Jim awkwardly walked around the corner and came back with the rifle from the safe. "Is this the kind of thing you mean?" He asks sheepishly, proffering the rifle.
Nurai nodded her thanks to Elza, picking up with the note delicately. She sat quietly, typing while she listened to the others. She then held it up and asked quietly, "Anyone else want this? Might be good to have a back-up or three..."
She looked at the rifle, and then laughed. "Good lord, I never expected to see that old thing again. No, you keep it - I haven't missed it in all these years, and I'm not going to need it now." She considered for a moment. "Where have you been finding all this stuff, anyway? I thought the fire had destroyed it all."
"The ways of wizards are mysterious." Cerise said with a completely straight face. "Did anyone have any other questions?"
Jim made a face toward Cerise, but if she wanted to play this one close to the vest he wasn't going to mess it up for her. These people seemed to have a better sense of this strange business than did he.
Pulling the photo album over, Elza smiled sadly. "Then I had better not keep you. Take care, dears. And if you find who killed my brother, please destroy them utterly."
"If they deserve the destruction, we'll do our best." Cerise said. She wasn't going to commit to murdering someone when there might be more to the story, but if it was any kind of fiend... well, she'd have a lot of fun fulfilling Elza's wish.
"Thank you, ma'am," Remington says simply before leaving and heading outside.
Nurai was also clearly puzzled at Cerise's comment but due to Elza's reaction, Nurai just quietly passed back the note to their host, "Thank you for your time. If you would like to be kept informed, I'm happy to let you know. I believe Remington has your number unless you have another preferred method of contact...?" she said, letting her natural if enhanced charm do most of the work as Nurai considered the best next step in helping meet Elza's request.
"Thanks again, Mrs. Pine. We will do all in our power to give you some closure."
The woman nodded and passed Nurai her phone number. A landline by the look of it.
"Take care, I'll let you know when I can." Nurai said with a small smile before she joined the others at the car. Unlocking it, she slid in and after the others piled in, she said, "I guess the safehouse is the next best bet, unless anyone else has another stop they need to make?" while she set up the directions on her phone.
"I wouldn't mind giving that rifle some range time." Jim said with a smile and a pat on his bandolier. The rifle had disappeared again.
"But it can wait." He added with a friendly wink.
The safe house was a single story brick house in a small neighbourhood. Most of the other buildings were small two-bedroom homes, and this had probably been one, once. It certainly looked like one the casual eye. Maybe the fence was a bit taller, and there were some very powerful halogen security lights, but everyone had their quirks...right?
The gate was locked, too, but the keys soon opened that.
Nurai considered Jim's comment as she parked up. "I think V has constructed some shooting ranges for testing her devices. She may let you have a go in them with that..." she suggested.
Nurai ensured Valda's car was locked up and then checked for magic while the gate was being opened.
Cerise put the keys back in her pocket - she'd been quite firm about going first - and took a look around as she walked inside. "See anything?" she called back to the others.
The garden seems safe. There are no obvious wards, traps or large guard dogs here. That makes sense - despite the wall, kids or teenagers could get in, and it wouldn't do to disintegrate anyone. Especially if you're using a building as a safehouse.
On the grounds there was the area behind the house that you couldn't see, and a large shed to the side. The path led up to the front door.
Jim walked forward behind Cerise and double-checked that his guns were invisible.
He surveyed the scene and offered his advice. "Let's check out the perimeter before we go inside. I don't like surprises."
Jim walked forward behind Cerise and double-checked that his guns were invisible.
Standing next Jim with his anachronistic sword and giant hat plume, Remington nods in agreement.
"Circling the house first makes sense. All together or split up?"
"The shed is a prime location for any eldritch horror laying in ambush, if the 80s' classics are to be believed."
Strolling calmly to the shed, Aurora tried the door.
"I think we should stick together." Cerise noted. "I'm confident in my ability to survive things, but I can only be in one place at a time, and I can't protect everyone if we're all over the place." With that, she moved up as Aurora tried the shed door, pulling out the keys to see if any of them would fit.
"I always seem to come out just fine," Remington shrugs at Cerise, but he doesn't impede her from going first while exploring the grounds or the house.
The shed lock opened under a suitable key, and presented nothing more sinister than neatly stored gardening supplies. The ride on mower looked especially well cared for.
The rear of the house revealed more garden, neat but beggining to get over grown. The rear door stands behind a porch, bare of any furniture.
Nurai followed the group quietly, attempting to check around as she did so.
Shrugging slightly, Cerise worked to unlock the rear door and head into the house. Hopefully it didn't have any ridiculous alarm systems. As a kid, she'd once gone home-shopping with her parents and to a place where the seller hadn't provided the realtor with information on turning off the alarm. Awful experience all-around.
"Maybe you'd better let me take a look first, chica." Jim offered to Cerise as she went for the door. "We don't want any attention from the cops."
The door came open with a problem, and a small crackof ozone suggested that it was probably wise. The house inside is cool and dark, the blinds drawn against prying eyes and the terrible wrath of the day star.
Jim held up a closed fist and put his other finger to his lips, looking back at the others with deadly seriousness. He pointed upstairs and let his eyes follow, then idly reached toward the pistol at his right hip. He paused to concentrate, closing his eyes for a moment. Suddenly he became rather difficult to look at, like a lingering hallucination just on the edge of sight.
"Eh, don't worry, I'm plenty tough myself."
Aurora followed after Cerise, her clothing morphing into fur-trimmed full plate as soon as she was beyond sight.
Remington draws his sword and looks around for a way upstairs.
The rear door leads to a small, fairly bare kitchen. Through a door on the opposite wall a small hall can be seen, with two more doors leading off to other rooms on the East side. The front door and a stairwell up are also present.
From the bottom of the stairs you can see an open door to what looks to be a bathroom, and two other closed doors leading off the landing.
Cerise gave Jim a nod, but also gestured for him to get back. She wanted to be the first to meet any threat - the more things focused on her, the safer everyone in the group would be. With that, she slowly began to creep upstairs, pondering her options. She didn't do a savage ambush very often, but if she could sneak up on whoever was here unaware... well, things would probably work out.
The landing was small, barely big enough for two people. There didn't seem to be anyone in the bathroom,although the shower curtain was drawn shut. The other two doors remained closed.
Remington follows close by Cerise, impatient to explore.
...Khajiit was not intruding. Khajiit was innocent of this crime. Khajiit was making noise on purpose to distract from others. ...Please give Khajiit's moon-sugar back.
More due to luck than actual effort, Aurora's steps were rather light, as she avoided stepping over any creaking boards. Or maybe whatever noise she made was drowned by Cerise.
Jim started to sneak but paused to wonder if anyone got the message about being quiet.
At hearing the door click, Nurai glanced over to see her shadow already at the ready at the wall. With a step together, the two combined again before they continued to slowly, cautiously follow those who sounded far more eager. Peering around with her softly glowing eyes from within her eidolon, she continued to check as they went...
Selecting a door at random, the party opened the door that lead to the front bedroom. Or what would be a bedroom in a normal home. This seemed to be more a sick bay, with what appeared to be a small surgery set and what appeared to be a dentists chair. A real bed and what appears to be a walk in cupboard sit at the rear of the room. The window is also open, the blinds gently fluttering in the wind - not something you noted when you arrived.
Remington darts ahead to look out the window, assuming someone has just fled the house.
Cerise let Remington - who seemed better at spotting things than she was - head over to the window. Meanwhile, she looked at the bed. "Is this legal? I feel like there are permits you need for medical equipment." she observed, checking the cupboard to see what was inside.
Nurai followed the others, "I don't think so, there are plenty of places anyone can buy syringes and such, the expense of some of it though..." Nurai commented to Cerise as she looked around for things less than traditionally medical...
Jim rolled his eyes at Cerise's comment. "Sometimes you have to take care of yourself, legal or not."
Nothing in here seemed to remarkable, but having some experience with field medicine Jim decided to check out how the room was stocked.
"Eh, there are easier ways to hurt people for sale at Walmart. I don't see why a few scalpels or some iodine would be a problem."
Aurora peeked over Cerise inside the cupboard.
"Well, it's not like you can walk into Walmart and get a surgery center." Cerise noted as she continued looking through the cupboard. "I mean, gloves and knives and such are easy to get ahold of, sure, but serious equipment?" she paused for a moment and checked her phone. "...Although dentist chairs are on eBay, so there probably aren't many regs there. Point is, if they got permits and registered this place as a medical office, there should be records that might be useful. Y'know, co-owners, sponsors, major investors, that sort of thing. If we need to find more people to talk to, might be a good place to start looking."
There was a fairly complete store of medical gear and drugs. Some would almost certainly be illegal without a perscription, including some quite impressive painkillers and antibiotics.
There was no one out the window. As Cerise hunted through the cupboard, however, an item fell from one of the upper shelves. It was about the size of a baseball, covered in strange runes - and went click! with a worrying finality.