Jewel
Healer
Loyalty comes in many forms. Some are more obvious than others. -Thorn
Posts: 2,195
Pack Status: New Dawn, Nighstar, Rogue, Other
|
Post by Jewel on Jul 12, 2017 0:05:07 GMT -5
( Orfeo) "You know, if you're going to be a party pooper, Ringo, we could just leave you on the side of the road." That's where they parked Jason's car. Well, actually, the Camaro was safely tucked away on a small dirt road that branched off into the walking trail the trio were currently walking on. It was a five-mile loop that, if walked all the way through, led them straight back to the car. But they didn't. Instead, they had a destination in mind. Its name is Longfellow Tunnel. It was the most haunted thing on this side of the Mississippi. So (in)famous it was that multiple ghost hunting crews and psychics have spent time in there. Jason was excited and nervous at the same time. He heard that there was some pretty hardcore spirits that lived in Longfellow Tunnel. In the small town of Redd Herring, not much went on. At least, not anymore. Jason's father is the president of the Redd Herring Historical Society. The Longfellow Tunnel had been a checkpoint in the Underground Railroad. Until slaveholders blew one end up to make it impossible for slaves to go through that way (even killing some in the process to drive home the point that no one can leave). Then, later on, it was an awesome hang out for this fight club. There were drugs, booze, and prostitution. All fun stuff. Jason wondered why there wasn't somebody willing to tour people around it. A few seconds later he came to the realization that a lot of the residents in Redd Herring were skeptics like Neringa. No one is going to do tours of the best thing Redd Herring has to offer if the locals don't have any belief of the other side. It was just getting dark out. The sun had already sank under the line of trees, making the sky turn from orange and pink to purple and gray. A few yards ahead, Jason could make out the tunnel and it's inky black opening. Chills crept down his spine, making him grin with anticipation. "Let's make camp here," he suggested, stopping. "And we'll start our investigation as soon as it's dark out."
|
|
|
Post by Orfeo on Jul 12, 2017 15:30:50 GMT -5
"My name is not Ringo, it is Neringa," she replied with a thick Eastern European accent as she brushed a strand of hair across her face, huffing lightly as she struggled with the bag she carried under her right arm. The air had chilled significantly enough for her to almost feel like she could see her breath, even though it wasn't that cold at all. His comment made her roll her eyes. "I am not a party pooper, okay? I am here to make sure you all don't hurt yourselves doing stupid things." Her words came under a slight grumble as she tossed the bag she carried off to the side once they came upon the entrance to the tunnel.
Jan walked behind the group, hands in his pockets clinging tightly to his black sweater. His green eyes rolled from left to right, quizically looking over the trees and dirt and road until they camw upon that tunnel. That same perplexed look was focused toward it and despite everyone else working to set up a makeshift camp he couldn't seem to take his eyes away from the darkened entrance.
"I mean," he spoke, reaching up to rub at the back of his head lightly, "why are we here again?" The chubby boy bit his lip and turned to look at his friends. Neringa was struggling to unzip the bag with some of her equipment and, with a click, he realized that he had been carrying a bag as well. Jan knelt and worked on getting his dad's mid-2000s camera from his slim backpack. Of course, he knew very well why they were there tonight. It just seemed slightly absurd to-
"To waste our time, of course." She finally popped the seal open and pulled out her own camera as well, a small device which would easily strap to the user's hand. "We could be eating pizza. But, I digress. Jason wants his ghosts. If I'm not here you're all going to get in trouble." With those words a small grin appeared on her face, hidden slightly by black hair that had fallen in front of her.
Jan laughed to himself, rubbing his hands together, then gazed back to the tunnel entrance. "It is kinda creepy though." He mused, biting his lip lightly, turning his own camera on and off to make sure it was running properly. The old thing was big and clunky and had to be held with both hands because of the weight, and it's quality was well below today's standards. But it's all he had. "Let's just be quick about it, eh? In and out in a few hours."
He hardly wanted to stay in all night.
|
|
Jewel
Healer
Loyalty comes in many forms. Some are more obvious than others. -Thorn
Posts: 2,195
Pack Status: New Dawn, Nighstar, Rogue, Other
|
Post by Jewel on Jul 12, 2017 16:34:58 GMT -5
Jason waved his hand in a dismissive manner, his backpack and the tent swaying with every step he took. Honestly, he didn't plan on sleeping tonight. The bottles of Starbucks coffee and the energy drinks he bought from the local store was his caffiene arsenal; with those and his already-pumped adrenaline, he was sure that he wouldn't be tired at all. They all ate a hearty supper at the small restaurant Redd Herring had before coming here, but being the caring friend, Jason also brought along snack cakes and granola bars and jerky sticks that were nestled atop his change of clothes. "Nah, we won't hurt ourselves, Mom," he reassured in a mocking manner.
He had put a recorder in the side pocket of his backpack, and at the sight of it made him rub his hands in anticipation before setting to work on the tent. He rolled his eyes at Neringa, but glanced up and smiled when he saw that she brought her own camera. "Longfellow Tunnel isn't owned by anyone. Neither is the land it's on. We're not breaking any rules being out here." He followed through with his childish urge to stick his tongue out at Neringa before continuing with the tent-building. "And Jan, where is your sense of adventure? A few hours? It's only now starting to get dark! Nowhere near midnight yet."
When he finished with the tent, he stepped back to admire his handywork. It was small, really, the package that it came in claiming to be big enough for only two people. He tilted his head a bit, fists on his hips contemplatively. A few seconds later, he shrugged, then turned to his backpack to fish out his first caffienated drink of the night, as well as the recorders. "My favorite part of the night is going to be the E-V-Ps. Definitely." His blue eyes lit up with a fire of excitement. A few seconds later, he snapped his fingers, as if remembering something. "D'you guys bring any flashlights? The tunnel is half a mile long, and gets really dark."
|
|
|
Post by Orfeo on Jul 14, 2017 18:57:21 GMT -5
Red Herring was not that big of a town. Of course not small enough for people to say that they knew one another, but not large enough that one didn't really know how to navigate it and know its ins and outs once they had lived there for a year or two. Jan wasn't from there to begin with, moving in from across the country only about a half year ago. He was still learning things about it, from good restaurants to entertainment centers to waste his time away. Had it not been for Jason and Neringa he'd probably have hated the place. It's funny how a simple a thing as being clumsy will get you enough attention to make as interesting friends as them.
"What the heck is even an EVP?" He questioned in response as he pulled out a heavy and large flashlight, one of the powerful ones which could illuminate long distances, and playfully shined it at Jason's face for a quick second before tossing it in his general direction. If he wanted to lead, then he got to carry it.
Neringa, on the other hand, had moved into town around four years ago. Despite Her constant exposure to the culture and way of life, she was still deeply rooted to her native country's culture. Small intricacies of everyday life would fly over her head and even simple and obvious things tended to amuse, delight, or shock her on occasion.
"Electronic. Voice. Phenomenon." Her reply was quick, her accent coming off thickly with how she punctuated every single c and n in her words. Despite the nonchalant tone of voice, she looked up at Jan with a small smile on her face. Sure, she was a skeptic that didn't think any of this was real, but that did not mean that she didn't have even a little bit of knowledge when it came to what they would be doing. Unlike Jan, she had actually done her homework. Though with his grades in school? She wasn't too surprised. "You record, and ask questions, and the-" she turned to look at Jason, pursing her thin lips and rubbing her pointed nose for a second before her thin lips twisted into a sly smirk, "-spooky ghosts will answer you back. In theory."
Jan looked back at the tunnel entrance, his eyes gazing over it, trying to look deep inside, but it darkened out so quickly he could hardly make out anything of it for a few feet. "You mean to tell me we're gonna go half a mile into that thing to go off on theories?" He swallowed a thick wad of saliva, feeling a thin chill run down to the base of his spine. Hands quickly stoked at his hair, messing it up slightly. Hell, had he not already had a good meal, he'd be munching on one of those snacks just to ease the tension. "I'm all for adventure and stuff, Jason, but ya know it's not too late to come over to my house and all of us have a movie night together. My folks are out of town."
He didn't know why he even bothered. He knew how Jason was with these kinds of things. What he really couldn't figure out was how his friend managed to convince him to come along. A combination of pleading and promises. Well, he didnpay for his dinner. Jan finally signed out some air he'd been holding in.
He was so easily bought.
"If there actually is something, by the chance that I am wrong and Jason is right," Neringa almost laughed at the notion, "then I am putting my money on that camera being the evidence." She pointed at Jan's outdated dinosaur of a camera. "Take a lot of pictures so I can prove this man wrong, okay?" She nudge her head at Jason, then again gave him a sly and somewhat playful smirk as she finished up with setting things up on her end.
|
|
Jewel
Healer
Loyalty comes in many forms. Some are more obvious than others. -Thorn
Posts: 2,195
Pack Status: New Dawn, Nighstar, Rogue, Other
|
Post by Jewel on Jul 18, 2017 23:57:07 GMT -5
Jason was born and raised with muddy water in his veins. From preschool to graduation he's been stuck in this hole-in-the-wall town. The first thing he asked Jan as he showed him around school was, "Why here?" as soon as he was told that his friend had moved from California. Here, where the weather didn't know what it wanted to do. Here, where the next door neighbor had more guns than teeth. Here, where there was barely any money in the budget for decent lunch, but plenty enough for the basketball boys to get new jerseys every year.
He was seven when he was first told that Longfellow Tunnel was haunted. His father used it as a means to scare him when he was being a particularly naughty child. "I'll drop you off to spend the night there." Back then, he was careful not to be a too particularly ornery child. As he grew older, his fear turned into fascination. Finally, some excitement in this otherwise boring town! When team after team of paranormal investigators showed up to Redd Herring, he became more and more ... enthusiastic about his home. Not even the pale faces and haunted looks in the teams' eyes could keep him away.
"Well, someone has done their homework," Jason said after blindly (literally) catching the flashlight. "But it's not a theory. It's been proven. Spirits can talk to you like that." He turned the flashlight off, then on before returning the favor and shining it in Jan's face. He grinned, shining the light on the destination before them. A few steps forward, And his eyes caught something.
"What's that?" he asked, shining the bright light onto a ... what looked to be a symbol of some kind. White. When his fingers brushed against it, a sudden chill overtook his body. Goosebumps rose on his skin. Eyebrows scrunched in concentration. "Dad didn't mention this. Guys, look." He moved aside so that his companions could look, making sure to keep the light on it. "This isn't any kind of marking from the Natives, I'm pretty sure."
|
|
|
Post by Orfeo on Jul 19, 2017 21:54:57 GMT -5
"Yes, right, proven." It was clear from her tone of voice that she was not buying into the whole thing, but nonetheless she couldn't help but smile a little at his stubborn refusal to accept anything but the truth that he believed in. Something to admire Jason for, she realized. Dedication that not many others had. "It is almost always just blurry static and you only really hear what another person has pointed out. But, we'll see, won't we?" She stood, stretched, gathered her gear, and followed behind Jason
Jan wasn't entirely sold on the concept yet. No, not in the belief of ghosts, but on the hunting of them to begin with. If there was something supernatural at play and it was real, why should they be messing with them to begin with? A thousand other things they could be doing. A thousand other fun activities. Hell, they could be at his house watching one of those ghost hunting shows. Neringa would be her skeptic self, Jason would be getting a kick out of the show, and he'd be happily eating pizza on the couch. Same thing, different setting. Definitely much safer.
Once he blinked and rubbed away the blindness from his eyes, he followed behind his friends until at last he reached the marking that they had mentioned. One look at it and a chill wend down his spine, throat constricting at Jason's words. "Wait. You don't know what this is?" he questioned in disbelief, unwilling to believe what he was saying. Despite the urge to turn around and just walk away, Jan lifted the old camera he held and took the first picture of the night, one of the marking dead center of the frame. The flash lit up his surroundings in blinding white light for a split of a second before receding. He turned and then faced the entrance to the tunnel, and likewise, he took a picture of that as well. "Two for the album, then."
"I'm sure it's nothing," replied Neringa without much worry or concern in her voice. If anything, looking at the marking, she figured it could easily have been Jason playing a small prank on them to get them a little spooked for the night. He knew about this place before them, drove the three of them there. It wasn't so far off to think that he would take a trip earlier in the day to set this up just to freak them out a little. She almost smirked. Almost. Something held her back though. She wasn't sure why. "Recording time," she announced to herself as she lifted her cam corder and, for a few seconds, taped the symbol before panning the camera over to the tunnel entrance. "Dark," she commented, before finally putting a stop to the reel for now.
Her eyes moved over to Jason and she nudged her head slightly. "Let's go, gang. We've got a mystery to solve."
|
|
Jewel
Healer
Loyalty comes in many forms. Some are more obvious than others. -Thorn
Posts: 2,195
Pack Status: New Dawn, Nighstar, Rogue, Other
|
Post by Jewel on Jul 20, 2017 21:34:45 GMT -5
"No idea," Jason replied, turning his face away from the barbaric flash of Jan's camera. A few moments after he was sure his friend had put the museum-worthy device away, he squinted his eyes as if that was going to give him more insight on the mark's origin. "Why didn't the investigators not catch onto this?" With one finger, he rubbed gently at it, the sensation of rough rock scraping gently at his pad. Then he pulled away, another chill rocking through him.
"I really, really don't think it's nothing." But that was expected of Jason. With his determination came his belief that there was a reason for everything. The graffiti in the tunnel? Little punks with nothing better to do. Jason's father had given the boys (and girl) a "stern talking to" after those same punks admitted to it. There's the reason for that. This mark and why the investigators haven't seen it yet? "But nice reference, Ringo."
When Jason stepped foot into the cave, it felt like he was stepping in a whole new environment. Yes, it was dark and dank in the tunnel - if he had turned the flashlight off, they wouldn't have seen their own hands in front of them. But this was something more ... he couldn't put his word on it. There was a heaviness on his shoulders. He was half tempted to check if someone had put boulders on him. He thumbed the recorder on with ease and spoke out loud, in his "cool guy" voice, "Longfellow Tunnel, Redd Herring. There are so many stories regarding here. So much lore." It's such a shame that the residents didn't care like he did. "From innocent women to guilty gang members. Even heard there was a demon in here."
A blast of frigid air hit his face, making him shudder violently. "Dude," he said, turning suddenly with a bright smile to his face. The twinkle in his eye showed just how he was feeling. Excited. Thrilled. "Did you feel that?" He brought his arm up. With the other one, he maneuvered the flashlight so that Neringa could get a good sight on the gooseflesh there. "Not even three feet in! This is going to be an awesome night."
|
|
|
Post by Orfeo on Jul 22, 2017 17:44:55 GMT -5
Jan and Neringa stuck close to Jason, not willing to bump into anything simply because they couldn't see. The darkness was almost toxic to the two of them. Heavy in the worst possible way, bearing down on them, the the flashlight being the only true air of respite for them. So yes, they stuck close to Jason, sometimes next to or sometimes behind him. Their eyes were both glued to the floor and to their immediate left and right, both taking careful and planned out steps to make sure they weren't stepping on something they'd rather avoid altogether.
Neringa curiously eyed Jason as he began his little recording, then looked above his shoulder over to Jan, who had paused for a second to turn around and take a photo of the tunnel entrance from the inside. If it hadn't been for the flash of light coming from his camera she wouldn't have been able to tell the point at which the tunnel ended and the open forest began. That's how dark things were. She bit her bottom lip, quickly flipped open the HD view-screen of her camcorder, and then with a small sigh she began to film. Though the camera itself didn't illuminate in front of her, the view-screen did have a night vision mode which she very quickly made use of. The world in the screen was sudden washed in a sickly dull green hue, and at last, she managed to pull away from Jason so she could move on her own accord.
"This place is..." she didn't even have the words for it. Run down. Wasted. Abandoned. Her camera showed her rubble everywhere. "The last time this place was put together must have been... so many years ago." For a second she forgot all about their ghost hunting adventure as she panned the camera all around herself, shaking her head at the run down state of Longfellow Tunnel. "It's really-"
She paused, eyes widening for a split second as she took a step back. Her eyes fell on Jason. He felt it too.
"What was that?!" Jan cried out, quickly making his way to Jason as he rubbed at his arms.
"Just a gust of wind, calm down Jan." She looked back to the entrance, then back to Jason and Jan.
"That definitely did NOT feel like just a gust of wind." He could feel the hair at the back of his neck stand up, fingers shivering slightly as he did his best to hold his camera as still as possible. "It was t-too concentrated. Like someone blowing air into your face."
Neringa felt a deep cold chill run down her arms. She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Are we going to think that every little sound and gust of air is a ghost? Why would a ghost blow air on your face, Jan? Jason?" She sighed, didn't wait for a response, and closed in on the group, fighting all the thoughts on the back of her head that told her maybe there was something else going on here. She felt it too. It was concentrated. It did not feel like just a gust of wind.
"So..." Jan cleared his throat and straightened out his back. "What kind of ghost are we... are we looking for here?" Yeah, Jason had already gone over the history of Longfellow Tunnel with them while at the dinner, but he couldn't help himself. He had to ask. Even if there was nothing at all. "I mean. Is it... is it old or like something ancient or are we going completely blind here?" He scratched lightly at his camera with his thumb, pressing down lightly on the button to take an image, but not quite enough to actually take an image.
|
|
Jewel
Healer
Loyalty comes in many forms. Some are more obvious than others. -Thorn
Posts: 2,195
Pack Status: New Dawn, Nighstar, Rogue, Other
|
Post by Jewel on Aug 17, 2017 23:57:00 GMT -5
“There are a lot of spirits here. Ranging from good to evil.” Jason was speaking fast – something that happened frequently when he spoke of things that excited him. Sometimes, his words would run together, making it hard for people to understand him. When he was in grade school, it was particularly horrible. His teachers would always have him repeat himself until they finally understood. And by the time they understood, Jason would have gotten so frustrated that he wasn’t even excited anymore. Freshly graduated from high school, his speech skills have advanced, and he now understood that he had to take a breath and let his brain and mouth get back on the same track. “There are the slaves that didn’t make it to the North. Then when Longfellow Tunnel became a meeting place for a gang, some members died. They’re particular nasties.”
Jason had let the “gust of wind” comment from Neringa slide. He knew that it wasn’t, and trying to convince her was like pulling teeth. Like Jan said, it was too concentrated of an air. A spirit had, in fact, attempted to make its presence known. “Oh, and there’s a demon in here. Supposedly. But I don’t think there is. Like I ask all the new students to walk into Redd Herring High, why would it choose to be here? Of all places, why a dark tunnel that was used for a good thing?” Then he tilted his head, walking a bit forward to set the pace again. Slowly, so that Neringa and Jan can keep up as they film the place. Maybe it was because it had been used for something bad after that, covering the positive energy with so much negative that the demon was attracted to it. Or, perhaps, it was there way before it became part of the Underground Railroad. It was a possibility; Longfellow Tunnel was in the forest prior to the establishment of the town.
A few hundred yards in, there was no sight of the entrance to the tunnel. The deeper they went, the chillier it got. If it weren’t for the flashlight Jason had, he wouldn’t have been able to see past his nose. While they slowly walked, he asked normal questions one would typically ask spirits. “Why are you here?” he called out, but no answer when he stopped to play the recorder back (he did that quite often, probably irritating his group). Same with “We mean no harm” (which caused a tightening in his chest that Neringa explained could very well be the lack of oxygen they were getting), “what’s your name,” and “will anyone answer?!”.
He cursed in the back of his mind, sighing his frustration out loud. He didn’t want to provoke the evil spirits, but he guessed that he was going to have to. He knew that there were spirits in the tunnel. Multiple professional ghost teams investigated Longfellow before. They came out with some pretty hardcore evidence. Why were they not revealing themselves? That was the question he was asking himself. “I’m going to try to provoke the baddies,” he said casually, as if he just said, “Hey, I’m going to go take a leak.” But on the inside, he didn’t want to do it. That was a horrible idea. If there was a demon, it would rise to the challenge. And it would probably win. “First: have you guys found anything interesting?”
((Beautiful, in'nt?))
|
|
|
Post by Orfeo on Aug 20, 2017 19:20:31 GMT -5
"Evil spirits... right. Great." Jan had to huff at that comment, confused because he wasn't really sure if he was believing it or not to begin with. Spirits was one thing, evil ones was another. How Jason even knew these things in the first place was beyond him. Sure other investigators had come before to take a look around in there, but from what little he had read, he didn't catch any mention of evil spirits. Supposedly. Then again, Jason would be the kind of person to do a lot more in depth research about things like this. He had heard of the slaves and the gangs and the different kinds of people that had died here in this tunnel; Jan just didn't think that any would stick around to actually haunt the place. It made no sense in his mind.
God, he wanted to doubt this all so badly. With every picture he took he could feel his heart skip a beat before it revealed on his camera to show... nothing. He sighed, glad and anxious all the same. He really just wanted out of there.
Neringa almost scoffed, had it not been for a cold chill of air that struck her and took her breath away for a couple of seconds. Good spirits, evil spirits, and now demons? She was more than convinced now that Jason was pulling nonsense from between his lips, even if he had an absolute certainty to his voice that couldn't be ignored. So sure of what he was saying, claiming it as if it were fact. She managed to keep herself quiet, as well as Jan, when Jason started asking the questions, though once she was over she couldn't help herself any longer. "There's nothing here," she said. "No good spirits, bad spirits, and certainly no demons."
"I-I don't know," replied Jan, earning a sudden glare from Neringa. "I mean... what about that symbol out front? The one you couldn't recognize, Jason? I mean... if there was a demon, don't people... like... seal those things with symbols and runes and such?" He really didn't know what he was talking about, but somehow, it all made sense as well. His eyes widened in horror as he took a step back. "No! You're not going to go around provoking these things." He felt his breath leave him at the though, along with his nerve. "No fucking with ghosts, Jason."
"Guys please," murmured Neringa under her breath in some slight exasperation as she rolled back what she had recorded so far and took a look through it. "I don't see anything here except shadows, our shadows I mean, and a bunch of years old junk lying around everywhere." She looked up from her camera and took a look around. "How this entire tunnel hasn't collapsed on itself already is beyond me, but, really, I haven't found anything here." Because, of course, there was nothing to find. She was sure of it.
Jan, scrolling through the pictures he had taken on his dinosaur camera, stopped and squinted at one particular picture he'd taken. "I..." His lips dried and he took a closer look at what could only be described as a... a black mass set up against the darkness of the tunnel itself. This one he had taken a while back, as they had gone in, yet only now he noticed this shadow against the darkness. "Jason, does something here look... wrong to you?" He turned so Jason could see it, pointing at the shadow mass against the darkness of the tunnel. Really, one had to look hard and close to be able to make out... something there. Jan felt like he was reaching for straws here, but he couldn't shake the feeling when he looked at the picture. It wasn't in the form of a body. But... something. Definitely something.
"I don't see anything," muttered Neringa with one glance at the picture as she raised her camera once more and made a sweep of their surroundings with the built in night vision.
|
|