Play@YSDC

At first Louis can't hear anything. Then he is able to make out the background hiss of static, like a call being connected from far away. After a few moments of listening uncomprehending to the buzzing, buzzing through a disconnected line, he feels like he can make something out, a faint, eerie whispering barely audible above the crackling.

OOC:   That's a SAN check with 0/1 loss. And please give me a hard POW roll

San 63 roll 75 (lose 1). Hard Pow 33 roll: 36

Seeing everyone else has gone up the stairs, Kyle follows them, shining his flashlight back on forth to illuminate the way. . Each step groans and shrieks, like they're in pain, and the handrail wobbles back and forth disconcertingly.

The condition of the house on the top floor is possibly even worse than the ground floor, there is water trickling down the walls and great patches of staining across the peeling wallpaper and exposed plaster. There is extensive green mildew, and even patches of rot where some of the wooden floorboards are exposed. There's a damp, mildewy smell to match. But that's overpowered by something else, ammonia, strong, musty, and bitter - more than rat urine, something more, bat guano perhaps. And another smell, putrid and sweet, like rotting food.

At the top of the stairs there's the only visible window, to the south, boarded up with the external shutters closed and little light penetrating through the cracks. Overhead there's a loft hatch or trapdoor. On the south wall, just to the left of the window, to the east, is a full-length antique mirror in an elaborate metal frame.

There are two doors off this end of the landing. From the one on the right, with the door slightly ajar to the west, he hears the sound of crashing and banging. There might even be the slightest glimmer of something coming through the thin gap between the door and the frame. On the left there's an open doorway and Harry, Darren, and Ian seem to be standing behind Shirley who is inside the room, which looks like a bathroom, staring into a mirrored cabinet.

OOC:   I'll give you a link to the other thread once I've dealt with something there.

Through the whine of the receiver, Louis can just about make something out. At first he thinks it is a low, whispering voice, but slowly it begins to coalesce, a woman's voice, an old woman's voice, soft, the longer he listens the easier it is to hear. And there's something familiar about it. What's she saying? He tries to focus really hard on the voice, blocking out the crackling, yes, yes, he knows that voice. It's Grams, he hasn't heard from her in a long time. What's she doing on the phone? What's she saying? 'Louis dear, Louis my little sugar lump. You be a good little boy for your Grams. Come down the stairs and help me...'.

There's a click and one of the other doors in the kitchen seems to unlatch and swing open. Louis can just about make out the top of a flight of stairs through the open door. A faint, flickering light is just visible, playing around the steps and the door but barely penetrating the darkness of the kitchen. As Louis stands, holding the receiver to his ear, staring into the weakly illuminated stairway, something shadowy crosses in front of him and disappears down the stairs. It's low down, dark, furry, like a cat.

OOC:   I'll leave it up to you whether his grandmother is dead or alive

You're moving here.

There's a shout from upstairs, it sounds like Shirley, 'Hey Louis. Get up here.'

Notice stuff 65 roll: 85

Louis takes 2 damage

The wall to the north is made of a smooth and mostly undamaged gypsum board, rather than the lath and plaster of the other internal walls. Louis notices some kind of joint, or gap in the wall. Almost like there's a concealed door.

Attack 50%: 1d100 39
Damage: 1d2 2

Notice stuff: 65 roll: 93

I think that'll be a Gym Class roll to keep his footing. A failure will take 1d2 damage from a fall onto the steps.

It's high pitched. Like a little child's voice. But quiet, so quiet. Whispering. 'Help me.'