3.1 Something Old, Something New

Deaver: "It's one of those days."
Stefan: "Tried diplomacy. Didn't work."

It's a crisp New England fall evening, with a storm on the horizon. Phillipi has set up a Haunted Trail as a fundraiser to support devastated hurricane victims in the south. It's a sprawling affair with three major sections: Monsters, Haunted Places, and the "Wild and Weird." Gabe, Deaver, Chase, Rachel, and Stefan are in the Haunted Places section, which is a replica of McKennit's warehouse district.

PeanutGalleryWill: "Those shower searches...not popular."

Strolling aimlessly, they round a corner and find... Will! He’s been off to the army and back again. Deaver and Chase are happy to see him again, safe and whole, and they make quite introductions to Stefan and Rachel. There’s an painful pause when he asks after Raveena.

The somber moment is brutally interrupted by shrill, terrified screaming. It’s a haunted trail, they’ve heard lots of screaming, but this is serious screaming. They go running and find themselves at a replica of the Sacred Grove, where the source of the screams is pinned to the ground, surrounded by four or five vampires.

The Scoobies enter the fray, and a fight ensues. In a surprise turn of events, the girl acquits herself well. Really well. Like slayer well.

Gabe: "I'm Harry Potter."

After the dust settles, a quick discussion with the girl (who introduces herself as Rive Kellinger) reveals that she knows nothing about vampires, less about slayers, and thinks they’re all completely insane for believing in any of it.

Stefan: "Now I know what Raveena felt like when I showed up last year: somewhat redundant."

The group’s awkward attempts at conversation with the disbelieving Rive all fail miserably as they accompany her back to the entrance. Once there, she extracts herself quickly and makes for the exit, but not before Deaver gives her his card and gently tells her to stop by sometime.

A familiar voice reaches them from the ticket line where nervous and excited patrons wait for entrance to the trail. It's Geoff, dressed in a full cowboy costume, working the register and greeting a tiny ballerina and her mother with a grin.

The Scoobies spot him and there’s an awkward silence as everyone looks expectantly at Chase. Before she can react, a volunteer approaches Geoff with an agitated expression. His face goes sheet white. He quickly finds someone to cover his post and disappears with the volunteer.

Knowing the signs, the gang follows. They’re waylaid at the gate to the volunteer area by a well-meaning volunteer, but as soon as Geoff strides out of a nearby door and sees them, he abruptly summons them over.

Following him back to a storage area deep within volunteer headquarters, the gang is met with a gruesome sight. A large pool of blood covers the floor, wtih more splashed across the trunks and boxes behind it. The room is shrouded in shadow, barely illuminated by a small window high up in the eaves. Searching around, sharp eyes spot tiny smudges of blood traveling up the boxes toward the broken window above.

Will runs outside and sees a similar bloody print on the ground beneath the window, and then nothing. Whatever it was was too small to leave prints in the grass.

Geoff grimly tells them that Simone disappeared a couple of hours ago. Since she’s one of the primary organizers behind the trail, he would normally be only a little concerned, but in light of this, he’s incredibly worried.

The gang decides to start an all-out search for Simone. They split into two groups and search the trail. Nothing new comes to light. Despite the ugly situation, those who visit the Wild and Weird section get a good laugh at how far off base and crazy some of McKennitt’s most famous "legends" are in the exhibits.

Rachel gets a phone call from some worried CG coven members. Rowan had a vision earlier. Not all that unusual, but what is unusual is that she hasn’t contacted anyone yet. Rachel agrees to go to Rowan’s place to check on her. Stefan and Chase ask that she call if it’s anything major, and she agrees before leaving.

The group meets back up in the middle of the trail. Everyone turns up empty-handed... there is no sign of Simone.

Just then, Stefan’s phone rings. It’s Rachel. She tells them to get to Rowan’s – now. It’s related, and it’s important.

The front door to Rowan's house is unlocked, and there is a chill to the air inside. The gang quickly moves toward the sound of sobbing. In the back bedroom, they’re met with another gruesome tableau. Blood is again splashed across the walls, and this time thereare two twin pools of blood, about shoulder width apart, congealing on the floor.

Rowan's roommate is the source of the sobbing. She is crying inside a circle of salt, her protective magic still active. Rachel is kneeling outside the circle, talking to her gently, trying to get the woman to let her in. She and Chase finally manage to talk her into breaking the circle. They get her out of the hellish room and into the living room, where she tells them her story.

They were attacked in their house by three women wearing old-fashioned clothing. They carried spiked, chain-like weapons, and also wielded iron spikes. They had an old parchment with them with something written on it that she couldn't make out in the moment.

She cast the salt circle while there was a huge magical fight. They stabbed Rowan, and she was suddenly gone. Then two of the three women, injured, also vanished. The final woman, the one who stabbed Rowan, turned into a cat and jumped out the window.

Chase: "He seems to know what's going on."
Will: "You'd be a fool not to."
Chase: "You'd be surprised in this town."

The Scoobies decide this sounds like a job for... research. Chase and Will wait for the police at the respective crime scenes, then hook up with everyone else at the library.

The weather has gotten progressively worse, and as they huddle in the library, the storm knocks out the power. Candles flare to life, lit by an unseen hand.

Will [re Bannon the librarian]: "Does he have an office and does he sit around complaining about late fees?"

And there is Bannon.

Chase: "I should have kicked the cauldron over on him. It worked the first time."

They tell him what they know (which confuses Will horribly, since the last time he checked, Bannon was a bad guy). He thinks for a moment and says that the culprit is most likely Bathory.

Chase [re the difficulty of sacrifices]: "Virgins, getting scarer these days."

There is some discussion of virgins and whether Simone and Rowan are dead or alive.

Deaver: "Most likely alive is better than definitely dead."

[My recovered notes ended here.]

There must have been SOME kind of party later because... I don't THINK all this happened at the trail. But here it is.

Gabe: "Jello shots."
Deaver: "When in Rome."
Gabe: "If we take only one, they'll think we're tea-totalling."

Deaver: "I'm not thinking too clearly by now."
Chase: "Are you drunk?"
Deaver: "Is there alcohol in those jello things?"
Chase: "You did jello shots?!"
Deaver: "Only four."
Chase: "Are you crazy? Why?"
Deaver: "When in Rome!"

Deaver: "Do we have the paper?"
Gabe: "Yes."
Deaver: "Is it still invisible?"
Gabe: "Yes."
Deaver: "That makes it harder to read."
Gabe: "Yes."

Will: "Is he still drunk?"
Stefan: "It's true!"
Will: "But he's still drunk."