Here There Be Monsters

[Seryna]

" Not much to do about the staircase. Hallways open, climbing wouldn't be too hard. I knocked over a bookcase over it. Maybe he'll trip on Stephen King." The man snorted darkly.
"I pushed the dresser in front of the bedroom door. You want me to go down to the kitchen? Where he is and leave her alone? I'm up on the landing now." The man spoke. He was breathing heavily.


In checking the security features, she sees that a silent alarm has already been triggered to a security company. The police should have been called... but... something tells her that this is wrong. No sirens are sounding. Some peering into the inner relays of communication for the security system reveals that the outside phone line has been cut. The house is dark to the outside world.

"One minute." Kristen announces. The van is slowing now, they must be on a residential road. One minute to what? Who was 'R' who had been sent for Cassandra? How dangerous was he? How dangerous was the situation that they were driving into?

"How are they doing?"

[Cabochard]

"Uhhh...no. Go in the room and stay in there. Does it look like you could get her out through the window?" She waits for a response, then leans over to poke her head next to Kristen's. "Hey, can I borrow your phone?"

If the police wasn't going to be called by an alarm, maybe they would be called by a 'concerned neighbor'. After all, they were legally required to show up to things if shots were fired. Whether or not she gets the phone, she turns back to hers. "Hey...ever seen Home Alone?"

[Seryna]

"Didn't you hear what I said before? She's nine months pregnant. She's not going out the window. She's worried about premature labor." There's a pause as he processes that. "Jeez, that's a thing. Now I'm worried about premature labor. Where are you guys?"

Theres a rustling sound on the phone. Helene's screen flashes red and 'BREACH' appears in a scroll at the bottom of the screen. The home has been breached through the kitchen door.

The man on the phone swears then all you hear is the dial tone. Kristen unclips the phone and hands it to Helene.

"Almost there. They're O.K.?" Kristen raises her voice. The van is moving more quickly now, bouncing along. Kristen slams on the brakes and shuts off the engine. You have arrived.

[Cabochard]

Helene blinks at the phone and the computer, then turns to Kristen. "All I can say is that I wouldn't waste any time going in there." She takes the phone and dials 91, then pauses. "Huh. I guess we're going to look really suspicious, aren't we? Calling the cops is probably a really bad idea."

She turns back to the desk. "I should wait for stuff to die down before I start throwing up cameras, right? Seems logical to me. Don't wanna get shot."

[Seryna]

"Cops aren't really going to help in this situation." Kristen opens the glove box and dons a radio, clipping the voice activated clip to her ear and extending a piece to her mouth. She tosses another radio to Helene.

"Frequency seven. Lock the doors when I get out. "

Kristen jumps from the van, not bothering to close the door. She takes off at a run and runs into the open door of the house. With thevan door open, you get your first look at the house. Kristen has parked around back of the house, facing the kitchen door. The house is a detached modern building in a tidy suburb. White fences and neatly trimmed lawns speak of money and a desire to be removed from the city’s urban sprawl. Helene is alone.

[Cabochard]

Helene catches the radio, and watches Kristen run off, nervously. She reaches to close the door, then has a thought. The other people, the ones who kicked in the door, they had to get there somehow, right? And it was probably a car. Following that logic to its conclusion, she figures that their car might be able to tell her something more about what was going on. She grabs her phone and the Ipad and pokes her head out the door, looking around, trying to spot an out-of-place car.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-07-14 15:48:11		Helene Jameson rolls 5 to look around for the car (Wits + Composure [Perception]) (10 Again)		8, 6, 2, 1, 5		1 success

[Seryna]

The beautifully and well appointed suburb has made an art form of removing out of place. The shrubbery and gardening all adhere perfectly to the Housing Association guidelines, right down to the neutral color palette of each house and lawn ornament. As Helene looks down the street, she sees a beat up green Camry sedan. Judging from the income needed to afford the outstanding home prices in this neighborhood, this car does not belong to a resident. It is within a quick walk from Cassandra's home and Helene.

[Cabochard]

Helene looks around quickly and then shoves her phone into her pocket and hops out of the van, closing the door behind her. She jogs over to the car and tries to open it. If it doesn't open, she peers through the window and tries to get a look at whatever's inside.

[Seryna]

Helene finds that the door handle moves easily under her hand. Looking inside reveals a rather clean car. There's a leather satchel down at the passenger side floor. She sees a notebook and an identification card for a 'Doctor Phillip Mercer' at 'L.A.I.T.G.O.S.' sticking out of the side pocket. Two empty soda cans rattle around beside the attache case. Something in the back seat may give her a chill - a large aquarium half filled with briny water and something red diffuses in the water. Perhaps blood. The top of the tank has heavy clamps- the sort perhaps used for a boa constrictor snake. Not the sort used for a fish aquarium. There's a long metal hook lying inside the aquarium, its end looking sharp and dangerous. Helene barely has time to process this when a large noise intrudes into her thoughts, charging her body with fear.

Bang! Bang!

Two gun shots sound from Cassandra's home. The suburb is as quiet as a tomb, the birds flutter away from this place of death and destruction.

[Cabochard]

Helene gets gradually, slowly closer to the aquarium, right up until the gunshots. When they fire, she jumps, slamming her head against the top of the car. She closes her eyes and rubs the top of her head, muttering "Owwww....goddamn car roof..." She grabs the satchel and notebook, then pauses and grabs the ID too, just in case. With one last look at the aquarium, and a shiver, she closes the door and runs back to the van, opening the door and hopping in. She closes it behind her, throws her stuff on the floor, and picks up the radio. "Uh, is everything okay in there?"