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 Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 11:33 am
Quote: I would like to meet with you in regards to the ad you placed. Time and place are at your discretion, but I would prefer somewhere that we can talk. Regards, RH Regina sent the email from a secondary account of hers that could not be traced back to any of her other accounts in the event this was just someone trying to take advantage of her (or anyone else that was foolish enough to answer). The person who had placed the ad wasn't alone, at least. At one point she had dedicated a considerable amount of her free time into finding others... Then her 'free time' had been cut into drastically by the discovery that she wasn't as average as she claimed to be. Awakening as a knight ( page) had put an interesting spin on things and she found herself wondering if, perhaps, she wasn't alone. Could this person reaching out be one of theirs as well? Potentially, but they could also be a trap. More reason to respond and proceed with caution, in the end. Making certain that she had the email notifications set to 'on' she tucked her phone into her pocket, snagging her keys to head out for the day.
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Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 2:02 pm
James was nervous.
How could he not be nervous? His newspaper ad had only been up for a day when he received a response through an email. The blog he once ran, the one that was nothing more than a jumble of incoherent lettering and nonsense, had a listing posted too, because the man had hoped that some of his original followers were still there and even if they didn't respond -
well maybe they'd signal boost.
It had taken him longer to reply to the initial message than he would have liked, but James was a writer and was obsessed with making sure his wording was perfect. skye starrfyre Dear RH, Thank you for your quick response to my ad. If it is convenient to meet at Just Add Coffee at 2:30 PM, then I will see you there. Last booth against the south wall. Tea, coffee, or a pastry of your choosing is on me. I'll be the brunet with the longboard. Sincerely, JRC
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Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 2:41 pm
Nuxaz JRC, Just Add Coffee at 2:30 PM it is. I will be the ginger with the black framed glasses and an iconic tee. RH She was anxious, obviously, not wanting to give too much away but not wanting to be so vague that he might think anyone was her. Her email was already sent when she paused to re-think whether or not the Legend of Zelda was really iconic enough to everyone. Of course it was. Who didn't know the symbol of the Hyrule Warrior? At twenty after two she stepped up to the cafe, pausing just outside the door to tighten her ponytail while shifting her messenger bag more firmly on her shoulder. The bag contained her laptop and a few other things that she tried not to leave just lying about, decorated with various patches, buttons and pins proclaiming that the truth was out there as well as making it obvious just how much of an absolute nerd she was.
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Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 2:52 pm
At 2:15, James cleaned up all of his homework, closed his laptop and tucked everything back into the bag that sat to the left of him, opting to leave out only a single folder. It was filled with newspaper clippings from when they'd first gone missing, things that had been collected by his parents that he just gotten - which he wasn't sure if he was thankful for or not considering all of his own research had been torn to shreds, edited or simply missing - along with somethings he'd been able to scrounge up from the wonderful internet.
His stay cup simple black coffee had been entirely drained by the time the described redhead had arrived. James had, admittedly, been sneaking glances at the glass door every time the bell chimed, a feeling of disappointment wrapping around his heart every time it wasn't whom he was expecting but finally.
RH, stepped through the doors with the described glasses and some Legend of Zelda shirt. Immediately he sat up a little straighter, spring green eyes staring at her in what he hoped wasn't a super creepy manner, hand folded on the table before him. His heart rate skyrocketed because of nerves.
He just hoped he didn't look as nervous as he felt.
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Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 4:09 pm
If he was obviously nervous it was probably obvious to everyone save for Regina. Picking up on things wasn't one of her strong suits unless they were clues that would lead her back down the Rabbit Hole-- Like the news article, and the changes on the website she had followed so faithfully upon her revival. A smile touched her lips, violet eyes shining brightly as she caught someone that matched the description she'd been given. She almost walked past his table, however, until she spotted the long board. Regina paused, tucking a strand of hair back behind her ear. "Going by letters seems a little bit Bond to me. How about you, J?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 5:58 pm
He offered her a weak smile, gestured at the open seat across from him. "I dunno, makes the whole thing seem cooler?" There was a shrug of shoulders when the hand dropped to the table, fingers drumming nervously against the table top. His other hand toyed with the edge of his folder when he wet his lips and attempted to swallow his nerves down.
"Please, take a seat R." James was sure he'd feel much better if she was sitting too.
"Gives an air of mystery to us don't you think? I mean, it's a little bit of fun to mask a tragedy experienced years ago."
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Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 7:06 pm
"You mean being abducted needs to be dressed up with mystery to make it seem cooler?" Her brow lofted as a light, anxious smirk touched her lips. She settled down into the seat across from him despite the nerves, eventually holding her hand out to him. "Regina. I... Was one of the ones who went 'missing'. It's funny. I haven't--- It's not something I've thought a lot about lately. Then a friend came back into town, another person who was there, and..." Had she spoken too much? Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned that she knew someone else. She definitely wouldn't mention Joce by name; shouldn't. It was one thing to get herself in trouble, but she wouldn't risk a friend. "My name is Regina."
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Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 7:15 pm
You mean being abducted needs to be dressed up - that stuck out to him almost immediately and James sat up a little straighter, arms pulling back so his palms rested against the edge of the table rather than flat against it.
"Depends on how you want to look at it," he started slowly, trying to chose his words carefully. Did he admit that he too was one of the ones who went missing? It'd been years since he'd seen any of them, or at least seen enough of them to recognize and well - he'd died so early on that he didn't even know if anyone would recognize him.
There might have been something in Regina that tugged at his memory but he couldn't tell if it was real or just false hope.
"James," he offered once she introduced herself. "I was there too, briefly."
Now, how do you approach the subject of death and memory loss with a complete stranger?
"Can you tell me what you remember?" He asked, sliding out a legal pad and a pen from his bag.
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Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 7:34 pm
"I remember..." She closed her eyes, leaning back against the chair for a moment as though that would somehow help her pull what she had seen to the front of her mind. "Two friends. I met two others there. I know we both made it back, but-- I was the oldest. Once I got over the whole abduction bit, I was pretty big into conspiracy theories back then," she still was, but he didn't need to know that and she had gotten much better at hiding it, "I thought I should try to protect them. I..." Her words drifted off for a moment as she tried to think of what else she could remember. A light smile touched her lips as the place itself came to mind. "Where we were being held was beautiful. I remember... I remember a fountain. I don't know what was so special about it, but I remember it. And there was another place... A tower, I think? There were things inside. Maker's breath, that's so vague. There was a fight. Something happened and then... Then we were all light." Her eyes opened, brows furrowed as she glanced across the table at him. "I know that sounds crazy. I'm not-- Crazy, that is."
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2016 11:52 am
James listened intently, interest evident as he scrawled notes on his paper. "I don't - I don't need names but if you could maybe convince them to contact me, I'd appreciate it," he interjected then nodded for her to continue.
"The place, the name I've heard it be called before was -" he swallowed, how much was he willing to admit? "The surrounding." Enough, he would tell enough to get information. He just hoped what he learned was going to be enough.
"Do you remember how you got there?" He asked, thinking of his own experience. He remembered a space whale and he thought he remembered turning purple. Everyone with him turned a weird color.
"Can you be more specific? I mean, that's not a lot to work with."
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2016 7:30 pm
I mean, that's not a lot to work with... Regina snorted softly as she leaned back in her chair. Her arms crossed over her chest for a moment as she paused to eye the man across from her. "How much do you remember from five days ago, let alone five years ago?" When she realized how sharp her words had come out she lowered her arms, brow furrowing slightly. "I-- Sorry. I know that it's not a lot, and I know that it doesn't make sense. I spent two years being called crazy because of what I remembered, or thought I remembered. It couldn't have been real, but..." The ginger chewed on her lip for a moment before shifting her messenger bag into her lap, unlatching it and opening it up to pull out her laptop. "I have something that might help you. There was a blogger a few years back who had written several pieces on the disappearances. His stuff was incredible... And then all of a sudden it was gone. I had physical copies of the articles he wrote and the information he'd pulled together; just scanned them recently before J-- Before my friend came to town." It was easier to clear out her work space to make a guest room for Joce than it had been leaving it up and trying to explain it all to the other young woman, especially with all of the recent information she'd put onto her cork board about knights and space.
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 5:32 pm
How much do you remember from five days ago, let alone five years ago?
James hadn't ever really forgotten about what happened, even if his memories were fuzzy and frankly confusing. Still, he hadn't forgotten how he'd gone different colors, technically fought a space whale and tried to explore the crumbling towers. He remembered looking for a girl.
Then a bright light.
"I don't think you're crazy, for the record," he said quietly thinking about how the term applied more to him than the woman sitting across from him. "I remember, sorta."
There was a blogger a few years ago-
That got his attention immediately. "Wait. Do you have them still? What was the blog name?"
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 7:37 pm
"Gimme a second..." Regina set her laptop down on the table, settling her messenger bag back down on the floor. She flipped the laptop open, tapping the touch pad lightly to draw the computer out of hibernation. Her fingers flew over the keys as she typed in her first password to log in, followed by a second password to unlock her documents and one last one to open up the file. "Here." She turned the computer so that he would be able to see the screen along with her. Just as she'd said, the document that she had opened contained scanned copies of the printed out blog entries. There were scribbles on a few of the pages where she noted things that she remembered that seemed similar and more than a tiny hole or two on various pages that had been held to her cork board with a thumb tack that was connected to another via a piece of string. "I... Printed everything because I was worried that it would disappear and that I wouldn't have proof and then it did and I couldn't figure out why. But I had the back up so I-- I knew it wasn't just me."
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Posted: Fri May 06, 2016 8:18 am
Waiting was, surprisingly excruciating, as Regina's fingers tapped against keys. There was an unpleasant fluttering of butterflies in his stomach, the bad kind, because what if -
Spring green eyes skimmed the document quickly, with the talent of someone who read too many term papers and sources for articles. His breath caught in his throat and he let out a strangled noise as he leaned back in the booth in utter disbelief.
What Regina had - it was a copy of everything he had written after he'd appeared back in DC.
"When you looked at it again, it was just a sequence of numbers and letters that didn't make any sense right?" He'd looked at the blog just a few days ago, before he'd put out the ad.
Oh, he felt sick.
And he lurched over, elbows on his knees and fingers twisted into his hair with his palms pressed against his temples. "Can you - can you send that to me?"
Did he tell her he wrote it?
No. Maybe if she asked...
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Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2016 1:06 pm
"I thought the numbers and letters might have been code for something, but I pulled one of the entries and ran it through some really good decoding software and-- Nothing. Not a hit. Not a glimmer that it might have been something other than gobbledygook.... Which didn't really make me feel any better." Or safer. She watched him as he leaned forward in his chair, hoping he didn't conk his head on the table or something. That was more her style, anyways, hitting her head or running into something in front of a person who was attractive, even moderately so. Can you send that to me? If anyone had believed her before she would have jumped at the chance to share her research along with any other information she might have gathered on the mysterious disappearance of the blogger. Now? Now it just made her worried, brow furrowing slightly as she drew the laptop back towards her. "I... I don't know if that's a good idea. The guy who wrote this had to have gotten rid of it all for a reason, I--"
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