Log:Have You Heard?

The Tall Man 2014/08/04 Hunter Martin Tali

1

On the CHHS Campus...

It's after school. Almost. The bell really just rung, but Hunter is already sitting in the bleachers on by the field after ditching his last class. Monsieur Newhouse will not be pleased, but he heard some disturbing rumors around school about the disappearance of three students over summer session. He has his qPid in hand as he leans back against the bleacher behind him, flicking through FriendBook pages of the missing students. Allegedly missing.

Timewarp appears by Hunter, sketchbook under her arm. Yeah, the bell has just gone, but no one was loping. "Hey. What's treating?"

With the bell rung Martin makes his way out of his math class, waiting for the other students to push through the door ahead of him. He wanders out into the hall and then looks about, wondering where Hunter is. A few moments later he is making his way to the bleachers, lumbering along at a sedate pace to avoid crushing the smaller students.

In his leaning, Hunter startles. Or pretends to when he's supposed to be caught unawares. He lets out a "Gah!" and shifts back, his butt falling back off the bleacher seat. His butt smacks down a few inches on the above bleacher walkway, his knees go up as they get propped up on his former seat, and he lightly bonks the back of his head on the bleacher seat behind him. "Oh. Hey Tali," he muses with a wince, still maintaining a hold on his qPid.

Tali says, "Oh come on, I didn't even *try* to surprise you this time. It's no fun if you make it too easy!"

Hunter grins sheepishly. "You didn't even say a 'boo' or 'guess who' or nothing, even. I guess I was just...a bit creeped out already before you got here." He starts trying to right himself. He leans forward and grunts, then plants a hand down and pushes himself back up on his original bench. Now he favors leaning forward instead of back, resting his elbows on his knees and grinning at Tali. "So how's junk for the fastest girl alive?"

Martin comes gliding up behind Tali as she talks with Hunter. He doesn't try to be stealthy but his gait and the pads on his feet give him a naturally silent movement as he walks.

Tali says, "It's mild. So what's got you so nega-mild?"

A shadow is cast over Tali and Hunter, causing Hunter to peek up. Now he's actually surprised as Martin manages to sneak up on them in spite of his bulk.

Tali looks way up. "Hey Martin!"

Martin gives a grunt to the two of you. "'S it goin'?" he rumbles. He crouches down on one of the bleachers, bringing him down to something better approximating normal height.

Tali says, "Mild for me, Hunter is spook-zoned or junk."

Martin gives a slow nod of his head. "More zombies?" he asks.

Tali says, "Dunno, he hasn't said!"

Hunter grins. "Better, now that two of my besties are here. It's kind of crash that you two are here. I mean, given you're all ros--" he cuts himself off as he glances at Martin. "I mean, metas." They're too far for anyone to hear, so their conversation is pretty private. "Not more zombies, but maybe this is more up Amelia's alley. Did any of you hear about the disappearances of those three students over the past couple weeks?"

Tali shakes her head.

Tali says, "What do you mean, disappearance. Like not going to school. Cos that's not askew."

Martin shakes his head as well. "Neg," he rumbles. "Ain't heard nothin' about it." There is, however, a different rumor that he perhaps knows something about. One of the football jocks apparently had his car folded in half over the weekend.

Hunter shakes his head to Tali. "Not quite, more like...disappeared after they took their summer vacation when they're supposed to be in school. As in disappeared and parents are looking, and none of their FriendBook pages have been updated since their reported disappearances." He looks back down at his qPid and scrolls down and browses a bit. "Consistent post updates, and then...nada. Zilch."

Tali blinks. "Really? How did I not hear? I must globally be sidebarred...."

Hunter shrugs. "So are the nups. They haven't really announced anything 'bout it. But some kids are talking. Saying some nonsense that the Tall Man got them after they each went on camping trips."

Martin makes a very annoyed chuffing sound. "Should have know," he says. He lists the names of several of the student who are missing. "That's them, right?"

Hunter nods to Martin. "Yep, so you've heard people talking, huh? S' weird stuff."

Tali thinks. o O (Have I been doing ro stuff so much that I'm without with school talk?)

Martin shakes his head to Hunter. "Got called in," he says. "Asked if I knew them." You paged Martin with 'You've heard their friends say how each of them were having trouble sleeping. Nightmares a few weeks after their vacations. They were sleep deprived and falling asleep in classes and stuff, seemed on edge, said the Tall Man was after them.' You paged Martin with 'But none of the missing kids were friends with each other.'

Hunter rolls his eyes a bit. "Of course they did. So not crash, man. Sorry."

Martin adds, "Have heard some things, though. Heard they were havin' nightmares 'bout the Tall Man. Said he was after 'em."

Tali says, "So who's the Tall Man?"

"Some urban legend," Hunter waves his hand a bit, trying to pass it off. But then he sighs a bit. "Maybe not so legendy. Amelia may know more about it. But all I know is it's some tall faceless guy in a suit that stalks people after they go to a particular part in the woods. That's the main thing the legends have in common." He looks down at his qPid again and flicks though the photo album of Cheryl Muntz, then clicks on a photo of her in the woods with her folks. The photo goes full screen and he shows it to Martin and Tali, tapping his finger somewhere off in the background. "And when I say stalks," he points at a grainy, vaguely human shape in the background that -could- be construed as a man. Then he flicks the screen and there's a picture of Cheryl with some friends doing selfies in the mall. Hunter points to another grainy shape far in the background. Far away. Facing Cheryl. "I mean -stalks-."

Tali shivers. "Ok. I'd think this was just some crazy story - if I hadn't just met zombies!"

Martin squints and looks at the pictures and gives a grunt. "Some kinda meta?" he asks.

"Totes crazy," Hunter nods to Tali. And then to Martin. "No. Freakin'. Clue. But he's in all the pictures after their trip. But he wasn't before," Hunter explains. Then his brow furrows and he looks a little grim. His fingers tap on a few places as he browses to another page. "I figured this was a job for...someone else," he murmurs, seeming distracted.

Tali says, "Is he fuzzy like that in all the pictures?"

Martin just sits and listens for a few moments, having nothing to add.

Hunter nods. "He never shows up clearly. But he gets closer as time goes on." He finally clicks on the FriendBook Home link and browses to another gallery, scrolling through photos. The taps on one. "So...uhh...guys?" he clears his throat a little nervously, then peers up at Martin specifically. "Remember that camping trip we took out in Creekfield...?" He holds up his qPid and there's a selfie picture Hunter snapped of him, Martin, and Nicole. And in the far background, a grainy figure. He side-flicks to a picture of himself at the beach with some friends at the boardwalk. Way in the distance in the crowd, another image of the grainy Tall Man. "These....weren't like this before..."

Tali says, "You're sure?"

Tali wasn't on the camping trip. So has no idea.

Martin scowls as he looks at the picture. "Been having any weird dreams?" he asks.

Tali looks closer at the pictures. Mostly she's trying to see if the grainy image always looks much the same, or if she could make up some sort of composite picture of the Tall Man looking at a lot of them.

Hunter sighs and nods. "He's in the background of any long shots." He flips his qPid around and twists himself so that the field is behind him, then takes a picture of himself. "I'll post this pic. You'll see. Eventually." He shows them the picture he just took. No grainy figure in the distance even after scrutinizing. He looks at Martin and says, "I had my first one two days ago. It's what made me start taking the rumors a bit more seriously."

The grainy figure, despite high res photos, is often the same, and often partially obscured behind trees, or people in the background, or a car in the distance. Standing there. Faceless in a dark looking suit. Tall and thin. And 'looking' in the general direction of the student in question.

Tali says, "So how does he get into the photos?"

Martin nods. "Need to see if Amelia knows anything about it," he says.

Hunter shrugs to Tali. "That's the big question. And I think it'd take an expert to figure that out." He nods to Martin. "Yeah, totes. If this guy is all supernatural..ly...then the Bane of Evil would probably be able to figure out -something-, right?"

Hunter grins weakly. "Cuz guys? I really don't want to disappear..."

Martin nods as well and rests a massive hand on Hunter's shoulder. "Figure it out," he says. "Be all right."

Tali says, "Um... Yeah if this is supernatural then Amelia seems a good bet... I guess it cowld be someone messing with the photos though to seem supernatural?"

Martin nods to Tali. "Talk to her first. She can't find anything out, then we move on t' other stuff."

Hunter grins a bit more at Martin. "Yeah, I'm sure it'll be fine," he sounds a bit more relieved? Supernatural is not something he's used to dealing with. He prefers something he can actually fight. He looks down at his qPid and starts to upload the picture he just took as a post. Still no grainy figure for now.

Martin pauses to think for a minute. "Got any time frame on how fast this stuff happens?" he asks.

Hunter shrugs helplessly. "Not really. I only just started noticing it. Er, wait, you mean how long it takes for him to show up in the photos?"

"How long 'til the people in the pics disappeared?" Martin asks.

Hunter rubs the back of his head nervously. "Around two weeks, give or take. They all stopped posting at variable times from the first picture they posted with the Tall Man in it. But...no idea -when- the tall man decided to show in their pics, so it's hard to really nail down." Obviously Hunter has been worried enough to obsess over time stamps of images and posts.

Tali nods. frowning.

Hunter sighs and shuts off his qPid. Running a hand through his hair and sits up a bit and stares off at the bleachers on the other side of the field, sighing. He does look rather tired. "I'll talk to Amelia about this junk if I see her. But if you guys see her first, you'll let her know, right?" he says without looking at them, sounding worn out.

Tali says, "Yeah, no anx! This is nega-mild."

Martin nods to Hunter. "No anx," he says, "I'll find her. Shouldn't be hard."

Hunter turns his head to grin at his friends. "You guys are arid. I know you got this."

Tali grins. "It'll be mild. So what is it with you anyway? If it's not being haunted by photos it's zombies and giant sharks...."

"Shick like this just happens when you live in this city and got ros for friends, I guess," Hunter shrugs helplessly. He jerks a thumb towards Martin. "Blame -him-. The camping trip was his idea." He grins a bit at Martin, showing that he's not seriously blaming him at all. He slides his qPid in his pocket and stands up. "Hey, I gotta work on some homework, but talk to Amelia about this if you see her, k?" He scoops up his backpack and starts running down the bleacher seats rather than taking the stair walkway.