Using this place as a sounding board

[Jack_Fisher]

So I'm seeing my art pop up in unusual places, often modified, but I knew that would happen when I posted it. And since the emotions twists his face so much people are asking which of the men I'm looking for. But I think I've got a lead. Someone knows someone who knows someone etc and I got forwarded a photo asking if this is the guy.

It looks like the guy, but I'm not sure. There's only so much you can sense from a computer image. But it might be him. I think I've got enough of a lead here to track him down mundanely then follow it up by visiting him in Astral Form. If he the monster, then comes part two: deciding how to stop him.

But if he isn't the monster then I've lost a lot of time and that's not good.

Jack

[Athena]

I hope the lead works out for you.

[Jack_Fisher]

Thanks for the wish of luck - I might need it.

There's not a lot I can find out about the guy in the photo who I think is the monster. I'm still trying to find all of his social media accounts. If this was the moves I'd just track his IP address, insert a custom virus on his computer, and hack my way in, but this isn't the movies. It doesn't help that he's just one of about a dozen people in the city with the same basic name. Minor variations, but the same basic named. Social media has so info on them all that I'm grinding away at it.

On the money front, someone wanted to make a bulk purchase of the "Elvira crossed with Vampirella" prints. I had to look at the "profit per item" number instead of total cash taken in by that print set so I could show him that number. We worked out a deal where I'd get my money now at 40% of the mark up he got 60% of the mark up. Now that's not 60% off the price, but of the mark up. He got stuff to sell and I made a bunch of money all at once. He only wanted the ones with the nipples showing, telling me that I should do more "weird erotica stuff" while staying away from porn (because doing porn kills a career).

Speaking of sales, yeah, the Halloween rush is starting. I've had to fit in a rush job - the kids from Stranger Things all in costumes (changing it enough so I can't be sued but people will know who those kids are) - and get prints of that made as a rush job (meaning more $$$ for the printer, less $$$ for me, but it's a new source of $$$ so that's good). And I'm setting up for caricatures of kids and adults in costumes because there's plenty of fast money there. For example, I'll be at a mall on Friday, 5 - 8, while the mall does its annual Halloween event. I'll need my cousin there to work the cash so I can maximise my drawing time. It's ten bucks a pop (taxes included), but I need to clear the vendor's fees and the cash to pay my cousin while having enough left over to pay those taxes and (hopefully) pocket some cash myself. I should clear a couple of hundred, or more. I'm hoping to draw 80 - 90 kids and if that works out I should clear around $500. That's just one of the events I've got booked for Halloween weekend.

Which is good, because November is mostly dead when it comes to sales. Too early for Christmas art, the best I can hope for is some "isn't that nice" thanksgiving commissions. You know, take this photo of a family member (or the whole family) and paint it so we can have something traditional to hang on the wall? Or do in charcoal or another medium. Lots of time invested in those projects, with a limited return. There's just too many artists linked to the Fine Arts department at the college for me to jack up the price on those projects. I might end up trying another graphic novel (this time doing all the writing and art) or a new attempt at that children's book during that dead time. Lots of time to sink in it, but a good return if I can get it published.

The investigation into the missing ring is over, solved in a weird way. We didn't so much as solve it as find a workaround. The dead great aunt visited the ex and scared the girl so much she needed to change her clothes afterwards. After that the ex decided that she'd sell the ring back (sell, not give, because she wants her ex to suffer) so the ring is back the family and that settled everything. The graveyard ghouls? We haven't seen them since that night, but they're out there.

Jack

[Jack_Fisher]

Posting this while I have a bit spare time - before the afternoon / evening rush starts.

I've had some luck. Good luck for a change.

One of the people with the name (and I the one I think is the guy, based on his photo) seems normal enough, on the surface, but he accidentally cross-posted something to his twitter and tumbler accounts. If I hadn't been online when he posted I would have missed it, because he delete those posts, but now I'm checking out his tumbler feed with its likes, shares, and posts, and um, it's weird. Not weird in a fun Halloween way but weird in a "gross, people like that stuff?" way. One of the feeds he shares on has captioned photos, normal photos taken from the net with captions added, and the captions turn normal photos into obscene ones. For example, picture a photo of two women having coffee, with captions added saying that one plans to whip her niece when she gets home and the other one saying that she hopes the whip makes the niece bleed and scars her up. Twisted stuff like that. Note that all the twisted stuff has a female as a target - no males were harmed in the posting on those tumblers. And yes, I know I'm misspelling tumbler (it's tumblr without the 'e') but I hate seeing spell checker flag things.

Regardless of how I spell tumbler, this looks like the guy. I say that because there can't be two guy in my city with the same basic name where one's a monster and the other likes monstrous stuff on the net. Not when this guy's face looks like the one in my visions. Which means I know about him now.

Problem - he hasn't done anything. Not yet. I've got a plan to use Astral form to get more information, but it's going to take time. Almost anything I do (including getting random visions from the universe) drains me too much to leave my body. I can work around things, but it's going to take time. And planning. And scheduling time to mediate so I can power mediate and get ready in case the universe gives me a clue that's worth pursuing. Something other than a random sex club or some parent taking a strap to their kid (and I still don't understand why social services doesn't care about the latter option, but maybe it's because they're overworked and I can't do more than make an anonymous report).

Anyway, the current plan is to cruise around his place, doing a drive by so I can see where it is. I can travel super fast when I Astral Project, but speed doesn't matter if I don't know where I've going, and I only have about 5 minutes to get there, look around, and get home to my body. After that I pick up my cousin I head to work, doing drawings of cute kids in costumes for $10 a pop (from 5 to 8 PM), and after that (if nothing has triggered my powers and the Prof doesn't call) I'll head home and work at leaving my body (usually it take me longer to leave than I can stay out, but that's how it works).

Here's hoping for a breakthrough!

Jack

[Jack_Fisher]

Yeah, I thought things were going to well. Doing the mall bit I did drawings of 87 kids (including a couple of teens who might have been high), mostly because some came by while I was setting and I lingered a bit to get the kids who were in line when the event ended. Call it a good day's pay. Best of all, with my cousin handling the money he heard the complaints. "This should be free", "how it ten bucks worth of paper and ink?", "Why isn't the mall paying for this?" and all the rest. Seriously, the face painting people got less complaints and their work washes off while a piece of art can become a treasured keepsake. A "look how cute you were" to pass around a decade later.

Nothing came up vision wise so I avoided a couple chances to make cash and headed home - after paying my cousin and driving him home. It took me long, long minutes to get my head in the right place, then ZOOM! I'm out of my body and off at the speed of light (or maybe faster - how could I measure how fast I go when I'm projecting?) on my way to the guy's house.

And that's when things started going downhill. No, there was nothing supernatural waiting for me there. Point of fact there was nothing waiting for me there, and that's the problem. The guy was out and his lights were off and I can't see in the dark so I couldn't find much out or even see all that well with only the ambient light coming in the windows. I can't really search either - you can't toss a place when you're there in Astral Form. No fingers to turn on his computer. Sure I can stick my head in a chest of drawers or walk through a closed door to get into the closet, but I can't see without light.

In short, because he has a better social life than I am (or is off stalking someone - who knows?) I've shot my wad for the night and learnt nothing new. Not even where he is.

So now I'm going mediate, then power mediate, then head off to be and hope I have a dream or something.

Jack

[Jack_Fisher]

Remember when I said I hoped I had a dream? Yeah, I had one. No new information but a reminder about the stakes I'm playing for. As if I could ever forget what I Saw.

I dreamt I saw a newspaper from the end of November, but the headline kept wobbling between two versions. Flickering in and out. Sometimes it said "Mayor Announces Crackdown On Teenage Prostitution", sometimes it said "Police Suspect Serial Killer Active In City". I don't normally get "X flicker Y" dreams, but I think it's a "do something or the bad stuff will happen" kind of vision. And because I just don't get many of those "change the future" dreams it's kind of freaking me - making me feel as if the whole world is on my shoulders.

That teenage prostitution thing, it's real. Mostly because of a new wave of drugs spreading through the local high schools. There's something relatively new (at least mostly new to this city's high schools) on the streets called "shatter" which is weed processed to maximise the high. Some people compare the high from shatter to coke, but it takes a lot of weed to make the concentrate so it's expensive. Based on a Youtube "How to" video I saw four grams produces about 4 dabs, with the high so good that it's sparking a wave of teenage prostitution as high school girls try to pay for the trash. I'd rather the mayor focused on that social issue, which means I have to do something about the monster.

Problem: I'm kind of booked up for Halloween parties and the supernatural always acts up around Halloween, which isn't good. I wish the rest of the team were on this, but that's not going to happen, not as long as it's just a mundane psycho rather than something supernatural.

Jack

[Jack_Fisher]

I took time in between Halloween parties to visit a weapons shop. Most place like that are just gun stores, but this place sells survivalist stuff, camping supplies, and non lethal things. I didn't have much time to shop but I picked up an expanding baton - spending over $200 to a durable top of the line one. Basically it's a short stick until you press the button then you've got a baton. Call it a switchblade club or a short staff that will fit in my pocket when I don't need to swing it. And yeah, I'm planning on carrying a piece for backup, but I'd rather this not start as a gunfight. Beating up someone is better than shooting him full of holes and if I draw a gun it becomes a life or death bit real quick. Plus it's easier to explain a beating to the cops, much easier than admitting I was gunning for someone. And if the cops do get involved, well assault with a weapon is better than Attempted Premeditated Murder. Having a gun while using the stick should keep the charges low because it will show that if I wanted to kill him I would have started with the gun.

Only I'm not sure if it won't come down to the gun. It will depend partly on if I can get the police involved. Best case: I beat his sorry ass and hand him over to the cops. Worse case? I know where I can bury him. I've been around enough cemeteries with the Prof that I can break into to where they keep the mini backhoes they use, dig up a fresh grave to about the five foot mark, toss him in, and fill the grave. If he's ever found it's more a scandal for the cemetery, burying two people in one grave, than a murder investigation. Yeah, that's a dark plan, but my mind's been going to dark places.

And I found time to meet up with Flamer today. He was getting ready for some bonfires tonight but he was up to reading the omens in flames again. Again the fire split off in two, one half formed a line while the other went out. Flamer repeated that this meant the threat was primarily a mortal one and that danger or death lay ahead, and that someone or something was trying to pull the group apart. He said that this time it seemed more urgent and he would be extra careful at the bonfires - just in case some nut job wanted them to get out of hand and put people in danger. Or the cops showed up and the police goes bad. I didn't tell it probably had to do with me, mostly because him being careful around bonfires is a good thing.

No, I haven't had a vision about tonight, or anything happening today. I'm carrying around that piece of leather that started the ball rolling, just in case it helps, but I'm not getting clues. Maybe it has to happen. There wasn't any signs that it was conditional, no flickering, so maybe the best I can do is keep the victim count down. This could be like how in high school I saw that vision of my girlfriend sleeping with another a guy, confronted her over it, causing her to break up with me and then sleep with that guy out of spite. Maybe I'm going to feel sick over not stopping this. Maybe the best I can do is call in a tip naming the guy who did it and letting the police take over, but a random tip with nothing supporting it? How long would it take for the police to get around

Just fuck it! Fuck it all! Yeah, I just had a vision. No, it has nothing to do with the guy. Of course it doesn't. That would be too easy. No, the vision was of a girl who looked a bit old for corporal punishment getting the belt on her bare butt. The sort of thing I've called in several times, leaving names with the tips, and nothing ever happened. I think that this was the universe giving me a sign - that either I stop it or my tip about the killer will get ignored just like all those reports to social services about the beltings. Yeah, I know enough about the current vision (names, street address, it was her soon to be stepdad with her mom's permission - info that flowed with the vision) that I could call this latest belting into social services, but what's the point? Sure, maybe the girl's a bit on the old side, but it wasn't brutal or vicious and social services will just ignore it again. Maybe if I did enough research to fake a text from one of her friends complaining on her behalf, saying that girl's too scared to complain or has been brainwashed into thinking that she deserves it. Maybe hint that more than just a belting happens once her pants are down or otherwise invent enough details to force an investigation, but I don't have time for that.

I don't even have time for my scheduled appearances tonight, but maybe I do. Nothing in the visions feel like it's tonight, just that it's closer than it used to be. Maybe I should keep to my schedule... but only after I work in time for some power mediation. I need to refresh after that vision, just so I'll be open to another vision if one comes. I just don't think it's happening tonight.

Sheesh. I've got a feeling of when it will happen. Not a psychic vision but knowing how my luck's running it will happen on Halloween. Probably right when the supernatural gets weird and the Prof needs my help. Well this time I'll be turning off my phone and telling people that my "new to me" phone doesn't hold a good charge, that my battery went dead and I didn't know they needed me. The rest of the crew can handle the weird while I deal with this sicko.

Now to power mediate then show up at an event to draw more kids in costumes, then head to a bar that's holding a Halloween party to sketch adults in costumes. I'm hoping that there won't be a bunch of slutty nurses, slutty angels, slutty devils, and all of the other slutty costumes at that bar, but I know there will be. And that every time I do a quick rendering of one of those costumes the response will either be "that's too slutty" or "that's not slutty enough". I can never nail the right level of sluttiness for those drawings, not even when I ask the girl what she wants. I'll get girls that say "Oh, show my nipples and hint at my bikini hair sprouting up" and when I do that it's "Eew! You showed my nipples and it looks like I need my bikini line trimmed!". I'll get girls that say to make them look modest only to complain their nipples aren't showing. But the cost per drawing is higher so that should work out, and it's not like I'm going to earning much cash next month. And as I draw each slutty costume I'll been wondering when it's going to happen.

Sometimes I wish life was like one of those CW TV shows. Yeah, there's usually a big bad nasty threat in the background, but everyone knows it there and most of the drama is about who's sleeping with who. The threats are all black and white and they never have to go to a grey area like "do you kill a guy you know is going to do something or do you wait for him to do it then try to take him down". Oh sure, there was the Buffy episode where she accidentally staked a guy in 70s leisure suit because she thought he was a vampire and not just some old creep hitting on teenage girls, but that only had soul searching after the fact.

Jack

[Jack_Fisher]

So I'm back to going for visions, with a new focus. Now that I know who's going to do it, I'm trying to focus my visions on Where and When... and To Whom. If I learn the Where and When then I can arrange for cops to be there. Maybe I can save the To Whom, but odds are he'd pick another victim. But if can figure out To Whom maybe I can follow her and swoop in at the last minute. Or maybe she'll lead me to the Where.

But I almost hope I don't get a vision about her. I Saw what's going to happen to her. I don't want to make a friend out of her or learn about who's going to miss her. God it's weird thinking about her in almost the past tense while hoping to use her to catch the monster that's going to kill her. Because I really don't think I'll be able to stop what's coming. At least not the first one. If the monster is going to be a serial killer then I'm going to try to stop him at one.

But there's another reason I hope I don't See here. I didn't See much of her in the vision, so maybe there's more than one "her". As in if I find "her" and protect "her" then maybe the act will happen to a different "her". I'll have saved one girl and doomed another.

Which means I'm adding something to my shopping list. I'll want to have a nice big bottle of Vodka handy for when this is all over. And mix - I'll need plenty of mix too.

Jack

[Jack_Fisher]

I had another dream last night. I saw three places, swinging in and out of focus, then the entire city. I think it was the Where. That one of those three places will be the place, but if I somehow shut down all of those places he still has the entire city to choose from.

Which means I can't stop it.

And I can't find him. He doesn't make a lot updates on social media, so I can't find him that way - not like he would be posting "stalking my target now - about to grab her by the corner of Main and Lancaster", but I have no idea where he could be. I drove by his place a few times but I've never set my real eyes on him. I can't do anything to stop him if I can't find him.

But those places have given me an idea. All of them are isolated, places where no one could hear screams, but they aren't all that isolated. I might be able to lead the police to those places, but it will be risky. Now I've had to stop at a few places - mostly party supply shops. I've picked up a couple of costumes, three masks, glow sticks, high powered glow sticks, and illuminated putty. The more powerful glow sticks have enough light to see by - and they can all be seen. I also picked up a cheap prepaid phone, paying for a 100 local minutes, 100 texts, and practically no data. I'll have to make a phone call that can't be traced. Yes, this is costing me money, but it's money well spent.

I scouted the kill scenes, wondering which will be used. One is a disused school, with all the entrances boarded up. Another is by the docks, where the fishing boats used to dock when there were fishing boats in the area. The third is right next to a classic Haunted House - no one would ever notice the extra screams there. I checked out the possible entrances, but more importantly looked around at the area surrounding them.

Yes, I have a plan, one that I hope won't get me killed.

Now to hit a Halloween party at a bar and make some extra cash.

Jack

[Jack_Fisher]

Shit, you try to plan but you always miss something. I'm only typing this now because I have to charge up the luminous putty. I'm shining a flashlight at it "charging it" for tonight. I hope it stays charged for as long as I need it to glow. Yeah, this is my fault. I should have read those directions when I bought it.

I'm already committed, as in I've committed a crime. See, there is this place that has valet parking where the valet manager is an asshole. He pays people less than minimum wage "because of the tips" but withholds a chuck of the tips "for income tax reasons" - but that money never appears on any tax form. Not even his. Needless to say there's a high turnover there. I've even worked there a couple of times when I needed a bit of cash, meaning I (and almost everyone who needs to work gig jobs) know the system they use there.

Picture this: I'm dressed as the Grim Reaper (all the valets are in costume tonight). Glow in the dark bones painted on my mask, gloves with glow in the dark bones on them, a black, hooded cape with pockets on the front, and sneakers. I go in, snag a key that has just been added to the board, rub out the grease pencil making what spot it's in, and drive away with a stolen car that shouldn't be missed until after midnight. I drive to where I parked my own car, transfer a special bag loaded with my gear, do a last minute check of things, and discover that you have to shine a light on the putty for a while to activate it. So the flashlight is pouring light on it as I type this on my laptop. Later I'll upload this at a hotspot, but the laptop says in my car. I just can't risk leaving it in the stolen car.

This is slowing me down, but it's part of the plan. Well the putty is ready, so here's what I'm doing now.

Jack

[Jack_Fisher]

Okay, things didn't go as badly as I feared. You can tell that because I'm here, typing away with a drink in my hand, and not in the afterlife kicking myself for being a fool. Yes, I'm still alive. Not everyone is, which is why I didn't say everything went good.

So after that last bit, when the putty was charged up, I headed to the Halloween Haunted House. Lots of screams, lots of kids on sugar highs, and me trying to sneak in the place next door. The first problem: my costume was too good; half the kids thought I was with the Haunted House. No dice: instead of the monster and his prey I found some teenagers, drinking and getting half naked the way teenagers do at adult free drinking parties. Which gave me an idea.

The docks seemed the next best choice. It was. I wasted time sneaking around and found nothing.

The old school still looked deserted. I had to drive into a courtyard / former paved over playground before I saw anything. There was a car parked there where there shouldn't be.

I turned, parking my car where I could drive straight out. Loaded up my pockets with glow sticks, powerful glow sticks, glow putty, and my new weapon. The gun? The piece was at my back but I couldn't get to it easily. It took a bit of looking, but one of three doors, one that had been chained up before, had its chain cut. I wedged it open with a powerful glow stick, added some glow putty to the outside of the door. I paused long enough to make a phone call. I had planned on calling in a beating in progress, some teenagers having a fight, but those kids had given me a better idea. I told 911 a lie about a high school freshman who was half drunk and being led from a party by this college guy who had her hands all over the kid. Yeah, they were partying at this former school, and the girl wasn't even 16 yet. Maybe a couple of years short of 16 and too drunk to say no.

911 gets a lot of prank calls on Halloween. Something about a serial killer would be ignored. Something about a drunken party at this former school? Maybe a cop would show up eventually to clear the abandoned building. That was part of the plan. They probably wouldn't be here soon enough to interfere with what I was doing but the cops would come. They could take an hour or two, but if the plan worked that would be fine, and if the plan didn't work then none of this would matter. Anyway, the cops had a lead, would get here, so it was time to head inside.

The place had been cleared out years ago of anything that might be valuable or reusable. Even the interior doors had been taken. I could see light in one direction, so took it. I left a trail of normal glow sticks and glow putty smears as I headed to where light was leaking out of a pair of adjacent former classrooms. Classrooms that (if my mental layout of the place was right) were windowless ones (which would have been a depressing place to learn back in day). I tried my best not to be noticed as I went, but I left that trail of glowing stuff behind me, even cracking one of the powerful glow sticks. The glow sticks could be swept up but the putty smears would take a while to clean up.

Finally I got to the first open doorway leaking light. Peeking in I see some cleaning supplies. Including several bottles of bleach, which I've heard is great for taking care of DNA. The room was lit by a pair of camping lamps - giving plenty of light but I didn't have time to look around much.

Nothing was happening here, so I inched along and peered through the next door... and I could see what was inside.

It had happened. I wanted to throw up. Yeah, I was too late. Much too late to save anyone. Which hurt, but I know I can't save the world. I knew this would happen when the first two places didn't pan out, maybe since I first Saw what was going to happen, but it still hurt to see her like that.

The Monster was there. He was in a weird leather costume. Not a Halloween costume but some fetish thing. She was there too, or her body was, and all she was wearing was redden skin and lingering bruises. The Monster was giggling, putting his finger in her, poking her in holes she hadn't been born with. Holes the monster had made in her body. His hands were covered in red, blood and other things I'm not naming, and he was focused on his victim, giggling like a little girl.

I drew my expandable baton, hit the switch, and I had my switchblade club open. I walk up from behind, getting him by surprise, and whaling away with my small staff. I really nailed him a couple of times, getting him good, but this guy... Yeah, he knows his stuff. Maybe ex military? Anyway, early in the fight he grabbed a whip. An actual leather whip. Maybe one from the same source of leather as the piece that started me on this journey. He swung it and hit me a few times. We went it at, him keeping me at bay with his whip, almost pulling my baton out of my gloved hands. Then I surprised him again, taking off running rather than staying to fight. I'm not the fastest guy out there, but he wasn't ready for me to run. It took him a long moment to react. To decide what to do. I could practically feel him thinking. Trying to decide what to do when his own plan was in ruins.

This was the hard part of the plan. If he stayed to clean up then the cops wouldn't find anything. The site would be spotless. The bleach would break down the DNA. The body would be gone. The evidence would be gone. There would be no proof to go with my visions.

I needed him to follow me. I yelled something about calling 911 as soon as I got a signal - which was bullshit because I had to have a signal, only maybe there was too much concrete in this old building. Maybe I needed to get out of the solid building before I could call - I needed him to think that. Those words were enough to get him moving. Running through the outside door I kicked out the high power glow stick holding it open (leaving it at the base of the door), slowing him down, and made it to my stolen car. I was inside, turning the car on, before he exited the school.

This is the part that was only partly planned out. I needed him to keep following me until the cops checked out the school and followed that path of glow to the murder scene. No part of the plan included small popping sounds causing spider webs of cracks on the rear widow. He had a gun! A small, low powered gun. I don't know where it was hidden on his costume or why he needed one. Maybe he had to help manage the girl? He hadn't used it to kill her - a gun would have been too quick. Whatever, the point is it didn't have much stopping power, not breaking the back window, but it had me crouching down in my seat. I knew that the seat wasn't going stop a bullet but if I was low enough the bullet would have to get through the trunk to get to me. Crouched down like that I start driving slowly.

That sent him going to his car, but not the driver's door. No, he went to rear bumper. Fumbled around a bit then opened the trunk - maybe he kept a spare key clipped to the underside of his bumper? I keep driving slowly, barely moving at all, watching him in the side view mirror. He grabbed something, something that looked like one of those old Nintendo guns. I was wondering about that, then BANG! Really loud. Much, much louder than the pops from the small gun.

The rear window was gone. That stupid looking video game gun was a real one, maybe a 38 or 45 or something like that. Something with stopping power. I sped up a bit and I was hearing shots and seeing ricochets new my rear driver's side tire. It took him a bit of shooting, but he took the tire out. I stopped, because that seemed to be the thing to do, but I had my foot on the gas ready to take off if he got close.

He started forward, then stopped at the sound of a siren. A cop car with its lights flashing pulled in, driving to the middle of the paved area before stopping. Was that cop coming to check out the party or because of the gunfire? I didn't know. I didn't care, she was here now. She got out of the car, talking in her radio on her shoulder, and it hit me that she hadn't heard any gunfire. It really hit me. All she saw was a guy holding a video game gun.

I hit the horn, trying to get her attention, and it's already too late. He's shooting at her and she's going down. Maybe she's wearing a vest or maybe not. Maybe she's down for the count. The only good thing is she was in radio contact when the shooting started.

Anyhow, I need to get his attention before he finishes her off. I hit the four way blinkers, sound the horn around, and hit the gas. Yeah, I'm out a tire but this is a front wheel drive and all that's happening is I'm fishtailing around. Now he's got a choice. He can finish off the cop, go and clean up, or chase after the witness (me). I've got my four ways and horn attracting his attention, but he has to go back to his car start, start it, and come after me. So I turn right, just as planned, drive a couple of blocks, and stop a driveway before the place I need to go.

I grab my baton and that special bag and I'm out of the car. I leave it running, the keys in the ignition and four ways blinking, and head to the privacy hedge in the next yard. I do some of those old gymnastics and I'm over the hedge - mostly. I've never done a routine holding a staff in one hand and a weird heavy bag in the other one, but I don't get caught up in the hedge. There, crouching, I wrestle off of the black cloak, mask, and gloves. I pull out a lab coat from the bag, check its pockets, and stuff my Grim Reaper gear in the bag. I even take the time to collapse the baton and stow that away too.

Keeping low I put the lab coat on, being careful not to mangle the oversized nametag stuck on it. I take the surgical gloves from the bag, just in case I do something that will mean my fingerprints matter. There was a stethoscope and flask in one pocket and a mask in another. I slide the Bill Clinton mask on, put the stethoscope around my neck, and undid my fly. Getting up I make my way down the driveway, pausing to visibly adjust my fly at the end of the driveway. The mask hid my face, which was good, because I couldn't have hidden my reaction. The Monster's car was about a block away. He seemed to be in it, watching my stolen car. I made a show of bring the flask up to my lips, tilting it more than I had to. No, it wasn't booze - it was a green tea drink. Something that might calm me down.

But I had nothing to do with that car. I was there, in my doctor's coat, holding an old fashion doctor's bag, wearing my stethoscope, just stepping away from taking a discreet piss and having another drink. My oversized nametag read: "Hi, I'm" and under that (in thick black marker) were the words "playing doctor with my intern" - combining my doctor outfit with a political message to explain the Bill Clinton mask, mostly because I needed a reason to cover my face. I clearly had nothing to do with that car. I wasn't even coming out of the yard it was parked in front of. The plan was for the monster to stake out the car, or maybe wander the street looking for the guy in the Grim Reaper costume. Of course that plan hadn't included the idea that the monster would be wearing fetish gear that couldn't pass as a Halloween costume. But the plan was still the same because it was too late to change it now.

Another unplanned event. Some guy wearing a black hoodie with a black vampire cape opened the door of my stolen car, sat in it, turned off the four way lights, and drove off - stealing my stolen car. The one with the shot out rear tire and bullet holes in the trunk - which maybe looked Halloweenish. He fishtailed a bit, but drove off with the back driver's side dragging a bit because of that missing tire. The monster followed him. Maybe he mistook the cape and hood for my costume or maybe he was just moving on. It had only been maybe a couple of minutes but already I was hearing approaching sirens. I hope he wasn't chasing the fishtailing car but I had to get walking too.

Walking down the street, blending in with the other costumed freaks, I almost had a heart attack. There, with a mob of her friends, was one of the young girls I saw getting a belt on her bare butt! I was sure that my visions had just pulled me into her story, complicating my getaway, but she was laughing and there was nothing out of the ordinary happening here. She was just another kid having fun on Halloween, but seeing her with her pants up freaked me out, if that makes sense.

But being freaked out didn't slow me down. Ignoring the girl whose dad belted her, I made it to the bus stop, got lucky that there was a bus pulling up, and was on my way while the sirens were still getting closer. Call it maybe 3 or 4 minutes since the cop went down and the reinforcements were still flooding in. I hit the green tea drink a few times but it didn't really calm me down. With the adrenaline dropping I can now feel every blow from that whip. My face hurts, my left cheek is throbbing, and I'm glad it's covered with a mask.

Riding a bus on Halloween is an experience. I had several girls giggling about playing doctor with me, some of them using baby voices to suggest I take their temperatures the old fashion way or opening their blouses (sometimes showing their nipples) so I could check their heartbeats. And yes, several of them seemed to be more than a bit drunk. Odder were the men who had suggestions about my nametag. They all suggested ruder, coarser, and somewhat obscene replacements for "playing doctor with my intern". I countered them all with "hey, there are kids who can read. This way I make a statement and none of the kids know what I'm talking about." - or something like that.

Anyway I transfer buses a couple times before I get off a couple, maybe three blocks from where I'm parked. I get in and the Clinton doctor outfit goes into the medical bag. Looking at my face in the mirror I see a welt on my face, bruising spreading from it. It looked as if I would need the third mask after all (I had planned on it replacing Clinton if needed). I turn on my radio, switch to a local station, but I'm only getting music and "haunted Halloween" style news (including Dracula sightings). Nothing about an officer shooting and the discovery of the girl's body, but that's local radio for you. I call 911 and give a drunken "the girl's okay" message to counter the first message I had left. Hoping that this would cover things. After that I dropped the phone on the ground and drove away. Nothing there to trace the phone (or those 911 calls) to me. Maybe someone would find the phone and use it, but that was just another pair of 911 calls on Halloween night.

Heading into my apartment I'm wearing a "Scream" style mask, covering the marks on my face, with my laptop bag slung over my aching shoulder. I'm carrying the doctor bag, but nothing I do attracts attention on a night like this. I get inside and grab a 16 ounce water tumbler. In goes three ice cubes and a generous amount of vodka, maybe 3 or 4 ounces. Coke fills the glass and I've got a couple of packages of frozen concentrate lemonade out from the freezer. You know, the stuff where you put the package of frozen lemonade in a pitcher and then refill that package 4 times water to add to the concentrate? Well if you replace one (or more) of the "add water" steps with vodka then you've got a pitcher of hard lemonade made up.

I made up two of those, leaving the pitchers until the ice melted in the lukewarm water / vodka mix, and came here to type. Now I'm on my second vodka and coke, about to stir the hard lemonade, and I've checked out my hurts.

I stripped off and checked myself in mirrors. Ouch! Very much ouch. Welts and whip marks galore, only the one on my face was visible when I was dressed. I should be happy that I'm not bleeding, but maybe only the padding from the cloak kept him from breaking my skin with that whip of his. The monster knows how to use that whip. I'm lucky he wasn't able to pull my baton from my hands - he might have killed me if he had gotten that away from me. I had the gun but I'm not sure I could have gotten it out in time, and he'd had his own gun to answer mine. I gave Healer a call, leaving a message that I want another session. I need my face fixed mostly, but the rest of me hurts more than after that tussling match with the graveyard ghouls where my old phone got broke.

The late news is on. Lots of Halloween stuff, including looks at a lot of girls in slutty costumes. There was a bit of a mention about an officer involved shooting but no real details yet.

Now I'm typing this out because I don't dare to check out my usual social media. I know that Prof would have been active tonight. I really hope that he didn't need me, but I wasn't up for that tonight. Instead I stopped the Monster.

Or at least I hope I did.

Jack
who is getting very drunk in a vain attempt to forget how her body looked.

[Jack_Fisher]

I got up late, aching and hung over. I did my usual morning after stuff and touched up my wounds. Fuck they hurt more than my hangover does. Turning on the news I saw the Monster's face filling the screen. There was some grainy footage from the dashcam, but also the photo from his driver's license. Other, social media photos, were on the news too.

His clothes had been behind with the cleaning supplies, probably so he wouldn't get blood or other evidence on them. His clothes, wallet, driver's license, all had been left behind with the body when he "panicked" when that cop checked in a report of a party at that old school. The authorities have all the info they need. The cops will take him down. And he's a top priority, which is what I expected. If they hadn't been horrified by what he did the girl they'd want him big time over that cop he - who is in serious but stable condition and expected to live. They were all over his apartment and his life. The news gave hints of obscene things found on his computer, stuff that made his tumbler stream look almost wholesome, but it might have been them stretching the truth. Or maybe his computer had evidence of how sick he was.

Checking my online life (other than here) I discovered a bunch of "Hey, are you coming" type messages from the crew. I also found that Healer wouldn't have time for me until tomorrow. Oh well, shit happens.

Jack

[Jack_Fisher]

I finally made it into the university. The others wanted to know what happened last night and what happened to my face. I told them about the dead battery and was kidded about snagging phones from the recycle bin. About the bruises? I fell back on "a lie that makes me look bad" line. I spun a short tale, one about seeing an older guy putting unwelcomed moves on a teenage girl and deciding to get involved. Only the guy knew how to use his fists and the girl was hitting me too. Up close she looked far older, so it dawned on me that I had interrupted a game a couple was playing on Halloween.

With that out of the way they filled me in on their night - which was busy but uneventful. Nothing serious had happened. A run in with graveyard ghouls, which hadn't solved anything since we weren't ready for them and they took off running. Countless reports that were just people having a bit of fun with the parapsychology department on Halloween. The only interesting bit was the "invisible girl" - who turned out to be a co-ed tripping on something but honestly thinking that no one could see her when her clothes were off. Campus security handled that one, covering her with a blanket and taking her for a psych eval, but Preppy had a lot of happy memories about her. Preppy had a few things to say about my adventures and how I hadn't been around last night, but that was water off a duck's back.

Now it looks as if I did this thing, but I don't know that it's over.

Jack

[Athena]

Hopefully the police do a good and quick job on this case.

[Jack_Fisher]

Hopefully, but the hunt is still on for the monster. I would have thought they would have more leads about where he is (seeing how they know his name, address, and everything about him) but the guy is still out there. Hopefully it's only a matter of time before they track him down.

A friend of a friend (who sometimes worked the valet parking job) posted something about that car I took from that place. Yeah, my stolen car was found burnt out on November 1, but it hadn't made the news what with the cop shooting and girl dying that way. No clue on whether it was burnt by the guy who drove off with it or if the monster did it, but the police haven't connected the "joyride ending in a burnt out car" to the events at that former school.

I really hope that the guy who stole it from me torched it. I'd hate to think that the monster got him and torched the car to cover up his second murder of the night.

In other news, I'm mostly healthy again. Healer knows that I wasn't punched up, she knew they were whip marks and not the "fun" kind of whip marks, but she doesn't gossip about her patients. I tell people I used a topical thing on my face and it wasn't as bad as it looked, but a couple of guys in the fine art department are convinced I used some Halloween make up in a sympathy play. Art sales suck, as I knew they would, but I've got cash to cover my expenses.

Weird thing is how I Saw so many more people than usual when looking for the monster. Usually I don't See too many different people in visions, usually only the ones involved in the case, but I was searching so hard I Saw lots of people who live in my city. Today I caught a glimpse of one of the men who swings a belt on his kids' backsides (without clothes getting in the belt's way) but it wasn't like I ran into him. He was going one way, me another, and I just happened to recognise him. Here's hoping that I'll be able to forget about those "parental conversations" I saw and not have to worry about reacting if I run into someone involved with one of them.

Jack

[Nemesis]

I suggest maintaining a high level of vigilance, just in case. Until this individual is caught and dealt with, a risk will remain. And you can never be 100% certain that the authorities haven't picked up some lead or tiny bit of overlooked evidence that might lead to you.

[Jack_Fisher]

You're right.

I was thinking it would be an open and shut "Hey, here's a body, here's his driver's license, we got him" investigation. No need for the police to search for clues. Now there's the putty and the glow trail - they'll have to start wondering why the Monster lit that trail. He had those camping lamps and didn't need to leave a trail.

But on the bright side, it was Halloween. Who knows how many millions of glow sticks were sold on the lead up to trick-or-treating? They shouldn't be able to trace anything to me. And no one saw me in the Grim Reaper outfit, no one except the Monster, so I'm hoping there's no link.

If there is one, then I almost expect the monster to find it before the cops.

Jack

[Nemesis]

If there is a link and the monster finds it first, he could possibly try to use it to set you up in his place. It's what I would have done.

[Kermode]

I have to agree with the goddess of righteous retribution here.

Your plan was really smart, but you may have double-thought yourself into a corner.

I was law enforcement (for about 6 months, but it counts). If you get them involved in dealing with a guy like this (and that's not a bad idea) you need to expect that some of them are going to find a connection to you and be prepared to deal with it.

Instead, by working so hard to cover your tracks, you not only gave them reason to believe there was a second person on site (you probably left more traces than you thought; perhaps some mud on your shoes; maybe something you forgot in the car; perhaps that whip pulled up some skin cells when it hit you) but that the second person doesn't want to be found.

Nothing makes law enforcement pay attention more than knowing someone doesn't want to be found.

The other problem is, you left it to law enforcement to catch the guy without you steering them along. They don't have the guy right now, so he is out there somewhere and he probably has a mad hate on for you.

I hate the thought of taking human life. I've tried really hard not to do it when I've been in situations where deadly force was both appropriate and reasonable, but, depending on your state laws you probably were legally okay to shoot when you found him with the dead girl as most states allow the use of deadly force to stop a violent felony in progress. You were also in the clear when he opened fire on the police officer.

It was brave and good of you to step up and try to help this girl, but we don't always get the benefit of choosing to get involved without being involved.

I hope the police find this guy soon, and I recommend that you do what you can to help them out because he's still out there, he has nothing to lose and he has a grudge against you.

[Last Moon]

You don't have to be so harsh on him Kermode. I recall your story about abandoning some innocents to their fate with a kind of angry bear spirit or werebear.

We all make mistakes. His heart was in the right place and, all and all, the bad guy now has a lot to worry about, so I don't think he's just going to randomly show up. Afterall, he has no money, no ID, no safe palce to go. He may not even have normal clothes.

[Jack_Fisher]

Nothing makes law enforcement pay attention more than knowing someone doesn't want to be found.

The other problem is, you left it to law enforcement to catch the guy without you steering them along. They don't have the guy right now, so he is out there somewhere and he probably has a mad hate on for you.

I hate the thought of taking human life. I've tried really hard not to do it when I've been in situations where deadly force was both appropriate and reasonable, but, depending on your state laws you probably were legally okay to shoot when you found him with the dead girl as most states allow the use of deadly force to stop a violent felony in progress. You were also in the clear when he opened fire on the police officer.

Yes, I probably had the right to legally shoot him in the back. Blow him away rather than leave him to the cops.

The thing, I don't think I could do that. If he was armed and coming after me or if the girl was still alive when I got there, that could be different, but I can't envision shooting a normal, mundane human in the back. Looking back, if I had drawn my gun I would have been holding it, trying to make myself shoot him, until he noticed me and became a threat. After that I don't know if I could have taken him down. I wouldn't have shot first, meaning he would have had a chance to whip the gun out of my hand.

Yeah, that guy knows how to fight. I'm not sure how good he is, but he's better than I am.

As for people looking for me, I didn't leave fingerprints, I've replaced my footwear, I used a stolen car to get there, no one saw my face - and I don't have any connection with the guy. I Saw him and tried to search his house using Astral Projection, but unless someone can read my information off of those glow sticks (bought with cash on one of the busiest days at the party store) I can't see how they can link to me.

Just to be sure, I'm getting rid of those costumes (who keeps costumes after Halloween?) I'll replace the clothes I wore that last (which were bought at WalMart and shouldn't stand out). The Grim Reaper and Clinton masks covered my head, so I didn't leave hair or other DNA at the scene. I can't see how the either the guy or the police could link me to that murder spot, and I was only physically present at that scene.

As for not shooting him in the back... No, as long as the police are hunting him I can't regret not killing someone. Yeah, even knowing that he almost kill that cop (and it was only luck that he didn't) I still can't see myself shooting him in the back

Jack

[Jack_Fisher]

Okay, an update or two. Sometimes the police run files past the folk at the university. Not entire case files and only the "weird" cases. Not that they believe (well I think a few do) but when they think the suspect believes in the supernatural they want to get an insight of how the suspect is thinking. Some good news. But the news isn't all good.

The good news: Yes, they are still hunting for the monster. They've torn his life apart but are still looking for more. Nothing in the file about a second perp. Better yet, the Prof didn't recognise any demonic or weird, and since he knows I know a bit about demons and monsters he showed me the summaries. I also know a bit ghosts and such, but that isn't why I saw the file. And it wasn't the actual file, just the summary with various things held back because the police never show consultants everything. Everything still points to him being a normal guy.

Now for the not so good info:

The stuff on his computer? Sicker than what the news hinted at, and that's saying something. The really bad part is it seems that he had a plan for if he got caught. One involving cash held at a storage unit. They found the storage unit partly cleaned out, done in a rush. He left some clothes, a couple of sets of ID (real ones belonging to other people - identity theft and not forgeries), and other things there. Including bondage gear and some external drives filled with terabytes full of the sickest stuff you can image (and probably sicker that you can think of because even seeing the summaries freaked me), but there were things obviously missing. He had an inventory of what he stored there, an inventory he forgot to take with him, and he had listed separate caches of cash that were missing and talked about more fake IDs than they found. Cash that included Krugerrand and Maple Leafs - which are South African and Canadian gold coins respectively.

Having all that cash money (mostly in twenties, fifties, and a few hundreds), gold coins, several sets of IDs, that showed that he planned to run if he had to. Maybe he's done this before, but now his fingerprints and DNA are on file and wanted. Here's hoping he gets picked up, but now that's the cop's job. But I'm left wondering how he got all that stuff. How does the average sicko get all that money and extra IDs? The cops are wondering that too, which is why they are scraping the bottom of the barrel and asking anthropologists, sociologists, and even parapsychologists about the guy. They've run his prints and DNA through all the databases and coming up dry, but the notes in the file say that the cops don't think this was his first murder. That he's too professional for it to be his first rodeo.

So yeah, here's hoping there's a break in the case. The cops think that he might have changed his appearance, but they're still looking hard.

What else...

Yeah, the art sales still suck. I'm doing up some Christmas themed art and working on a graphic novel. I've got most of the plot and dialogue, with a rough storyboard, and it's coming along. I'm not sure where I can get it published, but here's hoping it becomes a source of income and not just a time sink.

So anyway, a new case walked into the department yesterday. A poltergeist one. Yes, a classic one of those. Smashed plates, broken stuff, chairs flipped over, with a couple of adolescents in the house to make it officially a classic case of a poltergeist haunting. Of course the Prof warns us that over 90% of poltergeist cases are either fakes or adolescents getting emotional enough to trash their houses and claim that they didn't it.

We got there around six yesterday evening, and I discover I know the family. It's one of the ones I saw having a "parental conversation" with a belt, which makes me think it might be an angry adolescent. I know I'd been mad as hell if that was happening to me. Anyway we set up the equipment, take readings, and we start doing our things. Flamer wants to read the Fire Omens but he couldn't do that inside. Spirit Guide gets asked questions, but he didn't see any friends to question, which didn't mean all that much. Other people did other things. I focused and did presence sense, wandering the house while it was up. It wasn't a big house, I covered it all, putting my head in every room while I was looking around. Opening closet doors, going into the bathroom, poking my head around the attic, looking everywhere I could.

Nothing. I couldn't sense anyone that I couldn't see, which doesn't mean as much as you might think. The poltergeist could be out somewhere else, maybe deep in the spirit world, haunting another house, or not existing until it's ready to do something. Spirits can be like that. I would have offered to go Astral but I hadn't had that boost I get when there's a spirit nearby so I would have had to mediate for hours first and that wasn't happening. Not when there's maybe nothing to see here, which is how too many of our cases start.

Basically, no one was getting anything, but that doesn't mean there's nothing there. We can miss stuff or the stuff can be away when we're checking for it. We need to multiple investigations before we can say that there's nothing there. Even then we sometimes miss things, thinking there's nothing there when there is something that we've missed.

But we're not getting anything, and there's an unpunched belt hanging in a closet. One that doesn't look new. I know what it's for, just not officially, but it's an odd thing and we investigate odd things, so I drain myself further and Object Read it. I know what I'm going to pick up, but I See it anyway. Fresh in my mind. There's nothing supernatural about it, but it's a spanking belt. I see it being used. Used often. I don't See why it's used, just that it's used. Maybe for good reasons or bad ones, but I don't See those reasons so I can't judge them. I'm not a parent, so maybe I really couldn't judge even if I knew why. Oddly enough I don't get emotions. I'm expecting anger, disappointment, pain, rage, or something like that - and I'm getting nothing. No, I'm not getting dispassionate feelings, just no feelings or emotions of any kind.

Anyway, I read the strap and put it back. Later I point that belt out to the Prof - who agrees that it looks odd and starts speculating that it's a haunted object or cursed - when I explain what I saw in my soft "I don't want to be overheard" voice. The Prof grunts and speculates that this could be a cause of a "someone with a lot of repressed aggression destroying things " event. Say someone who was subjected to corporal punishment lashing out. Or maybe something was feeding off that rage - coming into being when there was enough of it. It wasn't a clear cut thing. These cases rarely are.

But the Prof didn't pass judgement over how that belt was used. He feels that it is unprofessional to judge the people who came to the department for aid - mostly because he wants people to come for help without worrying about being judged. He merely noted it as a possible source of rage that might be feeding a spirit or the acts were just the destructive actives of an adolescent with repressed aggression.

That investigation is still on going. The information about the belt was shared after we left the house but the crew didn't know what to do with that knowledge. We mostly shrugged it off and got on with the investigation. Flamer even did his Fire Omen thing which produced ambiguous results. We all hit our powers but we get various results, nothing that means yes or no. I'm told that Spirit Guide repeated how there were no friends to make there - but Spirit Guide doesn't know if that's always the case or if those potential friends were out when we were there.

I did a lot of power mediation, then sought dreams that night. Looking for the present and the future, and this morning I woke up with mix messages from the universe. I See things getting smashed but not who (or what) is doing the smashing. So is there something there? Who knows - not me. Do those "parental conversations" have any impact on what might be there? Answer hazy, ask again later. Is that monster going to strike again? That one isn't my problem anymore. That one is up to the cops

Jack

[Jack_Fisher]

Nope, nothing really new to report, but I had a dream last night about The Monster. One where I Saw where he is now. When I woke up I headed out, picked up a burner phone, and called in the tip. I'm thinking that maybe I should stock up on those phones. I wish there were still payphones everywhere that you could use for anonymous calls, but burner phones with prepaid plans are the only way to go now. He's not local, so I say I know him and he's been in touch with me and I know where he is now, and I get a confidential informant number in case my information leads somewhere. Of course I can't claim that reward without telling people the truth and I'm not doing this for the money. Here's hoping the cops can follow up on that tip.

The graphic novel is coming along fine. Here's hoping I can find a publisher. If not, maybe Kickstarter or Indigogo? There are a lot of worse projects on those sites. I'd have to work out tiers and bonus stuff if funding shoots through the roof, and I'd have to cost everything out to the penny and hope shipping charges don't change after I launch, but maybe. But only once it's finished and ready to go - I'd hate to have a project that never ships.

About the poltergeist investigation. We still don't know. Is it supernatural or an out of control temper? We can't tell. All I know is, well I'm still not using names so I'll call him "Dad", "Dad" doesn't mind using that belt when there are other people (including non family people) in his house. Half the crew blushed deep red on hearing him swinging it while the other half tried to pretend that they weren't hearing anything. No, I don't know why the belt got used, but it was used more than once that day, the beltings happening after each other without any real pause between them. Nope, it has nothing to do with me. Nothing to do any member of our crew. And hopefully nothing to do with our investigation.

Jack

[Jack_Fisher]

An update. The monster got into a firefight with the cops, but got away. He was hurt, leaking blood, but he's still out there. What is it with this guy? Is he really former military? If so it wasn't under his name and his info isn't in the databases. I could be wrong, but I'm sure I heard somewhere that the military fingerprints and takes DNA samples from all soldiers in case they need that info to identify remains.

And the poltergeist thing has really taken off - there's Something There!

Preppy was at the house, watching the equipment, when he called me. Not just me - shit was happening and he was calling everyone. Others were driving in, but I did the old Astral Projection trick because it was faster than driving and it puts me on the spirit side of things when I get there. While focusing on how to leave my body I felt my powers expanding, the way they do when I'm about to deal with weird shit. When that happened I knew this wasn't some prank or Preppy misreading the dials.

I get there and there's something there, in the Spirit World. I'm not sure if it was poltergeist, but if it was then it wasn't acting like a normal poltergeist. It wasn't doing a lot of smashing, not like normal poltergeists who never stop smashing, but there was something there. Spirit Guide was trying to talk with it. I try to talk about. All this talk means that it's not doing anything in the real world, so maybe that explains the lack of smashing. The thing talks about, no, communicates the need for strong emotions. Something weird like that. It communicates something about going to "heres that aren't here" and agreeing to something. I think it agreed to leave, but not to leave and not come back.

It goes, and with it the boost to my powers. I scout the house and see there's only members of our crew - arriving one at a time. Preppy was there alone - the family being out at the movies when things started to go smash. The Prof isn't there, but Flamer is and he's looking for something to burn. There isn't anything to burn, but he wants to burn something because when your psychic power is a hammer the entire world looks like a nail. Plus he likes burning stuff.

I head back to my body before I'm forced there. I start calling around and discover that the Prof couldn't make it - something about a staff meeting. We all head to the Prof's research room at the university and wait, including Preppy who made sure the equipment was hauled it back (he wasn't going to be alone in that house again). Prof finally gets there and we talk things out. I told him what I know, but Spirit Guide got much more out of the conversation than I did.

The poltergeist was switching locations - having different "heres" to describe wherever it was when it was there. Which maybe made sense in the spirit world, I'm not sure. Anyway, Spirit Guide gave us the location of three other places the poltergeist haunted. The Prof plans to banish the thing, or maybe bargain with it so it has to leave all four places.

Jack

[Jack_Fisher]

It took some time, but we found the other "heres" that the poltergeist was talking about. And yeah, they have more classic "make people scared by smashing stuff" things going on. Which makes the first place weird - it's only had a bit of smashing compared the rest of the places. If the thing feeds on fear it isn't eating well at the initial place. Anyway we're doing things at all four sites now, except the family that lives at one of the places doesn't really believe we're altruistic and keeps telling us that they're not paying us a dime no matter what we claim to find.

I think that family thinks we planted the poltergeist and are now here to "solve the problem" for a hefty fee. But they're cooperating. If they didn't want the thing gone so much they wouldn't give us access to their place.

The weird bit? The split isn't 25/25/25/25. The poltergeist is at the other houses less than we thought they would be, but we rarely saw it at the first place and it rarely caused classic haunting symptoms there.. But these things are weird and we're still documenting.

The Monster was sighted again, in a distant city, but no arrests. Which is starting to worry me a bit. There's no evidence linking me to exposing him. I thought that was a good thing so the cops wouldn't know who I was, but now I'm thinking it's a great thing that the monster doesn't know who exposed him.

Jack

[Jack_Fisher]

Good news. We made a breakthrough in the poltergeist case. No, we haven't moved it on yet, but Spirit Guide happened to be looking around when "Dad" was using that belt. Spirit Guide normally stays away from awkward scenes (Spirit Guide hates walking in on someone changing, shower rooms, and other places where people wouldn't want to be seen) but this time Spirit Guide was searching the place as that belt was being used and stepped into the room where it was happening.

There was the poltergeist - devouring all the emotion from the belting.

Yeah, we should have figured it out when there was no emotion on the belt, but sometimes we'll slow. I'm saying "we" and not "I", because while I didn't figure it out I'd passed on the info to the Prof and he told the others and none of us put two (something that feeds on emotions) and two (no emotions where there should be plenty) together to get the right answer. It's a bit embarrassing, now that we know, but I'm guessing that most of us were trying not to think about those parental conversations.

Anyway, the poltergeist is gorging itself on all the emotions from what's happening with the belt. Spirit Guide tries to shoo it away but it won't go so Spirit Guide tells us what's happening. Now we're in a quandary. There's being non-judgmental then there's telling someone "that thing will keep coming around as long as that belt is used".

Yeah, that's an awkward conversation none of us want to have. So we leave and head back the university where we try to figure out what to do. The Prof thinks that maybe fighting the poltergeist or luring it into a trap (or maybe figuring a way to ward it out) will be easier than having a conversation about that belt. Most of us agree with that - seeing how we can't figure out how to say things without sounding as if we're condemning Dad for using that belt.

On other things, the Christmas artwork is mostly prepped for the season, the graphic novel is still a work in progress, and the monster is still out there. I'm setting up to do the pre-Christmas craft fairs, taking some orders for custom artwork for Christmas cards, and otherwise looking forward to earning some real money. Yeah, I feel a bit guilty about making those plans, but it helps that we have a handle on the poltergeist and the cops are still chasing the monster. And even if we were still puzzled about the poltergeist, I have to eat, pay rent, and all the rest.

Jack

[Jack_Fisher]

Thinks weren't working out with the poltergeist so the Prof bit the bullet and had a talk with the Dad who owns the belt. There was no screaming so it went much better than I expected. It helps that the Prof is older - if I tried having that talk I'd be a know nothing kid trying to tell a man how to raise his kids, but the touch of gray in the Prof's hair makes it a discussion between peers. Anyway, Dad isn't sure how to take the news. He believes that his parenting style works and doesn't want to change, but he wants the poltergeist gone. I think he's freaking out a bit knowing that the entity is in the room with him when he's using that belt, just watching him.

Anyway, the Prof thinks that this poltergeist has been feeding too much to want to take it on in a fight. Maybe we're going to fight it, but first the Prof wants to starve it for a bit.

The Christmas craft shows are starting - and I'm selling at them so money is rolling in again. And someone came in with a custom order - a variation on "Christmas Beatings". Yeah, I get those requests every year, or ones like them, all from people who think that they've come up with something new. This one involves a guy in a Santa suit with a girl dressed up as a cheerleader over his lap showing a red butt - typical stuff. I've turned down that request way more time than I've filled it and I've done more than a dozen versions of it since high school. Often it involves someone's kid, but back in high school it was usually someone's bratty sibling. The ones I consider doing involve adults, because no one wants a rep as someone who would draw a kid that way.

Even with adults I mostly turn those commissions down. What makes this request different is that the guy wants it on five hundred Christmas cards, which even with a volume discount on the prints translates to $$$$. Lots of $$$$. Five bucks a card, minus printing costs, equals $$$$ (yes, four dollar signs because there's that much money involved).

I hate doing it, but that kind of money for 5, maybe 10, hours of work? It's a no brainer.

Jack

[Jack_Fisher]

Things are progressing. The poltergeist started throwing things around, lots of things, enough that the Dad started wondering if his belt should come out of retirement, but the Prof talked him out of it. We're still starving the thing, powering it down so we can fight it... but this 'we' stuff is an exaggeration. The Prof things there's a way he can trick it into manifesting and keep it on this side of the Spirit World, but that's untested tech so that's a big if and most of what we can throw at things only work in the real world. Meaning that before the fight starts I'll have to start working on Astral Projection with a view to finishing it off in the Spirit World. I'll have some help from, while I don't want to say too much about her, but I'll have some help from the girl who talks to Spirit Guide. I haven't referred to her until now, and she'd want to kill me if she knew I called her "girl", but she will do what she can do.

But even with trapping and weakening it in the real world and that girl helping with it in the Spirit World, it's going to be a tough fight in the Spirit World. I'm probably going to have see Healer after it, and I might need days for the bruises to fade - just what I need as the Christmas season heats up. Yes, people love lining up to buy art from a guy who looks like he gets into bar room brawls.

Speaking of the Christmas season, I call it that because the majority (vast majority) of art I produce is Christmas themed. I'm cool with making art of any other seasonal celebration - and I'm selling some wicca themed prints too - just as long as there is cash changing hands.

The graphic novel is on hold because I'm so busy, but it looking like I'll need to hit a funding platform if it's going to see the light of day. I've checked out publishers and none of them are ready to take chance on an unknown artist, at least not for a full-length graphic novel. If the material was educational or linked to local history then the university press might look at it, but they told me that don't do random "comic books". Which leaves me needing to get it finished so I can tell people on the kickstarter page that it's finished and ready to send to the printers. That should make a huge difference, putting me above all the "it's mostly finished but I need cash to finish it" projects.

About the monster. I think I might have killed someone. Accidentally, not knowing I was doing it, but yeah, I think I got someone killed. Maybe I'm just on a guilt trip over nothing, but I really think I got someone killed.

Remember when I had that vision of where he was? How when I phoned it in I claimed he had been in contact with me and that was how I knew where he was? Well someone who did know him died - died hard. Tortured to death hard. Hours spent dying kind of hard. The cops are drawing links to the monster (some of the same work was done on the girl he killed) and are investigating a link. See, they had flagged the dead guy as the mostly likely source for that tip. He was in their files, the files they weren't sharing with anyone, but somehow the monster learned about it.

Learned about it, came back to the city where every cop knows his face, and killed the guy. All because I told that lie when I phoned in that tip.

I don't know if I'll phone in anymore tips. Not if someone's going to die. But if I get another vision and I don't call it in and he kills again, that's on me too. Basically I'm screwed coming and going.

So that's life for the moment. Selling Christmas art while waiting for a poltergeist to slim down so we can lay a beating on it while carrying guilt over getting that guy killed.

Jack

[Last Moon]

Sorry, something you just said stuck with me.

He knows who the number one person who the police think informed on him is.

He is unafraid to go into a place where all the police are looking for him to get some payback.

He's well prepared to disappear.

You're not just dealing with a random psycho, you are dealing with someone who has extensive knowledge of police procedures and techniques plus access to police files.

[Jack_Fisher]

He's definitely something that I didn't expect. I know that he's a mundane, natural person, with no supernatural connections. I just don't know what he is or who he really is. I'm thinking that his entire life here was a lie, but I'm confused about why he is not in any system. He has to have training from somewhere.

Maybe he's a government spook, erased from every database? I don't know. All I know is I didn't See him before and I haven't had any visions that tell me who and what he is.

But the rest of my life isn't going all that well.

Remember that 'no brainer'? That Season's Beatings Christmas card I did? Well it came back to bite me. The guy who ordered it put it on the net. My contact info was discreetly placed on the back of the cart and I'm getting requests for other art like that, but from people who expect it to be free or nearly free. Yeah, they want "five bucks a card" pricing (or less) on single print orders of original art. Some of them even say I can save money by scanning it in and emailing the art to them. As if I could live, make rent, eat, etc on $5 apiece prints.

And no, I really don't want to get into the fetish art space, thank you very much. I know that there are artists who make a nice living there, but I don't want to be one of them. Once you're pigeon holed there you never leave that scene.

What else? Well the poltergeist is slowing so maybe we'll hit it soon. The Winter Solstice is coming - there's always weirdness then. The monster is still on the run, but the police are talking about having lots of leads. I don't know if they mean it or are full of shit, but I haven't Seen a vision of him in a while I've been keeping my mind open for them. Okay, maybe I'm not actively working at having those visions, but I could get them while not looking.

The graphic novel? On hold until the Christmas rush is over. I'll get back to it in January, before the Valentine Day mini rush. Maybe I'll hit some winter cons around then too, maybe talk with others in the graphic artist field and see what advice they're willing to pass along to a newbie in their field.

Jack