Play@YSDC

Jonathan thinks for a second of just running in the dark. But it's still cold outside, and he could easily get lost. The station, while weird in its own right, seemed at least safe. Safe enough to wait there until the morning. Making sure there's no monster in sight, Jonathan heads for the station, as silently as he can.

The air has a chill to it that brings a shudder crawling across his skin. The fog he moves through seems more alive than it should be, tendrils creeping past in the gloom rather than a mere haze of cloud, yet still so thick that it is hard to make out much at a distance. The world behind is darkness. Even the train seems like a dead thing, a mass of darkness seething to his right as he makes his way to the platform ahead. His right foot bumps brick before he quite realises he's there, depth perception warped in the foggy darkness. Groping along, he finds something thick and wet and moist on the top of the platform, more phlegm-like than blood-like yet still with a peculiar iron scent. Two more steps and he finds the short flight of stairs that will lead you up onto the platform itself.

Jonathan walks up the stairs and on the platform as silently as he can, still headed for the station.

Stealth Roll,1 point spent (already updated the sheet) Rolled a 5+1 = 6 http://orokos.com/roll/503969

Kate emerges from the train and onto the platform.

There are shapes in the fog ahead, the click-click-click of heels, both ladies and men's boots. Jonathon freezes and is easily hidden in the darkness and fog of the platform until or unless he once more intends to move.

As for the others, the fog is too thick to easily make out the rope chain or the doors, but they are as they were left.

Kate stands where she is and looks around nervously while she waits for the men to catch up with her.

Artemis stepped down off of the train and behind Ms. Kate. He looked about the mist veiled platform.

Jonathan freezes for now, unsure about what to do.

Charlie steps out of the train and softly murmurs "The siren's still going." Pulling his coat closer, he peers into the fog surrounding them, hesitant to move beyond the relative safety of the train's open door.

"Let's sneak back to the station," whispers Kate. "That maniac is still out there, so we don't want to draw his attention. We should be able to get in through the restaurant now that he's busted out. Otherwise, we'll have to climb the rope up to the window."

"Right, let's do this and quickly." Artemis lifted his cane and listened. He held the cane more like a sword and listened. I can just move slowly, don't need to worry about the leg if I move slowly, he thought to himself. He stilled his breath and listened, trying to get a sense of what was still out amidst the fog.

All is silent, absolutely still, out on the platform. No sign of ... whatever that was ... now. Perhaps they can make it through the doors before the stillness breaks and *something* out there strikes? There is a most disconcerting feeling of being watched.

Kate takes a deep breath, then proceeds carefully and silently towards the station.

The fog is thick and dense around you, cold tendrils snaking into your clothing and tickling your skin almost as though it were a live thing. The bright roundness of the moon can still be somehow glimpsed through the cloud which surrounds you though you can barely make out more than a few yards ahead of you. You can primarily see the concrete platform and the stripe of paint declaring how far you should stand back to avoid being sucked under the train's wheels, and the red brick building behind you with its white-lined windows and Victorian lamps pressed against the station's brick walls and sitting unlit. Benches line those same walls, empty of fellow passengers, crowding more thickly beneath the blue awning that stretches before the station restaurant. You can smell the smoke slowly dissipating from the train itself and see it mainly by its dark silhouette, somehow darker than the space behind it. You can hear the sounds of its engine slowly, ever so slowly cooling, as though the train were parked here to stay. Perhaps with a flashlight you could see further, as it is, you have to walk and look about.

There's nobody on the platform that they can see, but there is Ilona's coat that she lost awhile back when she came out to wait for the train. It's hard to make out in the gloom, but there appears to be some sort of dark stain....

Places to Go:

• Appledown Station Restaurant (broken open from the inside).
• Main Waiting Room (covered in chains that have been snipped).
• Upstairs Bedroom Window (cloth rope dangling down from it).
• Shed (unlocked).

Evidence Collection,There are twin scrape marks across the platforms. 1-pt Outdoorsman or Crafts spends available.

Flashlight on the coat,The coat is stained with blood.

Opening the folded coat,A mess of blood slick feathers lies around a quivering skinless mess, vaguely shaped but for a beak and ... and talons! Is that a tiny bird? It looks like something has pulled its feathers off. Stability Loss 0/1.

Forensics Knowledge,The bird wasn't skinned. Somehow its feathers and skin were firmly attached to the coat and yet loosely attached to its body, meaning that when the coat was last unwrapped they went with the fabric. This ... isn't natural. Stability Loss 0/3. MAXIMUM OF THREE CAN BE LOST ON THE PLATFORM IN THIS SCENE SO IF YOU HAVE ALREADY LOST ONE YOU CAN ONLY LOSE TWO MORE.

As silently as he can, Jonathan resumes walking towards the station's waiting room.

Charlie keeps pace with the others but as they draw closer to the entrance something he sees gives him pause and he whispers "what if it's waiting inside?"

Artemis followed the others picking each of his steps carefully as he held his walking stick aloft in his right hand. He heard Charlie's whispered question and whispered back, "We find a safe place and hold up there.'"

He looked down at the flashlight on the coat and in doing so caught a clearer picture of the stain. "it's blood. He whispered.

"I know," Kate whispers back. "I saw it earlier. There had been something moving under the coat, but I was too afraid to look. Probably just a rat, but I still didn't want to see it."

Nothing prevents their entry to the waiting room. As the door opens, light spills out onto the platform, competing with the tendrils of fog that lay heavy upon the ground. It doesn't pierce as far as it should -- leaving those hiding in the gloom still in shadow. Those who open the door, however, are briefly illuminated to be who they appear to be.

A look of relief quickly spreads over Jonathan's face, and he finds himself almost crying from joy as he recognizes the others. "God... thank you... thank God it's you...", he babbles.