Oscar nods at Taryn and walks toward the flag that Deputy Golding had planted so that he could see Daniel. If Beverly has gone missing, and Taryn and the Deputy were going to search for her, he was going to keep an eye on Daniel.
Taryn with her excellent hearing was able to make out Deputy Golding's instructions before Oscar relayed them to her. Still, with the long distance between them she arrived at Golding's flag pile around the same time as Daniel did. When Taryn moved to breeze past him, Daniel immediately started to follow. "Beg pardon, Miss Taryn, but I do believe Deputy Golding told us to wait here a spell. He doesn't want for the rest of us to wander off in all manner of directions, ya kin? Now here me, I beg. Even for a longtimer like me who's grown up 'round these parts and been out hiking since I was naught but a wee tyke, it can be hard to keep track of people when they all go about on their own way. Then time spent looking for all the folk is time not spent looking for that lost little girl. Why, I'm sure Mr. Oscar hear would agree with me, wouldn't ya lad? He seems to have a solid head on his young shoulders."
Chloe took the cellphone, writing down the unlock code Ahmad gave her. "Ok, Mr. Elmohtar. I give this to my friend and keep you updated via text. Does that sound ok?"
With that Chloe headed back outside and started to walk away, presumably to meet up with her friend.
Oscar stays put.
"Actually, Mr. Applebaum, if there's something dangerous out here, the deputy could benefit from someone watching his back. I don't doubt that he knows what he's doing, but you and I both know that law enforcement isn't infallible. Let her help him, and you and I can stay here and mark where the search left off."
After giving Chloe a lift, using the opportunity to remind her and her friend not to do anything risky and call him if anything goes wrong, Ahmad messages the group.
‘Done here. What’s everyone up to? Anyone need a hand with anything? Rani? Alfie?’
Oscar stays put.
"Actually, Mr. Applebaum, if there's something dangerous out here, the deputy could benefit from someone watching his back. I don't doubt that he knows what he's doing, but you and I both know that law enforcement isn't infallible. Let her help him, and you and I can stay here and mark where the search left off."
Well, it would be easier if she'd been able to find a grimoire - the stuff people scanned was amazing - but a person would be fine, assuming they'd be willing to help. Rani considered her wording as she sat cross legged on the bed. Signing up to the forum under the username RaniSunshine she tapped away at the keyboard, writing out a message.
Hi there! Hate to contact you our the blue, but the web says you might be able to help. I screwed up a spell a day ago that I'd like to do again, tracking a lost little girl. I got it working with a couple of others, so I know the spell itself is OK, but I can't get it to work for the little girl. I was thinking maybe a change of foci could do the job, but wanted to get a second opinion before I wandered off to try and find one. Thanks, Rani.
Clicking 'send', Rani hoped that would be enough to get some help.
Daniel started to turn around to respond to Oscar when three things happened in rapid succession. The first was a gunshot somewhere to the west of the group. This was followed by a woman's scream to the east, in the direction the deputy, and presumably Beverly, was. The final thing was a Daniel, no longer exactly the spry chicken he once was, very quickly trying to spin towards first the gunshot and then the scream and managing to misplace his foot on a tree branch. He went down with a cry of pain and grabbed towards his nastily twisted ankle. Whatever his thoughts on Oscar's proposal were now moot; he very clearly wasn't in any condition to move from where he was. At least not quickly. And judging by the look on his face, scolding Taryn into staying put was now the last thought in his head.
Hmmm, interesting. Normally I don't respond to strangers on the internet, but in this case I think we could each help each other. As it turns out, I too am searching for a lost little girl. My daughter in fact. I've actually been trying to do my own research on a tracking spell of some sort if you'd be willing to tell me how to perform your tracking spell, I think I could help you in figuring out how to bypass whatever ward hides your lost child from your magic. Of course, you'd also have to tell me a bit more about whatever it is blocking you as there are a variety of ways to accomplish such an effect.
Alfie looks back at the lieutenant sternly. "That was quite the breach of protocol, Lieutenant, and profoundly insulting. Nevertheless, I have nothing to hide. I was at home alone most of the day, and I went out with friends in the evening into the woods and around the neighborhood. I stayed at home all night and didn't come out until I was escorted here by police officers in the morning."
Taryn points west and flashes her eyes at Oscar. "Don't get shot."
That said, she lopes off towards the scream at something just beneath a dead sprint.
Ahmad looks at the messaging app, opens instagram, scrolls through his feed, goes back to the messaging app, then tiktok, then messaging app again.
“Ok, whatever, I’m going to the police station. Alfie’s been silent for too long. Me too, since I’m apparently talking to myself now.”
‘Alfie, are you still in the police station? Imma meet you there.’
Oscar drops to the ground next to Daniel, urging the man to stay down and be quiet. As Taryn moves off to the east, Oscar watches and listens, trying to figure out all the places any threats may be and how to escape them.
"Yes 'n' no, missy. We don't have a K9 unit in town, but we've requested the use of the closest unit. They're still en route, as it were, and probably won't be here for another hour or two. Since time if often of the essence, we decided to go ahead and start the search now and have them join us when they arrive."
Pushing forward, the figures of Deputy Golding and Beverly came into view. Beverly was staring wide-eyed in terror at something that the deputy was simultaneously trying to block her line of sight to and usher her away from. By the look on his face, he could smell the stink as well as he tried to hush the screaming woman.
Following Beverly's gaze, Taryn spotted the disfigured remains of a body. Its hands and feet had been bound to a horizontal wooden branch, causing the body to be suspended in the air at roughly waist-height. Even from this distance, it was clear the face had been disfigured, the eyes gouged out, and the jaw dislocated in order to force a large red apple snugly into the mouth. It was also clear that this was where the disgusting smell was originating from.
Oscar heard a few more gunshots in the direction of the original one followed by silence from that direction. He could still hear screaming off to the east that Taryn would no doubt be dealing with soon as well as the soft whimpers of pain from Daniel. The injured man seemed more than willing to stay put, alternating between giving Oscar wide-eyed looks and straining vainly to see what was going on in either direction. After waiting several moments, there seemed to be no further gunfire nor did anything seem to be heading their way. For now at least, it did not appear that the two were in any immediate danger.
Oscar speaks, but it's unclear if he's talking to Daniel or himself.
"Gunfire isn't aimed at us. Didn't hear any nearby impacts. It maybe wasn't aimed at the others. Deputy Goulding didn't fire back. But we shouldn't stay here."
Finally, he stops scanning the woods and looks at Daniel.
"If I help you, can you walk?"
Rani considered the issue, but being shy wasn't going to get her what she needed. She tried to summarize as best she could.
We're hunting something - no idea what, looks like a wolf and leaves sentient goop that offers deals for power - and when I tried to track the girl it's taken I was blocked. I cast using Egyptian words and an artifact from there. Mostly just concertation, the artifact and say some words I frankly don't understand. Once this job is done I might be able to help with your daughter, if you don't mind me paying a visit.
‘So…where’s everyone at?’
After sending another text, Ahmad looks around once again, then clears his throat.
“Excuse me, deputy Thompson? I am…uh…looking for a friend of mine? A buddy of mine, a bit older? Alfie Afla? You see, I’m a bit worried about him? Lovely fellow, very sweet and kind?”
Her eyes were watering with the strange scent, but there was enough here without the odor to show that this was no normal kill. The cops can figure out who this was. The cops can figure out what exactly they died of. Maybe they'll even find some sort of excuse for a motive.
Where did it go?
But whatever did this was probably big, wasn't traveling light, and blood was shed.
There'll be tracks.
Having noticed Taryn as she started poking around, the deputy gave her an irritated look before waving at her to back off. He was then promptly distracted by another scream from Beverly. Grimacing, he forcibly turned the woman's head so she was no longer staring at the grisly scene. He mimed taking a few deep breaths that at least seemed to stop her from screaming. He reached for his radio. "Hello control? This is Deputy Golding. We have a bit of a situation..."
As he was calming Beverly and starting to radio in the scene, it was a fairly simple matter for Taryn to circle past him and start looking for tracks in the area of the body. Luckily, both from a tracking perspective and likely for Beverly's future therapy, it appeared the woman hadn't gotten much closer to the scene where she was now standing. That made it easy enough to pick up the only other large prints in the area. After who or whatever it was had posed the body, it looked as though they had headed further into the woods.
As Rani read the response, it occurred to her that really, she didn't know anything about the barrier that had blocked her except the general location it had kicked in. Perhaps if she went there, she might be able to find the details she needed for her online correspondent.
Deputy Thompson looked up, giving Ahmad a wide smile. "Why howdy there! A Mr. Alfie Afla you say? Give me a moment." He starts typing a few things into his computer. After a moment he says, "Well, we it looks like there is someone by that name here talking to one of our lieutenants. But I think it must be a different fella. The one here seems ta be some kind of Satan-worshipping serial killer. Your guy must be somewhere else."
Lt. Carter gave a snort of laughter. " 'Breach of protocol'? Man, you really don't have a clue do you? You must not if you think that kind of wishy washy b#+%!*@~ is going to cut it for a murder investigation. I suggest you do the smart thing and start telling me exactly where it was you went and who these 'friends' are and how I can contact them. They will back up your story when I ask them, right? Because nothing says 'guilty' like lying about your alibi."
Texting back, she replied, Going to the site to see if I can find any more details, back in a bit, Rani got dressed and headed out. It couldn't hurt to see what could be found.
Reluctantly Taryn sent Oscar a message:
New body
Tortured
I have a trail
And the trail was telling its own story too. How heavy the treads were, the length of their stride. Anything that deviated from human norms would tell her something, and in rough terrain like this, it was very likely that something would have been snarled in the underbrush, some fur or cloth, or even flesh...
"Sir, your lack of concern is troubling. Please keep in mind that I am supposed to be considered innocent until proven otherwise. I would like to tell you exactly where I was and do my utmost to help your investigation, but first, for justice's sake, stop treating me as a common criminal, since you and your department have known me for years to be a law-abiding citizen."
Do you still have one hold or did you use it? It used to be in the profile header but I don't remember seeing the last one used.
Ahmad took in the news that Alfie had been categorised as a satan-worshipping serial killer with an absolute poker face.
“Oh…really? Do you think I could, you know, just see him? Perhaps there’s been some mistake and my good, sweet friend has been caught in a whole lot of trouble because of a computer bug or something like that.”
After a moment, Oscar suggests Daniel take a rest. He takes the opportunity to read Taryn's text and reply.
Applebaum twisted ankle. Helping him leave. Please tell deputy.
And after a moment's thought, he adds: Does deputy know about the gunfire?
Then Oscar quickly sends the following to the group text: Taryn and I in search party for the police. Gunfire, though not at us. Taryn has found new victim. She's tracking.
Turning back to Daniel, Oscar helps him stand again, and they continue on their way.
"I've asked the person who followed the deputy to let him know about your ankle."
Unfortunately for Taryn, the conditions of the area were not well suited for getting much more detail other than a direction; the area was relatively clear of underbrush to get snagged on, the area with the most prints had also been heavily trafficked by who or whatever had been here as it set the scene up making the prints messy and unclear, and the path away was marked more by snapped twigs and the occasional area of scuffed dirt than a clear trail of prints.
The deputy had now finished calling for reinforcements and, still holding a whimpering Beverly turned away, called back to Taryn. "Taryn! Get away from there! You'll contaminate the scene! Help me get Beverly back to the meeting point; I'll soon have a squad out here to collect evidence. Assuming they've gotten here, they might even have an extra dog to use at the scene, if this godawful stench doesn't mess them up."
Lt. Carter's jaw clenched briefly, but with an effort he forced himself to relax slightly, plastering a tight smile across his lips and he adjusted his tone slightly. "I'll stop treating you like a common criminal when you stop acting like one. An innocent man would be eager to clear his name. He wouldn't keep stalling for time in a way that suggests he's trying to think up some plausible lie to tell." He looked expectantly at Alfie, waiting for a response.
Ahmad's phone then chimed with a brief text from Chloe:
Quick look doesn't show any connection to Turner nor anything obviously hidden on phone. Starting deeper dive in case he did something sneaky. Will update as more info comes in.
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It was a really, really stupid way to do things, but Rani was feeling pressed for time. She reached out with her own magics, pushing tendrils of magic she saw as streams of light in her own mind into anything that felt even remotely relevant, seeking to force the circle or barrier or spirit or whatever to respond to defend itself.
Taryn fished out her phone and scowled. "Applebaum's hurt and needs help." She pointed back towards Oscar, and when the Sherriff turned, Taryn stepped wide of the obvious crime scene, but otherwise didn't acknowledge his words as she plunged into the woods.
"And so I shall, Officer. I have nothing to hide. Thank you for facilitating my cooperation. We were traveling in the town and its outskirts. Adkins, Perch, Rogers, Holmes, Goldcreek - you know the area."
"...put out an APB stat for this...errrr...'white rabbit' you saw. It sounds like a very promising lead and on behalf of the SFSD, we thank you for your vigilance." The deputy caught Thompson's eye, giving him an exaggerated eye roll behind the woman's back.
The woman whirled suddenly on her heel, addressing the deputy once more. "Yes, I'm afraid I didn't catch 'is name, but he was quite clearly in a rush ta get somewhere. Dressed to the nines, he was. I tried ta follow and join his little party or at least pet 'is fur -- it looked ever so soft it did! -- but I weren't dressed for it none, now were I? Couldn't 'xactly join the pretty girl inna blue dress and the nice, white rabbit without me best jacket now, could I?" She indicates the less-than-impressive patchwork of fabric she was currently wearing. "But when I heard you was missin' some lil girl, I said to myself, now I said-" The deputy was patiently nodding his head with a fake smile plastered on his face even as he attempted somewhat unsuccessfully to get the woman to continue exiting the area.
Well, it hadn't exploded. That was a good thing, right? Rani approached the warded area, hoping to work out what was happening. First thing was first - did it stop everything from entering, or just her magic?
Ahmad texts Chloe to thank her, looks at the clear entrance then takes a moment to centre himself. This is it, this is what his mother has trained him for. He will make Fatima proud.
He takes a deep breath, cracks his neck, does some quick stretches and begins yelling at the poor officer.
“No, you know what? I’m not leaving Alfie, you have no right to keep an innocent — that’s right AN INNOCENT — old man against his will! He needs his meds, have you given him his meds? NO?! Do you even have—“ Ahmad massages the bridge of his nose in exasperation before the man can say anything — “are you INSANE?! Alfie can’t function without their meds! He can’t think right, he can’t breathe right, he can’t eat right, he can barely talk! No. Energy. At. All! How long has he been—WHAT? You let me through right here, right now!” Ahmad makes for the door, pushing whoever’s in his way. “Do you want to see a man die? Is that the sort of guilt you want in your conscience?! Alfie! ALFIE! Are you ok? Bang on the wall twice if you can hear me! I’m coming for you, don’t you worry, buddy!”
As soon as the officer stops speaking Alfie notices that the voice he had been hearing in the background was that of his friend. Much relieved not to have to choose a name (though Ahmad's name was certainly already at the tip of his tongue), Alfie offers his answer.
"Well, Ahmad Elmohtar, for one, should be able to verify. Speaking of whom, unless I am sorely mistaken, I think I hear his voice just outside."
It wasn't all that hard for Ahmad to slip past a rather pre-occupied deputy and begin yelling. This almost immediately started the woman he was interacting with yelling as well, still about some kind of giant, white rabbit. As he and Deputy Thompson tried to get her to calm down, a somewhat annoyed-looking blond man in a suit entered the area from a hallway off to the right and made for the yelling Ahmad.
"Mr. Elmohtar, I believe? Will you quit your racket? Your friend is not being held against his will as you seem to believe, nor has he asked for any medications and he seems perfectly capable of speech. Though I suppose it's convenient of you to show up as I have a few questions I'd like to ask you. Shall we?" He raised an eyebrow, clearly waiting to see if the man would comply or would insist upon continuing to make a scene."[/b]
Lt. Carter's eye visibly twitched at the sudden racket from back in the bullpen. With an effort, he gave Alfie a polite smile before standing. "Excellent, then I should be able to clear this up shortly." He moved to leave the room, closing the door behind him and leaving Alfie alone in the barebones room with just the blinking light of the camera and his reflection in the large mirror that made up the majority of one wall to keep him company.
Well, the next step was dumb, but obvious. Rani stepped into the magic blocking area and tried to sense what it was meant to hide, pushing her magic against the barrier.
As Rani attempted to push her magics out while standing in the center of the clearing, she was bombarded with a flurry of colors and information.
Alfie takes out his phone and sends a text message to the group. He doesn't know if Ahmad will get the message in time anyway, but he words it in a way that, he hopes, won't seem as if he's colluding if the police see it.
Lt. seems to suspect me of having murdered someone last night. I told him which streets we were on.
Ahmad is here too now, officer is now speaking with him.
After that, he puts the phone back into his pocket and looks at the desk in front of him.
The desk was really nothing more than a simple table. On it lay the cup of water Alfie had been given as well as the folder the lieutenant had originally brought in. While Alfie had seen the man take the pad on which he had been writing notes with him, he apparently hadn't felt the need to take the rest of his folder, which was unlabeled.
Oscar finally catches back up with Taryn. He was told about the body, so he thought he'd be prepared for it, but he is stunned by the grisly scene. He takes a deep breath to gather himself.
"Do you have a lead?" he asks Taryn.
Since he hasn't heard any further activity from the gunfire he heard right before and after Beverly's scream, he doesn't mention it to Deputy Golding. He doesn't want to give the man more of an opportunity to to have them back away from the investigation than he already has.
Ahmad stops mid yell, listens to the officer and ignores most of what the man said. He returns the annoyed look, then nods. He can see why Fatima does this. It’s refreshing, in a way.
“Of course, officer. But I must see Alfie first. I’m worried about his health. That guy never complains. Like a wall he is, hard to get anything out of him, even when it’s for his own good.”
He follows the man.
Alfie shuts the folder after he discovers nothing he didn't already know about himself. The envelope was intriguing, but he wouldn't risk stealing from a police officer in a police station.
Probing at it further, in some weird way, it felt both foreign and familiar somehow. Like a warm, homemade desert covered in a layer of almost metallic ice. The warm dessert tried to yield to her magic even as the cold ice remained solid and impenetrable. As she studied it, she got a sudden flash of insight: there were two forces at play here. The first was the warm rip in space, a portal of some sort. The second was an icy band-aid trying to hold the portal shut.
"The killer left a trail." She points to the slight scuffs and marks that lead off deeper into the woods. "Let's get after it before the cops get into more trouble."
"Huh," Rani murmured. This seemed odd. The portal felt comforting, the seal bad - but Rani was aware that what felt right to her might not be right to others. There were a lot of strange creatures out there that would feel the opposite. Maybe portals to hell tasted like apple pie.
She sent a text to the other hunters, on the theory that if something happened at least they'd have some idea where she went. Hi guys, investigating a clearing and I've found a portal that tastes like homemade cookies sealed by a frozen block. I'm tempted to try unlocking it, although I'm not really sure I can. Thoughts?
"The killer left a trail." She points to the slight scuffs and marks that lead off deeper into the woods. "Let's get after it before the cops get into more trouble."
Oscar nods, glances at the police to make sure they're not paying too much attention to them, and then indicates that Rani should lead the way.