NationStates Jolt Archive

[OOC: This is not a copy from the book or movies, do not steal characters from either of them.]

Parker Harte sat at a desk, looking around his office. He had absoloutly nothing to do, he leaned back in his chair. Soon enough, him, and his team, would go to work. They had another case, a house in a small town of Ottawa Ohio. They were a paranormal investigations team, they went in to investigate supernatural things.

He was a non-beleiver, many wondered why he was on the team. He didn't beleive in spirits, or demons, or any of that. He never told anyone why he was on the team, he didnt completely know himself.

He picked up the phone, and dialed.

"Bill?" He asked. "Call the rest of the team, we are going to be leaving tomorrow, and I want them here by 7 AM."

"Yes," Bill Harman said on the other line.

Bill then made numerous other calls, getting most of the team in person, but having to leave a few messages, giving them the same message.

Tomorrow we are leaving on our next case, be at the offices by 7 AM, we will discuss the rest from there

[OOC: Btw you come in as one of the members of the team, if you want to come in as another character, wait till later]

I'm interested, I'll post something a bit later.

[OOC: Okie dokie, glad to have you aboard]

OOC: If you don't mind, I'll start things up. Wire me a telegram if you want this post deleted.

IC: David Vance had gotten plenty of questions and plenty of insults in his line of work. Were it not for the fact that he had become positively certain last year that killers go to hell (a long story for another time), he would have strangled the next person that made a joking reference to the Ghostbusters, X-Files, Men in Black, or any other dramatized version of the real thing. He was fed up with it- fed up with stereotypes. He despised them, spit on them and burned them. He knew for a fact that all the things he had seen and done in the paranormal realm were real, whether or not anyone else did. He believed with every fiber in his body. He knew a fraud when he saw one. A man on the street recognized him and asked him if he knew John Edwards. He said that John Edwards was the biggest liar this side of Washington.
With ten thousand psychics making fifty thousand predictions each running around, who could blame a slightly-too-skeptical public for being the slightly-too-skeptical people that they were? David had learned to accept it. Proving it to the world had been done before. Already, the public was making people that truly witnessed evidence of the supernatural firsthand become non-believers. The paranormal was a religion. It was not for those who dabbled. It was not meant for the heathens of everyday life. As David Vance prepared himself for the case to come, this man that had dedicated his life to the religion thought with the hints of a snarl on his face: The supernatural was not meant for Parker Harte.

Harte had packed up the van when Bill arrived first, he stepped out of his car, and walked over to Harte.
They exchanged hellos and soon got back to work packing up the two vans, lights, cameras, thermal cameras, microphones, recording devices. As well as a few computers, and laptops.
"Shouldn't be too long before the others arrive"

"Father Luke, word just came down from the higher-ups. The Cardinal-Archbishop to be precise. As Archbishop AND rulerof Cherry Ridge, he orders you to go to Techon. Seems there is some crazed paranormal investigation company doing all sorts of crazy investigations. He says he doesn't want those idiots messing with demons, He wants you to travel there and pay them a visit."

"Thanks Deacon, I am on my way"

ooc- Father Luke is a Catholic priest. He is the commisioned exorcist for Cherry Ridge. Cardinal DeVito, is the archbishop and ruler of cherry ridge.
I will RP Father Luke

Father Luke stood up as his plane touched down. He got off, and went to pick up his luggage. He was wearing a long, black cassock, with a Roman Collar. His rosary beads swung from his side. He also had holy water in his pocket, a pocket sized bible, a small crucifix, and small prayer book, with the prayers for exorcism. he strolled out of the airport, with his luggage, and walked down the street to a nice sized, clean, beautiful hotel. He rented room 301, and unpacked.

Father Luke caught a cab, and exited it at the office of the para normal team. He walked in and asked a young lady at the desk,
"Where is the team? I am here under orders of Cardinal DeVito, archbishop and ruler of Cherry Ridge, to exorcise the place myself, and to protect them. They could get harmed by the demons. The church has taken great intrest in this. Tell me where they are" he waited for the responce from the young girl.

A light red Jeep Wrangler parked next to the pair. Bruce Sringsteen's Ghost of Tom Joad could clearly be heard coming from the Jeep. The figure leaned forward and turned off the CD player. The man smiled at Harte and Bill before climbing out.

The man stood at 5'11 and was wearing a pair of kaki pants and blue, button up collared shit. He ran his fingers through his black hair and took off his sunglasses, revealing dark blue eyes.

Besides being part of the paranormal team, Frank Williams was a computer programmer for a small company that was being bought and traded quite often. Frank simply quit two months before because his pay was quickly reducing, so only thing he now did with his spare time was the paranormal team. He walked up and shook thier hands.

"Got Bill's message and came over as soon as I could Parker. Since it appears I'm the first here, I think I'll bring out the refreshments."

He reached into his Jeep and pulled out a cooler, he popped it open to reveal beer and Coke. He reached in and opened a Coca Cola.

"You guys want a beer or Coke?"

[OOC:

"I'll take a beer," Parker Harte said.

"Make it two Frank," Bill said as they stood beside each other. "So whats the case today Harte?"

"Mother, Father, and a kid, moved into this house, they have been seeing things at night, and hearing noises," the team leader explained. "They just want us to go in and check it out. Should be a relatively small case."

------------

Susan looked over the man. "They are out back, getting ready to head out."

[OOC: btw just to let you know Cherry Ridge, Father Luke will not be the exorcist later on in the story, but I do have an idea for him, for the moment go along with what I say, and when we get to the house do as I say and then from there you are free to do whatever other than suceed an exorcism, you can try one but I am not gonna let it suceed, but still glad to have you aboard]

ooc- Can I just RP that I arrived at the house already?

Frank laughed and handed them each a beer. He sipped his soda.

"Parker, hearing noises in your house is nothing out of the ordinary. Hell, I heard noises in my attic when I was a kid. Got my BB gun, flashlight and headed up there...mice. Just mice. As for seeing things, the eye plays tricks on people. That is what movie makers do, use the shadows and lights to play tricks on the viewer's eyes. I bet....this case will be over in two hours."

[OOC: Cherry Ridge, go right ahead]

Parker laughed "Agreed, most people are paranoid these days, but hey we get paid for this, so why not go?"

Bill laughed. "Are we all you assigned to go today?"

[OOC: Last chance to join as a member of the team]

OOC: Can I be a team member?

Coming to a stop, a black Dodge Neon pulls up behind the jeep, stepping out is a man about five foot.

“Sorry I’m a bit late, traffic was murder, some construction closed half the road” called out Russ Shomer, as he dusted his faded jeans and black T-shirt. Walking over to the others he says, “Toss me one of those beers, so uh, what’s the job this time?”

((OOC: Yes, jumping in at the last minute +1))

OOC: Can I be a team member?
[OOC: Of course, come on in!]

"We were just figuring the people owning the house are probably paranoid," Parker said to Russ. "Its the normal stuff, seeing things, and hearing things."

"Hello" Father Luke said to the other team members, "I am a Catholic priest here to help you. I have come under the orders of Cardinal DeVito, archbishop and ruler of Cherry Ridge. On top of his cassock, he now had a stole.
"I understand that there is a problem with demons with this house. A family being bothered by it is what I have heard. DOn't be fooled. He will get more vicous as we enter."

"Are any of you Catholic" Father Luke asked

"I am athiest," Parker said.

"I am a Presbyterian," Bill said afterwards. "And by the way, we don't even know that there is a demon in there, for all we know it could be rats and shadows and paranoid people. There is no sure evidence, that is why we are here."

"May God enlighten you Parker, and I pray you will return to Rome, Bill"

"Anyway, that is a possibility, Bill. Shall we go have a look?"

Frank tossed Russ a beer. He looked at Father Luke.

"If it is any help I'm Methodist. I don't believe in demons or nonsense like that."

Father Luke looked towards Frank.
"You will soon change your kind" he said with a smile, "What kind of bear do you got"

"Thanks," he said to Frank as he caught the beer. Listening he then let loose a silent sigh, Priests..., he thought, shaking his head.

[OOC: Of course, come on in!]

OOC: Ok.

IC: Tom Tomoyuki parked his Mitsubishi at the Harte house. He raced inside.

"I hope I'm not late. Got caught in heavy traffic. Have I missed anything?"

IC: Tom Tomoyuki parked his Mitsubishi at the Harte house. He raced inside.

"I hope I'm not late. Got caught in heavy traffic. Have I missed anything?"

"Nope, party yet to start," said Russ, "and you haven't missed much but a little religious talk.”

"Nope, party yet to start," said Russ, "and you haven't missed much but a little religious talk.”

"Religion helps people cope with the world. Do not take religion lightly."

"What about those who don't have a religion?" Parker Harte asked. "I've coped with the world."

"Alright, alright enough talking about relgion, lets get in this house!" Bill said.

[OOC: We will enter the house tomorrow]

"What about those who don't have a religion?" Parker Harte asked. "I've coped with the world."

"Alright, alright enough talking about relgion, lets get in this house!" Bill said.

[OOC: We will enter the house tomorrow]

"Ah, but what do I know? My family has been religious since the most ancient times of their families in Japan. I would like to see this house. Perhaps an Oni could be upsetting the family"

ooc- techon, I think you should be the first to enter
ic-
"Tom, it could be a demon, straight from hell, I doubt it is the devil himself, but it could be, or as Bill has said, the family is paranoid, which I also seriously doubt. Most likly a demon, or Satan himself."

"What equipment do you have with you? I have this"

He laid out this:
Holy Water
Bible
Book with the rite of exorcism
crucifix

"The stole I am wearing will also help, what do you have?"

OOC: An Oni is a Japanese demon.

IC: Equipment? Ummm... do you have stuff for us Parker?

Frank reached into his Jeep and pulled out a duffel bag. He pulled out a tarp and layed it on the ground. He then put the contents of the bag on the tarp.

"I got, four sets of night vision goggles, three flashlights, a few hand flares, a couple laser pointers, and three small phlorescent lamps. These might help, along with the cameras and the recording devices we have."

"HA" scoffed Father Luke when he saw Frank's equipment. "Electronics don't work on demons, Frank."

"Father, what would make you think it is demons?" Frank asked. He leaned against the Jeep and stared at Father Luke.

"Hell....sorry Father...not every noise people hear in dark places is the work of Satan. You know I don't believe in demons, and unless you can produce evidence that I can see and hear...they remain nothing more than a tool to scare kids straight to me."

"Their still energy doc, electronics gonna work on them any which way. So who brought the tape recorders this time?" Russ said calmly while still nursing his beer.

((OOC: And yes, I shall now refer to Father Luke as 'doc' hahaha!))

"I just have a hunch that it is demons"

"And Russ, you had better stop this 'doc' crap beofre I get mad. Where did you get that from anyway. I am a priest, not a doctor, nurse, or a medic. I am asking you to please stop"

unless you can produce evidence that I can see and hear...they remain nothing more than a tool to scare kids straight to me."
"You will soon see the evidence" he laughed nervously

"You will soon see the evidence" he laughed nervously.

"Well I hope not tonight, got things to do tomorrow," Russ chuckled, "and well even though you are a priest you still got a doctorate in theology, so that makes you a ‘doc’ doc.”

"Well I hope not tonight, got things to do tomorrow," Russ chuckled, "and well even though you are a priest you still got a doctorate in theology, so that makes you a ‘doc’ doc.”
"True, true, but it gets annoying"


ooc- not all priests get doctorates in theology. Master in theology. But exorcists are experianced prists with lots of study. If he has many years of study, e probably does have a doctorate in that. Thats why this one does.

OOC: I just made my character assume this because; he has been in the business and would know that the church wouldn't send anyone as an exorcist. And I think a sardonic charm fits this character.

"Alright… doc,” he grinned sheepishly, “ok, I’ll stop,” he said chuckling.

"We don't have any 'holy eqipment' that you have Father," Parker said. "Hell, we arent here t exorcise, or bless, or do any thing to the damned house. We come here to see if there is anything in there, anything beyond our level of being."

He looked around at the others. "Hell, I could see a demon in my face and I wouldnt beleive, because there are so many ways that you can create illusions. We have a job to do, now lets stop arguing and bickering over what childish names to call each other, and lets go into the house."

He walked for the door, with Bill close behind, they got up to it and knocked.

"Yes, hellp?" A middle aged man asked as he opened it up, he looked over them all. "Oh, good its you, come in, please come in."

Parker nodded and walked in, Bill said hi to the man as he passed into the door as well.

Father Luke walked in.
"Hello" he said to the man.
He waited for Parker to get started.

OOC: Hey just wondering how to get involved in an rp of some kind here.

OOC: Hey just wondering how to get involved in an rp of some kind here.
[OOC: If your wondering about RP's in general, I would suggest reading the stickes, if your talking about my RP, just wait and I'll signal for the next wave of people to enter later]

Parker and Bill waited for everyone else to enter.

As Tom entered the house, it seemed out of place for a demon to be in. Surely, he thought, a dark being wouldn't choose randomly where to attack or cause mischeif.

Frank brought his stuff in and smiled at the man. He looked around the place...nothing seemed out of the ordinary to him.

"So...what is the plan chief?"

ooc- Father Luke is already in.

"First," Parker said. "Introductions, I am Parker Harte, this is Bill Harman..."

"I am Tom Tomoyuki."

" I am father Luke, nice to meet you" he smiled as he extended a hand for him to shake.

"My name is Sam Kenson," The man said, shaking Father Luke's hand.

"And I'm Frank Williams, Mr. Kenson. So...where is this problem?" Frank asked.

"Well," Sam Kenson explained. "We've been hearing things, like scratching along the wall, but its not on the inside of the walls, its on the outside of the walls. As if someone in person was doing it. Also, we've seen things, shadows mostly, one time my son, Tim, ran into me and my wife's room saying someone was shaking him awake at night, we want to know what it is, and get it out if possible."

"Mr. Kenson, what religion are you?" asked Father Luke

(ooc: wow, four pages, is this waaay too late to join? o_o)

OOC: In this RPG as a start would be nice.

“Sure it isn’t just mice or something like that inside the walls? Oh, by the way, I’m Russ.” He said, “but either way, we are here to help.”

"Mr. Kenson, what religion are you?" asked Father Luke
"We are catholic," Kenson replied, he then looked at Russ. "I just said, its coming from the outside of the wall, the parts we can see, there is no noise from inside it."

(ooc: wow, four pages, is this waaay too late to join? o_o)
(OOC: Baah I wish the people would read parts of the RP first, I've stated like five times that wait a bit and you can join in then)

(ooc: my bad. :))

"Mr. Kenson, I am obviously a Catholic priest. Did you contact your local priest? If not, that is ok. My archbishop, Cardinal DeVito, got permission from your local bishop to allow me to come here. Scratching on the wall seems like 'they' are messing with you. Shall we have a look?" he said calmly.

"Yes," Parker said. "Part of our normal routine is to have a tour of the house if you will please sir."

"Yes, right away," Kenson said. "I'll show you the basement, follow me..."

He walked off, with everyone behind him, he took them into the basement, which was nothing out of the ordinary, just one simple big room with a ping pong table, as well as a pool table.

Next they went upstairs, nothing out of the ordinary once again. but then they reached the sons room.

"This is Tim's room," Mr. Sam Kenson said, and knocked on the door. "Tim, can we come in?"

"Yes," A quiet voice said inside.

Sam opened the door and they walked in, it was a nice, small room, with a blue bed, white walls, a dresser, and one lone table. The boy was sitting on the floor playing with little toy action figures, he was only about eleven years old. Parker looked around, on the desk was a Ouijia board, he would have to ask about that later.

Tom whispered to Parker, "Why would the kid have an Ouijia Board in his room if they think a dark being is after them?"

"I'm not sure Tom, maybe they don't know what Ouijia boards do," Parker whispered.

EDITED POST:
"Mr. Menson, you and your child have commited a mortal sin by messing with the occult"

"Its just a stupid little game. Nothing to get worried about, Father Luke." Tom said .

"No, No it isn't. See what DEMONIC forces it has brung. YOU ARE ALL in denial. It is a MORTAL SIN."

[OOC: Thats a giant godmod, seeing how the board is a key part in the storyline, your post is ignored]
I will EDIT.

"No, No it isn't. See what DEMONIC forces it has brung. YOU ARE ALL in denial. It is a MORTAL SIN."

"Not in my religion." Tom muttered under his breath.

"Father Luke," Parker said, grabbing him by the arm and taking him into the hallway. "Your lucky enough that we aloud you to come into this house ok? Listen to me though, I do not want you persecuting our clients!" He hissed at him. "We earn our money from this, this is our job, if we lose it, we will be screwed over. So shut up with this damn demons and occult and blasphemy sinning shit!"

In the room the boy looked at his father, Sam Kenson looked at Tim.

"Father, whats an occult?" Tim asked.

"Nevermind that," Kenson said. "Its just a game son, don't worry."

Bill peered into the hallway, then back at the others.

"Alright, if you want me to keep my mouth shut, I will"

He then muttered under his breath,
"Just a game, they will find out soon enough"

He then glanced back at Parker and walked back in.

Frank was quiet as Father Luke went into his rambling about demonic forces. In his mind the Catholic Church should get out of the Dark Ages and get into modern times. He never played around with Ouijia when he was a kid, Stratego was more his thing. He looked around the room, it seemed normal to him.

"Right Parker, what's the plan?"

"Alright," Parker said as he looked around the room. "Is that the end of the tour?"

"Yes," Mr. Kenson said.

"Well, we are ready to start setting up, and you know what that means Mr. Kenson," Bill said. "I'm sorry but your going to have to move out for the night."

"I understand," Sam Kenson said.

"Its strict routine, we don't want any interference with the investigation," Bill explained.

It was another half an hour before Mr and Mrs. Kenson, as well as Tim Kenson, were on their way to Tim's grandparents house for the night.

"Alright everyone," Parker said. "Lets start setting everything up, you know where to put the equipment, and like usual, Frank your the technical manager, so your in charge of all the equipment. Bill, me and you will set up the control base in the kitchen."

He looked around at everyone else, his eyes stopped on Father Luke, and then said. "Do whatever, but don't get in trouble."

He smirked and then said, "ok".
"Parker", he called, "What do you think this will end up being"

"In reality?" Parker asked as he stopped, turning his head around. "A demon."

"In reality?" Parker asked as he stopped, turning his head around. "A demon."

Russ couldn't tell if Parker had been kidding or not, but he hoped for not. Blind faith in a haunting just hurts the buisness, but he wasn't going to blow anything just incase Parker really wanted to spring something on the Priest.

So he waited in that eternal moment of silence for Parker to speak...

Parker walked out of the room with Bill, and saw Russ. "You can help us if you want."

"Parker" he called, "Enogh sarcasim, don't try anything funny" he said

"Huh?" That pulled him out of his contemplation, “Sure, I can do the walk through looking for cold spots.” Hearing the Father’s comment he called, “Don’t worry we are professionals here, usually,” Leaning back and giving the man of the cloth a sly look.

Everyone got to work, soon enough everything was set up, the computer base as they called it, a area of four computers, displaying all the cameras in the house, both thermal cameras, and regular ones.

He handed out several microphones and told them to place them in random locations, and to turn them on for any possibly EVP's. He then gave another camera to Russ, and Frank, and told them to go throughout the house to check for coldspots or other things once they reached the 'Dark Time' as they called it.

It wasnt anything dark or evil, but instead just when they shut all power off in the house so it wouldnt interfere with electricy spikes or anything they might pick up.

"Thats where you come in Tom, we need you to turn the power off now," Bill said. "Everything, go into the basement, and turn it all off."

"Yes sir." Tom said as he grabbed a flashlight and went down into the basement. He reached the power box and started to turn everything off, one-by-one until the lights were all off.

Frank finished setting up the last of the cameras when the lights flicked off. Putting on one of the nightvision goggles he had, he turned it on, making the darkness an strange green color. He made his way around the house, making sure everything was plugged in and working properly. It all appeared to be working fine. Frank handed Russ a pair of nighvision goggles.

"You'll want these Russ, I'm not gonna hold your hand to take you back to the kitchen."

"Ya, thanks Frank," he said as he took the goggles, allowing the eerie green to engulf his sight.

"Alright, lets hunt some "demons"." He said as he held out a digital thermometer and tape recorder.

Father Luke lit a candle. He wlaked over to another team member and asked,
"Can you explain some of this equipment to me"


ooc- the "other team member" is whoever answers first

"Well," Bill explained. "This we call out Central Command, or Computer Base, it is where all the cameras are linked up to this. So from here we basically can see majority of the entire inside of the house. This one, in the lower right corner is a thermal cam. It picks up heat, so like say a person will walk by it, you will just see their body heat. Lets say a spirit moved by it, the area would be slightly, or majorly, colder than room tempeture."

He continued, moving along some of the equipment on the desk. "This right here," He said holding up a camera. "Are also thermal cams, its hand held so we can take it throughout the house ourself looking for cold spots."

He picked up another little gadget. "This is a digital thermometer, so we can go throughout the house and check for cold spots."

"These are simple, they are tape recorders, the only thing we use them for is to try to communicate with spirits. We turn them on, ask a few questions, pausing inbetween, and then we will usually set it on the ground nearby and leave it on. To see if there are an EVP's."

He took out a yellow/black little device. "Ah..the name's left my head for the moment of this, but what it does, it measures the electricity feild in the area. Usually spirits have a high area around them, so the meter on this will spike if one is nearby, it helps us find them when there are no cold spots."

He looked around. "Thats really all there is."

-bump-

"Oh" he sighed

ooc- waiting for more of the story

Frank walked into the kitchen. He was still wearing his nightvision goggles and looked at Bill.

"Bill, me and Russ got everything hooked up, so far nothing out of the ordinary has happened. Want do you need done now?"

"Do Cold spot checks, as well as electricity spikes," Bill informed.

"Do Cold spot checks, as well as electricity spikes," Bill informed.

"On it," called Russ holding out the thermometer and pulling out an electrometer, and he began to walk slowly around the house.

“About sixty nine degrees as ambient tempertu…whoa, it dropped down to forty then went right back up…here it is again… got a cold spot! Anyone got a recorder to stick in it?”

Hearing no response he began holding the thermometer out in front of him he does his best to follow the spot, “Its pretty big too, stops before the floor too!” He calls out. Continuing down the hall he reaches a door almost bumping into it while he stared at the read out.

“Bah, door!” he muttered as he pushed it open revealing the child’s room. “What no! It’s gone,” he says in dismay doing a quick point check. Up, down, left, right…nope gone.

Walking back to the others at Central Command he says, “I traced a spot to the boy’s room and then it disappeared. And I may have gotten something on tape.” He said as he set down the thermometer and rummages in his pockets, “Ah here it is, and its still on,” holding out a recorder.

Father Luke overheard and walked over,
"Want me to go up there and check" he asked

"Yeah," Parker said. "Father Luke, you follow me to the boys room, Bill check out the tape."

Parker walked out of the room, taking Luke with him as well. Bill took the tape, and put it in the computer system. He went over the footage.

Nothing...nothing....something...

It was almost within a moments notice, a dark shadow jumped from in front of Russ, and straight into the boys room, disapearing completely.

"Well..." Bill said. "Thats something."

ooc- I am confused. Did that figure jump in front of Parker and the rpiest?

OOC: It was what was captured on film from Russ when he was up there

Frank looked over their shoulders.

"What the hell is that? Could be a the shadows playing tricks on the camera."

Tom slowly made his way up to Central Command. He noticed the two men looking at the computer system. "Did I miss anything?".

Frank turned at looked at Tom.

"Yeah...well if you call a shadow passing in front of the camera missing anything."

Bill rewound the film. "Yeah Tom, we think we might have caught something on film..."

He played it again, slowing it down. "There is no way a shadow could have done that..." He said moving his finger in the pattern it goes on.

The pattern was that there was none, random movement, much like someone running around.

"What the hell?!? What could possibly do that? Very odd." Tom said as he watched the tape, shocked.

"Nothing normal could have caused it, I am not limiting it to a spirit or anything," Bill said. "It could be a freak shadow effect, but I don't know..."

---------------

Parker got into the boys room, and heard a noise, a thumping on the wall. He went over to it, and looked, it sounded like someone was right in front of him knocking on it, but no one was there.

"What the..." He said, then he looked at the Ouijia board, it shook once, but then stayed motionless.

"You see that" father Luke asked, "The demons are coming."

He crossed himself, "Jesus help us" he muttered


OOC EDIT_ out for the night

Frank looked at the video again. He rubbed his chin, wondering what to think.

"Or it could be.....what could it be? Okay, lets draw up a list."

Frank pulled out a clipboard and a pen.

What is causing the Shadow?

Freak Shadow Effect

Trick of the Eyes

Spirit?

Parker walked over to the board, cautiously, but normally. He reached down, and touched it, nothing happened.

"Its nothing," He said.

----------

There was a camera set on the dresser in the boys room, and Bill and everyone else could see the shadow dancing around Parker.

"What the hell!?" Bill exclaimed.

Tom noticed a knocking sound coming from somewhere that suddenly stopped. "Did anyone hear that. What are you looking at- WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO HIM!?!"

Frank stared at the shadow around Parker.

"Jesus Christ....Father, you might be right."

But to Parker nothing was going on, he didn't see a thing. "See, nothing..."

He tossed the board onto the bed...

Downstairs the shadow could be seen flying from around him to the bed.

Upstairs Parker glanced at the board, and frowned, then he started for the door, when the bed shook violently.

"What the hell?" He asked.

Tom continued to watch the tape of what was happening in the room that Parker was in. "What the hell is causing that bed to shake. What is happening up there? Should we send someone up there?"

Bill stood up, and took off from the console, not bothering to see if anyone was following, he ran up the stairs.

On the screen the thumping of stairs could be seen, and the shadows took off away from the bed.

Bill was halfway up the stairs...

On the hallway camera the shadow was seen tearing down the hallway.

Bill got to the top of the stairs, and met a violent thrust, he fell backwards.

The noise of thumping down the stairs rang throughout the house.

Tom started to run after Bill, when he saw Bill falling down the stairs, nearly colliding with him. "GET SOMEONE OVER HERE NOW!!! We got a man down!" Tom shouted.

"What was that!" cried Russ and the violent noise of tumbling filled the house and then suddenly ceased. Glancing around the Control Center he asks, "Where's Bill?"

Whispering a quiet curse he dashes off towards the noise, "Bill! Bill you ok? What happened?”

Parker ran to the stairs, and nearly jumped the entire way down, he ran over to Bill, who was lying unconscious.

"Oh my God, what the hell happened to him!?" Parker yelled in fury as he straightened out his friend.

Bill was fine, he didnt have anything broken, but he was unconscious and wasn't waking up.

"I don't know! He started running for the stairs. I followed him, but when I reached the stairs he was just falling down them. I'm not sure what happened but now I am very scared of this house."

"Bill wake up!" Parker shouted.

"..." Silence.

"BILL!" Parker shouted slapping his face.

"Wake me up in a little would you?" Bill said quietly.

All the tension flew off Parker's face, the look of happiness came over. "Oh thank god." he said.

“Bill, what happened? Did you trip or something?” inquired Russ as he glanced up the stairs.

Bill managed to sit up. "No, not tripped, pushed. Something pushed me down the stairs."

"Parker, you should look at what the cameras caught in the boys room. It will shock you."

Bill managed to stand, Parker looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah man," Bill said. "Heh, did you know shadows dance around you?"

Tom then remembered the last thing he saw on the hallway camera before running after Bill. The shadow moving down the hall towards the staircase.

"They are here now. Thats what sent Bill down the stairs. This place is a cursed place. We might be running our luck if we stay here. Whatever is here... is hostile."

OOC: Last post for tonight. Don't expect a post until the afternoon. Got school.

"They are here now. Thats what sent Bill down the stairs. This place is a cursed place. We might be running our luck if we stay here. Whatever is here... is hostile."

“Though I have to trust Bill when he says that he was pushed, it isn’t proof, skeptics will shoot down our shadows even. If we run out now we will do a discredit to our field. So I for one don’t care if it is hostile, as long as it’s a human entity we should be fine,” retorted Russ.

There was a loud bang as the front door swung open violently. Through it came one of the strangest and more terrifying sights mankind has ever seen.

"Don't mind us people. We're conducting our own little search." The cigar smoking man leading the pack was the one who spoke. Behind him followed an entourage of about 15 people, 5 aardvarks, 2 Siberian tigers and what appeared to be a barbershop quartet.

"We received some questionable intelligence about the Awful Waffle Walker and when it comes to that bastard, questioning intelligence just doesn't fly. We don't really expect he is here, but we were in the neighbourhood and my assistant here ate something that didn't agree with him and he needs to use your bathroom. Go ahead Johnson." A small man who had been looking uncomfortable ran off. "We think it was the salmon on the flight over here."

"Where are my manners? I am the president of my humble nation. You may address me as the President. Don't bother to introduce yourselves, because I really don't care who you are. Kind of dark in here don't you think?" The President glanced around furtively and snapped his fingers. "Franklin, Hernadez. A little light if you will." In a matter of minutes there was hardly a shadow to be seen. The halogen lamps had a blinding brightness but the President had but on a pair of very expensive sunglasses and put out his cigar on the carpet in front of him.

The Archduke stepped into the house, squinting painfully from the bright lights. "Why are we stopping HERE, of all places? I somehow doubt the Awful Waffle Walker would deign to build its lair in a place like this." Right on cue, a fearsome and fulsome eructation erupted from the direction of the bathroom. "Oh, good lord, it's that horrible little Johnson, isn't it? Why do you insist on bringing him along on every hunt? And won't somebody turn down the blasted lights?"

He fished through the inside pockets of his elegantly-embroidered coat, and fished out his own pair of sunglasses, donning them with a gesture which managed to be simultaneously macho and dainty. These sunglasses were also clearly very expensive, featuring auto-adjusting variable-shade lenses and a multi-purpose computer HUD with hands-free interface and built-in nuclear command and control capabilities. The most expensive component, however, was the frames, which had apparently been hand-crafted from lightweight Feather-Bellied Alzabo bones by carefully-selected rabbis; after all, as part of a bizarre price-fixing scheme orchestrated by the Archduke, the Feather-Bellied Alzabo had gone extinct. Again. And the dreams of countless investors in alzabo futures had died with it.

There was no way for anyone else in the room to know that, though. To them, the sunglasses were just another accessory which managed to be both cool and practical.

"Look, people, I'm terribly sorry about all this, but when Johnson has to go, there's no stopping him. And besides, when you're a major world leader, everyone expects you to take certain liberties, you know? So really, while my sympathies go out to whoever owns this little domicile, you have to admit, this could have been much, much worse."

The Archduke's sunglasses had finished calibrating during this little speech, and he glanced around the room, accidentally upgrading Caffeinneburg's nuclear alert level to DEFCON 3, and causing great consternation at SSCCFKACEC-326*. His eye alighted on the Ouija board, which had maintained an innocent facade during these recent events. "My goodness! What an incredible stroke of luck! Perhaps this little pit stop will aid us in our quest after all!" He immediately sat down at the Ouija board, and extended his hands over it. "Well, is somebody going to help me? Everyone knows you need two people to operate these things properly."

*"The Strategic Strike Command Center Formerly Known as Chuck E. Cheese 326." The Caffeinneburghers were eminently practical people who had never quite gotten the hang of acronyms, although to their credit they had never come up with one as jawbreakingly ugly as GDODAD.

The smell of tragically expensive cigar smoke wafted into the room as yet another party of people jostled their way into the room. The first person through the door was less of a person and more like personified continental drift, furtively glancing around the premises before stepping aside to wave forward a man of medium height and slight build, distinctive for his iron-shot black beard, immaculate white robes, and a keffiah which trailed to the ground. A stub of cigar hung from one corner of his mouth, which to the casual observer and subscriber to Cigar Aficionado was clearly worth more than the GDP of coastal African nations even in stub status.

This was clearly the Sultan of the Islamic Republic of Al Amarja, a tremendously wealthy and unstable chunk of arid soil which bordered up against Caffeinneburg and Molifodia. Following him were several eunuchs, his Court Vizier, a Grand Admiral, sixteen Assassins, two score Freemasons, half a dozen Shriners, fifteen mimes in ankle-chains, and a somewhat dyspeptic-looking goat.

He nodded amiably to the President before walking up next to his long-time ally and former university roommate, the Archduke of Caffeinneburg.

"My old friend," he said, never letting the cigar leave the one side of his mouth, "I worry that perhaps you do not know the danger in which you partake."

He pulled a fresh cigar from inside his jeweled sash and used it for something halfway between a conductor's baton and one of those annoying Powerpoint wireless controllers.

"Merciful Allah Himself, be it known well, has condemned such trafficking with the occult as a great danger, and well you would be to heed such divine wisdom."

He twirled the cigar between his fingers.

"And anyway, old friend, if you keep this up, I may just send you gift certificates to Hot Topic instead of your usual shipment of black coffee from the Ahbraman Valley."

With this ultimate of condemnations, he fished a small submachinegun from his robes and rushed out the door. As the smell of expensive cigars faded, the dangerously cloying smell of waffles could be discerned, as faint as the smell of salt on a distant sea breeze.

Never being one to heed the advice of travelling political leaders (or ones that weren't travelling), the President moved forward to the Ouija board and looked over the people who had gathered to watch him. A strange crowd they were. If he was at home, the President would have had the short one summarily executed for crimes against humanity. Specifically for the bowl cut.

The President whipped out another cigar in a gesture that could have been considered Freudian. He lit it and put the match out in the fur of the larger of the two tigers. The tiger grew noticeably irritated. Taking no notice of the tiger, the President sat down across from the Archduke. Sitting down took considerably longer than it should of. Not only did his assistants meticulously destroy the furniture that was currently available for sitting, but they set out two extremely elegant and expensive chaise longues for the President and the Archduke.

"Now, let's see here." The President removed his ornate tricorne. It was a part of the full formal gear he wore hunting and had a large red plume set in it. He picked up the board and carefully inspected it to ensure there was no hidden wiring or other electronic systems that might necessitate an 'on' switch. Setting it down he put his hands on the pointer.

Speaking in a very loud and somewhat forced tone while leaning towards the pointer the President asked the first question. "Is anyone there? Or here rather?" The pointer slowly started to move. It was a strange sort of movement that could be best described as funky. Not funky as in strange but funky as in funk music. If nothing else, it would seem that whoever was moving the pointer had rhythm.

"I see. That's good. I'm going to need to ask you a few questions, erm..." The President paused dramatically. "What is your name then? J-O-S-H. Hmmm. Now listen carefully Josh. The Archduke, the Sultan and I are looking for a most devilish fellow. The Awful Waffle Walker. We are going to need your help in finding him."

"The pointer's moving!" the Archduke cried. "Josh is gracing us with his mysterious knowledge from beyond the veil!"

He leaned forward, closely watching the pointer as it glided over the board. "Someone write this down! P-I-L-M-O-U-R E-A-S-T W-E-S-T S-O-U-T-H A-N-D N-O-R-T-H S-O-M-E-W-H-A-T. . ." He paused, cogitating furiously. "What in the devil?! What kind of an answer is that?" He waggled his fingers in the air, adopting his best Scary Demon Voice. "Oooh! It's in one of the four cardinal directions! Tremble before my divinatory prowess! I'm a veritable fire-and-brimstone powered Mapquest!" He sneered and went on in his ordinary conversational voice. "Besides which, why would the Waffle Walker be in Pilmour, anyway? The whole country was destroyed during the last Atlantic Crusade; there's nothing there but glass parking lots and pillars of salt now!" He paused, reflecting.

"Now that I think of it, it might make sense for the Waffle Walker to hide there. . . after all, who would want to visit that desolate wasteland? All right, Josh, it's time you answered a few more questions. How can I defeat the Awful Waffle Walker once and for all? And where can I get a cool hat like the President has?" As he devoted his full concentration to the Ouija board, a shimmering ball of ectoplasm materialized in the air overhead, bending and contorting into various tortured shapes, perhaps meant to represent the numerous victims of the Archduke's maple-flavored nemesis.

"Glad you like the hat. I had it custom made. I can have my tailor pay you a visit if you are interested." The President put the hat back on and adjusted it carefully. He glanced down at the board as the pointer was moving again.

"I-A-M-C-A-N-N-O-T-F-E-E-L-M-Y-L-E-G-S-W-H-E-R-E-S-T-H-E-B-E-E-F. What the...." The President paused to put the letters together. "Well that's not very helpful at all." The President was standing now talking down to the Ouija board like it was a pet dog that had been chewed his slippers. "You can't honestly expect people to come to you for advice if all you do is complain about your problems!"

Suddenly, the tiger that has substituted for an ashtray earlier turned on its handler and promptly shredded him. There was an awkward silence as everyone looked around, not quite sure what to do. The President turned back to the board as a few of his assistants got the tiger under control.

"Look Josh, my patience is running thin. We asked for your help in finding the Waffle Walker and in the time we've spent on that, one of my prize tracking tigers has mauled that trainer. What do you have to say for yourself?"

The pointer slid around the board. C-O-L-O-R-S-A-R-E-P-R-E-T-T-Y. It was at this point that Johnson reappeared.

"I'm afraid in my rush I missed the bathroom. That was a broom closet Mr. President."

"That's just par for the course, now isn't." The President kicked the Ouija board into the corner and turned to the Archduke. "I do believe we are wasting our time here. The syrup trail grows cold and the tigers have trouble following cold syrup. You can remain and converse with Josh using Bowl Cut over there if you want but I must take my hunting party and go."

Wasting no time, all the President's men, tigers, aardvarks and barbershop quartet singers left. Looking at the front door with the intention of slamming it, the President saw it was already off its hinges from his explosive entrance. Not being one to be denied a dramatic exit, he backed up and threw himself out the adjacent window, rolled through the flower garden and left. All that remained from the President's visit now was a broken door, a broken window, the remains of a mauled tiger trainer, a defiled broom closet and the wretched odour that went with it.

The Archduke looked dolefully at the overturned Ouija board. "Look, Josh, I'm sorry about this. Really I am. But this just isn't working out. I'm a very busy man, and, well. . . look, I ALREADY KNOW that colors are pretty. okay? I don't need some discarnate minion of The Adversary to tell me that."

He turned to face the remaining residents of the room. "Well, we've all learned a valuable lesson today, haven't we? We learned that you shouldn't use a tiger as an ashtray. We learned that the Awful Waffle Walker may or may not be lurking in the ruins of Pilmour. We learned that demons aren't very good with directions. We learned that sometimes, it's really easy to mistake a bathroom for a broom closet."

The voice of the President of Molifodia could be heard wafting through an open window from the front yard, below. "Don't forget that Ouija is evil because it promises illumination but all you can discover from it is that the dead are really dumb."

The Archduke sighed and nodded, wiping a tear from his eye. "So true, so true. My only regret is that we never did learn why these little adventures only teach us lessons that have zero relevance to our lives."

"Well, that's it for today," he announced. He reached into one of his voluminous pockets, and drew something from it, keeping it concealed in the palm of his hand. "Remember, kids, everything you've seen here today was done by trained professionals! Don't try to commune with malevolent spirits from beyond without your parents' permission, and always use a trusted intermediary, like a Genuine Parker Brothers' Ouija Board, available at finer malls worldwide! Until we next meet, remember to follow the WAY OF THE HONORABLE NINJA! HI-KEEBA!" He abruptly dashed the object in his hand to the ground, and a tremendous cloud of smoke billowed forth. A variety of unhealthy-sounding coughing, wheezing, and choking noises emanated from the cloud.

"Son of a --! What do they *hackhackhack* put in these things...." The Archduke dashed out of the cloud of smoke. "Oh, sweet lord, it burns! It burns! I've gone blind!" He crashed through a window, screaming as he plummeted to the ground below. There was a prodigious *WHUMP* as he hit the ground, and a muted "ow." This was quickly followed by an exuberant "Oh, thank God, it was just my sunglasses malfunctioning! I'm not blind after all! It's a miracle!"

A loud chime could be heard, and a tinny voice announced "Countdown initiated. Launching in ten. . . nine. . . eight. . ."

"Okay, so it's just a SMALL miracle," grumbled the Archduke, pulling off his sunglasses and trying desperately to reboot them.

"Five. . ." announced the sunglasses, cheerfully. "Four. . . three. . . two. . . user-selected pithy farewell statement not defined. . . critical systems failure, shutdown imminent. Please save any unfinished work at this time." The black lenses of the sunglasses flickered for a moment, and turned a bright blue color, emblazoned with tiny white text.

The Archduke sighed in relief, wiping sweat from his brow. "Once again, irresponsible recklessness and shoddy craftsmanship save the day. Now let's saddle up and move on out of here! We've got a waffle walker to catch!" The Archduke hopped into the driver's seat of his Automotive Touring-Car and tore away from the house onto the open road, leaving smoking tire tracks in his wake.

Ok... /hijack

(OOC: Those two guys who posted most recent, Moldi-something, and Caffiene dude, are ignored)

ooc- if those 2 last posters post here again, I am reporting them.

IC-
Father Luke had known he was right. He was begining t sweat.
"IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER and of the SON and of the HOLY SPIRIT AMEN" he thundered.

"In Jesus's name I ask you, WHAT IS YOURN NAME cursed demon" he said as a fierce wind began to blow from the bed.


OOC- he is still in the boys bedroom

They all felt it, downstairs a strong wind ushered from the upstairs. Everyone gazed up it, wonderign what would cause such a wind.

Then Parker saw it, a glass on top of a piano slowly started to shake. He cocked his head at it, but realized it wasn;t just the glass.

...The entire house was shaking.

Frank grabbed the table as the house began to shake. He had never seen anything like it in his life. It had to be a spirit...he knew it certainly wasn't an earthquake.

"Parker....something is definatly wrong with this house man."

Father Luke appeared at the top of the steps.
"I was right" he boomed. The shaking caused him to tumble down the steps. He was alright, except for a few bruises.

"Parker, it is demons" he said calmly.

"There!" Parker yelled over the rumbling. "IS! NO SUCH THING AS DEMONS!"

And right after he said that, the shaking stopped suddenly. He looked around at the others. "There are such things as freak earthquakes, where earthquakes just happen. You are all paranoid! I didnt hire the half of you onto my team to act unprofessional and start scaring people by yelling demons."

He looked at Father Luke. "And I didn't let you come with us on this mission to do the same thing!"

"I don't remember there ever being an earthquake in Ohio. Now things are starting to get interesting here."

(OOC: Actually there has been one, I live in Ohio... to be percise, in Ottawa)

"There has been an Earthquake in Ohio beleive or not, God I can't remember where, but there has been," Parker said. "Stop being stupid, think logically!"

"All right Parker, calm down." Frank said. He was very curious about the freak earthquake.

"Now....it is possible that it was a freak earthquake. Strange things happen in nature all the time."

"Thank you Frank," Parker said. "There is no indication that it was a spirit or devil."

Bill looked around and dropped his head.

"Parker, YOU are thickheaded. YOU are fooling yourself. I know what it is and by God you will too before this is over." he shouted

Parker turned and looked at the father, and walked up to him full with anger. He grabbed the man by the jacket, and tugged him outside. He pushed him out the front door before going back in and locking the man out.

The elderly priest fell. He yelled, out
"Help me. I can't get up! HELP!" he screamed.

He looked up at the window and saw a shadowy figure pearing down at him, before turning away.

"Help" he screamed

Parker slammed open the door, and he and Bill moved out and helped the old man up.

Bill spoke. "Sir, I am sorry I don't know why Parker did that," He said glaring at Parker.

"I am sorry Father," Parker said sincerly. "I didn't know you were going to fall, I got out of control in there. But, we are professionals, and can't be making blind guesses."

He looked at Bill. "I already told the others to start packing up, we are moving out."

Frank began to move around the house and grab the cameras. He had heard the argument between Parker and the priest...he would have simply decked Father Luke for his rantings about demons. He brought several cameras back into the kitchen to be boxed up. He headed to the front porch.

"Parker, just need to get a few more cameras and box up the comps and we'll be outa here."

He got up. He then said.
"What are we going to do" he asked

"Sounds good," Parker said to Frank. "Thank you."

Bill looked at the priest. "We are going to go back to our HQ and examine the footage, check the recorders, do a basic overview of the trip. The family will return to their house tonight, we will be gone by then. We'll give them a call tomorrow and tell them what we've found, if anything."

Rubbing the back of his neck Russ thought, not a fun night...

"I'll start packing up the computers."

Bill came in and went to work helping Russ pack up the computers. Meanwhile Parker stood outside, leaning against the van, drinking a pop, or beer, or just staring off into the distance.

Father Luke stood, staring into the air, dazed.

Frank noticed Father Luke and walked up behind him. A quick tap on the shoulder brought the man back to reality.

"You okay Father?"

"Yes, Yes I am fine." he sighed.

"But, when I fell, I saw a shadowy figure pear down at me from the window. I am afraid for that boy" he said.

"What boy?" Parker asked as he aproached. "No one else is in the house other than us."

"I mean, when they move back in" he said, looking Parker in the eye.

"Parker, I have to go back to CR. Something big has happened."

He flagged down a cab, went to the airport, and flew back.

ooc- really bad post, I know, but I need him elsewhere

"Whatever..." turning Russ calls, "I'll meet ya guys back at HQ, gonna get some preliminary work done on the tapes."

((Hidden BUMP))

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