Encounterlogs
Alexis Odd Encounter Sr Lilian 250103
In the quaint, seemingly peaceful town of Haven, Detective Roger Blake from the underfunded and overwhelmed local sheriff's department finds himself sifting through a pile of missing persons reports, all of young individuals who have mysteriously vanished under various circumstances. The detective, working tirelessly through New Year's Day, discovers a disturbing pattern linking the disappearances to the Sapphire Martyrs, a notorious group believed to be behind the recruitment, or worse, of these individuals. Meanwhile, Deputy Alexi Markov, enjoying a rare moment of relaxation, is reluctantly pulled away from his comfort by a call from Detective Blake, instructing him to investigate a suspicious house that might be the new hideout of the Martyrs. Despite his initial resistance, duty calls Alexi to the eerie location on 58 Deadwood Drive, setting the stage for a chilling confrontation.
As Alexi reaches the decrepit house, he navigates through its dark, unwelcoming interior with only a faint flashlight and his instincts guiding him. His investigation leads him to a hidden basement where a chilling scene unfolds: robed individuals around a binding circle, chanting ominously. Among them, he recognizes Stephanie, a young woman reported missing, who now mistaken him for an ally, highlights the urgency of their sinister ritual requiring blood. Seizing the moment of distraction, Alexi incapacitates Stephanie, intending to use her for information while narrowly escaping the grasp of the cultists as chaos erupts behind him. Outside, Alexi's escape is almost thwarted by the ongoing violence of a nearby domestic dispute and the lurking threat of local drug addicts. However, he manages to secure Stephanie in his vehicle, tending to her injuries while hastily coordinating with Detective Blake for backup. The story concludes with Alexi driving away from the scene, his thoughts racing with the night's dark revelations and the urgent need to thwart the Martyrs' nefarious plans, marking the beginning of a haunting and dangerous investigation into the depths of Haven's darkest corners.
(Alexi's odd encounter(SRLilian):SRLilian)
[Thu Jan 2 2025]
In Living Room
The living room is a warm and inviting space, with plush, comfortable
furniture arranged in a cozy seating area. A large, ornate fireplace
dominates the southern wall, its marble mantelpiece adorned with intricate
carvings and a large, gilded mirror. The fireplace is flanked by built-in
bookshelves, filled with a variety of books and decorative objects. The walls
are painted a rich, warm color, with artwork and family portraits hung
throughout the space. The floor is covered in hardwood, with a large,
intricately patterned rug anchoring the seating area. The furniture includes
a large, overstuffed sofa and several armchairs, upholstered in a soft,
textured fabric. A coffee table sits at the center of the seating area, its
surface adorned with a vase of fresh flowers and several books. The room is
illuminated by a combination of natural light from the tall windows and the
warm glow of several table lamps scattered throughout the space. The overall
effect is one of comfort and relaxation, creating a perfect spot for family
gatherings or quiet evenings spent reading by the fire.
It is night, about 1F(-17C) degrees, and the sky is partly covered by dark grey stormclouds. There is a waxing crescent moon.
(Your target and their allies are called in to investigate a recent string of disappearances in the town. These missing individuals all share some connection, such as all being members of the same book club or all having visited the same local park on the same day. The deeper the group investigates, the more they find links to the Sapphire Martyrs. It becomes clear that these individuals are not missing, but have been recruited to join the ranks of the Martyrs. The investigation becomes a race against time as the group tries to locate and confront the Martyrs, in the hopes of stopping their plans before it's too late.)
The weather is balmy for Haven on New Years Day, if balmy is a word that can be used for a New England winter's day. Still it's not subzero and the wind is slight, blowing small amounts of snow across the night sky. The scattered remains of last night's fire works lay in sprinkles across roof tops, immortalized in the snow that gathers up there at least until the next snow fall.
The town itself is rather sleepy with many of it's citizens nursing hangovers at home rather than choosing to brave the cold. Either that or are still out of town, having decided to head south to spend many hours standing in the cold with no facilities to watch a dingy ball drop or the much more sensible thing of going home to visit family.
Soft howls from wolves interrupt the relative peace of the Haven night, with lonely howls from lone wolves often left unanswered as the snow sweeper cat that diligently shovels snow onto the sidewalks slowly continues it's path around town, making sure that the roads itself are shoveled at least even if the pedestrian path is buried.
The mists which have been encroaching town almost every night so far seem pleasantly missing currently anyways, having risen and then retreated out of the town again earlier.
However, not all is quiet as it seems in the sleepy town, for unnoticed by most given the fact that many people are leaving town to go do aforementioned things, people are slowly, steadily going missing.
Over at the college, in the sparse sheriff's department, a lone detective is still hard at work on New Years Day. Despite most of his compatriots having gone home, or called in sick, or visited the department for half an hour and determined they have fore filled their duty, Detective Roger Blake was still hard at work at his desk. Papers cover the brown mahogany as he lifts up one paper after another to his nose. "Stephanie Rose." He mumbles in your typical new yorker accent as he lifts the first missing person's case that had been called in two weeks ago, when people were still busy rushing about doing their Christmas shopping. Why such a piece of paper had ended up at his desk.. now? Well unfortunately Haven has little funding for detectives with all the corruption in place and all the missing peoples cases had come to him in a stack... when he came in for work today.
There is a grumble of displeasure as he squints at the picture of the first blonde in the picture. Eighteen year old female student. Reported missing 18th of December, never came home from Christmas shopping.
The second one he picks up, a Mister Jace Frier, nineteen, reported missing from the 20th of December. Went out with friends and never came home again.
One by one, Roger puts the missing person's reports down on his table as he goes past it. Had dinner, went out for a smoke and disappeared. Was walking the dog and has disappeared. Dog returned home by itself. Went for a run on the beach and disappeared.
Paper after paper is strewn across the messy table as Roger picks up his cigar from his ashtray and takes a long puff. All apart from one of the missing people - stamped with the stamp 'found deceased' with the tiny scrawl 'full moon' in handwriting after it, no one had seen hind or hair.
Deciding enough was enough, Detective Roger sighs as he picks up the phone. He puts through about five calls which don't get answered by various people who are 'supposed' to be working that day. Sighing as he huffs and puffs on his cigar, Roger remembers the one person he had seen earlier - some unlucky deputy who had ducked in to work earlier that day before dipping off. Snorting softly at the deputies misfortune, he picks up the phone to dial again.
Over at Harriet's mansion, while Alexi is busy snuggling on a couch, his work phone rings insistently, refusing to be silenced until he picks it up.
"Code yellow." The detective on the phone says after looking up a code chart next to him on the table (does anyone ever remember what code means what?). The new yorker accent clears his throat, "Uh. This is Detective Roger Blake. You are deputy Alexi Markov correct? Unfortunately I think I've come up with a string of disappearances that have occurred - recently. And no one has bothered to bring them to my attention until now. So I'm going to need you to drop whatever you're doing so you can go chase down this lead for me. Chatter tells me there's a house over on deadwood street that might be newly taken over by the Sapphire Matyrs. And these disappearances - young, kids barely anyone over 21, some teens tell me it's probably their work." There's a sniff over the phone of disgust as if the deputy is making his clear of opinions of those that kidnap children. "Can you go check they're not like sacrificing all the kids to summon some demon? That'll just be what we need to usher in twenty twenty five. A demon summoning." With that, the phone clicks dead and Alexi receives a SMS, '58 Deadwood Drive.' Along with a picture of a house that looks like it could be used a haunted house at a carnival. 'Thanks Blake.' Is the accompanying text.
As that phone rings, Alexi will try his best to ignore it as he often does, because let's face it he's definitely one of those people who put in their fifteen minutes over the holidays and called it a day. He finally gives a sigh of exasperation though, as it won't cease and he gives Lilian an apologetic look as he has to finally dig it out of his pocket. First he's listening ... and listening, then he's reading and his smile is turning sour and upside down by the moment until he's giving a new sigh; this one in resignation. "It looks like duty does call" he murmurs to the woman, and giving her a quick kiss and taking his time about it before he has to try and move himself away from her. "I'll be back" he assures her, before turning his attention to the 'cop mode' side of himself.
Taking stock, he heads for the exit, and eventually out to the big lifted truck he'd been setup with when he'd first arrived here in Haven. Climbing into it, he checks the computer that's been installed into the dash now with all of the cop bells and whistles that have finally been installed into the truck and he looks up the address. With a grunt, he checks himself and then his phone once more before he's firing up the engine and heading on down the road. "This .. better not be like the first time I ran across a batch of these fucking guys. Otherwise I'm going to wish I'd brought Lily ... " he grumbles to himself, as his truck rumbles down the road toward his destination.
The lifted truck that is outside is freezing cold by the time Alexi manages to get back to it. And the seat warmers don't kick in for a good fifteen minutes. Or until Alexi's GPS beeps at him to tell him he has arrived at his destination anyways. The destination itself is no prettier in person. A very old house with that looks like a double tall garage (who does that?) that looks decrepid as if no one has visited it in ages. Cobwebs hang thickly over the front door however a smart detective would be able to see clearly that there's a path around the side which has been walked through - quite recently if the marks in the snow have anything to say about it. The next house down seems to be a bit of a crack den and Alexi is pretty sure he can hear a domestic going on inside with a ton of screaming as well as bottle throwing as well. The perfect new years day in Haven for the perfect detective to handle the job it seems.
Barely pausing to consider the DV in progress, Alexi just shakes his head and shrugs the jacket around his shoulders a little tighter, zipping the thing up around him. He does stop to light his cigarette, before he starts tromping himself through the snow for the time being heading toward the path that looks recently marked. He doesn't have a flashlight so he's quite literally crawling himself around in the dark, because he wasn't really prepared to go out on a night like this! Still, he'll head around the side with a cautious step, and look for a side window at ground level, or a back door that might be open. He can't look too sharply for clues, beyond whether ot not people havbe comes through this way.
Alexi is in luck! Or unluck given that maybe if he hadn't seen any clues he could've just gone back to Detective Roger and told the man that he couldn't find anything. Unfortunately, the backdoor almost looks like it's ajar and when Alexi touches it with barely a finger, it creaks open. The inside of the house is completely dark to someone without night vision though. Shadows hang everywhere and Deadwood street is so dreary there isn't actually any street lights available that hasn't been knocked out by the druggies. The noises of the crack den SlugeFukk can be heard from across the street and the crackheads themselves stagger towards Alexi's ute as if trying to see if it has anything they can steal from inside. Once they see the sheriff equipment, they scatter, but it doesn't stop the next bunch of crack heads from going over.
Alexi literally can't see anything although.... maybe... His foot bumps into something and when he goes to pick it up, it looks like a small flashlight! A very very weak one that needs recharging but Alexi can make out footprints in the dust infront of him, that lead deeper into the house.
Alexi's phone pings for a moment and then some photos come scrolling in, pictures of the missing people along with name tags underneath them.
Hoping the back door leads into a kitchen, Alexi will turn on the flashlight with his other hand over the beam so it doesn't shine out in front of him too brightly. He looks around looking for anything else he can grab that he might find useful. Namely, a better flashlight or some indication that the person might have grabbed something themselves? His eyes scan around and his hand moves to gtab his phone and look. Even the vibration sounds loud to him, so he turns it to silent altogether and he looks around before moving cautiously into the house. For nowe, he follows the dust-outlined footprints.
The deputy might also remember his phone functions as a torch in a niffy, although it may drain the battery if he uses it too long. There is precious little else left in the house. It is a kitchen, but to the deputy's even not so sensitive nose he can smell that someone maybe tried to melt a bit of meth on the stove and there's a half melted spoon stuck to the coils there now. Otherwise, the house sits empty, like someone moved out and no one else ever bothered moving in until the crack heads did. The dusty footprints multiple - they look MANY people have been shuffling back and forth here actually Alexi finds them leading towards the door of the basement. Dark, dank, Alexi's flash out flickers weakly as the battery threatens to give out. Will he continue onwards? Or head back to the relative safety of his truck if it hasn't been taken over by drug addicts?
With a slight grunt, Alexi gives the flashlight a slight shake and another before he realizes it's no use and he switches the thing off. He sets it into a back pocket, just so he doesn't step onto it later and he checks himself with a small nod. Pulling out his phone, he turns on the flashlight function and luckily it's a newer model phone so he's probably alright more or less. Still, he keeps it at a low brightness, using the same trick of cuppin his hand to keep the light more dip but give him enough to see by. With a quiet suck-in of his breath he creaks open the basement door as quietly as he can before following those many dusty footprints down and into the depth of the basement and whatever might lurk below.
Creak. Creak. Creakkkkkk. Alexi's descent into the basement is not exactly a stealthy thing. The air in the basement was thick and heavy, the smell of mildew and something faintly metallic clinging to the nostrils. Dust motes danced in the single, narrow shaft of light piercing through from his fingers that he tries to keep closed around the flashlight so it isn't TOO bright. The floorboards, damp and uneven, groaned ominously underfoot, each step echoing through the oppressive silence. Cobwebs, thick as rope, stretched from corner to corner, festooned with the desiccated remains of long-dead insects but still there are some signs of life. More footsteps leading down into the gloom as the air gets colder and the night gets quieter. From down here, Alexi might almost find the noise of the domestic comforting but it too, is gone, no longer audible with naut else but the soft creak creak of his footsteps. At the very bottom of them, around the corner, Alexi spots alot of dusty furniture, discarded things that look obviously water damaged from the last storm or rather. The smell of mildew is even stronger down here but there doesn't appear to be much else... apart from a trap door, clearly neatly cleaned of dust and often used, sitting towards the far end of the basement.
With a mental curse, Alexi spies the trap door at the last moment, his flashlight beaming over it twice before he acknowledges it with his eyes. Much of him wants to turn back .. but his curiosity and his desire to do good win out. He makes his way over to the trap door and he inspects it first. If he doesn't find any specifically trap-like devices standing out - he'll try and open the thing and see what lies beneath it. A ladder? Stairs? The pits of HELL? He doesn't know but he's going to press his luck and find out.
The trap door opens without a peep, apparently it's well oiled although it is heavier than it looks and Alexi really has to put some muscle into it to make sure it doesn't flop open with a giant bang on the woodden floor. Beneath the trap door there does appear to be a ladder! A dark iron one that doesn't even appear to be rusty or anything. It decends into the deep darkness where Alexi can hear the faint echo of some chanting going on.
Chanting is never a good sign ... but the detective is right. A demon summoning is going to be one hell of a way to usher in twenty fucking twenty five. He sighs to himself and hoists himself down onto the ladder, leaving the trap door open in case he needs to make a hasty escape. Now he just has to hope someone else doesn't come along and find that suspicious later! Climbing down the ladder slowly, he turns off the light on the phone so Alexi can feel his way down, only turning it back on again once he's sure he can do so fairly safely. Using the sound of the chanting he'll try and figure how far and what kind of environment he's in down here. Without his eyes - it's everything else he has to put to work.
The subbasement infront of Alexi, when he finally turns to look after clanging down the stairs is massive. Massive and filled with people chanting in blue robes as they sit around a giant binding circle. Alexi might be able to recognise it given his girlfriend has one carved into the floor of her dorm room. The chamber itself was illuminated by a series of flickering torches, casting an eerie, dancing light that played on the faces of the assembled crowd so thankfully Alexi can conserve the battery on his phone which is actually getting rather hot from the heat of the flashlight he's trying to keep dim.
Even as Alexi is taking in the sights and scenes, someone in a blue robe appears infront of Alexi. "Hey!" She hisses and Alexi might be able to recognise this is eighteen year old Stephanie that disappeared after Christmas shopping. "Did you get the blood?" The blonde haired girl blinks expectantly at Alexi, "We need like at least 2 pints of it!"
Mayhaps Alexi can see this an opportunity for him to escape to get some more back up given the amount of people he's facing... Still his trained eyes can spot some more of the missing members amongst those in the circle, sitting and chanting as bright eyed Stepanie waits for him to hand over some large amount of blood.
With a quieting gesture, Alexi gives this Stephanie girl a quick look and with some even quicker thinking he nods at her. "I couldn't climb down the ladder with it, the thermos they gave me is too big" he says with a quick gesture back up. "Go up and hand it down, you'll be a lot quicker than me, and I'd hate to do something stupid, or clumsy." He puts that on as best he can, keeping his face open as he studies the girl. Luckily, his reputation as Deputy amongst certain circles isn't exacty one stretching far and wide and so he doesn't think she recognizes him. He hopes not. "You don't realize it until you see it, but that's like half a gallon of blood, it's heavy too!" He stage whispers at Stephanie.
Stephanie gives Alexi a blank look as she lifts up her robed hands. "Are you shitting me?" She asks with another hiss, "New recruit we expected better! Go up there and fetch it right now!" There is a grumpy noise as someone else makes their way over - presumably someone more senior given their blue ropes are more embroidered than Stephanie's. "Is there a problem here? The ritual requires the blood soon. Where is the intern we sent to get it?" He demands on Stephanie as if Alexi didn't exist.
"Oh oh!" Stepanie looks like a deer caught in the headlights as she looks up at her supervisor, "I'm so sorry manager sir! I told this new recruit to get it for me and... ahhh." Her cheeks flush a bright red as she ducks it, "He's incompetent but it was my job I'm sorry sir!" Bright fat tears start streaming down her cheeks, "Please don't spank me infront of everyone again!"
As the attention itself turns onto the other girl, Alexi waits for a moment he quiets almost like a deer frozen himself except he's still for a purpose. He waits, hoping for the right time waiting for this man in his more embroidered robes to turn away, maybe grab this girl anything that will give him the opening he needs.
"Your punishment will be held after the ceremony is completed." The manager tells the girl infront of Alexi scathingly as he looks at her crying form. Reaching a hand out, he slaps at the woman as if to break her of hysterics. "You're a sapphire Matyr." He hisses, "Behave. Soon you will have enough people to command. For now, fix the issues your inferiors caused you." Turning, he doesn't even look at Alexi, like Alexi is a slug on the ground before he makes his way back to the ceremony itself.
Stepanie meanwhile, sobs softly with a bright red palmmark on her face. "I'll get you!" She hisses softly at Alexi as she goes to embark on the ladder like Alexi had wanted, clanging her way softly towards the surface.
The timing may be tight, but Alexi will wait until Stephanie is clambering up the ladder .. and one of his slender throwing knives comes out of a sleeve and zipping through the air toward that senior blue-robe with the extra stitching, right where the back of his neck should be. He throws it with all the force he can muster without making sound and then he's turning and hustling himself up the ladder! If Stephanie hasn't made it all the way up yet, he'll hustle her too, making apologies and placations unintelligably from below her until she'll move and get up to let him climb up as well. There's no thermos up there so she'll have to look around for it. But hopefully she won't be expecting him to be immediately attempting to knock her out with the butt of another of his knives!
Who would expect Alexi to try and kill one of the acolytes while all the other acolytes in the room? No one, certainly not Detective Roger who is eagerly waiting the deputy to actually COME back rather than be slain by a room full of angry sapphire matyr people. Maybe fortune is on Alexi's side though or maybe not, because the knife nicks the side of the acolyte's neck, cutting his jugular and there is no yell or shout as he rapidly tries to dash up the ladder. Stepanie, tries to kick Alexi though when he rushes her, seeming not to realize the important of escaping the cult before Alexi's actions get caught. "What are you doi-" Thunk, goes the girl's head as Alexi's knife collides with her and thud goes the girl towards the floor as she loses conciousness. Below, in the darkness of the trapdoor, loud screams can be heard as the manager that Alexi slain is found... bleeding out on the ground. At least the blood for the ritual is being delivered right? Around them the mildew darkness of the basement is stifling and Alexi might remember he can't see in the darkness. He only knows the vague direction of the stairs really... and there's furniture everywhere in his way.
Add to that, that Alexi's trying to haul the unconscious girl up onto his shoulders to boot! He needs somebody to get some information out of, right? And while the man might be bleeding out down there, here's hoping the commotion and the surprise will throw them off enough to postpone whatever it is they're up to, tonight. With a grunt, He tries to lug the girl into a fireman's carry over his shoulders to he can reach for that phone. He's trying to remember what he saw on his way in and retraceh is steps, moving toward the stairs that will leads him back up into the first floor of this old, abanonded crack house. "You're going to owe me" he growls, to Stephanie? To the detective, to anybody he can make pay for this little excursion, no doubt. He's not so much worried about the flashlight so much as the speed in which he can move and os it's a balance between hauling the girl, pointing his phone and trying to keep himself on the move!
Stephanie is just a blonde girl and she doesn't weight much, so the beefcake Deputy can easily haul her into a fireman's carry and lug her off towards the stairs. He does bang his toes slightly on a box that he can't see in the darkness before he manages to find his phone. The strong light of the phone puts the basement into dark contrast again, the dust motes definitely triggered now, floating around everywhere likely to make Alexi sneeze. The girl on his shoulder moans softly and Alexi realizes with his on her bottom to carry her she's likely not wearing anything under those robes so was probably some kindof ceremonial sacrifice designed for later. Maybe he even saved her! Who knows! The creak of the stairs is loud when he first ascends with almost double the weight though and even through the trapdoor, he can hear the angry pounding of feet up that rickety steel ladder. What he can also hear is some EXTRA loud creaking as the steel ladder apparently can't take everyone on it at once and there is a extradinarily loud BANG something happens underneath him. On his shoulder, Stephanie gives another loud groan as she dangles with her head upsidedown, dripping some blood onto the floor of the staircase as Alexi's heart starts pounding from the exertion of having to lug someone else up those richety stairs. Thankfully, he makes it though, and even makes it outside into the haven night air. The domestic next door is STILL happening and if the deputy wants even more work he could probably go in there and break up all the screaming shouting and roughhousing that's happening but likely the sanctity of his truck, which - apparently only has one hobo sleeping in the back tray, is what he will aim for. Surely.
Hitting that night air, chilly and somehow awakening and refreshing as he hurries out the door and toward the street. He doesn't give the domestic abuse a second glance now, but rather he bee-lines it toward his truck. If there's a hint of a single crack head hanging around the vehicle a knife will go flinging in their direction as a warning well before he gets there. There should be a basic medical kit in the truck since he uses it as a service vehicle, and he needs to take a very quick look at the wound that's dripping from the side of the girl's head - he might've hit her harder than he'd meant to in his hurry to get the hell out of here! Throwing open the door to the cab, he'll shove her into the passenger seat, taking that quick at-a-glance assessment of the knock to her head. If it's bleeding very badly then he'll have to break out the medkit. Wincing, he decides that's the course of action and without wasting any time looking over his shoulder he's slamming open the glove compartment and pulling out the little kit that's probably barely got bandaids and maybe some gauze (what he's looking for) inside of it. Alexi uses his ears to listen for the cultists perhaps preparing to smash out the door behind him, but he's trying to find some gauze, slap it against the wound to staunch the bleeding in ANY way - then it's to the driver's side of the cab.
The domestic abuse doesn't want to let Alexi go though! As he walks past holding the other woman, there is some loud screeching and a glass beer bottle comes flying out of the house almost knocking the deputy out before the sound of doors slamming again is heard. "GET OUT OF HERE WOMAN." Is screamed before the sound of people rough housing is heard. The poor blonde girl stuffed into Alexi's car and she rouses just slightly as Alexi holds the slim pad of gauze to her forehead. Headwounds always bleed alot, the deputy would know from his first aid training course that he did via zoom so the girl is probably okay. Maybe. And his hands that are getting blood on them are probably okay too because surely she's by far too young to have the disease the crackheads inclulding the one sleeping in the back of his trucks have. Right?? As Alexi steps into his truck, he gets a phone call from the detective, asking if the deputy had actually done anything and the detective actually seems surprised to hear that the detective actually went to the location! Back up is arranged swiftly with the sound of sirens starting up from the other side of town .. swiftly for Haven anyways which is probably in about an hour or so.
As Alexi reaches the decrepit house, he navigates through its dark, unwelcoming interior with only a faint flashlight and his instincts guiding him. His investigation leads him to a hidden basement where a chilling scene unfolds: robed individuals around a binding circle, chanting ominously. Among them, he recognizes Stephanie, a young woman reported missing, who now mistaken him for an ally, highlights the urgency of their sinister ritual requiring blood. Seizing the moment of distraction, Alexi incapacitates Stephanie, intending to use her for information while narrowly escaping the grasp of the cultists as chaos erupts behind him. Outside, Alexi's escape is almost thwarted by the ongoing violence of a nearby domestic dispute and the lurking threat of local drug addicts. However, he manages to secure Stephanie in his vehicle, tending to her injuries while hastily coordinating with Detective Blake for backup. The story concludes with Alexi driving away from the scene, his thoughts racing with the night's dark revelations and the urgent need to thwart the Martyrs' nefarious plans, marking the beginning of a haunting and dangerous investigation into the depths of Haven's darkest corners.
(Alexi's odd encounter(SRLilian):SRLilian)
[Thu Jan 2 2025]
In Living Room
The living room is a warm and inviting space, with plush, comfortable
furniture arranged in a cozy seating area. A large, ornate fireplace
dominates the southern wall, its marble mantelpiece adorned with intricate
carvings and a large, gilded mirror. The fireplace is flanked by built-in
bookshelves, filled with a variety of books and decorative objects. The walls
are painted a rich, warm color, with artwork and family portraits hung
throughout the space. The floor is covered in hardwood, with a large,
intricately patterned rug anchoring the seating area. The furniture includes
a large, overstuffed sofa and several armchairs, upholstered in a soft,
textured fabric. A coffee table sits at the center of the seating area, its
surface adorned with a vase of fresh flowers and several books. The room is
illuminated by a combination of natural light from the tall windows and the
warm glow of several table lamps scattered throughout the space. The overall
effect is one of comfort and relaxation, creating a perfect spot for family
gatherings or quiet evenings spent reading by the fire.
It is night, about 1F(-17C) degrees, and the sky is partly covered by dark grey stormclouds. There is a waxing crescent moon.
(Your target and their allies are called in to investigate a recent string of disappearances in the town. These missing individuals all share some connection, such as all being members of the same book club or all having visited the same local park on the same day. The deeper the group investigates, the more they find links to the Sapphire Martyrs. It becomes clear that these individuals are not missing, but have been recruited to join the ranks of the Martyrs. The investigation becomes a race against time as the group tries to locate and confront the Martyrs, in the hopes of stopping their plans before it's too late.)
The weather is balmy for Haven on New Years Day, if balmy is a word that can be used for a New England winter's day. Still it's not subzero and the wind is slight, blowing small amounts of snow across the night sky. The scattered remains of last night's fire works lay in sprinkles across roof tops, immortalized in the snow that gathers up there at least until the next snow fall.
The town itself is rather sleepy with many of it's citizens nursing hangovers at home rather than choosing to brave the cold. Either that or are still out of town, having decided to head south to spend many hours standing in the cold with no facilities to watch a dingy ball drop or the much more sensible thing of going home to visit family.
Soft howls from wolves interrupt the relative peace of the Haven night, with lonely howls from lone wolves often left unanswered as the snow sweeper cat that diligently shovels snow onto the sidewalks slowly continues it's path around town, making sure that the roads itself are shoveled at least even if the pedestrian path is buried.
The mists which have been encroaching town almost every night so far seem pleasantly missing currently anyways, having risen and then retreated out of the town again earlier.
However, not all is quiet as it seems in the sleepy town, for unnoticed by most given the fact that many people are leaving town to go do aforementioned things, people are slowly, steadily going missing.
Over at the college, in the sparse sheriff's department, a lone detective is still hard at work on New Years Day. Despite most of his compatriots having gone home, or called in sick, or visited the department for half an hour and determined they have fore filled their duty, Detective Roger Blake was still hard at work at his desk. Papers cover the brown mahogany as he lifts up one paper after another to his nose. "Stephanie Rose." He mumbles in your typical new yorker accent as he lifts the first missing person's case that had been called in two weeks ago, when people were still busy rushing about doing their Christmas shopping. Why such a piece of paper had ended up at his desk.. now? Well unfortunately Haven has little funding for detectives with all the corruption in place and all the missing peoples cases had come to him in a stack... when he came in for work today.
There is a grumble of displeasure as he squints at the picture of the first blonde in the picture. Eighteen year old female student. Reported missing 18th of December, never came home from Christmas shopping.
The second one he picks up, a Mister Jace Frier, nineteen, reported missing from the 20th of December. Went out with friends and never came home again.
One by one, Roger puts the missing person's reports down on his table as he goes past it. Had dinner, went out for a smoke and disappeared. Was walking the dog and has disappeared. Dog returned home by itself. Went for a run on the beach and disappeared.
Paper after paper is strewn across the messy table as Roger picks up his cigar from his ashtray and takes a long puff. All apart from one of the missing people - stamped with the stamp 'found deceased' with the tiny scrawl 'full moon' in handwriting after it, no one had seen hind or hair.
Deciding enough was enough, Detective Roger sighs as he picks up the phone. He puts through about five calls which don't get answered by various people who are 'supposed' to be working that day. Sighing as he huffs and puffs on his cigar, Roger remembers the one person he had seen earlier - some unlucky deputy who had ducked in to work earlier that day before dipping off. Snorting softly at the deputies misfortune, he picks up the phone to dial again.
Over at Harriet's mansion, while Alexi is busy snuggling on a couch, his work phone rings insistently, refusing to be silenced until he picks it up.
"Code yellow." The detective on the phone says after looking up a code chart next to him on the table (does anyone ever remember what code means what?). The new yorker accent clears his throat, "Uh. This is Detective Roger Blake. You are deputy Alexi Markov correct? Unfortunately I think I've come up with a string of disappearances that have occurred - recently. And no one has bothered to bring them to my attention until now. So I'm going to need you to drop whatever you're doing so you can go chase down this lead for me. Chatter tells me there's a house over on deadwood street that might be newly taken over by the Sapphire Matyrs. And these disappearances - young, kids barely anyone over 21, some teens tell me it's probably their work." There's a sniff over the phone of disgust as if the deputy is making his clear of opinions of those that kidnap children. "Can you go check they're not like sacrificing all the kids to summon some demon? That'll just be what we need to usher in twenty twenty five. A demon summoning." With that, the phone clicks dead and Alexi receives a SMS, '58 Deadwood Drive.' Along with a picture of a house that looks like it could be used a haunted house at a carnival. 'Thanks Blake.' Is the accompanying text.
As that phone rings, Alexi will try his best to ignore it as he often does, because let's face it he's definitely one of those people who put in their fifteen minutes over the holidays and called it a day. He finally gives a sigh of exasperation though, as it won't cease and he gives Lilian an apologetic look as he has to finally dig it out of his pocket. First he's listening ... and listening, then he's reading and his smile is turning sour and upside down by the moment until he's giving a new sigh; this one in resignation. "It looks like duty does call" he murmurs to the woman, and giving her a quick kiss and taking his time about it before he has to try and move himself away from her. "I'll be back" he assures her, before turning his attention to the 'cop mode' side of himself.
Taking stock, he heads for the exit, and eventually out to the big lifted truck he'd been setup with when he'd first arrived here in Haven. Climbing into it, he checks the computer that's been installed into the dash now with all of the cop bells and whistles that have finally been installed into the truck and he looks up the address. With a grunt, he checks himself and then his phone once more before he's firing up the engine and heading on down the road. "This .. better not be like the first time I ran across a batch of these fucking guys. Otherwise I'm going to wish I'd brought Lily ... " he grumbles to himself, as his truck rumbles down the road toward his destination.
The lifted truck that is outside is freezing cold by the time Alexi manages to get back to it. And the seat warmers don't kick in for a good fifteen minutes. Or until Alexi's GPS beeps at him to tell him he has arrived at his destination anyways. The destination itself is no prettier in person. A very old house with that looks like a double tall garage (who does that?) that looks decrepid as if no one has visited it in ages. Cobwebs hang thickly over the front door however a smart detective would be able to see clearly that there's a path around the side which has been walked through - quite recently if the marks in the snow have anything to say about it. The next house down seems to be a bit of a crack den and Alexi is pretty sure he can hear a domestic going on inside with a ton of screaming as well as bottle throwing as well. The perfect new years day in Haven for the perfect detective to handle the job it seems.
Barely pausing to consider the DV in progress, Alexi just shakes his head and shrugs the jacket around his shoulders a little tighter, zipping the thing up around him. He does stop to light his cigarette, before he starts tromping himself through the snow for the time being heading toward the path that looks recently marked. He doesn't have a flashlight so he's quite literally crawling himself around in the dark, because he wasn't really prepared to go out on a night like this! Still, he'll head around the side with a cautious step, and look for a side window at ground level, or a back door that might be open. He can't look too sharply for clues, beyond whether ot not people havbe comes through this way.
Alexi is in luck! Or unluck given that maybe if he hadn't seen any clues he could've just gone back to Detective Roger and told the man that he couldn't find anything. Unfortunately, the backdoor almost looks like it's ajar and when Alexi touches it with barely a finger, it creaks open. The inside of the house is completely dark to someone without night vision though. Shadows hang everywhere and Deadwood street is so dreary there isn't actually any street lights available that hasn't been knocked out by the druggies. The noises of the crack den SlugeFukk can be heard from across the street and the crackheads themselves stagger towards Alexi's ute as if trying to see if it has anything they can steal from inside. Once they see the sheriff equipment, they scatter, but it doesn't stop the next bunch of crack heads from going over.
Alexi literally can't see anything although.... maybe... His foot bumps into something and when he goes to pick it up, it looks like a small flashlight! A very very weak one that needs recharging but Alexi can make out footprints in the dust infront of him, that lead deeper into the house.
Alexi's phone pings for a moment and then some photos come scrolling in, pictures of the missing people along with name tags underneath them.
Hoping the back door leads into a kitchen, Alexi will turn on the flashlight with his other hand over the beam so it doesn't shine out in front of him too brightly. He looks around looking for anything else he can grab that he might find useful. Namely, a better flashlight or some indication that the person might have grabbed something themselves? His eyes scan around and his hand moves to gtab his phone and look. Even the vibration sounds loud to him, so he turns it to silent altogether and he looks around before moving cautiously into the house. For nowe, he follows the dust-outlined footprints.
The deputy might also remember his phone functions as a torch in a niffy, although it may drain the battery if he uses it too long. There is precious little else left in the house. It is a kitchen, but to the deputy's even not so sensitive nose he can smell that someone maybe tried to melt a bit of meth on the stove and there's a half melted spoon stuck to the coils there now. Otherwise, the house sits empty, like someone moved out and no one else ever bothered moving in until the crack heads did. The dusty footprints multiple - they look MANY people have been shuffling back and forth here actually Alexi finds them leading towards the door of the basement. Dark, dank, Alexi's flash out flickers weakly as the battery threatens to give out. Will he continue onwards? Or head back to the relative safety of his truck if it hasn't been taken over by drug addicts?
With a slight grunt, Alexi gives the flashlight a slight shake and another before he realizes it's no use and he switches the thing off. He sets it into a back pocket, just so he doesn't step onto it later and he checks himself with a small nod. Pulling out his phone, he turns on the flashlight function and luckily it's a newer model phone so he's probably alright more or less. Still, he keeps it at a low brightness, using the same trick of cuppin his hand to keep the light more dip but give him enough to see by. With a quiet suck-in of his breath he creaks open the basement door as quietly as he can before following those many dusty footprints down and into the depth of the basement and whatever might lurk below.
Creak. Creak. Creakkkkkk. Alexi's descent into the basement is not exactly a stealthy thing. The air in the basement was thick and heavy, the smell of mildew and something faintly metallic clinging to the nostrils. Dust motes danced in the single, narrow shaft of light piercing through from his fingers that he tries to keep closed around the flashlight so it isn't TOO bright. The floorboards, damp and uneven, groaned ominously underfoot, each step echoing through the oppressive silence. Cobwebs, thick as rope, stretched from corner to corner, festooned with the desiccated remains of long-dead insects but still there are some signs of life. More footsteps leading down into the gloom as the air gets colder and the night gets quieter. From down here, Alexi might almost find the noise of the domestic comforting but it too, is gone, no longer audible with naut else but the soft creak creak of his footsteps. At the very bottom of them, around the corner, Alexi spots alot of dusty furniture, discarded things that look obviously water damaged from the last storm or rather. The smell of mildew is even stronger down here but there doesn't appear to be much else... apart from a trap door, clearly neatly cleaned of dust and often used, sitting towards the far end of the basement.
With a mental curse, Alexi spies the trap door at the last moment, his flashlight beaming over it twice before he acknowledges it with his eyes. Much of him wants to turn back .. but his curiosity and his desire to do good win out. He makes his way over to the trap door and he inspects it first. If he doesn't find any specifically trap-like devices standing out - he'll try and open the thing and see what lies beneath it. A ladder? Stairs? The pits of HELL? He doesn't know but he's going to press his luck and find out.
The trap door opens without a peep, apparently it's well oiled although it is heavier than it looks and Alexi really has to put some muscle into it to make sure it doesn't flop open with a giant bang on the woodden floor. Beneath the trap door there does appear to be a ladder! A dark iron one that doesn't even appear to be rusty or anything. It decends into the deep darkness where Alexi can hear the faint echo of some chanting going on.
Chanting is never a good sign ... but the detective is right. A demon summoning is going to be one hell of a way to usher in twenty fucking twenty five. He sighs to himself and hoists himself down onto the ladder, leaving the trap door open in case he needs to make a hasty escape. Now he just has to hope someone else doesn't come along and find that suspicious later! Climbing down the ladder slowly, he turns off the light on the phone so Alexi can feel his way down, only turning it back on again once he's sure he can do so fairly safely. Using the sound of the chanting he'll try and figure how far and what kind of environment he's in down here. Without his eyes - it's everything else he has to put to work.
The subbasement infront of Alexi, when he finally turns to look after clanging down the stairs is massive. Massive and filled with people chanting in blue robes as they sit around a giant binding circle. Alexi might be able to recognise it given his girlfriend has one carved into the floor of her dorm room. The chamber itself was illuminated by a series of flickering torches, casting an eerie, dancing light that played on the faces of the assembled crowd so thankfully Alexi can conserve the battery on his phone which is actually getting rather hot from the heat of the flashlight he's trying to keep dim.
Even as Alexi is taking in the sights and scenes, someone in a blue robe appears infront of Alexi. "Hey!" She hisses and Alexi might be able to recognise this is eighteen year old Stephanie that disappeared after Christmas shopping. "Did you get the blood?" The blonde haired girl blinks expectantly at Alexi, "We need like at least 2 pints of it!"
Mayhaps Alexi can see this an opportunity for him to escape to get some more back up given the amount of people he's facing... Still his trained eyes can spot some more of the missing members amongst those in the circle, sitting and chanting as bright eyed Stepanie waits for him to hand over some large amount of blood.
With a quieting gesture, Alexi gives this Stephanie girl a quick look and with some even quicker thinking he nods at her. "I couldn't climb down the ladder with it, the thermos they gave me is too big" he says with a quick gesture back up. "Go up and hand it down, you'll be a lot quicker than me, and I'd hate to do something stupid, or clumsy." He puts that on as best he can, keeping his face open as he studies the girl. Luckily, his reputation as Deputy amongst certain circles isn't exacty one stretching far and wide and so he doesn't think she recognizes him. He hopes not. "You don't realize it until you see it, but that's like half a gallon of blood, it's heavy too!" He stage whispers at Stephanie.
Stephanie gives Alexi a blank look as she lifts up her robed hands. "Are you shitting me?" She asks with another hiss, "New recruit we expected better! Go up there and fetch it right now!" There is a grumpy noise as someone else makes their way over - presumably someone more senior given their blue ropes are more embroidered than Stephanie's. "Is there a problem here? The ritual requires the blood soon. Where is the intern we sent to get it?" He demands on Stephanie as if Alexi didn't exist.
"Oh oh!" Stepanie looks like a deer caught in the headlights as she looks up at her supervisor, "I'm so sorry manager sir! I told this new recruit to get it for me and... ahhh." Her cheeks flush a bright red as she ducks it, "He's incompetent but it was my job I'm sorry sir!" Bright fat tears start streaming down her cheeks, "Please don't spank me infront of everyone again!"
As the attention itself turns onto the other girl, Alexi waits for a moment he quiets almost like a deer frozen himself except he's still for a purpose. He waits, hoping for the right time waiting for this man in his more embroidered robes to turn away, maybe grab this girl anything that will give him the opening he needs.
"Your punishment will be held after the ceremony is completed." The manager tells the girl infront of Alexi scathingly as he looks at her crying form. Reaching a hand out, he slaps at the woman as if to break her of hysterics. "You're a sapphire Matyr." He hisses, "Behave. Soon you will have enough people to command. For now, fix the issues your inferiors caused you." Turning, he doesn't even look at Alexi, like Alexi is a slug on the ground before he makes his way back to the ceremony itself.
Stepanie meanwhile, sobs softly with a bright red palmmark on her face. "I'll get you!" She hisses softly at Alexi as she goes to embark on the ladder like Alexi had wanted, clanging her way softly towards the surface.
The timing may be tight, but Alexi will wait until Stephanie is clambering up the ladder .. and one of his slender throwing knives comes out of a sleeve and zipping through the air toward that senior blue-robe with the extra stitching, right where the back of his neck should be. He throws it with all the force he can muster without making sound and then he's turning and hustling himself up the ladder! If Stephanie hasn't made it all the way up yet, he'll hustle her too, making apologies and placations unintelligably from below her until she'll move and get up to let him climb up as well. There's no thermos up there so she'll have to look around for it. But hopefully she won't be expecting him to be immediately attempting to knock her out with the butt of another of his knives!
Who would expect Alexi to try and kill one of the acolytes while all the other acolytes in the room? No one, certainly not Detective Roger who is eagerly waiting the deputy to actually COME back rather than be slain by a room full of angry sapphire matyr people. Maybe fortune is on Alexi's side though or maybe not, because the knife nicks the side of the acolyte's neck, cutting his jugular and there is no yell or shout as he rapidly tries to dash up the ladder. Stepanie, tries to kick Alexi though when he rushes her, seeming not to realize the important of escaping the cult before Alexi's actions get caught. "What are you doi-" Thunk, goes the girl's head as Alexi's knife collides with her and thud goes the girl towards the floor as she loses conciousness. Below, in the darkness of the trapdoor, loud screams can be heard as the manager that Alexi slain is found... bleeding out on the ground. At least the blood for the ritual is being delivered right? Around them the mildew darkness of the basement is stifling and Alexi might remember he can't see in the darkness. He only knows the vague direction of the stairs really... and there's furniture everywhere in his way.
Add to that, that Alexi's trying to haul the unconscious girl up onto his shoulders to boot! He needs somebody to get some information out of, right? And while the man might be bleeding out down there, here's hoping the commotion and the surprise will throw them off enough to postpone whatever it is they're up to, tonight. With a grunt, He tries to lug the girl into a fireman's carry over his shoulders to he can reach for that phone. He's trying to remember what he saw on his way in and retraceh is steps, moving toward the stairs that will leads him back up into the first floor of this old, abanonded crack house. "You're going to owe me" he growls, to Stephanie? To the detective, to anybody he can make pay for this little excursion, no doubt. He's not so much worried about the flashlight so much as the speed in which he can move and os it's a balance between hauling the girl, pointing his phone and trying to keep himself on the move!
Stephanie is just a blonde girl and she doesn't weight much, so the beefcake Deputy can easily haul her into a fireman's carry and lug her off towards the stairs. He does bang his toes slightly on a box that he can't see in the darkness before he manages to find his phone. The strong light of the phone puts the basement into dark contrast again, the dust motes definitely triggered now, floating around everywhere likely to make Alexi sneeze. The girl on his shoulder moans softly and Alexi realizes with his on her bottom to carry her she's likely not wearing anything under those robes so was probably some kindof ceremonial sacrifice designed for later. Maybe he even saved her! Who knows! The creak of the stairs is loud when he first ascends with almost double the weight though and even through the trapdoor, he can hear the angry pounding of feet up that rickety steel ladder. What he can also hear is some EXTRA loud creaking as the steel ladder apparently can't take everyone on it at once and there is a extradinarily loud BANG something happens underneath him. On his shoulder, Stephanie gives another loud groan as she dangles with her head upsidedown, dripping some blood onto the floor of the staircase as Alexi's heart starts pounding from the exertion of having to lug someone else up those richety stairs. Thankfully, he makes it though, and even makes it outside into the haven night air. The domestic next door is STILL happening and if the deputy wants even more work he could probably go in there and break up all the screaming shouting and roughhousing that's happening but likely the sanctity of his truck, which - apparently only has one hobo sleeping in the back tray, is what he will aim for. Surely.
Hitting that night air, chilly and somehow awakening and refreshing as he hurries out the door and toward the street. He doesn't give the domestic abuse a second glance now, but rather he bee-lines it toward his truck. If there's a hint of a single crack head hanging around the vehicle a knife will go flinging in their direction as a warning well before he gets there. There should be a basic medical kit in the truck since he uses it as a service vehicle, and he needs to take a very quick look at the wound that's dripping from the side of the girl's head - he might've hit her harder than he'd meant to in his hurry to get the hell out of here! Throwing open the door to the cab, he'll shove her into the passenger seat, taking that quick at-a-glance assessment of the knock to her head. If it's bleeding very badly then he'll have to break out the medkit. Wincing, he decides that's the course of action and without wasting any time looking over his shoulder he's slamming open the glove compartment and pulling out the little kit that's probably barely got bandaids and maybe some gauze (what he's looking for) inside of it. Alexi uses his ears to listen for the cultists perhaps preparing to smash out the door behind him, but he's trying to find some gauze, slap it against the wound to staunch the bleeding in ANY way - then it's to the driver's side of the cab.
The domestic abuse doesn't want to let Alexi go though! As he walks past holding the other woman, there is some loud screeching and a glass beer bottle comes flying out of the house almost knocking the deputy out before the sound of doors slamming again is heard. "GET OUT OF HERE WOMAN." Is screamed before the sound of people rough housing is heard. The poor blonde girl stuffed into Alexi's car and she rouses just slightly as Alexi holds the slim pad of gauze to her forehead. Headwounds always bleed alot, the deputy would know from his first aid training course that he did via zoom so the girl is probably okay. Maybe. And his hands that are getting blood on them are probably okay too because surely she's by far too young to have the disease the crackheads inclulding the one sleeping in the back of his trucks have. Right?? As Alexi steps into his truck, he gets a phone call from the detective, asking if the deputy had actually done anything and the detective actually seems surprised to hear that the detective actually went to the location! Back up is arranged swiftly with the sound of sirens starting up from the other side of town .. swiftly for Haven anyways which is probably in about an hour or so.