The Key and the Gate

DeletedUser28032

Nia
Realising that he was being watched the man lowered his newspaper and returned the girls gaze; a small smile creeping onto his lips. That smile had the look of a shark and although there was no open hostility there was something deeply troubling about the way he looked at her as it wasn't the look of someone who had been caught staring; no embarrassment, no awkwardness, no attempt at conversation just that smile.
It was at this point that John had interrupted with his message the boy mumbling awkwardly when the money was thrown at him "I only meant I needed to find an ATM Nia" he said picking up the bill and tucking it into his pocket fully intending to return it to her later "look I'll meet you at Silvio's ten minutes before our meeting, ok?" he said waiting long enough to receive a reply before leaving.
During this time the man and his newspaper was gone.
--------------------------
Zani
"Zani that’s a dirty stinking lie, you know full well we're both going to be slim and beautiful forever" she replied to her friends comment over the pizza place. The arrival of a man at her end of the desk caused her to break away from her friend for a few minutes as she listened to his story about fanged monsters breaking through his window; the smile on her face turning from friendly to please don't hurt me Mr. Crazy man as the story progressed "Right...I see...Zani be a dear and help this gentleman locate the book he's after I've got something in the back room that needs sorting" she said with a cheery smile; passing her friend quickly before she had chance to protest or deflect her request. Rebecca had had more than her fair share of crazy people in her life and besides which Zani was the one with the taser.
------------------------------
Boris
The phone rang shrilly from where it sat, demanding that Boris answer it immediately and refusing to just give up with any attempt to ignore it resulting in several seconds of silence as the voice mail kicked in before ringing again.
Upon answering the phone he would be greeted by a near hysterical woman on the other end whose voice seemed somehow familiar despite the fact that he knew he'd never met her before in his life "Dmitri, its Cynthia, you've got to help me! I am in trouble, serious trouble you need to come and get me quickly! Please Dmitri I need your help!"
 

DeletedUser35174

Name:Ethan Mccarron.

Age: 24

Gender: Male

Occupation: Bartender

Physical description: Ethan stands at 5.9, his shoulders are broad with the right being noticeably higher than the left. His eyes are deep brown and his hair is a constant black mess, his cheekbones are considerably hollow and a deep scar runs along the outlines of his right cheek, the result of a drunk customer. Despite his facial features, his eyes are warm and radiate kindness and wrinkles litter his face from constant smiling and laughter.

Notable Possessions: Mysterious Key, Family ring.

Background: Ethan was born in the Republic of Ireland in a small town called Monaghan, his father ran a local pub that was the social house for the old and the farmers. A few months after completing his Leaving Certificate Examinations which ensured he finished school his father was hospitalized with a stroke. After two months he passed away leaving the pub in the care of Ethan, all ambitions and hopes were thrown out the window as Ethan took charge of the old and excuse for a pub. Within a year the pub was in full swing, a few changes here and there and a few words here and there encouraged younger generations to visit the pub and after redecorating, it became the centre for social gatherings and events in the small town he lived in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day started as any other, alarm clock blaring and Ethan responding in even louder groans and moans. Eyes half shut, he dragged himself to the toilet where he let the shower run as he stripped. His hands were first to touch the cold water, goosebumps ran through his body as he entered the shower. The temperature of the water slapped him awake, for a few minutes he stood still, breathing in and out and making a mental to-do list of what has to be done today. After a few minutes he left the shower and dried himself, jeans and a black jumper was the first thing he could find so it was what he wore. He dug his hands into the back pockets of his jeans and felt it. For as long as he can remember no matter what he wore it was always there. At a point in his life he was curious as to why it was always there, what was it's story, what door did it open, or if it even opened a door at all. He shrugged himself out of him his thoughts and pulled his hand out from his pocket, he put his wallet in the same pocket and took his keys from his bedside locker. As he walked out the door he put on his leather jacket and took his helmet. His girl waited outside for him, he took a moment to admire her before his helmet went on, his hands ran along the motorbike before the keys went into the ignition. He hopped on, kicked back the stand pulled the bike into neutral and pressed the button. The bike came to life with a roar, Ethan revved the throttle just to annoy his neighbours before putting the bike in first gear and riding off.
 

Deleted User - 819397

Zani's observance of the unsettling man in the suit was interrupted by another patron coming in and asking about a mythological monster that had invaded his household, mentioning a dream in the process. Rebecca was understandably freaked out by the man, though dumping him on her instead was something the shorter woman could've done without. She'd have to pay her coworker back later…for her part, Zani felt that the well-dressed man had simply not realized when he'd woken up, that the creature had been in his dream…but there was no harm in checking. "Sure, I can help…if you'll follow me, I'll take you to our books on mythology…I can't say I've heard of the monster you encountered myself, but assuming it's been seen before, we should have something on it…" As she moved out from behind the service desk, she took a look back at the man in the suit…only to find he was gone. She hadn't seen him leave…that was unnerving…

As Zani led the man to the mythology section of the library, she realized she couldn't place him in her memory, meaning he wasn't a regular. "I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name earlier, I don't believe…" she began, deciding that if he wouldn't give it she'd side with Rebecca on him being creepy, as the man in the suit had been…in the meantime though, had to keep doing her job. "Also, do you have any idea what mythology your monster's from? Any information you can give me will help make the search easier…"
 

DeletedUser13682

Johnathan stifled a laugh at the librarian transferred responsibility to her coworker, using an old excuse that wasn’t even believed by preteens anymore. As the new librarian arrived, Johnathan brought his emotions back in check enough to not burst out laughing. She led him towards the mythology section of the library, and stating that as long as he wasn’t the first person to see it, there would be information. “That’s good….” Johnathan glanced back at the desk for a second before turning his eyes forward. “I guess I hammed it up a bit much back there. It turns out it was just a tree knocking on my window. I’m really here because some friends were posting about seeing something like that. Thought I’d help them out if I could.”

The librarian asked about his name, the one that she couldn’t remember because he hadn’t given it. “It’s Johnathan Kingsbury. Everyone on the boat called me Thrust, though, and it sort of stuck. That’s my main handle online and most of my friends call me that. And you are…?” Before she answered, she asked him what mythology the creature was from. “You know, I never figured that out. It didn’t pop up in any European, Asian, local, Native American, African, well, anything really. The closest I could find was something about faceless Japanese demons and Slenderman. But neither of those have fangs. But it does sound fairly close to that old meme. Who knows? I guess we could start there.”
 

DeletedUser37114

Growling again in frustration (why had he even brought up money then?), Nia looked back over towards the man who wasn't at the library to read, expecting to meet his eyes again (the ones with memories of teeth and deep water) and finding only books and paper and another crazy person with the nice librarian (though this one really did seem to be here to read). Nodding at John's statement, she turned her attention back to fixing the chair (She needed to make sure SOMETHING ended up even today). Pushing the chair up and down to see how much it moved (it was missing a foot, poor thing), Nia grabbed her duct tape (happy that it was getting used, though the roll was usually a happy one anyway) and began to tear off strips and wrap them around each other, making a neat pad just big enough to put in place of the missing foot. She then placed that pad beneath the short leg (a chair prosthetic!) and leaned on the chair to make sure the fix would work. Sitting in the chair and shifting her weight worked even better as a check (and was more fun), though the pad slipped out (it was just as restless as the chair, which was good since two restless things usually resulted in settling and a house with a white picket fence) and the chair was momentarily back to being odd. A quick final wrapping of duct tape fixed that and Nia jumped up in a moment of (quiet, she was in a library after all) celebration.

Glancing around, Nia saw the nice librarian still helping the crazy man over in the mythology section (why on earth would a crazy person want to know more about mythology?) and the other librarian gone from the front desk. The weird man wasn't not-reading in the library anymore (where he'd gone she had no clue, though odd days being odd days he might have just vanished into thin air), the chair was fixed, and Nia had more than enough time to get home and get changed. With that all in mind, she walked towards the doors of the library, intent on heading home to get her dress and dancing shoes and doing what needed doing for the meeting.
 

DeletedUser28032

Ethan
"There’s a package for you" the voice greeted Ethan as soon as he'd set foot into the bar "...don't worry it ain't ticking so its not from one of your ex's but it feels like a ton of bricks" Siobhan; the red headed barmaid said with a mischievous smile from where she stood behind the bar cleaning a couple of pint glasses.
It was still early and so the bar was completely deserted other than Siobhan and Andy who was currently in the kitchen doing prep work as he sang out of tune to whatever was playing on the radio. Sure enough as promised there was a package about the size of a large hard backed book sat on the corner of the bar wrapped in brown paper and tied with string Atop of which sat an envelope simply addressed to "The Barman of the White Horse" noticing Ethan looking at the address Siobhan gave him a look that said she'd thought it was slightly odd as well "Yeah its a little vague I know but...Your the only guy to work in the absolutely ages so I figured it must be for you" with her point made she then returns to cleaning the glasses.
---------------------------
The Library
The mythology section was down by the back of the library and although it was small in size it contained books on a wide selection of different mythologies along with a computer that the public could use with a librarian's permission and password.
After searching through many of the available books the pair wouldn't turn up anything that Jonathan hadn't found last night.
It was just as it was beginning to look like they would have to give up when they found a slim and very old looking book at the back of the shelf; almost hidden between the far thicker volumes on either side of it. A Dissertation on the Dreamlands by Jacqueline Fine. Neither the title or the author meant anything to the pair of them in fact a quick glance through the half mad ramblings within led them to believe that perhaps the book was in the wrong section if it even belonged in the library at all.
"Hey Zani...are we still on for lunch? Only it's now quarter past" Rebecca asked sheepishly from where she stood wondering whether she'd unintentionally upset her friend with her earlier disappearing act.
----------------------------
Nia
With their meeting concluded the pair of them went their separate ways in order to get ready for the meeting at Silvio's. With the time now nearing that of lunchtime the streets were busier than before as people left their offices in search of food.
It was as Nia walked these streets that she got the distinct feeling that she was being watched and even worse followed.
 

Deleted User - 819397

Once the man introduced himself as Jonathan and began acting in a far more normal fashion, Zani was able to relax and dove into helping him find a mention of his monster. It was a fairly long and fruitless search, no mention of the exact creature he had seen. They'd just found a thin, rather rambling book when Rebecca popped in, asking if they were still on for lunch. "Oh, is it really that late already?" the shorter woman asked in genuine surprise. "I can't believe the morning went by that fast…yeah, I'd still like to go, just gimme a sec…" She began flipping through the pages of the book, trying to get the gist of the subject matter. As she did so, she held it up so that her coworker could see the cover. "Do you have any idea if this was mislabeled, or if someone took the number of another book off it and put it on here? Because this isn't so much mythology as speculation…" It wasn't unheard of for pranksters to take the decimal numbers and move them around, though most times the staff could rather easily identify that the book didn't belong where the replaced label was claiming it did. There were always oversights though…as the morning had worn on Zani had actually become rather invested in finding out what it was that Jonathan had seen, not because she thought it actually existed, but because if the man was convinced it was present in some text somewhere but no mythology was owning up to it…that was the type of mystery she loved.
 

DeletedUser37114

Her bag all packed and quietly clamoring on her shoulder, Nia almost didn't notice she was being followed until halfway through the journey home (the bag had been trying to tell her but it was hard to hear over the traffic and all the people out and about and walking and rushing around). She didn't even get a good glimpse of whoever was behind her either, just more of a feeling, every hair on the back of her neck trying to fly away at once. She didn't panic, she knew that was stupid, but she also wasn't going to lead whoever was playing pin-the-tail-on-Nia-without-a-pin back to her home. Stroking her key (subdued now for whatever reason, she could never figure out why the key did anything), she briefly considered running around in circles to throw off her stalker (and maybe catch a glimpse of their confused face among the other confused faces in the crowd), but discarded the possibility. Causing a scene and letting the one following her know she knew she was being followed was a bad idea. Controlling information was an advantage in itself. Instead, she needed to do something drastic.

She knew the route to and from the library, and there was a small coffee shop a little ways ahead where Nia would stop by whenever she was out and they had specials on their coffee (it was a nice place, though a little energetic, probably thanks to being new and full of caffeine). Obviously, there was no sale now but it was still a place she knew, she had enough money for a cup, and it might allow her to shake her tail without having to actually shake anything (which would be awkward). Without changing her step except to wince at the necessity that forced her to visit the place at the wrong time, Nia walked onward, veering off into the shop (fairly busy with the lunch rush, though energetic as ever and handling it well) as she passed it. Pulling her white board out as she stood in line, writing her order, and grabbing her coffee to sit at the front and watch was a matter of minutes (long ones) and Nia began to calm down a little (though her shoes were all aflustered, not knowing where they were supposed to walk now).
 
Last edited by a moderator:

DeletedUser35174

The smell hit Ethan as soon as he entered his pub, a unique indescribable smell that made you smile against your will, he breathed it in and bathed in it. "mine" he thought and smiled. "There’s a package for you" was the first thing he heard. "hello to you too love... i've been brilliant thanks for asking" remarked Ethan "what on earth is this yolk" he puzzled as he felt the package, wrapped in brown paper and felt like a brick, "i'll tell ya this Siobhán, my exes are bloody thicker than this... god love em" he joked. "ANDY!, how was your date last night....... hope he treated ya right" continued Ethan, throwing jabs at Andy. "only messing with ya lad" winked Ethan, continuing their long tradition of poking insults at each other as a way of greeting. "The Barman of the White Horse" the parcel said, he turned his head only to receive a puzzled look from Siobhán. The bottle of Budweiser opened with a pop, he took the bottle and sat at one of the tables, curious as to what the parcel contained.
 

DeletedUser28032

Nia
The coffee shop was unsurprisingly busy at this time of day with many of the small tables and stylish sofas and chairs that seemed to be in vogue for such places already occupied; the crowd inside a mix of students and office workers, many of whom were currently working at the obligatory laptops.
It was as the overly cheerful young man behind the counter took Nia’s order that she noticed the man stood outside the shops large window seemingly examining the laminated menu taped to it. Although it wasn’t the same man from the library he was of around about the same age and dressed in a dark suit and sunglasses though he completely lacked the air of a gangster or G-man and instead simply looked like a man in a suit browsing the menu. However for a man simply studying a menu he stood there for far too long after all how long could it take to decide what kind of Panini to order with his coffee? And besides she had the unnerving feeling that his hiding behind those dark sunglasses were staring straight at her with all the hunger and intensity of a beast on the hunt for its prey “excuse me miss your orders ready”
------------------------------------
Ethan
The reply shouted from the kitchen was unsurprisingly crude causing Siobhan to stifle a laugh as she continued working; leaving Ethan to examine his package in peace.
Wrapped in such a way that it was impossible to open the package without first removing the envelope attached to it Ethan would first encounter the note written by one of the older and more established law firms in town, the kind of place that the local politicians went when their mistresses went to the papers and consequently way out of the league of a lowly barman.
Written by one of the senior partners the letter explained how the parcel had been left with the firm; the partner’s great grandfather to be exact, with instructions to release the parcel once today’s date had been reached and that an accompanying letter had been also been sent.
The letter in question was old and yellowing with age; the original address all but invisible as the ink had faded but it looked like it may have originated in London though in truth it could have come from anywhere. However despite the envelopes apparent age the message written upon its front in a long looping hand was clear to read:


To the barkeep of the White Horse Inn

Please read before opening for what has been seen may never be unseen


-------------------------------------
The Library
Taking the proffered book for a closer look Rebecca read silently for several moments until she found a particular passage “…And so it was that I entered the city of Ulthar where it is forbidden for any man to kill a cat… Yeah this is definitely fruit loop territory…not that I am insinuating anything” she said hurriedly as she caught sight of Jonathan sat with them, the very fact that he was still here meant that he probably wasn’t as creepy as she’d first thought him to be.
Flipping to the front inside cover she checks the library stamp inside “well…its definitely one of ours…perhaps Miss Fine is a local and so deserving of local heritage status” she said pouring all of her scorn upon the term. It had been one of the board members great idea’s to include authors from the local area and display them prominently for people to find. Unfortunately it meant they had to deal with mountains of sub-standard drivel such as this “well we’d better get going if we want to have something to eat before hand, best of luck in finding your…erm…monster” she said to Jonathan still clearly not sure as to whether he was on the same planet as them but wanting to be polite all the same.
Once Zani was finished with whatever she was doing she’d meet the other woman outside as usual before heading off into town in search of food.
 

DeletedUser13682

The search with the librarian had yielded no results. Well, that was, until they stumbled upon a thin book that didn’t seem to be in the same condition as all the other books. It didn’t even have Dewey Decimal Digits on it. A quick glance through the book presented itself as a rambling journal, perhaps of the author’s dreams. For most of it, nothing really stood out, but one of the passages the other librarian, the one that had abandoned him earlier, read out loud immediately clicked in Johnathan’s mind. “The Cats of Ulthar. That’s a good one. A very early Lovecraft tale; a parable almost, about how you should treat animals, especially cats, very well. PETA would say they really like the story. I like it because it’s a sweet story covered in a layer of sadistic, violent bloody evil.” Johnathan sensibly chuckled at this. That story had a soft spot in his heart; it was what introduced him to Lovecraft.

It seemed that this woman thought that she was somehow travelling through Lovecraft’s world; a theme not entirely uncommon but still very cultish and niche. As it seemed the librarians were about to take their lunch breaks, Johnathan picked up the book. “I think I’d like to check this one out. Even if it doesn’t have anything interesting, I’d still like to take a look at it. Even if it doesn’t have any answers, I’d like to see this woman’s view of the Lovecraft universe.” Johnathan looked at the cover of the book again. He wasn’t familiar with the name Jacqueline Fine. But if she really was a local, maybe the news archives would have something about her. “Would you happen to have local news archives I could browse? I don’t really mind if it’s digital or microfilm. Just somewhere to see if I can find this uh… woman, that you so dearly call a, what was it? Local heritage. A local heritage.” The book seemed interesting, but if this kind of material was what qualified you as a local heritage, this town was much stranger than Johnathan thought when he first moved here.
 

DeletedUser37114

Crowded places were normally not the place for her, but the crowded coffee shop oddly enough felt safer than when she normally stopped by for a sale, the furniture looking sleepier (despite the atmosphere) and the people friendlier (the young man behind the counter taking orders especially). However, something still felt off (more so than would normally be so for visiting the shop at the wrong time), and much more so than would be normal for an odd day. Looking around, Nia saw a man in a suit outside the window that reminded her eerily of the one from the library earlier (the one that wasn't there to read). Further watching gave her the distinct impression that he wasn't there to buy coffee either and that through his dark sunglasses he had seen her notice him watching her, just as the man who'd been at the library had. But before she had been able to watch him for too long, the friendly guy who'd taken her order said her coffee was ready (she hated that she had to look away and walk up to the counter in these places, it would have been so much easier to watch the man if she could have food brought to her...).

But struck by inspiration as she walked, Nia scribbled out a message on her white board ("WHY ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME?"), picked up her coffee (surprisingly sleepy for coffee, normally the stuff refused to sit still), and made her way over to a seat in full view of the front window, intent on getting some answers out of these weird people who were apparently following her.
 

DeletedUser31931

Boris groaned and rubbed his head. Perhaps he had been a little too heavy on the alcohol last night... His phone rang at him loudly, causing his head to hurt. Clambering out of bed he staggered over and picked it up, being greeted by a mad-woman shrieking down the phone did not improve matters for him in the slightest. "Who are you?" He groaned down the phone. "Who is Cynthia and who, for that matter is Dmitri? My name is Boris. Are you sure you have the right number?" Hopefully he would shortly get to the bottom of this so that he could sort out his hangover and get to work, if it was a work day that was.
 

Deleted User - 819397

Unfortunately, Rebecca didn't know anything else about the book, also thinking it was a bit out there. Zani couldn't suppress a groan when her coworker mentioned the local heritage project…it had been a disaster when it'd been put into effect, with everyone and their brother submitting works. More work, very little benefit. As the taller woman moved off, Jonathan decided he wanted to check it out anyway. "Sure, whatever floats your boat…I'll take care of that over at the desk before I head out then." As they returned to the front of the library, she was asked if they had a local news registry of some sort. "Yep, our computer system has a rather useful program that only looks through news articles…just use one of the public stations, the rest should be relatively intuitive, though if not you can always ask another staff member for help. I'd be willing to, but as you heard I'm about to go for my lunch break."

Once she checked the book out in Jonathan's name, Zani bade that he have a good day and collected her things to meet Rebecca outside. "Ok, sorry about that, customer service and all…anyway, do you want me to drive to save time, or would you rather walk?" She didn't have a real preference…whatever her coworker desired she'd go along with.
 

DeletedUser28032

Boris
“What!? No that...that can’t be...unless...” the voice on the other end of the phone suddenly seemed to forget that Boris was even there as it drifted along a completely different train of thought momentarily forgetting whatever terrifying reason had caused her to call him in the first place; her voice quiet as she spoke to herself “...no she...she wouldn’t have done that...would she? Damn you Lilly what have you done!” having reached the conclusion of this particular thought she once again turns her attention back to Boris. The girl; Cynthia if she was to be believed, obviously trying her best to remain calm but failing to stop the tremor in her voice as she spoke to Boris in a way that made it clear that whatever this trouble was it terrified her “Look you obviously don’t know me but...but I am in trouble I...I need you to come get me please...I...I can explain it all later but I need you to...to come and get me!”
------------------------------------------
Nia
Having found herself a place near the window the man in sunglasses made no reaction to the close proximity of Nia. However when the scribbled message was revealed the slightest twitching of the mouth revealed that not only had he seen the message but that he was also trying to suppress a smile from appearing on his face, a smile that would no doubt hold all the warmth and friendliness of a corpse.
It was with that near imperceptible action and no other that he then turned and left leaving Nia alone with her coffee and her thoughts.
-------------------------------------------
Zani
“We’ll walk it, the art centre isn’t far and besides which its quite nice outside” Rebecca said in reply to Zani’s question as she met up with the other woman just outside the library “so tell me, did you manage to solve your new best friends monster problem or are we calling the Ghost Busters on the way back?” She asked teasingly as they began walking down the street; the pair of them quickly swallowed by the crowd of people all around them.
The walk to the Arts centre was rather pleasant; the weather having improved since that morning and although there were more people around it wasn’t so crowded that you couldn’t walk properly without kicking the person in front.
The Art centre was a fairly modern building, a blue placard announcing that it had been built by one of the local philanthropists and donated to the city only a few years ago so it was still rather new and “exciting”. The inside of the building consisted of three large open plan rooms in which the exhibits were displayed against plain magnolia walls and a pair of offices and some toilets located at the back of the building hidden behind plain pine doors. The Artwork of Henry Everard Pickman; the artist they’d come to see was in the left hand room and consisted mainly of landscapes which ranged from the fantastical to the deranged and all undeniably eye catching if a touch too niche to sell.
Upon finding the painting of the tower Zani would be confronted by what could have been a photograph of her dream as every detail was exactly as she remembered it even down to the small patches of ivy cling to the walls. The only difference she could see for sure was that of a shadowy figure stood at one of the windows, a figure she was almost certain was staring right at her.
 

DeletedUser31931

Boris sighed as the woman continued despite having no idea who he was. Still if she was in danger it would probably be a good idea to go help her out. Pressing the phone between his shoulder and his ear he walked over and pulled on a pair of trousers although he already had a shirt on. He grabbed his jacket and checked that it had the Five-Seven still safely holstered inside. One of the advantages of being ex-military and a private contractor was that he had all the necessary paperwork to be allowed to carry a concealed fire-arm. For self-defence purposes, of course. He continued speaking as he did all of this saying. "You're right. I have no idea who in sanity's name you are or who "Lily" is for that matter and I have a seriously bad headache right now. Luckily for you, I have the morning off so I shall come help you out. Now, do you want to tell me where you are or shall I just wander the city looking for you?"

Boris inwardly sighed, wondering why on earth he was going to help this woman who he had never met until she randomly rang his phone. Maybe he would discover something that would explain what had happened last night to him or at the very least jog his memory and he owed it to his ridiculous saviour complex to at least attempt to help this woman. Whoever she was she was clearly quite scared and Boris did have a thing for damsels in distress. He checked that the Five-Seven was loaded and ensured the safety was on, slipping it back into the holster and putting several spare magazines safely out of sight in a small holster behind his trousers on his waist-belt. They would be hidden there for view and no-one would know they were there unless they had prior experience. In all this time he was still listening to the phone awaiting further instructions from his mystery madame.
 

DeletedUser35174

Ethan sputtered some of his drink as he laughed at the rather cruel response Andy delivered, Chuckled as he took a seat and reviewed the parcel once more. It was expertly wrapped, Ethan couldn't open the wrappings unless he took the letter first, so he did. The letter was from a local law firm that was rather above his social class, "Ah lads" he smiled, feeling important. The parcel was left to some old geezer and was instructed to be released today. To him. Another letter accompanied the parcel. "To the barkeep of the White Horse Inn. Please read before opening for what has been seen may never be unseen" the writing was delicately joint on a paper that was a shade too yellow. "the bloody ink is fading off this" Ethan yelled to Siobhán.
 

DeletedUser37114

Nia watched the strange man go with a glare, then turned her attention to erasing her whiteboard for all the people around her who the message wasn't addressed to (no need to make a fuss, not with sleepy coffee and confused feet). Stroking the key (satisfied now that she wasn't being followed or watched, it was fairly protective at times) as she watched to make sure that the man really was gone, she decided that sitting down here to finish her coffee and think would probably be a good idea (no wonder the coffee was sleepy, it knew it wouldn't make it out of the shop). She had time before the meeting tonight and really needed to think over the two strangely similar men, one who pretended to kill time (without actually going through with the deed) and one who had apparently stalked her (reminding her of sharks and hounds and dead things walking).

Given that neither of the men she'd seen had been bashful or shy about being seen (crazy exhibitionists, both of them), it wasn't likely that the group was anything secretive, otherwise they wouldn't have stayed secret for long. At the same time, they also didn't seem like upstanding citizens, as they hadn't even been civil enough to come meet her (something most people would have the sense to do under those circumstances). It presented a puzzle (and a tricky one since people were involved) that seemed like it had nothing to do with her current job and should have nothing to do with her at all. And yet, things stood as they did without the sense to consult logic, reason, or her. And now she was simply spinning her wheels without accomplishing anything (frustrating, that), which meant she needed to get moving. Getting up and making sure everything was packed away (and that her feet knew where to go now), Nia sipped her now lukewarm coffee (though it was filled with sugar sweet dreams from sleeping so long) as she walked out the door, intent on making it back home at last.
 

DeletedUser28032

Boris
“Well of course you don’t...you don’t even know who Dmitri is” Cynthia replied so that Boris could actually hear her eyes being rolled at him down the phone “...and....and I am sorry alright I...I wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t important...you promised you would help me...well...Dmitri promised me anyway” she finished miserably causing a brief pang of guilt to surface within the Military contractor as if he’d broken his word to her or something.
When asked where she was she wasted little time in rattling off the address of some deadbeat motel on the outskirts of town, urging him to hurry before hanging up the phone.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Ethan
“And what in the name of Mary do you expect me to do about it?” Siobhan replied; leaving her position behind the bar in order to take a seat next to him. Plucking the pair of letters from his hands she quickly scans what was written before handing them back “Ethan Mc Carron if that letter says you have a rich old uncle leaving you a fortune then you owe me a pay rise...and you can buy me a drink” she said with mock sternness...or at least he thought she was joking as it was hard to tell at times where Siobhan was concerned “...either way you’d best read the letter hadn’t you?”
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Nia
Even though the feeling of being watched never quite left her, after all who could go back to feeling normal after having one let alone two encounters like Nia had just had, she didn’t see anyone following her home. Whether this meant that she was no longer being followed or that they were simply doing a better job of remaining hidden wasn’t clear but either way the trip home was uneventful.
However upon entering her apartment the feeling followed her inside like some kind of dark spectre. Had she moved that coffee table or had somebody else?
 

DeletedUser13682

Johnathan shrugged at the librarian’s comment. “It’s interesting is all. But, I bet that’s because I left a bit of me sanity in the deep dark.” Johnathan let a chuckle out at that. “Still, glad my card is still valid.” After the librarian checked out the strange book for him, Johnathan headed to one of the public stations. After acknowledging that he had an 85 minute time limit before he had to log on again, Johnathan clicked on the little newspaper icon and opened up the news archives. The newest entries were direct scans of newspapers, but starting about five or so years ago, the scans turned into digitalized microform. Luckily, the software included a search feature that was able to interpret the old microform. Using that feature and interesting keywords from the dream journal, Johnathan read the articles, printing those he felt were very interesting. After a long time had passed, Johnathan looked down at his watch. He was almost late; it was time for him to head to the plant. Grabbing the copies in one hand, and the book in the other, Johnathan nearly sprinted out of the library and to his Porsche, and took off toward his daily job.
 
Top