vatheon | Life's no fun without a good scare

It starts some time around 3am, Tuesday morning. Thin whispers of fog start appearing all throughout Vatheon, creeping through the narrow, winding streets, up the steps, and over the park. It starts in the lower district, but as the night progresses and daylight approaches, it spreads to the other districts as well, growing thicker and thicker as it does. By the morning rolls around, the mist is thick enough that visibility has been compromised greatly, and the temperature seems to have dropped a few degrees, an odd chill filling the air.

And on the walls, there are stains.

They are infrequent at first, just a odd ruddy brown smear and a oddly bright red drop here and there, but the closer to the Plaza, the more numerous they become. There is a large smear across the steps leading up to the Plaza, as if something big was dragged up them. In one place the blood -- for it is blood, there is no deny it at this point -- pools thickly as if whoever was responsible took a casual break there, leaving the poor victim to bleed out on the steps.

On the plaza, the mist is thinner, but that is no relief. Rather, it just functions to make the gruesome scene all the more clearer.

A woman is draped upside down on the coral. Or, well, woman. It was once a woman, certainly, but now it is nothing more than something straight out of a nightmare. The flesh seems to have been torn carelessly from her limbs here and there, showing the white gleam of her bones, her nurse outfit torn as if raked apart by giant claws and her head...

well, it isn't there anymore.

The ground in front of her is smeared with blood as well. But where the previous smears had been accidental, these are deliberate, long lines curving and meeting to spell out

hel pm e

But no help had been forthcoming, clearly. No, it seems that this murder, this brutal murder, was nothing more than a game to whoever did it. The walls of the buildings surrounding the plaza are coated in bloody, spelling out a long string of mocking 'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA's and directly in the center, behind the coral.

Who is next?

The notice board seems to have been hit too. The killer did not tear down any of the notices on the board already, but they did cover the entire board with blood-stained sheets of paper, each adorned with the same text over and over and over again.

Chop chop, sweet Charlotte Chop chop till she's dead Chop chop, sweet Charlotte Chop off her hand and head.

For those brave enough to check, no, the poor girl still has both her hands. Was the killer just sloppy, or does this mean this is not Charlotte? So many unanswered questions, more born every passing moment.

Who had done this? Why? Where they going to strike again? And why had nobody heard anything?

[ooc note: Consider this your mingle log. Have fun, go forth, threadjack.

And as a further note, the fog does not seem to be clearing up as the week goes on.

]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He looks the kid over before turning back to the body.]

Paperwork.

You ain't touched anything have ya?

[He slowly shakes his head, glancing at the body before abruptly looking away.]

...No, I haven't.

Are you a detective?

Thanks.

[He moves closer, making a face at the amount of blood. Ugh...that smell.]

Yeah. Name's Valiant.

An there's something screwy about all this.

[He looks up a moment.]

...hey, you wanna do me a favor? Follow those blood tracks back. See if they come from one direction or not.

[Then the kid won't have to stare at the pile of flesh. Eddie can't call it a body with how it looks.]

Valiant-san.

[A nod.]

I'm Minato. But I'll do that.

[He takes a deep breath and nods once, turning with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched to go figure that out for the man.

He'll be back.]

No need for the san, part kid.

[He nods when Minato give his name, then watches the boy go off. A small sigh before he goes back to exploring the body. He does avoid touching it for now.

What is really bothering him though is the amount of blood. No one person should bleed that much.]

[...Valiant. He commits that to memory, and only wanders back when he has explored thoroughly.]

There's blood smeared over the walls all around the middle district. There's a little in the lower district, but it just...disappears. There's no trail that I could see.

[Eddie hides the small start. creepy fog was getting on his nerves.]

Then maybe the perp didn't end here. Whoever did this coulda killed her here.

[He stands up and looks towards the way Minato came from.]

And went that way.

[Minato glances around awkwardly, nodding slowly.]

I suppose it...makes sense.

They have to still be in the city somewhere...there's nowhere to go, really.

That's what worries me. With this fog and the brilliant idiots that run around this town.

[He gestures towards the body]

This might not be the last one of these we see.

[He frowns then, steely and solemn.]

We'll find a way to protect everyone. Somehow.

Until we can find the person who did this.

[It's more the solemnity of the statement that makes Eddie turn around. Anyone can say 'let's protect the world' not a lot can mean it.]

Good idea. Hey, you could probably just put your two cents in on the network and something'll happen.

[He stands up with a little groan. Ow. Fog hurts the bones.]

Claws marks. Head torn clean off and too much blood for one person. I'm gettin' the sinkin' feeling that this isn't the last art project this psychos gonna make.

[He nods quietly in response, though he has more in mind than just putting his two cents in.]

Right. If so, and we protect everyone...then we should be able to catch them.

[...oh but that groan sounds concerning.]

Are you alright...?

Huh?

Oh yeah. The fogs just gets to my knees. Don't sweat it.

[Yeah, hero types are like that.]

We should. But I'm not going to be that hopeful until we've at least got an ID on our poor girl here.

[can't help it, it comes naturally.]

If you're sure.

[A slow nod at that.]

Maybe the Head Nurse would know. She might have more information than we do.

Think she'd mind a couple of callers at this hour?

After something like this...?

I'm sure she'll make an exception either way.

[The answer Minato gave him is good enough. He can work with it anyways.]

Maybe I should get something for those aches. What do you think, kid.

[Oh whoah subject change.

He can roll with it though, tucking his hands into his pockets and nodding.]

If it'll help, I think so. There's no reason to stay in pain, right?

[He isn't trusting enough to not think they're being monitored by those scientist guys the Signless mentioned.]

Nope, no reason at all.

[But it gives them a reason to knock down doors at the clinic.]

[It takes him a moment but he catches on, just nodding quietly.]

Are you familiar with where the clinic is? I can lead the way.

I'd rather follow, kid. Hope you don't mind.

[He just doesn't like people behind him.]

Life's no fun without a good scare

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