Dark Investigation (LazarusLuna X Guy_Sas)

[guy_sas]

LazarusLuna as "Lucia" - A skilled investigator, who is familiar with the paranormal. 

Spoiler

Guy_Sas as DM

Off of the coast of Nova Scotia there was an island with a dark and mysterious history, known as New World Gift, or sometimes just Gift. Not many people know about this place, but most who do would tell you stay clear of it. They speak of woods that steal people for days on end, mysterious figures that watch you from the shadows, and dark dreams. Most who visit leave soon after, never to talk about what had happened, and never to return, still other find themselves drawn to the island, and never want to leave. This little island stayed silent for centuries, but recently university students all around North America have started vanishing, and the only clues lead straight back to this mysterious island. One private investigator, hired by the parents of these missing children will find herself inside this strange island, and may face more than she could ever expect.

~~~

The dock smelled of salt, and raw fish. Though, didn't they always? The sound of men grunting and shouting at each other was mixed in with the rough mechanical screeches of the machines hauling loads of fish both too and from the boats which had caught them. The docks were filled with men of all more or less the same kind, dirty, rugged, and greasy. Some were larger or smaller, others were clearly more harsh or friendly, but those three adjectives described them all. One of them took off his cap, and rubbed the back of his head, as he talked to the cold, professional, woman in front of him. 

"Sorry, Miss," he slurred, "there ain't no ferries that go straight to Gift, ain't enough tourism to that place to demand it. I figure one of us would be willing to take you there, and drop you off, but I don't think anyone could take your van," he put his hat back on, "there's an airport not far from here, small of course, but I'm pretty sure they'd let you park your car there for as long as you wanted," he paused again, "and no offense, I wouldn't dream of taking advantage of a stranger, but I can assure you, delivery to that place would cost you a fair amount," he swallowed hard, "it gives me the chills, it does. Wouldn't go within ten miles of the shore unless I needed to, and I'd suggest you do the same, but I can see that such a warning would fall on deaf ears."

He finally paused, and allowed the investigator a chance to respond.

Edited February 5, 2019 by guy_sas

[Starcry]

Lucia folded her arms and frowned slightly at the news that there would be no way to ferry her vehicle over to the island known as "New World Gift." (Which she simply referred to as NWG.) This meant she would have to load up whatever supplies she could and take them with her. It wasn't something she was happy and it would mean she would have to be very selective on what equipment she took with her. It also meant she might have to look for manual ways to create some of her equipment once she got to the island too which she really wasn't looking forward to. 
 Once the fisherman was finished talking there was nothing but the machines and men at work as she thought through her options. Lucia could tell he wasn't deceiving her and was genuinely looking out for her wellbeing, and despite her neutral expression, she appreciated it.

"The price is irrelevant. As long as someone can get me to that island I am willing to pay whatever the fee is." Her tone showed professionalism, despite the inconvenience that would usually make others hostile. It was obvious this man was used to and expecting this to happen from her. Luckily for him, she was logical and understood where he was coming from, therefore, had no hard feelings towards him.  

While this was a bump in the road, she wasn't going to let a few months research and the heartbreaking tearful pleas of her clients be for naught. She was determined to get to the bottom of whatever was causing these mysterious disappearances and was willing to push herself to her limits.  If it meant she had to survive on basic supplies then she would make do. She hadn't been in this line of work for so long for nothing and she wasn't about to let this get in her way. 

"I thank you for your words of caution, however, I have no choice but to go to this island. Much like you, I have a job that has sent me to this location."  She told him, with a small friendly smile to show she wasn't angry with him. "If it helps make you or others feel better I will be willing to pay extra to get me there. I will also sign a waiver." 

Lucia then got out her notebook and began to quickly write up the waiver before signing and dating it. She only hoped that this put the man at ease since he seemed genuinely frightened of the tales that came from NWG. True or not, it was clear something had caused these rumors to be passed down the generations... 

 

[guy_sas]

The fisherman looked down at the waver for a second, a little startled by it. He took a moment to read over it, muttering the words back to himself as he did. Finally, after a moment, he folded it and put it in his pocket. He looked at her again and sighed, as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, and pulled out a small notebook. He began to jot down something on it, before he ripped a page out and handed it to her. On it was a simple nine digit number, and a name.

"Well, I guess if you're determined, I can take ya over. I'll take ya first thing in the morning, anything you need to get done ya can. Besides, while my men will probably finish hauling everything off by six, that still means we'll approach the island by sunset, and I don't want to be anywhere near that place when it gets dark," he took a look at the note he handed her, "anyway, we'll meet back up here at eight, and that's my number if anything comes up. More importantly, if you can get a signal on that island, I want you to call me to get you off it. Either way, I'll probably come by after a week to get you? That sound good?" One more pause, before he snapped his fingers, "and for payment. I hate to do this, but how about, one hundred for the trip?"

From behind a building, a tall, lean figure leaned out, and seemed to watch them both. The figure wore a thick black jacket, black baseball cap, and shades. Though it was clear that whoever it was, was trying to be inconspicuous, their outfit made them stick out much more. Several workers, were clearly looking in their direction, though most choose to ignore the strange person. 

[Starcry]

Lucia watched the man as he read her waver and could tell from his body language that he still felt uncomfortable about the prospect of taking her to the island, even with the assurance that he and his colleagues would be blameless in the event that something were to happen to her. This made the redhead more curious about the mysterious island. What was it that they were so afraid of? So afraid that she had to go through all this trouble just to get transport there? 

She took the note he gave her and looked at it for a few moments before putting it in her jacket. She gave a nod to his conditions and took no issues with them. If anything the plan made sense and it would also give her time to prepare herself for the task before her. It wasn't often that she was put into situations like this and she would need to come up with different plans for if something went wrong while she was on NWG.  
 During the negotiation, she had noticed that they had an evesdropper but paid no mind to him. He had been spotted by others and no one seemed alarmed by his presence and she herself was curious about her new admirer. What business did he have with either of them? Whatever the case was, she played dumb to the fact he was there and just carried on her business. 

"Sure thing." Lucia understood that they would need to take cash before it happened. After all, they were taking a risk and she might not come back, thus wouldn't be able to pay them for their part of the deal. She took out her leather wallet from her jacket and counted out five twenties and an extra one. "For your troubles." She said before returning her wallet to the inner section of her jacket. "I have some different coloured flares on me. I will shoot green once I reach land and again once I am ready to come back." She then paused for a moment. A small frown could be seen on her features as it was clear she wasn't used to uttering the next part before. "I will shoot red if I have encountered something and am in trouble."   

Once the fisherman was done checking the money she asked. All that was left was a place to stay. Once that was out of the way she could then get to work on preparing herself for tomorrow. It was going to be a hell of a day.

"Is there a place where I could stay the night?"

Almost as if on cue,  the soft breeze picked up and it started to spit from the sky. Well, this was a good sign... 

Edited February 21, 2019 by LazarusLuna

[guy_sas]

The men on the harbor paused once they noticed the rain coming down. Then they began to hurry up, as more angry barks came out of their mouths. The man talking to Lucia looked back once, at the men at his ship, before he looked back at her. He nodded once at her, as he carefully placed the six bills inside his wallet. Though she had paid him more then he asked, he still looked solemn, and a little concerned. 

"Alright," he said, "well, as long as you're not going there helpless." he then pointed out towards town, "yeah, there's a hotel just down that road for a few miles. Should be on your right, and its only a block away from that airport I mentioned. If there's nothing else, I guess I'll see you out here tomorrow morning. Now, if you'll excuse me, I should return to my men."

The figure that looked out from behind the building, seemed to notice that the conversation between Lucia and the fisherman was drawing to a close. Carefully, they walked out from behind their corner, and began to walk towards the two of them, hands in pockets, and head down. They walked very slowly, almost intentionally so, and choose to occasionally look left and right, as if they were just checking out the place.