1.7 Dead and Gone

Happy Birthday to the food providing Archivist!!

Living room of a rustic country house. The phone rings and a 20-something man in farming clothes answers it. "Raveena! It's good to hear from you!" Raveena and her brother talk for awhile about her running away to McKennit and how she hasn't been able to get their mother to return her calls. Her brother expresses his concern for her and his hope that she's doing well. He also says that he'll talk to their mom.

At Gabe's dorm the phone rings. It's Jade, and she's not supposed to be calling him about this, but they're about to start their quests for initiation into the Daughters of Hecate. Jade will be leaving that night and returning on Monday. Gabe's quest will follow shortly. Jade has to leave tonight, but she's got a little time before... and Gabe's on his way over.

Geoff's apartment, sparse but livable, with books, computer equipment, and hiking gear disorganized but out of the way. Guess what, the phone rings. He picks up and grings, "John! How's everything going? Uh-huh." He frowns as he listens, then scowls. "No, don't worry about me. I won't do anything stupid."

Raveena (re her ability to deal with haunted houses):"I've been around caves with bears in em, so I know how to step lightly around things that might jump out and git me - I guess that's kinda the same."

Deaver's office; he's working late on a Friday. Nikki pokes her head in. "I knew it! I was told, if you have a strange problem, you should talk to Dr. Deaver, and I thought, hm, I wonder if that's Alex because he's very helpful and deals with strange people who throw fire. And sure enough, it's you! And I have a strange problem." She points out a smoking machine behind him, and with an, "oh!" he jumps up and fixes it.

Nikki continues to talk, and eventually the story comes out that she's in town because she inherited a house, but she can't get inside it and she thinks it's haunted. The key works, as in the lock unlocks, but the door won't open. Nikki offers to pay, but Deaver refuses, and he calls Raveena. Raveena starts to ask what's going on, but then she hears Nikki yelling "Hello!!!" at her in the background, and tells him that, yes, she'll help. Gabe isn't answering his phone. Chase answers, but she's out mountain biking in the middle of nowhere and agrees to meet them in an hour at... "what did you say that address was? ... Ask Nikki if that's the Boyd-Townsend mansion." Nikki nods, and Deaver's eyes go a little wider. They hang up, pick up Raveena and some coffee, and head to the house to case it out.

After checking around and finding that, indeed, all the doors unlock, but none of them open. Nikki explains that her evil father, well potentially not evil, she likes to think of him as a "young lusty traveler who did not realize the damage he caused," was a Boyd. And though she wasn't first in line for the house, everybody else turned it down because it's haunted. She hates every Boyd-Townsend she's met so far, and is quite sure that the ghosts feel the same way and will accept her once she manages to explain that to them.

Gabe: "I don't know any open sesame spells."

Chase pulls up in a red Jeep Cherokee with a mountain bike attached. She hops out, still in her biking gear. She suggests that if Gabe isn't answering, they should call Jade, and she pulls out her cell phone. Jade answers! Chase teases her about what she's (or he's, as the matter stands) up to, and Jade good naturedly teases her about what she's NOT getting (but could be if she tried). Eventually Chase tells the story. Jade's really sorry she can't make it because she's been dying to see the Manor, but she's got a really important DoH thing tonight. Chase then tells Gabe to get his clothes back on and get over here.

The gang decides to wait until Gabe gets there to let him attempt mojoing the door open before they attempt the trusty rock through the window approach. Gabe eventually arrives, but he doesn't knw any open sesame spells. And with that, the door opens. Everyone stares. The doors start to close. Raveena holds them open as Chase gets a rock to prop them open, and they are in the marbled entryway of the Boyd-Townsend Manor.

Chase: "Performance art, not statuary."

The find candles, which Gabe lights. Nikki tries appealing to the ghosts to let them all live together in peace. Nothing happens. Chase leads everyone up the foyer stairs and through two double doors at the top. They enter a large art gallery full of paintings, statuary, and a couple Egyptian sarcophagi. Chase is the first to notice them moving, and soon there is a battle ragin' with artwork flying and an experimental mummy gone arry swinging weighted fabric. Steve and Gabe grab swords from the conveniently located collection on the wall. After Raveena softens it up a bit, Chase pins its arms with a smashed painting, and Deaver cuts off its head.

They continue towards the right wing of the house, and enter the far room - a sitting area. Raveena drops her candle and backs away, muttering about her mother's work area. She points to a spinning wheel and other items that nobody else can see, crying, "Momma! I had to go!" As she leaves the room, Deaver cries out in fear as, for him, the room morphs into his dead collegue's (Ross) old apartment. Chase throws open the curtains as Nikki plugs her ears yelling, "Get out of my head!! It's a sitting room! Loca fantasma; no te tengo miedo." Chase runs to the attached bedroom and looks in, but finds nothing.

Meanwhile Gabe chants a spell and opens his eyes to see the room crawling in insects and snakes while Deaver, Raveena, and Nikki wear pink blinders. "Uh... I think this room is cursed." Chase looks around and remembers reading about a suicide in a sitting room in the Boyd-Townsend manor. The gang realizes that it's preying on people's guilt (Raveena's over her mother, Deaver's over his dead partner, and Nikki's over something unknown as of yet :) ). They leave to continue searching, Gabe attempting to maintain his magickal view of things.

As they exit the room, Deaver, Raveena, and Nikki return to a more normal view of things. Chase opens doors as they go and in one room Gabe sees an 8-year old boy in Edwardian attire sitting on the bed. Nobody else can see him. Gabe says hello, and the kid turns to face him, revealing bloody holes where his eyes should be. Gabe speaks to him, and Jerome, after his initial surprise that somebody could see him, allows everyone in the room to see him. He offers to answer three questions for them, but tells them that they need to leave quickly as "the house doesn't like strangers." The gang asks their first question to which he replies, "the one in the attic's the real problem," and then he vanishes.

The gang goes on a search for the attic, which they quickly figure out must have a secret entrance. Gabe and Chase return to the guilt ridden room, as they were the only ones not affected, and Raveena, Deaver, and Nikki head off towards the servants' wing.

Raveena: "Do you want to converse with this dead guy or what?"
Nikki: "No. Keek hees ass."

In the servants' wing, the three bump on walls until they find a hollow one in the silver room. Raveena begins kicking it in, and Deaver alerts the others that they've found something. With a final kick, Raveena busts through the wall, and the find the backside of a hidden staircase, which is more traditionally accessed from a trap door in the stairwell on the other side of the wall. But, the splintered access still works, and the gang makes their way upstairs into the attic.

Cobwebby, dusty, and coated in black, the attic is an evil wizard's dreamland from the bookcases filled with spellbooks to the cauldrons, to the large Seal of Baphomet painted in blood on the floor. On the other side of the room is a vaguely human shape with icy blue eyes. It takes two steps forward and stops, grinning. Raveena grabs Chase's sword, and runs at the beast, performing a flip and slashing. Partway through the attic, she runs through an invisible barrier. The thing reaches out and starts to choke her. Raveena takes her sword in both hands and pulls it down against his arms, chopping them off. She then reverses her hold and swipes it up into his neck but doesn't decapitate it. Raveena - "Almost faceless"

The armless nearly headless undead thing tries to kick Raveena but she dodges easily. Chase grabs up a poker and notices a cauldron full of old liquid, which she kicks over. A gooey yecchy liquid seeps out with parts towards Raveena, making the floor slippery. Deaver runs over with his sword and spears it through the throat. The thing collapses into one of the bookshelves in the back of the room.

The gang calls on Jerome, who informs them that the house should be OK after a few undead residents are cleared out of the downstairs. According to Jerome, the Townsends gained their wealth through witchcraft, and since they have been in McKennit, the Townsends and Boyd-Townsends have never been without a warlock to lead them. They used to perform magick here in the attic until a few too many spells, and a botched summoning, turned the house against them, creating in itself a haven for the supernatural and the evil. Jerome is happy to finally be free, and he fades from view with a thank you to our gang.

The gang heads downstairs to take care of a few zombie freeloaders. The zombies are quickly dispatched, rather spectacularly, I might add, when Gabe discovers how to shoot flame from his fingers. Even Nikki gets a kick in. Nikki offers any of the crazy books and what-have-you from upstairs to Gabe. The last remaining baddie in the house is a group of vamps that are out partying. Raveena decides to come back in the morning, after they've returned, to take care of them. Everyone else agrees to come back in the afternoon to help clean up the chaos.

Outside, Chase gets a phone call from Shannon at Lone Star who's on Geoff's phone. Shannon's worried about Geoff's ability to get home in one piece, and while she could call a cab, she'd rather a friend come get him. Shannon's also worried about the Phillipi president's daughter, a vixen of an 18 year old, who's been hanging around Geoff for the past half hour. Chase'll says be there in a couple minutes, and after asking Raveena to go easy on Kevin should she find him there in the morning (Raveena is non-commital) she takes off.

Nikki decides that this calls for a dancing celebration (the clean house, not Chase helping out Geoff) and asks everyone to join her at Lone Star. Deaver takes her up on it, but Raveena and Gabe decide to call it a night. Nikki tries to get them to come, but doesn't seem horribly broken up by being alone with Deaver for awhile.

Geoff (to Kevin): "Get a day job."

The Lone Star. Chase enters in the same biking outfit she's worn all day, covered in dirt, cobwebs, and probably a little cauldron goop, to find a very drunk Geoff in deep conversation with what might be the prettiest girl in New England. Several tough looking guys restlessly keep track of the talking couple, waiting for something. Chase recognizes one of them from the Alumni party; this is Kevin's crew.

Taking a deep breath, Chase heads to the table and asks Geoff if he wants a ride home. The president's daughter introduces herself with as Strella McKay, and with a wickedly innocent smile tells Chase that she'll take care of him. Chase stares her down. Geoff says that he probably should go. Strella smiles at Chase, tells Geoff that she'll see him around, and slides on to the dance floor with another cute boy in tow. As Chase and Geoff leave, Kevin heads over to flirt. He and Geoff exchange words before Chase tells them to lay off.

Nikki (to Alex): "There's the museek, and the deem lights, and we're here together..."
Alex: "Yes. It's, uh... Yes, there are."
Nikki: (exasperated sigh)

Nikki shows up at the dance hall and sits sipping a soda, waiting for Alex [she calls Deaver by his first name, and so the director will follow her lead when it's just the two of them]. Alex shows up and she flirts, her tries flirting, and she drags him onto the dancefloor. While dancing, she introduces Alex to Strella, whom she knows from staying at the hotel. Strella seems unimpressed and leaves quickly. After a minute or two trying to get Alex to make a move, Nikki sighs and leans in for the kiss.

Back in Chase's Jeep, she asks Geoff what's got him drinking with such dedication, and he tells her that one of his best friends from high school was in a car wreck and he'd be heading back to Chicago on Sunday for the funeral. The subject quickly changes to that annoying pretty girl that Geoff was with, and eventually Geoff gets a little kick out of Chase's jealous annoyance and starts grinning at her.

When they get to Geoff's place, Chase turns to him. "Well, if anyone's going to take advantage of you in your current state, it's going to be me dammit." And she kisses him, expecting stuttering confusion. Instead, Geoff leans over to her side and kisses her back. "I was beginning to think you'd never do that," he grins. She kicks him out of the car as he laughs, and she lightly pounds her head a couple of times agains the steering wheel.

In Raveena's dorm room the phone rings. She picks it up with a "Hello."

"I'm sorry I didn't call you back," says a soft Missouri voice.

"Momma?"