Ch.7 Déjà Vu

[Mr. Handy]

"Maybe we should follow those bootprints first," says William. "Whoever's been here before, we need to see where they went."

OOC,I think we should climb up through the trapdoor into the room.

[HoneyDog]

Howard nods his agreement.

[Philulhu]

The muddy bootprints lead out of the rooms, down the steps and towards the lake shore. It looked as if a number of people had stood there before heading off to the right, in the direction of the clearing where the creature had emerged from the lake on that fateful night, many months ago... ...

[HoneyDog]

"It looks like we'll need to back to the lake" says Howard.

He follows the tracks.

[Mr. Handy]

William trails along, shotgun at the ready. "That must have been the cause of the shooting that was heard," he says. "It probably didn't do them any good, but at least we came better prepared."

[peper757]

"Well, let's hope we don't have to use ours." Thomas says. He checks his gun carefully to reassure himself and follows the other closely.

[Philulhu]

Saturday, March 1st, 1930 4.25pm.
Squatters Lake Hotel, West Road, Newburyport, Mass.

The cold wind gusted across the lake, which caused the reeds by shore to sway ominously, in a way reminiscent of the spines of the creature they had seen the last time they had walked this path.

After a few hundred yards, the path opened into the clearing by the lake. A rank putrescence filled the air and there was a gleam of white bone in the mud by the shore...

[Mr. Handy]

"We're going to need to take a closer look," says William softly.

[HoneyDog]

Howard grits his teeth and walks over to look, hoping that they won't find what he fears they'll find.

[Philulhu]

As he approached, Howard noticed further points of reflection scattered upon the ground. The waning spring sunshine glinted from spent brass shotgun shells which poked up through the mud.

By the lakeside, a mass of broken bones lay in a pool of mud and yellowish liquid that reminded Howard of the contents of the jar in the hotel storeroom. The liquid gave off a rank stench that threatened to bring back the young men’s breakfast so they had covered their faces with their jacket lapels to try to ward off the foul miasma. As they got closer, they could see whatever the bones had belonged to, had sustained a prolonged assault as evidenced by the multiple fractures inflicted by shotgun blasts.Tyre tracks lead through the mud indicated it had probably been rammed by a vehicle, possibly as a coup de grâce.

As the three men studied the bones, they realised that they were human in origin with bony spines fused down the arms and the back ribs. Recoiling in horror, the men realised that if this wasn’t James, then this might be a clue as to his eventual fate... ...

OOC,Can I have a SAN check for the effect of viewing the bones?

[Mr. Handy]

William steels himself, having already expected a grisly find.

OOC,Sanity roll (current level 65) for seeing the bones: [dice]0[/dice]

[peper757]

Thomas had seen the dead many times before as a policeman, and the bones, while initially shocking, were nothing new to him. He looks nearby for any further clues as to the fate of their previous owner.

Sanity (80),[dice]0[/dice]

[Philulhu]

OOC - Thomas,Spot hidden check, please.

[peper757]

Spot Hidden (55),[dice]0[/dice]

[Philulhu]

As Thomas looked around, he didn’t notice anything that may have suggested what had happened here.

[HoneyDog]

SAN,SAN 49: [url=http://orokos.com/roll/726782]SAN[/url]: [u]1d100[/u] [b]56[/b]

The sight of the bones brings the memories of that fateful night flooding back. The sickening feel of Howard’s fist thudding into the woman’s face, the violation of that thing’s spine in his shoulder… Howard is overcome by the emotions he has been trying to suppress.

[Philulhu]

OOC- Howard,SAN loss [dice]0[/dice]

Howard staggered back, caught his foot in a rutted tyre track and sat down hard. As he looked down at his feet, he noticed a folded paper flier partially buried in the tyre tracks - perhaps discarded and then run over?

A light breeze from the lake caused the pages of the flier to flick open. With a start, he thought he caught a glimpse of a familiar face... ...

[Mr. Handy]

"What have you found there?" asks William.

[peper757]

Thomas sees the others investigating something in the tracks, and decides to see if he can determine where the tracks lead.

[HoneyDog]

Howard manages to stand up, and he holds the flier out so that they both can see.