I had an idea for a little experiment. Since the RPG has ended (at least for now) and we have such a talented team of writers here I thought it might be fun to create a group Halloween tale. I'm not going to lay down any real parameters or back story and just let the story take us there. So, add a little or a lot if you want. The only real stipulation is try to follow what is written down before you add anything. And if you find someone has written something at the same time as you, try and fix that depending on who posts first. I'll get us started and set the mood,....
:vampire
It was a dark and stormy Halloween night. Lightning flared and thunder crashed all around, providing an eerie glow to the dark cemetery as the tall man lifted the collar of his jacket. He made his way through the tombstones and grave markers all around him towards the dimly lit house beyond the field. As another burst of lightning flashed he used the brief light to examine the note he had received under his door earlier in the day.
"What was once lost can now be found. Beyond the trees you must cover much ground. Adventure awaits for those that dare. But for some, it may be more than they can bear." He read it aloud to himself as drops of rain hit the paper, streaking the dark ink. Again, he noted the address below the strange short poem-like words. The man was certainly intrigued as the flicker of a candle in a pumpkin nearby caught his eye. As he chuckled softly to himself he sped up his pace towards the strange, dark house ahead.
As the man neared the strange house ahead of him, he noticed a strange shadow falling from a tree close to the house. Something odd about the shape of that shadow, he thought to himself.
The man reached his destination and lifted his hand to knock on the door before him. But, before he could complete the action, the shadow to his left moved toward him and the door slowly began to creak open and a wrinkled, twisted hand reached out to him.
The air escaped from his lungs and his blood turned to ice. He stumbled back on the rain slicked step and fell back onto the path, the iPhone in his hip pocket shattering upon impact.
"Oh sir, are you injured?" The short, wrinkled man said as he tried to help the man sprawled on the ground up. As the taller man got to his feet, pieces of glass fell to the ground.
"Damn it! Why didn't I buy a Droid?!" He mumbled as he looked at the remains of the electronic device on the ground.
"Sir, do come in. You'll catch your death out here." The old man said with a sly grin as he showed the guest into the dimly lit house. As they walked inside a strong gust of wind blew the door shut behind them. As the new guest tried to shake the cold and rain off of his coat he watched as the old gentleman in the black suit lit a candle that provided slightly more illumination to the large entry room they now stood in. In the distance, what sounded like a cat screamed out.
"Yikes!" cried the taller man as he jumped with a start. "Oh, don't be alarmed, that's just Spock, my cat. He's been, rather fiesty of late" said the old man. "I am truly sorry your fanciful telephone was destroyed. It certainly was a pretty one" continued the old man.
"Thanks. Just bought the damned thing too. And of course, didn't get the insurance on it" grunted the taller man.
The old man led the way into the study where he directed the other to sit in front of a barely burning ember in the fireplace. As the old man sat across, he studied the younger man like one who studies a curious insect for the first time.
After a moment of uncomfortable silence, the old man settled back and began to speak.
"Mr. Blake, so good of you to come out on an evening such as this." The older man said as he grinned once again at the visitor.
"Well, your note intrigued me." Sam Blake said as he tried to get comfortable near the dwindling fire.
"Oh, it isn't my note that you refer to." The old man said as he rose quicker than one might think he could and tossed a large log into the fireplace. Sparks and ash flew up and soon the log caught fire.
"I don't understand. If you didn't send me this note, who did?" The younger man said as he rubbed his hands near the fire.
"All in due time, good sir. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other, um, duties to attend to." And with that the older man quickly exited the room and sealed the drawing room doors. A click was heard as Sam moved to the doors. He began to pound on the hard oak wood and shout loudly.
"Hey! Just a minute! Come back here! Why did you lock me in?!" Blake said as he continued to rap on the wooden door and tried to open it. So busy he was that he didn't hear a small panel open near him or the soft footsteps approach. But he did jump back when the slender, delicate hand appeared and grabbed his wrist.
"Argh!" the cry was involuntary and despite the circumstances, Sam was almost immediately embarrassed by his outburst. Surely he hadn't descended to a state of such basic, cliched reaction so quickly?
Reddening slightly but with his heart thumping in his chest to remind him of the reality of his circumstance, Sam turned slowly, looking down to find the owner of the hand, silent thus far.
The man staring back at Sam was slight of build. His eye's were sharp and bright and his hair cropped close, dusted salt and pepper. He regarded Sam with a level of detached bemusement, much like a spider contemplating it's prey. Sam could smell the stench of arrogance and hubris seeping through the man's gaze. He made him feel...small. He wore a black turtleneck....
Despite Sam's immediate dislike for this new resident of this...strange house, he couldn't help but feel that odd familiarity one often feels when meeting a distant relative for the first time.
When the oder man spoke, Sam flinched. That voice...it sounds so...
"Yes, I know Sam. You're not feeling...well, are you?"
At that, the contents of Sam's stomach reversed directions and exited his mouth at alarming speed. The last thing Sam saw before he blacked out was...
the man's boot coming right for his stomach.
Upon reawakening Sam found himself on the couch in a dingy living room. Looking all around him he saw old pictures of people long since passed. They almost looked alive and Sam could have almost sworn their eyes were following him. One picture stood out amongst the rest, it was a picture of an old tree. A tree with dead branches hanging around it like some sort of giant octopus. Almost swaying... It almost seemed like it had a lived a long life and then suddenly died, frozen in time...how could this picture affect him so, he could not figure out but he tried upon all tries to break the mystery in that short moment.
He couldn't figure out why it held his attention for so long. However, his attention was soon diverted....
by the girl he noticed passed out across the room from him. The sofa was turned away from him and only a small part of her head was visible. Sam got up slowly and walked across the dimly lit room towards her. He picked up a candlestick holder along the way and held his hand near the flame as he moved around the couch to get a better look at the other person in the room. He set the candle down on a nearby end table and sat on the edge of the sofa. The woman looked to be in her mid 30's and had long blond hair that covered a good deal of her face. Sam could see that she was breathing steadily and then noticed the cut on her forehead. He pulled out the clean handkerchief from his pocket and reached to dab at the wound that looked to still be bleeding slightly. As he pressed the white cloth to her head she sat up quickly and grabbed Sam's wrists and forced him back on the couch.
"Who are you? Why did you bring me here?!" She said, pinning him down with more force than Sam would have expected. Her long hair fell down and hit Sam's cheeks as she glared at him.
"Hey! Take it easy. I'm trapped here too. I was just trying to see if you were ok. That cut looks pretty deep." Sam said, trying to use his most disarming smile on the attractive woman holding him down.
"Why should I believe you?" She said, still keeping her weight on top of him.
"Um, look if I whacked you on the head would I be trying to fix your wound now? See, I got this weird note earlier today and,..."
"A note?! I got one too! Did it look like this?" The woman said as she reached with one hand and slipped a wrinkled note out of her blue jeans and handed it to Sam.
"Oh my god! It's the same as I got. I don't understand why,...." But Sam was cut off by the blood curdling scream they both heard in the distance. A few seconds after that, the door knob to the room started to turn.
And the door burst open all at once.
Stumbling blindly in came the short wrinkled man with an arm load of wood for the dyeing fire and a hysterical siamese cat wrapped around his head. Spock took one look at the two startled visitors and let go his prey and all but vanished out the open door.
Ah I see you two have met, smiled the old man now fixing his gaze on the woman.
A pity about your accident, he said almost to himself. Then added, you're safe now- his eyes darkened. The fire sprung to life as a gust of wind blew through the still open door revealing a collection of
oddly shaped metal boxes with blue lights blinking on and off rythmically. Sam began to move to get a better look at the devices, but was blocked by the old man, who moved with a speed not consistent with someone of advanced age.
"curiosity Sam...is not a wise thing here. You would do well to remember that!"
Sam was getting pissed.
"Why the cloak and dagger routine - what's so special about your collection of toys."
The older man's eyes narrowed. "These are more valuable than you know and very fragile. My associate would be quite incensed where they to be revealed before their time." The old man closed the foam lined case they rested in locking the clasps.
As he turned to replace the case back in the safe, Sam thought he could hear the him say "Bad luck about the Gizmodo story - no that won't happen again".
"Enough of this." the girl hesitated for a moment and continued "I deserve to know why I was summoned here" "And what's wrong with the lights in this place, don't you people have electricity"
"As you wish madam". The old man flipped a switch and the room was bathed in light. As soon as Sam's eyes adjusted he saw the framed "Think different" poster that concealed the newly secured wall safe.
"My name is Catherwood. You could say I'm a caretaker of sorts. I have something for both of you, if you will follow me." He unlocked the double doors across the room. and stepped through.
The room was immense in scale which perplexed same as it seemed much larger than the entire house appeared from the outside. Somehow this strange, black turtleneck wearing man had managed to put so much into such a small space. An engineering genius, Sam thought. The room was filled with other people, young and attractive, all wearing black turtlenecks as well. The vast room had an almost Zen like quality of open space filled brilliantly with various form of technology well beyond Sam's comprehension.
"This is where dreams are made....or nightmares if you fail accept our vision," the man said.
"And just exactly what vision would that BE" the girl asked.
"Well Colette, it's a bit hard to describe. It's better to understand...visually" said the old man. With that, he shepherded them to a small couch and directed them to sit. He then turned and announced "Everyone...everyone please, may I have your attention! Our guests have arrived and it is now time for us to begin". Sam and Colette looked at each other questioningly. As they turned back to face the gathered group, a large wooden door they had not noticed opened, and into the room stepped a rather tall slender man dressed exquisitely well. As he walked to the center of the room, all eyes were upon him. When he began to speak, the sound that came out of his mouth was very melodious. Then he shattered Sam and Colette's reality...
As the his head cleared, and eyes focused the last of the tall specter was gone like the morning mist in sunlight. His stomach twisted one last time and he wiped his eyes dry.
"Are you OK? She asked a tinge of frightened concern in her voice.
"Yeah, I've got to give up those gas station chili dogs." " I don't know what's in em, but I was in no mood for a hard sell from another store associate!" "Who would have guessed there was an Apple store right next door?" He grumbled."
"Glad your little diversion worked and we slipped out before signing a two year commitment with AT&T." She shuddered.
He looked around to see they where alone again in the dimly lit sitting room of the old house. The embers sputtered and popped as the fire once again died away.
Still, he was a little embarrassed that he had hurled twice that evening and quickly put the umbrella stand back in its place near the mantel.
"Well you had me scared Mr." She scolded him, her long blond hair pulled back as she looked at him from the settee."
He could see the bruise and angry red scrape on her forehead.
"What's the last thing you remember before waking up here?"
Now as curious about her as the reason for the note still folded in his pocket.
She held his handkerchief to her head and for a moment remembered the dark damp path up to the house and shadows passing before the windows.
"I heard voices in the house and footsteps approaching on the gravel drive." "I was frightened so I climbed a tree near the front walk." "I must have slipped."
He shook his head. "And you received the same riddle this afternoon?"
She nodded yes.
"But why tonight of all nights?" "What sort of evil game are they playing?" He mussed "During a height of a full moon and the anniversary of last ...