Your Christmas cookies turned out great for once! There was no burning or dropping of the batter and now you have dozens of cookies just waiting to be eaten or given out as gifts. However, as you leave the cookies to cool and go about your business, the smell of gingerbread seems to follow you, no matter if you made gingerbread cookies or not. A strange feeling as though someone is watching you takes over and from time to time you swear that you can hear a strange little voice saying the same thing over and over. “You can’t catch me”. The feeling passes after a few hours, but it might be best to avoid gingerbread for the rest of the holiday season…just in case.
Ellenore Blackwall was trying her best to do Christmas on a budget this year. Her 'budget' was whatever allowance she'd managed to scrape together between birthdays along with the little bit of 'extra' her mother had allotted her to purchase small things for close friends, of which Sebastian Gracey and Beatrice Kellye were the closest. She'd skirted around a bit further by presenting her mother with a list of cookie recipes that she wanted to try to bake because cookies were festive and it could be a tradition for the two of them.
Her mother, often busy with things like yoga class, parent teacher conferences and business meetings, bailed at the last minute, leaving her with specific instructions.
Lock the door.
Don't answer the phone if it's an unlisted number.
Scratch that.
Let the machine get the house phone. I'll call your cell if I need you.
No sleepovers.
No boys.
Alright, alright. Sebbie doesn't count, but he's still not allowed to sleep over.
Don't forget to turn the oven off.
Don't burn the house down.
All in all, given that she had been left entirely to her own devices, Seance was of the opinion that everything had been going very well. Alright, so the chocolate chip cookies had come from a dough that was pre-made and she'd set the smoke alarm off once trying to figure out how to toast a marshmallow on the stove.... But the cookies were finished and decorated and ready to be packed up and...
Gingerbread. All of a sudden she smelled gingerbread. Somewhere out in the living room there was a box with a 'build your own gingerbread house' kit, but this was way different. This was a fresh, warm aroma as though it had just come out of the oven-- as if....
The hair on the back of her neck prickled as very suddenly Seance got the feeling that maybe she wasn't alone. Had her mom installed cameras in the kitchen? Had she come home early? Was Santa real? She shivered as she reached for her phone just in time to hear a small voice.
"You can't catch me!"
[Group Message - Midnight Society]Guys. I think my house is haunted. Assemble ASAP?
Then, just in case an actual haunting wasn't enough of a reason to be tempted to swing by her home she sent out one additional text.
[Group Message - Midnight Society]Fresh cookies included.
Message sent, Sea now had to decide whether or not she was going to investigate on her own... Or wait outside.
Grymoire
Ghouliboo
[/quote[
Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2017 5:08 pm
Sebastian had been laying around his house mostly bored out of his mind since school was out for the holiday. He'd intended to do some filming but it was far too cold to go out at night again (the night before had been enough cold thanks) so he was stuck at home. He'd worked on editing a few videos for a bit but he didn't need anything else to upload until after the new year.
When his phone buzzed he shifted, patting around on the couch beside him until he found his phone and holding it up.
[Group Message - Midnight Society]If your house was haunted we'd know already, what happened? also cookies?
Sea wouldn't have sent that text without a good reason though. Sliding his legs off the couch of the couch he rolled over, almost throwing himself on the floor, before scrambling up and snagging his camera bag.
"Dad! I'm going over to Sea's. I'll be back." His father was in his home office working and most likely heard him. If not ... oops.
Grabbing his keys off the hook by the door and stuffing himself into a warmer coat he headed out to walk the couple of blocks over to Sea's house.
Skye Starrfyre
Ghouliboo
Grymoire
Dapper Lunatic
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Ghouliboo
Feral Cat
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Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2017 5:44 am
Bea had been working on her own projects for the year end - most of her Christmas plushies had been distributed appropriately to their new owners but she still had some last minute gifts to try to whip together before New Year's Eve arrived.
The way she figured it, as long as the gifts were still given before 2018, she could claim she wasn't a year behind. Being a week late wasn't terrible, right? Especially for a teenager with no wheels to zoom around in?
Statistically speaking, she was safer on her feet anyhow. Well. When one wasn't factoring in the kidnapping and stabbing statistics, both of which were significantly higher for girls walking than they were for girls riding or driving around in their own set of wheels.
There were pros and cons to every decision, after all.
When her phone buzzed, she nearly jumped from the sudden, unexpected vibration that sent her phone dancing across her nightstand. The sewing needle she was working with was promptly put between her lips (because she was so not stepping on one again) and she snatched the cell from the table.
Haunting? Huh?
She'd been to Sea's plenty of times and they'd tried the Ouija board about a million times. So why now was something trying to manifest itself?
.... or was she just really wanting them to get some cookies and was too lazy to actually deliver them?
Bea had to give her props - she would have probably done the same thing. Only, y'know, without the ghost lie but Sea wasn't really one to fib when it came to the supernatural... so maybe something really was up.
Tossing her crap back into the craft bin (and re-homing the needle appropriately!), she collected a handful of necessary items (holy water, stakes, silver crosses), shoved them in her backpack and booked it. She'd risk her chances at getting kidnapped or stabbed if it meant finally laying eyes on a ghost.
It took twelve minutes for her to make it to Sea's, small pale fist balling up and smacking the front door to signal her arrival.
"SEA. Sea has it possessed you yet?? DID IT TOUCH THE COOKIES?"
Hopefully the neighbors were used to Beatrice Kellye by now.
Skye Starrfyre
Grymoire
Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2017 8:06 am
While awaiting the arrival of her two pale haired friends, Seance started to see if she could track down the source of the sent she kept catching of cookies she hadn't made. Her first thought was to investigate the tart warmers that her mother had purchased as a 'safe' alternative to candles. The melting wax provided the same enchanting aromas as a candle but there was no fire involved-- no chance they could be left on and forgotten.
She also hadn't picked gingerbread tarts, instead opting for the smell of 'First Snow' which bragged notes of 'winter mint', whatever that was, vanilla and 'fresh air'. Nothing in the living room had any reason at all to smell like gingerbread and yet the scent had followed her there as well.
So had the voice.
"You can't catch me..."
Seance nearly leapt out of her skin when the first knock came at the door. Snatching the phone she'd left the Ghost Radar ap up on, Seance scrambled to answer it, quickly yanking one Beatrice Kellye inside the moment the door was opened. "I'm not possessed, but I think it's haunting me. Or maybe my rolling pin. I don't know." She glanced out the door quickly, spotting Seb coming up the walk as well.
"Seb, oh my god, get in here. This is so weird. Bea, do you smell gingerbread?"
Sebastian wasn't surprised to see that Bea had beaten him there, she probably had started running the second Sea had said 'haunting', but he did have to snicker at her enthusiasm.
When Sea pulled their other friend inside and waved at him he grinned, slipping inside around the two girls and looking around.
"Gingerbread? Kinda. You said cookies right?" So she'd made gingerbread cookies? Everyone did this time of year. They did smell good too. "Also I don't think Sea is possessed. If she was possessed why would she have called us over? Ghosts that can do that aren't that smart."
At least he didn't think those sorts of ghost were. They didn't call people's friends. They possessed people to finish whatever business they needed to finish. While he spoke he pulled out his camera which had the special lenses on it, turning it on so he could scan across the living room with the infrared filter.
Skye Starrfyre
Ghouliboo
Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2017 4:09 pm
"A ghost could have used her as a vessel to get more people over for maybe some ghost buddies in need of a flesh sack to run around in," Bea was quick to respond back with, already letting her imagination get the better of her. "For all we know, this could be some kind of trap tha---hey, smells good in here."
The white haired girl paused as the strong scent of gingerbread filled her nose, her head turning as a result as she glanced around the house. She'd been so caught up with the thought of ghosts that she'd missed the strong smell of cookies - which quickly had her stomach growling as a result.
"What's haunting you?" She had to snap back - she needed to focus. "You said your rolling pin? Did it hit you?"
"I said cookies, yeah, because I made chocolate chip and sugar cookies and these other things with so much butter.... But I can't smell any of those. I can only smell gingerbread and I didn't make gingerbread." As she lead the other two down the hall the aroma of fresh, warm gingerbread followed. It didn't gain in intensity as they wandered one way or another. It simply hovered wherever they were and knowing that her friends could smell it too was a step. It meant she hadn't lost it.
"Kick your boots off so you're not dragging snow into the house-- Seb, hang your coat up. I'll hold the camera, I..." She was interrupted by a very soft giggle of a laugh followed by an almost menacing 'You can't catch me!' that sent a chill through her spine.
"Please tell me I'm not the only one who heard that..."
Ghouliboo
Grymoire
Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2017 9:06 am
"Ghost aren't that smart. They wouldn't know anything about how to do that. If something needed 'flesh sacks' to wander around in that would be demons and that's a bigger problem." Sebastian managed not to roll his eyes but did look over at Bea. He loved her to death but sometimes she got a little over excited and didn't think things through first.
Sea rattled off the lits of cookies she'd made and ... why could they all smell gingerbread if there wasn't any in the house? He did see the little kit on the table but there was no way that would smell like fresh made cookies. Those things barely smelled like anything at all except cardboard.
He slid off his boots and just as he was about to hand over the camera he heard a voice. Forgetting his coat for a minute he looked around, quickly following with the camera. There was a flash of something but it was gone too fast for him to see.
"Uh ... you're being haunted by a nursery rhyme."
Skye Starrfyre
Ghouliboo
Grymoire
Dapper Lunatic
Offline
Ghouliboo
Feral Cat
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 11:03 pm
The small voice in the air had her freezing mid-shoe removal. It gave her pause and the thought that maybe removing her shoes wasn't a great idea - not if she needed a quick getaway - but Sea's houserules were her mom's houserules and Bea wasn't about to get into trouble with that particular flesh sack.
"I mean... it's gingerbread and a small voice. Cookie, right?"
Her voice held a waver as wide eyes looked around the room they were in. The scent was there but it also wasn't super strong. Was the culprit in another room? Was it in there with them?
"If it's a cookie it's not gonna be that big of a deal, right?"
What did one even do for a haunted cookie monster?????
Skye Starrfyre
Grymoire
Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 10:22 am
"Well duh, Seb, but haunted by a nursery rhyme is still haunted." Boys were so incredibly dumb sometimes, but Seb had invested his allowance in video equipment and ghost detecting stuff while hers had gone towards protection spell ingredients and stuff that would help make contact with the other side.... So, dumb or not, she needed him around if she wanted proof that the other side was real.
More than that, he was a friend. They were all friends and while Beatrice Kellye was her best friend ever, Sebastian Gracey came in at a pretty close second.
Sea pulled out her phone, getting her own camera on the ready in an attempt to catch anything that Seb might not. She wasn't all that good with it, honestly, often swinging around too quickly and catching odd angles resulting in pictures that left one spending more time than necessary trying to line up the background to figure out what she might have captured. Anything was better than nothing, though, and now they had three sets of eyes and ears that had all heard something.
"I didn't think cookies left spirits behind." Was she going to have to rethink her snacking habits? Oh gods, were cookies going to be a no go?
Maybe just cookies with faces.
Maybe..... She'd give the snowman sugar cookies she'd made with their dotted black eyes and eerie smiles to the neighbors...
"Is the smell following us or are we following it?" she murmured as she shuffled just a bit closer to Bea, slipping one arm through her friend's as her fingers drifted up to linger over the amulet she hadn't taken off since that night at the graveyard.
"Okay but when was the last time you heard of an actual haunting that was a nursery rhyme and not something in a movie?" Sebastian was scanning around slowly with his camera, trying to follow both the smell and the sound of the giggly voice.
Cookies weren't supposed to haunt people.
Nursery rhymes were creepy sure, they involved kids, but this was a whole other level of weird.
"I think it's a bit of both. I mean as I move it get stronger but ... notice how the voice seems to be chasing us and not following the smell?" At least he thought that's what was going on.
Skye Starrfyre
Ghouliboo
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 8:00 am
"So what you're saying is... one of us should record while walking forward and the other while walking back? So we don't miss anything?"
Bea would have offered to use her phone to assist in the photography of the alleged ghost-cookie-monster-thing but she'd spent approximately 83% of her battery scrolling through Tumblr only hours earlier (who bothered with charging a phone when the cord was an entire room away?) so she decidedly kept hers in her pocket as her free hand moved to protectively pat the one linking through her arm.
"Nursery rhymes usually are based off tragic events anyways," she murmured, her voice lowering as dark eyes did their best to pinpoint exactly where the creepy voice was coming from. She'd seen Annabelle. She'd seen the Grudge. Creepy children were not her thing, ghost or human but Bea wasn't entirely sure what her stance was on creepy Christmas cookies. "Did you maybe somehow... I dunno, use a series of coincidental events to perform magic on the cookie? Like a voodoo cookie man???"
The trio spent a good hour investigating the area, chasing after whiffs of warm, fresh gingerbread. The haunting voice lingered, laughing as it lead the chase through the lower floor of the Blackwall residence. The entire ordeal was exhausting and spooky in ways that Seance had no fondness for. She had a flare for the strange, an appreciation of the odd and a natural draw towards the grim, but this...
This was something more and it made her uneasy. It was different than chasing spiritual entities through the cemetery, different than being a magical girl who could command wraiths. This was her house.
Finally, after one last turn 'round the lower level the sounds stopped and the smell vanished entirely, leaving her more than a little confused and definitely on edge. "Guys, my mom's not going to be back until sometime tomorrow afternoon. I don't want to stay here by myself.... She said no sleepovers, but.... Anyone want to help me do a purification ritual and cleanse the house? That was way too creepy."
