2019-09-10 - The Exorcist

Alexander texts all the people. Byron and Isabella get HELPFUL texts, since they know what the Archivist is and Veil City Hall and all of that, but a lot of the others get something along the lines of: Meet us here at this time and this place, try not to panic or run screaming no matter what. He's helpful like that. He's here, anyway, too-long hair and too big clothes, with a t-shirt that's hiding bandages over his chest if anyone who looks too close, slouchy and tired. "Haunting Department. Yes." He stares at her hands. His mouth opens. Then it closes. "Thank you." And he slouches his way towards the HAUNTING Department with the others. Even if the Haunted Department sounds...intriguing.

Rebecca really has no desire to be back here, in this mad version of reality where shops are made of jello and have faces. In this case, more like City Hall as made by MC Escher. But she knows that Billy the Ghoul has to be stopped. And she wants him stopped. If they can make him suffer for killing her sister? All the better. The slim blonde is dressed way down for her, in a pair of jeans, and her little sister's maroon sweater she kept, with keds on her feet. She has her arms wrapped around herself as if that can keep out the bad things in this place, and sticks close to Itzhak, her ersatz guardian. The only thing that seems to soothe her at all, is that even this batshit place seems to have bureaucracy and organization of it's own abstract sort.

Lilith is around in guard dog capacity just in case given the run of things lately, that and it's easier to listen to these things first hand than it ever will be hearing them piecemeal second hand. She's wearing a pair of lace up boots with skinny jeans and a light denim button up with cuffed sleeves over a black fitted tank, tied at the midriff to catch the shirt slack, dark hair braided away from her face. She stays near Byron primarily and largely is eyes instead of mouth, and those blue eyes are a touch wide when they hit on the bony-fingered woman with the typewriter. Then suddenly she looks a touch disappointed. It's not a dog like Byron talked about on the typewriter, damnit, and she looks up his way for a silent beat before carrying on to follow.

She knew they would have to come back here, eventually - it was in the list of scenarios that she has repeated to a few of her comrades throughout the course of this investigation. With hers being the first party, and the second Byron's, it seems that the Clayton Party is up and she is already there, waiting for the rest to arrive. And once they manage to find the note, Isabella Reede is along with the rest, moving up, though she waits for Alexander to 'check' them in. Her phone is in her hand, watching the reception bars go down and down until they stop completely. But she moves with the businesslike pace of someone who not only has someplace to be, but also with an air of resigned familiarity - she has been here a few times before. She crosses over Alexander's shadow, somewhere behind but also to the side of him. The Haunting Department gets a lift of her brows - that on its own promises even more weirdness, but she is not complaining in the least; she had wanted to know where the other departments are since their last visit.

What the fuck? is likely Ruiz's reply to Alexander's text. Mostly because he doesn't like people telling him where to go and what to do. Especially with flimsy reasoning. He does, however, show up. Ratty tee shirt, black BDUs halfheartedly shoved into combat boots. Leather jacket and baseball cap, and the answer to should I bring my sidearm? is invariably yes. He hangs back from the others, dark eyes cast about guardedly, body tense.

August's first intentional time in the Veil, and wow, it's as crazy as he could have expected based on prior experience. Less horrifying, at least. He keeps near Itzhak and Rebecca, eyeing their surroundings like he's trying to form a mental map.

Itzhak is here in his capacity as Rebecca's bodyguard and general-purpose kvetcher. He's so very, very interested in all of this, but he's got his tough guy face on, too cool for school. Nothing impresses him, except everything is impressing him and his brain is ticking away recording it all for later examination. One hand is on Bex's back between her shoulder blades as he follows along. He keeps them near August.

When told that they would be meeting at City Hall of all places, Byron's been here twice in the past. Does that make him OK with the madness that is the Veil? At least, for now, he's not surprised by what he sees. Even when he's confronted by a redheaded secretary with skeletal hands. He's dressed sharply, as always, he treats these like any proper business appointment. This was City Hall, not down at some beach. It wasn't 'his' party that was being called for and somehow he had expected that. "While I've been /here/ before," He starts, mostly turning to Lilith, "Looks like they're opening up a whole different section just for us." He's about to proceed alongside the others, when the secretary's little bit of information is passed along to him. She gets a blink at first and a single nods, "Thank you..." He then proceeds forward.

Minerva's been invited to make an appearance, but she's quiet and alone as she enters and not really at the front of the group. She trails in back with her eyepatch and long black hair down and she's got her hat in her hands out of some sort of weird respect. There's a dip of her head to the skeletal figure as they pass, "Haunting Department, not Haunted Department. Thank you." she murmurs quietly to the skeletal woman before she as she moves along. Making mental notes as she goes along. She wasn't really unnerved by the place, she'd seen other oddities. But she was definitely not at home here.

Alexander can't help it. There's a snicker under his breath as Byron's given the greeting. "Should we make a side stop? So you can say hi?" It's low and teasing towards Byron, even as he reaches out to lightly touch Isabella's arm as she passes through his shadow. The conversation at the desk is shamelessly eavesdropped on, eyebrows going up. "Never boring," he mutters, with a shake of his head. A smile towards Isabella. "And I got to be the party leader this time." He sounds so proud!

"At least even the ghosts have to deal with red tape," Rebecca murmurs under her breath to Itzhak and August. She watches the purple cloud with both eyes raised as the stairs are climbed, but then she's counting the doors on the left. She's pretty sure they don't want to wind up in the wrong place.

Erin had heard of the Archivist and its crush on one among them, but upon hearing the receptionist she glances over towards Byron with an impish half smile. There really was nothing to smile about and the Addington realizes that, but she's taking her kicks where she can get them. Dressed down for the moment, it's a simple pair of jeans with bedazzled back pockets that likely cost a healthy amount, flat soled shoes in case she had to run and a plain colored shirt beneath a zip-up hooded jacket. At the moment she's hanging back with Ruiz as a protector and her expression turns wary the further they go.

"Must be some extra special screwery ahoy, then." Lilith murmurs to Byron, looking around with... not quite unease, but general wariness and a certain amount of tension in her striding posture along with the group. Her hands drop to lace-hook thumbs in her jeans pockets while walking, mostly to keep them from outwardly fidgeting, commenting lowly aside, to tease in brief, "I like how you're handsomely popular in screw-town version just like real life." Then she squints suddenly as they stop and she looks between the doorways and thinks for a lingering beat. She opens her mouth as if she's about to suggest a restore on one of the doors to original engraving state, but stops herself, "If-- well." Not sure she wants to shine, either at the moment.

The party leader comment gets a small smile. "The first two visits were illuminating," Isabella murmurs. "Hopefully we'll manage to circumvent the mistakes we made the first few times we visited." Green and gold eyes find the group - most of these faces are familiar, though Byron and Lilith get a warmer smile and so do August, Erin and Ruiz. There's a bit of a surprised look to her when she recognizes Itzhak - she didn't get his name in the gym, and Minerva's presence earns her a look of sincere relief. Her fingers move, brushing absently over Alexander's knuckles. And when they pass the other doors, they get a glance, but her expression is indescribable there. They stop in front of the two doors and her lips press in a thin line. "Uh..." There's a glance to the group, particularly the readers.

Hyacinth marches in always fantastically overdressed for every occasion. Really one could wonder if her text said board meeting with the old boy at 5, eh wot. her leg, the clear acrylic with the bones that light in the middle are turned on like a highly stylized Coleman lantern as she walks. Too proud to show fear and too angry to worry about the minutiae of this is real she stays somewhere near Rebecca and Ruiz. Her eyes though, in near no time, hit up the architecture to study the hell out of it trying to place it in time.

Rebecca's eyes widen with each passing weird ass door. The redundancy one has her flinching back like that one may be worst of all. "And I thought I felt like I was losing my damn mind BEFORE," she mutters. She looks between the two doors and frowns.

Ruiz tries to ignore the fact that the stairs are bitching at him as he climbs them, and pauses to let Erin catch up. He's not going to let her out of his sight. "Door on the right," he announces flatly, nodding to indicate. He sounds certain.

Minerva gives a black lipped smile to Isabella and a dip of her head when the woman is seen and there's a bit of a look to the doors, "This is the fifteenth door." she states for the group as she points to the door on the right. "Anyone else get that?" she asks as she looks around with the one good eye. Then Ruiz speaks and there's a nod to him in agreement.

Byron has no idea what Alexander is talking about and merely quirks his brow at the other man. The trek up the steps is annoying more than anything. It's pretty gross when it feels like you're stepping in something sticky like glue. With Lilith's own comment about it all, once they've reached the top, because that's a lot of exertion used there, "I was the only one polite enough to stick around and thank our host while everyone else decided to wander off. Business etiquette." If he noticed any weird sticky-note a door, he's too busy silent counting each one that they pass. He doesn't really think that it was necessary, since most of these rooms are marked clearly. Until they get to a pair of doors with very similar names and only one of them the door they were supposed to go into. He was counting, alright. So when Ruiz points out the door on the right, his shoulders lift, "Sounds about right, unless I miscounted."

Alexander and the stairs get on fine; squish and shoe assault is something he's not hugely thrown by. The Department of Redundancy brings Alexander up sharp for a moment, and he stares at the people staring into their door with fascination and horror. It's not a great sight for someone who has to remind himself what reality is. When he pulls away, it's with a visible shudder, and he runs a hand through his hair, frowning. The frown only deepens as they get to the two doors. "Fifteenth," he mutters. "Fifteenth door. It's the one on the right. Yes." A nod to Ruiz.

The doors were weird enough that Erin pays attention to them as they pass. Especially when they see the other group of themselves inside one of the passing doors. It was all really very odd, but she was sort of good at memory games like this. Counting as they go, "Thirteen," she says quietly, "Fourteen. This one is it," she points to the fifteenth door. "This is the fifteenth door on the right." A nod to Ruiz, he was right.

"Are you--" Itzhak's about to say 'shitting me' but he shuts his mouth sudden and hard. He knows enough Jewish folklore to realize he should not say anything he doesn't really, really mean. He goes directly to the fifteenth door without seeming to bother counting or wondering. Just. Bam. Fifteenth right there, baby. "Let's get this show on the road, huh?" he says to Alexander.

Since there seems to be a majority of people sure it's the one on the right, Rebecca looks to Itzhak and August. "Right it is then?" she murmurs to them,

Ruiz's identification and the confirmation by Alexander and the others in the group is good enough for her. Isabella steps forward, moving to the fifteenth door to the right. Without hesitation, she reaches out to grab the knob and latch and pushes it open. "Open sesame," she murmurs.

August sticks with the group, because he can already tell this is an even more hellish version of a City Hall than usual (which is saying something). He's not trusting himself to choose a correct door.

Hyacinth has spent more time observing the construction of the doors the freize, the architrave above, and the low relief carved details into it. Oh? Her eyes open as Minerva speaks. She looks down the hallway and back. Were they supposed to be counting? Well whatever, there are people to do that sort of thing. Her fingers brush the doorframe as she takes pause to commit it to memory and then turns to follow.

Looking at Byron dubiously, she opines, "I don't know. My gut is kind of saying left, and generally I'm good at instincts, but... I mean, we could check both just in case, couldn't we?" Yes, that's a great idea Lilith, splitting the group between the pair of them into the potential room they're not supposed to get it confused with. But since everyone else is saying right, AKA Byron is saying right, she eyes the left door for a long moment like she's tempted and just makes to follow where he says to go. She's kind of good at getting herself in trouble, all told, but she looks pretty damn tempted there for a moment. But man, the whole majority...

Minerva doesn't take a lead, this isn't her show. So the woman just stays in her back of the group spot for the moment while Alexander and others take to opening the door. The Jewish woman whispers something to herself and then waits to see what is behind the fifteenth door.

Erin has zero desire to be the first person entering the room, quietly she watches Isabella while remaining somewhat behind Ruiz. She's not real talkative at the moment, she's too busy watching out and listening for any signs of danger. The stairs made her gratefully glad she wasn't wearing heels, especially when they were getting cursed at for stepping on them. By the stair."Strange things are afoot at the Circle K."

Alexander says, to Erin, "I sort of want to take a look at the files around here. Is that weird? Just to want to go through some of their old records and try to figure out what they're doing. It's probably a fascinating--" he stops, then brightens, "I wonder if there's a police department around here? Are there laws?" His fingertips beat out a quick tattoo on his thigh even as he goes through the door, glancing back at Ruiz like we should totally go raid their police department. Think of the donuts.

"You'n me both, pal," Itzhak mutters, eyeing the shrinkydinkified-August.

August turns at the tap, looks down, and blinks. He stares for a long time as mini-himself starts and then scampers off, blinks slowly. He sighs in a 'that might as well have just happened' manner.

Lilith makes a terrible noise in her throat and through her nose that threatens a downright strangled laugh, but she chokes it back while distracted by Big August vs Tiny August, complete with timbre pitched matching voice and a nope out. Then she looks at his face and about loses her shit laughing, but given people are choosing a door now and she's being wrangled by Byron decisions to go through the door instead of feeding her own bright ideas and curiosity to split, she keeps it largely together. Then her attention is stolen as they come in to meet with someone that's stating the amount of shitheap they're in. Seems legit. She checks on Isabella and Alexander's position visually while keeping near Byron's arm.

About to object, Erin realized they'd never get this opportunity again, more than likely. "It's not a bad idea. But how to find it? Maybe ask the stairs if they know?" A look back to the still bitching staircase. "I wonder if there are laws and what they are. Or if there's an extra box around." Musing through different ideas. Lifting her sleeve to her nose, she covers it from the stench of the lung invading smell. "She almost looks like my grandmother." Yikes. They'd been ordered to sit so she glance between Ruiz and Alexander. Sitting or?

Rebecca stares at the wee little August and then at not-so-wee August, and can't help but bust out a laugh. She hasn't laughed much in the last couple days, so it's a good thing. She covers her mouth and nose with her hand as the cigarette smell wafts around them, Then pulls the collar of her sweater up over her nose. When the lady orders them to sit, she does, quickly, as if afraid of what a reprimand in this place would be like.

Minerva looks down at the tiny!August and then back to regular size August and there's a moment she almost reaches out to pinch a cheek, but she reins herself in and goes back to looking at doors. When nothing jumps out like a B-Movie horrorflick she allows herself to breathe, right as the smell of smoke filters in. She gives a moment for others to take their seat and then she settles herself into one and crosses one knee over the other. Yes, she was still wearing a dress, she didn't change clothes for a jaunt in the Veil. Her one eye then focuses on the woman talking.

Byron shouldn't be surprised when a miniature version of the plant guy shows up, only catching a quick glimpse behind because of that weird noise that Lilith is making, his gaze slowly looking behind him over his shoulder. He, however, is already making his way into the room, so his gaze doesn't linger there long. There's a /lot/ to see while they are here, after all. Some more disturbing than others. On meeting with the woman whose domain this is, he clears his throat and murmurs, "Thank you for meeting with... all of us today." There sure is a lot here rather than the trio who are more often seen around these parts. He takes in short breaths, doing his best to not look like ill due to the heavy stench of smoke in the room.

The prospect of exploring the Veil further - or at least, outside of these confines, has Isabella pressing her lips together even more though she doesn't comment much on the quiet conversations that are occurring behind her. There's a disbelieving look at August Junior before he scurries away. But the moment the door opens and she steps inside, the smell hits her - green-gold eyes flood with sudden moisture and she can't help but reach up to cover her nose. And while she can still enjoy cigarette smoke, she has long since quit the habit - it's terrible for diving - and the ambiance within is just terrible. But she shakes her head, takes a good look at the woman sitting behind the desk, and when the woman tells them to sit? She sits. She moves towards one of the uncomfortable chairs and eases into it. A small smile when Lilith keeps a visual bead on her, before facing the woman behind the desk. She also squints for a name plate on the desk - is there one? "Thank you for seeing us," she says, echoing Byron's sentiments, shifting on her chair. It is uncomfortable. "Uh...what do we call you? There's the Archivist and the Collector..." Her voice trails off. They seemed to be titles.

Between the acrid smoke, 80s fashion sense and uncomfortable chairs, Ruiz is wondering for about the 78th time why the actual fuck he decided to come along on this little misadventure. The grouchy Mexican heaves a sigh, hooks one of the chairs with the toe of his boot, and drops into it heavily. It creaks, but holds. Hopefully. He'll let Byron and Isabella do the talking, though. Which is probably for the best.

Itzhak reels backwards when the door opens and gags in Yiddish. Even for a smoker, this is a LOT. "Jesus it's like my great-grandmother's apartment." Still he wades in and gets a seat...and then the chair starts joggling him around. He blinks. The chair he's sitting on is extremely happy that he's sitting on it, apparently, and it's doing a squealy-happy little chair-dance on its tippy little chair legs. Itzhak mutters, "Settle down!" totally ineffectively, one hand clamped on the edge of the seat.

"Yes. Thank you." Alexander stares at the woman. Or, particularly, at her throat. His hand goes up and he rubs absently at a wound that is no longer there. He's slow to sit down, almost has to be prodded into it by the squeal of Itzhak's chair and its happy dance. He twitches, smiles at the mechanic, and then finds a chair of his own near Isabella. "I take it you know our situation."

Hyacinth keeps one hand on Vyv at this point when the tiny man that looks like August walks right up to him and right off again. Oh to wish there are not other things to do. Staring at the door she states, non-plussed, "Well someone open it we have an appointment." She is, however, finding a seat as close to the door as she is able and illuminating the space under the chair as she does so and starts floating around the room. When the comparison is drawn between the woman and her great aunt she looks to Erin, eyes slightly wide murmuring, "It's a little uncanny." She eyes the Collector and tries damn hard not to call her Juno, "We would very much appreciate the answers to a few questions and not the least of which involve this box business if you have anything that can enlighten us as to what is so damn special about three somethings that construct it." Hyacinth is still, as always, rather subtle like a bullet.

Lilith stress smokes here and there and that's about it, so the smoke is a bit eye-burning, but something about the thick ugh haze of it... seems familiar abuse levels too, tinging her with childhood memories of the trailer and... the woman blinks a few times, though, when she notices the lady's throat. Her head tilts a bit with fascination for some reason, as well as some form of consideration before she drops into a chair and makes a little woah noise when it starts to move. Batting her lashes a few times, she looks at Itzhak's locked still like the well-behaved horse in the pack of moving seating and when she slides by, she can't help but quip whisper to him ironically given his build while he's the only one seeming to weigh down motion, "Fat ass." Then she focuses on concentrating and listening and keeping track of where certain others slide, especially Byron.

On purpose; Vyv is in one of these weird perversions of reality on purpose. But nothing's trying to kill them yet, just being strange, so it'll do. He is of course dressed like he usually is, i.e., in an extremely nice suit, accessories and all. Some would say this was actually appropriate for a trip to City Hall! Maybe. He's been fairly quiet so far, heading along with the group and just taking everything in, including the number of doors. No question there! No hesitation going with the one on the right, whatever anyone else might go with. A pang of regret there's actually visible when the smoke hits his nose, but he still heads in. Anyone close enough (so at the least Hyacinth), might catch a mutter of, "This smoke had best come out in normal drycleaning." At proper volume, he greets the woman with a "Good evening," and an inclination of the head. A chair gets a look somewhere between wary and warning, and he settles himself into it a touch imperiously, blinking and holding on a bit more firmly to the arm when it begins to move.

Ruiz is none too pleased with his chair's shifting and scuttling about, and cocks his leg forward to give the thing a swift kick, along with a hissed expletive in Spanish. That oughta learn it.

Once she'd taken her seat, Erin holds on tight! It was worse than the ferris wheel on the boardwalk. The same ride she'd not been on since high school. That reminds her, "I would hate to ride on the ferris wheel in the veil. I wonder what it looks liiiiiike!" The word like turning into a soft sound of dismay as her chair changes places, putting her where it may. She is absolutely ignoring the tiny August, rather intentionally. That was creepy and she didn't want anything getting any ideas to make her that small. Sneaking a look to Hyacinth once her chair was near hers, however briefly, she nods. "It is. It's frightening. At least I've not seen the other two in here. I'm not sure I could handle that." Thomas or Gohl.

"Sorry." Minerva tells Byron when her chair bumps his and then there's a look to the situation Itzhak is in and the woman giggles behind her hand. It was like a really happy dog that had just seen his owner after he'd been gone for years. She places her hat on her head and pats her chair, "Thanks." she murmurs. Maybe it would help calm it down? She didn't know. But she looks to Hyacinth when she mentions Juno, "I like that." she mentions quietly. She basically was Lydia Deetz, just missing an eyeball.

August weathers the reactions to his miniature self steadfastly. Is he noting who's doing and saying what for future payback? Yes, yes he is. He blanches at the smell in the room, gives serious thought injuring his own nose so he can't smell for a little while. Ugh. He settles for focusing on his chair and its decision to migrate about. Well. It's good to see the Veil is every bit as weird as he could have expected from variouis descriptions.

Alexander is no longer near Isabella. At least, for the moment. His chair scuttles left and right, nearly bumping him up against Erin, then Itzhak, before taking a looping spiral around towards Lilith. This, at least, Alexander bears with something like tolerant amusement, picking his feet up and tucking them into a sort of easy half-lotus so that he's not in danger of kicking people. A chair arm is absently patted; good chair, don't kill me.

Rebecca clamps her hands down on the edges of her chair as it starts moving. She tries to keep track of Itzhak and August and Vyv, until it makes her dizzy and she stops.

The Veil is quite the fascinating place, but not without its annoyances. It's a little disorienting at first, when Byron feels his chair suddenly start to move, changing his position within the room and wondering if whoever is controlling these things will err and there would be one big collision in the middle of the room. A collision does occur, but it's a light bump given him from Minerva's chair. "This is incredibly helpful" All said with a wry tone. It's something to get used to and he tries not to pay attention to it for too long, his gaze focusing on the slit-throat woman at first, before he looks towards whoever else is speaking and who may have a question. "That is correct. We're looking for ways on how to lock the Ghoul up for good. To protect the people of our town." Etc.

The deadly cut that lines the woman's throat is also one that doesn't pass Isabella's notice and the question is there in her eyes - maybe later, and she's so focused on it that she doesn't seem to notice her chair shifting until it collides right into Minerva's armrest. There's a startled look in her direction, a hand coming up to steady her before she spills on the woman's lap in an embarrassing fashion. With the woman behind the desk asking them to ask their questions, she straightens up with an apologetic look to Minerva. She shakes her head towards Hyacinth and Byron - she's learned her lesson in the prior visit. Questions, not statements. "How was the Ghoul's original prison built?" she asks. "And will an exorcism manage to pull his influence out of Thomas Addington?"

"I would blame it on my poor driving sight, but the chair has a mind of its own." Minerva muses to Byron. Then she's looking to the woman with the cigarette again. She was curious what others were going to ask. She does pay careful attention to the part when Isabella asks about the exorcism and the prison being built.

Alexander stares at the woman behind the desk. "I don't. Particularly. Like to hear myself talk." He's just informing her helpfully of the information. And then goes quiet when others ask their questions. Or make their statements, in some cases, which makes him frown a little, remembering how particular the Archivist was that all questions be in the form of a question. "How do we trap the spirit of William Gohl, preferably permanently, but at least on a long term basis?" is his quiet contribution to the list.

Ruiz hasn't even said a word, so he's going to go ahead and assume that 'liking to hear yourselves talk' comment wasn't aimed at him. He waits for the others to ask their questions first, listening carefully, and frowns at his chair when it growls at him in response to his kick.

Rebecca's question is more personal. "What happens to the souls or spirits of the people William Gohl kills?" Because her sister is dead and she is dreading what that means for Kelly's own ghost or whatever comes after death.

Just hearing her uncles name has Erin tensing up but she manages to keep her features mostly impassive. Except to those who know her well. There's fear in her eyes. The two most feared had just been mentioned. She holds on to the chair, it was really disconcerting to ride in it deliberately and be out of control. Still, she tries to give the woman her attention. She needed to hear the responses.

"Don't sweet talk me," Itzhak mutters back to Lilith through clenched teeth, inevitably flushing red because this is embarrassing. The chair jitters and jives under him like it can't believe its good fortune that he's sitting on it. He flushes redder when the group's case worker laughs at them for enjoying the sound of their own voices a little too much. Here's his question, said through the judders from the happiest chair on the Other Side, "How do I fight a ghost and win?"

Lilith grins just a touch at Itzhak's response to the ribbing and follows Alexander's lead of pulling her legs up to curl with criss-cross applesauce sit fashion to keep them from getting bumped or bumping others, monkey see monkey do as he slides by. Then she's pretty serious and thoughtful, looking at the questions of the others and seeming content enough to listen to them and the answers forthcoming. Then she asks the real kicker after a look at Hyacinth and Erin, "What happens if Thomas is killed? Does he get out and it's worse, or does he hop to someone else?"

August folds his arms. "Long term? Thomas Addington isn't young. Something could happen to him at any time, and he's getting weaker. That's not long term. Unless," he arches an eyebrow, "you mean he's already trapped in some other way?"

Hyacinth blinks and slowly swooshes around the room. Minerva's given a faint smile, "Me too." Still the lack of people offering up information in abundance to them is problematic. Where is the tithe of informa-... oh. Those lined eyes narrow shrewdly and listen. On the other hand as a carpenter she's taking this time to ride out the ride lovingly petting the the arm rest of the antique murmuring something about aren't you just a splendidly handsome work of craftsmanship? Let's not scuff you in collision. "The notes we found mentioned to imprison him it will require Three... Three what are required?"

They're dead sweetheart. Such finality. Erin dares not move her hands from the sides of the chair as she holds on while it continues to move, but as she pulls in to double park next to Rebecca, she gives her a troubled look. "I'm so sorry." It was her Great Uncle after all. She has little time for anything else as her chair skitters, almost tipping her over to seat her by herself for the moment. It's when Lilith tosses out her question and she closes her eyes, taking a deep breath and holding it as she waits for the response.

"William," Alexander mutters, very softly under his breath. He just...can't stop himself from correcting the nickname back to its proper form. He listens to the questions and answers, his expression lacking any emotion at all. "Okay," he tells the woman, slowly. "We want to move him. How do we move William Gohl's spirit to a place where it can do no further harm to the living? Preferably without having to sacrifice Thomas Addington to the Asylum."

Rebecca seems relieved. She doesn't feel like her sister is haunting her, so hopefully she's in heaven. She also pulls up her legs and wraps one arm around them, hanging on to the back of the chair with her other hand. She gives Erin a commiserating nod as she passes.

Itzhak gives the lady a baleful look. She's just like every other case worker and counselor he's ever had, it turns out.

She keeps quiet once people start asking their questions. There's a glance towards Lilith, August, Alexander and Hyacinth, though there's an appreciative glance at Itzhak's question also, even if the answer is less than helpful - it was still a clever query. With the response on the exorcism, there's a sideways look at Minerva there - but that is well beyond her expertise and whatever is required in that endeavor, Isabella doesn't know. She doesn't even know where to begin asking.

When Rebecca's question is answered, Byron gives her this quiet look, but doesn't say anything for now. That response could be considered good or bad, but there's mention of an afterlife, so that's somewhat hopeful. For now, he'll sit and wait, listening to all the other voices question the woman who deals with these matters with an attentive gaze. Then Lilith speaks up and his dark eyes flicker in her direction, watching her chair moving along the rather small room. For now, it was better to wait until they received their answers before tossing out more.

Ruiz seems to have had enough of his musical chair by this point, and clambers off as it goes skidding toward Byron's. He pushes his hands into his pants pockets, and focuses on the chain-smoking case worker with a singular attention while the others ask their questions. Listening, processing, compiling information as answers and non-answers are given.

Aside from that initial grasp on the arm, Vyv seems quietly determined to ignore the fact that his chair refuses to stay still, just as much as he's determined not to appear to notice it would be an uncomfortable one even if they weren't handling the fidgeting for their inhabitants. He somehow manages to pull it off, too, legs crossed and posture elegantly relaxed. Neat trick. "We've got lovely voices," he replies casually to the accusation of liking to hear themselves, "Mostly. What precisely is required of us to prevent William Gohl and his ilk inconveniencing us any further, with the caveat that things in the vein of us dying, leaving town, or running out of friends and family are unacceptable?"

August grimaces as his suspicion is confirmed. "Three of who?" He opens his hands, gestures at the constantly shifting array of people. He seems content to ride his chair like it's a ride at Disneyland. "Apparently some of us here don't qualify, or so the Ghoul indicated. Three--Addingtons?"

Minerva looks to everyone and she listens to the questions that are asked and there's a bit of a look up to the woman that is answering things. She gives a look from each person to the next as they ask questions. "If the Ghoul is permanently gotten rid of does something or someone need to take his place at the Asylum?" she asks.

He's trapped here when he should've moved on. De la Vega steps closer to the case worker's desk, places his hands on it if she lets him. "Instead of binding him.. is there some way we can release William Gohl? Allow him to move on." He means die. Allow him to die, like he should have, however many years ago.

Rebecca looks back up as her chair finishes yet another shift. "Why did my family have William's bones disinterred?" she asks.

Minerva gives a look to Ruiz and there's a nod, "Wonder what might let him move on." she ponders quietly.

Hearing this mention that Gohl and Thomas have formed a kinship together does have Byron narrowing his eyes in thought. He'd probably inquire further on that, but other information told to them seem far more relevant at this moment. "Three of us? Can you tell us how the process worked before using three individuals. How are they chosen and what needed to be done? Things of that nature." A pause, "Anything will help." On hearing the response to Lilith's question, it's something else that he has to consider.

"Would I be helpful as one of the three?" Erin asks her first question and the chair brings her front and center of the desk. "You are judging us and our abilities. Would I be able to help any?"

Hyacinth looks to Lilith with that realization of Ooooh shit. Yup. The one detail Hya totally overlooked. It wasn't a question of souls of her family and since the revelation that she's got a half-sister? She's been posthumously angry with him. God if Hya could adopt this chair she would. Still the information seems to still some questions and she looks to Alexander as she glides past following it up with, "What is the estimated price of this anyways? Give up what?" Looking to Itzhak as she glides past she says, "If you do fight him slap him for me? Twice."

There's a look at August's direction - they fielded the theory just yesterday in his office. Isabella's heart tics a little, and now her eyes are shifting between Vyv and August, marking out the differences between the two. They are significant, and not just the manner of dress, and what they do for a living - the talents they wield. "\What makes August on the cusp?" she asks the Exorcist. Her eyes then shift to Ruiz. "And if there's a price to be paid, can anyone pay it, or does it have to be the three candidates?"

August squints at the Exorcist and her comparion of himself and Vyv. He glances around the room. "What about her? Lilith," he adds, sense gesturing could have him pointing at the wrong person should his chair move. He manages to point directly at her. Mostly.

Hyacinth leans with her arm on her chair and a curl of a smile, "How do we get a job here?" There's that fire in her eyes. "I'm considering retirement options." Looking to Erin she nods taking a deep breath, "We can try. And if we fail I can try to shut it down and we can try again until we get it right."

Alexander looks stricken at the woman's reply to him. "Should I?" he murmurs, his gaze dropping to her desk. For the moment, he has nothing to add to the discussion, but just listens to the questions and answers filling the room, his fingers playing with the hem of his t-shirt.

Lilith looks pretty pensive, because the answer to her question basically leaves all the things they were worried about up in the air with the callous (but tactical) idea of taking out the root driver of Gohl's ghost. Her tongue presses in pressured work against an eyetooth as she continues to listen, though she takes a look at Byron, then Ruiz for some reason after the answer. Then she takes a moment to assess Erin and Hyacinth with a look at August while her breath is held. She seems a touch concerned, but suddenly, she sits up straighter in her chair, like she's holding a question to wait until all the others are answered.

Something about the elderly slash-throat speaker brings a bit of a smile to Lilith's lips as she suddenly casts a look at Isabella, because she knows what all three pointed at are quite capable of in their different ways. And it confirms something the pair of them discussed as theory with Byron. She knocks a hand back to pull the braided back length of hair over her shoulder, seeming accustomed to the chair sliding kind of like a rocking chair at this point. In fact, it seems to be working to keep her from fidgeting, largely, while seated, oddly. Then she wonders, "Is Margaret Addington tied to the ghost too in some way or benefitting from him?"

"He wanted to be buried. Do we need to bury what's left of him in the cemetery?" Rebecca asks.

Itzhak murmurs, "Dybbuk." He raises his eyebrows when the Exorcist points at him, points at himself, mouths me? "I'm the only one like me."

Vyv arches a brow at being informed he won't do. Really now. He looks about to ask something else, but then some more of the answers come, and he gives an exasperated sigh, glancing ceilingward with a slight drop of the shoulders. "So bury him, then? Ugh, fine." Well. He won't do to do it anyway. "Do they need to donate bones, or will other things of theirs do?" Well, they're not his bones. He won't do, after all.

Hyacinth boggles at what Billy would really really want. "I don't even know what form a ziggah zig ah comes in but I'm willing to fabricate one." Coldly she asks Erin, "Well I don't know how much more of me he can take but I can possibly hunt up my leg and he can keep it if we fucking need to." Gory, and yes, more bitter than she'd like but also it'd keep others from having anything hacked off. Her eyes look to Itzhak and she says quietly, "Speak... with me after this if you will make the time."

"Psychokinetic, healer, empath," Alexander suggests, quietly, to Itzhak, shaking himself out of his reverie. Vyv's question gets a thoughtful nod. "We only have half a skeleton," he admits to the Exorcist.

"It's not that," August says to Alexander. "They have to be strong enough. Almost no one else is as strong as Itzhak that way." And boy, does he not sound happy about that at all.

The Exorcist taps her nose and points that finger to Alexander. "Bingo, bucko." As for half the skeleton, she looks irritated and that means she needs another smoke. "I guess you're going to have to give up something of yours then to make up the other half."

Byron knows what Lilith and Alexander can do, Itzhak is what's unknown to him when those three are chosen, but he'll take a guess on what that is. When the Exorcist speaks directly to Isabella, herself, about this being something of yours, he is quick to say, "Isabella will gladly sacrifice anything that she could to stop this." Though this question on the bones comes up and and here he has to sigh. They've been asked of this by the Archivist once, a sacrifice of their own bones, but they got through that hoop. Which is what's lead them to this problem today! "This sacrifice? Does it have to ONLY come from the three chosen?"

"I won't let Itzhak sacrifice himself for this," Rebecca states. "He was only brought into all this because I asked for his help."

"I think this means that the sacrifice is that we need to replace the bones that are missing with some of our own," Isabella concludes, quietly. "And then hold a funeral, with a mover, a reader and healer in hand to move him to the other side, like what the Captain suggests." And when pointed out by Byron, she nods. She doesn't even hesitate, or protest.

Finally a straight answer. The Exorcist actually gains a rare smile from Ruiz, and he watches her steadily as her attention shifts, and other questions are answered. The indicating of a few people as being worthy of paying the so-called price causes him to raise his brows slightly. Wondering, perhaps, what they might have in common. But then Alexander takes the thought out of his.. mind. And he runs his tongue along his upper teeth, thoughtfully. "What do these.. three need to give. Precisely? Something of ours. Tell us what we need to give." Byron's question gains a nod, firm; he wants to hear the answer to this, as well.

Vyv's fingers tap against the arm of his chair, gaze quite sharply on the Exorcist. "I asked quite specificially. Do they need to donate bones, or will other things of theirs do?"

Minerva reaches up and rubs at the eyepatch, she'd already gave something when she was a child, but she doesn't really blink, "Alright. I'm willing to take that one for my part. Not really going to argue with it." she states. "So if I'm putting this together right.." she trails off to look at everyone. "Three of us will need to extract the Ghoul from Thomas Addington via exorcism or other means." she states. "The Ghoul will haunt the three of us that /DO/ that until we give him proper burial or whatever is necessary to make him rest." she states in a grim tone.

Itzhak is going pale, despite the juddering of the chair. He swallows, teeth clenched.

August sighs, rubs at his nose. "An object, though. Not another living being or person?"

"Thank you." Vyv even inclines his head to her just slightly. "Hmm."

Rebecca is looking pale an unhappy, from the chair ride or the answers or both.

"That makes sense," Alexander murmurs. "No one can pay a cost for you; if we care enough about it, then we have to pay." He rolls his shoulders, and gives Minerva a sidelong look, before turning back to the Exorcist. "Three people with strong abilities in those broad three areas, each of which must sacrifice something of deep importance to themselves, while conducting a funeral to put William to rest." A pause. "Do we have to get the spirit out of Thomas first, or can we construct a ritual that can blend the pulling and the putting to rest?" Another pause. "Does Thomas have to consent?"

Hyacinth floats on her chair quietly, and thoughtfully. Her eyes watching Minerva and she can't help but a- think of that Burton movie. B- think of her Great Aunt and her two siblings. Quietly she muses, "I bet all thee siblings were involved..." Her fabricated imperiousness seems to be doing a lot of path in her head patting the new beloved mobile battle throne under her ass (she's promoting it). Looking up she tells Alexander, "I'll do it. My family started this mess. He took enough from me and you've already paid a price you shouldn't have to. Also I'm good at negotiation and getting what I want, so..." Her eyes close and reconcile it is going to be terrible and in the end the can win and there's the wheel thought in her head winning is important. It has to be. More than 140 people will get very, very inconvenienced otherwise.

"When you say haunt?" Byron asks, his attention on Minerva, "Will he ever be able to use them as tools the way he did with Thomas Addington?" There's this pause now, followed by a shake of his head, "No, we're already extracting him from Addington, would he really take refuge in three people once that is done? I mean," And he doesn't like the thought of it, "He could make their lives miserable and destroy everything that they hold dear in order to use them in ways which he wants to. Which is dangerous in itself."

Erin hadn't been indicated in going but she looks at each that had before she nods quietly to Hyacinth. "If you need me to go, I will. I'll help with anything I can despite what the exorcist says."

Ruiz has one more question, which comes right on the heels of Byron's well-founded concerns: "Once Gohl has been removed from his host, how do we put him to rest-" He pauses, as it seems the woman has just answered his question. "So the sacrifice is what's needed, then?"

Minerva gives a bit of a sober look to the Exorcist, for the first time in a long time the woman just looks /tired/. Then Byron gets her attention and her eye flits to look at him, "Haunting is not the same as Possessing. Possession is not something that generally happens willingly unless there is a pact between vessel and spirit." she states. "Unless there's a special thing I don't know about this situation." she states. "We'll just need to work quickly and hope." she admits.

Rebecca looks up slowly, with an expression of resignation on her face. "My name. I'll give up the Carr name, and be a Baxter, with all the negative connotations that go with it."

Lilith sideeyes Byron. She didn't really expect too much of an answer on her question about Margaret, but it was seemingly worth a shot to her because something about everything seems... convenient in an awful way for the old woman while everyone else suffers, perhaps. At least in her own mind. But she takes to listening to what he wonders and when their chairs skid by each other in passing, eventually, she reaches a hand out to graze over his arm with something like comfort. Then she looks between Erin and Hyacinth for a long, pensive moment, then the others around, Isabella for a beat, then Itzhak and his nerves. And she keeps quiet, not focused on who is doing what in the future with now-concerns on the table. In her eyes, they can do the actual quick planning decisions after they know what to do.

Oddly, Alexander looks more at ease with that answer, although he frowns a little at the finger pointed at him. Rude. "Is there? A light?" The question just sort of slips out - curiosity is his besetting sin. Although he adds, out of fairness to the room, "And our other option, of course, is simply to let Thomas Addington go to this Asylum and the...'Director' deal with the William situation?"

After a few moments of silence, and watching Itzhak's face drain of color, Isabella turns to Lilith. She rises from her seat and crosses over towards the other woman. "If he..." She nods to Itzhak. "Isn't up for it, there might be another way." She glances down at the other woman's near-amethystine eyes. "But I'm going to need your help."

Itzhak comes back to life and snarls at Isabella, face contorting sudden and awful. "I'll do it! I'll FUCKING DO IT." Then he bites the back of his hand, beginning to rock back and forth.

Vyv's head turns swiftly to Hyacinth when she volunteers, brow slightly furrowed, and he watches her for a few moments, expression difficult to read. "So in order to stop him taking things of value from us, we have to give him things of value? That's essentially extortion, is it not?" A glance to Alexander, then back to the Exorcist. "Would Thomas simply going to this Asylum sort it out, long term?"

Minerva gives a look to the others and there's a bit of a look to Itzhak when he snarls at Isabella and there's a shake of her head. She doesn't say anything at the moment. She just settles into her normal silence and thinks.

Alexander's gaze snaps to Itzhak when he snarls at Isabella. But the flare of anger quickly turns to a wince. As his chair sidles in that direction, he reaches out to try and put a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "I think we should not waste the Exorcist's time with trying to work out the details of who does what, or who sacrifices what, right here and now," he murmurs, not looking at anyone.

Hyacinth sits stone still in her seat silent and really pulling some nature of plan together. She's got so much practice being a stone cold bitch to weather all occasions, plan, and defeat her obstacles. Still emotion escapes her eye and starts to slide down her face before the inconvenience is banished by her fingers. Clearing her throat she says to Isabella, "It'd be faulty for us to assume he isn't. Give the man a moment to process. There you go assuming how people feel for them again." Thoughts collected and plan, unshared but in place she looks to Vyv, "I'm going... to need to ask a large favor of you when this is all complete, but not one that will bring harm to you. yes?"

Byron has grown used to the movement of chairs and despite the situation that they find themselves in, his shoulders begin to relax as he considers every single person in this room. Some of which who were here from the very beginning, others drawn in much later. Hearing Vyv's question, he answers it without looking at the man, "That's what the Addingtons said they were going to do. Obviously, they hadn't, having other plans, which I'll assume they didn't follow through with either." Then his attention is brought back to Ithzak's outburst in this little room. He's met the guy once, but again, he's the unknown entity in this room in Thorne's eyes anyway. The outburst is, well, his gaze moves on. "I think we have the Addingtons do it. Make the sacrifice."

"Anything you need. You've been entrenched for long enough. I figure we can all... decide in a meeting after this for planning, regardless." Lilith says to Isabella with a forward tip of her head, complying without even asking for the details after a look is shot Byron's way. Then she looks at Itzhak's stressed out response, pursing her lips off to one side with twist because hell, she'd like to see that battle between him and Isabella, if not right at the moment, over who's going to do what! She doesn't provoke it, though, she just pulls the hand away from her braid of hair and suggests agreement with Alexander, "We'll all meet after this, yes, we should take advantage of what we can say and hear right now."

August blinks in surprise at Itzhak's outburst, hops off his chair as soon as he can do so without colliding with someone. He moves towards Itzhak, saying, "Hey, it's okay. We know you will. We're all going to have to, it turns out. Not just the Three." He shakes his head at Byron. "She just said most of us. I'm assuming she means us. Not--" he waves a hand, "--just anyone."

"The ways of the living will not immediately make sense in the realms of the dead and vice versa." Minerva states as she raises her hand to squeeze the bridge of her nose for a moment, something was paining her, but it was probably just her eye. She didn't want to argue over who was doing what. She'd just do her part and things would work out.

Something of hers that had meaning to her? Something of value? One comes to mind but it was not hers to give up. So while her chair forms a train with some of the others, making her the caboose and trails around using the smoke from the Exorcist as the smoke from the 'engine' she considers what she could offer. What more could she give when she'd lost most of those she cared about already? "Exorcist? When we are finished here can we explore here?" It was worth a shot and a good distraction to her for the moment.

August tilts his head at the Exorcist. "So we have to bury something? It can't be," he nods at Rebecca, "something like giving up a name? Or would burying something with him which signifies giving up a name, a relationship, be enough?"

Rebecca murmurs, "Bury all my old paperwork and IDs with the Carr name with him."

Ruiz nearly, nearly moves over to Itzhak with that little outburst. But August seems to have the situation under control, and he looks away, and back to the Exorcist. "Do we have any further questions?" he addresses the group at large. "I don't think this is the time or place to argue about what to give up."

Vyv's jaw tightens just slightly at the Exorcist's laughter, and seems about to say something before a flicker of a pause. "Well, I've heard you had them shut down, so perhaps if not, I would." He doesn't look at Byron in turn as he replies to him, "I didn't ask if they said they'd do it, Mr. Thorne. I asked if it would work. ...but apparently, not reliably. Even if we could get him there without the elder Addingtons cooperation." A very faint sigh, and he studies Hyacinth again before the ghost (appropriately) of a nod, though it comes with a quieter, "We can discuss that later."

The outburst from Itzhak, and the vehement snarl in her direction, has Isabella lifting her eyes from Lilith to fix him a level stare, and while her temper and patience are at present hanging by the barest threads, she does nothing to escalate that situation. With the meeting rounding out to a close, she straightens up, her hands in her pockets and her expression shifting towards active, but silent contemplation. Her planning face. It's there. "Thank you for seeing us, Exorcist, and the guidance," she murmurs, indicative that she has no more questions.

August nods, mild and unconcerned. Finally, a nice, direct, succinct answer. "Got it," he says, appreciative and sincere.

Byron believes that Ruiz has the right idea and rises from his chair, a hand smoothing out the front of his jacket. He stretches out his neck muscles. His head was feeling that much better today. "Thank you for your time, again. It's been informative." Though not all that uplifting. To the others he's say, "We have a lot to work with. It's not going to be a simple decision, but I know what I'd prefer seeing happen unless everyone else come with a better solution." That better solution is obviously making big sacrifices. When Erin asks about wandering the place, he'll look from her then to the Exorcist, but he's ready to head on out. To Lilith, he murmurs, "I shouldn't have brought you and dragged you into this mess."

Minerva gives her chair a pat and then she's standing, "Thank you." she dips her head to the Exorcist. Maybe she missed her chair dumping everyone. But she manages not to laugh when it happens. She really wants to.

August reaches out to steady Itzhak. He looks askance at Alexander, says, "I can get the wood for a proper casket. If you know a carpenter, just give me the name, and I'll drop it off. It won't be pine."

Rebecca looks morose, then surprised as she's suddenly sitting on thin (ok not terribly thin considering the smoke) air. She wheels her arms and manages to not land on her ass. She moves over to Itzhak and August and Vyv, looking at them will dull, tired eyes. It's been a real couple of days.

Itzhak doesn't meet anybody's eyes. He's looking fixedly at the ground, rocking in place. The chair dumps him like a bad habit but he lands on his feet, almost absently. Then he looks back at the damn thing, scowling. When August touches him he turns to him and wraps his arms around him and mashes his face against August's burly shoulder.

"Better than me playing catch up when someone else inevitably gets wrecked. I need to keep you from ending up that way again. I'm not sure why you're apologizing, the chair moving was a little fun. Kind of like a-- Lilith speaks to Byron with a hint of a shrug with shoulders in rise and fall, starting to unfurl her legs to get up. But the second her legs come unfurled, her chair tips and interrupts fun time, planting her straight onto her ass ungracefully, clearly not expecting it. After sitting for a jarred moment, she puts both of her hands up and whines, "Okay, well. My ass hurts. You owe me for that, at least."

Alexander scrambles to his feet as the chair tips, barely managing not to fall on his ass. He looks blankly at August. "I...don't know any carpenters. But I could find one. I'm sure." He sort of hunches in on himself. "We should go. Thank you, Exorcist."

August sighs, hugs Itzhak back. "You already know what it has to be, don't you?" he says, voice low. "So do I. Come on. Let's go home."

Hyacinth doesn't try to leap out of the seat. For oe she's not built for it. For two it's rude to teh furniture she's been petting for the last 40 minutes. There is, however, quiet the negotiation withthe chair and laurels heaped upon it like a corgi that did good. She stands and looks to Vyv with a smile offering a hand.

Vyv might have been about to stand, maybe. But standing from a chair requires uncrossing one's legs. And if your chair dumps you out before you've done that-- well, Vyv ends up on his ass on the ground. Legs still crossed, both hands on the floor behind him. Somehow he keeps it down to a blink and a flicker of something in his eyes, before a quick (and not actually as baleful as one might expect) glance to his chair and then a casual uncrossing of the legs and rising gracefully to his feet, one hand set lightly into Hyacinth's proffered one without putting any actual pressure on it. He brushes a touch of Veil-dust from his (depressingly smoky) suit. "Well. I suppose that's that, then." He glances around, the look pausing briefly on Rebecca, then ending up on Hyacinth. "Shall we?"