[CLOSED] the ghosts that you saw behind the cellar door

[openhanded]

WHO: Sorey and Dante and their respective groups
WHERE: Viea Village
WHEN: Late late night, Saturday, June 24th
WHAT: One group hunts ghosts, another hunts the ghost hunters.
WARNINGS: Possibly language? Please let me know and I'll warn for something more specific!


A. gathering outside

[It's 10 PM and the sunlight has finally faded from the sky. This means it's a perfect time to meet up in Viea Village for some traditional ghost busting. Dante is here to help them get inside the building, but then he's going to leave, since he's too grown-up for this sort of thing. Or that's how the story goes. It looks like the chain link fence around the school lot can be jumped over pretty easily; it's more just a token thing to keep people from camping there. The lock can also be picked. Either way, they'll be getting into the lot and hopefully not attracting too much attention...

Thirteen people is a lot, still, but Sorey implores everyone to be as quiet as possible and not to turn on their flashlights until they're inside the building. The exterior of the school itself looks pretty run-down, though it's still significantly whole. It may or may not be able to be re-purposed in the future, though signs lead to yes, since the fence was put up not too long ago.

Before they head inside, Sorey stands at the front of the group and addresses everyone in a low voice. He urges everyone to come in close so they can hear.]

All right, guys. This is it. Have your flashlights ready and your cameras, if you have them. If you don't have a flashlight then let me know. I brought a few extras.

We're only going to be here for a couple of hours. I figure that should be enough time to cover the length of the school.

A few rules before we begin: flashlights inside only. Don't raise your voice unless you're in trouble. Respect the spirits since you're in their house. Stay close and don't wander off. [A pause.] Oh! If you have a camera, take as many pictures as you can! Even if you can't sense anything, sometimes weird things turn up on film. We'll look at all of it later.

Any questions?

B. creepy crawlies and jump scares

[The first thing that greets the explorers is the choking dust. While the city might be interested in selling and renovating the property, no one's stepped inside for quite some time. Dirt has been tracked in by the occasional small animal if the paw prints are any indication.

The place does seem haunted in its own way: there are old benches and broken desks, ruined fireplaces and woodstoves, peeling paint. The telltale sound of creaking slats in the roof overhead. It seems that an attempt to modernize the school was made, though it ultimately failed. Decaying books are scattered on the floor. Their publication dates all seem to stop in the 1950's. Old pencils and abandoned gym clothes and other small personal effects-- like a hair bow-- may be salvaged by intrepid explorers. But it also might be good to leave those things where they are. Sorey doesn't seem to care if asked.

However, there's nothing in the way of ghosts or even nervous energy. It looks to be just another creepy abandoned place...

Until the party crashers come, that is.

Dante leads a small group of people silently into the building. He waits until the perfect time, and then the main group is ambushed by people pretending to be spirits. There's a lot of screaming, yelling, panic-- and someone might even be wearing a white sheet. Sorey yelps and throws himself in front of the group before he realizes what's going on. Talk about embarrassing... He doesn't look happy.

That's when the real party starts.

Spiritually-attuned characters will hear the peal of children's laughter, joyful and mysterious, echoing all the way down the halls. It's followed by the pitter-patter of tiny feet. That's definitely not them, so Sorey calls for his group to follow the sound. Standing before them is the spirit of a boy about Roderic's age, playful and mischievous. Though he takes his time sizing up the party, he seems most interested in Roderic. He won't answer any questions from Sorey or the others. He gestures for Roderic to follow, and he won't move until the living boy takes the lead.

The ghost boy leads them through the back door of the schoolhouse to the play area. This place was supposed to be modernized too, though it fell short of the ideal. The playground equipment is all rusted beyond measure and choked with weeds. There is a little area with aged asphault that looks promising, however.

It's covered with sidewalk chalk. How it lasted this long is anyone's guess. There are hopscotch grids, stick figures, rainbows, normal kid stuff. Still silent to the group, the spirit boy points to a square that has a bunch of red and yellow scribbles on it. A fire? An explosion? Who knows. He giggles and disappears, leaving the ghost hunters to ponder the meaning of the crude drawing.

It doesn't take long. Smoke begins billowing out of the schoolhouse. There are no flames, but the smoke is something that everyone can see; it's thick and very real-looking to those with sensitivity, but to the others it only looks like wisps. For those who run back into the building, it seems that there are no flames whatsoever-- nor any sign that the school is actually on fire. Passing the administrative office will be rough: sensitive characters can hear the screams of an adult male though the source is impossible to track.

All the remaining doors in the schoolhouse fly open at once. The illusion-smoke clouds everyone's vision until they're forced to leave. Sorey urges everyone to link hands as they evacuate so that no one gets left behind.]

C. well, that happened.

[Once outside, everything seems to stop. The building is fine and there's no sign of fire or smoke. The night is the usual brand of suburb silence one expects in Viea Village, though someone seems to be driving down a nearby road. Sorey urges everyone to go home and look through their photos if they have any. He won't let anyone walk home alone, but they certainly can't stay here.

Some people may be inclined to look through public records on their own time later, but there is no record of a fire at the schoolhouse to be found...

Was everything they saw a lie, or were the records scrubbed clean? Who knows.]

[Toplevels are up! Please mark if you don't want your threads hijacked. Thanks! For any questions, @ me at fonfabre or discord @ fonfabre#0318.]