IC: In Crumbling Pages [Peter Walton/Jacob Vrees]

[royya]

After Peter is finish with his personal things in the The historical Society building he rides to the address he found earlier to check what the place the crazy man lived in.

[Kadael]

The police detective from earlier is also at the apartments.

Peter,Please move to the following thread: [url=http://www.callofcthulhu.org.uk/pbp/viewtopic.php?f=224&t=3184&start=40#p154449]The Runaway[/url] Do not read any posts above the one you have been linked to.

[Kadael]

The first thing Peter notices upon opening the door is the overpowering stench of ammonia. Two men in white overalls and handkerchiefs tied around their faces are present; one is scrubbing the blood-splattered window and the other is removing the ruined wallpaper beside him. Neither pay much attention to Peter as he walks in.

Apartment 5 is small, shabby, and has nothing in the way of luxuries besides an expensive-looking telescope. It is facing the window and pointed up towards the sky. The floor near it is horribly stained.

The single bed has been stripped, allowing Peter to easily see a thin, battered book lying atop the mattress.

[royya]

Peter covers his mouth and nose as he walks into the apartment. He wonders what the man saw in the telescope that was so horrible that he cut out he eyes off. The man did mention something about the stars when he was in the university but now, in daylight, Peter will see nothing through it.
He shift his gaze to one of the things he loved the most, books and there was a book on the matress.
May I ?
He asks the men quietly and if neither will respond to him he will grab it and will place it with the rest of the note's bundle he took earlier.

[Kadael]

The man cleaning the window scoffs. "Sure. Old tenant's not coming back for it any time soon."

The book's cover is black, but Peter can see rust-brown staining the pages--blood.

[royya]

Peter place the book with the rest of the bundle of notes and walks to the telescope. He looks through it thought he knows he will see nothing in daylight. He tries to mark down the numbers that indicate the azimuth and elevation of the telescope so maybe he would be able to find the stellar body the man observed. after all, if he will try to observe the body from the university and the body was not a planet in the solar system he will be in the same direction as was in this place. The only thing he needs to know is the time the man used the telescope.

[Kadael]

Peter is able to mark down where the telescope is pointing, but there's nothing to indicate what time it was when Mr. Farr saw what he saw.

[royya]

pardon me
Peter address the two men.
Do you know what happened to the resident of this place. The time he was taken away ?
without expecting an answer from the two men, Peter ponders about the possibility the neighbour opposite to Mr. Farr might know the answer.

[Kadael]

The workman at the window looks over at Peter with an impish look in his eyes. "Well. I wasn't there, but from what I saw and what I heard? Horrible, horrible stuff. Me and Rich--" he jerks a thumb in the direction of the other workman "--walk in to do some cleanup, and the apartment's just covered in blood. All the walls, the floor, it was like a massacre'd happened here. Could hardly believe it was just one guy who wasn't even dead."

"The landlord says the tenant tore out his own eyes. Dug in nice and deep with his fingers, wouldn't stop screaming. Police carted him off to the Sanitarium, of course. We've been cleaning this place up for hours--my guess on the time the guy snapped would be around three in the AM."

[royya]

3AM you say.
Peter found the detail he was needed.
Yes, it was Horrible ... I saw Mr. Farr myself. what was his first name ?
Peter asks before stepping outside.

[Kadael]

Before Peter leaves, the workman tearing down the wallpaper looks over his shoulder at him. A wide, bright grin slowly creeps onto his face. "Like Horace said, we've been cleaning here for hours--and we haven't found any trace of Michael Farr's eyes. Maybe what they said is true after all. Maybe he ate them himself."

"Christ, Rich," says Horace around his laughter.

Peter,Roll a POWx5; I'm not telling you what for just yet.

[royya]

Yuck
Peter thinks to himself

OOC:   POWX5 roll: PowX5 (1d100=67)

[Kadael]

There's a thought tugging at the edge of Peter's mind, but he can't focus on it. He feels as though he's on the verge of a realization, but he has no idea what, exactly, that realization would be. As he puzzles over it, a sense of dread creeps slowly into the pit of his stomach.

Rich is still smiling at him over his shoulder. But...

But the workmen...

The smell of ammonia intensifies, and the dread twists and transforms into fear. Something is wrong about this place.

Both the workmen were wearing handkerchiefs over their faces when Peter walked in. Now Rich isn't. Did he take it off? Peter doesn't remember seeing him take it off. Did he just... not notice?

"I think it's time you run along, little scholar boy," Rich chuckles. His voice is dark as his skin and his teeth are whiter than teeth should be. The way he looks at Peter makes his blood run cold with primal terror.

Peter blinks. When his eyes open again, he sees Rich has turned back to the wallpaper, and the handkerchief is once again knotted around his face.

Was all of that just his imagination?

[royya]

Wha .. hmm...
Peter backs away nauseated from the visage outside to the corridor.
He shakes his head to the sides like trying to shake something off and goes down the stairs to the street to breath some fresh air.
I think I will sit by a little bit
He says to himself and lower himself next to his bicycle. He takes out the book he took from Mr. Farr's place and opens the first page.

[Kadael]

The book seems to be some kind of diary or journal. The first page is dated March 28th, 1927 to March 29th, 1927:

(9:00 pm) Hope those movers didn't damage my telescope any. It's been so long I hardly remember how to assemble the blasted thing! Ha ha.

(11:15 pm) This isn't so bad. Window in this apartment's got a good view of the sky at night.

(11:30 pm) Tried looking at Saturn for a while but just made myself sad. I need a drink, or a knock on the head, or something.

(12:45 pm) Feel like I'm staring at the same craters on the Moon over and over.

(1:30 pm) Got a decent look at Pleiades but that's about it. Need sleep.

As Peter is reading, a fluffy tortoiseshell cat pads over and meows at him.

OOC,For reference, the current date is May 4th, 1928.

[royya]

Shooo, Away !
Peter curse the cat and motions a wave in the hair. He wasn't in favor of these animals. He was a dog kind of guy.

He will read until the detective that he saw in the second floor will come out.

[Kadael]

The cat meows indignantly and runs over to a group of children who are playing marbles.

Most of the book is mundane nighttime observations about the stars and planets. It's all going over Peter's head, and is written in a very dry, technical manner that threatens to make his eyes glaze over.

[royya]

Peter flip the pages to the last entries.

[Kadael]

Peter,Much of the last entry (including the date) has been obscured by dried blood, and towards the end, the handwriting becomes increasingly chaotic and illegible: [i]...clouding over. Better skip looking at Pleiades, go straight to Saturn rings. I wish those lights would be switched off... can't see a damned thing with all that light streaming in. Wish to blazes they'd never put them in! (10:00 pm) Must be getting tired. Just saw strange geometric hallucination. Take a rest then resume, get some fresh air! Must be working too hard... ha ha! (12:00 am) Still looking at those beautiful rings--God, I fall in love every time I see the blasted things! Saw a shadow of a moon across the rings. (12:15 am) Another wretched hallucination... really, what's wrong with me tonight. Must remember to buy a new brand of cocoa next time. NOOO[b]OOOOO![/b] After me! Coming... now. [b]STOP!![/b] Evil putty jelly... Close my eyes! Yes! Yellow! Yellow! [b]But red in the middle! Go AWAY![/b] There is only one way! [b]NO!![/b][/i]

Dutch exits the apartment building to find the witness sitting on the front steps, reading a book.

[royya]

Peter close the book quickly and stands up.
Hi, I was waiting for you detective.
Peter says as he extends his hand to the man.
My name is Peter, Peter Walton, we met in the university, I'm working in the University Library and was intrigued by the recent events with Mr. Farr. I'm a Sherlock Holmes fan and wanted to research a little bit and I did find some interesting stuff. I would like to offer my help with solving the case if I may.