2019-10-28 - The Haunting of Blackwood Manor

Alexander is dressed in a sturdy, if ugly, sweater, and he's bringing a small duffle bag with him that seems stuffed full. There's also a small cooler, because he doesn't expect there to be food or drink here - and isn't entirely sure he wants to eat it if there is. He climbs out of Easton's vehicle when they arrive, and thanks Gregory with a smile. The house is looked over with a critical eye. "It's a beautiful old place," he remarks, quietly, examining the fountain, then the front porch. As Gregory lets them in and prepares to depart, he turns to smile at him. "Thank you, sir. Not much. Just, has there ever been any problem with vandalism in a place like this? It seems very well taken care of, but I know sometimes those, uh, what do you call them, 'urban explorers'? Like to break into old places and go around moving things around, that sort of thing. Ever any trouble with that?"

Alexander laughs, a little wryly, at the man's words. "Kids. Especially this time of year." He shakes his head. "Any stories about that? Some of these old houses collect some very specific legends. Gray ladies, old prospectors, all that sort of thing." He smiles. "I've always been interested in the stories people tell in the dark." He slings the bag over his shoulder and grabs the cooler, studying the portrait. "That was the last generation of the family to live here, wasn't it?"

"Divorces are expensive," Alexander suggests, with a shrug. "Especially in the era before pre-nuptual agreements. You can stay miserable but rich, or divorce and risk losing half or up to everything, depending on circumstances. So - miserable, but comfortably so." A flicker of amusement in him over the concept. Still, he notes the man's words, somewhere in the filing cabinet of his brain, and examines the house as they're shown around. "Catherine had an illness as a child, didn't she. Did her mother have the same, or was her passing the result of misfortune?"

Easton remains for the most part quiet. He doesn't have much to add to the conversation about the family, he's mostly here in case things go south. Like really south. He shakes his head a bit at the talk of old money'ed families, a private smile twisting up his lips as he wonders if the man is describing the Marshall's for a moment. But then they are moving through rooms and Easton is briefly distracted by the humidor and bourbon bar that his well trained eye pick up immediately. He lags behind for a second, perhaps wondering if he should check them for ghosts, just to be safe, before catching back up with the other two.

There's something beyond just interest in the case driving Alexander's curiosity. The place is beautiful, with a faded glory that adds melancholy rather than detracts from its appeal, and his interest is real. Especially in that library. If only he wasn't here for a purpose. Sad sigh. "I don't suppose there's a map," he asks, only half joking. Easton's divergence is noted, and he smiles at the man as he returns, offering a quick shake of his head. And a question for the groundskeeper. "Could you show us where the family slept?"

The house isn't really that different from some of the grand mansions he grew up around, maybe a little older, a little more tasteful in places than the new money families out East. The feeling of the house though is very different. Easton tells himself that it's just because he's primed for ghosts. As they pass by the master bedroom though, the hair on his neck stands up. He raises a hand, and then gives a little embarrassed cough. Yes, he just used combat sign language. He instead holds up the slightly more universal single finger of 'I need a moment' to Alexander, not wanting to disturb their guide as he tries to get a sense of what he was feeling.

"There's something there. Or.. .rather. Something missing? I think it's a hidden room?"

Alexander pauses when Easton coughs and gestures. He lets Humboldt go ahead, falling back to hear what the other man has to say. His eyebrows go up. "Really?" He looks around. "Fascinating. We'll come back to it once we're alone," he adds, quietly. Still, he can't resist taking a close look around at the furnishings, and grinning slightly. A secret room? This is sort of like Alexander's boyhood dreams coming true. It's hard for him to hide his pleasure when he moves to rejoin the groundskeeper for the rest of the tour.

Easton just shrugs at Alexander as if he's not sure what to make of a secret room or a hidden passage or whatever either. But it's not like Alexander was the only kid hoping to find one someday so there's a suppressed grin on Easton's face as he tries to remain serious and business like. He nods to Humboldt and says, "Thanks for your time sir."

He can't deny that he's a little excited at the prospect of getting to explore the house starting with that very suspicious looking humidor, er, bedroom wall.

There's nothing else! Okay, honestly, Alexander could probably keep the guy here most of the night asking questions, because he's just like that, but now is the time for explorations! But first - he goes to his duffle bag, opens it up, and pulls out...a teddy bear? It's a bit heavier than one would expect a bear of this side to be. "Here," he says to Easton, and hands it over with a grin. "You're the official keeper of the ghost-detecting bear. Our fate is in your hands." Then his grin widens. "Shall we check out your hidden room?" He doesn't quite bounce on his heels, but it's CLOSE.

The bear is met with a curious smirk when it's pulled out but that is quickly taken from Easton's face by the news that he's going to be keeping the bear. "Wait what? You wanted Teddy Wraithspin on this little ghost bust, not me. You get the bear. I get the booze and cigars we need to go excavating." Obviously it's wise to get provisions before you tackle finding a secret room. After Alexander doesn't stop trying to hand him the bear for an uncomfortable amount of time, Easton takes it with a "Fine. Let's go T-Dawg,"

And true to his word, Easton returns with a lit cigar in his mouth, one unlit in his hand and bottle of bourbon. He places the bear in the master bedroom as they start to work their way around the doors and rooms around it, figuring it's central. Only after a room or two does he offer the cigar to Alexander, perhaps as an olive branch forgiving him for bear duty.

"It's there. And it's clear they don't want people going in. Went to a lot of trouble to seal that up." He stops and places a hand on the wall and closes his eyes. He thinks about exploring it, moving around like a blind person might feel their way through but all at once. "I think it's another bedroom."

For some reason the thought of a sealed up bedroom sends a shiver down his spine and he looks to Alexander and asks, "You can tell if there's anyone in there. Right?" Yes, it doesn't help that he's primed for spooky, he's just trying to keep his imagination in check while still being prepared for bad shit.

"You get the bear," Alexander insists, cheerfully. And then he smiles at the name. "Teddy Wraithspin. Great." The immediate shortening to 'T-Dawg' is ignored. While Easton is going to fetch refreshments, Alexander prowls around the bedroom, examining the portraits and the table. The cigar is taken when it's offered, but dubiously. He immediately puts it off to the side. "Can you tell if there's still furniture in there, and if there's a hallway or something attached to it?" he wonders.

At the suggestion, Alexander nods. "Yeah. If they're alive." There's a cheerful thought. He closes his eyes and reaches out with his mind for any presences that might be...well, in the whole house. His range is still about a block, and it can't hurt to do a blanket sweep. Right?

Pulling his mind back from the room and giving himself a moment to readjust to his surroundings Easton doesn't at first notice that Alexander is concentrating. But then something is happening and Alexander gets knocked back and he can't help himself. He has a gun drawn and covers the room looking for anyone or thing he can pop one off into.

"Alexander? What the hell? You okay?" He doesn't immediately go to him, more interested in trying to see or sense what just happened, but all he can feel is that something is moving in the house. Something in the basement is moving around. Ugh, that's a horrible feeling.

Alexander doesn't reassure Easton. Too busy screaming. He doesn't even notice the gun, he just screams at the girl who grabbed his mind and shakes a bit as he snatches his mind back away. He lies there, gasping for a moment or two while he tries to regain some sort of composure. "I don't. I don't. Fuck. She's in the maid's quarters. She said give it back. I don't know what." He scrubs at his face. "Goddamn it." His face is ashen.

"Well shit. I at least thought they'd wait until we were sleepy, like a good solid midnight of the soul or witching hour thing?" Easton remains somewhat calm when the doors slam and the noise starts up. Not seeing an immediate threat, he slips the gun back into his waistband in the small of his back where it came from.

As the noise gets louder Easton squats down next to Alexander and asks, "You hurt?" He checks him over for wounds, remembering all too well what damage ghosts can do with the right motivation and glimmer around.

He grabs the Teddy Bear and says, "Well then. Let's go on down to the basement to have a little chat with an apparently very pissed off little girl."

Alexander seems unharmed, at least physically. "Fucking reading," he snarls, and starts to rise carefully to his feet. "I'm fine. Just...a bruise or two, and startled." He looks up as the ringing grows louder and louder. "Is that a thing you hear, too, or is it just my goddamned head?" These are the things you have to ask. There's a brief nod at the suggestion to head down and he moves in that direction, although he's very careful about opening the door. "Tell me about ghosts, Easton. What sort of things can we expect? And if we figure out what she wants or needs, will she go away?"

"As far as I know, they're not dead people" Easton when asked to provide an intel briefing launches into it without any preamble. He doesn't even rightfully chastise Alexander for not asking this super important question sooner. Nope, that's for later. The mission takes precedence. "They're consolidated memories tied to a person or place. And as we know, they can use people's glimmer. I was able to stop Tom. uhm. To stop Banks from using mine. We can shut her out if she tries shit."

He looks at the bell and says, "Oh. Shit." He immediately grasps the concept of the call bell in the maids quarters, though he's never watched Downton Abby (nope, never) it's something that makes sense. He turns to Alexander and says, "Wanna bet that bell is for the hidden room?"

Alexander hums. "That makes sense. Although I wonder about something like Gohl, as compared to more...normative? hauntings. Gohl seemed to be more of his own person. But not whole, surely." He frowns. "I don't know, though. Ghosts were never my area." He nods with a moment of relief at the news that they can shut out the ghost if needed. When they reach the maids' quarters, he takes a breath, nods silently to the man's sentiment. "Can you confirm? Follow the shape of the rope to wherever it goes?"

His own eyes drift back to the doorway, and he just stares at the empty space, blankly, shaking quietly for a moment.

"I don't .. I don't know about Gohl. He was something else in every sense of the word as far as I can tell. And I don't know if possession is a thing or not." Did Billy possess Thomas? Just haunt him extra extra good? What the hell was the murder urge thing? Easton forces himself not to think about all of those things but stay in the present. He looks at the bell and narrows his eyes, feeling the rope, following it back and feeling it move inside the space where a bedroom should be.

"Yup. Bingo. It's little Suzie Screamsalot's room." Or what he assumes is the room belonging to the ghost who screamed into Alexander's mind.

"And there's a ... thing. Dumbwaiter." He may not have seen Downton Abby but he has seen The Sixth Sense and really the thought is enough to make his teeth clench and have him suck in his breath a bit. "Not that it helps. We still don't have a way into there."

"Hmm. A dumbwaiter." Alexander turns to look at Easton. Then he looks at the bear. Then at Easton. His eyebrows go up and he waggles them. "I think this is a job for Teddy Wraithspin, Ghost Hunter Extraordinaire." He grins. "We can attach a camera to it, but otherwise - once he's turned on, he detects temperature changes, electromagnetic fields, and has motion sensors."