Log:A Darker Pied Piper, Scene 2

A Darker Pied Piper 2009/02/28 	 Psiforce Lorelei 2

Buckingham Gardens Park This is lush green park surrounds an inlet of water which appears to be a lake, but is in fact and arm of a creek open onto the bay itself. Water-lilies float on its surface, while flowering bushes and shrubs dot its edge; numerous benches allow one to sit and enjoy the view. Large trees of various species surround the "lake" providing shade for the recreational area. Fields of flowers are seen in the clearings between some of the trees, providing a vast array of color everywhere on all directions. The recreational area has a baseball diamond, a soccer field, a children's jungle gym swing set, and several covered picnic areas. To the west the trees are more numerous, forming pleasant wood. In the north the land climbs in terraces up to Colonial Heights, where the old mansion of the Buckinghams still stands, a separate property now, since the family lost their fortune and were forced to sell both house and garden. The southern terminus of the Main Street MagLev line emerges from underground near the house; it is designed to blend with the landscaping of the park.

It’s a lovely day in the park; just hot enough to enjoy it yet not so warm as to have large crowds. A group of children are playing tag near the edge of the woods, a couple of painters have their easels up, and even a few radio controlled mini-hover car enthusiasts putting their toys through their paces in the air. It’s a nice day.

Psiforce wanders into the park and glances around as he strolls along, he is of course in costume, which has him in a mask and spandex with a trench coat, which isn't too cold today for once."

Lorelei heads down into the park have finished a rather classy photo shoot at one of the mansions. Though back in more normal clothes, she's kept a large hat from the shoot, which gives her at least some small measure of anonymity, though inevitably she draws attention regardless as she walks down toward the pond.

One of the painters situated between the woods and the lake looks up as Lorelei's strolls. He smiles upon seeing her, his strikingly handsome features lighting up in a gentle smile. He then turns his attention back to his painting.

Psiforce does see Lorelei as well and gives a wave in her direction, smiling under the mask. He ponders for a moment and then moves his stroll to head in her direction. Lorelei smiles politely back and keeps on down toward the pond, rather wishing she'd brought something for the ducks. Noticing Psiforce, she waves back and pauses in her course.

One of the hover car enthusiasts spots Psiforce and goes over to his buddy. They whisper together for a moment, and then one who spotted Psiforce goes back to his spot and fires his car up again. He keeps nervously glancing over at the spandexes figure though. Psiforce smiles and keeps heading towards her, though he does glance towards the hover car guys for a moment and then back as he works on reaching Lorelei, "hello," he says.

Lorelei says, "Hey - how's it going? I haven't seen you around much, lately."

The kids over by the woods all gather together in a huddle for moment, then they break away to continue their game of tag. They seem full of energy with high pitched giggles and shouts drift your way from time to time.

Psiforce nods, "Had some personal issues come up, but things have calmed back down again." he says and smiles a bit. "It is good to see you, how are you doing?" eh glances over towards the kids for a moment and then back.

Lorelei smiles at the kids. "Sounds like winter is over - at least in the minds of some. I'm doing ok, pretty much. Thing are pretty busy, but I guess that's good."

A woman comes into the park walking a dog. She seems to be in a distracted mood and barely pays the poor pooch any attention. As she enters the park the nervous RC enthusiast goes over to a toolbox on a bench near him and takes something out of it, putting it into his pocket.

Lorelei says, "Has anything much been happening about the city? I'm globetrotting so much I'm not really keeping up with the news."

Psiforce shrugs, "There is that challenge thing going on, and little things here and there, but I haven't been too up on things lately either."

The woman walking the dog has stopped to stare over at the children. She takes a step towards them, letting go of the dog's leash. Her mouth opens as if she is about to say something, then she faints dead away, crumpling to the ground. The dog starts barking.

Lorelei nods. "Well, let's hope it's just the trouble isn't there, not that we've failed to hear of it. Which is easy to believe on a day like thi - uh-oh."

Lorelei goes to help the fainting woman. Not that she really knows what to do.

Psiforce blinks a little and heads over with Lorelei and starts to check out the woman, taking vitals and such.

The dog starts to growl at the two as you approach then seems to change its mind. It whines a little, bounding back and forth between the woman and the two of you.

The RC enthusiasts seemed surprised by what has happened and openly gawk.

Lorelei, seeing Psiforce seems to know what he's doing, looks to see what might have caused the women to faint, and/or what's upset the dog.

The dog just looks up at Lorelei with trusting doggy eyes, then goes over to nuzzle his owner.

The woman seems to be a bit on the thin side Psiforce realizes. Her clothing gives her greater weight than close up reveals. Her pulse is weak and fast, her breathing shallow. Seems like shock.

Lorelei notices that the kids are standing, watching silently from the edge of the woods, standing very still. Then, almost as one, they turn and head into the woods. None of them look back.

Lorelei says, "Those children are behaving strangely...."

Psiforce blinks and frowns for a moment. He does pull out his phone, an untraceable one and calls for an ambulance. He looks up and nods, and follows her gaze and then back, "Wonder if it is related?"

The RC enthusiasts are still watching as is the painter who has put down his brushes as he observes.

Lorelei looks about, to see if there's anything else suspicious that might account for their behavior, before starting to follow the children.

The woman gasps and her eyes flutter open. She whispers, "Andrea?" Then louder as she struggles to sit up. "ANDREA!"

Psiforce cocks his head to the side, "Who is Andrea?"

The painter rises as Lorelei heads in his general direction. He nods politely to her as he murmurs in an accented voice, "Excuse me, miss. But you look so familiar. Who are you?" He smiles, his gentle eyes echoing the smile.

The woman tries to get up. "ANDREA! Where are you?" She looks around, her eyes growing frantic as she looks over to where the children were. Psiforce cocks his head to the side and is starting to see the picture "Was your daughter with that group of kids?"

Lorelei's polite smile is a bit more absent this time as she looks about for a source of danger. "You probably know me as Lorelei." Then, getting the idea that one of the children is probably someone the woman knows called Andrea, she takes off her hat and calls out in her best stage voice, "You kids - wait up!"

The woman looks over at Psiforce. "Yes. YES!" She starts to get up. "ANDREA!"

Psiforce nods, "Rest here." he moves to follow Lorelei towards the kids.

Three of the kids, the ones that have not faded into the woods already stop and look back at Lorelei. They smile as they wait for her. A boy and two girls. None of the older than 10 or younger than 6 it seems. They are dressed in such an odd array of old clothes, like they were playing dress up.

The rest of the park's attention is drawn to Lorelei as well.

As Lorelei gazes at the handsome painter she realizes that the darkest powers cloak this creature in illusions. Powers of blood and pain and deepest evil. In truth he looks like: His face is a writhing mass of maggot riddled dead grey flesh. Where his eyes should be are only deep sockets, a void the black of a moonless night. His voice is the harsh whispering rasp of a dying man and his breath blows forth in a cold puff of putrid air from a sealed crypt. His yellow and stained teeth are jagged and unevenly spaced in his gruesome gaping maw and the long blood encrusted nails that tip his bony figures appear quite ready to rend flesh. Child sized slave chains are wrapped around his legs and arms and torso, knotted around him like a winding sheet holding the remnants of once rich robes tightly to his emaciated form.

Lorelei pales and suddenly looks quite ill. "Psiforce - the painter! He's like a corpse - I mean - well, he's not what he seems!"

Psiforce realizes that lines of mental communication link the children to the painter not far from Lorelei.'

Psiforce frowns, "That is not good." he says as he thinks of some way to sever what he sees and senses and moves towards the painter.

The children who stopped for Lorelei turn and head into the woods.

The painter narrows his kindly eyes at Lorelei, and then frowns, his handsome features saddened. His gaze flicks to Psiforce as well. In his rich baritone, he murmurs, "Whatever is the problem?"

Lorelei doesn't tend to judge people on looks - she knows from her own experience how looks deceive! - but under the circumstances, and given that her powers do no real harm, she decides to assumed the disguised painter is up to no good regardless. Promptly she strikes her trademark stunning pose in the painter's direction . Psiforce cocks his head to the side, "What is wrong? It would appear that one of the children at least belonged to the woman that passed out, that she has been franticly missing her, and you have some kind of communication between yourself and them, possibly controlling them."

The painter stumbles slightly as Lorelei's impressive presence is brought to bear on him. He says in a clipped tone, "They are MY children! Mine! Bought and paid for! Signed and sealed!" He steps back from the two of you.

Lorelei says, "Um, I hate to point it out, but slavery has been illegal around here for going on a couple of centuries."

Psiforce blinks and frowns, that raises his ire a bit, children are not things to be bought and paid for, "Bought and paid for, you peddle in the flesh of children, you disgust me." he raises his force field which flares into being around him and then is unseen for the moment, he focuses on the man, "Surrender now."

The painter just sighs, his shoulders drooping. "I suppose I must..." he mutters. He just raises his arms and then leans back tipping backwards towards the ground, not bothering to brace his impact at all it seems.

As he hits, he seems to just keep falling, the ground passing through him like air.

Lorelei says, "DARN! That sort of thing is why I try to catch them off-guard...."

Psiforce blinks and shakes his head, watching and looking around, "Um, what was that?" he mutters.

Lorelei says, "I don't know, something horrible...."

The woman comes up to where the two of you are standing. She looks around, her eyes a bit wild, and then says, "Where is she?" She shouts, "ANDREA"

Lorelei had had the same thought. "The children!" She runs as fast as she can toward the woods.

Psiforce nods, "Stay here." he tells the woman and then zooms off after Lorelei. He is actually more flying along than he is running now.

The woods are well tended at the edges, but grow thicker the deeper one goes. Unless one has someone in sight, it’s hard to track them in the woods. (Well, unless you commonly call people Kemosabe that is.)

Lorelei sticks to the way she knows best - the path leading to Dancing Coyote's old lair. She just hopes they're close to that. She calls out to the children as she goes.

Psiforce calls out the one name he knows as he moves along with Lorelei, he is also trying to keep him mental awareness up, seeking out those minds and the strange connections."

Nothing twinges any of your senses, mundane or not, as you head down the well hidden trail. You reach a burned out area of ground, the site of a blimp crash that is now many months old. In the center of the area, you spot what seems to be roughly constructed altar of some sort.

Lorelei looks about for any sign the children might have been here.

There is a child's baseball bat lying on the ground in the destruction, but that is about it. No other signs of children.

Lorelei goes and examines the altar.

Lorelei holds her nose as she gets closer.

The rough hewn altar is covered in dried black stains. And behind the altar are the rotting remains of a black ram and a white ram. They have been eviscerated.

A rough drawn symbol of some sort is on the ground beside the altar, but it has been smudged by many feet.

Lorelei frowns. "I think we need an expert of the occult here...."

The woman from the park stumbles into the burned out area. She looks around, and then makes her way towards Psiforce and Lorelei.

Lorelei goes over to the woman. "I'm sorry - we haven't found the children..."

The woman reaches up and takes a locket from around her neck. She opens it to reveal a picture of a smiling young girl with bright red hair. She asks, "Did you see her? Did you see Andrea?"

Lorelei looks at the picture.

Well, it all comes flooding back to you Lorelei. Roughly five years ago, Andrea Da Silva disappeared while coming home from school. No sign of her was ever found. She was a bright, vivacious 3rd grader who attended one of the local elementary schools in CB. Her clothes in the picture are maybe 5 years out of style which would fit when Andrea went missing. And you could swear that you saw the same child in the picture today wearing the same clothes playing tag with those other children.

Lorelei says, "Yes. I saw her. But... she hadn't changed... Whatever's going on here is much more sinister than a simple kidnapping..."

The woman reaches out and grabs your arm. "You saw her? I didn't just imagine it did I? You did see her? Lorelei nods. "I saw her. As well as.... well, I'm not sure what. Can you tell me what happened, when she went missing?" She recalls the claim the children were "bought and paid for".

The woman nods. "I was waiting for her at the school. She was supposed to come right out after school. We were supposed to go to a ballet recital. She loved ballet you know."

The woman looks down at the locket. "She never came out. I went in after the other children left and her teacher, Mr. Roberts, said she had wanted to go out back to feed the school rabbits before she left." Her eyes grow distant. "They were all dead, their throats ripped open. There was blood everywhere. And no one knew where my daughter was."

Lorelei frowns. "Dead animals, again... Was there anyone suspicious about? Maybe someone you hadn't seen before?"

The woman (Cindy Da Silva, Lorelei remembers) shakes her head. "No. No one. Everyone was questioned. She just disappeared. And no one cared after a while." She shakes her head and barely seems to be holding it together. "No one cared that she was gone."

Lorelei says, "I'm sorry but I have to ask - have you at any point had anything to do with the supernatural?"

Cindy gives Lorelei a look like she's has lost her mind. "What? Like tarot cards? No. No." She shakes her head. "I went to that Crystal Vosser not long ago though. The one in the phone book. She said I would see Andrea again. But that was months ago."

Lorelei says, "I'm glad to hear it - that you had nothing to do with it before, I mean.... It's just - well, there are ritualistic elements to this...." She avoids mentioning the horrible creature she saw. "I suspect the police didn't know what to look for. I think some of my superhero friends might have more idea about this sort of thing."

A light of hope comes into Cindy's eyes. "OH, anything you can do, I will help. Anything. I just want her back. She's all I had left." She scribbles out her address and hands it to you. Lorelei says, "Thank you - I'll be in touch if I find out anything - or if I have to ask you more."