Listening intently to Lucians story with a look that is half amazement and half skepticism, Victor nods in agreement.
"You've thoroughly convinced me. With Lucian's knack for evasion and Spencer's experience, I feel safer already."
He has another swallow of bourbon. "So Lucian and Martin are writers, penning their next horror story. Spencer and I are assistants of some sort. Depending on whether or not the warden of the place is a fan of London theater, that may or may not work for me. I may be recognized. Perhaps the two of you are writing a play? That could explain my role."
"If this weather takes a turn for the worse, we could end up being stuck in an asylum with a murderer on the loose. Something to consider before we jump into this."
Victor accepts his second drink from the waiter with a nod.
"Well, we're already somewhat dug in. I would like to see this through, even if it's just to figure out where these damned visions are coming from. I don't know what our next step should be though. I suspect St. Agnes will be locked down for a while."
Victor nearly spits his bourbon back into his glass at Lucian's marriage comment.
"Yes the psychic was amusing.. erm, not much else."
"I'm not exactly sure what we can do with this new murder. I don't think they would let us investigate at the asylum again. Maybe we can follow up by investigating this Lucius Harriwell?"
Victor's eyes widen as he reads the paper. "Lucian, I think this happened while we where there. This must have been what the orderlies were discussing in the hallway. I wonder who this Harriwell fellow is?"
Victor begins to put a hand up in refusal of the cigarette , then remembers the week (month/ year) that he has been having, shrugs and accepts. Stifling a cough, Victor looks over at the paper on Lucian's lap. "Whats that now?"
He suddenly shakes his head, as if to shake away the thought. "Pure conjecture, of course," he says laughingly. "Wouldn't want to show these downtown, I suspect - very limited patronage in these bland times for an artist that starts riots."
"No, I agree with you. It's like you've pulled these images straight from my dreams." Victor shakes his head and forces his attention back to Lucian.
"So, I was only able to find out some basic information on Aldebaran. Seems as though it's the right eye of Taurus."
Victor shrugs and passes Lucian his notebook.
"I don't know. It doesn't mean much to me, but I was wondering if we went to some sort of psychic or fortune teller, they may have some better idea of what it could mean.
What do you say, up for a trip downtown to see if we can find such a charlatan?"
Notebook:
Aldebaran is a bright red star of 0.9 magnitude, being the ninth brightest star in our sky. It sits above the Hyades- an open star cluster that constitutes the "head" of the constellation Taurus the bull, Aldebaran forming his right eye. Further back in the constellation lie a tight cluster of young stars called the Pleiades.
From mid-northern latitudes (like, say, England), all these stars are visible with the naked eye with the exception of the Pleiades. Six of the seven stars of this last cluster, called the seven sisters in Greek Mythology, are about fourth magnitude and easy to see, but many more are visible with binoculars or a telescope. In northern latitudes Taurus rises in the east in October, peaks in the southern sky in early January, and disappers into the west at the end of March.
Victor stands unmoving, eyes affixed to the photographs. In a soft dry tone, he responds "I don't think my complexion can get much worse Lucian, do you?" The carpenter shows Lucian half of a smirk and lets out a small chuckle before turning back to the photos.
"These shapes.. these silhouettes, are they something that you have seen before?
As Victor's car pulls up to his home, he sees a familiar face.
"I do believe that is Lucian's man." Victor rolls down his window for a quick exchange with the butler and agrees to follow him back to Lucian's estate.
Victor wakes and instinctively rubs his sore eyes. He's gotten used to mornings like this. After fixing himself a cup of coffee, victor sits at his table and goes through his notepad. "Aldebaran." he mutters to himself. "What could you have to do with any of this?"
Victor finises his cup of coffee, bundles up, and calls a car to London Library on St. James Square.
"In a way, yes, but only that it was tied to the play. Normally my visions are in some way related to the lake that bordered Carcosa. This time though, I was on a plain and saw the figure cloaked in white.. the white acolyte perhaps? Then a sense of loss." Victor pulls out his notepad to show Martin the scene that he had been drawing, and notices that he drew in the large star Aldebaran. "This star has recently been very predominant at night. It's strange that it has begun to show up in these visions. That may be worth looking into when we get back to London."
Martin follows Victor over to the bench and stands awkwardly beside him. After a moment he leans over to catch a glimpse of the pad and the man's scribbles.
"Struck by inspiration, eh?"
"You.. could say that." Victor puts down his pencil and rubs his eyes.
"It was another damned vision. I thought I had seen the last of them." The carpenter stands and slips his notepad back into his pocket.
"Lets get out of this place before they decide to make me a permanent resident."
Victor visibly jumps in response to Martins query. "I'm.. not sure. I may need to sit." Victor's voice is weak and shaky. The carpenter wanders over to a bench in the courtyard, sits, pulls out his notepad and begins scribbling the shape of a robed figure on a snowy plain.
Victor turns to his colleagues, "I din't want to mention it in front of the doctor, but I overheard two orderlies discussing what seemed to be some sort of violent incident. Not sure if it had anything to do with Roby, but if it did, I doubt Dr. Highsmith would have made us privy to it. Couldn't hurt to look into it while we are here, right?"
Victor doesn't have much to add to the rest of the conversation, but once we are out of the doctor's office, he'll share the conversation that he overheard in the hallway.
"It began, at least for us, when we attended a play in London called The Queen and the Stranger. It's an adaptation of a french novel, staged by a local playwright Talbot Estus. The play itself features some disturbing scenes and very strange symbolism. How it has rooted itself into the psyche of so many people, I can't say, though I suspect it has much more to do with the story itself and not so much the play. Those who have just read the novel have experienced similar problems. Does Alex have any access to books? Perhaps he read the King in Yellow while he was here?"
Victor will listen intently to the doctors answer, but continue to keep an ear pointed toward the hallway conversation.
Victor chuckles at the thought of taking Alex out for a walk but nods seriously at Spencer's question. " I would hate to see Roby and Estus somehow find each other.." Victor exaggerates a shudder.
"I erm.. didn't find anything unusual at the funeral parlor." Victor blushes a bit as he recalls his ruined trousers.
"What makes me curious is, why Dr. Highsmith would think that Alexander is okay to be released. What we saw looked like quite a bit more than night terrors to me. Maybe Alexander has gotten a lot worse since Dr Highsmith had seen him last.. or maybe he had some ulterior motive to us going and talking to Alex. What do we know about Dr. Highsmith? Does he have a stake in this case being solved, other then helping his patient?"
"A bit restless, but nothing too unusual. No yellow sign would be a match for that stew I ate last night. The stuff put me down faster than Mr Snow's pills." Victor adds with a chuckle.
"No thank you." Victor raises a hand to Lucian's open cigarette case. "I've inhaled quite enough smoke for one lifetime." Victor smiles and subconsciously scratches a scarred cheek.
"I'm having these same dreams an visions Lucian. And to think that you, me and some man we've never met before are sharing these exact same visions tells me that there must be someone or something putting this into our heads. We need to figure out what it is and how to stop it." Victor takes a deep breath. "I don't want to end up like Estus, or worse, Alexander. I think for now, we should figure out what happened with this Roby case. That may give us some leads into just what the hell is going on here."
Victor places a hand on the Lucian's shoulder. "I'm gonna head back in there to see what Spencer and Martin are coming up with. Come on in whenever you feel ready."
Victor heads out of the room with the others to meet Mr. Reeves and Price. When he sees Lucian move past them out into the courtyard, he puts his coat on and gives a concerned look to Martin and Spencer.
"I'd better make sure he's okay."
Victor steps outside next to Lucian and watches his breath freeze in the air for a few moments, giving Lucian some time to calm down before engaging him.
Hmm.. not sure how to handle this. I already had my next question lined up, if that didn't get a response. Not sure how my roll will affect it. I'll ask it anyway, if it isn't appropriate based on my roll, you can strike it.
Hearing Martin's mention of dreams after looking at the book, Victor walks over to take a look at the text.
"I walk beside the calm lake and I yearn for the city" Victor reads aloud, "When the inhabitants change, the way is open. That sounds a lot like a city with which we've been recently acquainted." Victor shares a worried glance with his companions.
Satisfied with the results, if not the style, Victor hastily wipes the bottoms of his feet with any remaining towel and leaves the water closet, careful to keep the door ajar. Quickly, Victor heads back toward the Directors office and ducks into the closet closest to Mr. Hume.
Mr Hume strikes me as a strict overseer, hopefully, he reacts the way I expect to a flood in his parlor.
Victor continues to wait and listen for a sign that Mr. Hume is drawn to the commotion in the restroom.
Victor slips (hopefully unnoticed) into the into the bathroom and looks around for a few hand towels. upon he finding them, he stuffs a few deep down into the drain of the toilet (rolling up sleeves of course). Once it looks good and clogged, he takes the cover from the back of the toilet and removes the flap that holds the water back from flushing into the bowl.
Victor keeps his head down as he walks toward the rear of the building, attempting to look inconspicuous. Keeping his eyes open, he looks around for a nearby restroom.
"I see that I've upset you Mr. Hume. I apologize, that certainly wasn't my intent. I'll see myself out."
"If you'd rather not tell me on your own, maybe there is a file or two in that desk of yours.." Victor walks out of the directors office and looks around.
A couple questions, Are there any niches or closets nearby that Victor might slip into unseen? Also, is there a visible rear exit?
