Day 2 (The Road Man, The Haunted House)
She felt simultaneously chilled and nauseous. What was this place? Obviously they knew quite a bit more about the paranormal than they let on.
That's when they actually told her what was happening. They – both the people she'd spoken to and others she'd never even met – weren't an institute, weren't asking her research questions, and weren't investigating the paranormal at all. They already knew. It's why she was here. They'd somehow found out she had the sight, and wanted to know what else she could do. They wanted to see her in person. Most importantly, they wanted her to join them. All it took to convince her was when Savant gestured to the prisoner and pointed out that it was the only one they'd captured in quite some time. Others – hundreds, thousands, perhaps millions, were on the loose.
“She thinks her house is haunted.” Jacob spoke up, startling Alyssa out of her reverie. She'd almost been able to slip back into sleep, and she was thankful that he'd chosen that moment to say something. “It's not far from the truth, but you and I know better.”
Alyssa looked out the window as they passed a sign reading “VALLERIA, POPULATION 10,000” and smiled to herself. Jacob, as always, was saving his briefing for the last minute.
“Your guess was spot-on; it's definitely harpies. Since she believes the place is haunted, it wasn't hard to sell her the company line.” Jacob said this with very little emotion, a rote recitation of their job for the day, as though it were no more interesting than a shopping list. His eyes never left the road and his steering and concentration never wavered. “So today our cover is that we're paranormal investigators. I've got some fake but fancy-looking equipment in the trunk, should be enough to convince her we're the real deal.”
“Why are they increasing?” she asked lazily. She wasn't expecting an answer.
“Increasing?”
“The 'hauntings'.” she replied, surprised to get even that much of a reply.
Jacob didn't reply for a bit, and she was about to conclude that he'd turned just as recitent as she thought he might when he answered her. “Honestly, I don't know. Something is up, though, you're right as far as that goes. Yael wasn't herself this morning when she sent me out to fetch you.”
That was practically a monologue as far as Jacob's usual conversations went. It did very little to comfort her, though. Instead, she thought, it mainly reinforced the idea that something was indeed up. Something she wasn't likely to enjoy at all.
(( CHAPTER 2: THE HAUNTED HOUSE))
They drove into the small town silently. There was very little traffic, and very little else happening at all. It seemed nearly deserted, save for a police car on patrol. Jacob turned down a side street, passed a few others, then turned again. Alyssa didn't bother to ask if he knew where they were going – he didn't require directions. His kind never did.
A small, run-down seeming house in a heavily forested area. The land itself would probably go for more than the modest home built on it, but real estate was not their primary concern. While they'd been sent there to clean the place out as their primary purpose, there was always the lingering question of /why/. Why had the harpies come to this place, to this person? They could only barely think for themselves, being much more instinctual creatures. They were drawn to powerful emotions, and once they found a host they liked, they siphoned them off. Reactions were always varied. Most typically, the victims found themselves lapsing into a depressive state, as most motivation evaporated and the natural rewards for any accomplishment seemed pale. In some cases, the harpies sent their hosts spiraling further downward, though, as they could feed from darker feelings with just as much ease as happier thoughts. The latter were more dangerous, as they could snap without warning, and it was more for their sake than the sake of destroying the harpies that Alyssa and Jacob were there.
But there was always something special, some reason. The council that had recruited her often found young Gifted who were not yet in touch with their abilities in this way, as powers were something that the harpies found especially tempting and if their victim had not yet developed the sight they could feed unhindered. Other times it was a sign of change to come. Sometimes it almost seemed to be a simply natural pattern or random whim. Chaos drove its servants in strange ways, and the armies of the Unknowable were no exception.
Alyssa stepped out of the car and had to check her first impulse when she saw the owner of the house sitting on its delapidated porch. Behind the lawn chair on which she sat was a harpy, talons clenched firmly around the owner's head. It regarded them with a vague malice but didn't for an instant put its prey aside. The owner looked up at Alyssa as though nothing were wrong, of course, as she had no clue to the presence of the abomination behind her.
“You're all from the company, right?” Voice calm and clear. Nothing out of the ordinary. No monster feeding from her essense every waking moment, and stealing her dreams in her sleep.
Jacob's reaction was more subdued than Alyssa had felt her own to be. He simply waved and answered a quick “Yes. You are Ms. Knapp?”
Knapp slowly stood up from the chair she had made her resting place and Alyssa again had to repress the urge to act as the monstrosity followed her movements. Knapp extended a hand and Jacob shook it, not for a moment looking anywhere but at the homeowner.
“I'm Jacob Keynes, this is Alyssa D'Eldess, my assistant. Before we get started, I'd like to show you some of the equipment we have here in our vehicle. This is all state of the art, I assure you, and we'll get to the bottom of what's happening here.” The speech was practiced and smooth. Alyssa had heard it, or variants of it, dozens of times by now, but she couldn't believe the utter calm with which Jacob was presenting it now. Ice blood flowed through that man's veins; he had no weapons effective against the harpies and while they couldn't kill him outright, they could injure him.
Jacob turned and gestured to Alyssa. “My assistant will head on in and give the place a preliminary look before we set everything up.” He glanced her way significantly, and Alyssa swallowed the hard lump that had formed in her throat. She knew what she'd have to do.
As Knapp and Jacob walked toward the car, Alyssa nonchalantly moved across their path toward the house. As she passed just behind the homeowner, her right hand struck out quickly and caught the harpy across the back. The beast hissed, and then it /did/ let go of its host. Alyssa knew she had only seconds. She brought her other hand, gleaming transparent-blue claws extending from her fingertips, directly into the thing's head. It made some horrible noise but by that time her first hand had freed itself and driven its own claws into the beast's chest. It gave a final wheezing cry, and fell to the ground.
“I'm sorry, did you say something?” Ms. Knapp turned around and glanced at Alyssa.
“No ma'am, just on my way in.” She replied, surprised at how calm she sounded. Everything had happened in just a fraction of a second. Ms. Knapp shook her head, apologized, then returned to follow Jacob.
Claws. She'd found out about them on that third day, the one where she'd seen the very first of the creatures that she'd since slain hundreds of. They'd appeared on her fingertips reflexively, at the sight of the thing. Savant had explained them to her. They were a weapon, of course, extending four to five inches from her hands. They were razor sharp, though their touch would only effect things like the harpies. She could never hurt a full human with them, but of course it was very unlikely she'd ever have to. Aside from the claws, she had extremely good reflexes. She had always thought herself to be fairly athletic, but her ordinary physical ability paled in comparison to her gifts when she was paired against someone of non-human origin. Savant himself had thrown rubber balls at her for half an hour, simply to demonstrate that if she concentrated on it, she simply couldn't be hit by anything. Nowadays, she didn't even have to concentrate. Only her lightning reflexes had allowed her to dispatch the harpy on Ms. Knapp's back so quickly. It was unsettling, but it was her gift. She had to put it to some use, and this was far more useful than dodging rubber balls.
Alyssa walked toward the house, breathing far more heavily than she had a moment ago. It shouldn't surprise her that one of the harpies who must have been feeding on Ms. Knapp day and night had followed her outside to continue. She'd simply never seen them that bold before. The corpse of the harpy that had been doing so lie on the ground, its blank reptile eyes staring sightlessly upward. She could leave it there; nobody but her and Jacob could see it anyway and its decay woudn't cause problems. Quite the opposite; with luck its death would return some of the vitality that Knapp had almost certainly been missing.
She opened the door and stepped inside, her eyes adjusting from the relative brightness of even early morning to the poorly lit living room. A cat lie on the couch, feigning sleep, keeping one eye on her as she moved. The television was off and a wall clock that ought to have been ticking wasn't.
Alyssa nearly jumped when the front door opened again and Jacob walked through it. “Watch it, will you? I almost swiped your face off. You know how my reflexes are.” she whispered under her breath.
“Duly noted.” Jacob replied stoically. “I've got our client outside setting up resonance detectors.” At Alyssa's quirked eyebrow, he elaborated. “Yes, I did make up the name just then. The point is, they're complicated-looking things on tripods that should take her a while to get installed, so I figure we've got about fifteen minutes before she gets tired of it and comes looking for us. Any leads?
Alyssa thought for a bit, then gestured to her right. Jacob opened the door slightly, peeked thrugh, and pushed it out of the way. He had his gun out and ahead of him, not that such a conventional weapon would have much of an effect on a harpy. It was the only weapon he had, though, so she had never made an issue of him using it. It'd saved them both in the past, after all.
The room was dusty, most of the furniture covered with dropcloths; a couch and a desk were discernable via outlines, what was probably a pile of boxes was harder to find. They found what they were looking for in the closet.
The second Jacob slid the closet door open, the thing leaped out, hissing and clawing at the air. They were so predictable, Alyssa thought calmly while her body was anything but. She slid to the side, giving the bird-thing only a brief glimpse of herself to go on. That was enough to drive it forward, which meant that when she struck it from behind it was utterly unprepared. A cry of protest escaped it, but that was all it managed before collapsing.
Another burst from the closet, which was a surprise. The creature had bowled Alyssa over in no time and descended upon her with talons raking. Alyssa's claws were up but barely fending off the thing, and Jacob could hardly see it, let alone do anything to stop it.
Previous-Next
That's when they actually told her what was happening. They – both the people she'd spoken to and others she'd never even met – weren't an institute, weren't asking her research questions, and weren't investigating the paranormal at all. They already knew. It's why she was here. They'd somehow found out she had the sight, and wanted to know what else she could do. They wanted to see her in person. Most importantly, they wanted her to join them. All it took to convince her was when Savant gestured to the prisoner and pointed out that it was the only one they'd captured in quite some time. Others – hundreds, thousands, perhaps millions, were on the loose.
“She thinks her house is haunted.” Jacob spoke up, startling Alyssa out of her reverie. She'd almost been able to slip back into sleep, and she was thankful that he'd chosen that moment to say something. “It's not far from the truth, but you and I know better.”
Alyssa looked out the window as they passed a sign reading “VALLERIA, POPULATION 10,000” and smiled to herself. Jacob, as always, was saving his briefing for the last minute.
“Your guess was spot-on; it's definitely harpies. Since she believes the place is haunted, it wasn't hard to sell her the company line.” Jacob said this with very little emotion, a rote recitation of their job for the day, as though it were no more interesting than a shopping list. His eyes never left the road and his steering and concentration never wavered. “So today our cover is that we're paranormal investigators. I've got some fake but fancy-looking equipment in the trunk, should be enough to convince her we're the real deal.”
“Why are they increasing?” she asked lazily. She wasn't expecting an answer.
“Increasing?”
“The 'hauntings'.” she replied, surprised to get even that much of a reply.
Jacob didn't reply for a bit, and she was about to conclude that he'd turned just as recitent as she thought he might when he answered her. “Honestly, I don't know. Something is up, though, you're right as far as that goes. Yael wasn't herself this morning when she sent me out to fetch you.”
That was practically a monologue as far as Jacob's usual conversations went. It did very little to comfort her, though. Instead, she thought, it mainly reinforced the idea that something was indeed up. Something she wasn't likely to enjoy at all.
(( CHAPTER 2: THE HAUNTED HOUSE))
They drove into the small town silently. There was very little traffic, and very little else happening at all. It seemed nearly deserted, save for a police car on patrol. Jacob turned down a side street, passed a few others, then turned again. Alyssa didn't bother to ask if he knew where they were going – he didn't require directions. His kind never did.
A small, run-down seeming house in a heavily forested area. The land itself would probably go for more than the modest home built on it, but real estate was not their primary concern. While they'd been sent there to clean the place out as their primary purpose, there was always the lingering question of /why/. Why had the harpies come to this place, to this person? They could only barely think for themselves, being much more instinctual creatures. They were drawn to powerful emotions, and once they found a host they liked, they siphoned them off. Reactions were always varied. Most typically, the victims found themselves lapsing into a depressive state, as most motivation evaporated and the natural rewards for any accomplishment seemed pale. In some cases, the harpies sent their hosts spiraling further downward, though, as they could feed from darker feelings with just as much ease as happier thoughts. The latter were more dangerous, as they could snap without warning, and it was more for their sake than the sake of destroying the harpies that Alyssa and Jacob were there.
But there was always something special, some reason. The council that had recruited her often found young Gifted who were not yet in touch with their abilities in this way, as powers were something that the harpies found especially tempting and if their victim had not yet developed the sight they could feed unhindered. Other times it was a sign of change to come. Sometimes it almost seemed to be a simply natural pattern or random whim. Chaos drove its servants in strange ways, and the armies of the Unknowable were no exception.
Alyssa stepped out of the car and had to check her first impulse when she saw the owner of the house sitting on its delapidated porch. Behind the lawn chair on which she sat was a harpy, talons clenched firmly around the owner's head. It regarded them with a vague malice but didn't for an instant put its prey aside. The owner looked up at Alyssa as though nothing were wrong, of course, as she had no clue to the presence of the abomination behind her.
“You're all from the company, right?” Voice calm and clear. Nothing out of the ordinary. No monster feeding from her essense every waking moment, and stealing her dreams in her sleep.
Jacob's reaction was more subdued than Alyssa had felt her own to be. He simply waved and answered a quick “Yes. You are Ms. Knapp?”
Knapp slowly stood up from the chair she had made her resting place and Alyssa again had to repress the urge to act as the monstrosity followed her movements. Knapp extended a hand and Jacob shook it, not for a moment looking anywhere but at the homeowner.
“I'm Jacob Keynes, this is Alyssa D'Eldess, my assistant. Before we get started, I'd like to show you some of the equipment we have here in our vehicle. This is all state of the art, I assure you, and we'll get to the bottom of what's happening here.” The speech was practiced and smooth. Alyssa had heard it, or variants of it, dozens of times by now, but she couldn't believe the utter calm with which Jacob was presenting it now. Ice blood flowed through that man's veins; he had no weapons effective against the harpies and while they couldn't kill him outright, they could injure him.
Jacob turned and gestured to Alyssa. “My assistant will head on in and give the place a preliminary look before we set everything up.” He glanced her way significantly, and Alyssa swallowed the hard lump that had formed in her throat. She knew what she'd have to do.
As Knapp and Jacob walked toward the car, Alyssa nonchalantly moved across their path toward the house. As she passed just behind the homeowner, her right hand struck out quickly and caught the harpy across the back. The beast hissed, and then it /did/ let go of its host. Alyssa knew she had only seconds. She brought her other hand, gleaming transparent-blue claws extending from her fingertips, directly into the thing's head. It made some horrible noise but by that time her first hand had freed itself and driven its own claws into the beast's chest. It gave a final wheezing cry, and fell to the ground.
“I'm sorry, did you say something?” Ms. Knapp turned around and glanced at Alyssa.
“No ma'am, just on my way in.” She replied, surprised at how calm she sounded. Everything had happened in just a fraction of a second. Ms. Knapp shook her head, apologized, then returned to follow Jacob.
Claws. She'd found out about them on that third day, the one where she'd seen the very first of the creatures that she'd since slain hundreds of. They'd appeared on her fingertips reflexively, at the sight of the thing. Savant had explained them to her. They were a weapon, of course, extending four to five inches from her hands. They were razor sharp, though their touch would only effect things like the harpies. She could never hurt a full human with them, but of course it was very unlikely she'd ever have to. Aside from the claws, she had extremely good reflexes. She had always thought herself to be fairly athletic, but her ordinary physical ability paled in comparison to her gifts when she was paired against someone of non-human origin. Savant himself had thrown rubber balls at her for half an hour, simply to demonstrate that if she concentrated on it, she simply couldn't be hit by anything. Nowadays, she didn't even have to concentrate. Only her lightning reflexes had allowed her to dispatch the harpy on Ms. Knapp's back so quickly. It was unsettling, but it was her gift. She had to put it to some use, and this was far more useful than dodging rubber balls.
Alyssa walked toward the house, breathing far more heavily than she had a moment ago. It shouldn't surprise her that one of the harpies who must have been feeding on Ms. Knapp day and night had followed her outside to continue. She'd simply never seen them that bold before. The corpse of the harpy that had been doing so lie on the ground, its blank reptile eyes staring sightlessly upward. She could leave it there; nobody but her and Jacob could see it anyway and its decay woudn't cause problems. Quite the opposite; with luck its death would return some of the vitality that Knapp had almost certainly been missing.
She opened the door and stepped inside, her eyes adjusting from the relative brightness of even early morning to the poorly lit living room. A cat lie on the couch, feigning sleep, keeping one eye on her as she moved. The television was off and a wall clock that ought to have been ticking wasn't.
Alyssa nearly jumped when the front door opened again and Jacob walked through it. “Watch it, will you? I almost swiped your face off. You know how my reflexes are.” she whispered under her breath.
“Duly noted.” Jacob replied stoically. “I've got our client outside setting up resonance detectors.” At Alyssa's quirked eyebrow, he elaborated. “Yes, I did make up the name just then. The point is, they're complicated-looking things on tripods that should take her a while to get installed, so I figure we've got about fifteen minutes before she gets tired of it and comes looking for us. Any leads?
Alyssa thought for a bit, then gestured to her right. Jacob opened the door slightly, peeked thrugh, and pushed it out of the way. He had his gun out and ahead of him, not that such a conventional weapon would have much of an effect on a harpy. It was the only weapon he had, though, so she had never made an issue of him using it. It'd saved them both in the past, after all.
The room was dusty, most of the furniture covered with dropcloths; a couch and a desk were discernable via outlines, what was probably a pile of boxes was harder to find. They found what they were looking for in the closet.
The second Jacob slid the closet door open, the thing leaped out, hissing and clawing at the air. They were so predictable, Alyssa thought calmly while her body was anything but. She slid to the side, giving the bird-thing only a brief glimpse of herself to go on. That was enough to drive it forward, which meant that when she struck it from behind it was utterly unprepared. A cry of protest escaped it, but that was all it managed before collapsing.
Another burst from the closet, which was a surprise. The creature had bowled Alyssa over in no time and descended upon her with talons raking. Alyssa's claws were up but barely fending off the thing, and Jacob could hardly see it, let alone do anything to stop it.
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posted by Roger Ostrander at 7:46 PM
1 Comments:
ooo, psychic claws, I like!
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