PI: Paranormal Investigation

[starmark2k]

James raised an eyebrow and looked over at Jo as he walked over to the teapot and began to prepare the drink as she requested. “Do you often do that?” He asked putting the sugar n then walking over to the client.

 

In response all James got in return was a quizzical look.

 

“The answering questions before they’re asked thing.” He elaborated. “Do you find you do that a lot?”

[JasraLantill]

"I put it down to natural intuitiveness," Jo stated plainly, as she gratefully took the cup of tea. "Combined with sharp observation, a keen sense of character, and plain 'ol common sense."

 

Jo nodded her head in the direction of the door. "Take your 'colleague' Daniella, for example. At first, my perception was that she was a prisoner. But observing the glint in her eyes, and her crocodile smile, told me she is not. And if there is a special equipment set up for her and standard procedures that your other employees follow, that indicates that her behavior is a regular routine." She paused. "And she is very similar in appearance to that predatory man I met in the police station who gave me the Third Eye business card."

 

She carefully sipped her tea. "She is predator, plain and simple. And for you to hire her as one of your colleagues, the only thing I can conclude is that you, sir, deal with occurrences that are outside of the realm of what most people would consider normal or mundane. Of which, the disappearance of my daughter most certainly is."

 

Another casual sip of tea.

 

"So, are you willing to take my case, Mr. Burke? If so, I'd have to run down to the bank before it closes to take out the £500 retainer fee."

[starmark2k]

((JP with JL))

 

“If I take the case you can pay me tomorrow.” James informed as he walked back around his desk and sat down. “but so far your case doesn’t sound like it involves my specialty in the paranormal.”

 

Jo arched a single brow. “Rachel disappeared while on a school outing in a sealed car of the London Eye while it was up in the air.”

 

“Well that sounds like it could involve the paranormal.” James explained. “Any witnesses, clues or CCTV footage?”

 

“CCTV?” Jo rolled her eyes. “Don’t get me started on CCTV,” she warned. “But no, there were no witnesses, even though I and several other people were in the car when she went missing.” She raised a finger. “But there was this.” She lifted her bag and extracted a gold coin. “The police didn’t think it was a clue, but….” She shrugged as she handed it to James. “Perhaps you will think differently."

 

James took the coin and looked at it carefully for a few moments, he stood up and walked over to one of the bookshelves still holding the coin. He took out an old scruffy looking book with a picture of a snake biting its own tale on the cover. He opened and flicked through a few pages, he then stopped and placed a coin a page with a picture that had the same markings that were on the coin. He read a paragraph and looked up from the Book. “What date was Rachael born?”

 

“First of May, 2007,” Jo replied.

 

“And Rachael’s Father, what does he do for a living?”

 

“Nothing.” When James frowned, she added, “He’s dead.”

 

“How did he die?” James asked as if he wasn’t getting personal.

 

“He was a fireman. He died on duty rescuing a small girl from a house fire. He died, she lived. So, I suppose one could say he died ‘bravely’.”

 

“A Hero.” James stated walking over to Jo, he sat on the edge of the desk and holding the Book. “You are a Precog, Mrs Feathers, you have the ability to see glimpses of the future.” He explained. “Now if you add that to the fact your daughter was born on the last day of the year of Hera and her father was a saviour of the innocent, your daughter is most likely an oracle.”

 

“An oracle? What, like in Greek mythology?”

 

“Kind of.” James Explained. “An oracle Is one of three kinds of champions of mankind.” James closed the book and walked back around the table. “You see like five maybe ten seconds tops in to the future, well an oracle can see whatever they wish… Unfortunately this means they are targets for occult groups, I believe one such group would’ve taken your daughter.”

 

Jo remained passively calm. “An oracle. Great. Although, that would explain why she was never surprised by her Christmas presents.” She took another sip of tea. “So, you believe some sort of organized occult religious group have kidnapped Rachel to get her to see into the future for some nefarious purpose?”

 

“Well an Oracle’s powers don’t manifest until they reach sixteen.” James replied.” but it’s easy to get an oracle to come to your way of thinking if you’ve gotten them to trust you… I’ll take the case Miss feathers, I’ll even start tonight.”

 

“Fine.” Jo set her cup down on the desk. “So, what do I do now?”

 

“Go home.” James suggested. “We’ll investigate and keep you informed.”

 

“Go home. You want me just to… go home.” Jo stared at him deadpan. “I think I’d rather come with you. Tag along. See how you work first hand. After all, I’m paying you, not the other way around.”

 

"If you wish, I ain't going to stop you." James stated standing up. "As I said we're getting right on it. He walked towards the door and out into the reception area. "Peter, call Claude and tell him to meet us at the 'Necro Crypt'."

[Corinthian]

"On it, boss."

 

He'd been eavesdropping on the conversation. Being a lone wolf for half his life had taught him a few things. He pulled out his cell and dialed, reaching into his jacket and running a checklist. He'd be fighting humans, maybe with supernatural allies. Best to pack heavy, then.

 

She took it a lot better than I did when I found out about the paranormal. Odd. Most people think we're crazy.

 

He shrugged. The phone was ringing, so he went and collected his shotgun and shells, loading the weapon up with regular twelve gauge and keeping a few reloads and his Dragon's Breath inside his jacket.

 

"Claude Fitzgerald..."

 

"Claude, it's Peter. Boss says to meet us at the Necro Crypt. Fresh job." He hung up.

 

As he put his cell phone away, he fished his .38 out. It was a small weapon, a pea-shooter - except for the silver bullets. He slid it into an ankle holster. When you don't know what to be prepared for, be ready for anything.

 

"Boss, Claude's been alerted, and I'm set to go."

[JasraLantill]

"The Necro Crypt?" Jo gave James an inquiring look, but without waiting for him to answer, she then headed off to one of the office desks.

 

She grabbed a large handful of facial tissues from a box sitting on the top left corner, then a ruler and a few pencils (after first inspecting them to see how sharp the were), a couple of rubber elastic bands, and a few paper clips. She then opened her bag, which was a large one, not too full, but with everything that a mother of a six-year-old might carry around, neatly placed the office items inside it, and closed it up tightly.

 

When James gave her an odd sort of look, she said, "Sounds dusty, cob-webby, and dark, and one can never be too prepared." She gave him a nod, signalling that she had nothing else to say on the matter.

 

"So, Mr. Burke, are you certain that one of these occult groups operate out of this 'crypt?'" she asked him plainly. "Or is this little foray into the underbelly of London just a 'shot in the dark,' so to speak?"

[starmark2k]

“The Crypt is a place where all the darks tend to hang out, the guy who owns the place keeps his ears to the ground… If anyone know where your daughter is he’ll be the guy.” James informed as he opened the reception desk drawer and pulled out a tranquilliser dart gun, he also took out a dart filled with a mysterious silver liquid.

 

The liquid was a unique silver based compound that had one sole use, it was used to suppress a hybrid werewolf’s aggression during the full moon. Unfortunately it’s silver nature made it poisonous and meant the chemical could only be used once every couple of months or it would have dire consequences.

 

James walked over to the secure door and very quickly opened the door and fired the dart into the corner of the safe room. It hit the girl in the shoulder and the detective quickly sealed the door again, he did this as the chemical takes around a minuet to take effect and shooting an angry werewolf was not an intelligent idea.

 

“When Kate gets back we’ll head out.”

[Writer]

From inside the cell, there was a roar of anger and pain. Then, the door shook with the furious pounding of the cell's inhabitant. After some time, the noise fell away, and there was a frantic knock from the other side. Knowing the dart had done its work, James opened it. Dania practically threw herself through the doorway and ran off to find the bathroom, groaning, "I'm gonna be sick..."

 

The door of the bathroom was heard slamming shut. A few minutes later, the door reopened and Dania came out, completely soaked in sweat, her face dripping with water she'd splashed there. She shot a frustrated glare at James.

 

"This had better be really urgent," she growled. And with that, she stalked out, saying, "I'll be back when I've had the chance to... clean up... you can wait that long."

[Corinthian]

We? We're taking the mother? Oh, hell.

 

There was no real point arguing, when the Boss got set on something, you weren't going to budge him. Still, having to take an untrained and badly equipped...mother with them, precog or no, didn't seem like a particularly magnificent idea. He'd had his fill of baby-sitting after getting decked by that four-armed spidery-monstrosity while Claude and James rooted around for the bloody ring.

 

He ran through his usual stress-relieving technique, checking all his guns and gear a third time. This is surreal. More so than usual. A normal, sane woman gets the beans spilled and reacts like it's business as usual? Either she's a UFO crazy, she knows more than she lets on, or she's incredibly, impossibly stoic.

[KNeo]

It hadn't taken long for Kate to make the trip to the corner Chinese place. She walked through the agency doors with a couple of full sacks of warm food.

 

"I'm back!" She moved to the desk without hesitating and started unpacking the plastic bags.

 

"I'm so hungry I could eat .... well... a lot." She turned and faced the three of them and smiled brightly at the woman. "There's plenty for everyone."

 

Then she caught James’ face. That ever so familiar 'We have work to do' look was there. She stopped smiling then. She let a long sigh.

 

"Don't tell me, I already know." She repacked the food and shoved it into the small fridge behind the counter.

 

"So where are we off to boss?" Her smile returned even though her stomach growled.

[starmark2k]

“We’re going to the Crypt, so get your protection spells ready.” James replied going back to the reception desk and taking out two sets of keys, he threw one set at peter. “Pete and Kate take the surveillance van, pick Dania up from her place on your way, I’ll take our guest in my car.”

 

He then looked at Peter getting all his weapons ready. “You expecting us to run into a lot of trouble?”

[Corinthian]

He caught the keys out of the air and grinned at James.

 

"Boss, we're dealing with supernaturals. And if there's one thing for sure about supernatural creatures, it's that you need to keep your eyes open around them. Especially on the Full Moon, even the friendly Werewolves like Dania are absolutely insane and would enjoy the taste of human flesh."

 

He slid the final shell into his shotgun. "Besides, I'm itching for a fight I can actually win. C'mon, Kate."

[KNeo]

Kate grabbed her jacket and a few things from a drawer behind the desk. She put a sprig of mistletoe in her inside jacket pocket and then followed Peter to the van. Inside the van, she sat on the floor in the back with all the surveillance equipment. She went to work on the protection spells at once.

 

As the van started up and they headed to pick up Dania, Kate entered a trance like state were she could see all of the spells targets gather around her. James, Jo, Peter, Claude, Dania and herself were surrounded by a blinding white light. She could feel the spell's power surround her as she sat on the floor of the van. She wondered if they all felt it too.

[Corinthian]

Peter slid the keys into the ignition. It was an ugly, poky monstrosity of a car, the kind of thing you always expect to see after a kidnapping. He turned on the radio, and pleasant, classical music came through. Bach, actually. The van sluggishly rolled down the road, towards Dania's residence. She didn't live far away, fortunately. He thumped the horn and settled back, twiddling his thumbs.

 

A minute or so later, Dania came out and got in. He didn't waste any time and headed for the Necro Crypt.

[Writer]

Dania was shivering faintly when she got in the van and she said nothing. The injection James had shot her up with had on her something like the effect of alcohol on a normal human being. The biggest difference was that she got the hangover straight away instead of the morning after. She sighed. An ear-splitting headache, the icy and yet burning feeling of a narcotic mixed with silver running through her veins, and the movement of the van made for one very unhappy half-Werewolf.

 

"How much further 'till we get to the Crypt and this..." Dania trailed off into Spanish, a habit when she was frustrated, or agitated... or emotional in any way. She knew they couldn't understand her, but the shift into Spanish was so smooth in her mind that she often didn't realize when she'd switched.

 

It often prompted the others of Third Eye to suggest that she speak English so they could all understand...

 

"... no es fácil... es muy difícil... " she kept muttering over and over, continuing to shiver as though nearly frozen.

[Corinthian]

He frowned. Peter had seen the silver solution used on Dania once before, and it always made him uncomfortable. He wasn't any great friend with Dania - he wasn't really comfortable enough with any of Third Eye to really call them Friend. Still, he didn't like seeing her like this.

 

"Shouldn't be too long. You going to be okay, Dania?"

 

He wished they had left her. As problematic as the full moon was for them and as understaffed as they were, the silver seemed like an obvious solution, but the effect on Dania was, to say the least, not good.

[JasraLantill]

Jo followed James out to the street and without him having to indicate to her which car was his, she went right to it.

 

"You know, Mr. Burke, you really should keep your car locked at all times," she said, opening the passenger door to get in. "'N-Reg' or not, it could still be an attractive target to yobish teen joy riders."

 

She sat down gracefully in the seat, but not before removing a bit of paper from the seat first. She sighed. "No wonder you charge a £500 retainer," she commented, not meanly, just matter-of-factly. "All these parking tickets you're accumulating...." She folded the paper, then placed it inside the glove box along with a score of similar looking papers.

 

She put on her seatbelt, then folded her hands neatly across her bag which sat on her lap. "So, Mr. Burke, this 'crypt' we're going to," she started. "Is it one of those gothic-styled 'underworld club' of sorts? A place where the clientèle attempt to scare 'normal' people away from?"

[starmark2k]

“Something like that.” James replied with a smirk and being intentionally coy with his answer.

 

The drive didn’t take long due to the already late hour of the day and that they used quiet roads anyway. They drove towards the River themes, more specifically an area that was filled with abandoned warehouses that for one reason or another had not be rejuvenated in one of the governments plans. The car drove between the large buildings near an old abandoned dock until it reached one with a red roof.

 

“Well we’re here.” James informed as he turned off the engine. “Now we’ll wait for the others.”

[steven]

After parking his motorbike elsewhere (away from the Crypt), Claude waited until he saw the company car drive past before following it through the maze of warehouses. The car was much faster than he was and soon disappeared leaving Claude to navigate to the Crypt using memory. It was a quick trek and soon enough, he turned a corner to see James standing in front of the Third Eye mobile. "I hope this job pays well," Claude said aloud as he walked towards his companions, "God knows our dislike for this place."

[Corinthian]

The van slid around the corner, heading along the warehouses like a drunken bear on steroids. Peter cursed. The vehicle was about as easy to drive and maneuverable as a horse that had been heavily dosed with LSD.

 

That silver concoction had sort of put drugs on his mind.

 

He slammed the brakes, sending the lumbering monstrosity into a skid across asphalt, bumping it's way through potholes before it finally halted. "Well, that was fun. I always hated this place, somebody hexed the bloody road."

 

Claude, James, and their client were already out front. He popped the door, briefly wondering what to do with the other two. He shrugged. They were grown women, they could decide. He left his shotgun in the van and got out.

 

"We're ready, boss, although Dania isn't looking too good."

[Writer]

Dania shot Peter a withering glare. "How do you think you would feel if you got injected with something that's got even the slightest bit of the thing you're allergic to the most tucked away in it?"

 

She offered a similar look to James and told him, "Well, I'm here. That's what you wanted, yes?" Her eyes fell on Jo and she cocked her head slightly.

 

"You seem somewhat familiar," she began. And then it hit her, and a look of horror flooded her face. "Oh no... they didn't..." She shot an 'if you weren't my boss, I'd kill you' glare at James and then held out her hand in Jo's direction.

 

"Daniela Santos," she introduced herself. "Call me Dania. Despite what you likely saw earlier today, I am not a monster at all times. Just... the full moon tends to have that sort of negative affect." She paused for a moment before offering the briefest of explanations, "Werewolf... well, half-Werewolf."

[KNeo]

Kate hopped out of the van and walked up to everyone. "Protection spells are ready boss. They should prevent anyone from prying into our thoughts, but I can't guarantee it will protect us from harm."

 

Her answer sounded unsatisfied. She wasn't the best at protection spells and had picked up most of her latest spells out of dire need. Her best unfortunately took a lot out of her and she hoped she wouldn't have to exert herself to much tonight. She was already tired and hungry from this morning's events in the catacombs.

[starmark2k]

“That should be fine.” James reassured the Witch. “We’re just here to talk to an old friend.” He continued with a mocking smile.

 

James walked over to the door into the warehouse and opened it, through the door was a large room with plain walls. At the far wall was another door with two large men either side of it, to the left of the entrance was a coat check girl standing behind a desk and in front of the cloakroom.

 

James led the group over to the table and smiled at the girl behind it as he looked up at a poster on the wall. It was a forbidden goods poster, things that weren’t allowed in the Necro crypt. The first few weren’t too odd Guns and Knives, but then their were pictures of crucifixes, wooden stakes and old medieval axes. James undid his holster and placed it with his gun on the desk and then proceed to pull Silver and wooden stakes out of his pockets and place them next to hit.

 

“Your coat Sir.” The young girl said revealing to long fang like teeth when her mouth opened.

 

“We won’t be here long.” He replied as he moved to the side so the rest of the group could check their Guns, Swords and other weapons.

[Corinthian]

Peter's fists tightened as the girl's mouth opened, revealing her fangs. Vampires. He hated Vampires. Why did it have to be Vampires?

 

In hindsight, it wasn't that surprising - this was probably the biggest collection of monsters this side of the gates into Dis, but that didn't make him any less uncomfortable with it.

 

"If you don't mind, boss, I'd like to stay with the Van. I'm not exactly comfortable walking into a den of vipers without my guns."

 

He'd check his weapons if the Boss told him, but any supernatural creature could beat him to death with all the effort that he needed to peel an orange. Not exactly a prospect he was looking forward to dealing with, and there were probably some creatures in here that would relish killing him.

[starmark2k]

"Do what you want." James replied to the group’s muscle. "But you'll miss all the fun." He once again grinned his mocking smile.

 

The Necro Crypt was a regular place to meet one of James' dark underground contacts, the guy actually ran the place and as the Crypt was a place the Darks tended to congregate he knew the goings on. Unfortunately Peter’s fears weren’t unfounded as lots of the darks inside the warehouse had reasons to hate the group including the man they came to see.

[Corinthian]

"Thanks, boss."

 

Places like this were Peter's fears made manifest. A lone Vampire was a terrible enemy. Dozens of Vampires, Werewolves, some particularly degenerate humans, and worse horrors were suicide given shape. Given one day in charge of Britain's armed forces, and he'd have dropped a nuke on it without a second thought.

 

Too bad nobody was asking him.

 

He headed out to the van and sat down, cradling his shotgun and loading up his Dragon's Breath. Jericho for the Humans, Revolver for the Werewolves, and Shotgun for the Vampires. It was like a second birthday for him.