Music From a Darkened Room

[Mr. Handy]

Once they're outside the house, Vanessa removes the handcuffs from Dr. Yarrow as long as nobody else is around.

OOC,Luck roll (60% stat) outside the house: [dice]0[/dice]

[Silver Priest]

Vanessa sees no one. She takes out the key and is about to free the cuffed professor when she hears a startled scream.

Across the street a woman has just stepped outside of her house along with her young preteen child. When she sees the unconscious Chaz and cuffed Yarrow, she ushers her son back inside the house and hurries over.

"Oh my God! Is he okay?" She looks at Chaz. "What in the world happened?"

"I'm going to go call 911. He looks like he needs immediate medical attention!"

She's speaking pretty loudly, and this is a quiet enough area the agents feel fairly confident it's going to attract attention- if it hasn't already.

[Mr. Handy]

"The authorities have already been notified," says Vanessa, projecting an air of authority, "and we're taking him for medical treatment right now. I've already stabilized him. Please return to your house, ma'am."

OOC,Persuade roll (72% skill): [dice]0[/dice]

[Silver Priest]

"Were you in that house?' The woman looks behind them, her eyes widening, and she shivers. "Awful place. I used to think all the stories were nonsense, but I've lived here long enough now to know better."

Luckily she seems reassured by Vanessa's presence, and goes back to her home, casting a look behind her on her way. She'd probably remember their faces, and no doubt this would be the talk of the street for the next while. Hopefully none of this information reached the local police, or the agents would have yet another complication to deal with. But for now at least the rest of the way was clear, and Yarrow is easily uncuffed. Together the three of them lay Chaz down inside the vehicle, and they drive away from 1207 Spooner Avenue. It had very nearly claimed two more lives that day, and the agents best hope of exorcising it had apparently been unfounded.

They had along drive ahead of them, but would any of the team be able to figure out how to resolve the situation once and for all?

[Anatomist]

GM,can Yarrow use his network to search for usage of rune? what kind of roll would that be?

[HoneyDog]

Nik is silent for a while as he concentrates on driving, but eventually speaks up.

“After we get you fixed up, Dr. Yarrow, you need to go back home. Make up some story about your injury. Don’t say anything more about this to anyone. I’m sorry we got you mixed up in this, but you’re out of it now. Try to forget it ever happened. We’ll fix the problem.”

[Silver Priest]

Yarrow only,I'll say Yarrow already has a pretty good idea of what to do. The rune needs to be carefully inscribed on an object in a ritual that requires great psychic investment. Then said object must destroy the source of the haunting from which the manifestation is most attached to. In this case that would appear to be the mirrors in the master bedroom. If Chaz had been able to destroy the last one before being shot, the manifestation would have been banished from the physical realm. He's never performed the ritual himself, but the tome he read swore by it, and he has reasonable confidence that it would indeed work. Of course, that confidence may be shaken by everything else he has encountered.

[Mr. Handy]

"I'm going to need some medical attention too," says Vanessa. "I would have died without my Kevlar vest. We'll have some time while we recover to do some more research and come up with a solution."

[Silver Priest]

Of course, it occurs to the agents that they already have a solution to the haunting: Isabelle Wheeler had written down the ritual to call forth The Dark Man, and seemed to believe it would free the house from his influence. But the cost of such a ritual was high; a human life,for starters. Then again, two of them had nearly lost their own, and Dr. Yarrow had become possessed. Could they afford to risk it again?


The drive continues. A light rain begins to fall, as the team leaves Meadowbrook and the quiet suburbs of upstate New York and head into a more rural area. By the time they get to the address their contact had given them it is almost pitch black, the only light coming from the car's headlights. They pull up to a large three story farmhouse that looked like it had been built in the earlier half of the century. Despite this, it looks decently well maintained and has a crisp paint job that seems to have been done in the last few years. To the left of it is a series of stables and wide area of grass, suggesting the owner of it raised some sort of animals. None of them could be seen now, however.

Almost as soon as their car pulls up the front door opens, and a man steps out. Dressed in overalls, he has a long beard and wears a hat that proclaims him a Vietnam vet. He takes a few steps towards the agents, seeming to favor his left side very slightly.

"Help you folks?"

ooc,Everyone can make a HUMINT roll. Success says he's wary.

[HoneyDog]

“Yessir” says Nik, getting out of the car. “We were told by Mr. Green that you could help us. We have people in need of medical attention. One is quite serious.”

He regards the man closely, trying to get a read on him.

OOC,HUMINT 73: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/751477]HUMINT[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]1[/b]

[Mr. Handy]

Vanessa helps Dr. Yarrow out of the car, though really she's so badly hurt that he's helping her more than the other way around.

OOC,HUMINT roll (55% skill) about the man: [dice]0[/dice]

[Silver Priest]

The man nods and Nik can tell he relaxes. Good thing, as well; Nik notices a bulge on the right side of his clothes that had to have been a gun. He was injured and somewhat overweight, but the agent suspected that he was deliberately trying to appear more vulnerable than he really was.

"I might be able to, depending on what happened. Let's get you all inside."

He helps Vanessa in, then goes back out and helps the semi-conscious Chaz. Inside is a living room. Notable features include a small black and white TV set and a series of magazines haphazardly spread across a futon. A few beer cans also line the room; the man seemed to live a cluttered existence.

"You can all call me Frasier. I don't want to know what happens, by which I mean I want to know nothing of just what in the hells you were doing. I'm no longer active duty, and have enough nightmares as is. Just the details of your injuries will work fine. But let's get y'all downstairs." He leads the agents deeper into his house until they get to a closed door. Taking out a key he unlocks it, and turns on the bulb within, illuminating a series of stairs heading down into a basement.

'Careful on the stairs, now." He helps Vanessa down and leaves Chaz to Nik and Yarrow. Downstairs the agents find themselves in a room that looks to be a miniature clinic. Various machines line the room along with two beds, the first of which Frasier motions Chaz to be placed in.

"That's right, get him comfortable. Judging by the wounds on the lady here I'd say you were hit by a blunt object, is that right? Something along the lines of a sharp axe. The fella was shot. First impression it that's it's rather nasty.... a small miracle he's still alive." He smiles, but it's bitter.

"I'll do what I can for him. He should pull through, though he may never be fully 100%. it will take some time before I'd say he's ready for active duty again in any case. The group may disagree, depending on the severity of whatever you all were dealing with. Same with you, miss. You have a pretty nasty wound there, and further exertion may only worsen it. My recommendation would be at least three days of observation and bedrest, but I can give you some painkillers to help stave the worst of it off if you're insisting on getting back out there."

[Mr. Handy]

"Thanks, Frasier," says Vanessa. "You can call me Daphne. Your diagnosis is correct. This man has a bad gunshot wound from a 9mm bullet, and he's lucky to be alive." She indicates Chaz as she says this. "I have an axe wound to the torso, and the other injured man has one to his leg. Our mission is unfinished, and we'll discuss amongst ourselves how much time we can spare before we have to go back and complete the job."

[Silver Priest]

If Frasier gets the reference he does not show it. He listens to Vanessa and nods. "Fair enough. I'll give you some painkillers, but don't take them on the job; side effects include drowsiness. But I'm guessing you're going to be hurting for some time when the adrenaline wears off. At the least I can clean and disinfect all your wounds, make sure they don't get any worse." If the agents agree he'll do so, working in silence; they get the feeling he's not much for small talk.

Once he's done he gets to his feet. "I'll go brew up some coffee, give you all a bit to discuss your next move. If you need anything I'll be upstairs." Then he trudges up the stairs once again.

Chaz has slipped back into unconsciousness, likely helped by the IV Frazier has hooked up to him.

Vanessa only,Though she may not realize it, Vanessa no longer is compelled to feel that the runed axe was a dangerous tool. She likely still believes it is, as she talked herself into believing it, but extensive introspection or a compelling counter argument could sway her. If she ever is swayed, she will need to make a san roll when she discovers she shot and nearly killed her fellow agent. I'll give you the exact numbers when and if this happens.

[HoneyDog]

After Frasier has gone, Nik speaks up.

“We’ll rest tonight, and tomorrow Dr. Yarrow, you go home. You nearly got killed tonight, so consider your part finished. Daphne and I will return to the city, with the ax, and get someone in the organization to examine it for us”.

[Anatomist]

Dr. Yarrow lowers his gaze when he realizes he just got set home. 'But im the expert' he whispers while he grabs his wounded leg 'might be better i guess'. He looks around the room 'ok ill go home'

[HoneyDog]

"It's for the best, Doctor" Nik tells the academic.

He turns to his partner.

"Are you okay to travel?" he asks.

[Mr. Handy]

"Really, I'm in much worse shape than Dr. Yarrow, but I can manage," says Vanessa. "I think he can too, and we may need his knowledge. Who better to examine the axe? Just as long as he doesn't go crazy with it, it should be all right. We'll just have to bring it to him. As long as we remove it from the house, it won't be able to cause any harm there."

[HoneyDog]

"Who better? Dr. Yarrow's already looked at the ax" says Nik, "and he can't tell us anything about it. I want to take it to our contact in New York" he continues, not wanting to give names in front of Yarrow.

[Silver Priest]

Saying that, Nik recalls that he had already tried to reach their contact and learned the man was on a sabbatical for the next few weeks. They could perhaps wait until he got back to question him, If they felt comfortable delaying action for a time.