James glances with interest down the left hand corridor but thinks better of exploring and instead chooses a room for himself.
"Well I guess goodnight gentlemen and Mrs Hobbes. Sleep as well as you can in such a disturbing situation, we'll probably have to rise early to get out of town before the cultists come looking for us."
About the paintings as we come up the stairs.
"Now this is something to get excited about. Look at the use of layering and distortion here. Some of this paint must be half an inch thick! These could go into a gallery I know in Manhattan and be sold in minutes. The way the artist protrayed age and dakness and weight is amazing. They nearly ooze out of the frames."
Reggie selects the cleanest room for Ms. Hobbs and claims the next door room for himself. Reggie takes care to shake out the bedding and clean the room as well as he can.
"There auntie as shipshape as a shaped ship or at least that was what you told me when I was little."
Reggie hands her the walking stick.
"Now take this. If you need anything in the night just give a wack on the wall and I'll be with you before you know it. Now amenities are a little lacking but we both have good Hobbs blood and Hobbs' can always take a little rough if we have to. Good night auntie I expect we will be up and about quite early."
Reggie heads to his own room. He opens the window if he can before turning in.
The professor and Cumming take a room together and soon you are all lying in your new extremely comfortable bed, looking up to a mold covered ceiling...
You dream of a nice walk in the country with a beautiful girl you know from your school times, but suddenly your dreams are interrupted by a heavy rumbling, maybe a thunderstorm or an earthquake. But it is gone as fast as it came and you sleep on.
You dream of a nice walk in the country with a beautiful girl you know from your school times, but suddenly your dreams are interrupted by a heavy rumbling, maybe a thunderstorm or an earthquake. You feel that something must be amiss and wake up, the rumbling sounds are coming from the floor or the staircase!
"Nine rooms? What a strange coincidence...mutters Daniel as he opens one of the doors.
Daniel makes himself 'comfortable' in his room by putting the stove iron where he can reach it while lying in bed.
Reggie sleeps the sleep of a man who's been on a walking tour of rural New England. For a moment the image of two men in a cave and a long stairway flashes through his sleeping mind but Reggie but Reggie just rolls over and embraces sweet oblivion.
Perception
Charlie snores the night away.
Zzzzzzzzz
Dr. Alden wakes for a brief moment thinking he heard something but before he is fully awake dismisses it as just a dream and is soon fast asleep again.
Perception
Despite trying to keep himself alert and awake, he eventually succumbed to slumber. Unfortunately a very deep slumber as all the events caught up with him.
Pretty much the moment he closes the door to his room James slumps onto the bed and is only just able to undress before sleep takes him. His dreams are a strange affair, flashes of what he saw in the basement interspersed with the usual landscape of geometric shapes and fractal trees filled with people from his past.
You all awake the next morning by the professor who is knocking at your door.
Gentlemen, I will seek out Mr. Whateley and ask about the truck. Meanwhile you all should get dressed and ready...oh and Reggie, please try to wake up your aunt, poor Mrs. Hobbes seems to have fallen in a death-like slumber, heh, at least I wasn't able to wake her up.
With that the Professor descends the stairs.
"What!?" Reggie moves hapidly to his Aunts room next door.
<knock> <knock> "Auntie? It's morning, we need to shake a leg."
If he receives no response he tries the door and steps in.
Charlie rises slowly out of bed, dresses himself in the same set of clothes as the prior two days, and heads downstairs desiring hot coffee and breakfast.
@ Reggie:
At first glance the room of your aunt is empty and the bed looks unused.
Daniel gets up pretty well. The day and the night might have been unruly, but at leat he was sleeping in a bed. He changes his suit - although short of not being as smelly as the one he used to wear the day before, no one will probably notice any difference.
He whinces a bit because of the look of the soles of his only pair of shoes after one and a half day of marching through the country, then heads downstairs.
Murphy wakes with a jump and a start, half surprised he is still alive. He packs himself up, retucks his pistol into his waistband, and heads to meet the others
@ Reggie:
At first glance the room of your aunt is empty and the bed looks unused.
"What the...."
Reggie freezes in the door way thinking at first that he somehow has the wrong room.
to himself "No...can't be"
Reggie moves into the room looking for any sign of his aunt. He checks the pillow for hairs and looks under the bed.
Indeed, there are some silver grey hairs on the bed sheet.
Cummings pauses in the door and cocks an eyebrow, as he notices your countenance, his police-nature kicks into action
What's wrong, where is your aunt?
Hearing the concerned voices, Victor heads to see what is the matter. Seeing the empty room and Reggie's concern, Victor attempts to see if there is anything left behind that would give a clue to what happened, if anything.
Murphy likewise gets interested very quickly and also moves to investigate.
Indeed, there are some silver grey hairs on the bed sheet.
Cummings pauses in the door and cocks an eyebrow, as he notices your countenance, his police-nature kicks into action
What's wrong, where is your aunt?
"I don't know. Looks like she got up before the rest of us. Bed's been made. I expect she is down talking with Mr. Whatley."
James awakes late and spends a few minutes jotting down what he can remember of his dreams, a habit that had helped him solve a surprising number of issues with his research in the past. He then changes into a fresh shirt and smooths out his rumpled suit as best he can before tucking his notebook back into his briefcase and exiting his room.
He notes that everyone appears to be very interested in Mrs. Hobbes' room but turns his attention to the left hand corridor that had looked so interesting the previous night. He taps gently on the great iron door, trying to guage it's thickness and puzzled as to why such a secure portal would be needed in a family home.
@ James:
Surprised you realize that this door is as thick as a submarine hatch. It's at least 5cm thick and must weigh several hundred kilos.
@ The others:
Besides the few hairs Reggie had already found, there is nothing else left of Mrs. Hobbes in the room.
Cummings rolls his eyes and sighs
I hope your aunt isn't a sleepwalker, eh? We have to ask Whateley, I guess.
Daniel is visibly shaken by the fact that the old lady is missing. The last day definatly took its toll on him, trying to be optimistic about returning to New York and starting a new life.
Although he never was particularly religious, he mutters a silent prayer that they might indeed find her downstairs, sipping from a cup of tea...but his hopes are rather low on that.
Together you walk over to the stairs where you meet the Professor
Oh hey, I was searching for Mr. Whateley downstairs, but he is inside a locked room...I mean I guess it's him, since I could hear rustling and clattering from inside.
"Hope the old broad didn't take it on herself to wander back to town and try set matters straight..."
"The door is locked, huh? Which door is it? Also, have you seen Mrs. Hobbes this morning, Professor?"
Something odd is going on here... looking at the unsurprised faces Victor adds ...well...more odd. I would like to see this locked door. We need to speak to Mr. Whately immediately anyway.
The Professor furrows his brows
Indeed, Dr. Alden, indeed....follow me.
Together with the Professor you descend the stairs and through the dirty kitchen he leads you to a wooden door, but before he is able to knock at it, it is suddenly opened. Whateley nearly fills the complete door frame and snarls
What is all this commotion about, huh?
"We're very sorry to bother you, Mr. Whately, but Mrs. Hobbes--Reggies' auntie--was missing this morning when we woke up. Have you by chance seen the lady since we all went to bed?"
Diplomacy
Whateley arches a bushy eyebrow and shows some of his large yellow teeth
Well, she left for the hills in the morning.
Cummings lets out a frustrated growl and you notice how he nearly says something that would totally ruin your truck-plan...
Daniel does not know Mrs. Hobbes very well, but he can't believe that she would have done such a thing. He is reluctant to confront Whateley yet, but he tries to watch both him and Reggie closely; Whately for signs he might be lying, Reggie for his reaction to Whateleys claim.
Bing similarly unable to vouch for the actions of the old lady, Murphy watches the conversation unfold.
Sense Motive
You cannot judge Old Man Whateley's grim expression.
Reggie stares in disbelief at the old man.
"With respect sir, did you actually see her leave? It seems very strange that she would leave without a word. Leave not only the people who rescued her from the Believers but also her nephew who she has not seen in years. Something is wrong here sir. I am very thankful for the hospitality but I am afraid I must insist on answers."
At least Whateley seems convinced of what he says. There are no signs of her walking stick.
She... Whateley begins, but is interrupted from a rumbling that comes from the cellar.
"Applesauce! What in all the saints names was that?
Nothing you have to be concerned about.
Whateley pushes through you and opens a door to the cellar, as soon as he has closed it again, he locks it from inside.
"Mister Tauber. I think we need to open this door."
"What in the hell has gotten into him?" Charlie asks, beginning to look worried again.
The door is wooden, however it was quite thick and looks pretty solid.
"Well whatever you boys are thinking of doing, lets get it done and then lets get this truck sorted out. Sooner we are miles away the better"
Victor moves over to the door and raps on it loudly a few times before yelling. Mr. Whately! Mr. Whately! We really must insist on speaking with you sir! If he gets no response Victor will turn around and say First and foremost we need to find your Aunt Reggie. We should break up into teams of two and search the house but stay within shouting distance should you need help.
You-ou-ou shouldn't do-o-o that.
You suddenly hear a voice from behind that rather sounds like the bleating of a goat! A young man with deformed features stands in the kitchen and eyes you suspiciously. His clothes are somewhat old-fashioned, but still look "new", which is a bit confusing, more irritating however, is his posture, since he stands there like a hunchback and only on one leg.
He will co-o-o-me back so-o-o-n
Daniel has seen some bad deforities in his time on the drift, so he might be taken a bit by surprise but surely is not too disgusted to treat him like a fellow human being should be treated.
"Sorry, Sir. We a looking for an elderly lady who was with us until this morning. I take it you live here, have you, by chance seen her?"
I-I-I am Wilbu-u-u-r Whateley. I have se-e-e-en her. Went ou-ou-out of the hou-ou-ouse at night.
He nods eagerly and even though you have the feeling that one can easily get the feeling his mind might also be a bit deformed, his eyes literally blaze with a quick wit.
"You saw her leave? Why would she go outside in the night?
Did you see where she went?"
Reggie's questions come rapid fire at the strange man. Hopefully holding his attention from the others.
"Any chance your aunt had dementia? Any chance she decided to take it upon herself to wander back to town to try smooth things over or thought she'd best go back to avoid trouble?"
The whippoo-oo-oorwills were singing lou-ou-oudly last night, when she want away. She went to-o-o-o the hills, south from here.
"Any chance your aunt had dementia? Any chance she decided to take it upon herself to wander back to town to try smooth things over or thought she'd best go back to avoid trouble?"
"Possible, but unlikely. Even less so after what hapened to the bird."
The whippoo-oo-oorwills were singing lou-ou-oudly last night, when she want away. She went to-o-o-o the hills, south from here.
"South? Come on then Wilber, time to be a hero. Let's grab the truck and find her!"