Episode 1 - Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate

[Mephistophilis]

OOC:   Luck rolls are fine to see if you brought a flashlight or there might be a light on your bike

[BoyBlunder78]

Picking up the remains of the balloon, Darren looks towards Charlie, "No reason" He says abruptly. " There are worse things than vampires.Hey Harry no sign of Louis or Shirley out here. Maybe their alreasy inside?"

[Snapper]

Max shone his flashlight on the shawl and peered at it a bit more closely, pushing his glasses back up his nose with one finger. He didn't want to touch the shawl, let alone get into the Buick, because he was afraid of getting cut by glass shards.

"I suppose we could follow the tyre tracks, see where they head to?" He called to the others while he peered into the vehicle.

[Mr. Handy]

Harry shines his flashlight into the Buick as well. "They head to here," says Harry. "Following the tracks would lead us to its point of origin, but my guess is whoever parked it is still here somewhere, because the car is. Maybe Louis and Shirley are inside, and they might have gotten a ride in this car. None of these other ones look like they came here recently. But the mirrors were broken off after the Buick got here, which means whoever did it is probably still here too."

I already had my flashlight listed on my character sheet.

[Philulhu]

Charlie looked around thoughtfully. ”Could be they’re still around but more likely it’s some kind of local tradition. I mean, some of these cars have been here a long time, judging by the rust.” He looked around for a moment longer, then said, ”Who are Louis and Shirley? Friends of yours?”

[Mephistophilis]

The scarf is made of a very fine diaphanous material, Max has never seen anything like it before, it's very colourful.

Harry walks around the Buick shining his torch through the windows. As well as the scarf on the passenger seat there's some stuff in the back, it looks like a map, maybe a camera, and some papers.

[BoyBlunder78]

Darren walks around the opposite sideof Buick, shining his torch in the back window, before trying the door handle. "Yeah they are friends, Shirley moved away about a year ago and Louis is one of my best friends."

[Snapper]

Using two fingers, Max reached through and carefully pulled the scarf free, gently shaking the glass off it, or trying to. "That's a shame that it got covered in glass. It seems too good to be left behind."

Is there a name on the scarf anywhere? Or a label even?

[Mr. Handy]

"So do this map, camera, and papers," says Harry, lighting them. "Louis is one of my best friends too." Once you've performed a Vulcan mind meld with someone, it forms an unbreakable bond.

[BoyBlunder78]

"At the best possible moment." Darren says smiling, but his eyes remain stern as he gives Harry the vulcan salute.

[Mephistophilis]

Harry shines his torch through the back window of the Buick and he and Darren look more closely at the contents of the back seat. There's
a map of Indiana half unfolded. The camera seems to be a Polaroid instant camera and it's sitting on a couple of photographs. Looked at more closely the papers are actually a ringbound notebook and a thin hardback book. The door to the Buick is locked when Darren tries the handle.

Max reaches through the broken window and retrieves the scarf, shaking off the shards of broken glass. He looks it over, there's a washed out label and he can't make out what it originally said but someone has written on it the letters S.A. in Sharpie. Once Max is finished, Darren unlocks the door through the broken window frame and then unfastens the back door.

In the back there's a large foldout map of Indiana. Nothing is marked on it but it is half folded so the area between Northfield and Indianapolis is uppermost. Pulling the photos out from underneath the camera, the topmost shows three people waving happily at the camera, a chisel jawed white man in his 20s, an attractive south Asian woman of a similar age, and between them what looks to be a blonde woman, although her face has been scratched and scribbled out. There's another photo of the man and Asian woman who seem to be hiking in the woods.

The notebook is largely empty, the rings filled with the spines of multiple pages which must have been ripped out and discarded. On the top page of lined paper it simply says Not my fault, not my fault, not my fault over and over again, filling half the page with the writing becoming more spidery and illegible the further down it goes. The hardback book is the 1985 yearbook for Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis. Flicking through the book, the only things of note are a photo of one of the teachers, a Sarah Collins, which has been completely scribbled out in biro. Underneath the picture of another teacher, a Mark Thompson, someone's written I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

In the photo with the man and woman, the woman is wearing a scarf or shawl over her head, and it looks remarkably like the orange scarf from the car. Also, looking through the yearbook with a bit more attention, there's another teacher, a Safiya Ali, who very much resembles the woman in the photo.

[BoyBlunder78]

Darren casts his eyes over the yearbook.....and sees nothing of interest being distracted by all the oddness surrounding this car and the rest of the parking lot.

[Mr. Handy]

"Live long and prosper," says Harry, returning the Vulcan salute. He studies the things he found carefully. "Look what I found! This woman in the picture with the man is wearing that scarf, and the woman in this other picture has a picture in the yearbook. She's a teacher too, Satiya Ali."

Notice Stuff roll (43% skill) looking at the papers and stuff:
d%

[Snapper]

"And the scarf has the initials 'SA' on it too for further confirmation, if we needed it."

"I guess they might have gone into the amusement park? After half demolishing their Buick..."

[Mephistophilis]

OOC:   Just to clarify, the photos are of Safiya Ali and Mark Thompson, Safiya is wearing the scarf. The second woman's face is scratched out in the photos.

[Mr. Handy]

"Or someone else wrecked it for them," says Harry.

[Philulhu]

Charlie looked at the car then back at Max, shaking his head. ”No one’s going to break their own car. And the same way the rest were done? That doesn’t seem likely.”

[Mr. Handy]

"Logical," agrees Harry.

[Mephistophilis]

While Charlie's looking at the Buick he notices something in the distance and points it out to the others. Inside the park, behind the outside fence. There's someone there. They're hard to make out with the dying sun behind them lending an unearthly orange glow. But it seems to be a child, carrying a red balloon. Dressed like a clown. In under the struts of the rollercoaster. Inside the park.

It's really hard to make this child out, they're wearing white face paint. But if you had to say, you'd think it was a boy rather than a girl. Maybe Louis, it's hard to say at this distance. Anyone who knows Shirley isn't sure but doesn't think it is her.

[Mr. Handy]

"That's definitely not Shirley," says Harry. "That kid looks like a boy, not a girl. Maybe it's Louis, but why would he put on a clown costume? And if he did, he wouldn't actually look like a clown."

Notice Stuff roll (43% skill) looking at the child:
d%
I'm reminded of the Blackadder II episode where Blackadder knew that the disguised assassin in the cow costume wasn't Nursie because when Nursie dressed up as a cow, she sure didn't look like one.