The Cedardale Underworld Inquirer RP (A Paranormal Conspiracy) - Rated R

[VampirateMace]

Discussion Thread link will be here after I get a reply. In the meantime feel free to PM or VM me, or make short comments before/after you post.

Approved Players
1. VampirateMace (Linda Sanders) - Stonehenge/Guidestones
2. DVB (Diego Vendrix) - Stonehenge/Guidestones
3. Mr. Owl (Beauregard “Beau” Filibert LeFleur) - Evil in the Garden?
4. Firebrand (Jason Valentine) - Stonehenge/Guidestones
5. Delta Hunter (Harry Bell - Intern) - Stonehenge/Guidestones
6. Kiruria (Merlin) - Evil in the Garden
7. Tundra_Wolfmane (J) - Evil in the Garden
8. Schade (Jen) - Evil in the Garden
9.
10.

RPG Rules:

1. No bunnying (controlling another’s character) without permission or cause:
- Due to the nature of this RPG there may be instances where it is necessary to bunny other people’s physical bodies in order to get from one place to another, their thoughts and dialog however, are still off limits.
- Due to the involvement of the paranormal, some scenarios may influence a character’s physical body beyond their control.

2. Since this RPG is rated R, violence, substance abuse, profanity, and some mature content will be allowed, provided:
- You aren’t using it as an excuse to swear excessively, kill everyone, or otherwise be a jerk.
- That if your characters get to a romantic/lustful point where they are going to do more than kiss/hug romantically and/or are starting to undress, you fade to black. Discuss changes to costume, any pregnancies, and STDs via PM. Do not post any NC-17 content!

3. Do not presume to have the ability to contact Mr. Welsh at this time. I’ll let you know if you receive any messages from him.

4. Lastly, put your character’s name and location at the top of your post.


Got all that? Okay, let’s go!

Linda Sanders
CUI HQ - Main Conference Room

Linda stared at the letter in her hands. It was sloppy and hastily written, and very hard to read. She was only able to make out the word Stonehenge because she knew the letter was about Stonehenge and the Georgia Guidestones. She scanned the same line and was able to make out a few more words, ‘if’ ‘conspiracy’ ‘biding time’. It didn’t make a lot of sense at first glance, but maybe she could piece the information together. How did the post office even manage to deliver the letter with this chicken scratch scrawled on the front?

She flipped through the pages. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw the word ‘aliens’ on the last one. The newspaper article was one she’d seen a couple years before, she dismissed it and moved onto the photographs. They were pretty standard, the Stonehenge photo was an old Polaroid, and the Guidestones photo was a modern print out photo that could be made at pretty much any store. There really wasn’t anything of note about them. She turned the Guidestones photo over, the back was unmarked. Doing the same with the Stonehenge Polaroid she found just a date ‘May 5th 1986’ with no other information.

Around her, other reporters, editors, and photographers were muttering to one another about this week’s strange meeting, and lack of Mr. Welsh. She looked up from the notes to see what her reporting/investigation partners Diego and Beau were doing.

“What do you think?” she asked them. They’d finished their current assignment the past week, so it was time to pick something new.

 

[DVB]

Diego Vendrix
CUI HQ - Main Conference Room

Diego has arrived at the conference room with his usual demeanor: curious, determined, and pretty happy. While he was a pretty happy fellow, he has been feeling happier than usual for a while. No doubt it is caused by his current crush on his co-worker, Linda Sanders.

“What do you think?” Linda asked him and their other co-worker, Beau. Diego looked at the data presented. He already knew where he wanted to go. "Personally, I'd say the Georgia Guidestones. It being more modern, it would be easier getting clues. Furthermore, I know people from around that would probably be able to help us with lodging, transportation and so on," Diego explained. He never got to see those, interestingly enough. Now it would be a good time to go and check the so-called 'American Stonehedge.'

Plus, he was feeling a little homesick, so a trip down to Georgia would be fun. The Guidestones were in Elbert County, a seaside county. From his home county to there, it be about a 2 hour car ride, maybe a bit longer. They could also stay in Atlanta, but it'd take a bit longer to drive up there. Well, he'd leave up to Linda to decide. While going to Stonehedge would be fun, it would also be expensive, due to the longer flight, lodgings and so on.

 

[VampirateMace]

Linda Sanders
CUI HQ - Main Conference Room

Diego took a look at the papers Linda had been inspecting. He seemed pretty happy this morning, which was kind of cute. He replied, “Personally, I'd say the Georgia Guidestones. It being more modern, it would be easier getting clues. Furthermore, I know people from around that would probably be able to help us with lodging, transportation and so on.”

“Yeah, fresher clues, that makes sense,” agreed Linda, “But of course, if we’re investigating a connection between the two, we’ll probably have go to Stonehenge eventually.”

She wasn’t terribly concerned about expenses, the paper had credit cards reserved specifically for globe trotting investigations, though the flight there would suck. Of course there were rules and restrictions to that, but they had to be able get rooms at least as nice as her apartment. She smiled, “But yeah, let’s start in Georgia and see were that takes us. I know ‘Christian’s’ banker is still alive, but he hasn’t given up a name yet, so that’s probably a dead end. Anyways, I guess you should let your contacts know you’re coming... Assuming that’s okay with you, Beau?”

(Okay guys, the banker in question is a real person, so let’s be respectful. Since he’s not talking, there’s probably no reason to involve him any further.)

Linda retrieved the paperclip for their lead from the table, and stuck all the pages, photos, and articles together, in preparation. She assumed they were supposed to tell the Senior Editor that had taken the lead what they were working on, but she wasn’t sure. Mr. Welsh had never done this to them before. She tapped the papers against her hand and muttered to herself, “I wonder where he is...”

 

[DVB]

Diego Vendrix
CUI HQ - Main Conference Room

“Yeah, fresher clues, that makes sense,” agreed Linda, “But of course, if we’re investigating a connection between the two, we’ll probably have go to Stonehenge eventually," she said. Diego nodded. While they would have expenses paid, the money saved usually was kept for pay increases. Ah well.

“But yeah, let’s start in Georgia and see were that takes us. I know ‘Christian’s’ banker is still alive, but he hasn’t given up a name yet, so that’s probably a dead end. Anyways, I guess you should let your contacts know you’re coming... Assuming that’s okay with you, Beau?” Linda said. Diego turned to his strangely silent co-worker. He shrugged his shoulders and charted it to an off-day.

Linda retrieved the paperclip for their lead from the table, and stuck all the pages, photos, and articles together, in preparation. "I'll send an email and I left a note where his office is," Diego offered. He then went to call his folks.

They were more than happy to hear he was doing well and that he would be coming over to visit. He explained to them the plan about visiting a site and so on. They accepted in having him stay over while there were a few hotels suggested. The drive from his home to over there would be around 2- 2.5 hours, depending on traffic.

Afterwards, there was transportation. Luckily, a friend of Diego's was in town. He was a Marine Biologist and an extremely smart individual. He was heading over to the county's seaside to meet up with a peer and after some discussion, agreed to drive them over. The guy was used to driving long distances for long periods of time.

"Okay then," Diego began as he led them out. "There's a flight leaving in the afternoon and it will take us about 2 hours to fly from here to Atlanta on Delta Airlines. We can either stay at a hotel in Atlanta, find a hotel in Elberton Seaboard-Airline Depot or stay at my parents' place," Diego explained to them. "If we are doing the latter, a friend of mine will take us over to the Guidestones," he added.

"What do you wanna go with?"

 

[VampirateMace]

Linda Sanders
CUI HQ - Main Conference Room

Diego offered to take care of making sure the assignment was recorded, then when off. Beau seemed a bit distracted today, so Linda let him be and continued trying to make out the writing on the letter.

Diego returned and explained the plan to them, “Okay then. There's a flight leaving in the afternoon and it will take us about 2 hours to fly from here to Atlanta on Delta Airlines. We can either stay at a hotel in Atlanta, find a hotel in Elberton Seaboard-Airline Depot or stay at my parents' place. If we are doing the latter, a friend of mine will take us over to the Guidestones. What do you wanna go with?"

“Staying with your parents is probably fine as long as there is enough space and they’re good with it,” commented Linda, “We can take some time now to do a little research before we leave. I’m not sure they’ll be much about the Guidestones in our library, but there should be some good info on Stonehenge. And of course, there should be a lot of info for both online.”

They were used to having to travel on short notice, so everybody should already have a small suitcase packed and ready to go. Small of course so they didn’t have to check it, minimalizing the chance it would be lost, and making getting out of the airport easier.

The other investigative teams were making their way around the headquarters to start or continue work on their projects as well. They made their way into the resource center or library; several shelves of books, magazines, newspaper clips, audio tapes, and videos on the occult, paranormal, mythical, and downright strange… as well as the necessary computer resources. Linda pulled up the library search system on the nearest available computer, then laughed, “Hey guys, look, this article is already cataloged into our library. Looks like it’s pretty outdated too, there’s several newer articles on the subject since then. Go ahead and grab folder S-14, will you?”

(DVB: Go ahead and ‘let us know’ when it’s time to go to the airport.)

 

[DVB]

Diego Vendrix
CUI HQ - Main Conference Room

“Staying with your parents is probably fine as long as there is enough space and they’re good with it,” commented Linda, “We can take some time now to do a little research before we leave. I’m not sure they’ll be much about the Guidestones in our library, but there should be some good info on Stonehenge. And of course, there should be a lot of info for both online," she said. Diego nodded as he began looking online on his smartphone about the Georgia Guidestones.

There was nothing new that he found. Mysterious person who requested it, the company is known though so maybe they can go through them if they still have records. Of course, there are conspiracy nuts who say the stones are evil or Satantic. Diego personally thinks the rules are pretty reasonable and well... even if the first one concerned him.

In any case, he got out the ready-made suitcase. He was really happy to be going home after some time. He saw the other investigative teams were making their way around the headquarters to start or continue work on their projects as well. They made their way into the resource center or library; several shelves of books, magazines, newspaper clips, audio tapes, and videos on the occult, paranormal, mythical, and downright strange… as well as the necessary computer resources.

Linda pulled up the library search system on the nearest available computer, then laughed, “Hey guys, look, this article is already cataloged into our library. Looks like it’s pretty outdated too, there’s several newer articles on the subject since then. Go ahead and grab folder S-14, will you?”

Diego nodded and grabbed her the folder. "Unfortunately, we don't have much. We only have what is known online; from the website and Wikipedia. The only leads we have is the company who made it, The Elberton Granite Finishing company, especially Joe H. Fendley and the Granite City Bank, though Wyatt Martin," Diego said. "We have a documentary and other pieces of work, but besides that and the whole Rosy Cross thing, not much to work with," Diego said as he looked through and read it.

Diego looked at his watch and realized it was time to go. "Come on guys, time to go," he said. He led the group out when they all had everything ready and entered the first cab. They began heading to the airport.

 

[VampirateMace]

(Mr. Owl: whenever you’re ready to play, you can join us, or ignore our earlier references to you and go off on the garden investigation.)

Linda Sanders
Cab - In Route to Airport

Diego got the Inquirer’s folder of news clippings on Stonehenge. It wasn’t much, but it’d give them something to read on the plane.

“Unfortunately, we don't have much. We only have what is known online; from the website and Wikipedia. The only leads we have is the company who made it, The Elberton Granite Finishing company, especially Joe H. Fendley and the Granite City Bank, though Wyatt Martin,” explained Diego as he looked through the news clippings, “We have a documentary and other pieces of work, but besides that and the whole Rosy Cross thing, not much to work with.”

Linda could tell from the context was exclusively focused on the current step, investigating the Guidestones, evidence that he was detail oriented. Linda got up from the computer to retrieved a couple of books, an old VHS on Stonehenge, and a DVD with a TV episode featuring the Guidestones.

Pretty soon Diego announce, "Come on guys, time to go."

Linda stuffed one of the books and the DVD into her suitcase, carrying the other book in her satchel to read at leisure. (Anyone else can carry additional references, like more books, the VHS, and new clippings, if they wish.) Diego lead them out to the cab, which the all managed to cram into, and they were off.

Rather than focus on the cabbie’s erratic driving, Linda flipped open the book on Stonehenge and looked at the table of contents. Only about half the book was devoted to science and history, the second half seemed to be focused on modern druids and tourism. She could probably skip most of that.

Before she got too into the book, she decided, she should probably hand off the letters. She took the paperclipped bundle out of her satchel, “Here, somebody see if you can make out any of this. I can read a few words, but maybe one of you can do better?”

(Note: it’s intended to be pretty illegible, but anyone wants to add a few words, pick ones that relate to the topic at hand, okay?)

 

[Firebrand]

Jason Valentine
CUI HQ - Main Conference Room

Jason got up from the conference table and stretched his arms up over his head with a groan. "Back to the grind again," he muttered before downing the last of his coffee. Jason's primary focus on this story was Stonehenge, and most especially its uses beyond a ceremonial site to celebrate the solstices. The garbled briefing had mentioned the hypothesis that it was used as a burial ground, and though Jason didn't put much stock in it, he knew that to preserve his journalistic integrity he had to leave no stone unturned and examine every possibility. But for now, the Georgia Guidestones. "There's some pretty women in Georgia, right?" Jason mused to himself as he fired off a few emails, letting his contacts in Cedardale know he was going to be gone for a few days. The woman at the local coffee shop, who insisted he call her Granny, worried if he didn't come in in the mornings for his usual. He also had to move a doctor's appointment, cancel a blind date and reschedule a meeting with an anthropologist to follow up on his pet project, the congruence between several Indo-European cultures and the mythological wars that each of them fought against a race of supposed "giants" in the early Bronze Age. Once that was all taken care of, he pulled the overnight bag he kept under his desk out and checked to make sure it had everything he needed. Comb, toothbrush, shaving razor, two changes of clothes.

Jason nodded and shrugged on his leather jacket, picking up his helmet as he did so. Linda and Diego had already left in their cab, but he could meet them at the airport. He walked down to the parking lot and straddled his motorcycle, feeling the engine purr underneath him. He slid the helmet on and squinted through the polarized visor as he edged out onto the street. He gunned the engine and took off after the cab. He found himself grinning. The game was on again, and it had been too long since the last time the Inquirer had cut him loose to do some field work.

 

[Delta Hunter]

Harry Bell
En route to GUI HQ

"Damn it damn it damn it!" Harry swore as he skated through his house, trying to find and pick up all of his school supplies. His father, again, got drunk and blew money on himself, while Harry needed to focus on the work. He sighed again. "I can't be late late late, I'm so dead...." he wimpered. He grabbed his small thin wallet, thursting it into his back pocket of his small shorts, and looked around for his last book, the choice book for literature. He grumbled as he crawled around. "Damn it Dad...for one night, can you not do this ****..." he mumbled to himself, before shaking his head. Better to leave it, he wasn't enjoying it anyway. He grabbed his shoes, strapped them on quickly, before grabbing his small cellphone to check the time and any statuses on the internship. "Oh damn...I'm almost missing the assginment to Georgia!" He shouted. He stashed the cellphone to his pocket, grabbing his black sweatshirt, and strapped on his overlapping skates onto his shoes. He rushed out the door, and starts skating off.

He sighed deeply, and pulled out his phone again. He looked through the contact's list as he sat in a small coffee shop. As late as he was, he could at least bring some coffee for his big brother, and the other members of his group. He texted Diego. "Hey bro, I'll be a little late to the airport. What kind of coffee do you and the others want?" he asks, shifting lightly.

 

[DVB]

Diego Vendrix
CUI HQ - Main Conference Room

Before she got too into the book, Linda got some of the letters out. “Here, somebody see if you can make out any of this. I can read a few words, but maybe one of you can do better?”

Diego took them and he looked over them. Despite his own handwriting skills, this form of scribbling was beyond his ability to decipher. He squinted and began looking.

"Rosi-crucia-ism... Druids... linked... That's about what I can decipher," Diego said after analyzing the letter. As they were on the way to the airport, he got a text. He looked and smiled. It was from the intern and his baby brobro, Harry.

"Harry is running a tad late, but offering to get us coffee. What do you want, Linda?" he askd. When she answered, he texted to Harry her order and then his.

"I recommend the Euro-coffee joint near the hotel. Get me the Eiskaffee. It's a popular German drink consisting of chilled coffee, milk, sweetener, vanilla ice cream, and sometimes whipped cream. The small, please, bro."

Diego sent him the text and looked to Linda. When we arrived, we waited for the others. We had some time though. Diego's father was a seasoned traveler and taught hum the rules. One was arrive to the airports about 2.5 hours before the flight leaves. They'd wait for Harry, check in and spend the time looking aroun the shops. Diego did want to see if he can get some New York souvenirs for the family. Harry could sleep either in his room in his brother's old room while Linda could sleep in the guest room. It'd seem like the best solution.

 

[Firebrand]

Jason Valentine
En Route to Airport

His motorcycle growled and roared as he cruised down the streets of Cedardale, pulsing with mechanical life. Jason loved the power he felt sitting astride the bike, the purr of the engine between his legs and the raw force at his fingertips. It was intoxicating, almost erotic. He eased to a stop at a stoplight and happened to glance aside into the window of a coffee shop. Inside, he saw a vaguely familiar shock of thin dark hair. When the light changed, Jason took a sharp turn down a side street and maneuvered his bike back around and in front of the coffee shop. He killed the engine and swung off, darting across the street and pulling the door open. He strode into the cafe, his boots clicking rhythmically on the linoleum.

Yep, it was Harry all right. Jason worried about the kid, or at least he couldn't help feeling a stab of pity every time he looked at him. He didn't know his story all that well, but from what he gathered the little intern had a tough home life. They hadn't had to work together on any projects yet, but they were both assigned to the Stonehenge/Guidestone file. Jason rapped his knuckles on the table behind Harry. "Hey kid. Don't you know we got a plane to catch? You'll never make it there on your rollerblades, trying to skate on the roads around the airport is suicide. And to say nothing about the time. Linda and Diego are en route already, so grab your coffee and let's go. I got room on the back of my bike. Meet me outside when you've got your order, all right? We're on a schedule and I hate for you to get left behind."

He walked back outside and straddled his motorcycle again, waiting to see if the kid would come out.

(OOC: Just trying to expedite us to the airport. Delta, feel free to bunny me there if you want, no need to waste any more time.)

 

[VampirateMace]

(DVB - your location still says HQ. - Also, I’ll be having Mr. Welsh text Diego sometime in the next few posts, so you can look forward to that.)

Linda Sanders
In Route to Airport > Airport

Deigo couldn’t make out much more than she did from the letter. The book she’d grabbed wasn’t really telling her anything new either. He got a text from Harry and asked Linda if she wanted coffee. She grinned, “Well, not coffee, but I’ll take a chai latte. Small size is fine.”

Diego texted Harry back and Linda when back to her reading. She was starting to feel a bit sleepy, this book was no page turner. Hopefully the other would be a bit better.

They arrived at the airport and waited for the others. After paying, Linda stuffed the book into her satchel to make it easier to transport everything out of the cab, and onto the plane. It was crowded and awkward waiting in the lobby area, with travelers streaming all around them, but she agreed it’d be easier to meet here. Linda checked her watch, plenty of time left before boarding started.

“So, you’ve never been to the Guidestones?,” chatted Linda looking over at Diego.

 

[Kiruria]

OOC: So all the posts so far have been from the Stonehenge group? I should change that then... And I'm surprised nobody decided to investigate the UFO case so far (unless Schade decides to take it in place of Stonehenge that is). I'll just wait until Tundra replies after this, since J is also on the evil-in-the-garden case.
IC:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vincent "Merlin" Estrel
CUI Conference Room

Today at work was a bit interesting, for a conference among the news team was scheduled this afternoon. There was usually a conference like this if there was a particularly interesting incidence in town that could make a story. Today, there was not just one, but three such incidences. One was not even in town; it was all the way in Georgia, something having to do with Stonehenge and a madman writing a peculiar letter. Merlin could only speculate that the madman had been possessed by some evil being lurking beneath Stonehenge, perhaps even a fiendish metallic alien doing the dirty work of a universal cosmic horror. Eh, outside of the world of video games perhaps, that was rather unlikely. The second case was about an old lady claiming an evil presence in her garden, also probably unlikely outside of the world of stage musicals. And then there was an incident regarding UFO sightings, which seemed unlikely outside the realm of... any media ever.

Still, Merlin didn't think too deeply on this. In fact, he had been unusually unmotivated and absent-minded that day. He had even failed to tie his hair back today, so now it was drooping about at the sides of his face, his eyeshadow-adorned eyes just barely visible behind it. After all, it had been a bad week for him. First he got in trouble with his supervisors for writing an extensive astrology reference into an article about shifting weather patterns, so he was on camera duty the rest of the week. Second, while he was out taking pictures of an abandoned house, he got shoved in the back by some guy and got called some nasty homophobic slur. The guy also took the camera away, and when he told his supervisors about what happened, all they said was that maybe he should consider a haircut. His thieving friend Lupin had to then go steal a new camera for him to use, which Merlin felt guilty about. And yesterday he got a call from Mr. Welsh saying that if he received any more complaints about his next article, he would be fired.

Much unlike him, Merlin opened the envelope he had received without a world, a smile, or even a glance at anyone. He decided to pick the garden case, since he figured his previous experience with writing about herbology would help. Or not. He had been discouraged from writing about herbology anyway. He also noticed that Jace Gilleys, or "J" as he always preferred to be called, had also picked that case. The tall guy who Merlin never got the chance to interact with because the two were on different cases, but who sort of reminded him of Lupin for some odd reason. Was he perhaps a gangster on the side or something? Nah, that wasn't too likely. It was about as likely as him being an alien from the planet Krypton disguised as a mild-mannered reporter.

As he read on about the case, he noticed the old lady's granddaughter was also suffering from an illness that no doctors could explain. She had reported a fever, occasional warts appearing all over her body (one of the doctors had performed a biopsy on one of them, without any results), and olfactory hallucinations, among other things. As for the garden itself, all that was said about it was a letter the old lady wrote; she seemed pretty desperate about finding a solution to this problem, but otherwise didn't detail the problem herself. However, the illness raised a red flag for him.
I wonder if it could be the result of a curse of some sort, he thought. And for the garden issue, perhaps a pairing of two plants with conflicting energies, something buried in the garden, or something regarding the location of the residence. Or not. I'm not quite sure I know anymore...

His mind was in a fog. He took a long gaze at the rune-inscribed rings on his right hand lying on the table, then up at J for a brief while. The people on the Stonehenge case had already left for the airport; Merlin was glad he had not been assigned to that case, as he wasn't too keen on traveling right about now. Besides, he doubted the boss would waste traveling expenses on him. But at least he was relieved that Mr. Welsh was not here today. That meant he pretty much had the freedom to say whatever he wanted.

"So J, it would seem the winds of fate have finally brought us together on a case," Merlin told the other person working on the garden case, in a tone that was a bit more sorrowful than usual, but still calm and almost mystical as always. A smile slowly started to creep across his face, though it didn't seem as if he was smiling at J. "Gardens are fascinating places, aren't they? If we're lucky, we could spot a faery in there; for all I know, that might be the cause of the problem. This place seems not too far from here; either we can take my car, or we can walk. Whichever you prefer, really, unless you have a car as well."

 

[Schade]

(OOC: Just throwing myself out there then.. Garden case, here I come)

Genevieve "Jen" Deveraux
CUI Conference Room

Oh, glorious days. Such a tiering day. Tired. Genevieve was tired, and she hadn't even done anything all day. She was now in the Conference room With the others, looking at a lot of cases on the big table in front of her, one even as far away as in Georgia! Ugh... Genevieve didn't want to travel, and she set her eyes on some of the others. Let's see... something about a UFO sighting, aaaand... an evil posessed garden? She let out a sigh. she really just wanted to go home and sleep, but hey, this was her life now. The big journalism dream was long gone, so all she could do was deal With whatever was happening around town. She decided to excuse herself and head over to the restroom to fix her makeup instead. she could deal With work in a few minutes..

At the restroom, Genevieve was horrified by the ghastly putrid ghoul staring at her from inside the Mirror. Two hours sleep had not been good n her apperance today, but was it really this bad? Her hair was messy, her makeup was ruined and her lipstick wasn't even on her mouth! Was she asleep while fixing herself this morning? Ugh.. Oh well, nothing to do but fix it again. she thought before starting to work her Magic.
After she was done in the bathroom, Genevieve took a quick peek into the chiefs Office.

"Hey, Pete. Could you help me out a bit?" She asked innocently.

"Wow, hey Jen" Pete said, startled by her sudden apperance. he didn't look very much awake himself.¨¨"What case am I assigned for the NeXT run?" Jen asked With the same tone. Pete blushed a little before answering, looking Down at some papers

"You.... Ah, here we go. You're assigned to the Stonehenge Project. you should be heading towards the airport shortly to Catch up With the others" he said, looking at Jen.

"Oh... but I don't want to travel.. Can't you work something else out for me?" Jen said, acting like a spoiled child, hoping her apperance was at least good enough to fool Pete. She knew it was difficult to rearrange the

About 10 minutes later, Genevieve returned to the Conference room. she was a bit happier now; She had talked Pete into assigning her the Garden case instead. she picked up the envelope and started to read. Vincent and Jace was apparently also assigned to this case as well. Maybe she could Catch up With any of them before leaving. Well, the garden appeared to have some sort of sickness-ish effect on People, as the old lady who owned the garden have a granddaughter With an unexplainable illness. The old woman had written a letter in which she adressed her concern for the matter. Boring old woman.. but hey, this is the kind of job Genevieve was in the mood for today. The solution to the garden was probably simple: A poison Ivy of some sort. Genevieve didn't want to melt Down her brain yet, and she knew the others were more than capable enough to solve this amongst themselves.

After the Conference was over, Genevieve decided she would locate Jace and Vincent to ask for a ride, as she had left her car at home today.. stupid as she was. Doctor schmoctor. Walking to work is only a burden, and her Health wasn't that bad to begin With.

"Gardens are fascinating places, aren't they? If we're lucky, we could spot a faery in there; for all I know, that might be the cause of the problem. This place seems not too far from here; either we can take my car, or we can walk. Whichever you prefer, really, unless you have a car as well." She heard Vincent say. She walked up NeXT to him and adjusted herself to appear more awake and radiant than she really wasn't

"We're on the same case" she said in a flat tone. "Any one of you guys want to give me a ride?"

 

[Tundra_Wolfmane]

Jace "J" Gilleys
CUI Conference Room

J had entered the building like he always did. Quietly, expressionlessly, and purposefully. He wouldn't get anywhere or get any money to keep supporting himself or his old man by doing nothing. That pretty much meant that he barely ever exchanged words with Mr. Welsh. It had always been straight to the point between him and the man, and he liked to keep it that way.

It helped that, among the others, he tended to be one of those in the office or at work the most. He was only able to keep himself and his old man above the reds by working overtime time and time again. He didn't really mind; he was pretty at home working in the dark or at night. He guessed that had more to do with having worked as a petty thief than having a preference for the time of the owl's. Plus, his old man could care for himself even if he couldn't really work as well as he used to.

Still, he didn't like the idea of having to go to another city or anywhere else far. If anything happened to his old man, he wanted to be able to get to him as fast as possible, which made it easy for him to choose to the case that was closest to home. He took the evil creature in the garden case.

He rolled his eyes.

'An evil being? Really?' he thought to himself as he went through the case. A sick granddaughter was put into the mix, although he had his doubts that it was connected to the case. The old lady herself didn't seem to be suffering any ill effects.

It didn't pass his notice that he was partnered with the one called Vincent Estrel. Or rather, Merlin, if he was to recall the nickname that the other works sometimes called him. He scanned his memories more, remembering the younger man’s tendency to add word flair and lore to his articles, and even his own way of speaking. He also remembered that Vincent was always all smiles and polite words, a firm believer in magic and spirits, practically the opposite of cynical and realistic J himself. He grimaced a bit; he would have to watch his words. Again. He hated doing that.

“So J, it would seem the winds of fate have finally brought us together on a case,” he heard the stylish man say. He did nothing but give a curt nod in reply, hoping that would be the end of the conversation. Alas, Merlin continued.

“Gardens are fascinating places, aren't they? If we're lucky, we could spot a faery in there; for all I know, that might be the cause of the problem,” Vincent said, making J turn to him with a raised brow. He was about to say ‘A fairy? Really?’, but he kept his tongue in check. He didn’t know how long he would be able to hold it in, but he would try, especially since to him, Vincent seemed like the kind of person to cry if anyone ever tried to badger him.

“This place seems not too far from here; either we can take my car, or we can walk. Whichever you prefer, really, unless you have a car as well,” he finished, giving J the choice.

At the very least, it looked like there was something that came out of their impromptu partnership. He didn’t have a car. He couldn’t afford one, even though his old man worked as a mechanic. He was about to reply when yet another person joined them.

"We're on the same case. Any one of you guys want to give me a ride?"

J immediately recognized her voice. Genevieve "Jen" Deveraux. Boy, was that name a mouthful. Though he supposed it fit the spritely woman, whose mouth was practically working nonstop. He noticed that she loved to talk with anyone and everyone. He hoped that he was an exception; he had already pegged her as someone who would judge him for his often ragged and dirty appearance. He couldn’t afford any stylish clothes or brand-names, after all. He would probably end up at odds with her too if he didn’t filter his mouth.

Well, perhaps his two talkative partners would end up talking with each other more than himself. He hoped. But he still had to put his own two cents in.

“We’re taking his car,” he said, looking at her with his serious gaze and pointing his thumb at Vincent. “The place ain’t far from here, but faster’s better.”

 

[Delta Hunter]

Harry Bell
En route to Airport

"Hey kid." spoke up a slightly familiar voice behind Harry. His heart lept into his throat a little, and he felt his legs tighten a little in response. He took a small gulp, and turned around, before breathing out in relief. It was just one of the other writers on staff for the tabloid. Jason Valentine, if Harry remembered correctly. "Don't you know we got a plane to catch? You'll never make it there on your rollerblades, trying to skate on the roads around the airport is suicide. And to say nothing about the time. Linda and Diego are en route already, so grab your coffee and let's go. I got room on the back of my bike. Meet me outside when you've got your order, all right? We're on a schedule and I hate for you to get left behind." With that, the man was already outside again.

Harry double checked his phone, noting the choices, and quickly grabbed his small mocha with caramel drizzle, Diego's Eiskaffee, Linda's small Chai latte, and then he grabbed an extra black coffee with some sugar and cream packets, and raced out to the motorcycle. The boy timidly got onto the back, and grabbed the seat tight with his thieghs and legs, holding the drinks to his chest as the man zoomed off to the airport. Harry started thinking over in his mind what the ideas might be for the case. "I wonder if the Georgia Stones and Stonehenge are related to the American Stonehenge indain grounds up in New Hampshire..." he mumbled softly, as he and Jason pulled up to the airport. Harry stumbled off, and ran inside, handing his big brother his coffee, then Cinda's, before offering the black coffeee to Jason. "I-I hope thi-this is o-okay..." he mumbled softly.

 

[Kiruria]

OOC: I'm really beginning to like this rivalry between J and Merlin. I have a feeling Jen could be an important mediator between the two, or will be the one to make crucial discoveries while the other two are arguing. Oh, and speaking of J, I know it was a mistake, but I found the following sentence while looking over his signup: "At a flat six inches tall, J is a pretty tall man." LOL.
IC:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vincent "Merlin" Estrel
Leaving CUI Conference Room

Initially Merlin was happy about J picking the garden case, but even happier about Jen picking the garden case. Merlin remembered the day when this sociable orange-haired girl started off with the Inquirer, how the other supervisors were showing her around, but how they seemed to keep her far away from him. It did sadden him a bit, but then again, she seemed like the preppy, popular-girl type responsible for turning many heads in the office. Still, he looked up to her, literally too, as he was shorter than her.

But neither Jen nor J seemed enthusiastic at all about this case. Jen seemed to be tired, which he had to admit was understandable, but J seemed to flat-out despise him. In fact, he seemed to have a lot of negativity about him, but whether that was due to his attitude or something that happened recently in his life, he couldn't tell. Both of them did at least seem interested in riding with him, so he figured they couldn't be all bad.

When Merlin replied, it was first to Jen, as she just captured his attention more - though he had to be careful to keep his eyes away from her chest; thank goodness her face was just as attractive (if not more).
"Oh, so we are then," he mentioned to her, his face brightening a bit. "That's perfect then. I was never fond of the saying 'three's a crowd' anyway. Quite the contrary, three is a rather stable number." As he was saying this, he took a hairband out of his pocket and tied his hair into its usual low ponytail. He was feeling a bit better now, as it was not like him to dwell on mere worries for too long. "So we are taking my car then. That sounds lovely. Now that I believe we are all here, why don't we get a start on this case?"

With that, he led the two of them out of the conference room, out of the main office, outside onto the street, and downstairs into a garage designated for local employees, holding doors open for everyone as he went. They eventually came to a black BMW, a surprisingly plain-looking car for someone so eccentric. Actually, this car used to be shared by all the Black Cat Bandits whenever they went out on a thieving mission together. Such a mission with all four of them had not happened in a long time, but the car still went to him and Lupin, who shared it for a while until Merlin moved to Cedardale. He did feel a bit guilty about taking it because it was stolen, but figured that wouldn't be a big deal if he didn't tell anyone. As Merlin had already used the car to ferry Lupin to and from a robbery, he didn't bother decorating it in any spectacular way, besides a feng shui crystal hanging from the rear-view mirror and a pinecone sitting on the dashboard.

When Merlin got into the car, he invited Jen to take the passenger seat; he doubted J would want to sit next to him anyway. When the car started, new age music started playing in the background, though Merlin turned it down out of consideration.
"So how do you feel about this case, Jen?" Merlin said while driving, casting an occasional sideways glance at her. "I must say, being on a news team feels a lot like being a detective, looking about for clues on the shocking truth behind an event. Doesn't it? And I must also say, that those glasses of yours accentuate your eyes nicely. Don't they?"

The drive took all of five minutes at the most, literally down a road, out of downtown, up a narrow street, and a couple of houses away. The garden case was about to begin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OOC: I'm guessing we pretty much have the freedom to describe what the house, woman, garden, etc. look like?

 

[Firebrand]

Jason Valentine
En Route to Airport

Jason put his helmet into one of the lockers the airport provided for things that travelers would leave behind and strode off after Harry, slipping his keys into his pocket. "Diego," he said, inclining his head at the other young man. "And Linda, lovely to see you."

Harry handed him a black coffee, and Jason grinned down at the little intern. "Thanks, this'll be just the thing I need." He dumped in two of the sugar packets Harry had brought along and downed the brew in just a few swallows and hiding a grimace. He really wasn't too keen on coffee, but oftentimes he had to rely on the caffeine rush. Tea, no matter how much sweetener or honey he put in, couldn't really match it for pure red-eye reliability. He tossed the cup in a nearby trash can and adjusted his overnight bag, his only luggage, on his shoulder. "Well, I don't think we're going to accomplish anything waiting around here. We better get a move on." He took out his boarding pass and meandered over to airport security, slipping out of his boots and putting them on the conveyor belt tray with his bag, keys and belt. He passed through the security gate without incident and slid his boots back on, waiting for his companions to join him on the other side. As he waited, he felt his phone buzz and he checked the new text message.

The girl from the blind date he had broken off was understandably angry at him for cancelling at such short notice, but Jason found he couldn't bring himself to care overmuch. He was on an adventure, and there would be other girls in time. He grinned and looked over at his fellow reporters. "Come on, we don't have all day!"

 

[DVB]

(To avoid confusion, we should probably put who's in what group)

Diego Vendrix
CUI HQ - Main Conference Room
Stonehedge/Georgia Guidestone Connection

“So, you’ve never been to the Guidestones?,” chatted Linda looking over at Diego. Diego shook his head. "Surprisingly no. But hey, there's a first time for everything," Diego said as he looked at with a smile. He had meant to see the Stones but he guess he never got around to doing it until now.

Harry stumbled off, and ran inside handing the coffee to everyone. Diego smiled as he took a sip and ruffled the hair of the kid he had taken under his wing. He wad very fond of Harry and viewed him as a younger brother. He was a good kid who needed someone to help him reach his full potential. Diego wished he had someone like that to help. He had his dad, who was legendary in Diego's eyes, but there were subtle differences.

Diego then looked to Jason and nodded with respect.

"Well, I don't think we're going to accomplish anything waiting around here. We better get a move on." He took out his boarding pass and meandered over to airport security.

"Jason, did you make living arrangements already? I already planned with my folks and they can accept Harry and Linda but not any more people," Diego told him. He looked at his excitable reporter and shook his head.

"Come on guys, let's get going," Diego said to them. He did wonder where Jason was going to stay though.

 

[Firebrand]

Jason Valentine
Airport
Stonehenge/Georgia Guidestones

"Jason, did you make living arrangements already? I already planned with my folks and they can accept Harry and Linda but not any more people," Diego said.

Jason shrugged. "That's fine. I spent a while drifting around before I settled down Cedardale, you know. I learned some stuff back then, some of it more practical than others. But I'll tell you this much. Almost any town in the United States, especially ones with tourist draws like the Guidestones, have got a couple of cheap motels fairly close by. I'll just find the cheapest one that isn't a sex trafficking front and crash there. I looked into it a while back when I was investigating that case down in Pennsylvania. I can charge it to the Inquirer's expense account. I'll stay in town and see what leads I can come up with while you guys commute on and off site. I can take the local pulse without seeming too overbearing. Sometimes too many people can make a contact nervous." He gave a half-smile. "Besides, I can track my best leads when I'm on my own. A lonely, handsome stranger can coax out all kinds of information at the local bar. No need to worry about me."

He glanced out the large glass windows that looked out onto the airstrip. Jason hadn't flown since he was in college, and he had always found the experience to be equal parts exciting and unsettling. Sometimes he felt that people really shouldn't be hurtling through the skies in giant metal bullets, but it was exhilarating to be soaring through fields of clouds.