Snippet #2681226

[This is a collab post between Soul_Detective and myself.]

Briella watched with concern as Duncan reiterates the ground rules. This time, however, he said it with a distinct lack of energy that wasn't good.

"You alright?" she asked, stepping forward. Duncan sat (though maybe fell would be a better word) down on the folding chair, looking rather winded. Despite his brave face, Briella had a feeling that he wasn't feeling as well as he pretended. The others were already beginning to head deeper into the house.

"It okay if I stay back with you?" Briella gave a bright smile that had just a hint of dry humor. "It seems that the others have already picked their partners, and I'm the odd one out. There's no way I'm going out there alone."

"I don't blame you, not after what just happened," Duncan said with a small chuckle. "Sure, I could use a little company. And yeah, I'm fine, really, just got the wind knocked out of me is all."

With a short sigh, she pulled up a chair and took her seat beside him. Briella knew that the computers didn't really need another check-up, but it was a habit by now. After running a quick diagnostic, she pulled up the heat map, noting the odd fluctuations in the parlor room.

"That's odd," remarked Briella. "The temperature dropped rapidly there. Isn't that where Cassie and Dawa went?" She paused. "I hope it's nothing serious. Cassie's a little spooked, as is. Dawa, on the other had, seems to have some experience. His occasional... tendencies, aside."

Duncan took a look at the screens before he said anything. He watched as the two of them start searching around the room, looking for something. Nothing struck him as too out of the ordinary, so he just shrugged. "Maybe there's something in there with them but it doesn't seem to be doing anything right now. With as many corpses as there are supposed to be buried around here, there's got to be more than a few minor ghosts floating around in this place."

"Without a doubt." Briella blinked as the computer beeped at her. "What?" She clicked again and leaned forward. "Hey, Duke. You seeing this?" All at once, the temperature in their room dropped slightly, the magnetic field rose, and the amount of static electricity increased. It was just enough to be detected on the sensors. "I think... I think something might be here." Briella glanced at him. Though she could translate for the tech, this was usually his area of expertise.

On the screen that showed the view from the stationary camera that had been set up in the parlor, all Duncan could see at first was Dawa hiding behind a couch with a backpack. Hopefully the one Cassie had been looking for, and not one belonging to a ghost. He watched the two of them began conversing with one another, and then he noticed the tarot cards. "Shit, sorry, didn't mean to curse. Those cards will be like a magnet for spirits in a place like this," he said, leaning in close. "Can you zoom in on the table? I thought I saw something..."

"Sure." Now concerned, Briella scrolled the mouse, zooming in on the cards—just in time to see one flip over. She tilted her head. Cassie and Dawa were saying something, but a thin layer of static was present. It wasn't enough to obscure the meaning, but Briella really hoped that she'd misheard it. "Sorry, the audio's a bit fuzzy. But I think," she hesitated, "I'm pretty sure they said something about that card being death." Briella shrugged. "But, as you mentioned, there's been a lot of death in this place..."

"I knew I should have learned to read tarot when that gypsy in Ireland offered to teach me," Duncan half-joked as he watched another card flip. "Well, it doesn't seem to be anything bad. Maybe it's just...wait, what was that? Did you see the figure there, close to Cassie? It looked like an old woman, I think."

Briella smiled at his comment, but she quickly became serious at the mention of the figure. Hopefully, it wasn't like the one that attacked Duncan. "Give me a sec..." On the other computer, the one displaying heat readings, Briella pulled up the video feed from the parlor room. A few taps of the keyboard later, she'd rewinded and paused the screen, revealing the blurry picture of a woman. "This what you—" Briella stopped at the shrill whine of the computer and the abrupt pop-up; all the readings in the parlor room were off the charts! She zoomed out again. And if that wasn't enough, Cassie and Dawa's expressions revealed that something was very, very wrong.

At first Duncan thought, hoped, that maybe the two of them were just surprised by the cards being flipped over, but then he looked over at all the warning and cursed again. He knew enough about the electronic side of things to know that the bells and whistles were, in this case, a very bad no good thing. Just as he stood up something dark appears and flings itself across the room at Cassie. Duncan tried to move, but collapsed in the chair, breathing hard. His energy had yet to return, making him physically too weak to do anything about what just happened.

"Hey, don't push yourself too hard!" Briella said, concerned for both Cassie and Duncan. Of course, it wasn't like she could do anything to help the girl in the other room, especially considering her lack of spiritual talent, so she focused on the person she can help. "You alright?" Without waiting for an answer, Briella stood up and grabbed one of the water bottles by the rest of supplies. She knew her friend well enough to not dwelve on his moment of weakness. She frowned at the meager amount of food and water they had. Hopefully, more would be delivered. Efficiently and briskly, she makes her way to Duncan and hands him the water. "If only Leon and his endless supply of candy was here," Briella says with mock disappointment. "Some sugar would do you good."

"Thanks," Duncan said as he takes the bottle. Opening it he takes a sip and frowns. "Sweet tea would be a lot better. Maybe when Leon comes back I can get a candy off him and put it in the water. That'd be close enough, right?" Briella would know well enough that this was Duncan's way of coping with things. Outside he might be smiling, but inside he was in turmoil, and at the moment there was little he could do about it, which didn't help.