Scenario Entitled: You Can't Go Home AgainCharacters:
Rayne, an intuitive woman trying to pick up the pieces of her life.
Missy (NPC), a talkative, precocious little child-like D-Bee with a strange.. father.
Location: The Hanged Man, a little shop for the occult.
Date: Marron, 108 P.A.
Message delivered to The Succubus, addressed to room 203: A childlike hand seems to have written this letter, black pen ink scattered liberally about the white page. It reads,
Miss Rayne Beaux
You hav wanted to speek to the owner of the hanged man wich is me. I will agree to meet you in the hanged man if you will come always at midnite wich is when I am home. Wat day dusent mater just remember always midnite. My doter will open the door for you when you come at midnite.
Sinserly
mister yarg
Missy shouts "Whoooo IS iiiiitt?"
A young woman's voice calls through the door, "My name is Rayne. I'm here to speak with the owner of the establishment. Is he in, yet?"
The woman calls out, "If it's inconvenient, I can come back later." She sounds a little uncertain, her voice quavering just a little.
Missy unlocks the door and peers out at the woman with a child's excitement. "Ohh, is it Miss Rainbow?" she chirps in a friendly tone, moving back a step into the Hanged Man, trustingly. "Daddy's here, yup..."
Rayne steps into the shop, taking a very deep breath as she does, as if inhaling the very essense of the shop. She tugs her gloves off and looks around. Even after closing the door, she stays respectfully near to the entrance, waiting for further invitation to enter.
Missy looks at the dusty old clock at the back of the main room. After a few moments concentration, she says, "It's ten-something. Daddy said midnight, didn't he?" she says doubtfully, turning back to Rayne and looking her over wistfully.
Rayne examines the clock a moment then nods, "Well, I suppose you're right. I was just kind of guessing the time. Do you think your dad will see me, anyhow? If not, I can come back later... I guess."
Missy openly admires Rayne's clothing ensemble, but looks uncharacteristically nervous for a moment. She says slowly, like a child trying to solve a mathematical equation without the use of fingers or toes, "We-ll.. it's may-be close en-ough.. may-be he's a-wake..." Without explanation she shuffles off to the beaded curtain, trundling through with a swish.
Uh oh... time passes and Rayne looks like she's starting to lose her nerve. She shifts nervously from foot to foot, sure she's made a mistake. She reaches for the doorhandle, readying to leave, then changes her mind, planting her feet firmly back in place.
From behind the beaded curtain, Missy shouts "Daddy? Da-a-a-d-e-e? Miss Rainbow is he-e-e-r-e-e! Eeaarrrleeeee!"
More time passes... Rayne twists the note in her hands, opening it, re-reading it, folding it back up. She clumsily drops one of her gloves and stoops to reach for it. On her way to standing back up, she jumps with a start at Missy's abrupt notification of her arrival. She barely catches herself from falling, grabbing one of the nearby shelves for support and managed to regain a standing position. No, grace is definitely not her middle name.
Missy's voice trails off in the backroom followed by maybe a minute or so of silence. A loud thump is heard upstairs, and it seems as if a sigh moves physically throughout the first floor rooms. A rack of bracelet charms and feathers sways slightly.
Rayne winces, pressing her back to the door and reaching around behind her to hold tightly to the handle in case of a need for a quick escape. She reaches up and places a hand to her chest to try to calm the erratic thumping.
Missy's voice is bright and pleased at the odd sounds. "He's awake!" she calls through. "Miss Rainbow, you're still there, aren't you?" There's another *bump!* and the light fixtures dim faintly. The darkened ceiling takes on a warped look as... voices.. come trickling down, losing and gaining volume and tone"..awake?... /rain/bow... /ARE/n't you?..."
Like someone feeding a film's audio reel in clumsily to match with the picture. A slow gurgle punctuates the fluctuating voices, and a noise is heard at the head of the stairs.
The only description that would suitably describe the poor trembling woman at the door would be that of a fish lying helplessly on the beach. She opens her mouth and closes it again, whether to speak or to just gasp for air, even Rayne can't seem to decide. "Ok, deeeep breath," she manages to mumble and slowly closes her eyes. She lets her hands drop loosely to her side and stands tall. As she opens her eyes to face the beaded curtain her face set with, well, no, not pride, but the bravery of someone going into a battle they know they're going to lose.
The sound of The Hanged Man's new owner coming down the stairs is not so much a series of steps, as a rather squishy, flowing sound. And continuing into a gutteral voice are the words: "..rrr/ain/bow... aw-a-ke.. aren't /you/.. rrain/bow/.." As incoherent as some dull brute being taught the english language with a dubious degree of success. A murky breeze comes through from the back room, and Missy's urgent, 'shrill' whisper comes over it, "Change, daddy, /change/!"
Rayne grits her teeth, preparing for the worst. Just like some cheesey horror film, she calls out in an altogether too cheerful voice, "Oh, Um, if this is a bad time, I can come back!" She forces her hands to remain at her side, but instead of resting lazily there, her fists ball up tightly. Again, she calls out, "I /honestly/ don't want to trouble anyone. Really! It's no big deal...." her voice trails off. Too late, whoever... /what/ever it is is nearly down the steps.
The sewer noises subside to a low murmuring, and Missy's starkly pale face appears through the beaded curtains, mouth in the beginning stages of a concerned shout. It lingers on her lips, struggling to gain a voice and spring to life. What is it... you can almost just see the words in her eyes: 'Get out! Run, Miss Rainbow, run!' The air goes still.
(OOC: +Roll over to save against HF 16)
<<DICE>> Rayne rolls 1d20 and gets 13.
A rising feeling of panic infuses your being, as well as a innate knowing down to the core of your intuitive soul, that when the letter said 'midnite', it meant 'midnite, or else'.
Rayne's eyes go wide, she drops her gloves and the note and turns toward the door, fumbling at the handle, she struggles for what seems like an eternity to her, a panicked shriek escaping her clenched teeth. She glances over her shoulder to see what horrible abomination is going to swallow her with one gulp, but manages to twist the door open, falling halfway out the door.
Just before your precipitous fall out into the snowy walkway, you glimpse the beaded curtains flowing outwards from the backroom, and a billowing, struggling shape of dark masses forming, collecting, and bulging just behind and to the side of the small, terminably cute form of Missy. Nothing too clear, thank the gods for the dim light.
Rayne lands with a thump and scrambles futilely in the slushy ice for a moment, then manages to get herself halfway upright. She pulls herself out of the doorway, forward crab walking (well, running) away from the shop. Halfway down the street, one can hear a woman screaming. Apparently, Rayne finally managed to collect herself enough to yell, at least.
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