Waiting in the Shadows RP Thread

Fiona closed her office door, and locked it behind her. The halls of Wolverhampton Community High School were silent and empty- even a school so focused on after school clubs and activities such as this one was deserted on All Saint's Day. It was a half day for the busy school, and a rare moment of calm for its students among the demanding pace of WCHS.

Calm for the students. Not so much for Fiona, who'd spent the day catching up on grading and lesson plans. And though her work at school was done, her other work would begin soon....

She checked her watch. Ten seventeen pm. She had just over an hour and a half before her other job was necessary. Time to head home, get her equipment. Maybe heat up some leftovers. She needed to call her dad, too, but it was too late for that, he'd be at work by now. And as for after her work was done... well, that would depend on how well it went.

All Saint's Day... depressingly fitting a night for another to die. I wish things were like the old days... things were so much simpler then. She hefted her messenger bag, and began to walk, her leather shoes clicking on the stone floor. She stopped at the entrance of the school, adjusted her tie, and stepped out into the night.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Midnight approached slowly, and with it, another world.

"God damnit!"

Lawrence slammed his desk, knocking around his prescription medicine.

There has been more than enough stress in his life. With having to keep up with school, to having to deal with the death of his friends, while still remaining stoic for the crowd, to.....

"Adrian. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."

Lawrence once again fought to hold back his tears. He was expecting a visitor soon. He hadn't been so stressed with waiting for a doorbell since he last ordered that incredibly expensive autographed tennis racket. This seemed a bit more important, though. So many thoughts and memories were floating through his mind. This damn vertigo wasn't helping his predicament either.

Lawrence looked at the toppled over vertigo medicine. This damn stuff was expensive, and he would be damned if it helped him any. Lawrence hit the medicine off the desk, landing on the floor.

Lawrence considered stomping on the stuff, but was interrupted by the worst sound of his life.

A doorbell.

Jason wiped the dust off the family photo, and placed it back on the mantelpiece.

"They're going to find the monster who did this to you, dad."

He sat back down on the sofa. The whole house was quiet at that hour late at night, except for the television turned on to the news. Jason hated this part of the night more than any other. He would sit for hours watching the news, waiting for his father's killer to be caught on television, being brought to justice before the entire city. But that night never came. Not after days, and not after a whole week. Jason finally could wait no more. Tonight, he would find his dad's killer, no matter the cost. But he couldn't do it alone.

Jason withdrew a piece of paper from his pocket. A phone number and address was scrawled in ink on the paper, with the name "NERO" written in bold. Jason was a little surprised by the irony of it all. Nero Queen caught Jason in the act of pranking students at Wolverhampton multiple times. If Nero was Batman, then Jason was Joker. And now he was going to ask his supposed arch-enemy for help.

"Nero Queen. You're the only guy who can help me. I don't like you, and you really don't like me, but you're the only guy who can help me."

He crushed the paper in his hands, and put on his leather coat and his chains, which he didn't wear inside the house. He stared at the door, uncertain if he really should go outside.

"Do I really have to do this? Maybe the dragon can tell me...No, I'm not going back there ever again."

He continued waiting around, uncertain if he should do something or do nothing at all.

Nero sat in the office he was renting on Main Street and looked over his files once more. No visible injuries on the body and no signs of a struggle. No signs of forced entry either. The victims are laying face down with their arms folded over there chest and their eyes closed. The victims all died close to midnight so most were in their bed. No poison, no toxins.

Nero sighed and shook his head. He stood up and began pacing the room, contemplating the mystery in front of him. Nero had never found himself more lost then he had since he began investing Michael's death. No, that's not true. He was lost when his parents died. Nothing made any sense and it took a long time for him to find his way. Now though, right now Nero is not lost. Sure there are things that don't make any sense. The Dark World. The way these people died. That makes no sense at all, but right now he is surer of what to do than he has ever been. It is the job of a detective to discover the truth, the secrets that are hidden to people, and to protect people. Right now there are more secrets in front of him than ever before, and more people being killed with no way of protecting themselves. As a detective he has a purpose, and when you have a purpose you are never lost.

Nero sat down in his chair and began to reorganize his papers from the mess he made out of them.

"Let's go over everything I have figured out so far. One, I believe that the killer has some sort of connection my school, because I have been able to find a connection to the school for most of the victims. They either know someone who goes there, or they went there themselves. Two, the killings almost definitely have something to do with the Dark World. The victims are being killed in a manner that should be impossible around midnight, and the Dark World is something that should be impossible and happens around midnight. That can't be a coincidence."

Nero put his files back into their filing cabinet and resumed pacing the room.

"So the question remains, how do I go about figuring out what is happening? I investigate the Dark World. That place is the biggest mystery I ever come across. I also need to look into the first couple of deaths. There is a chance that whoever is doing this was sloppy for the first couple of killings, before he or she grew used to what he was doing. I doubt the killer left any evidence behind, but maybe someone saw them arguing beforehand or there is a more obvious connection between the killer and the first couple of victims. It's possible. The last thing I can think of is to investigate the school. I need to look into every member of the staff as well as all the students. I can probably rule people out if I am watching them when the Dark World begins and they don't join me in the Dark World. That will take a long time so, unless I get any leads, I start with the staff. Tomorrow morning, I will look into the principle and the first couple of victims."

He went over to his filing cabinet and pulled out the files on the first victim. He quickly memorized all the facts pertinent to the case. When he was finished, he put the file away and sat at his desk, waiting for the Dark World.

edited 8th Jul '12 10:21:19 AM by luckybreak91

Andrea walked down a narrow road as she went for her nightly walk. The Dark Time, as Andrea called it, was approaching she knew and she had her knife holstered at her back in case anything less than friendly decided to appear as well as a notebook with sketches and notes on the layout of the town under the influence of the Dark Time. She was ready for the oncoming hour. It was going to be another night where she focused on learning her "Persona" it was called while she explored. She didn't really want to go home either since the house felt odd without her mother.

That thought was pushed to the back of her mind. Sarah was gone and nothing Andrea could do would bring her back. She would move forward and make Sarah proud, that would be her parting gift.

Either way she was simply headed to a part of town she had yet to map. She had only been able to enter the Dark Time a few weeks ago. Andrea was still working on a theory of just how she became awakened to it but for now she was more interested in creating a simplistic map of the landmarks of the Dark Time's buildings. Once she had a map she could begin some kind of indepth research.

edited 8th Jul '12 12:33:27 PM by AuraofMildChaos

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Lawrence looked over to the door. His foster parent's always warned him about answering the door without looking through a window, or a slot, but Lawrence couldn't bear to do so.

He opened the door.

"Hey, Lawrence, uh, hi!" Greg, Lawrence's brother, muttered. It seemed neither of them was exactly happy about the situation. Lawrene made quickly to recover himself.

"Oh, hi Greg. Nice to finally see you. It's been... a while, huh?" "10 years, I think."

Greg was 2 years younger than Lawrence, which would be obvious if you compared their faces. Greg was, however, quite a bit larger than Lawrence.

"Well, Greg, come in, make yourself at home."

Greg walked in, examining the room, quietly closing the door behind him. Lawrence's room was quite interesting. His eyes darted to his prized trophy rack. Lawrence was quite the sportman, it seems.

"So, fencing and tennis, ey?" "Yes. The competitors spend too much time bothering with unimportant things to practice. It's usually quite easy to beat them."

Greg looked toward Lawrence's bed. There were no movie posters, or anything similar around. The place almost seemed to be a shrine to himself.

"Seen any movies lately?" "No, I don't bother with those. They peaked during the 1970's, I believe." "Huh."

Greg narrowed his eye's at Lawrence. Lawrence immediately tried to recover.

"So, how is your family, Greg?" Greg smiled a bit. "As happy as ever. Not nearly as rich as yours, though." "I could see a bit of Canada in your accent, actually."

They both shared a laugh. Neither of them really felt like laughing at the current moment, though. Even then, Greg suddently grew serious as he looked near the dresser.

"What happened over here?" Greg asked, pointing to the toppled medicine. "Oh, that." Lawrence said, with disdain. "That damn medicine isn't helping with my affliction at all. Probably making the darn thing worse."

As if on cue, Lawrence felt very dizzy, as if he might pass off. He noticed that his condition was slowly getting worse as his brother was near.

Lawrence stumbled across the room, attempting to reach the dresser. He was too weak however, and fell to the floor. Greg did not help him up.

"Brother!" Lawrence managed to push out.

"You." Greg began, "My brother."

Lawrence was struggling to stay awake. He was fighting desperately to not pass out, and losing.

Lawrence heard a sheathing.

"I remember now, Lawrence. I'm sorry."

Lawrence passed out.

Midnight. That familiar sensation washed over Fiona- a sudden stillness in the air, followed by an oppressive cold, setting your skin tingling. Fiona had been living through it for nearly a decade. There were times when she'd tried to ignore it. There were times when she was scared but eager. These days, it was almost like an old friend. Not the sort of thing she wanted to admit, given the nature of the dark realm it heralded, but at least she knew what to do in here.

Fiona opened her front door, and stepped outside. The hall of her apartment complex was lit with a faint green light that seemed to be coming from the very air itself, and the shadows it cast twisted and danced gently. The woman considered them for a moment, and then reached into her satchel, and withdrew from it a pair of gauntlets with sharp, knife-like claws for fingers. She pulled them onto her hands, and then closed her apartment door carefully, and headed out into the wide world.

Other Wolverhampton- or at least, that's what she called it- was not the worst place she had seen, but it was hardly pleasant. A thin fog covered the ground, not enough to make it impossible to see, but enough to veil the horizon quite effectively. The street lamps and lights of the buildings were all out, and the only sources of light were the odd, everpresent green light, the crescent moon, looming massive and yellow in the sky, and the stars, arranged in patterns that, Fiona knew, were unique to this world. There was no Orion or North Star to be seen here. It was entirely its own map of stars.

Davis Melbrooke... is my target tonight. She reached toward her chest, and held the silver cross necklace that dangled there gently. I hope wherever what I'm about to do to you sends you... God is there for you, to grant you peace. She let go of the necklace, and began to march through the twisted world and the mist.

The monsters known as Shadows, intelligent as they were, skittered at her passing, watching her go but keeping their distance. They were aggressive, certainly, but they also had self-preservation instincts, and they knew the difference between the kids with their artificial Persona running around, and this eight year veteran with a real and powerful Persona. It was hard to say if she had a reputation or not- who knows if these beasts communicate, share information- but in any case, their intimidation was obvious. It was just as well to Fiona- she had no love of Shadows, but time spent fighting them was, to her, time wasted. Like picking the leaves off of a tree to kill it. She'd rather go for the roots.

She stopped in front of the house she was looking for. 1134 Lancaster Avenue. The next stop on her crusade. She closed her eyes for a moment, and then reached for the door.

At five minutes to midnight Nero began to prepare himself. He finished off the cup of tea he was drinking and he put a energy bar in his back pocket. At 11:57 he opened up his closet door and pulled a small, portable first aid kit and a metal baseball bat. At 11:59 he left the building and began to walk toward his high school. At midnight the world changed.

The world took on a green tinge, the stars in the sky changed, a light fog filled the air, and the electricity went out. Small pools of blood, puddles essentially, appeared randomly on the street. Monsters began to roam the city.

Nero found the Dark World unsettling to say the least. Aside from all the physical changes the world undergoes and the monsters that roam there is something very off about the place. It's almost like he can feel the world around him, like the places very essence is tangible.

In all honesty, while Nero finds this place disturbing, he also loves it. As a detective there is nothing Nero loves more than a mystery, and this place is the biggest mystery he has ever found. Everything about this place is fascinating to him. He even has a fun time fighting the monsters here, though he also finds it terrifying. It is especially bad when he runs into one of those invincible monsters. The ones were no matter how much you attack it nothing happens.

edited 12th Jul '12 7:05:52 PM by luckybreak91

Andrea felt the change as the Dark World usurped the real world. It was chilling change but one that ultimately got her excited. This world was unknown, a true frontier that had never been explored. She took a look at her rough map of the town under the influence of the Dark World. With a sigh she noticed she still had a long way to go before she was done.

She checked her knife to make sure it was still in place and scanned the area around her for the shadows. Thankfully none were in sight but she knew that fighting a shadow was extremely difficult. Regaining her sense of direction Andrea continued her walk toward a part of town she had yet to map.

She had to, in her mind at least, gain a firm understanding of the Dark World before she really attempted to dive into it. She could barely handle one or two shadows as it was and her Persona, as it called itself, was still a relative mystery. She could feel Athena's presence in a very abstract way and knew that she could call upon the power if it was needed and that helped put her latent worry at ease.

"What the heck happened!"

Lawrence was by himself. Where exactly he was, though, he wasn't sure. Lawrence looked around. He certainly wasn't in his room. Was that...blood on his suit?

"Oh god."

Lawrence was on a sidewalk, quite a few blocks away from his house. He recognized the area, but only vaguely. It seemed somehow...different. Lawrence couldn't exactly put his finger on it, really. He needs to get back there. "Someone must have broken in and attacked us both!" thought Lawrence.

As he began to lift himself off the ground he felt a searing pain go through his body. He was in too much pain.

"Help me!" Lawrence yelled. Hopefully somebody on this street would come to his aid.

"I've been attacked!"

"Help!"

Only silence replied. Lawrence checked his Rolex watch, the one bought for him on his 18th birthday to replace his old one.

12:10

Breathing came from near him. It certainly wasn't his own, though.

"Hello, help me, please!" Lawrence yelled out, with gusto.

The breathing grew heavier. Lawrence looked around as much as he could, but he spotted it.

Not him. Not her. It.

"What the hell are you! Get away from me!"

Whatever the hell it was was moving faster towards him. Lawrence would consider himself dreaming, but Lawrence never had nightmares. He also thought it was a bit of a clich-e thing to do in this sort of situation.

It grew closer.

"Stop! I have a gun! I'll shoot!"

Lawrence had no gun. It did not slow it's pace. It was within 10 feet of him.

"Get away you vile beast!"

It was almost touching him now, and whatever Lawrence could only assume was it's eyes stared directly into his. It shuffled a claw nearer to him.

"I said get away you bastard!"

Lawrence then heard a voice. It didn't come from the thing. It didn't seem to come from anywhere, actually. Just inside of his head, as if he said it. It seemed to be a women's voice, though.

"Persona. Go."

A blinding flash of light. The thing jumped back while Lawrence shielded his eyes. Something appeared in front of him. What the heck was that, a crow? It was as big as me!

"CAW-CAW, MOTHERFUCKER"

"What in the name of Zeus is going on-" Lawrence tried to exclaim, but was interrupted by an explosion.

Lawrence passed out for the second time this night.