Devils of Mortechaîne: A Mystery

"Um... It's 'Miss'... I'm not married... And don't worry about pay..." She seemed to have the confidence of a bump of paint on the wall.

The door opened, and in came a blonde man wearing glasses of about forty years, clearly the doctor by the looks of his clothes. Beside him were a dark-haired little boy of about twelve that seemed to have a slight limp and a taller, older man.

"Oh! Dr. Carson! And Da- er, Mayor Reynolds..." Claudia... exclaimed?

It took a good few seconds before he was able turn away from the doodling and notice the boy. "Huh? Oh, that; don't get too worked up about it, kid. This isn't exactly a good situation for any of us. I'd actually be surprised if you *weren't* jumpy.

The girl that no one had paid any attention to thus far merely sat on the bed.

Sebastian was a bit distracted in his music, so much so that he was tapping his foot and quietly singing along to the song. "Up ahead in the distance... I saw a shimmering light... My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim... I had to stop for the night..." He was noticeably calmer, if a bit distracted.

edited 8th May '11 5:41:39 PM by InfiniteParagon

Alex noticed the doctor and looked at him curiously before noticing the boy at his side. Alex couldn't help but feel uneasiness in the air. He looked at the doctor before saying, "Doctor, do you have any idea what the HELL is going on?" Noticing his rudeness he said, "Sorry, jumpy. Thanks for saving me, but do you know what is going on?"

"I'm afraid not," the Dr. Carson replied, "I was just about to ask you all what you were doing in those woods... They're pretty dangerous, myths or not."

The boy with the slight limp seemed a bit interested in these people, and decided to try talking to the brown-haired girl who seemed to be hiding out. He had always heard stories about the woods, and wanted to ask the people found there questions. He went over to her and asked, "Did mean ghosts take you there?"

"You're kidding me right...I wake up one morning and now I've walked into an episode of the X-files, lucky me." Alex says, overhearing the boy. "Ghosts, a small town clinic, woods. What's next zombies?"

Alex looks at the others that are still asleep, he notices one is awake. He walks over to her and says, "Hello."

edited 8th May '11 5:44:14 PM by Duckymanfair

Daisy smiled at him. "Of course it's wasn't ghosts! There's no such thing!"

Their nurse was the major's daughter, Daisy noted. So if the people here were behind all this, the nurse was likely in on it.

"But where are my manner's? My name's Daisy. What's yours?"

"You don't believe in ghosts?" Alex asked the girl. "Well then you clearly think that some human did this, don't you? You don't think that something slightly paranormal may be going on here, with us all being asleep for the same amount of time?" Alex believed in ghosts, bigfoot, aliens, and shadow people, he explains much with them.

Turning to the boy Alex says, "Hello little boy, what's up?"

edited 8th May '11 5:50:33 PM by Duckymanfair

Ryan tipped up his hat, having overheard their conversation. "'Whenever you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains possible, is the truth.' Sherlock Holmes, sorta." He never could remember that line correctly. "At this point, ghosts and anything else not firmly in the realm of reality is out of the question, as far we know. To start things out, we need to assume that the culprit is of completely human design. The questions though, are 'how?', and 'why?'..."

edited 8th May '11 6:02:22 PM by kkhohoho

"Well, my name's Zaine," The boy answered Daisy, "And... Well... Ghosts are real! They keep seeing one of the forest!"

"Zaine..." The doctor started, "That's probably superstitious individuals assuming things again."

The Mayor Reynolds interjected, "Oh, if I may interrupt, Eric... And... everyone..." he started, "I'm... Afraid I have more bad news, as it were..."

edited 8th May '11 6:07:09 PM by Motree

"What news?" Alex asks, fear rising in his voice.

edited 8th May '11 6:09:56 PM by Duckymanfair

Bad news; that couldn't could be good... "Well then, give us the news chief." He then glanced toward the 'butler'. "That is, if you would be so kind..."

Sebastian opened his eyes to see there were more people in the room. "Oh, i'm terribly sorry! I didn't see you enter. My name is Sebastian Clearwater, a pleasure to make all of your acquaintances.", he told them, bowing deeply.

Be back in an hour.

edited 8th May '11 6:13:39 PM by InfiniteParagon

"Yes, quite," the mayor responded, "Well... We'd been having some horrible weather as of late. And, our little town here is smack in the center of Mortechaîne Valley, as it were... And I'm afraid that the damages from the rockslides caused by the weather has left the way out of town a bit impassable. On top of that, the nearest port town isn't allowing passengers onto boats due to some illness spreading around overseas and smugglers, as it were."

"In other words, they're stuck here." Doctor Carson said bluntly.

"As it were, yes."

Isaac rolled around, until finally he woke up in what looked like some fashion of a clinic. Where was he? He started to look at himself to see if anything was wrong with him.

"Illness?" Alex asked, his thoughts turning away from pleasantries. "Is there some kind of epidemic in the town." Alex could just feel the uneasiness in the room at this point, he could tell there was something wrong with the town.

"Thats horrible! But no matter, if we must stay, then stay we shall. I suppose i had better find a way to make myself useful..." Sebastian said, thinking.

He would hate to stay here without contributing somehow, but he wasn't sure what he could do. He was a cook, sure, but the meals he knew how to make might seem a bit odd if anyone were to ask for him to make some. I guess it really depends on what kind of food they eat, in the end. "Would you need a cook, by any chance?"

edited 8th May '11 6:39:17 PM by InfiniteParagon

"Yeah, that could be a problem. I'd also like to ask a question of my own; does this place have cellphone reception? If so, then maybe we could try to get some sort of help, or at least let the people we know, know what's up."

Despite the calm composition, Ryan knew the situation was grave. Too many questions without answers, too many problems... and too many contrivances and coincidences. How did this one nurse just happen to find them? Why were they all in that particular town at at this time? Why did they all wake up the exact same time, and why they were out for the same time as well? Why they did end up in a forest close to this specific town? Why why they all trapped like rats all of sudden? Why...

He put his hand to his forehead. "I need a freakin' drink".

edited 8th May '11 6:32:18 PM by kkhohoho

"Oh, no! No illness here!" The mayor reassured them, "At the connecting port. This isn't the port town... Heavens no, it's quite far off. And... I apologize, but I don't."

Claudia sheepishly cut in, "Well, um... Where will they be staying? They might not have money to pay the people working at the inn... And what if they're stuck here for a long time?..."

Dr. Carson answered the cellphone question, "If you want to head to the next town, sure. I'm sure you'll find reception there. The government's not wasting time building a cell tower here. Tourism industry's bombed and we're largely fending for ourselves."

edited 8th May '11 6:33:59 PM by Motree

Turning to the man commenting that he needed a drink, Sebastian said: "Alcohol isn't the answer, good sir. I fear for your life if you have taken up such an addictive hobby. Might i suggest music or something similar?"

Sorry for the confusion, fixed.

edited 8th May '11 6:35:37 PM by InfiniteParagon

Isaac got up and saw the group. He decided that they could have some answers. "Hello, and thank you for the hospitality, but where am I and who are you people?"

"That's good." Alex says, relieved that there isn't any immediate danger. "If it helps I can sleep outside, I wouldn't mind."

Of course Alex would rather sleep in a warm bed, but he didn't have any money. He was already freaked about how he was going to eat. Food took priority over lodging.

edited 8th May '11 6:41:14 PM by Duckymanfair

Claudia once again shyly explained the situation to the man who just woke up.

Zaine decided to cut in this time, "Dad? Didn't Uncle Engel say he'd be willing to let people stay at his place?"

The doctor looked at his son, "Yes, come to think of it."

(Before Isaac asked his question;)

"Huh? Heh, no, I'm no drinker; I only have one drink a day, and that's it; and *please* don't ask me why. I'm sure we all have our secrets, you know?"

It was true that he only had one drink and one cigarette a day, and anyone else would think this behavior peculiar. But Ryan felt he didn't need to explain this to anyone at the moment, nor did he want to...

edited 8th May '11 6:39:56 PM by kkhohoho