12d. A Walk in the Woods Re-visited (Sean)

[Philulhu]

Monday May 2nd, 1973 10.30am.
Brichester, England.

Sean turned away from the ruined house and set off back towards the carpark, following the trail they had made on the way there, glad to leave all the nutters behind. The rain had started to come in and, as he walked, water droplets fell from the trees above with what seemed like inerring accuracy, at least as far as the back of his neck was concerned.

From the trees off to his left, a rain-sodden twig snapped, causing him to pause and look around sharply, his heart pounding in case one of Brophy’s creature’s made a reappearance. There was no sign of anyone and after a few moments of terror-filled silence, Sean looked back to the path to see if there was anything ahead. Or was it ahead? He looked back the way he thought he’d come but he couldn’t tell them apart! The distraction had robbed him of his concentration, and now he wasn’t sure which way he had intended to go…

Roll for Tracking or an equivalent skill, please.

[jp1885]

[40] = 40
Track 10 d%: [ 40 ] = 40

A dyed in the wool townie, Sean is completely unsuited to the wilderness. As such, he quickly, and literally, loses track of where he is.

Whimpering in fear, he selects a direction by the time honoured method of eenie-meenie-miney-mo, and staggers on.

[Philulhu]

Sean pushed on through the woods, at times thinking he was following path and at times, utterly lost once more. After half an hour, miserable and soaking wet through, he came to a halt. Looking around, there wasn’t the first clue where he was.

From off to his left, another twig snapped…

[jp1885]

Perhaps delving into the darkness with a bunch of loonies was the best option after all…

Trying to control his frantic breathing, Sean whips his head this way and that.

“Hello?” He calls. “Who’s there?”

[Philulhu]

”Are you alright?” came a voice from behind Sean, causing him to jump around in surprise. A middle-aged woman with prematurely-greying hair and round glasses stood looking at him from about ten yards away. Her face was familiar but it took a few moments to place her - Audrey Taylor, the local librarian, who he’d met at the library a couple of times while researching local history for a series of articles he had written.

”What are you doing out her?” she asked, looking at Sean suspiciously. ”Are you lost?

[jp1885]

Sean visibly sags with relief at the sight of Audrey. It takes a few seconds for him to recognise her from his various trips to the library when researching stories, but eventually he answers.

“Yeah, I think I’m very lost! Listen, it’s not safe around here. Do you know the way to the car park?”

[Philulhu]

Audrey’s brow furrowed. ”Not safe?” she said, looking around her. ”Why on earth wouldn’t it be safe?”

[jp1885]

“I’ll explain later, once we’re out of here,” Sean replies, looking around nervously.

[Philulhu]

Spot hidden, please.

[jp1885]

[94] = 94
Spot hidden 60 d%: [ 94 ] = 94

Nervously agitated, Sean fails to notice anything out of the ordinary.

[Philulhu]

”You didn’t answer my question,” said Audrey, folding her arms across her chest. ”What exactly is it you’re afraid of?”

[jp1885]

https://i.imgur.com/m7unblg.jpg

“Let’s keep walking and I’ll tell you; but promise me you won’t call the men in white coats when I’ve finished.”

Letting Audrey guide the way, Sean recounts his uncanny experiences, from catching the eye of the investigators in the pub to his hurried departure from the ruined cellar door - monsters and all.

[Philulhu]

Audrey studied Sean for a moment or two then turned and started walking. It appeared to him that there couldn’t be any plan to her movements as she turned this way and that, seemingly at random, but at least he felt as if he were making some progress.

After what seemed like half an hour, Sean though he recognised the place where he had started this particular leg of the journey, albeit approaching from a different angle. ”This is the old house of Thomas Lee,” she said. ” What is it you wanted here?”

[jp1885]

Sean groans when he realises that Audrey has led him back to the ruins.

“I’ve never heard of Thomas Lee. I dunno what they wanted here: they were waffling on about travelling back somewhere - in time or some other crazy nonsense. I just decided to scarper while I could.”

“Look, let’s just get out of here. Whatever they’re up to, it isn’t good.”

[Philulhu]

A frown creased Audrey’s face. ”Travelling back in time? What do you think this is, an episode of Doctor Who?”

She stepped closer, forcing Sean to take a step back. ”Who are they and what are they doing here?” she asked in a steeely tone.

[jp1885]

Sean holds up placating hands.

“Hey hold on a minute, I’ve told you everything I know! Those Americans were asking about this Brophy guy, then we found two unconscious guys and some ambulance driver. Then this ambulance driver turns out to be Brophy apparently. Then we get attacked by monsters and then told to dig through these ruins for a cellar door.”

He shakes his head, disbelieving his own story.

“All they talked about was returning to their own time. That sounds mad, but there it is.”

[Philulhu]

As Sean looked at her, the colour drained from Audrey’s face. ”Brophy?!” she hissed. ”Brophy is here?! He can’t be! He must have died decades ago!”

[jp1885]

“You know as much as I do,” shrugs Sean. “There was summat about taking over bodies; I think he’s supposed to be - I dunno, squatting I guess - in the body of the ambulance driver.”

[Philulhu]

”A squatter?!” snapped Audrey. ”We’ll have no squatters here!” As she spoke, Sean was reminded of a story he’d covered the year before when some hippies had pitched up in an abandoned farmhouse on the outskirts of town. They had moved on quickly, amid rumours of a violent eviction and a couple of the hippies turning up in A&E with a broken arm and dog bites. No one was willing to talk about it, the pub always going quiet whenever Sean had tried to steer the conversation that way, and the story had faded away in the way that such stories would when no one wanted them to live on.

He blinked away the memory and it occurred to him that Audrey wasn’t looking at him anymore. She was looking past him and Sean realised they weren’t alone. He turned quickly and saw two men behind him - an older, thickset man with angry-looking bull mastiff on a short chain, and a lad in his late teens with greasy hair and wearing an old army combat jacket. Tucked under his arm was a powerful looking air rifle.

”We’ve got another eviction,” she snarled. ”And I think this time we’ll burn the place down so they don’t never come back!”

[jp1885]

“Um, Okay…”

Even more perturbed than usual, Sean backs away in alarm; his hands up.

“I’ll leave you to it then. I don’t suppose you could show me the way to the car park before you start, y’know, burning things?”