Play@YSDC

"There's no telling, but I'm sure he'll be back soon. As for those children, that's a situation I'd really rather not look into." Lawrence declared as he looked over the shoreline, noticing the sudden lack of a boat. "I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I swear there was a boat by the shore. I reckon the brothers might have taken it."

Howard nods.

"William said that he saw something. But there's no telling where they could have gone. They must be coming back here at some point though."

After a while, it began to dawn on them that perhaps William had had to remain in hospital because he still hadn’t returned. By now, the sun had set behind the trees and it was starting to get dark; there had been no sign of movement on the lake for some time and the tree-lined path from the house to the road was in shadow.

"We've got an ultimatum to make, here," Lawrence declared after checking his watch. "We either check on William, or we head into the swamp. We can't waste any time, so it's best we decide now, rather than later."

Howard is hungry.

"Why don't we see if there's some food in the house. We can't go into the swamp in the dark, and we don't know where William has gone. If there's a phone in the house, we can call the operator and get put through to the local hospital. He might be there."

"Let's check the house once more, some food would be welcome." Thomas says. "I would like to check the swamp, but even with our flashlights, we probably won't be able to see much."

The house was how they had left it, albeit even darker inside due to the failing light outside. Their flashlights created as many forbidding shadows as they provided welcome illumination and the house felt eerily still.

OOC,which part(s) of the house are you re-visiting?

OOC,Is there a handy back door?

Howard

“Stay away from those kids! Don’t go upstairs. If they’re there, let me do the talking. Does anybody remember seeing a telephone?”

"You don't need to tell me. Those kids made my skin crawl. Don't recall seeing a telephone, either, but I could be wrong about that." the farmer declared, shining his flashlight at any suspected movement in the dark.

Ooc,Are there any rooms we didn't check? If not, [b]Lawrence[/b] will stick around the others, due to the whole "safer on numbers" thing.

Howard opens the back door.

"Let's have a quick look. Someone should stay and watch though. We don't want them getting the drop on us."

The back door led into the kitchen. A search of the cupboards turned up some tinned food but not a lot else. The only other food was that congealing on the plates in the dining room next door.

A search of the downstairs rooms revealed a telephone on a table at the foot of the stairs, near the front door.

OOC,You had searched the rooms on the ground and second floors. I don’t think you searched the first floor as you were disturbed by Robert Brophy and then the noise of the man who fell down the stairs from the second floor.

Howard picks up the phone, listening for a dial tone.

OOC,If the phone works, he will ask the operator to put him through to the nearest hospital.

There was the expected ringing noise from the other end of the line, then an unexpected clicking noise. The phone connected and instead of the voice of an operator, Howard heard ”Ia! William! Quid possum adiuvare vos?”

Howard feels a chill down his spine. He hangs up the phone.

“There was some guy on the other end asking for William, talking Latin.”

He rubs his face with his free hand.

“Let’s just get out of here. Contact the state police. There are bodies for them to look at now.”

The phone rang again, loud in the empty house. From somewhere upstairs, came the high-pitched giggle of a child...

"What'd he say? We could probably find some way to translate it once we leave this god-forsaken house."

Upon hearing the phone ring again, Lawrence has an idea; he searches the room for some paper and a writing utensil to transcribe the call with.

”Hello, operator speaking,” came a woman’s voice from the other end of the line. ”I think we got cut off. With whom would you like to connect?”