1: 'On a Lonely Road'

[Barty Carter]

Barty runs back to Tobias
"Have you found anything?......we are making so much noise out here I fear that if anything untoward is going on in the cafe,we might attract some very unwelcome attention and not be in a position to help the girl or ourselves!"

[Vladd]

Lance got out of the car, turned back and looked in at Luther "You stay here with the girl while we check out the diner. We can't stay out here in this storm all night. then pausing only to grab his backpack Lance ran over to the diner, took a deep breath, composed himself, opened the door and walked in.

[Priest]

Raising himself up to the truck for a better look inside, Tobias takes a moment before responding to Barty’s question with a shake of his head - “Nothing here”.
Barty looks towards the lit windows of the Diner. Had anyone noticed them? It seems not for whatever is happening within continues without any apparent pause,

Without waiting for a reply Lance, opens the car door and begins, at a run, to head for the door of the Diner. Above the marked ‘Open’ a neon sign proclaims ‘Orchard Run Gas and Diner’; taking a deep breath Lance opens the door and walks in…

Lance,Your entrance accompanied as it is by a blast of wind that drives the heavy raindrops at least five feet beyond the glass door, surprisingly draws little attention. The small diner has five people within and one seems to be the focus of attention - [color=#0040FF]“I tell ya it was on account of that ‘Dead Light’ that I ran off the road”[/color]. Only one of the five seem to have noticed your entrance, behind the counter a young woman stops drying a coffee cup and looks towards you…

[Vladd]

Lance looks round the diner, smiles at the people present and sits at a nearby booth. "Good evening everyone, what a foul storm this is," rooting through his backpack he transfers its contents to his jacket pockets leaving the change of clothes, sandwiches, and water bottle in the pack. The next few moments he occupies himself with filling and lighting his pipe whilst he casually watches the activity in the diner. Once he has the pipe lit to his satisfaction he shakes his match out, tosses it into an ashtray and leans back in his chair. "Nice to be in the warm and dry, haven't seen a storm this bad before, I'm sorry I'm interrupting you sir, did you say dead lights?

[jbibblesworth]

Luther remains skeptical that such a mundane establishment could be the source of the poor girl's catatonic stupor. However his impatience is at least partially sated as they pull in before the eatery and Lance exits the vehicle to gauge the environment within. He lays a reassuring hand on the girl's arm.

"Easy miss." he whispers, "We'll have you in good hands soon enough."

He turns to Thomas.

"My apologies for my outburst Mr. Furman." he says sheepishly. "I assure you that it originated wholly out of my concern for the young lady here."

[CrowTheAlmighty]

Tobias began to think about this scenario, scratching his chin. This didn't make sense...

Tobias' mind went into full throttle at this point with him thinking thinking:   Quite the scene here, isn't it? Why is this vehicle abandoned in the middle of the road? It looks brand new. Even the cow trailer looks shiny and new, minus the damage from the rain. And why is the car empty? There is nothing in here at all. How does this make sense? Where is the driver? Why didn't he close his door in this storm? Its been raining for a few hours now... ..."

He took out his note pad and wrote down a few notes to this car mystery, afterwards putting it back in his pocket.

• - Brand new Cow trailer
  - New truck pulling
  - Abandoned in middle of road
  - Door left open in storm
  - completely empty

[Barty Carter]

Barty,while admiring Lance's naive courage decides that perhaps the best way he will be able to help Lance,if as Barty is begining to suspect ,the occupants of the Cafe have some connection with the evenings strange goings on ,would be by reconoitering and staying in the background out of sight.
He made his way quietly and stealthily around to the back of the Cafe,all the time looking for a window where he could perhaps see into the cafe,
Could the girls Grandfather perhaps be inside,perhaps he had been the driver of the truck? Had the old man perhaps been pulled out of the truck and could the girl have escaped at that time?
Barty was at the back now and wondered if he would be lucky enough to find a window

[jbibblesworth]

Luther waits patiently in the car for the others to complete their summations of the diner.

[Priest]

At Lance’s words several of the occupants look around. Whatever tale the guy had been telling, the looks on the faces of the listeners looked a cross between amusement and disbelief. The young woman quickly places the cup on the counter in preparation for your order.
One of the disturbed occupants,

a somewhat overweight man in his late forties, with a bad comb-over and a broom mustache that hasn’t yet faded to the same grey as what’s left of the hair on his head smiles a twinkle in his eye, “Dead lights? Oh you mean the thing that Jake here thought he seen? I wouldn’t go paying to much attention to Jake, sometimes he uses the corn for making something other than chicken feed on his farm”
At this everyone except Jake laughs good humouredly. The big farmer, aware that the mood of the place had shifted slightly, turns red faced. Something that even his thick growth of beard does little to camouflage, “I know what I seed, bright it were like some kind of…dead light…crossing the road up yonder about two miles away” the anger in his voice is evident, it would seem that he does not like being the butt of a joke.

“I tell you I seed it like something let loose from hell. Searching it were, searching the woods up near the Doc’s place.” He looks straight at Lance, “Coming this way too. I hit the gas and got outa there, Damn truck got stuck in the mud outside, and I sure as hell wasn’t gonna sit there and wait for it to come get me”

Barty,
You easily find a window at the rear of the diner which gives you a limited view of the interior (Mist inside, rain out). You can see Lance just inside the door he seems to be speaking, and even with your limited vision nothing bad seems to be happening. As you watch a sudden burst of lightning to your rear somewhere off in the woods makes you jump. And you just can’t shake that being watched feeling…

[Vladd]

Lance smiles at the waitress, "Ah yes, I will have a coffee thank you," he turns towards Jake , "Care to join me and tell me more about these lights you saw? Out by the Docs place you say, is that far? "I wonder how long the others are going to be? Maybe this Doc could help the girl Lance thought to himself, trying to see outside for his companions. He puffed thoughtfully on his pipe, the tobacco smoke calming his nerves.

[Barty Carter]

Hearing laughter from within the bar and seeing that Lance was obviously not in any immediete distress Barty decided to go back to the car and suggest to the others that it would be reasonably safe to follow Lance into the place
The wind and rain were still beating down and as Barty turned to to go he thought he heard something and shuddered,"Steady on old man" he said to himself "No trench raiders hereabouts"
He pulled his jacket lapels up as far as he could and ran back to the car
"Come along my dear.....come on chaps,everything seems to be quite normal,lets get into the warm dry Cafe"

[CrowTheAlmighty]

Tobias had walked over to the cafe enterance as well, after his investigation of the truck. He opened the door for Barty and the young woman, with a small smile, "Anyplace is good if we're getting out if the rain, eh Barty?"

[Vladd]

At the sound of the door opening Lance looked round and saw his colleagues entering the diner, Ah here they are now turning back to the counter he called to the waitress, "Excuse me miss, could we have some more coffees over here for my friends," Smiling at the waitress Lance pointed vaguely in the direction of the door with the stem of his pipe.

[jbibblesworth]

The car door swings open filling the car with the scent of autumnal rains. Barty's head thrusts itself inside and addressed the huddled occupants before vanishing from sight once more. Luther exits and takes the young lady by the hand, ushering her into the diner and taking silent stock of those within.

He sits at the counter and runs his hands through his dampened hair, slicking it back against his scalp. He looks at the waitress.

"Coffee please." he requests. "Black."

[Vladd]

Lance helps the young lady to a table and turns to Luther, "Ah there you are, come over here and sit down Luther, Jake here was just telling me about the lights he saw, over by the Doc's house didn't you say Jake? Lance turns to Jake indicating that he should take a seat at their table.

[Barty Carter]

Barty joins the group at the table and,takes a swig from his flask
"A nice cup of tea would be just the ticket,but Imagine its coffee or nothing,still as long as its wet and warm"

[jbibblesworth]

Luther offers a perfunctory nod at Lance's suggestion and after receiving his cup of coffee from the suddenly inundated waitress, moves to join him at their table.

"I would be very interested in hearing about these 'lights' you speak of. They could be the same lights this young lady has repeatedly referenced." he says loud enough for the diner to hear. "However, before you continue Jake, we found this young woman wandering in the middle of the storm. Does anyone recognize her? She seems to be lost in some sort of catatonic state repeatedly mentioning 'the light' as well as her grandfather."

He looks inquisitively around towards the locals.

"Anyone?" he prompts. "If not, is there a local sheriff or doctor we could consult?"

[CrowTheAlmighty]

Tobias walked over to the table with his fellow men and sat down, ordering himself a coffee. He scratched his chin as he watched Luther trying to get answers. It wouldn't be so easy to get answers in such a small diner but that doesnt mean impossible

[vertigoke]

Thomas furman

While everyone enters the diner Thomas locks up his car.
He's in a hurry trying not to get soaked.
Lightning Flashes. He turns around looking at the stranded truck. "Is this weather never going to stop."
Thomas enters the diner, takes of his soaked coat and hangs it on a coat hanger.
He takes place at the bar a bit away from the rest of the bunch, takes out his pack of luckies and lights a cigarette.
Without looking up he adresses the waitress "coffee please, I'm up for a hot drink, It's raining cats and dogs and I've been out in this weather much more than I wanted to." Thomas sighs and inhales his cigarette. Note to self: never pick up hitchhikers"

[Priest]

At Lance’s request the crowd goes silent for a moment, turning to look at the stranger. “You want to buy Jake here a coffee?”
Loud guffaws from the other occupants, including the waitress, shows how the locals imagine Jake will react to this. However,
“Sure don’t mind ifn I do” the farmer slides from the bench and makes his way to the counter. The waitress shrugs and pours a second coffee for the big man.

The door to the diner opens to admit the rest of the group, all soaked and looking slightly worse for wear courtesy of the weather. Barty looks white faced and is shaking visibly, but it is the young woman who draws the attention of the crowd.
“Why its Emilia Webb. What in tarnation are you doing out on a night like this, and where’s your granpappy?” Says the mustachioed man pushing himself away from a booth and moving towards the young woman now identified as Emilia Webb.

Looking around the diner’s modern interior there are five occupants, other than your group, two females. One, elderly, shares a booth with one of the males, they have the look of a long time married couple, the other the young waitress currently busying herself pouring cups of coffee.
There are three men; the guy with the mustache, the farmer, and the elderly smiling man sitting beside the female at the booth.
It appears that prior to your entry the farmer, Jake Burns, had been the subject of interest, From his state, somewhat white faced and nervous, whatever he had claimed to see has shook him up.
From the wetness of his overalls and jacket it is easy to conclude that the truck outside is his.

Of course due to your dramatic arrival, and your new companion, all interest is suddenly yours.
Outside the warm, dry interior of the diner lightning still flashes, thunder still rumbles, rain still hammers down and the wind seems to have increased.

“Oooh Winnie, say did you see that?” asks the elderly man in the booth. While most attention had been focused on Emilia, he had been looking out the window…