Play@YSDC

Dr Clermont climbs into the back of the old Renault and lays Marise down on the back seat, covered in several blankets, her head resting on his lap. He strokes her hair and murmurs soft words to her that Laurent can't make out.

Laurent struggles to start the engine in the cool night air and has to go around the back to handcrank it, working up an uncomfortable sweat.

----

Bumping along the unpaved road, weak headlight beams sweeping across scrubland and bare fields, Laurent tries to make the journey as comfortable as possible, keeping his speed down to avoid heavy braking as he comes across potholes and bumps in the surface. Every time the vehicle judders or shakes, Marise gives out a little whimper from the back. The doctor doesn't say anything.

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After driving for half an hour or so driving in complete darkness that presses in around them, the headlights pick out a pool of water up ahead, covering the road surface. Laurent puts his foot on the brake, starting to slow down when suddenly something seems to cross in front of the car. It's too quick and too dark for him to get a good look, all he sees are large, round eyes, shining in the headlights.

OOC:   I'd like to see how Laurent's driving handles that. I think we said he has a die for driving as part of his job fixing engines and another for being human!

Laurent instinctively applies the brakes, coming to a halt just in front of the figure.

Roll to avoid hitting the figure in the road (human die, occupation die):
2d6

Laurent brakes hard, wrenching the Renault to a sudden halt as the hazy figure materialises in the feeble glow of the headlights. There's a cry from the back of the car and Marise slips from the seat and Dr Clermont crashes into the back of the seat in front with a curse.

Sitting immobile in the middle of the desolate road, the silhouette is obscured and distorted by the dim illumination. But it hints at something grotesque. Bulbous, unblinking eyes, positioned oddly, almost sideways. They gleam momentarily before dissipating into the shadows. He barely registers the creature's form, elusive and slippery before it lopes away. Hints of flapping ridges of skin and flesh, ghostly white patches.

And then it's gone, abruptly vanishing into the enveloping darkness. Leaving Laurent to question what he's seen. And remember, remember down amongst the coral towers and spires. Beneath the waters of the bay. He feels queasy, and unsafe. The unspoken, primal fear of the prey when confronted with the eyes of the predator. He's afraid, he's really scared.

OOC:   Insight roll please.

Laurent's eyes go almost as wide as those of the creature were. "What was that thing?!" he cries.

Insight roll (current level 4) for seeing the creature:
1d6
Insight increases to 5.

Even as he cries out, Laurent knows exactly what he saw. He's seen it enough times now. Deep under the bay, swimming around the coral spires and bridges, before the ominous black opening, watching him with round unblinking eyes. Bursting from the bodies inside the cave at Anse Douce, immature forms slipping out onto the floor and slopping away on webbed feet. That smooth green statue, a toadlike mass of muscle and sinew, amphibian but intelligent. An ancient intelligence, utterly alien to humanity. Looking deep inside him. Seeing him like a man sees a fish or a rat. Seeing him, seeing through him. Dismissing him as so much vermin, or food...

'Mon Dieu, what happened Laurent. Did we hit something?'

Laurent feels an overwhelming desire to unload all he knows, his fears, his deductions, to tell someone else what is going on.

"No, I stopped in time," says Laurent. "It...it wasn't human. I've seen creatures like them before, at Anse Douce. Unless I miss my guess, Marise has seen them too."

'What do you mean 'not human?'' scoffs the doctor.'You're unlikely to see a crocodile out here, it's too far from the water. It was probably just a pig...or maybe a cow. At least you didn't hit it - I don't think my poor car could cope with that.'

Laurent looks into the back of the small car. The doctor looks fairly exasperated at what he is saying. But Marise is curled up, pressed hard against the seat. Eyes wide open in a look of terror.

"No, it looked like a cross between a man and a fish," says Laurent. "I know it sounds crazy, but that's what I saw."

There's a look of genuine concern on the doctor's face. 'I'm sure it looked like that, mon jeune homme, but it was just the dark, and the headlights.' Then he leans to open the car door, 'Look, I'll show you there's nothing...'

Marise gives a blood curdling scream. ‘Go! Just go!' she shrieks.

"No, stay in the car," says Laurent, as he puts it in gear and pulls away. "We need to keep moving."

The doctor grumbles away to himself under his breath as Laurent pulls away. But he hears Marise's sigh of relief as they drive off into the night.

-----

It takes a few hours more of driving the uneven road. Laurent feels the tension in his shoulders as he grips the wheel, blinking through the darkness as the feeble headlights of the Renault throw up ominous shapes in the shadows ahead, shapeless bayahonde bushes, occasional thatched caille. The car's inadequate suspension transmitting every bump and jolt through his body.



Eventually he feels a gentle hum as the wheels glide onto a smooth, metalled road and they pull up outside the white walls of the Beliard Private Hospital on the outskirts of Cap Matelot. The imposing building is dark, only a few lights visible from the outside. Dr Clermont leaves Laurent and Marise in the car and goes up to knock on the main door.

After what seems like five or ten minutes the door opens and the doctor has a muffled discussion with someone. Another ten minutes later a couple of burly orderlies come with a stretcher and take Marise from the car.

Laurent and Dr Clermont watch her being carried inside. As she passes Laurent she grabs his hand and gives him a look somewhere between pleading and fear. Then the orderlies yank her away.

The doctor places a hand on Laurent's shoulder. 'Do not worry my friend. She is in safe hands. Edouard Beliard is the best there is. His hospital is the best on St Joseph.' He gives Laurent a weak smile. 'Dr Beliard says we can stay here for the night and go back to Dame Marie tomorrow if you would like?'

"I promised I would stay with her," says Laurent. "I'll only go back when she does."