Graveyard
"Couldn't tell ya." He said with a shrug of his shoulders. "I'm not one of THOSE kinds of undead, sorry to tell ya." He offered her a sad smile. "Though I have been busier the past few days, and it's not the usual murder, so that might have something to do with it. If there's anything ya need, I'm easy to find in the phonebook." He offers her a grin this time, as if to reassure.
"I am nature's weapon. You are unfit to carry on your species, and I shall ensure that you do not do so!" - Charles Darwin, XCOM SniperGraveyard
"Call me Lucerna," Lucerna said, not exactly offering her hand, but not turning away either. "You can find us on Sunset Street if you know where to look, and how to look at it." She nodded farewell to the detective. "Kowalski, was it? Take care of yourself as well - you're lucky it was us and not some mundane cops."
edited 7th Feb '15 11:09:35 PM by RedSavant
It's been fun.The book Kurt picked up was a strange one... old indeed. The cover was made of rugged, old leather and the pages, judging by what he could see as it was closed, were yellow and unevenly cut. There was something strange about the book as well... Kurt upon seeing it couldn't help but to repress a shiver going down his spine. There was no identification and no title on the book... only the empty leather cover.
Kurt started as the book's appearance registered in his head. He instantly dropped it onto the book cart, unwilling to touch it much further. No need to get the skin burned off his hands again, after all. Using another pair of books to manipulate it, he flipped it over a few times, looking over the cover. This was...unfortunate. Well, it was fortunate that he'd found it, and not someone who had no concept of the magical world. It was unfortunate for him specifically that he found it, because a book like this could not bode well. Books with this sort of feeling didn't crop up very often, and he'd heard more than a few stories about the terrible things that could be in them.
....still, he was slightly curious. And being able to identify the book would be helpful for figuring out what to do with it. Against his better judgement, common sense, and in violation of what could be considered completely sane behavior, he used one of the two books he was holding to try and lever open the cover to see if there was any text written on the first page.
Volwick City Bank
Ash went about her business taking care of the withdrawal, all the while eyeing the little rat faery on the customer's shoulder. Giving back the identification and placing the $200 dollars, she continued. "Have a nice day. And please keep your pet under control next time." The second part was added with a fake smile and was added with a slightly lower level of voice.
As the book was opened, Kurt would be greeted with... empty pages. The first page of the book was completely empty... just yellow, old paper... or was it parchment?
However, if he were to let out a light sigh of relief, then perhaps it may be a bit too soon... as there, in the middle of the page suddenly manifested a single drop of ink. Seemingly swelling up from the page itself... and then it started to move. Drawing small lazy circles in the page, stretching into thin lines wiggling around the moving dot of ink. Then, as the dot moved to the edge of the first page... something funny happened. The wiggling lines seemed to latch to the edge of the page, sticking there... merely drawing upon the page as the dot tried to move away but more and more lines coming for it latched onto the edge of the page... until finally, quivering, the dot move away... and the page was moved by it. One page, passed. The dot looks a little bigger in the new page... the lines more numerous as they dance, stick to the edge of the page and then pull on it to pass the page. With every page they pass, the dot is a bit bigger... and the pages are being passed faster.
Dawn recoiled a bit when Christoph touched her on the head. She was reasonably freak out, and more than a little upset. She began murmuring. "D-Dead....I'm dead?....I-I'm a fucking zombie?...W-What the fuck is going on?!....How is this possible? Where am I? W-What about my family?!"
edited 8th Feb '15 3:24:48 PM by Saturn
Graveyard
"Hey hey, easy now." Cristoph said as he waved at her, trying to get her to look at him. "I'm Cristoph Kowalski, I work in conjunction with the VCPD as a detective, or a PI if you want to call it that. Yes you're dead, and I know it's a lot to take in, but I'm gonna help you get through this, alright, Dawn?"
"I am nature's weapon. You are unfit to carry on your species, and I shall ensure that you do not do so!" - Charles Darwin, XCOM SniperAt the local junior high, one could find a man fussing over his child, much to her annoyance. "Dad! Stop already, you're embarrassing me!" whined one Lucy Lash, pouting as her father rifled through her backpack.
"Just makin' sure you got everything, baby girl," replied her dad, one Charles Elliot Lash, known by most as C.E., "You know them teachers hate it when you forget your work." Ignoring his daughter's more colorful replies, he continued his search until at the bottom of the bag he found a smashed, wrinkled, and slightly torn algebra worksheet. "And what do ya know," he said as he pulled it out and handed it to her. "If I didn't check for it, this wouldn't have even made it to Ms. Cele's class."
Taking it, Lucy smoothed the paper out over her knee. "You don't know. Maybe I woulda been careful."
C.E. just laughed at that. "Baby girl, those the same damn history books they had when I was here. Those books don't give no fuck." Zipping up her backpack, he turned her around. "You got to hurry up and get to class baby girl. Give yo damn daddy a hug before you go", he said with a smile.
Lucy stepped close and the two shared a big hug. But before C.E. could stand, Lucy pulled on his arm. "You gotta hurry up and get to work. Now give yo damn daughter a kiss before you go." Smiling, he bent down and gave her a great big kiss on her forehead. Now with a smile on her face, she turned and took off running to beat the bell. "Love ya dad! See you when you get home!"
C.E. waved as she went "Love ya baby girl! Keep ya nose clean, ya hear!?" Seeing her dissappear into the school, he walked to his car and drove off. Now that Lucy was at school, he could start his running around. And the first order of business was a personal one. That flash of magic in the sky a while back bothered him a lot, and hearing the same worry from a few neighbors and associates helped push him into investigating a bit more in depth than just his usual overhearing rumors.
Pulling up to the church of one Sister Mary, C.E. parked and turned off the car before taking a look. He only knew of Mary and her church by reputation and a few idle looks, but as far as he knew, the kind of people she was said to help and speak to gave him a decent chance of at least finding somewhere to start. Well, there was that wizard in the phone book, but C.E. could vist him later today.
Besides, of the two, Sister Mary was least likely to be smoking crack, because "real" wizard or not that took some kind of balls to show off that most mortal men should not have.
Steading himself, C.E. exited his vehicle and, with a deep, calming breath, entered the church.
—-
Meanwhile, at the school, Lucy was on her phone (hiding it under her desk, of course) searching for Volwick's current "Weird Shit" hot spots. Now that her dad would be busy and not ready to ground her on the spot for thinking it, she could start checking out what was with that weird flash in the sky a while back. She had a decent feeling it had to be something with all the weird stuff she'd been noticing lately. And once school let out, she could start nosing around a bit more. At least, until dad got home.
edited 10th Feb '15 12:45:38 PM by GIG
Unfortunately for Kurt, using the indirect means of the books to try and close it wouldn't work even a little bit... the open cover of the book seemed right now as inflexible as stone and roughly as heavy... though his efforts as the pages passed and passed did provoke a reaction... namely, another dot manifesting upon the pages... forming small spirals around it until it formed a pastern that seemed akin to a demonic eye...
Then, Kurt may be startled as the ink making up the eye started to shift in color... from black to red and suddenly the paper upon which the eye was drawn was pushed a little bit... as if behind that page there really was an eye, pressing against the flimsy barrier of paper, trying hard to get closer to Kurt... to inspect him and glance on him.
Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit.
Kurt frantically tried to cover the book with his other books, looking around for anyone who could see this happening. Glancing behind him he noted a girl sitting on the floor behind him, back against a bookshelf and nose deep in a novel. Shit. He needed to get somewhere unseen, where the Crowd Effect hopefully wouldn't be an issue.
Somewhat frantically, he piled a few more books on top of the increasingly strange book to try and hide it from view, pulling the cart down the cooridor past the girl, hoping he didn't look suspicious or that she wouldn't have any reason to stop him.
Unfortunately for Kurt, things didn't go as well as expected... cause as he began moving the cart, passing the reading lady when the book didn't like being crammed underneath all those others. With a loud crash, somehow the book managed force itself upwards, making the pile crash... and the book to hit the floor. There Kurt could see the pages passing faster and faster... until finally, they hit the middle of the book.
Seeing that last page being flipped would give anyone seeing a light headache... for suddenly, where only pages should be... now there was an open maw, with row upon row of nasty, yellow, pointy teeth... a long tongue with a bloodred eye on the middle... and from the book a shrill scream came out... incredibly loud for those close by... but strangely enough, nobody a few meters away seemed to notice. The book started to bounce upon the floor... trying to move towards the closest person around. Renee.
The calm and lazy morning was getting to Mary, and without realizing it she began nodding off. The sound of the front door was enough to wake her back up though. "Coming!" She called out as she hurried to the church's main room to greet the guest. She stopped in front of the man, took a deep breath to compose herself, then offered a big smile. "Hello. I am sister Mary and allow me to welcome you to this humble church. Is there a way I can be of help to you?" As she looked over the large black man, her expression briefly changed to a puzzled look. "oh! You're a human." She looked thoughtful for a moment before returning to her initial big smile. "That's alright. There is no discrimination in this house of God. Just try not to make any of the others who come here nervous ok? Some of our worshipers here still aren't used to dealing with humans. Of course, let me know any of the others give you a hard time as well so I can have a word with them. Oh, sorry, there was something I could help you with right?"
How do you kill that which has no life?C.E.'s eyes widened at both the woman's appearance and her bluntness of the nature of her church. Though he knew they exist, he still hadn't run into any vampires he knew about of late, though with a look he could guess that this was probably his first one, judging by her teeth, skin and, God and momma forgive him for this, the fact she looked like she hadn't seen a good mirror in a while. Though, after initial shock wore off, he had a feeling she wasn't at all bad, so there probably wasn't anything to worry about from her. And besides, could do worse than having the first vampire you meet be a woman of God. And to the second thing...
"You don't need to worry 'bout me Sister Mary," C.E. said with a smile. "Where I come from, you learn quick to avoid makin' people nervous." After a moment of thought though, he continued. "About that though, do you think I could pull you aside and ask you some questions? Nothing too scary though, and I swear on the life of my momma and Jesus in his own house that I'm no cop, just a man who been noticing weirder than usual stuff lately," he asked, holding his hands up in a sign of what he hoped was nonhostility.
edited 11th Feb '15 1:46:54 AM by GIG
Volwick City Bank
Picking up his cash and card, Frank responded "Um right, thanks for the money."
The teller doesn't seem to be aware that most people in the bank wouldn't be able to see Connie but Frank thought mentioning that would annoy the woman even further.
Frank tried to pay attention to Connie to make sure she doesn't do anything to cause any further frustrations to Ash. Fortunately, the fairy stayed on good behaviour. They two then got into the car and took off to the market.
Car Ride
In the middle of the drive, when Frank stopped at a traffic light, Connie said "So, you never know who's supernatural huh?"
"Which is probably why you shouldn't be rude even when you think people can't see you" muttered Frank.
Connie replied "Hey, sometimes it gets boring hanging around you, I thought being off work would make the week more fun."
The wererat grumbled at the small rat's comment, he then glanced at a nearby library and had a smirk on his face. "Fun huh, would the library be a fun place?"
"Of course not, why-" Feeling the turn, Connie continued with another sentence "Oh come on!"
The car parked at the library car park and Connie let off a grumble similar to Frank's before. Not wanting to be alone in the car, Connie had no choice but to enter the dull library with Frank, climbing onto his shoulder. The two entered the library, currently unaware of the supernatural events in the same building.
Some people say I'm lazy. It's hard to disagree.Seeing the man's initial reaction, Mary couldn't help but feel she may have done something wrong. But upon seeing him relax her mind was at ease again. "I would be happy to help. Please, make your self comfortable." She led him to an empty bench and sat down. "Ofcourse, I must respect the privacy of my congregation. Somethings are told in the strictest confidence and, given the nature of the masquerade, there are many who wish to remain as anonymous as possible." She smiled before letting out a small yelp, realizing in her attempt to be welcoming she may have been too open about the nature of things to a human she didn't know. "Kya! Y-you are a member of the community correct? You know the hush-hush community? I mean, you wouldn't come here if you weren't...right?" She tried to keep her friendly smile, though her embarrassment shined through and she fiddled with her thumbs nervously.
edited 11th Feb '15 1:34:53 PM by ImmortalNeet
How do you kill that which has no life?C.E. laughed out loud at Mary's outburst. "Sister, I can promise you that it woulda taken some kind of balls to walk in here and ask about weird stuff and not be a part of that whole mess, forgive my language." He sat down on the bench and gave his introduction. "The name's C.E. Lash. I'm a certain kind of handyman, but I usually keep to the more regular side of things."
He drummed his fingers on his leg a moment before continuing. "Now, since we both be hangin' around that "community", I can ask you if you saw that whole magic mess in the sky a while back, and what you think of it, right?"
edited 11th Feb '15 3:12:32 PM by GIG
Renee - Local Library
Renee was initially too immersed in her graphic novel to notice the librarian pass by her. But then came the sudden crash of books nearby, followed by the loud and shrill scream. After the initial shock, Renee's first thought was Who the hell screeches in a library?!
Unfortunately for her, she soon got her answer. Turning her head to search for the source of the commotion, she spotted the rather odd sight of... what appeared to be a book mimic (she'd know, she's played RPGs) hopping towards her. There was about a full five seconds of confusion to what was happening before realizing whatever it was, those teeth didn't look friendly. Her eyes darted around and spotting a step stool
◊ nearby, Renee grabbed it and tried to stomp it on the killer tome.
edited 12th Feb '15 8:45:55 PM by Starbound2
Mary had let out a sigh of relief. "Its a pleasure to meet you Mr. Lash. Oh, yes. I do remember seeing that flash of light. It was right before I lock up. Its quite exciting and exhilarating isn't it? At the time I had thought perhaps some miracle had occurred, but little seems to have come from it. I am fuzzy on the details, but there is a rumor going around about wishes being granted from the light or something of the sort. But such rumors always seem to pop up every now and then. I remember a little while back crystal balls were all the rave because people thought they could win the lotto with them."
How do you kill that which has no life?C.E. clicked his tounge in thought. The wishes thing almost seemed to be a bullshit rumor, but it was at least a start. No doubt if he started running around asking that there'd be a decent chance he'll get turned to the right direction. The woman may be a bit out there, but he had a feeling it wasn't just a line she was feeding him to get him out of here.
"Anything else been coming down the pipeline Sister Mary?" he asked, "Know anybody who could drop some more news?"
Mary shook her head apologetically. "I'm sorry Mr. Lash, but that is all I know on the subject." She brought her hand to her chin and stared off at nothing in particular as she tried to think of a person who would be able to help this man. "Hmm, people who might know more on the subject...oh! There is a one detective Kowalski who works within our circles. Since it is difficult to get normal law enforcement involved in our affairs, he was referred to me as someone to go to should I need. Luckily I never had to call on his services. Though, I must admit I am curious about the man. Supposedly he lived back during the prohibition days, and I can't help but imagine him looking like one of those detectives you see in those film noirs." Mary couldn't help but chuckle alittle at the image. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't gossip. If that is of no help, I can always join you in prayer."
How do you kill that which has no life?And that's torn it. Kurt internally groaned as he added his foot to the girl's attempts to use the stool to keep the book down. At least she was resourceful and had the initiative to try and stop it instead of running away screaming or being frozen in fear. Her bravery meant this had a chance to not end with either a mass reveal and himself disappearing, or him getting fired. As he did this, hoping the book didn't have any more tricks in its pages, he shuffled through a pocket on his coat, emerging with a small piece of wood about three inches square, and maybe a quarter-inch thick, as well as a pocket knife. Flicking the knife open, he began carefully scratching two marks into the piece of wood.
"Sorry for the trouble, I'll be taking care of it in a moment."

Graveyard
"Yeah I understand it, and I'll have ya know that our kind-" he gestures to himself and Dawn, "-tend to be fine in graveyards. Besides, undead tend to look after their own." He says with a grunt as he pats her on the head. "You two take care, aight? City's not a nice place, sad to say."
"I am nature's weapon. You are unfit to carry on your species, and I shall ensure that you do not do so!" - Charles Darwin, XCOM Sniper