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p o p p e t ♥
a whisper in the wind

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#26
Old 07-29-2014, 03:51 PM

Alex had paired them all off with their assignments, not failing to let Ellie down, at least in one aspect anyway. "Oh Allan," she said with a sweet smile and a dismissing wave of her hand. "She's not so scary. She's just a woman on a mission who knows what she wants is all. The only time she's really dangerous is if you get in her way."

Ellie had moved to place a reassuring hand on Allan's shoulder. Everything she'd said was with a smile and a never failing cheer that she seemed to always have. She turned to Joleen. "We could meet up at the Blood Box if it's not too late," she suggested. "Or the guest house." Elle's parents didn't really like the whole gang coming and going at all hours of the night, so they often met up 'after hours' in the Windsor's guest house.

It was on the other side of the large pool and was still full service out there, butler and chef and all, and no one ever seemed to mind. Ellie herself had tried to get Alex alone there once or twice, but every time she thought, Now's the perfect time to make a move Alex, he'd go off on some new trap idea or recall an old memory of ghoul capturing. She couldn't help but find him adorable when he got so into his trapping, but she sometimes wondered if she'd ever be a topic in his mind so important as traps.

Ellie sighed longingly, but when she realized she'd done it, sky blue eyes wandered the room. Had anyone noticed that? "Well, time's wasting!" she said cheerily, and quickly. "I've got my cell if anyone needs to call or text. Good luck everyone!"

As the group followed Oobis to the door and split off into their pairs, Elle turned to wait for Alex, straightening out her plaid skirt and sleeves to her white long sleeved shirt. She even fluffed her hair up a little before he got down the steps to where she was, mentally preparing herself for what they might find in the caves. The culprits, she hoped.

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#27
Old 07-30-2014, 01:35 AM

"No need, I brought the Yamaha today."

Alex flashed a carabiner with a jumble of keys and keychains. Being part of the gang meant that nearly everyone had access to each other's vehicles in case a sketchy situation ever arose. Most of them (at least the ones with licenses) had copies of their keys, but only two of them (Alex and Allan) regularly rode the motorcycle. It had been Alex's sixteenth birthday gift as a reward of sorts for how much he had matured but also because Uncle Chris owed him nine years of allowance. Being the excited guy that he was, Alex ended up scratching it pretty badly (which pissed his uncle straight off a cliff) and had to ask Allan for a fix.

Thank goodness for friends in high places, he thought as the conversation slowly wrapped up.

He downed the rest of his lemonade in a single gulp before shrugging at Joleen's question.

"Let's hit the Blood Box after this," he suggested, well announced, "we could see if Vern knows a thing or two."

Grabbing a spare helmet from his backpack, he didn't seem to hear her sigh of discontent and walked behind her. She was wearing her usual, designer clothing of a pricy top, pricy shoes, and a pricy bottom to accentuate her svelte figure. Were it anyone else, they might not have noticed the subtle tug of the skirt or the slight poof she suddenly had in her hair. It made him pause and observe because Alex was no ordinary man. He was Ella's best friend and an ace detective!

"Ella you should really comb down your hair. The helmet's going to ruin it," he said, tossing her the helmet.

He led her to his parking spot where the motorcycle rested proudly, smiling at how the light reflected perfectly on the red paint and the special trap he'd installed in the headlights...not that Ella needed to know. He revved the engine and gestured for his friend (accomplice really) to get on. He whispered a "Crystal Caves" into his GPS to scan the map's main roads and put the phone away. Putting on his helmet, he zoomed off with Ella sitting in the back and the nighttime air whipping by. No matter how he got there, Crystal Cove only had one route to Crystal Caves and if they were lucky, one culprit waiting for them to capture.

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#28
Old 07-30-2014, 04:13 AM

Following the others out she kept digging around in her bag. She was sure she had thrown them in there last night. Looking up as the meet place got settled she watched Ella primp. For a brief moment Joleen contemplated smacking their dense leader in the back of the head but pushed that feeling aside- as she had done plenty of times. It probably wouldn't have done any good at all anyway.They should probably have a girls night soon. Nothing was better at forgetting the stupid things the boys did sometimes then too much chocolate, staying up late, and a wild selection of movie." Okay clue hunting then diner at the blood box sounds good."

Pausing in her search for the eye she looked up and gave Alex her best sarcastic smile, " Drive safe on your death trap!" As with everything she made her feeling about that bike known. It was pretty but she wasn't getting within arms reach of it. How Ella and Allen could ride on it was beyond her.

Finally wrapping her fingers around one of the keys on her key ring she tugged them out of the bag." Okay Sarah , you or Allen give me a call if anyone gives you trouble looking at those tapes. Mr. Bentley already gave us the go ahead." Waving after the others she headed down the street towards glancing back to make sure Matty and Oobis realized she planned on driving there. " let's go boys"

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#29
Old 07-30-2014, 07:20 AM

"Shotgun." announced the cat, staking a claim on the front passenger seat without so much as a glance back. Mathias bit his tongue to avoid an argumentative reply. His feline friend was clearly baiting him, looking for a fight after suffering the indignity that was Matty's backpack.

"No problem." was Matty's pleasant reply. He opened the door for the cat and folded himself into the backseat. Oobis managed to look both suspicious and pleased. Matty looked like he had been folded in half, but was oddly good natured about the whole thing. He grinned at Joleen as she slid behind the wheel. "It can't be that far right?"

They hit the road and Oobis stared out the window, unblinking, as the town rolled by. First the houses got smaller, and closer together, then things started getting greener and the houses were more spread out. The tractor yard was in a fairly rural area. The cat blinked slowly. Almost "coming back" from his thoughts, "Maybe that's why no one heard anything? There's no one around."

He was looking out the window again, this time, his eyes were slightly narrowed.

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#30
Old 07-30-2014, 02:06 PM

When Ellie defended her mother's fierceness, Sarah couldn't help but wonder for hundredth time when the red-head would find her fierceness. She guessed there definitely was some, since she had stood up against her parents so firmly about her friend group and the whole mystery solving deal, but it never showed anywhere else. Was it because she hadn't found what she really wanted? Even regarding Alexander, it was all dimmed down and put on hold, probably not just because Ellie could be old fashioned romantic, wanting him to make the first move.

Sigh, talking about romance... When she was 16, she had written a short story about familiar, but unspecified male asking his nerdy, romantic friend how to woo their best friend the most impressive way (and how it had succeeded). Of course, now looking back, she saw it was as one of the cheesiest pieces ever written and it was hidden away some nearly forgotten folder. But somewhere, deep down, Sarah still wished for such a scenario, although she doubted Alex would ever come to seek her advice on such a matter. And by now, she had began to wonder what impact it would have on group's dynamic if the two actually became an item. Not that they already didn't spend a good deal of time together....

In slightly absent-minded manner, she listened to others discuss where to meet up afterwards. Blood Box was as good place as any, despite it's definitely creepy name. They had the best ice cream sundae in town (well, only one, actually, but it didn't sound as impressive). And among other things, Sarah had learned to appreciate food from Matty, although she wasn't so obnoxiously obvious about it. When he went in the food la-la land, everyone knew it. He was like Oobis in that manner, except the cat actually could purr.

With slight smile, she nodded her good byes and headed for the van. Seemed like it was theirs for the night. Well, all in all, that was a good thing. Between Allan's hardware skills and her software knowledge, they had managed to make somewhat of a spy vehicle. She loved working with tapes and other clues there, it felt... Like they were in a story, or something. The girl settled down in her back seat, assuming her friend would drive. Although she had her license and was actually a decent driver, it made her anxious to sit at the steering wheel. So, she usually she did that only when they borrowed her dad's car or they were on a long trip and others needed rest.

She pulled out her own laptop and placed next to her, turning it on, so she could transfer her research to it and continue working. If Allan didn't turn on radio, she'd momentarily debate asking him to do that, but then decide against it. Music wouldn't distract her, but also wouldn't help her focus, so there was no particular need for it. And God help her, if he didn't switch away from some techno type of music station. As much as she appreciated what tech could make, in sounds she preferred something more mellow, like jazz, folk rock and the like (sometimes, she couldn't quite make sense of her music taste herself, but she knew where the line was drawn firmly).

Now her main point of interest was the villa where yoga classes took place. Perhaps it was only a hunch, but since Alex & Ella would inspect the caves and warehouse check ran in background, it couldn't hurt. Unless Allan spoke up, she didn't really say anything and glanced up from the screen only few times.

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#31
Old 07-30-2014, 07:01 PM

Allan nodded as they walked out. "I'll be sure never to do that, then." He would have to ask to borrow the bike after this case was over. His van was great; he loved it from the day he found it in a dump yard, but it couldn't really stand up to the freedom of two wheels.

He spun the key ring around his finger as they walked to the van went around to hop in the driver's seat. He checked the rear view mirror quick and smiled just a little bit when he saw how at home Sarah was in their personal, mobile computer lab. When Allan started the engine the radio kicked on and an all but muted song was playing. He turned it up and tried to find a station both of them would like. Sarah never seemed picky about her tastes, almost the complete opposite of Allan. He was currently into Thrash Metal thanks to a seriously crazy video called 'Thrash or Die' introduced to him by a friend in shop class. It was easy to dig any music that you could hear over the sounds of buss saws, welding equipment, and power tools.

He quickly settled when he heard the beginning chords of 'The End' by The Doors and turned it down enough to be white noise. He looked in the mirror and asked Sarah, "What do you think?" as he buckled in and pulled away from the curb.

They drove out of the residential suburbs and he tried figuring in his head the quickest way to the police department. He didn't really have to figure anything, it was just a good excuse to take his sweet time getting there. Despite never committing a crime, not even a traffic violation, in his life it was nerve racking being in that building surrounded by a bunch of men and women who thought you were in the way.

"I really wish this town wasn't so behind the times. Then we wouldn't have to 'borrow' copies like this instead of copying it ourselves from inside the van."

p o p p e t ♥
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#32
Old 07-30-2014, 09:42 PM

The strawberry red-head caught the helmet with an exhausted expression. Of course the helmet would mess her hair, that's why she'd wanted him to notice how good it looked before that. She sighed and pulled the helmet on, snapping the strap in place. She had to admit, riding the bike was one of her favorite things.

She remembered her first time on the 'death trap' as Jo liked to call it. It was exhilarating and she'd squealed like a school girl upon take-off. She smiled the entire ride and her cheeks actually hurt when they were done. Though of course, that might have had something to do with the fact that she got to hold herself against Alex so tightly, but that was a given. Ellie's parents had been furious though. So she quit telling them about it. It wasn't like she lied, she just left little details out, that was all.

Elle hopped on the bike behind Alex and adjusted her red plaid skirt. Somehow the wind from the speed tended to keep things like that down, rather than up, like one might assume, and that was good. Considering Ellie really loved her skirts. Though stylish leggings and shorts were close in the running for favorites. She silently hoped that this one wouldn't get ruined tonight, but she had it in four other colors, so it wasn't too big of a deal.

She held on to Alex's waist and they peeled off. Ellie couldn't help but smile while in a momentary heaven of her own. Some people might be surprised to find that Elle was quite keen on adrenaline rushes, somewhat a junkie, if you will. But it was nothing she ever really realized or spoke allowed, and it also wasn't like she was constantly cliff diving or doing handstands on the back of the bike or anything.

When they neared the caves, they were unable to even see the yoga studio that usually loomed over the cliffs. The fog was too heavy. They couldn't see the main large entrance to the caves either. Part of the road continued on up to the villa, but the part that dead ended some distance before the cave entrance was blocked off and Alex would have to park the bike.

Ellie climbed off and removed the helmet, shaking out her hair and placing the helmet on the bike. "What's that strange smell?" she said aloud. It was clear that the fog was no ordinary fog, but something man made. And just up ahead were tire marks in the mud, though Ellie wouldn't be able to tell if they were from a large tractor or something else.

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#33
Old 07-31-2014, 03:59 AM

Pulling up along the gated fence Jo flicked on her brights lighting up the otherwise dark lot. There were a few tractors and other machinery parked in what was probably some form of order. Looking down at Oobis then back at Matty she shrugged. " I don't remember seeing another building for the last 10 minutes.It would probably be super easy to get it out of here as long as you didn't head back into town." But it still didn't answer how they got them out. As far as she had found out the lock was never messed with.

" well we aren't going to find clues sitting in here." Reaching over to open the glove box she pulled out the two Mac lights she kept in there for just this occasion. Passing one over her shoulder to Matty she fished out her camera from the bag that she had tossed on the floorboard of the passenger seat. It was always best to have photo evidence of any clues. Balancing both the flashlight and Nikon in her right hand she pushed open the driver's side door. sitting her hand full on top of the car she plucked her iphone from the cup holder holding it out to Matty, " Do you mind? I'm kind of pocketless." She waved down to indicate the thick navy leggins with a shrug.

The breeze had taken on a cooler temperature the first hints that fall was coming. Joleen briefly wished she had listened to her mother and at least changed out of her layered tank tops. Shining her light up at the gate she glanced back at the boys. She might have forgotten to get the key from Mr. Bently when she talked to him. "So unless you are hiding a pair of bolt cutters in your pants we might have to climb over." The fence didn't look too much taller then Mathias and it wasn't like climbing fences would be all that new.

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#34
Old 07-31-2014, 10:51 AM

Matty snagged the flashlight. "So it's not really any amazing feat to get tractors past anyone, because no one's around. " He unfolded himself from the backseat. The ride really hadn't taken all that long but he was a little unsteady on his feet while the blood rushed back into his legs. He took perhaps four steps before half screaming. "Argh! Pins and needles. Pins and needles!!!" His feet were asleep.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhh! There could be security." Oobis hissed, "Especially since a bunch of the tractor thingies just went missing!" Oobis had crawled over Joleen's seat and slipped out of the vehicle from her side because he couldn't open his own door. Stupid door. Stupid lack of thumbs. It was a common complaint of the feline and one he didn't bother voicing this time.

Mathias was feeling pretty stupid, himself. Oobis was right that they had no idea who might be around. Just because they hadn't seen anyone yet didn't mean he could go around shouting. Luckily Jo interrupted his shame spiral with her very reasonable request. Matty had pockets to spare, several of which didn't even have cookies in them. He slipped Joleen's phone into one of those cookieless pockets and they walked up to the gate together. Joleen assessed the situation and sadly, Mathias lacked bolt cutters. The fence really wasn't that tall. To him.

He gave a sideways glance to Joleen and tried to hide a lopsided grin, "Want me to give you a boost?"

Oobis slipped under the fence so quickly it looked like he went through it. Lack of thumbs aside there were many perks to being a cat.

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#35
Old 07-31-2014, 08:30 PM

The feeling of wind whipping against his clothes and a mystery at the end of the journey meant that riding the Mysterycycle (as Alex so aptly named it) never got old. He loved taking people on rides and using any excuse that he could to take the motorbike versus driving or walking. Walking to the grocery store? No need! Library? He'll take you there. Paramedics are on their way? Just put your arm in a sling, he can bike you to the hospital no problem. As was the case, Ella seemed to enjoy the thrill just as much what with her squeal and tight squeeze on Alex's waist. He didn't think much of it other than maybe Ella being scared of falling off, but he took the precaution of not overstepping his bounds when riding. If Sheriff Dodson ticketed him it would only give the Windsors another reason to leer.

Where is it? Alex asked himself as he slowed down.

The haze had rolled in rather quickly, less like a river and more like a flood as his helmet fogged up. Even though he turned on the headlights he wasn't able to see through the thick cloud.

"I guess we're going to have to stop here," he muttered as he braked his bike off the road.

Though they had tried an alternate path toward the villa, it was a dead end, almost taunting them with how close they were to the building. Luckily for them, there was space off the side of the road for him to lock his motorcycle and throw a heavy tarp in case of rain...or thieves. It wasn't fancy or anything, a lightweight, but dark sheet of plastic, but it blended against most backgrounds and protected against the weather. He took off his helmet in time to hear and smell the strangeness that his redheaded friend asked about and shrugged.

"Dry ice?" he offered, "or maybe some of that stuff they use in theater class."

He had used dry ice to mimic the look of fog in one of his traps, but it smelled wholly like water and the amount it took work made the room colder than Alaska. Glancing back at Ella, he noticed her look down at what appeared to be track marks along the muddy pathway.

"Looks like they left a trail for us," he announced, "c'mon we should see how much this fog stretches."

In truth, he didn't know if they actually were tractor wheel marks (since many types of vehicles had huge wheels), but what else would be driving up this far at night?

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#36
Old 08-01-2014, 12:56 AM

She had jumped a little when the song started, since all of her attention was already focused on laptop, making her less obvious to surroundings. Sarah tried to limit such slip ups only to safe venues, such as their vehicles, homes. Everywhere else she had to pay attention to everything. At least when they were on case. No one could be hyper-alert all the time and there wasn't need to, either.

When Allan changed station and asked if it'd be fine, she smiled a bright and genuine smile at him. "It's very good," the girl told him and then added "thank you", quietly hoping that he didn't mind the station either. Then, the familiar song lulled her right back into work. Sarah knew that she had time - he'd take the longest route possible, it was one of those funny, little quirks of his. She did understand where it was coming from, being stared down by police officer was not a pleasant experience and mentally, she always shrunk twice in size.

At his musings, the girl nodded, before realizing that he was watching road and couldn't see the gesture. "Yes, you're right. You'd think that after all this time..." she trailed off, not finishing her thought as they pulled up to Police Station. But it was probably clear anyway that she thought they ought to trust the gang and help them out more after all the cases they had solved. And that the town should have invested in better security all through. It was as if they were welcoming all kinds of bad-doers.

She quickly stuffed her laptop back in bag and hopped out of van. She sighed slightly as they walked into the building, nodding greeting at the person sitting behind desk near entrance. Sarah always left all the talking to whoever she was teamed up with. Except with Matty sometimes, he had a knack for making a mess out of the conversations. Perhaps she felt a little bad for always taking the backseat in these things, but it seemed her friends had grown used to it and she wasn't particularly good at talking with strangers, so the team wasn't losing anything with her silence.

When they were taken to the room where they could watch tapes or take them from, she brightened up noticeably, pushing glasses up her nose - a clear sign she was getting serious.

p o p p e t ♥
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#37
Old 08-01-2014, 01:55 AM

The main entrance of the caves was rather large, at least two stories, maybe three. There were many entrances all over the mountains though, some hardly big enough for a small child. This was a popular entrance for the casual spelunker, an obvious reason to cause the fog and keep people out.

It was no surprise when the 'fog' cleared up just at the entrance leading inside. "Did we bring a flashlight?" Ellie asked Alex. Sometimes she failed to think ahead, but Alex rarely forgot things like that. She squinted into the darkness of the cave, wondering what or who they might find. The tractors at least, she hoped.

Inside, the caverns would split into many smaller caverns. Just where they split, there were two or three torches and some kerosene. "Do you want to split up, Alex?" she asked, figuring they could cover more ground this way.

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#38
Old 08-01-2014, 03:04 AM

What she had to wonder was what someone was doing with all of these stolen tractors. It didn't make much sense unless there was a large demand for bulky machinery in the black market. She highly doubted that. Looking at the spots her flashlight illuminated Jo watched as the shadow moved around with the light.

Slipping her camera and flash light through a broken part of the fence towards the bottom Jo glanced up to the top of the fence ."Yeah might as well." It came out in a huffed mix of slight annoyance but mostly resignation. She had no delusions about her very diminutive height next to Ella and her heels she was the second shortest in the group beating Sarah by three inches. It wasn't like it was a sore subject that yeah she was vertically changed but standing next to Matty made her feel shorter then she already was.

This was something he knew, and she knew that he knew it. The smaller groups rarely varied when the gang split up. So with years of being sent hunting for clues together they had learned the small thing about each other.Reaching out with one hand Joleen laced her fingers through the links and put the other on Matty's shoulder.
" But drop me and I'm leaving you out here." It was an empty threat and they both knew it It was creepy out here and no way she would make any of her friends walk all the way back into town. Worse she would do would be make him sit in the back seat again.

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#39
Old 08-01-2014, 07:21 AM

Mathias had half wondered if she were going to follow Oobis under the fence. He watched her pushing the stuff through but then she stood up, shrugged and accepted his boost. Lifting her easily after years of practice, she was up and over quickly. He let her find the ground before hitching himself up and almost over. Matty got a little hung up at the top. He thought he heard a purring chuckle but Oobis had slipped into the shadows, so Matty couldn't glare at him in response.

The lanky lad freed himself from the fence and landed with a soft whump. "I'm fine. Ow. Fine."

The tractor yard was seriously spooky, especially from down here on the ground. Everything must just look HUGE to Oobis. Matty realized. The dormant machines looked ominous is the low light. The headlights and grills looked like faces. Watching them. Mathias scrambled to his feet. The view wasn't much better from up here.

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#40
Old 08-02-2014, 05:58 AM

When Alex entered the cave he had automatically been drawn to the cavernous walls and seemingly nonexistent ceiling. Stalactites and stalagmites gleamed along the sides of the cave, serving to excite his trap-making mind rather than his detective one. He could hang rope from the stalactites and connect it to a bucket of water which would drop once the rope was burned through by a candle which would be lit by...well most people got the picture. Of course, the fact that the fog didn't infect the cave was enough reason for Alexander to whip out two flashlights (as if reading Ella's mind) and handing one to her for to use.

He flicked the switch and panned the beam of light around the walls finding evidence of dripping water, mud, and most importantly, prints.

"Look at these Ella," he said, flashing the light on a set of fresh-looking footprints, "don't you think the fog would have kept people from coming here?"

It was common knowledge that amateur spelunkers loved going through the Crystal Caves, but not only was it night time, but it was foggy, foggy enough that most people wouldn't even be able to see the cave unless they walked up close. Why would they come all the way here just to explore at night?

He frowned as they approached the first split in the cave and turned to his strawberry-haired companion and nodded.

"You take the left and I'll take the right path," he decided, "as long as we don't go too deep into the caves we should still have signal in case either of us get in trouble but if we do...stick to the usual plan of run around until we can meet at the Mystercycle."

With a baited breath he entered the cavern, ready for the things to come.

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#41
Old 08-03-2014, 08:34 PM

Allan locked the doors after Sarah hopped out and triple checked that he was in the right spot. They always had new officers in Crystal Cove, mostly newbies training to understand some of the stranger cases, sometimes cops from the cities who wanted a break from high profile crimes, and occasionally on-lookers who transferred for a while to see if everything that happened in Crystal Cove was a hoax or not. They never lasted long against the Sheriff's scrutiny. In fact, most of the long-time staff were born and bred. To anyone who had grown up around this sort of thing it was perfectly normal.

Despite knowing exactly where they needed to go, Allan made sure to say 'hi' to May at the front desk and he asked that they could be directed to the proper evidence room. Their usual guide being Sheriff Dodson's deputy; the current Shay Morris. "Hey, Shay," Allan shook his hand before they started walking, "How's that new transmission doing?"

"Swell, just swell," Shay nodded. A large ring of keys swung on his finger. "Thanks for catching that. I can't imagine how long I'd be working to pay off a whole new one if you hadn't seen something wrong."

Allan thought Shay was a nice guy. He had graduated and gone off to college while Allan was still in junior high. In exchange for buying half the parts and free labor, Shay would tell Allan about everything he did while living outside Crystal Cove.

"Well, I'll leave you to it. Boss man's not here, and so long as you're gone quick, I don't think he'll mind if I get paperwork done."

"Thanks, Deputy Morris." Allan closed the door and went up to the TV. The big, clunky TV-VHS hybrid had seen better days. "I heard a lot of schools in bigger cities don't even use these anymore. Everyone gets an iPad that stays in the building," He said to Sarah. Crystal Cove really was stuck in a time dimensional rut that collected random things all throughout history.

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#42
Old 08-04-2014, 07:39 PM

Making sure not to land on her stuff but still not tumble over the top head first Joleen retrieve her flashlight camera. Just in time to snap a quick picture of Matty's awkward descent over the fence. Shining her light out in to the yard she had to admit the place aw pretty creepy at night. However it had nothing on half the places their mysteries had led them too. The old abandon church out on near the cost for example had given hr nightmares for a week.

"okay so Mr. Bently said that most of the tractors have gone missing form the back end of the yard. Figured we should start there." If they were lucky there would be tire tracks that some had over looked. If they were super lucky they could catch the perpetrator in the act of stealing another one.

Following the beam from her flashlight deeper into the tractor yard she kept an eye out for Oobis- who had taken to the shadows sometime after Matty had helped her over the fence. Turning to glance behind her to make sure she hadn't lost the tall boy at any point.

The amount of machines where starting to thin out and all of the tracks that he could make out all looked as if they were heading in the direction of the front gate.Which couldn't have been the way the stolen tractors had been taken. Pulling her hair up into a loose high ponytail a habit she had picked up while thinking.

Last edited by Ever_After; 08-04-2014 at 07:54 PM..

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#43
Old 08-05-2014, 09:59 PM

"Good luck, and be careful!" she said to Alex before, with a fire lit torch, Ellie entered the path on the left. She held the torch up out in front of her, but it failed to light very far down the cave. Eventually she came to another split in the cave, and another, and so on, until Ellie didn't know how she'd ever get back to the entrance. But, she was almost sure she heard voices ahead.

She walked quietly down the narrowed cave until she came to a dead end. The dead end opened up into somewhat of a larger area, though not by much. It was maybe twenty feet tall and twenty-five feet wide at its widest points. But Elle was sure she could still hear voices ahead. A closer inspection showed Elle that the room had some kind of hole near the ceiling, certainly big enough for a person to fit through.

With certainty, Ellie knew that the voices were just on the other side of that hole. But how deep was it? Nevertheless, the voices themselves were a clue, along with the footprints and tire marks they'd found entering into the cave. No one could even find the caves anymore, much less were they allowed out here.

She decided she'd climb up the cave wall, and crawl through the hole to see what she would find. Ellie jammed the torch into a crack and reached up to grab onto a piece of the wall. Just as she began to pull her weight up, the rock gave a few inches and suddenly she was falling.

It wasn't a very long fall, and in her attempt at being sneaky, she refrained from screaming, though it had been hard. Ellie landed hard on her butt. The torch glowed in the cavern above her, and she stood. She couldn't reach the ceiling above, where she'd fallen from, so she looked around.

Ellie was in some kind of storage room. It couldn't have been any bigger than the last room, and what was that in the corner? Two foggy eyes staring at her from freakishly pale, almost fluorescent skin, on a body that seemed to be crawling on all fours! The trap door shut Ellie into darkness and she shrieked. Surely it echoed through the caves, but she didn't care, she'd already been found after-all, by cave people!


((She's actually seen a costume, though she doesn't know it. Any of you can run into these 'creatures' at any time now. Have fun!))

Cows Go Moo
Crouching Roleplayer Hidden Lurk...
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#44
Old 08-06-2014, 08:49 AM

It didn't take long for Alexander to get over his wariness of being in the cave and turn it into a game of "where can I start setting up traps?". The path would be great for the classic foot-noose, but a trip-wire in the slits of the cave? Now that was thinking outside of the box. He very nearly wanted to forget about the problem at hand, but his sense of duty meant literally keeping his back against the wall. How can anyone flex through these tight spaces? he asked himself as he weaved through another passageway. The footprints were gone, but they reached far enough that he finally found...a dead end. Great, now he would have to go back wouldn't he?

Normal sense said "yes, go find Ella", but his Sherlockian sense told him to tap against the wall of the cave for the answer to a mystery was so rarely the obvious one. Everything was about misdirection, keeping the eye of the audience on something else while the real trick took place elsewhere. There was likely a switch somewhere or a crevice, or a wire, or even an alternate path right? He looked up at the ceiling, eying a particularly long stalactite before pulling it.

"That's weird. I could have sworn that it would work."

He jerked the rock formation several times before a dark figure emerged from seemingly nowhere.

"Get oooooout!" a low voice rasped.

Directing his flashlight behind him, Alexander reacted in time to dodge the four-legged creature that leaped at him. Was this happening here and now? He waved the light around, quickly catching a glimpse of the now-open passageway and made a beeline through the door. He had a feeling that they would run into some sort of monster at one point or another, but the first day was a little soon wasn't it? He didn't have much time to ponder the question as he ran, propelled not only by the cave-person skittering toward him, but also the sudden shriek by what he hoped was Ella and not a she-monster hungry for his head.

Turning corner, he grabbed a handful of caltrops from his bag and tossed them to the ground, not bothering to see if the four-legged freak had cut its toes. He felt the pressure building as two other fluorescent beings joined the chase. Oh God how was he getting out of this? More importantly, how was Ella doing? He continued swinging his light around, probably doing more to alert the ghouls of his presence than find his companion. The only thing he could see was glimpses of the cave walls and dull rock where there should have been crystal.

"Ella!" he shouted, 'where are you?"

Penella Goldeater
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#45
Old 08-06-2014, 10:12 AM

Oobis darted out from under a tractor. "Don't ask me how but I just heard Ella scream." The cat took off in the direction the tracks had headed. She sounded so far away, he was worried but that didn't cut it, he felt desperate. Actual despair pressed down on him and slowed his steps. "So far away."

Matty had been several paces behind Joleen but lanky legs caught up quickly and soon he had caught up with her, matching her speed, as they raced after the inky black cat. A moment later Oobis had stopped. It all looked the same. Just dirt and tractors. He looked so lost, so small.

Oobis, suddenly, closed his eyes, flattened his ears, and WAILED as loud as he could. A mournful, ringing MUUURRROWWW

p o p p e t ♥
a whisper in the wind

Penpal
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#46
Old 08-07-2014, 04:12 PM

When Ellie stopped shrieking long enough to realize she hadn't been attacked yet, she backed up carefully until she was against a wall. She felt most comfortable there where nothing could sneak up on her from behind. Her heart raced and she squinted into the darkness trying to see, though she wasn't sure she really wanted to.

She heard Alex then and strained to figure out where his voice came from. "Alex!" she shouted in a relieved response. Her voice lacked the terror that her shriek had held, since she figured she wasn't going to be attacked, probably having scared the cave person away. Shrieking was a natural girl power. She could repel many things with it, as most females could.

"Alex, I'm over here!" she shouted again. "I don't have a light!" She couldn't move from her spot. What if she fell into a trap, or a hole or something? No, she'd have to be careful then. She couldn't just stay here. What if the cave person returned with backup.

Ellie put her hands out and felt her way along a wall. "Alex!" she shouted again, not wanting him to lose her location, or her his. At that moment, something tugged at her skirt, and something dripped on her shoulder. OMG it was the cave people trying to grab her, and one on the ceiling drooling!

She made a horrified, strangled sound from a scream caught in her throat, and without a second thought, Ellie ran. Luckily for her, she was in a long section of cave now, perhaps even and open part. She'd run until something or someone stopped her. All that had been behind her tugging at her skirt, was a jagged piece of rock. And the drool? Merely water, dripping from a piece of crystal above her.

sadrain
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#47
Old 08-07-2014, 06:08 PM

Sarah listened to the two men chatting, following behind them with slightly bowed head as if the floor held some particularly interesting mystery she was intent on solving. Sarah felt comfortable with her friends, but usually as soon as someone else entered the equation, no matter how briefly, she felt the need to close up. It wasn't on purpose and she didn't want to feel that way. When she was thrown into land of social interactions, the girl lost her footing and chose to stay still, rather than make any movement that surely would send her tripping and falling into deepest, darkest hole called 'social failure & embarrassment'.

There were some exceptions though - when Sarah felt she was in her element, doing a good job she loosened up. She could act more naturally in library, handing out books or helping people find them or when she revealed culprit in one of their cases, neatly listing all points in their plan as well as their shortcomings. That's why her friends and the things they did meant the world to her, they all let her taste what being confident and assured felt like.

The girl thanked deputy Morris quietly, eyes already glued on TV. There was an itch somewhere in her brains that could only be scratched by solving this case and she planned to scratch that itch very well. At Allan's comment, she grinned slightly and took her seat in front of TV, placing her bag next to her and taking her laptop out, followed by VHS to USB adapter that she had bought online ages ago for times just like these. "This thing has its charm, but it's definitely not very conventional and the quality of recordings leave much to be desired," she agreed as she plugged adapter in its appropriate sockets.

It took a short while for the transfer of past week's recordings to her laptop, but when that was done, they were set. It was so much more comfortable to view the tapes this way and she could use her special viewing program in which she could zoom in on any part of the video with ease. Sure, the image got considerably worse, but years of practice had made Sarah somewhat of an expert in deciphering pixelated pictures.

When they had watched tapes of first two nights that theft had taken place, Sarah bit back a soft sigh. Although it seemed pointless, she knew better than to disregard the whole recording. And indeed, soon enough she paused the tape and pushed glasses higher up her nose, with crease between her brows. "Look," she pointed at one of the tractors. "There's something moving behind it," the girl commented, selecting two cameras from the list and pulling just those up to fill the screen.

There indeed was something, pale and remotely (naked) human like, crouching behind one of the tractors. It stayed there for a short moment, before making a leap like an animal would, to hide behind next vehicle. The thing could never be seen on the final camera's recordings and there was no record of the machine being driven out of its place or out of the yard. "The camera feed is looped somehow, that's why no one noticed anything," Sarah concluded and snapped few screenshots of the creature. "But the thing slipped up once, we may find more clues in rest of tapes, maybe get a clearer look at it." There were hints of excitement in her voice as she looked at Allan for his input.

Last edited by sadrain; 08-07-2014 at 06:10 PM..

Ever_After
All shall come to a happy end
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#48
Old 08-09-2014, 07:40 PM

She didn't think just followed Oobis through the lot gravel crunching under her converse. There was a small stitch in her side, she had been super lazy this summer, but she'd run again if she had too. " Where did you hear the scream coming from?" Scanning the area ahead of them with her flashlight Jo couldn't find any sign of anything out of the ordinary in the dark empty tractor lot.

There were more tracks and one or two tractors but it looked like that had run closer to the end of the lot. How Ella's voice could have even traveled that far she didn't know but Joleen had learned long ago never to doubt Oobis's ear. What didn't make sense was that Alex and Ella were suppose to be checking out Crystal cave's mysterious fog. They couldn't be close enough. Unless they had come looking for them. However wouldn't calling have been better.

Glancing back at Matty to ask what he thought about it all when it looked like a shadow shifted behind him. It could have been a flick of the light, staring harder she noticed that the shadow wasn't so much flickering in the light as crouching behind that forklift.. " What the...?" Moving the flashlight to the spot behind her tall friend.

There caught in the beam of her flashlight was something that may have looked human expect for the fact that is was on all fours. Oh well...that was... "ah..uhu...I think we have company..." raising her camera she snapped a quick picture- half of Matty' face getting caught in the shot. Taking a half step back her blue green eyes widen. That stitch in her side didn't seem like a big thing.

Mentally she did a quick evaluation of the situation. Ella had screamed somewhere nearby, and a...thing was standing over there glaring at them She thinks it was glaring.

Cows Go Moo
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#49
Old 08-10-2014, 05:15 AM

Two, too many things were happening at once: Ella's lack of a solid location and the ghouls chasing him. Though Alex wasn't bad at multitasking, he was worried for Ella given that she wasn't outfitted with any sort of weaponry. He assumed that she didn't have a torch of her own because he couldn't see any flicker of light beyond that of his flashlight or the glimmering bodies following behind. They reminded him of glow sticks or perhaps those tacky, celestial patterns on "trendy" leggings. Fortunately for him, they slowed down due to the caltrops and had to take an alternate route in order to catch up with him.

He could still hear Ella calling his name in the distance, seeming to grow closer as he ran forward. She had to be on the same level or at least in the same cavern as him. Clamoring up a small ledge, he continued his path to avoid the monsters and slowly (but surely) find his friend. His training meant that he wasn’t winded from the chase, but he couldn’t say the same for Ella. While he didn’t doubt her monster chasing (and catching) ability, she had a knack for being caught and getting into situations where her lack of solid athleticism (besides that needed to maintain her figure) shone through.

"Don’t worry, just stay there!”

He made sure to alert her of her location as he continued the next jump-and-lunge combo onto the top of the multi-leveled cavern. As he had (mistakenly) suspected, her strangled scream meant she’d run into one of those creatures without any sort of defense or weapon. Her torch was long gone and he didn’t have the foresight to give her another flashlight to go along with it. Well, not that the flashlight was doing much for him in the first place. His run was bringing him farther from the area, but he still felt a few of the ghouls tailing him, perhaps looking to corner him. He slid himself behind a rock formation and waited for the trio of monsters to pass by him before continuing into the long passageway.

”Ella? Ella! he whispered harshly.

He picked up his pace, quickly running his light up and down the cave until he saw a blur of motion moving past him.

”Ells!” he exclaimed, running up and grabbing her, ”I finally found you!”

Between his blatantly negligence of an extra flashlight and nearly getting caught himself, he was relieved that he found her in one piece. He let out a sigh of relief before letting go of her.

”Oh man we need to get out of here,” he said, ”I don’t think those ghouls are planning to let us leave quietly.”

As if on cue, footsteps echoed in the background as glowing outlines grew closer.

Penella Goldeater
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#50
Old 08-10-2014, 09:09 AM

Oobis's ears had sank low to the sides of his head. He knew he had heard Ella and she had sounded so frightened. She was one of his people. The cat had all this weird guilt tied up in his emotions about them. He was supposed to protect them. Jo's gentle voice interrupted his spiraling sadness.

Where. Think! Where?

He perked up quickly. Eyes bright and tail twitching. Mathias pulled a silent "yes" gesture, a sort of fist pump close to his body, down by his side. Oobis was on to something. Joleen turned to Matty and he grinned at her. Then she looked at him funny and Matty wondered he had something in his nose because she leaned in just a breath closer and sounded faintly disgusted when she wondered, what.

But she had been looking just past him. And a prickly, creepy, sort of feeling danced up his back. Jo mentioned they had company and NO WAY was he looking behind him. Her camera flashed and he was half blind but didn't care. "RUN" Mathias's tone indicated no time for debate. He would fling his friend over his shoulder and grab Oobis by the scruff if he had to. Bright blue, wonky spots swam over his vision. When he finally chanced a glance back it was terrible. Four spindly legs, shiny eyes and maybe a glimpse of needle teeth.

Mathias tripped over Oobis, who had suddenly pulled up short. Matty rolled to his feet just in time to see the thing bearing down on Joleen. Oobis didn't think. He ran right at the ghoul, and under it, between the things legs. The creature growled and turned to pursue the cat. It lumbered into an awkward turn and Matty scrambled after Jo. The two of them watched Oobis dance circles around the ghoul but that sense of foreboding crept in again. Matty glanced at the shrubbery and pipped a very unmanly squeak.

Two more pairs of eyes peered out of the bushes.

Last edited by Penella Goldeater; 08-10-2014 at 09:20 AM..

 


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