleansed of pollutants, and food of the same, upon her touching it. Any air she breathes is subconsciously cleaned of everything except naturally occurring elements. All the soil she walks on is cleansed out around an acre from her footprint. Sticking her hand in a river will cause everything downriver from her to be cleansed at a rate somewhat above just the water she is touching, as if the effect was spreading. She doesn't seem to be able to effect seawater.

Witch ochre paints, Djarrawi can draw something on a surface, and then breathe life into it. For example, if she draws a kangaroo in red ochre and gives it life, a full, real red kangaroo leaps from the surface she drew it on. This only works for things she paints, and it has to be ochre. She cannot create sentient life from paintings.

When Djarrawi plays her didgeridoo, it doesn't just make music. Any and all spirits within earshot wake up from their slumber and come to see her, and the whole world inside this zone takes on a dreamy, unreal quality for any normal people inside. Trivial and material things seem less important, and the natural world seems suddenly painfully vibrant. This effect persists for a few minutes after she stops playing, as the Bulurru settles back down, but can leave lasting impressions on people.

If Djarrawi names something, then it becomes more real. (This is a very difficult concept to explain, so bear with me). When an ancestor spirit gives something a name in bulurru, they give it form. Sometimes this requires trading objects with other spirits to learn the name it needs, but the name was simultaneously already there and not. The act of naming something out loud gives it a truer form than it had, since it now exists in bulurru where before it might have just been pretending. Physically this has no effect at all on, say, mountains or skyscrapers or people or anything. It does make them more spiritually a part of the fabric of the land around them, but this isn't even really perceptible except to Djarrawi and other spirits.

Attributes:
Height: 5'11”
Weight: 132

Strength Level: A bit over what you would expect from a well-trained human
Speed/Reaction Timing Level: ~Four times as fast as peak human
Endurance at MAXIMUM Effort: ~Twelve hours
Agility: Can tie herself into knots and dive through holes just wide enough to fit.
Intelligence: Higher than average, but not a genius
Fighting Skill: Raw talent, very little real training

Resources: Zero, except the stipend she gets from the Australian government

Weaknesses:

She staunchly refuses to ride in anything powered by gasoline, oil, coal, or nuclear power, and thus is restricted to walking, sail, paragliding, horseback riding, etc.

Despite her exceptional physical abilities and her powers, Djarrawi is still vulnerable to bruises, lacerations, gunshots, etcetera.

Technically, her left femur is made of hardened wood, instead of bone.

She has a tendency to just wander off, even if others need her. A byproduct of her connection to bulurru, there's not much to do about this.

Her powers over bulurru come with extreme moral limits, and as such what she can do with it is far more expansive than what she will do with it. She will never kill or destroy with these powers, though she may change for what she sees as a benefit to the world. She may do things which seem cruel to some, but which are learning opportunities she feels are necessary. But many, many actions others might conceive of are completely anathema to the ways she has been taught. Material gain, corruption, bridging the dead: None of these will ever be done.

If Djarrawi ever loses control of herself, through mind control or otherwise, her power over the Bulurru stops working. Forever.

If Djarrawi doesn't get enough sunlight, fresh air, and outdoor time, she begins to weaken, slowly turning into a normal human. In addition, she must visit spiritual sites at least once a month, or risk her powers disappearing for an unknown amount of time.

Supporting Characters (Does your character have a significant other? A mother? Friend? Who are they, what do they have to do with your character?):

Tree is a walking man, Aboriginal, seven feet tall and powerfully muscled. He looks very old and weather-beaten. He is, in fact, a tree, animated by Djarrawi. She affectionately refers to him as her grandfather. Tree isn't necessarily intelligent, at least not like a human. However, he seems to know what he needs to do without being told, and can speak in simple sentences.

John Mulvaney, 42. a Special Envoy diplomat from Australia, tasked with travelling with Djarrawi in order to keep her safe and enable her to do her job. He really has no idea what to expect, and since he was otherwise doomed to a desk job, has determined to have fun with this. He is a nervous, pale man, though quite friendly.
Sharing is caring, yanno.
Yeah, I have also only been here since S2, so you dun have to read all of that. I have:

Berenice (Siren)
Leanna (Blacklight)
Nicole (Nicky)
Zoë (Forge)
Abigail Cho
Darya (Tiamat) she's stuck in the past right now until we can finish a collab
and finally Alice, but she's not currently active.
You are more than welcome to come play with any of my girls, Liseran! Though you prolly dun wanna play with Zoë she's a bit evil


Lost Haven, Maine


June 31st, Late night


Corporal Roger Anderson was walking his beat through one of the dirtier, but safer, sections of low town. He liked his job, especially on nights like this one. He would bust a few people, make some waves, and start his rise up through the ranks. One of these days. For now, his rather ample belly and thinning blonde hair did not endear him to his higher ups in terms of physical fitness, but he did receive glowing commendations on attention to detail and honesty, things found in short supply these days.

Ever since the metahumans had defeated the Hounds of Humanity, the town had settled down only a little. The number of officers killed or retired by action, and the ones who had transferred to safer cities, had left the force notably thinned. And with the foreign gangs like the Yakuza and those weird ones with the flowers still active, the city was still a tinderbox. Quieter beats like this one, down near the point of the city, were hard to find, and he was more than thankfully for the break.

Near one in the morning, by his shiny little gold watch, he heard the shouts and thumps of a street fight of some sort down an alley off of Faraday Street and Nolton Avenue. He radioed in and approached cautiously. Several officers had reported grisly murders and partial rumours of cannibalism in this area, so he pulled his gun out, thumbed off the safety, and Proceeded With Caution, by the book. Nothing in the book could have prepared him for the sight he was presented with coming around a bend in the alley.

A street child of dark hair and complexion bolted past him, screaming about drug dealers and death, and when the police officer glanced back towards the commotion, he saw why. The remains of a thin man in a ragged coat and knit cap were crumpled against a rough brick wall opposite him, in a spreading pool of blood from what he had to assume was a knife wound. Another corpse was splayed face down across a dumpster lid, twitching. There were bloodstains everywhere, and the single lightbulb over a door into the building above him was flickering. The shadows were everywhere, so he switched on his flashlight and moved to check the pulse of the first body. No pulse. He turned to the second and had to fight down an urge to vomit, which he failed to do.

The man on the dumpster was missing everything below the sternum, and it seemed to be spread across the alley for several yards. After catching his breath and retching once more, Anderson panned the beam of his flashlight across the darkened alley. Nothing but a couple of trashbags and an old mop head, all covered in blood. He clicked his radio on. "Dispatch, this is Badge 3290, over."
The voice came crackling back. "Go ahead, 3290".

"I have a multiple homicide at...34671 East Nolton, request backup and coroner, over."

"Roger that, 3290. Back up en route. Seven minutes, over."

"Roger that. Tell them to bring the K9 unit. 3290 o-"

The bags had moved. He was sure of it. He levelled his gun at them. "Come out with your hands where I can see them!" he shouted.

Not only did the bags shift. They slid, and his mind screamed at him that what he was seeing could not possibly be real. The 'old mop head' was actually a real head of black, wavy hair, matted with blood. Attached to a woman, really pretty except for the blood, wearing...nothing? But right where her body should be splitting into legs, and really just below her navel, his mind did not want to comprehend. The 'trash bags' had been the coils of a massive snake. At first glance he thought she was being eaten, but then his brain finally caught up with the situation, and he saw that they were one and the same. And, strangest of all, she was staring at him with those green eyes, with her hands in the air, a questioning look on her face as her eyes dropped to the gun. "Fuck!" Anderson shouted. "Dispatch, send the fucking army! It's some sort of-" There were nothing but screams and one single shot from his gun over the radio. The only thing Anderson's backup found were three bodies instead of four, and a reason to have a funeral in the next few days.




The Next Morning


Berenice swept along the dawn breeze, riding high up over the wispy mists that were still clinging to the city and settling in for a glide over her new nest area. Parts of her brain were, even after a month, getting used to sharing with so many people, but at least she knew better than to sing except when she was alone. She did so now, letting a tune rip away into the winds as she passed high over the University, before wheeling back around and heading for her home.

Coming in for a landing, she gripped tightly onto the wooden rails built specifically for her to land on, the hopped down and crossed the short little plaza and over to her nest, which now was a fully fledged thing, packed with straw, warm cloth, and covered by a heavy tarpaulin that kept everything from getting mouldy. The entire nook was festooned with wind chimes, bits of wire twisted into shapes, several mirrors, and bits of bones delicately carved by the Clan for her. The area directly behind her corner was a little halfwall, where she might have looked out over the street below, except that it was now covered in a riot of greenery growing in soil she had carted up herself. Things that Carrie had said weren't even supposed to grow here were thriving, many of them tropical and several fruit bearing.

In fact, excepting the tiny plaza and building the Clan lived in, the entire flat area of the roof was given over to greenery, all carefully hidden by spells so they wouldn't get in trouble. Her favourite was the banana tree, which Carrie had just shook her head at and gone downstairs saying something about a headache. Most of its root structure, with so many other, grew down the corner of the building, covered in symbiotic ivy that hid it from view. This gave the Clan their highway down to forage in the city.

They had brought up sticks, mud, and other materials with her help and had built a village next to her nest, with a tiny mosaic plaza for meeting and weapons practise. A large wooden tub behind that held their water supply. The village was now capable of making metal tools, and were slowly growing as the children grew. At this point it was nearly thirty structures, all several floors tall, which came up to around Berenice's knee joints when she went past. Also present was a windmill, and a little thing that they had said contained the best of everything, but it wasn't ready yet. She just nodded and let them alone. While part of the Clan, she was too big to be a part of any of the ceremonies so far, though Sunheart had informed her many new ceremonies were necessary due to their new lifestyle.

Berenice settled down into her nest, watching the tiny children play in the soil near the raspberry bush. Sunheart climbed up next to her from her hut, built into the base of the nest, and settled down on her forearm as she leaned forward. They sat like that for long enough that the sun had risen beyond the siren's field of vision before she bestirred herself. Sunheart climbed up into the “saddle” on her belt, a small padded pouch with some travelling gear stored in it, and then Berenice made her way over to the banana tree, hopping and flapping once to reach one of the bunches and pluck two off of it before falling back down. She unwrapped one and ate it in just a few bites, bringing the other one over and setting it down next to the plaza, where several men ran over to begin cutting it down for their meals.

This is nice, Sunheart,” she said, staring around. Her feather ruffed slightly. ”And I have gotten lots of practise. But Sebastian has not come after us yet. Why?”

Her little companion shrugged from her perch on the belt. ”I do not know, Skysong. Perhaps he has killed himself with foolish magic.”

”I think that would be too easy. The car tunes always have the bad man come back every time. I do not think we should relax too much.”

”Well, we will keep practicing, then, and meet whatever comes with ready hearts and sharpened spears.”

Berenice nodded, and hop-skipped her way to her little launching pad. It was time to head to the woods for practise time. She would practise here, but Carrie had warned that her magic was too powerful to be near innocent people, so she had to practise out in the woods. And today, she was going to see if she could get Charlie on the phone by herself, afterwards!

Banner credit to Nitemare Shape. Thanks Boss!


Detroit, MI

15:00, July seventh


It had been a slog, really, but as Zoë spun in her office chair to take in the sights of the floor below, she found the results to be quite pleasing. Following the raids on HoH storehouses and weapons manufacturing, even giving Ares their murderous ten per cent of recovered plus fees, she had made out with tens of millions of dollars in military hardware, manufacturing equipment, and raw silver, plus access to a huge amount of financial records. A lot of it had ended up being dead, already seized by various governments by the time she had looked at it, but enough had come through that, on top of her savings from her gallery sales, she was very comfortable.

The office was now well furnished. The old brick walls were covered by rich oak panelling, with a fireplace directly behind her desk, which was of deeply darkened mahogany and almost as big as a car. Even darker woods had gone into the flooring, done in a swirling marbled pattern with lighter woods as accenting. Around the walls were various paintings she had found from other artists, either subtly unsettling or just off somehow. She liked the effect it had on visitors. Off to her left had been added a door, and a whole additional section of the building. From the office door only her own domicile was accessible, but the lower floor entered into a sort of barracks area, though far more comfortable than that word suggested. The zoning commissioner had had several dirty secrets and had been exceptionally open to her keeping them secret in exchange for building whatever the hell she wanted on the premises, no questions asked.

Down below, several rows of brightly lit and warmly decorated cubicles were arranged, with several people working just now. This was, after all, the American headquarters for Einherjar Globale Entwicklungsgesellschaft, and needed to look properly office-y. The large recreational area with bean bags and drafting boards made it look like a hip new company, and at least two employees were dedicated to solely building an online social media presence. The place was an architectural design company, but also development and planning, focusing on low-income, low-expense projects. She'd been forced to actually hire a couple of architects and engineers anyway, so she had put them to good use designing the lower floors of the building.

Below the office, the first basement held various necessities, such as the parking garage, security office, IT dept, and supply rooms. Also on that level was a secret elevator which went down into the true heart of her operations. The sub-basement held several interrogation chambers, an armoury, several training areas including her personal one, a design lab, and another set of dormitories. These housed any agents she had hired who didn't have access to their own facilities, and the whole level had a separate entrance over on the pier. Satellite facilities were planned around the city, but funding wasn't infinite and she didn't have the manpower for them yet anyway.

A knock on her office door caused her to swing around and adjust her tee shirt to look a little neater. A raven-haired girl poked her head around the corner and said, “Miss Richter? You're three o' clock is here.”

Zoë nodded, and using her 'Natalie' accent said, “Show them in, please, Sonya”

The girl shook her head. “No, Miss Richter. Your other three o' clock.”

“Oh!” Zoë clapped her hands and stood up. “Fantastic, Sonya! Let's go down and see them then, shall we?”

While everyone else tended to wear business professional, even though she only demanded barely business casual, Zoë tended towards wearing old and comfy jeans spattered in paint, old concert tees, and her combat boots, as if she was stuck in the eighties when she hadn't even been born then. At this point the dye had washed from her hair, leaving it her natural dark auburn. She walked with a skip in her step alongside Sonya, a recent recruited meta with mild teleportation abilities and an eidetic memory. Sonya always dressed the same, Black jacket over white blouse with a knee-length pencil skirt of pumps, both black. She was one of the few who actually lived in the building so far, and was fanatically devoted to Zoë's plans for the city.

They made their way through Zoë's living quarters, consisting of a suite of two bedrooms, a dining area attached to the kitchen, an art room, and her water closet. The hall between the bedrooms dead-ended, unless you could pass the biometric scan, knew the password, and had registered DNA for a pinprick. She usually just phased through the door when alone, but that wouldn't work with Sonya in tow, so she spoke the password, which opened the panel on the wall for everything else. When closed all of this was pretty much undetectable except to careful UV scans that revealed electrical components. As she finished the scans and submitted her blood for analysis, Sonya muttered something behind her.

“What was that, Sonya?”

“Oh, sorry, ma'am. Trying to figure out the work schedule for tomorrow so there's no overlaps.”

“Ah. Very good.”

The elevator door hidden in the wall opened and they stepped smartly through. This elevator only went to the sub-basement, and like the interrogation rooms and her training area, had no fire suppression systems, something Sonya was acutely aware of. Once before in the last month, during a bad case where a potential recruit had tried to take the place for himself, Zoë had let Sonya know to teleport and had then incinerated the little bastards. Honestly, what was he thinking bringing rats to a firefight? Sonya's powers were particularly good at being a safety system, pulling out her own people while Zoë lit up the enemy, or 'porting the enemy to one of the locked interrogation rooms for further analysis if they hadn't prompted violence. Which was where they were heading now.

Zoë strode into the room, hands in her pockets, grinning wolfishly at the fat amn chained to the folding chair in the room. He quivered in hat looked like his evening wear, which would make sense considering where he would've been grabbed from. She spoke in rapid Russian as she sat don.

<Greetings, thief! Didn't think we'd catch up to you, did you?>

He responded in English. “I don't speak Commie!”

Zoë continued in Russian, as Sonya handed her a file and she flipped through it. <Oh, Pyotr, no no no. That won't do. You are Pyotr Eleni Poroskyavet, do not lie. We have been tracking you for several months now.>

The man visibly paled as she set down a photo, one of a younger him in a Russian military uniform. He spoke shakily in Russian, <I...I haven't been that man in a long time. Who are you people?>

Zoë sat back, crossing her arms. The tingle of her power told her he was seeing her as something else, but she didn't know what.

<Come now, Pyotr. You took of with several very important documents and quite a lot of funding from the Motherland. Who do you think we are?>

He was growing more terrified as he replied, <Oh god, you're Black Squad FSB! Please, don't kill me!>

<No, we won't kill you, Pyotr. We want to, or at least I do, and I'm in command here. But someone higher up wants you alive. Apparently you're useful to operations here.> She paused to allow him the moan that escaped his lips. <So here's what's going to happen. You will go back to your life. You will act as though nothing has changed. You will do whatever we ask, whenever we ask, because to do otherwise means I get my way. Know that we are watching, Pyotr, and we will know if you attempt to alert anyone to our presence. You will be escorted back the same way you came in.>

She didn't give him a chance to respond, just stood up and walked out of the room, Sonya trailing behind her. She gave it a few moments, to be out of hearing range of the door, even though the room was sound-proofed, and then burst out laughing. Even Sonya cracked a smile.

“Oh, merde it was hard to keep a straight face! He looked like he was going to crap himself at any moment!”

“Yes, Miss Forge, it was quite funny. But you have another event today. And you still have to get that email to the client in Paris.”

”Ahhh, no rest for the wicked.”
I am so glad I have no idea what any of this meant. You kids are nuts.
I couldn't do Halloween due to a six day bout of insomnia, unfortunately.
Boston, MA

16:25 - Sunday, June third


Abigail ran her fingers back through her hair, sweeping the cinnamon locks back out of her face. She briefly though about hunting down a hair tie, but the last one she had seen was supposed to be in front of her on her desk, and it certainly wasn't there now. She sighed, and glanced back at the file Constance had prepped.

Most of the photos showed a fairly decently kept suburban home, certainly lived in. The exterior had a little bit of overgrowth and some fading or chipped paint, but otherwise looked good. The inside was annoyingly bright-coloured, decorated by either an eighty year old grandmother or a cat lady, either one of which had an obsession with cows. Two floors and a basement, everything neat and in order. Nothing in the photos gave her any sense of a haunting, but normal cameras stood no chance of picking up most spirits except in rare circumstances, and these looked more like real estate pictures than anything else.

She set the photos aside and scanned over the report, in Courtney's neat, tight script. Eileen Booker, her husband Frank, and their two kids Mike and Bobby, had been living in the house with no problems for almost a year. After a remodel of the kitchen, however, they began noticing unusual things. Items not where they were left, Doors opening on their own, faucets running when no one had used them that day. Standard stuff. Bobby, six, had reportedly seen someone moving about on the second floor in a hurry, but never gave a good description.

They had been informed of her rates, and were happy to pay, considering they had had two amateur teams and a priest come through with no success. The priest had been unable to find anything, so had done what Abigail called a “general rinsing”, not targeted at anything specific and usually ineffective against all but the most basic spirits. Cho Investigations, however, was not an amateur group. Several major landmarks had confirmed her work, a slew of people were pleased to have been “confirmed” haunted for tourist income. Those places had had to pay extra, since she would prefer helping spirits out, but the owners had insisted she leave them there, even after she had explained the dangers of doing so.

At any rate, the Bookers had agreed to her five hundred a day plus travel costs. Given the very basic sounding nature of this job, she'd only need to bring Brett for camera work and Therese for keeping the civilians out of her way. And cash was cash. Courtney knew enough about heir work to know not to pass duds onto her desk. Every case had to go through at least one local team's efforts after calling CI. If the locals couldn't deal with it, then it was brought to Abigail's attention and she figured out how to proceed. This was a new process, put in place after several weeks last year had been wasted on investigating nothing except duds. Generally those were either over-excitable housewives or people who wanted to be “famous”. They were usually disappointed to find out that CI didn't participate in the television programs, and only recorded events for their own liability insurance and as a record.

The phone in the main office rang, and as always Courtney answered it before it had a chance to do it a second time. The office itself was the first floor of Courtney's house, which had been inherited from her grandmother. Situated in Dorchester, not but a block from a police station, it was a decent location. They definitely benefited from being able to point crazies towards the cops, and they were hardly ever vandalised. They both lived on the second floor, where the kitchen was. Courtney had rented the third floor cheap to some college kids, who occasionally poked their heads in but otherwise left Abigail alone, which was fine with her.

While she was musing, Courtney came through the door into her office, with an unusually hurried pace. Abigail could feel a lot of tension, worry, and a vague sense of fear coming off of her.

“What's up, Courtney?” she asked. Courtney knew she'd already have picked up on the mood.

“That house, the one in the file?” Courtney shook her head. “I was doing some background on it. We can't take that job, Abigail.”

The psychic sat up a little straighter and cocked her eyebrow. “Why? What's wrong with it?”

“The county library there just rang me to give me their report. It was built in 1880, and was torn down and rebuilt in the Twenties after the police found...Well, it sounds like they've got at least a few murders, and maybe more that were sacrifices. Last three owners just packed up and left after a year and a half each. Like, to the day, eighteen months.”

Abigail pursed her lips. Demonic possession was no joke. Last time she had tried to deal with it, Brett had been hospitalised for three weeks and it had taken the local priests and the sheriff to keep her and the victim contained.

“Are we sure it's demonic? It could just be a wraith.”

Courtney shrugged. “It's possible, I guess, but I don't like thinking about you guys heading into a demon thing again. Also, they said they've been there what, thirteen months? Things are probably just starting. Your call, though, Abigail. You're the one that actually deals with them.”

“I appreciate the concern, Courtney. But that sounds like a place that needs to be dealt with. Call up the team and tell them we're headed to Tennessee.”




Just outside of Fayetteville, TN

08:30 – Wednesday, June sixth


Abigail stared bleakly over her steaming cup of shitty diner coffee at the local priest, Father Evans. If she looked as bad as she felt, it was almost as bad as he did. Neither of them seemed to want to move much, and every attempt at eating the greasy breakfast in front of them elicited winces. The rest of the team had already taken off, save Courtney, who was finishing up with the local PD. There were moments of the last few days that Abigail wished she could forget, notably the keening, inhuman screams from a boy no older than ten, but she had to admit, it had finally been a win.

“So,”, said Father Evans, in his thin, reedy voice. The man looked to be only around sixty, though it was hard to tell through the strain and weariness of this morning. “This is what a real psychic does?”

“Mmm,” she shook her head and swallowed a mouthful of coffee. “This was way more intense than usual. And I don't call myself that. Medium's probably a better term, though I'm a psychic too, in some aspects.”

“Well,” the older man stared into his eggs, deep in thought. It took him several moments to piece together what he meant to say. Abigail was willing to grnt him the time, taking the opportunity to get more of the burnt caffeinated rink down her gullet.

“I have to report to the archdiocese. Of course.” He shook his own head at the thought. “I'm not a licensed exorcist, so I don't know what they'll make of my testimony. But you'll be coming out of this glowing in the church's eye if I can help it.” He stared her in the eyes, his a clear hazel. “I don't think I could have saved that boy alone.”

“I don't think I could've either, Father. To be honest, I'm still not sure exactly how we managed it.” She set down her coffee, and tried a bite of bacon. Far too crispy, but the salt helped. “I know my team is taking a month vacation afte this one. I don't know if I'll ever shake this headache.”

“Well, in this parish, at least, you're welcome any time. Let me or Sister Robinson know if there's anything you need before you leave, we'll be more than happy to provide.” He gestured at her with his fork. “I know the family would like to thank you before you take off.”

Abigail shook her head emphatically. “I appreciate it. They can pass on the thanks to C, if they want. I can't handle that sort of emotional feedback right now.”

“You know...”

Abigail winced, and her tone became slightly more 'polite.' “I know, Father, because I've heard it before and I can feel it coming from you. 'God gave me a great gift and I could do more with the proper organisation.' I've heard it before. While I appreciate your position, and logically might even agree with you? I will never work directly for the church.”

“Ah well.” The priest threw up his hands playfully and looked towards the ceiling. “In this one you put a lot of pride, eh, Lord?” He chuckled, and picked at his eggs a bit.

“You do the Lord's work, even if you won't accept our help, Abigail. I will keep you in my prayers from now until my time is done.”




Boston, MA

02:34, Thursday June 28th


No one else was home, which left Abigail in a right mess, as they had also left several bottles of whiskey in the cabinet and she was having one of her 'bad nights'. She sat, her arms splayed out, most of her torso spread along the card table in the kitchen. She knew she was drunk, possibly the most drunk she had ever been. It was hard to tell. Attempting to move sent a bottle crashing to the floor, but the sound of breaking glass only barely registered in her ears. All she could really hear was the emotions and surface thoughts of most of Boston, echoing around her head like she was standing in an arena packed to five times its capacity. The whiskey was barely cutting the edge off, and she was too drunk to call Courtney and try to get something stronger.

The cacophony was driving her mad. It had been going on for more than two hours, now, and with no way to make it stop, she was beginning to have the bleeding effect, where she lost who she was in the noise, and just became a conduit for the crowd. She screamed incoherently and threw an empty bottle across the kitchen. However, instead of shattering, there was only the dull thunk of glass on flesh, and then a weirdly echoing giggle. All of the sounds ceased all at once, leaving Abigail stunned to see a young girl, maybe ten years old, leaning against her refrigerator. She was blonde, with a cherubic face, willowy limbs, and a bright blue sundress on. Abigail blinked several times, shaking her drunken head, but the image wouldn't leave, so she decided to tackle the problem head on.

“Yer not...Yer not normal. What happened? You need to be buried?” Abigail's words slurred significantly, and she wondered how much she had actually had.

The girl laughed, and the sound chimed off of the metal in the room. “No, silly,” she said, “I'm here to help you.”

“What d'you mean? Nobody can help me. Got nothing but the living and the dead runnin' around in my head.” She paused for a second. “Heh. That rhymed.”

“I'm here to help because you help so many others. My name is Hannelore. Some call me the Watcher.”

Abigail's head snapped to attention, and her eyes narrowed at the girl.l she had seen that name twice, ever, in her research. Hannelore was a psychopomp, perhaps the psychopomp whose presence mutated to help everyone deal with what they were seeing. The Grim Reaper, Cu'Sith, Nephthys, the Valkyrie. All were rumored to stem from Hannelore herself, and were considered, among those who were in the business, if not a part of her, then at least servants of hers. And apparently the ancient embodiment of death was standing here in her kitchen. Fixing herself tea, as it seemed.

The small girl took the seat across from her, and Abigail sat up, rubbing at her eyes.

“You've been having some problems, Abigail. Not a lot of people you can relate to, even among your close friends, hmm?” The little girl sipped her tea and kicked her feet back and forth.

“I mean, I guess?” Abigail was not prepared for this. “Why are you so interested? You're just the guide, not the guard.”

Hannelore laughed, and Abigail saw shadows dance and skip at the sound. “No, you're quite correct, I am only a guide. My reach doesn't fully extend here. But you,” the psychopomp gestured at the medium with her tea cup. Come to think of it, we don't have any tea cups. “You are one of the mortals who is of the greatest use and help to me, which is why I do not like seeing you in distress. Unfortunately, “ she sighed. “I cannot erase your gift. Not only is that beyond my power, but it is what makes you so useful. Instead, I can only offer you direction.”

Abigail's eybrow twitched up. “What do you mean, direction? Are you giving me a quest?”

“Nono, nothing like that. But here in the next month or so, the town of Lost Haven, Maine, will need your help. Several places will, actually, but that one is the one you can actually prevent more tragedy.”

“And the others?”

Hannelore fixed her with a dead stare, and Abigail felt the full weight of time and life in her guest's eyes. “There, you can only put them to rest.”

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Zengzhou, Hunan Province, China

13:12, local time


Nicky's head was buzzing with the effort of trying to remember everything Wang had taught her in the bus. Basic phrases like “hello” and “Can I get some lunch?” were about all she could handle, though her pronunciation was apparently pretty good for a white girl who started learning today. She brushed her hair back in the humid air and stared at the interior of the shop they had stopped at. Next door was apparently the house they were going to stay in, and also the home of the owner of this place. As far as she could tell, they sold things to wizards. There were all sorts of dried animal bits in glass jars, racks upon racks of dried herbs hanging from the ceiling, and a case of tiny boxes behind the counter she sat at.

However, she wasn't waiting on ancient Chinese medicine. She was waiting for the owner of the shop to finish forging her papers so she could legally travel in China. Apparently the guy had lots of experience with American passports, though she wasn't sure why. However, waiting as not Nicole's forte, and the smell of this place was beginning to get to her, as well as the jar of what looked like eyes staring at her. She climbed off the stool and wandered outside into the daylight.

Except for the style of some of the buildings, Zengzhou looked like any other city to her. She guessed that was what she had heard called globalisation, though she wasn't sure and didn't really care. At the moment, the street she was on was a tiny side street, more like an alley than anything else. Across the way was apparently an apartment complex, with a grocery store on the ground floor. At least nothing looked glaringly neon like Beijing had when she had ridden through on the first night here. She felt a pang of guilt about running off from the Temple and Alex, but it wasn't really a place for her. Not that anywhere she had been since the Incident had felt like home.

She didn't notice the three men approaching her until they spoke. She shook her head, to signify that she couldn't understand.

“Ohhhh,” said the largest one, wearing a jean jacket and torn shirt. “American girl come to China, think no learn Chinese? Typical gwailo bitch!”

The baseball bat came from behind and slammed into the back of her head, knocking her torso forward. She straightened up and grinned. It hit again, this time her upper arm, and she turned to her assailant. Another two men behind her. They all looked like rough types. As the bat swung again she caught it cold and kicked the man in the crotch as hard as she could. His grip fell off of the bat and he crumpled, groaning. Another hit behind her, low on her back and small, a knife or something. She didn't bother flipping the bat around just spun and struck out with the handle. The man who had just tried to grab her arm from behind took it to the temple and dropped like a stone.

An arm wrapped around her neck and hauled backwards, and the two still in front of her both held what looked like needles, though one of them was missing the needle part now. He threw it away and said something in Mandarin, scowling at her. She whipped the bat behind her head and smashed it into her captors elbow, making him scream and let her go. She hurled herself forward into the other two and began swinging wildly. Several times she was hit, but since it had no effect, she didn't really bother to pay attention. All of them were yelling now, and then they scattered.

As she stood there, roaring her defiance, the old man from the shop stepped up and patted her on the shoulder. She jerked, then looked at him. He gave her a smile.

“It is good you fought them off, or else you would have ended up kidnapped and sold to some opium den and no one would ever see you again.”

”Holy shit, that actually happens?”

His smile faded, and the look of pain in his eyes was intense enough that even Nicole noticed. “Yes. All too often, I am afraid. Even worse along the coast.” He sighed, then straightened up and smiled again. “Come, young girl. Your papers have been prepared, and you are now a legal traveller in China!”
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