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 Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2016 11:57 pm
back to the libraryJeremiah was cutting it close, he knew it. Except that there had been a complication along the way. One that was currently squirming under his buttoned up vest.
"Mog," he spoke to the cat, slightly exasperated. Shortened name for Mogget always meant business with Jeremiah. "We're almost to him, alright?" At least this time, on his way back to the library, he was not soaked. While one arm was held to his chest to stop the cat from really squirming and falling out of his vest, the other held an umbrella. A gaudy, bright red thing that had, of all thing, little floating ghosts dangling from it. Jeremiah wouldn't have said for sure but he was certain that the umbrella had been in other ashdown purely to mock him.
Not that he could complain much about being dry.
The detective was back at the library, having to check his pocket watch for the time so that he did not have Zac out and looking for him. Pulling the door open he was not surprised this time when he saw the inside of the library. "Zac? I'm back."
The lightning difference, the temperature difference - it was still a near shock of a change from outside to inside. Jeremiah lowered the umbrella and shook it out while he still kept that arm wrapped around his torso.
That looked like had gained something of a gut while he was gone. endejester for mood purposesalso gonna use this for ... short drabbles for ende and me to show what happened while this pair was stuck in other ashdown by themselves instead of multiple threads, lol.
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 12:46 am
just what i neededJeremiah was not even that far away from the library, making his way from bit of covered area to bit of covered area. He was not enjoying getting soaked again after getting dry. For all the places that he passed that might have possibly had an umbrella, he ignored.
Something just wasn't quite right about the buildings in other ashdown. Something kept him out of them. Probably the shadows he could not quite trust, an apprehension that he should not go into these buildings. Jeremiah was in a place where he was certain that his gun was likely of no help. A place where books could be opened and you would find yourself pulled into a memory that was so very obviously not your own. He sucked in a breath and growled, mind trying to get away from that sense of fear and panic that had not quite faded away.
That bloody library was a diary, he was sure of it just as Zac was.
The detective was not even sure why he was waiting under an awning, the rain was not letting up. It was not as heavy as it had been earlier but it continued to fall steadily and some part of him was worried about catching a cold. Could you catch a cold here? He liked to believe he could not. That in a place like this colds just did not happen. Sighing he ran out into the rain again, a steady mantra in his head of umbrella, umbrella, umbrella. A better thought than Alg is going to punch me or what if I don't see Alg again? or should I have ...
His mind was so focused on it, wanting an umbrella because it was a safer thought, that he did not even notice it at first. It was at the street corner, leaning against one of the cross walk signs (and he always properly crossed the road if it was properly marked). Something that was that red-orange color of fire. It was a startlingly bright color to the dreariness of other ashdown. "You're killing me," he gritted out, coming to a stop at the sign and staring hard at the umbrella. This was definitely some young person's umbrella, not something like the one he had at home (another thought that he should have checked his home). Beggars could not be choosers in this case and he was getting wetter by the minute. That moment of doubt passed, Jeremiah snapping up the umbrella and opening it up only to get hit in the head with a soft, damp fuzzy plush ghost.
He batted at the thing, hitting it away only for it to come back and smack him again in the forehead until he properly held the umbrella up. It did not seem to matter how much he tugged at them either, the small ghosts attached to the umbrella would not come loose. Jeremiah tried to believe that this was not some way of other ashdown mocking him. That would just be absurd.
At least he wouldn't get as soaked while he went to Rider-Waite.
Nevermind damn lucky no one was around to see him using this umbrella.
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 1:20 am
it's not thereWhatever he expected to find at Rider-Waite, this was not it. Jeremiah stood on the side-walk facing where the college was. Rather, he stood facing where the college was not. There, in it's place, was a seemingly endless over grown grass field that was being battered by the wind and the rain.
It went on and on, for all that he could tell, and the detective was crossing the street to walk into it. To see if there was something of the college there. Except that as he was about to cross into it, to make his way into the field only to find himself flat on his arse after walking to something that felt like a wall.
The umbrella clattered beside him, Jeremiah rubbing at his face because it felt like he hit it with something. Pushing himself up, grabbing the god awful umbrella, he was much slower as he approached the field. This time he felt it. The toe of his shoe felt like it was right up against something, something that was actively pushing back against him. He raised his leg a little, testing how high it went. When it got to his knee he used his hand and kept going.
No.
It couldn't be.
"There's a goddamn force field around the ******** college?" Language, it seemed, became more crass when he was agitated and alone. "Are you bloody ******** kidding me?" It was the only thing that made sense as Jeremiah walked up and down the street in front of the college, his hand trailing along the invisible barrier. It tingled along the skin of his palm.
No matter how much he pushed, how much he wanted to get over there, it did not budge under his hand. It still kept him out of the field of wild overgrown grass.
Where was the college? Why wasn't it here? It was another oddity, another thing that did not fit in with real Ashdown. He stood in the misty rain of other ashdown watching as wind swept through the field. Stared at it long enough he started to wonder if he saw things in the tall grass, hiding in the places he could not quite focus on properly. The shadows could not be trusted, his mind whispered. Still as he watched the grass, watched it sway, some part of him began to wonder.
What if it was not a thing that was keeping him out?
What if it was something keeping a thing in? A shiver went up his spine, a chill settling in his bones. A cursory glance at his pocket watch told him that he needed to start heading back, that Zac would start looking for him soon. Still the thought would not leave his mind as he turned his back to the field and started to head back to the library.
That in this place he had learned Sunny felt fear.
That in this place there was an it.
That in this place there was something that Sunny likely feared. Something that had taken the kids when they had gotten in too deep after what they had been shown was not enough. Jeremiah glanced back over his shoulder only once.
He did not look back when he thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye.
It was never there when he looked straight at it anyway.
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 10:11 am
While you were waiting -
It was hard waiting for Jeremiah to come back, really hard. He felt awful knowing the older man was here, It was ridiculous trying to put a finger on why it made him feel so bad… maybe it was the grey hair, or that he’d always been there for Zac since that first night in the police station, a ten year old trying to convince the cops he knew exactly what he was doing.
He didn’t want Jeremiah looking for the kids, it was half selfish half fear because if nothing else the shadows made him feel like something was about to happen.
He moved to the shelves of books, tracing his finger over them one by one, fingers tapping against the spines with the soft ‘thap’ of aged leather.
Memories, HER memories, and in some respects they made her seem more human, just…. trapped out of time. In other respects, the fact that this existed after all, it made her seem not so human at all.
What if this place had changed her, hadn’t that been what Jeremiah said, that there was someone in town who could –see- if you had been here or not?
Something about the eyes, maybe something in the face that marked some change, physical, or perhaps something less tangible.
His hand lingered over one of the book spines, he tipped it slightly as though he considered pulling it out while Jeremiah wasn’t here. He thought about putting one in his bag too…
But what if they were literal manifestations of Sunny’s mind?
He thought about how it would feel to have someone else fingering through his memories, and wondered honestly if it applied to her. He squinted at the book like it was part of the personal offence of leaving him stuck here, of not providing anything like a strait forward answer.
He lifted his finger from the spine of the book and it made a soft thump as it tilted back to where it was intended to be, coughing up a small cloud of dust.
He did… honestly… want to know more. There –were- answers in these books, not specifically the ones he’d thought he wanted when he set foot in this place. There was –history-, tremendous, layers on layers, first person views on a very …well, personal history that wasn’t his. It was guaranteed to be strange, eerie, terrifying.
Could She –be- hurt if she was as old as she seemed? Surely a normal person would have –some- scars, but he hadn’t seen any. Maybe she could just will them away though.
He crouched and picked up a handful of the scattered papers and shuffled through them. He wondered if they were as important as the book, or perhaps they represented things like smells or tastes, sounds… nothing as concrete as a memory chain.
And what about…
Well, if the books were memories, what then…were the chants? What were the screams? Were those part of HER? Or were those, something else, something to do with the fear that they had felt when they had paged through the books.
He wanted answers… needed answers.
But he needed to find those children too… because he needed to make sure that they, and Jeremiah made it home safe.
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 11:05 am
Back to the Library The time was close, he wasn’t sure that his watch was working, that the clock on his phone was working, but he –felt- like the time was running thin before he should be seeing Jeremiah again. He paced till he was too tired and too bored of it to continue, then he sat for a while, satchel on his lap, twisting and untwisting the strap like somehow this manual manipulation could make things go faster, more evenly, safer. All the while he made a white determined chant because it was better than the temptation to turn back into the Library, better than the troublesome and voyeuristic desire to page through those books, those memories. He’ll get back safe, and we’ll make it out ok. He’ll get back safe…and we’ll make it out okay.” He wanted to believe it, was determined to believe it. He drummed his fingers and wondered if there was anything like a map of the Library, wouldn’t that just be… perfect. But then again… How would you make sense of a map, paper maps just wouldn’t do it justice. He needed like… a phone app or a GPS that would tell him which door to go through to find… whatever he needed to find. If the kids were somewhere, he still felt like it made sense that they would be here. It still made a sort of horrible sense that they might be the screams, or eve the chanting. He bit at his thumb, worrying it to the point he actually broke skin before making himself release with a muffled curse like one of his “Dad’s’ might hear him and scold him. What if the chanting held back whatever was screaming? There was certain horror movie logic to that. He got up again and paced, staring out into the rain like he could WILL Jeremiah back. “Come on… come on….” He said and checked at his phone and watch again, had time passed? Had it passed at all? Normally he was good with time but now he wasn’t sure if time had moved since the last time he looked. He let the door swing closed again and paced again, paced and kept pacing till he was half sure he was going to ware a spot n the floor that would forever mark his one time presence here in the… mind/diary of Sunny. The door latch clicked and he whirled, eyes wide and hopeful to see… A flash of garish red that he didn’t remember, and it seemed more of a…gut than he was accustomed to Jeremiah having before he left. “Are you oka…” He started to ask before the ‘gut’ squirmed… shifted, and a bedraggled white head poked out of Jeremiah’s vest, its fur sticking up at curious punk angles, wide yellow eyes blinking beneath ‘brows’ that suggested perpetual surprise, or something akin to a doubled up ‘guardian cat’ since both grey marks had an uncanny resemblance to crescent moons. “MOGGET! “ He said in delight as the cat twisted and squirmed to jump free of the sweater and bound towards ‘his human’ – slender tail of an almost incredible length curled to an almost painful looking degree as was the little cat’s habit. “Puurr-mah!” Mogget declared, whiskers curled forward as though he were tremendously pleased with himself and having found his humans.
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 12:40 pm
Welcome to 'Other' Ashdown.
She was there, and then she wasn’t… and the whole world was heavy and grey, the rain pelting down like it had a personal vendetta against the universe.
Easier to show him, that had been the idea right?
What kind of answers could this place possibly give? He tipped his head back and stared into the torrential rain as though perhaps he could see some reason to all of this.
He looked around and saw no sign of her, no hint of Sunny, He waited, growing more and more saturated, before he took it on himself to try at least, and find somewhere dry. His shirt clinging to his skin, his pants growing heavier by the moment, his shoes made a squishy sound as he slogged towards the town, wondering what strange thing she had done to make the world feel so different, when it looked so very nearly the same.
More than that… he had to wonder at the fact he saw no sign of the normal life he should have seen. The unease grew, as he kept moving. The shadows felt strange, like somehow they had more presence, almost a mentality to them, something… predatory that made him uncomfortable.
The rain was as constant as the fog that seemed to curl and twist like fingers.
The further he walked the stranger it felt, everything was too quiet, and everything was too empty. Like a shell of the town he’d known for so long, scraped out and set down in some rain-drenched parody where shadows were spectators like a twisted version.
He tried his favorite haunts first, the bookstore, where Alg should be, or ‘Book-Dad’ as he sometimes teasingly called him. The door opened well enough, but inside it was…
The shelves were there, the counter, the chairs, the signs that Alg had written to put off people who tried to do ridiculous things in the name of gathering change when they themselves had asked for oversized bills. The hilarity of them complaining about how hard it was to unload the bills they specifically asked for was not lost on Zac.
The shelves though, that was what really bothered him, the books where there, one after the other. He could name where each section should be, he could remember where his favorites were shelved more often than not, but they weren’t... right, none of them were there. There was something wrong about them, something unsettling.
He swallowed hard and backed out of the door, it was unnerving in a way that even his own house being empty wouldn’t have unnerved him.
That said… he tried that next his own house, it was a bit out of the way but, he wasn’t surprised that it was lifeless, empty, devoid of even the books that should have been in his own room. He stood a while, fingers tracing the spot on his bed where Mogget liked to be… shook his head and made his way out again.
Answers, he wanted answers, so… why not try the Library?
He closed his house door, blinking into the rain that pelted down into his face, ducked his head, and ran towards the library, and whatever slim thread of hope he might find there.
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 1:32 pm
back to the libraryMogget squirming out of his arms had Jeremiah snorting, having to unbutton the top button of his vest so that it was easier for him to get out. The umbrella was shook out once more and now, with both hands, he was closing it up and leaning it against the wall. He may have glared accusingly at the small dangling ghosts before looking over to Zac.
"I'm fine. Far drier than last time I was out there." Jeremiah did not have to dry out that much it seemed because of the umbrella he had found outside. "I would say that I found Mogget but it's more like he found me. I was halfway back from the field," that should be a tip of because he wasn't suppose to go to a field, where was there a field? "and next thing I know I hear mreow," surprisingly good at cat noises, this Brit, "and he's climbing up my leg like he usually does."
Said bundle of fluff was actually pretty good about climbing up Jeremiah without injuring or likewise causing pain. The detective hadn't really figured it out. "I'm not sure how he's here but ..." Zac was given a crooked grin, a little relief visible in Jeremiah's eyes. If Mogget could get here that just further implied there was likely a way back.
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 1:46 pm
back to the libraryHe scooped up Mogget into his arms and the cat settled into an easy, if somewhat ridiculous pose, spreading his toes as far as they could go so he could lick them dry with more efficiency than he’d been able to inside the sweater. “… I wish I could say I was SURPRISED that he’s here, but… somehow I’m really not.” Scratched lightly under the cat’s chin. “I wonder if that was Sunny.” He mused. “… I mean… he can’t have just gotten here himself…can he?” He looked back at Jeremiah, making a very quiet plan that involved not mentioning the umbrella… at least till later. “Ok…so um… the college is a …field?” He asked hesitantly.
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 3:01 pm
back to the libraryJeremiah snorted at the pose that Mogget was stretched out into to clean his toes. He supposed it was better Mogget cleaning his toes than decided the detective needed his hair cleaned.
"I don't honestly know." His head tilted, studying the cat and looking at Zac while he was scritching him. Certainly it was a morale booster to have Mogget here, to have something else that was alive in this place besides them. "I do remember all those stories about cats having one foot in, one foot out ..." Between worlds, between this life and the next, between realities ...
He was watching the two of them, thoughts wondering to if Mogget had gotten in perhaps he could lead them back ...
"There's no college," he said after a silent moment, looking at Zac seriously. "It's an overgrown field as if there was never a college there in the first place." A breath. "... and there's some kind of barrier around it. You can't go to the field."
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 4:26 pm
"A field?" He said, pausing in rubbing Mogget's ears. Mogget for his part made a small purring chirp and twisted to climb to Zac's shoulder. Carefully threading himself to lay stretched out, feet to one side and head and front paws on the other. His tail curled like a slender scarf around Zac's neck. "....So there may be something where the College should be." He mused. "So is the key the library... Or the Field? The Field seems like it's more likely to be the cage. I wouldn't want anyone to accidentally stumble into a lion den." He worried his lip and then said- "If we wanted to explore the Library- we should look for supplies. Medical - maybe a granola bars maybe in case the kids are hungry... Rope, paper... Things like that."
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 4:39 pm
back to the library"Wild, overgrown. Completely undeveloped." Jeremiah raked a hand through his hair, an actual smile appearing when Mogget settled onto Zac's shoulders as he was like to do. It was a little more normal, a little more like how things were supposed to be.
If they could ignore the fact they were in another version of Ashdown within a library that made no sense. With bright blue skies compared to the dreary rain that was outside.
"I thought the same thing. What if it's keeping something in? Not keeping us out." The detective did not like the thought. "I would like to think it's the cage that was mentioned but it's almost too obvious ..." That would be too easy, too right there.
"Agreed. Since we've got an umbrella we can head out and check some of the places to get supplies and look in here a bit more." He paused. "I'd also like to look around town some as well. See if there's any clues about where the kids are. Perhaps mark down the graffiti ..." Jeremiah got that smile. The one that made most look at him worriedly but Zac knew would likely lead to an adventure. It was not the best situation but they could make the best out of it.
Find out everything they could before ...
Who knew.
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 6:52 pm
another bookJeremiah and Zac had talked it over. For all that they had explored the police department, come up with a few supplies that they could hang on to, there was not much rhyme or reason to a lot of the things they found. The only thing that seemed to be of any help, for the moment, were the books in the library. They had both ventured back into the library and found themselves in what was a room that was in the best shape so far.
The books were still in disrepair from what looked like years of being not properly taken care of. The detective could all most hear Algie’s voice in his head, a steady tsk, tsk. Still they had both pulled books from the shelves, Jeremiah currently holding one in his hands while Zac stood next to him waiting.
"Ready?" shibrogane 'cause you said it was okay and there's no way these guys wouldn't try again.
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 7:13 pm
Another book Zac worried at his lip, staring at the book with an almost rabid intensity as though he were either half certain that the book would attack, spontaneously and of its own accord. He took a breath and held it for a moment like maybe he was going to say something first, but then he nodded, hesitant at first and then with greater determination. “Yeah… Yeah I’m ready. I think….I mean as ready as I’m going to be, It’s…. both cool and sort of terrifying.” He murmured. “Let’s do it.” He nodded…and then added. “I wonder what would happen if you…brought a book here…. or the reverse.” He added.
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 8:18 pm
They opened the book. The pages looked less dense than those of the other books: those had been textbooks, and this one was spaced like a novel. As they turned the pages, the memory took shape around them... Darkness.
Their eyes open. Above them, high above them, are the stars: so clear their light could cut. Neither of them has ever seen the stars so clear, the brightness of the Milky Way spinning above them. The constellations are unfamiliar. The water below them reflects the sky in pale, still symmetry.
Someone speaks to them in another language, a dark smoke-voice. They understand the words:
"Why did you do it?"
They look towards the voice, and say, in the same language: "It told me to."
Sunny's voice.
"It told me to," they say. "I'm so sorry. It told me to."The memory fades.
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 8:37 pm
This memory was not like the other ones. There was no panick, no burning lungs because they were out of breath. Just a sense of stillness, that the world is calm.
Then the language that Jeremiah understands but cannot place all the same. He closes the book in his hand, glancing towards Zac. "There's that it again," he spoke, a hand running along the stubble of his jaw as he thought about what they had just seen.
It was whatever that spooked Sunny. It was what had taken the kids. It was the thing that Jeremiah was trying to find out about, more so than the strange graffiti that was all over the town and in places here in the library. "There were more than just Sunny involved in this."
Jeremiah was trying to not think about eldritch horrors with the way that the voices had sounded.
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