A smile that wasn't quite appologetic spread across the man's face from ear to ear. "For the moment that's confidential, miss; suffice it to say that they've taken an interest in you. With luck, you may be meeting them shortly..."
And without further explanation, the man tipped his hat and walked away, quickly rounding a corner and vanishing from sight.
"I wouldn't do that, were I you," the ebon bellhop cautioned Regg. "What lies within that envelope is for your eyes alone, and no others'; wait until the day is done."
edited 17th Mar '11 2:42:19 PM by SullenFrog
The Danse Macabre Codex
Alicia Grey wiped the sweat from her brow as she gazed upon the digsite. It was, to the layman, nothing more than a pit in the ground with sticks layed over it, but for any archeologist or archeology student it was a treasure trove; not just for artefacts but for knowledge, of the ancient people who had once labored over this patch of earth, leaving traces of their existence behind. Alicia stopped for a moment, looking down upon her newest find. It was a small statue; crudely sculpted from a piece marble but undoubtedly shaped like a woman with the head of a cat; a statue that Alicia immediately realized was the goddess Bastet. As she gazed at it, she felt an odd sensation wash over her, dissipating almost as soon as she realized it was even there. Exactly what it was, she couldn't tell. Somewhat unnerved by it, she filed the statue away as soon as she could and retired to the shelter of the digsite tent with a cold glass of water.
Nightfury
Once he was finished with his cerial Mokrus put his bowl in his dirty sink and thought about what he could do. After ten minuits Mokrus decided to go to the local park, using his last bit of his remaining sleep energy. When he got there he went to the basketball court. Finding that there was already five people there he asked if he could join in on the game. The people excepted. Mokrus went on the team that had two players, and the match begun...
Twenty minuits later the match finished, the score was 20 to Mokrus' team, and 23 to the other one. With the dissapointment of failure, Mokrus walked to the local tea store intending to leave befor the waitress/waiter asked for the money. He drank his tea quickly then left. He walked down the path looking for amusement...
"Nightfury! Run for your lives!" - How to train your dragon.
It was high time Charlotte should be in class. Naturally, she was currently sitting in the bike shelter, finishing off her cigarette. She had no idea why she'd picked up the habit. She was well aware of the health risks, and there weren't any "cool kids" that did it either (even if there were, she'd have seen this as an incentive not to smoke). Maybe she just thought it fit her image? Or maybe...
She flicked her lighter a few times, dreamily gazing at the tiny flame erupting from it with every click. Click-click. Click-click. The little sparks danced around slowly before finding their lives extinguished by a passing breeze. Click-click. Click-click. Again, the embers quickly died out. Click-click. Click-click. She cupped a hand around the flame, and basked in it's warm glow, the gentle swaying motion almost hypnotic to her. Maybe that's why she did it. Maybe she just wanted an excuse for this.
She sighed loudly, leaning against the wall as she exhaled a final puff of smoke, dropping the cigarette end on the ground and stamping on it. Another boring day in my boring life in this boring town on this boring planet... Ugh. Shoulders drooping, she slowly left the shelter and shuffled off vaguely in the direction of class.
—Again, Regg was compelled, this time to stop. ''What the hell, it's an hour before class starts, anyway."—
"Yeah yeah, info confidentiality. Hey, who're you working for?"
A few other people were in the tent, mostly fellow students and the odd professor; one of them was seated at a table, examining the contents of a mail bag with a frown. When Alicia walked in, he glanced up, a stern but somewhat perplexed expression on his face.
"Miss Grey, could you come here for a moment?" he inquired. "It seems that a most unusual letter came today."
In his hand, the professor held a curious black envelope with the name Alicia Grey written on it in a flowing white script.
The bellhop smiled. "Regrettably, Mister Georges, that is also classified. With luck, however, you may meet them soon..."
And with that, he tipped his hat to Regg and turned around to leave.
The Danse Macabre Codex
Alicia took the letter, sat back down in the folding canvas chair, and opened it. The letter didn't seem like anything she'd ever recieved; hell, even her parents communicated with her via e-mail these days.
—Reginald stared after the black clad porter, then looked at the envelope.—
"Yeah, that's Totally not suspicious. Hmm. Doesn't smell like anything but paper..."
—The junior wandered off towards the campus library.—
Another one of the black-dressed men seemed to have materialized out of nowhere, conveniently interrupting the boy who had questioned Ari's presence. Even though she ran a great risk of facing such questions again if she followed the boy with the envelope away, she found she couldn't resist. Hustling over the him, she tapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Sorry to bother you, I wanted to get another look at that... are you planning on opening it, here?"
How can you be in two places at once when you're not anywhere at all?
—Regg cocked an eyebrow.—
"You wouldn't happen to know anything about these people, would you?"
—The grove near the library feels like a quiet enough spot.—
"I do not, but I would really like to know." Ari tapped the envelope Regg was holding. "Mind if I take a look after you do?"
edited 17th Mar '11 3:25:12 PM by SOCR
How can you be in two places at once when you're not anywhere at all?
Cogito Ergo Sum
As Carden walked along the sidewalk, he'd hear a motorcycle pulling along side him. The rider stopped and called out to him
"Hoy! You with the beard! You look like a man who knows where the good beer is!"
Pretend there's something clever written here.
"Miss Whitnall?" a voice inquired from somewhere behind Charlotte. "I've a letter for you..."
Standing behind the teenage girl was a smiling, thin man in a black bellhop's uniform. He held a black envelope within the palm of a leather-gloved hand, and as he held it out to her the white letters which spelled out her name seemed to flicker briefly with an inner flame.
Elsewhere, a similar man approached Gareth as the young delinquent left the supermarket. "Mister Hill, I've a letter for you..."
In another part of town, a leather-clad finger tapped Mokrus on his shoulder. "Mister Kling?"
Midway to the college gym, a man in black bumped into Carden with a grunt and continued on without appologizing. So brief was the encounter that it was almost impossible to notice that the bellhop had slipped something into the big man's pocket as he went past...
"And so, class," the teacher droned, "as you can see; through the inviolable laws of biology, we can deduce that the lungs do not, in fact, produce new blood cells..."
Will sighed, resting his chin on the palm of one hand as he struggled to stay awake. Even without the lack of rest, listening to that man talk could easily put even the most alert and attentive student to sleep. Worse, he was babbling about stuff that wasn't part of the course curriculum; their professor was simply running his mouth to waste time.
Will needed something, anything, to alleviate the boredom. And that's when he noticed an odd, itching sensation coming from the general area of his hip.
The young man frowned; he hadn't stuck anything in his pockets before leaving this morning. Will reached down with one hand, trying to determine what it was by touch, and his eyes widened slightly as he felt the unmistakable smooth surface of an envelope.
Now, how did that get there?
The Danse Macabre Codex
Jamie quickly made her way to her Humanities class and sat down in her seat silently. She barely managed to make it in on time before the class began. It was always fun in this class because the teacher had a sense of humor and their assignments were usually to watch a movie of some sort as homework.
「MENACING」
"Hey, spare some change?"
A small voice spoke up from near Gareth, the location of the sound being what had appeared to be a pile of rags between two buildings. Shifting slightly, the shape of a boy, young but probably past the grade school age, looked over at him. He looked ill- pale, greenish skin and slight bags under his eyes, and his voice was slightly thin.
"I swear I had nothing to do wi-" Charlotte began, before realising the man wasn't a member of staff. She'd learned to recognise them all perfectly by now, seeing how much detention she'd spent with them all in the past.
"Um... Okay then..." She cautiously took the letter. She wasn't entirely sure whether she could trust this man. Something about him just didn't seem right at all. Probably the outfit being really out of place, she guessed.
She gazed at her own name for a moment, entranced by the flickering lettering. It helped ease her agitation a little, and soon she found herself slipping her finger under the flap to open the envelope.
Aww, son of a bitch
Stephan climbed down the roof to chase after the thief. However, he quickly became lost. He never did have a good sense of direction. He came across a bearded man. "Hey, have you seen a kid run by here with a bowl of cereal?"
"You have more than enough potential. So tell me what is the one wish that would make your soul gem shine." -Mitt Romney, probably
—Regg looked at the woman, then at the envelope, then back.—
"Okay, if it means so much... But I need to know your name first."
—Black out anything official once I'm done? Yeah, that ought to work.—
Aricrethiel blinked a couple times. Stupid questions. "Ari," she responded after some time and thought. "And before you ask for a last name, I wish I knew myself." She made a rolling gesture with her hands. "Well, open it?"
How can you be in two places at once when you're not anywhere at all?
"You might want to do that in private, Miss Whitnall," the man cautioned. "Who knows what might be watching."
And with that, he turned around, rounded a bend and was gone.
Will slid the envelope from his pocket and brought it up so that he could examine it. Now, that was incredibly weird; who would go to the trouble of sticking such a fancy envelope in his pocket, and one with his name engraved on it in such an elaborate script, no less? He would have to take a look at this thing, and soon; his curiosity demanded satisfaction, and it would not wait.
Fortunately the bell rang at that moment, signalling the end of the period. Breathing a sigh of relief, Will packed up his things and slid the letter back into his pocket; the sooner he was out of that clasroom and away from his rambling, droning teacher, the better.
He made for the school library, a fairly large place with countless books spread out through several floors. It was all but empty, which was good; he wouldn't have to worry about having his privacy violated while he read the contents of that curious envelope.
The young man slid into a comfortable chair by a window and sat down, holding the envelope up to the light as he examined it with a critical eye. It was strange; the sunlight played across those white cursive letters in the most intriguing fashion, making it seem as though they rippled like water. Unable to rein in his curiosity any longer, he slid a small ruler under the envelope's flap and slit it open, then reached inside and pulled out its contents.
It was a simple letter, carefully folded and filled with text written in the same flowing script; a small black card, plastic it seemed, lay nestled at its heart, and Will was somewhat disappointed to find that nothing was written on the card. Turning his attention to the letter itself, he began to read:
To the bearer of this letter,
No doubt you are wondering what you have done to receive this. Why has your name been written on this black envelope, you may ask, and what does it contain to merit such distinctive packaging? Who was that man that delivered it to you, and who does he work for? Why have you been having strange dreams of late, dreams that wake you up in a cold sweat and leave you confused and disoriented?
The answers to all of these questions, and more, can be answered in short order; they may seem separate issues, but in fact they are more interconnected than you could realize, and share between them a common solution. One need merely come to the address written on the enclosed business card at the time specified, and all will be made clear; arrangements have been made to ensure that your schedules are free of conflict at this time, that you might not miss our appointment.
We look forward to seeing you this night, and wish you well.
Sincerely,
The Maharaja
For a long moment, Will stared silently at the letter. Then his face creased into a frown, and the young man summarized his opinion of its contents in three simple words.
"What. The. Fuck?"
edited 17th Mar '11 4:11:13 PM by SullenFrog
The Danse Macabre Codex
-Upon reading the letter he found in his backpack, Leo reads it again, then glances around to make sure this isn't a particularly inept joke. Then he rereads it, trying to make sense of who wrote and more importantly how they know...-
Did Nothing Wrong
Carden turned his head at the sound of Stephan's voice, and fixed him with a nonplussed sort of look. After a moment's thought he answered simply "No.", and carried on along his way undaunted and wondering if he'd suddenly become a magnet for the retarded. Weird and stupid things had been happening to him more and more as of late, like the grass growing over his boots and the endless stream of leaves getting caught in his beard, and the kid's question hadn't exactly been a conventional one.
His musings were swiftly interrupted by the sound of the motorcycle pulling up behind him, and another random question to add to his collection of weird shit. Carden groaned before turning around. Something had to be attracting them. Maybe it was something he'd eaten or something...
His fears of more awkward retardation were put to rest by the rather burly biker man's appearance, however. This man was obviously pretty weird, but on the tolerable side of weird. He looked like the kind of person who could start a bar fight just by walking into a room, and that was a quality Carden happened to like. In short, he looked like he might be fun.
Henceforth, Carden was a little more inclined to actually be helpful than just brush him off. Besides, he could always use more drinking buddies.
"Place you're looking for's called Ripper's Head, man." He replied, casually pointing down the road and gesturing for the corner and pulling another small leave out of his beard with his other hand. Fucking leaves. "It's around the next corner, then follow the road for 'bout... three hundred yards or so. Little black building with the weird windows. You'll know it when you see it."
edited 17th Mar '11 4:27:00 PM by TheMalignancy
—Reginald blinked.—
"Please? No. I'm going somewhere I can open this thing in private. You can wait until I'm done, I think. By the way, m'name's Regg, short for Reginald. See ya in a bit."
—With that, he walks off towards the library, and then past it, towards the grove of old trees...
It was a quiet place, birdcries excepting. He liked coming here these past few months. Nice place to be left alone.
The oldest thing there was a crusted old chestnut tree, the nuts of which were still green.—
"Here goes nothing."
—Regg opened up the letter...—
Ari walked after Reginald for several feet, but slowed to a stop. "God," she huffed, and squeezed her eyes shut when the word inexplicably recalled an image of the blinding voice from her dreams, "Can't rely on anybody these days..."
She opened her eyes again, and saw that her aborted attempt at following Reg led her to an external entrance to the campus library. She opened the door and shouldered inside, making sure to close it quietly. She loved libraries, it was like she could feel the wisdom seeping out of the hundreds of book they stored. And they were, mostly, such nice and orderly places.
She was casually strolling down the isles when her eyes caught sight of a boy sitting at a table by a window. In his hands was a note, and lying beside him was another of those black envelopes. Ari's eyes widened in shock, and she hustled over as fast as she could without breaking into a run.
She made it to the table and perched her arms on a chair opposite of the boy. Putting her weight on the back of the chair she leaned forward, enough to make her curiosity obvious, but not enough to actually see what the letter says. She didn't even bother with introduction, the first word out of her mouth being, "So?!"
edited 17th Mar '11 4:37:04 PM by SOCR
How can you be in two places at once when you're not anywhere at all?
-Rebecca took a moment to compute the words. She extended a shaky hand and took the envelope-
"Th-thank you."
-Her eyes were bewildered and slightly afraid. Who was this man and where had he come from?-
"Sorry, who are your employers?"
"One thing, though- apparently the eldest goat is the bastard child of Muhammad Ali and the Hulk." ~ Exelixi, on The Three Billy Goats Gruff.