abandoned New Sodom [guy_sas x Whimsical Dreams]

[guy_sas]

"It's a weed more than anything else," Billie replies perhaps a bit too quickly as she steps away from the bed, " It hasn't completely left your system yet, and it may take several days to do so. If you see anything strange then just ignore it. Avoid deep breaths too, especially outside where there's more of it scattered around town." She turns to look at Lora, as her expression turns grave. "The deeper you go into the woods, the more it grows. Always stay on the path, no matter what you see, always stay on the path." After that she takes a deep breath and smiles again. "Anyway, other than that, welcome to New Sodom."

[Whimsical Dreams]

"A... weed?"  This whole situation was starting to get more convoluted to her by the minute.  Some sort of weed with hallucinogenic properties that grew in abundance, seemingly all over the less inhabited areas of the island?  That had to be against some regulations or something like that, the government was sure to step in an regulate it, perhaps forcing the local towns to clear the areas.  Normally, anyway...

The fact that she might be vulnerable to the to this... stuff... that would be problematic.  Though she made sure to think about it logically, determining that perhaps this woman wanted to keep something from her and gave such an excuse.  But she couldn't be sure.  "Thanks..." she finally said, mostly unapologetically as she climbed out of bed. 

[guy_sas]

Billie wanted to keep her around for a couple more minutes, just to make sure Lora was totally fine. It was nothing more than a couple basic reflex tests, and checking her arms and legs for any cuts or scrapes. After all of that was done, Billie left the room for a moment and returned with a small booklet. One of the major things it contained was a map of the entire island. 

From what she could tell the clinic was only a little ways away from the school, where she had passed out. If she followed the path farther she would hit the town square, which was specifically marked with the locations of the police station, post office, town bar, and bakery. At the northern end of the island there was marked a church. The light house was marked on it as well, though labeled "The New Sodom Historical Society", and there was a cave entrance on the eastern section that was labeled "Knossos". The last thing of note in the map was the number of paths it showed. There seemed to be dozens of small paths carving their way through the forest. If one wanted to, they could get from any one place to another without ever touching the main road, nor leaving a path. 

[Whimsical Dreams]

Despite her protests to get a move on, Lora didn't need a whole lot of convincing to accept the woman's medical attention.  She seemed forthcoming enough, and though the mare didn't trust her completely, the tests seemed to be routine enough to her to at least give her a chance.  Besides, she needed help getting started.  And one very good way was the map!  

Pouring over it, Lora found the island set-up rather interesting.  The paths certainly were a prime target for her to investigate, even if it would take her several days to do it.  Additionally, that cave... "What do you know about this cave... Knossos?"  An odd name for a cave on a small island indeed, whoever named it had at least some knowledge of Mediterranean history.  Though after the clinic, Lora had to visit the police station and make contact with local law enforcement, a staple action in every case.

[guy_sas]

"Not a lot," Billie lost some of her chipper attitude as soon as the topic of Knossos was brought up, she spoke slowly, "I know it's dangerous, very dangerous, and it's easy to get lost inside. I'm not sure why it's mentioned on there, it's been completely closed off for years." 

After leaving the clinic the sense of being watched returned. From out of the corner of her eyes, Lora could sometimes see something move within the tree line. Sometimes a shadow was flit between trees, or she could swear something moved. However there was nothing clear, nothing she couldn't chalk up to nerves. At least she didn't see herself again. As she got closer that feeling got a bit better, the trees were cleared out around the center of town.

The police station was small and shared its wall with the local post office. When Lora pushed her way inside the office a bell rang from above her. The only other person in the room was mouse with short red fur, eyes hidden behind large glasses, and seemed to be wearing not a police uniform, but a blue teeshirt, that said "police". She looked up from some paper work below her at the agent. "Oh, hello," she said vert quietly,

[Whimsical Dreams]

Lora raised an eyebrow at the feline, now pretty suspicious about the location.  If it was so dangerous, secluded and, especially, closed off, there was a possibility something could be hiding there.  She'd have to round up several officers and head down there at some point.  Looking over the map, she needed to get a move on.  "Thank you for your cooperation," the mare said after a pause, almost seemingly as if she was ignoring the clinic woman.  "I'd like to ask a few more questions, but I'll be back," she said, determined to get everyone's statements on how much they knew about the whereabouts of the missing girls.

Leaving the clinic, Lora went to light another cigar, but stopped before her eyes darted toward the tree line.  Was that... something that moved?  Wait a minute... that looked like a shadow!  No... it is but...  Her mind must've been playing tricks on her, just like the Billie woman said.  Shaking her head, she decided to push that aside and continue on hastily toward the police station.  Yet as she came upon it, she already knew the prospects weren't good.  It was far too small to have a sizeable force... she'd be lucky if there was even a deputy.

Bursting into the office, she peered about momentarily before spotting the mouse.  Clopping over, her face was already filled with incredulity and disbelief.  "I need to speak with the chief," Lora said tersely, getting right to the point and rudely ignoring formalities.  

[guy_sas]

The mouse shrunk away, almost instinctively, under the force of Lora's presence. It almost seemed like she was trying to somehow bury herself in the back of her seat. She dropped her paper work, and brought her hands up defensively between her and the detective. Her eyes were wide and showed exactly how afraid she was in that moment.

"But I'm not to. . . you can't. . ." she picked up a paper, "you have to fill this. . ." she let the form drop from her hands as she looked up into the emerald green eyes of the horse above her.

"It's okay," a voice to the right of the detective sounded out. From out of a bathroom came a large wolf with black fur that was just starting to grey. He was dressed in a proper police uniform, except for the fact that his holster was around his waist, and it clearly held a six shooter, instead of any modern firearm. His dark blue eyes looked tired, almost. He looked over Lora once. "You're the investigator I take it," he asked as he walked towards the door to his office, "we can talk in here."

[Whimsical Dreams]

She hadn't really intentionally wanted to intimidate the smaller mouse so much, but she had a case that could be time sensitive and she didn't have time to mess around with rookie desk clerks.  "Well?" she said more forcefully before the mouse dropped her paperwork.  'Oh great... this is going to go real well...' she thought to herself, seeing as how easily the girl had gotten flustered.  Peering over the document before her, she grinded her teeth a bit.  "I don't have time for this, where is your..."  As she almost spoke over her, the mare's attention shifted to the sudden appearance of the wolf.  

At least he looked like the kind of person she was looking for, and she readily left the desk behind abruptly, leaving the mouse girl behind as she joined who she assumed to be a higher up.  "That's right.  I'm Lora Kaine, with the FBI," she declared, promptly pulling out her badge to make sure he knew it.  Peering over his gun, she held back a frown at just how backward this place was.  A six-shooter?  Was he really carrying that cause he didn't have anything else?  She knew people who carried those for the looks but...  

Joining him in his office, she withdrew her paperwork.  "In case you weren't informed, I'm here investigating the disappearances of five young women."

[guy_sas]

Walking into the office, the first thing one would notice was how neat it was. Papers were kept orderly, shelves were filled with files that, upon closer inspection, would be revealed to go in alphabetical order. It wasn't just a place of business though, he had a bookshelf in the back of the room, a couple odd items here and there. It didn't take a particularly keen eye to notice the fact that every book was a western, or the fact that he had what looked like a duster, and ten gallon hat hanging off the coat rack. There was even an old golden sheriff's star that was left on the corner of his desk.

"Yes, I've been made well aware of that, detective," he said as he pulled a file out of his desk, "Jenny, Yvonne, Kim, Simone, and Amanda, all came to this town and haven't been seen since," he said as he flipped through the manila folder, then placed it on his desk for her to see. It was quite thin, far more so than her own folder. "I don't know much more than that, though. I'm the thin line of the law out here, and that can keep me pretty busy from day to day."

[Whimsical Dreams]

Being who she was, she needed to take in the environment and start judging.  Neat was a good thing, and she could appreciate it, as it was a luxury she didn't always have.  Of course, she started judging the guy quite hard upon noticing his fascinations with the old west, a fact that actually annoyed her.  One thing was a hobby, but it was a different thing to go so far as to involve it with his job as part of the law.  Lora was quick to open his folder and go through the files, with few results.  She already knew the info here... but everything she could add from her own investigation only revealed the girls' lives before they changed completely.  So in other words... no luck here either.

"I'm sure," she responded to his declaration, peering toward the mouse girl again for a moment, practically indicating how obvious the mouse's inability was.  Turning her attention back to him, though, she was eager to get started.  "So I'm going to need a list of all the places you have already searched," she said, in a rather forward and commanding tone.

[guy_sas]

"That's in there," he said as he gestured towards the file. Though they both knew at that point the only thing in there were some basic facts about the girl's previous lives. He saw Lora's expression, but managed to meet it rather well. He folded his hands together and rested his chin on them as he spoke. "Look, I've been the only trained officer on this island for the past twelve years," his voice was deadpan, serious, "that girl you met, she's my niece. She works as a volunteer to help me get my paper work done. It's a good thing too, because if she didn't I wouldn't have the time to do what little I can do, chasing down a bike thief, stopping bar fights, and dealing with a couple domestics. On top of that no one bothered to inform me of this missing persons case until two days ago, when I was told a FBI agent was coming down here to investigate them," he sighed, "There is one thing I found, make of it what you will."

The next file shows a picture of a gecko with bags under his eyes, appearing to be in his early twenties. His name is William Gladesdell. The file offers some basic information, his listed address. height, eye color, body type, and other things. The next couple pages go into detail about what happened to him. Apparently he went missing one day, ten years ago. No trace of him was found in that time, and it was declared death in absentia. Then one month ago he showed back up in town, dripping wet and naked. He suffered amnesia about the previous years, and seemed generally confused. He was released from police custody. The officer didn't need to tell her that the day he was released was around the time the changes would've started in the first girl, Jenny.

[Whimsical Dreams]

Even if it was the truth, this was not what Lora needed to hear right now.  A cop that was overworked with petty crimes and had a... well not a cop... doing paperwork, not to mention this story about the gecko.  It was obvious to her that this small town wasn't like some of the others she had been to before, who at least had a working department.  Bike thieves?  Even if he had worked for 12 years on the... 'force' she doubted he would be much suited to this case anyway.  It looked like she would have to do a lot of the heavy lifting herself, but at least now she had a lead.  

"I'm sorry to hear that, but what concerns me right now are the whereabouts of Mr. Gladesdell.  I'd like to talk to him personally."  The implication was there, that she could get something out of him that the cop couldn't, and whether he took it as a sign of superiority, an insult, or whatever else, she wasn't concerned.  But she needed to find this mystery gecko and hopefully find out more about him and where the hell he had been.  "And whatever you two are doing, it can wait.  This case is going to be taking precedence."  She was very clear about that, she was recruiting both of them to help her look.

[guy_sas]

"Yes, detective," he said and nodded once. Though it was hard to tell what he was thinking, as his face remained steadfast, "he should be at his home, listed in the file. He's a bit of a shut in, from what I know. Was before he disappeared, and still is now. His house shouldn't be too hard to find, you almost certainly saw it coming in," he turns to look out of a window in his office, there the tip of the light house can been seen, shrouded against a storm cloud, "you can see it right now." He pauses once and looks at her, "is there anything else?"

[Whimsical Dreams]

Raising an eyebrow, she didn't like how she couldn't read him very well.  Typically she made quite an impression but... he wasn't showing off any signs of it.  Sighing deeply, she nodded her head.  "Alright, that sounds like a good first step then.  I want you to drop everything you're doing and interrogate the citizens.  If you've already done that, do it again.  Each and every one of them."  Frankly she'd rather do it herself, but she had a lead to follow at the moment.  Getting up out of the seat and taking up the folders, she put them away in her satchel and readied up to leave.  "Got that?"  She wanted to make sure he understand who was in charge here.

[guy_sas]

"Interrogate them," he said with a raised eyebrow, and then made his way towards the door, "got it." He walked out and through the door, there was brief conversation between him and his niece, and then the sounds of packing up could be heard, apparently she was coming along with him. They waited in the entrance, and after she left, they closed and locked the door behind her. The chief, his desk had identified him as Haroldson, walked towards the local bar. The mouse followed behind him, notepad clutched to her chest. 

The walk to the light house was perhaps worse than the others. The light house leaned to one side, just slightly, and the shortest path to the lighthouse took her under that lean. It was like a great beast leaning down, staring at its prey. The hallucinations only got worse down that path, too. A silhouette seemed to watch her from the trees, and it disappeared each time she turned to look at it. She caught some glimpses of its face though, one that matched those sketches of one particular serial killer.

 

[Whimsical Dreams]

Though she half expected some remark against her, Haroldson seemed to just take her orders and run with them.  It actually was relieving to have a local cop that was willing to cooperate, rather than be so obsessed with taking the credit that he becomes a hindrance to the case, as happened far too often.  Still, she couldn't waste anymore time, and seeing those two offer toward the bar, she started heading off toward the lighthouse.  Obviously, she needed the map so as to not get lost, though going toward the lighthouse wouldn't be as much of a hassle as going back.  Or so she thought.

She couldn't remember the last time she had started to get chills walking around alone.  She was armed and was expertly trained in both kill shots and grapples, so that... dream is what it must've been... had no bearing on her.  Someone could grab her from behind all they wanted, she knew exactly how to flip them into a chokehold.  Course, if they presented themselves first, she had 15 tries to take care of them, and typically, 2 was her average for hitting the heart.  Still, she couldn't help but freak out a bit despite her extensive experienced as she could've sworn she was being followed, by none other than the one who got away.  

[guy_sas]

The wind came through again, strong. This time the whistling of the branches almost sounded like voices, whispering. The 'voices' were all female, and there seemed to be many of them talking. They were all around the same age range. From what she heard, Lora could pick up a couple phrases. "Thirty dead." "Couldn't save us." "Failed us." They continued along the path, the closer she got to the door, the louder they seemed to get. Then when she knocked, the wind stopped and they went silent.

 The door to the light house was made up of wooden planks, that appeared to have seen better days. After she knocked there was no other noise on the other side of the door for several moments. Just as she was about to try again, there was a slight thump. Footsteps could be heard from the other side of the door. They got closer and closer, until the door was opened with a slight creak. Standing inside was William Gladesdell. He was wearing an ill fitting and wrinkled suit. 

"Hello and welcome to the New Sodom Historical Society," he said in a voice, that almost managed to break monotone.

[Whimsical Dreams]

Lora's trenchcoat flapped harshly in the wind, as did her long, brush like tail and ponytail, and it forced her to squint her eyes as she tried to peer ahead of her.  The mare's ears perked up at the ever increasing sounds... though they didn't sound like just wind.  Were those... voices?  Peering about as she went, she saw the harsh rustling of the branches, thinking that maybe they were the cause of these odd happenings.  But when she started to make out a few words here and there... she got a bit freaked out to be sure.  "N-no..." she whimpered as she raised an arm in front of her catch some of the wind, "They can't be real... I'm just... hallucinating again..."  Could it be she was imagining the victims of the killer who got away?  Her biggest failure in life?  The guilt ate at her, as did the whispers.

At least, until she managed to knock, almost slam, on the door with her fist.  As her large body trembled, she slowly realized the wind had gone, as had the whispers.  And yet she was covered in sweat, nearly as she had been when she awoke in the clinic.  Her own thoughts distracted her enough to give the gecko enough time to get to the door before she could gather her temper and get angry.  When he finally did open the door, she peered over him.  "I'm FBI agent Lora Kaine and I've got some questions for you, Mr. Gladesdell.  May I come in?"  It wasn't so much a question, more a request.

[guy_sas]

He glanced over her once and then let the door open up a bit wider, allowing her to get a better view of the inside. The inside of the of the light house was covered in what appeared to be old memorabilia of the town. Old maps were hung on the walls, and the floor was dotted with display cases, with plaques behind them. Each display case held stuff that seemed pretty mundane though, a piece of wood, perhaps from the bow of some ship, or some old tool. There was one strange wooden figurine in the center of the room, it looked old. None of it really mattered.

"I guess you're here to talk about those missing girls, too," he asked with a sigh, as he walked back into the building, "I already told the other one everything, which is to say, nothing," he chuckled a little at his own joke, "alright, well come on in. Lets get this over with."

[Whimsical Dreams]

At a rudimentary glance, she would've said that it looked like a museum at least, yet as she was invited in and got to take a closer inspection of the what adorned the room, the only things of particular note in her mind were the maps of old.  It was possible those could actually be useful in reconciling some of the locations on the map, perhaps noting alternate names for the locations and changes in the local environment.  Though she doubted they would be extensive...

"Partially, yes.  Though I'm also here to find out more about your whereabouts," she said as she entered behind him.  She didn't need to explain what she meant, for surely he had been asked before.

[guy_sas]

In the corner of the room was a small table, with a couple chairs around it. He pulled up one and offered it to her, before he walked over a couple steps to a coffee machine. He started to make himself a cup. Without being asked he made her a cup as well. He poured a couple packets of cream and sugar into his Styrofoam cup, before he made his way back over to the table. He took the seat opposite her, and pushed her cup across the table. 

"Here, your welcome," he said without any emotion, and then took a long sip from his own cup. "My whereabouts? They've been here, this building, pretty much all day every day. Except when I leave to buy groceries," seeming to sense the next line of inquiry, "as for alibi's you can ask the Harvey's, they run the local store. They'll tell you that I've shown up every Saturday for the past month, and if that's not good enough, you can ask the ferryman. He keeps a record of everyone who enters and leaves the Island."

[Whimsical Dreams]

Lora nodded her head in thanks, her own emotions not quite out in the open either.  She couldn't help but notice how blatantly emotionless he was being, and how much it was starting to bother her.  She couldn't read his face, his emotions... nothing...  was he telling the truth?  Was he lying?  Was he changing parts of the story?  Was he afraid of her?  Was he afraid of something else?  The fact that he showed nothing was starting to instill a sense of weariness from her.

"Thank you for the coffee," she said as she took a sip of her own coffee, which she preferred black.  "I'll be sure to check up on that."  The mare pulled out her pda and typed in some notes mentioning the line he suggested to keep track.  Then, she went on to her second line of questioning.  "So that's well and all.  But about those ten years you were gone?  Who can vouch for your time away from the island?  Where were you, and what were you up to?" she asked, very interested in what he would say.

[guy_sas]

He looked at her with a blank stare, his eyes were like fogged over windows, blank and empty. "Don't you know, detective? I died ten years ago," he took another sip of his coffee, "and I don't have any memories of the afterlife. One second I'm in my room, watching the procession of Jupiter in my telescope, the next I'm in a jail cell, wearing nothing but a towel," his eyes seemed to stare into hers, "did they tell you I didn't age a day between those ten years? I could show you some of my old pictures if you don't believe me. I've never felt anything since then either," he shrugged, "my corpse was probably in Knossos, though, if that helps. Only place where it could've lay undiscovered for ten years. If it was in the ocean, it would've washed up on shore."

[Whimsical Dreams]

Were he not so emotionless, she would've thought that was a joke.  "Dead?" she wondered aloud, and quite confused on the matter.  Clearly he wasn't dead, as he was sitting right in front of her... no, that didn't make any sense.  "Hrm..."  Lora squinted at him hard, trying to pry any secrets he might be hiding out of him.  People didn't just disappear without a trace and come back to claim nothing happened.  At least... not those who tell the truth.  But she couldn't deny how creepy it was that he had practically no personality, his voice, his face... nothing.  A blank slate.  So maybe some part of what he was saying wasn't an exaggeration...

"Did you say Knossos?"  All of a sudden, her eyebrows perked up.  It was already a lead she planned to follow but now she was encouraged even more.  "Have you been there before?  What's in the cave?"  Ultimately, his rambling was little more than white noise to her, she jumped on the clue and needed to ride that out.

[guy_sas]

"Water, rock, mold. . . among other things," he replied, and took another sip of his coffee. He paused after that, holding the coffee inside his mouth, as it seemed like he was considering exactly what to say next. "Like I said, I probably spent ten years down there, though I guess you want something I can remember, right? Well, before I died, I did try to map it out. I made three different attempts to go in, within as many months. I can show you the maps I made, if I can find my old journal. I'm not, nor have I ever been, any sort of cartographer though, so I doubt they would be of much use."