Step On A Crack

**Seryna** · Mar 26th, 2014 02:29 AM

Record DownsideUp Bean West Cayce

Information known to your hunters through the news:
Three days ago, two friends from town went hiking up Cowles mountain (a hiking place about a 20 minutes drive from Santee). The pair never returned. In the search that followed, authorities realized that the pair had hiked higher than the popular trails. The searchers moved into the higher ground and one Search & Rescue crew member went missing. Her dog was discovered unconscious with a deep slash in its side. Could it have been a Mountain Lion?

The day was promising to be a warm one. It was ten a.m. and the sun was rising on a clear sky. Tayla finished dressing and found a voice message on her phone.

To Talya

Chrissy was placing some pressure on her to gather his cell together. Never had his Union contact done this to her before...

To all who come to Chrissy's home:
Thirty minutes later...

"Are you sure its safe, honey?" You hear Steve's voice as you approach the Hollandale household. Chrissy and Steve stand in thier driveway. You see that Chrissy's Honda fit has the back door open and a trail back pack is being placed within. You can see a 7'' knife peeking out from a side flap before Chrissy moves the flap to cover it.

"It wasn't safe for those people. Thats the point. College kids go up there all the time- and what if they haven't watched the news?"

Chrissy stood a 5'5 and was a very petite woman. Besides her 6'0' husband, she looked even smaller. Yet Eli had heard that she was no shrinking violet in the face of a monster.
"You'll be careful?" Steve hedges. "And Ethan and Ray will be with you?"

The unknown man nervously tugs the hem of his shirt again. As he raises it up, you see the pistol holster the man is wearing under his shirt. Chrissy sees it and takes her husband's shoulder, directing his attention away from the unknown man.

"No." Chrissy replied. You can see her hands clench behind her back, but she smiles to her husband.

"I promise." Chrissy smiles winsomely. Steve bends and gives his wife a kiss before turning to go into the house. Chrissy turns and glares at the unknown man, striding towards him and shoving his hand away from under his shirt.

"Jose, enough." She whispers. Tension between the two radiates. The formerly nervous and fidgetting man draws himself up, staring into Chrissy's blue eyes.

"You don't talk to me like that. I paid a lot of money-"
"Money." Chrissy shakes her head and turns away from Jose. Her eyes looked conflicted. She bit her bottom lip and looked to be considering something. Jose seemed chastised and looked away.
Chrissy sees you standing there.

"Eli, Talya, glad you could make it." Her eyes move over you.
"Hello, guys. " She smiles at you. You know that she's hosted many community get togethers at the Hall. You've never seen this calm woman seem so distracted and concerned.

"This is Jose."
She gestures to Jose. Jose makes a half hearted wave and turns away, tugging at the hem of his shirt. His face is contorted with anxiety and he bounces on the heel of his feet. Chrissy looks at him and sighs. It was out of character for the encouraging and warm doctor to express dissapointment so openly.

"I'm sorry that I didn't say much on the phone." She speaks to Talya.
"I didn't want to worry my husband. You've all seen the news reports about the three missing people at Cowles mountain?"

Her eyes now move over the group.

Mar 26th, 2014 03:15 AM

Olivia sure got the call, but she doesn't know how. Somebody has gotta be connected or something. It pissed her off quite a bit but the content of the call more than made up for the breach in her privacy. Upon leaving her apartment she brought nothing with her except her cheap phone and her keys. She was wearing a black jacket that was entirely buttoned up and jeans.

She met the group as they were walking on accident. At first it seemed that they were going in the same direction as she was. But of course, nothing is really a coincidence anymore is it? She lit a cigarette as she walked to try to calm her nerves a little bit. It seemed to have helped her trembling at least, which she was grateful for by the time she reached the house.

The woman struck Liv as at least a little knowledgeable, which drew her in more. She was here to learn afterall. Liv took one last long drag of her cigarette before dropping it and stepping on it to put it off. "So that's where we're going then?" Short, sweet and to the point. That's her she liked to talk about this sort of thing. Her voice was fluid and perhaps a little deeper than an average woman's but it seemed to suit her.

Mar 26th, 2014 05:05 AM

Angelo had pulled up in his car just a little bit ago, plenty of time for him to see the exchange that went down between the three. "Yeah, I've kept up on things." He gives Chrissy a quick nod as he gets out of his vehicle and greets her. He holds up a slim audio recorder strung on a lanyard around his neck before tucking it under his shirt, "So standard operating procedure, recording for posterity. I run it through an anonymizer program and I cut out names before it goes up." Everyone that knew him knew that this was the one thing that was make or break with him, it all gets recorded and it all goes online. He's not doing this for fun, he's doing this because people need to know.

Angelo was dressed in rugged hiking apparel in greens and browns. Before he left home, he'd sat down and thought about where he was going and what they might need and packed everything he could think of in the trunk of his car. He wanted to have a quick pow-wow with Chrissy before they set out and get any input she had. He also dropped a line to Nicole with all the pertinent details of what was going on. If the worst happened, she'd at least be able to upload that much online.

Equipment in trunk

Mar 26th, 2014 11:33 AM

The reports of the people going missing had been big news at the station. Eli had no doubt that it would be getting police attention soon if the body count kept racking up. Even then, police probably weren't ready to deal with whatever was up there.

"Do we know anything about the attacks? Beyond the dog they recovered that is?" There was concern in Eli's voice.

Before coming over he had considered having Ares tag along, but for this kind of hunt it wasn't worth risking the animal's life. Besides his son was home alone today and Ares always had a way of making Eli feel better about that.

**Seryna** · Mar 26th, 2014 12:35 PM

"Yes," Chrissy nodded. "I was given some 'beware' signs by the commissioner which is our official story for going up there."

"It was the dog, Zoe, that gave us the biggest clue." Chrissy spoke, prompted by Eli. "I had her evaluated by a vet who helps us out. While treating her, she found hairs that were not Mountain Lion; as the authorities keep telling every one. They looked like bear under the microscope, but no known bear. This means there's a thing up there doing this, not a natural being. "

Chrissy cleared her throat.
"Are you all still ready to go up the mountain with me?"

**Tal** · Mar 26th, 2014 03:57 PM

It had been a stressful morning for Tal. She usually woke early, and today was no different, but by the time she got Chrissy's message she only had thirty minutes to get her gear together. Definitely not a leisurely procedure but Tal wasn't a stranger to time constraints and she managed to get her shit together, make a few phone calls, and hurriedly limp over to Chrissy's house. The first person she'd called was Eli Hughes, a fellow Union member, definitely someone she wanted to get used to working with. After that, her mind had gone a bit blank but after checking some Union message boards she found information pointing her towards Angelo and Olivia. Then, after pondering for a bit she called her Theology professor, Rory Gordon . She'd had some strange, strange conversations with Rory during his office hours, and she figured he might be up for an investigation into something else that was strange. Needless to say, she'd warned everyone she'd called that it wasn't going to be a safe trip, and to come prepared if they came at all. It was nice to see such a turnout as she finally came over, a bit out of breath.

Tal was dressed in combat boots, tan fatigue pants, and a tan jacket that looked vaguely military over a black t-shirt. She levered her pack off, which had a tarp wrapped, 4 four foot long object strapped to it's side, and limped up to the group.

"Shalom, everyone," she said, nodding to Chrissy, as the woman greeted her, and Eli. She eyed Angelo a bit while he spoke about recording them, not entirely pleased with the prospect but deciding it was a moot point for now. When Chrissy cleared her throat Tal nodded again. "I'm glad to see we have such a party to go up the mountain, and we might have one more coming. Maybe good idea to wait a few more minutes."

OOC/Gear

**Rory** · Mar 26th, 2014 05:20 PM

Rory was running a little late. He was still learning the ropes of the university, which meant that he inevitably ended up with the classes or buildings furthest from the parking lots. Or last on the docket to speak to the department chair. Or any number of things that everyone else seemed to know... like how to get messages off of cell phone.

Or how to pack for hiking.

He knew that his loafers wouldn't be the right choice, so he'd picked the only other choice -- tennis shoes. Jeans, a ghastly plaid shirt, and a nylon windbreaker completed the ensemble. On his back was a cheap nylon backpack that looked one drop on the ground away from shredding entirely. It was the same backpack he used to commute to and from work, and so the only additional concession to the proposed trip was a bottle of water. The rest of the contents would probably have disgusted the others*.

"Hi, then," he offered, giving Tal a nod and listening.

What's In That Backpack?

Mar 26th, 2014 07:11 PM

Olivia looked at the others who all had backpacks and such for the hike. Would have been nice if someone had told me that we were apparently camping our way there. She dug her hands farther in her coat pockets. She hadn't even brought a water bottle, but she was thankful that she always tended to wear tennis shoes just for reasons like this. Besides, you never know when you'll need to run.

She was a bit peeved and so was looking around behind her for a bit while the other people greeted each other. She was fine not to talk to them for now because she didn't know them, or at least didn't very well. Hell, she didn't even know why she was here. She had been pretty spacey that last few years. A voice she recognized from somewhere caught her attention and she turned back toward the group with a clumsy half-twirl.

"Rory? Didn't think I'd see you again, are you with this party too or something?"

**Seryna** · Mar 27th, 2014 01:07 AM

"Thankyou, Tal." Chrissy responded as Tal spoke to the group. Chrissy seemed content to wait. When no one responded to her question, she moved to the back seat of her car for her trail back.

"We could swing by the 7 -11 if any one needs to pick up something."
The blonde speaks over her shoulder as she hastily checks her pack.

"I'd like to get going as soon as possible. " She looks to Angelo. "Could you take someone in your car?"

Record

She takes one thing out at a time from the main compartment- a mid sized first aid kit, a plastic bag with a trail map come out. Some items shift within as Chrissy peers at the bottom of the bag and withdraws a soft black case. She re- packs the kit, placing the first aid kit and soft black case at the top for easy reach. She holds the trail map in her hand. The doctor checks the three side flaps by quickly unbuckling the straps, revealing the large knife with holster in one, a Magnum 6'' flashlight in the second and a 32 ounce Nalgene bottle in the third.

"It will take us about half an hour to hike up to where the trail begins." Chrissy stated. "We have to cross over the gate marking city land onto a less travelled path. I heard that the search and rescue teams didn't have much luck, but the terrain is steep up there. They could have rolled down a hill and be just out of sight and someone walked right by them. "

Chrissy closed the door to her car and looked the group over.

"I plan to stick to the path. I could use someone to take the lead." She proposed, clearly looking for a volunteer to lead the group up the path.

Quote:

"Rory? Didn't think I'd see you again, are you with this party too or something?"

Jose turned and gave Olivia a curious glance as she finished speaking. "Party."
He smirked somewhat. "I like that. You run with Chrissy much?"
His hands clench and un clench at his sides. For his attempt at casual banter, he seems nervous. Jose looks to Rory and gives the man a polite nod.
"Or just you two?" He asks.

@Olivia West Bean

Mar 27th, 2014 02:11 AM

As the others recited their inventory, Eli did a quick mental assessment of his own. He had his service pistol, there was a flashlight in the truck along with all of his forensics gear, but beyond that there wasn't much he expected to need.

"I can drive a few Chrissy. I've got my city pickup, so it is no problem." Eli made a gesture to a white ford by the curb.

Bear hunting was not exactly what he had expected today, and a certain part of him felt nervous. A 9mm would only make a regular bear angry. This wasn't a bear, though. If it were, they wouldn't be assembled. The witch had been one thing, but if this turned out to be a big monster, Eli wondered how many of them would make it back down the mountain. The people Eli met could handle themselves, but the kid wanting to expose the truth? What sort of group was this?

Still the marshal trusted Chrissy. They had been in the Union a long time, and Eli had come to value her dedication. Lord knew Hunting was tough on family life, but she endured all the same. That sort of experience provided a lot of wisdom, and he pushed aside his reservations. Today his mind was on the threat to the community and his faith was in the doctor who first treated his wounds.

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