Not at home

[Grace]

Looking for KT is a seperate job, Brutal.

But one I'm willing to foot the bill for.

[Gabriel]

Speaking of KT:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1590&p=47690#p47690

[Grace]

Drop what you're doing Brutal.

Get to Chicago yesterday.

[Cybermancer]

Get to Chicago yesterday.

You know, there aren't very many people who can actually pull that off...

[Brutal]

Drop what you're doing Brutal.

Get to Chicago yesterday.

I will endeavor to accelerate matters here in DC and it appears transportation will not be an issue. I should be on the next flight out.

[GhostSpider]

I don't seem to be helping out with Hannah and Ron. I can look for KT. I'd like to be doing something useful.

[Jeremiah Dark]

Poor lil' lamb has has lost her shepard, an with that big ol' hungry wolf scratchin' at the door too.....what a shame.

[Ron Caliburn]

Thanks to those of you who stepped up to help while I took care of business.

It's obvious by now that Not Me is behind this, though recent events in Chicago make me think he might not be alone.

Keep your eyes peeled, especially when you sleep

[Eilonwy Solstice]

If I had eyes . . .

By the way, thanks for the PM, Ron. It meant a lot to me, regardless.

[Hannah]

Wie . . .


I miss you.

[Eilonwy Solstice]

I miss you too, honey.

[Sasha]

For a guy like me who can see and speak to just about anything ethereal naturally without concentration or effort, it’s always awkward the first time you catch your partner’s Spirit Guide out the corner of your eye. Although this was not the first time that I saw Anne’s while doing undercover work, I’m not here to talk about how Spirit Guides react to their Mediums’ undercover behaviour. As Anne—that was Monocle’s name this week—and I were getting re-re-reacquainted with each other we were interrupted by an onslaught of spirits.

Many of them were speaking excitedly and only a few words could be understood from them. They were saying things like “take me with you!” and “he’s here!” I rolled off Anne and started to gear up as I gave the radio alert to everybody to secure Hannah. I was getting all my kit on and asking the spirits to explain what the hell was happening but they weren’t having any of it, as they were clearly preoccupied with “him”, whoever “he” was.

“Ready?” I asked Anne. She had got out of the bed herself, a little shaky in the knees but that’s to be expected. She had pulled a 9mm from a holster on the bedside table after pulling on my t-shirt. She nodded and said, “yea, let’s go.” As we rushed through the hallway the spirits quieted down a little bit and their mood had changed dramatically. Either road they were at no time really interested in talking to me.

They had been all excited and unable to contain themselves, as it were. But now they were depressed as if they had just missed catching a glimpse of Elvis.

Kolya was already at Hannah’s door waiting for us. From the outside I scanned the room inside. There was nothing of note in the room. That was strange. “He’s gone!” one of the despondent spirits lamented. “We’re too late!” it continued.

“Stay to my left at all times,” I explained to Anne. I gave Kolya the signal and he ripped open the door. We poured into Hannah’s room, but there was no sign of her or anything else for that matter. We looked everywhere around and there was no sign of a struggle or forced entry. There was one thing that seemed a little strange, however. There was a knife laying in the middle of Hannah’s bed as if she had been sitting there playing with it and then just got up and left. I managed to get Natasha on the satellite phone and she had a long conversation with Peter, Sebastian’s business partner. They were talking about symbols or something. Meanwhile, Mack, Anne, and Peter were to have a look at the knife and anything else laying around for psychometry.

I’m not going to speculate now so more information just after we have some time to think, brainstorm, and talk things over with folks here and there. All I can say is that between Anne's phantom odours and all the sensitives around and so forth the presence of death was unmistakable.

However, Hannah is not dead.

At the time of Hannah’s disappearance, Mack was doing some oil changes and routine maintenance on the vehicles after the long drive we had, Kolya was cleaning a few guns, Anne and I were getting to know each other in strange but new and interesting ways, while Sebastian and Darcy were somewhere outside walking. They noticed some gusty winds but nothing else. What Hannah was doing is unknown except that she was alone in her room.

[Cybermancer]

Oh dear...

[Ron Caliburn]

Okay, Hannah's gone, there was a presence of death but Hannah isn't dead.


What is going on? Where are you set up anyway?

Don't answer here, I'll PM.

[Eilonwy Solstice]

And the spirits were wanting to go, too . . .

[Clarity]

_____That’s not too strange, Eilonwy. I’d want to be where Hannah is, too.
_____P.S. Did Hannah want to go?

[Ron Caliburn]

The spirits wanted to go - it makes no sense.


Clarity, that is the big question for me and I don't like either answer.

[Cybermancer]

A rescue mission for Hannah has been launched.

Wish them luck.

[Eilonwy Solstice]

“Luck.”

[Ethan Skinner]

Think it's a trap of some kind?

Or, in skeptic's case, a call for help?

What about me?

Sorry, looks like I kinda missed al of it. But I'm always a little skeptical myself about these bizarre sorts of posts. Sometimes I wonder myself if theres nothing wrong with them, and they just want attention.

I haven't read everything yet Nemesis, so don't see that statement above as an attempt at impugning your character.

[Hannah]

I suppose that maybe calling on the personification of death wasn’t the best idea I ever had, but I needed answers from Gruagach and I didn’t know anyone else who could give me a ride.

He appeared before me almost before I finished calling his name. I guess some may be able to make a commentary about death always coming too soon . . . but I wasn’t paying attention to those kinds of details.

“Ankou, I need you to take me to the faerie kingdom, right now.” Okay, my tone was a little demanding, but I’d realized how out of options I really was.

Even though I couldn’t see his face over the high collar and under the wide brimmed hat, I knew he was surprised.

Now is not your appointed time Hannah Grant, I cannot take you.

I really wish I knew how to get words just to appear in someone’s mind like that. “It doesn’t matter, I need to go now.”

I cannot take those who are not scheduled to go.

Desperation was kicking in here, I grabbed one of the knives Nemesis had given me and held it to my forearm. “I can make it my time. Will that get me the ride?”

No. I will still not collect you until it is time. If you end your life before then you will wander as a spirit until it is your time. Then, if you are at the right place, I will collect you. If you miss the appointment, you will wander evermore.

So no. While I wasn’t unhappy about not having to kill myself, this didn’t get me any further. I also wasn’t entirely keen on the fact that he sounded annoyed.

“What if I buy the ride?” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the silver medallion given to me by Edgar. “This must be valuable to you, will it let me on?”

Ankou stepped forward and crouched a little.

Where did you come by this thing?

“An old man named Edgar gave it to me.” What? You think I should lie to the Grim Reaper?

Ankou rose back to his full height . . . but it seemed a little smaller than it had been a while ago. Something about the medallion . . .

“What is it?”

It is a token; the holder of it may not be taken by Death or any of its minions. A free pass if you will. It only works when given freely.

“So this would be something you want back?” Ankou nodded. “If I give it back to you, can you take me to faerieland?”

No child, I cannot accept it as a gift. It must stay in mortal hands.

“Oh . . .” So there was no way to get to Gruagach . . . I looked at the medallion for a moment, the carriage wheel design looked so familiar . . . maybe “You said it was a free pass. Does that mean I can use it to travel on your cart if it isn’t my time?”

Yes.

I held the medallion up, with the carriage emblem facing Ankou. “I command you to take me to faerie land.” Then, remembering whom I was speaking to, “If you please.”

Of course, Hannah.

With that we stepped through the wall and out to the carriage. Ankou helped me up to the bench before sliding up next to me.

For a moment, I was tempted to ask if I could drive, but I decided against pushing my luck.

With a flick of the reins, we slipped between realities.

[Robyn]

I am glad to see you have returned safely Hannah.

But I suspect there are safer ways to travel.

[Grace]

I suppose that maybe calling on the personification of death wasn’t the best idea I ever had,

No. It really was not. If your dad's done yelling at you, I may have a go. We were worried sick about you, Hannah.

[Eilonwy Solstice]

I’ll let Ron be the dad and leave it at that. But I’ll be even more glad when I know the details of your latest visit. Welcome back, Hannah. Are you all right?

[Grace]

I’ll let Ron be the dad and leave it at that.

Oh, if it seemed like I was suggesting anything parental... no. I'm only like five or six years older than her.

My urge to yell and scream has other motivations.

Something which Sebastian has been yakking at me since I made that post.

One of these days I'm going to learn to be more careful about what I post where he can read it.

Lectures aside, I'm just glad he's back to normal. And I'm glad Hannah is back as well.

[Clarity]

_____Hi Hannah! I wish I could have gone with you. I’ll bet you had a lot of fun. Was it sunny and nice there? It sounded as though the spirits wanted to go with you really bad. I wonder if we can tell them where they should be when their time comes?
_____P.S. It sounds like Miss Nemesis cut your hair. Does that mean you look like Miss Wie now, or did it grow back?
_____P.S., again. You’ll look nice either way, though.

[Grace]

Think it's a trap of some kind?

Or, in skeptic's case, a call for help?

What about me?

Sorry, looks like I kinda missed al of it. But I'm always a little skeptical myself about these bizarre sorts of posts. Sometimes I wonder myself if theres nothing wrong with them, and they just want attention.

I haven't read everything yet Nemesis, so don't see that statement above as an attempt at impugning your character.

Sorry, I wasn't available to address this when you posted Mr. Skinner. And I have been preoccupied since.

It was, as you originally surmised, a cry for help. Which, I'm glad to say, many answered. It surprised me, to be honest.

[Hannah]

I am sorry for the trouble I caused you, but I didn't expect to be gone very long, I thought I'd just show up again before the night was over. I had no idea my . . . departure would get noticed in the way it did.

Clarity, my hair's probably going to stay short for a while, we really cut it back. I miss the long hair, but the wigs are kind of fun. I may let it grow again since I figure the nightmare is going to know who I am even if I'm disguised.


So here's what happened after I left.



The last time I came to the Winter Kingdom, the Oak King had wrapped me in the warmth of his Summer Kingdom.

This time the best I had was a sweater.

I may take you no closer to your destination than this.

I climbed down off the carriage into the knee-deep snow. “Will I be able to get a ride back?”

Ankou nodded.

“Thank you.” The snow in my shoes was already soaking my socks.

The wind whipped the snow up around me. The scant illumination of the Northern Lights showed that I stood in the middle of the forest, no paths around me.

I suppressed a mental shiver, remembering what had happened when I last left the paths in faerie land. Almost immediately, I heard a wolf’s howl in the trees.

“Easy Hannah” I said to myself. “Remember the books Kon-Thaak gave you. This is Faerieland. What happens here is what you imagine will happen. You just need to focus on where you are going, and you will get there.”

I shut my eyes for a moment and did my best to block out the sound of snow crunching under the paws of an unseen wolf. Instead, I focused on a path, a path between a forest and a field. In that field were some of the fattest, most beautiful cows I had ever seen. It was mid summer and the cows were feasting on the sweetest grasses ever grown.

With that thought firmly in mind, I took a step forward and opened my eyes.

Everything was exactly as I had imagined.

“Finally something goes according to plan.” I immediately set off down the path, imagining that each step took me a mile closer to my destination. The scenery whizzed by like a blur, but somehow I still could see the birds and bugs flitting about. I could even smell each different flower I passed in the blink of an eye.

Of course, it was too good to last.

[Cybermancer]

“Finally something goes according to plan.”

Of course, it was too good to last.

Oh Irony. Thou art a teenaged girl.

[Brutal]

In my experience dealing with the fay or one of the personifications of death usually doesn’t end well.

One should always be on guard in any such dealings.