2020-12-27 - Old Friends in Seattle

Despite certain people's teasing, Alexander actually is a decent driver. A meticulous one, as a matter of fact, which means they get to Seattle without hurry in Cristobal's sweet ride. Alexander turns control of the radio over to Isolde on their travels. It's one of the first days of the new year, so the traffic isn't all that bad, and they're able to get to the city with no real problems. Alexander gets his things out of the way quickly, perhaps presuming that Isolde is not overly thrilled by the prospect of poking around in dusty antique shops looking for crime memorabilia. He's called ahead to a few places, and soon the back seat has several neat little sealed boxes filled with horrible things that people can do to each other. Once that is done, he turns to her with a smile. "You seemed enthused when Seth mentioned the Museum of Pop Culture. Still up for it?"

Alas, the brief moment of retro stylishness of New Years Eve no longer exists: he's back to an ugly sweater two sizes too big for him, worn down jeans, and that oversized, olive green army jacket with all the insignia removed.

Isolde was a little nervous when they first started to drive, but she quickly relaxed as Alexander did indeed prove to be a good driver! It was very nice of Cristobal to loan Alexander the car, and wasn't it nice that he and Dante were engaged? She settles on some classic rock station to play as their travel music between the chit chat. She takes a few pictures here and there with her phone of things they pass and once in Seattle she doesn't ultimately seem to mind perusing some of the shops while Alexander gets his things together. You could find neat stuff in antique shops!

Now though, they're back in the car, ready for their next destination. She too, is dressed more for comfort than anything fancy. A pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt with her wool, winter coat over top. That dress of hers isn't going to see the light of day until next New Years no doubt. "Yes! It sounds like a very interesting Museum with different things. I've never been in a pop culture museum before so I don't really know what you expect."

Alexander laughs. "I don't know, either. You know how I am with fiction," he admits. And indeed, that's one thing that's been constant throughout the years - he was the one guy who'd never seen Star Wars, or Star Trek, who knew more about real horror than fake horror, and who constantly missed the pop culture references among their friends, even in college. But he seems enthusiastic about trying it, and he drives them to the museum. It's actually quite busy; most of the kids are still on winter break for another couple of days, and between that and tourists, the place is packed. It's a wild looking building, too - several cylindrical buildings covered in what appears to be chrome, shiny and reflective, in silver, blue, and a red-purple that gleams even through the winter clouds. The chrome 'cloth' over the buildings is deformed as if billowing in the wind. It makes an impressive picture, and when they get out, Alexander just stares at it for a moment. "This is interesting. Pretty. It looks like something you might find Over There."

"It'll be an adventure for both of us." Isolde assured. She wasn't very up to date on a lot of pop culture references herself. Though perhaps not as out of date as Alexander since she had some time to catch up at Cedar Hills. Standing in front of the building, her own eyes are widened. "How did they do that?" Probably asking in regards to the cloth like appearance. It's crazy and cool! She takes a couple pictures of this exterior. "It does. Maybe there is one...or something similar. The building, not the museum part." There is just a beat of uncertainty on her face as if wondering if they would end up Over There by going inside. Isolde pushes the thought aside and smiles again to Alexander. "Let's go in and see what it's all about!" Pocketing her phone for now and starting to head towards the ticket area. There were so many people here, surely nothing bad could happen.

"I don't think so," Alexander murmurs. "Not here, at least. Isabella went over a couple of times in other places and says that outside of Gray Harbor, you don't see anything like what we have on the Other Side. It's grey and empty, or a Dream. Nothing like the places and buildings like what's there." He keeps his voice low, and stays close, then adds, with a smile, "Besides. Feel how it is here? Can't hardly even use my abilities, even if I wanted to. We won't get Lost here," he says, sounding confident. He follows Isolde through the crowds, peering at them with interest. Away from the town that's so thin, he walks a little straighter, even in crowds.

They pay for their tickets, and then walk inside. It's a riot of colors, shapes, and things to look at. A giant sculpture of guitars dominates the lobby - hundreds of guitars in a spiraling tornado towards the ceiling. There are galleries filled with exhibits on just about every aspect of pop culture. Even without much background in fiction, Alexander is delighted to find that there's a Nirvana exhibit, and he makes excited noises in front of Cobain's Stratocaster. He points at a flyer. "That's the casting call for the video for Smells Like Teen Spirit," he exclaims. "I wanted to be in that so fucking badly, but my parents wouldn't let me go try out." He flashes a grin at her.

"You're right. We will be fine." Isolde agrees. It wasn't thin here like in Gray Harbor. Everything would be fine. Her phone comes out again once they're in the doors. Eyes wide and taking picture of various things that stand out. "This is so cool!" She agrees, rocking on her heels excitedly. She lets Alexander lead initially, looking around the Nirvana exhibit with interest. "I can imagine it. I could easily picture college-you even being in a music video or two." She giggles. "Shame they didn't let you go. Even if you didn't get in, it would've been a cool experience." She peers at the flyer and then moves- taking a picture of Alexander standing near it and the Stratocaster.

She drags him next to the Horror film exhibit. Sure, it isn't real life crime, but it's still fascinating to see the set designs, costumes, and props from a variety of horror movies and shows. It's also on the way towards the 'Fantasy' exhibit that she is interested in seeing. So it just makes sense to check it out first. And on top of all the things to look at, there's things to listen to as well. Interviews being given, different explanations of techniques on the make up and such. She peers at one of the 'Halloween' masks that Mike Meyers wears. "This is pretty neat that they even got a hold of some of this stuff. Like this one," She points to a different prop. "Says it's from 1896!" And it looked it too, some kind of fake grimoire by the design of it.

Alexander isn't hard to drag. He seems far more comfortable with talking ABOUT fiction than with consuming it himself, and looks with interest at the movie props, costumes, and behind the scenes information. He takes it all in with dark eyes, like he's going to be tested on it later. "This is all remarkable. I'm tempted to try and read some of them," he adds in a low voice to her, "but at the same time, you never know when you catch a bad memory, and...well. It's a nice day." No need to have a screaming fit remains unsaid. He looks at the fake grimoire, and grins. "They always get these wrong. Making them extra creepy, but not very useful, you know? I've seen some old alchemical texts, in museums, and they're not like this at all. And that mask would be very impractical to murder people in," he adds, peering at the Mike Meyers mask. "No peripheral vision at all. If someone runs to the right or left, it's like you've lost them forever. Hmph."

He ignores the couple of sidelong looks that random families give him, in favor of smiling at Isolde. "Could you see yourself creating costumes and props and things? Might be a lot of fun, and we're not that far from BC."

"Yeah, I took this one class last semester that kind of touched on the subject of movie art and things? Realism is often sacrificed for, as the professor put it? The rule of cool." Isolde giggled, it was a ridiculous phrase. "Looks good on camera but actually trying to use any of it wouldn't get you anywhere. Which, is a good thing of course." The last thing the world needed was just anyone being able to do real magic no matter where they were. That would just be...bad. "Maybe we can come back some time and you can come prepared to try and read them." She pondered. "It would be interesting to see what they have to say."

At the question of seeing herself working in this kind of field, Isolde looked thoughtful. "Honestly? I'm not sure. I can do my origami...and I've gotten a bit better at painting...but this is a whole different ruleset, yes? I have the patience...maybe. But certainly not the know how. It does seem like it would be fun to do though." A raise of her brow. "Do they do a lot of movie things in BC?"

"I seem to recall a lot of television shows are filmed up in Vancouver," Alexander says, with a shrug. "I don't know about movies specifically, though. But, hell," he snorts, "it's not like we have any sort of local industry back in the Harbor. Although I did see some sort of TV show that looked like it was filmed here, not long ago." He frowns. "The Golden Hour? I think that's what it was called. It was fiction, so I turned it off. Maybe sort of a horror/mystery thing?"

They're walking along to the next gallery, when they hear a shocked noise and one of the crowd peels away to approach them. She's older now - she was a graduate student when they were both in college, but she hasn't changed that much as she exclaims, "My god. Alexander Clayton? And...is that Isolde? We thought you were dead! It's been years!" Alexander halts and blinks at the woman. "Catherine?"

She smiles back, brilliantly. "You remember me!" Catherine Hu was a bit difficult to forget, as she was both a rising star in the Classics department, as well as being one of the inner circle of the Brethren. Friendly, fun, but prone to high stress and insecurity, it was generally accepted that she'd make a wonderful academic. "I can't believe it. You're both here. This has to be a sign from the angels." The Brethren leaned heavily into high ceremonial magicks (yes, they used the k), and attempting to summon and commune with angels was often a focus.

"I think I saw that too! It was...creepy. There was a monster in the pond? Except it wasn't really the pond..." Isolde explains a bit about the weird video clip she'd seen but is stopped short by hearing she and Alexander's names called out for the world to here. It takes her a little longer than Alexander to remember the woman, though the name helps. "Catherine!" She offers a friendly smile to the woman. "Not dead, just been, ah, traveling." She decides. She gives Alexander a brief look. If Catherine was still talking about angels did that mean the cult was still a thing? Or was it just an old habit?

She puts that friendly smile back on and focuses back to their old college companion. "It's good to see you again. How have you been?" A neutral, safe question. She decides not to engage in the talk of angels for the moment.

Alexander seems more at ease than Isolde, his expression bright and interested as he assures Catherine, "It would be hard to forget you. You tutored me in Latin for a semester."

Catherine had forgotten this; she stops then laughs. "You're right! I did! You barely needed it, though." She looks around, licks her lips. Was she here alone? It seems like it, because she glances back at them, her brightness a little brittle around the edges. "I'm so glad I ran into you." It sounds more sincere than it should, coming from someone neither has seen for twenty+ years. Instead of directly answering Isolde, she says, "We should catch up! How about dinner? My treat. Have you been to Spinners? Great Italian place!"

Alexander clears his throat. "We were actually just here for a day trip--"

And then Catherine reaches out and tries to grab both of them by the arms. "Please," she says, her voice wavering.

Alexander doesn't flinch back from the unexpected touch, although his eyes widen. Then narrow with a sharp and hungry interest at the desperation palpable in the woman's face. He opens his mouth to accept, then hesitates, looking to Isolde. One eyebrow arches in a silent question.

Isolde looks started with Catherine grabs her and then clears her throat, nodding. "Ah, well, we haven't eaten yet. Right Alexander?" Catherine seemed worried about something. That much was certain. "Catching up with good food would be a good thing." She assures the woman as she carefully takes her arm back. "I think we've seen most everything this place has to offer anyway..." Her eyes flitting about as if trying to see if there was anyone else who might be with Catherine, or watching them.

If there's anyone taking any interest in the three of them, it's impossible to tell in the packed museum. Alexander looks relieved when Isolde says yes, and he offers a quick smile. "Yeah. We could stay for dinner. Or...did you want to meet for lunch?" Trying to feel out just how urgent this is, clearly.

Catherine immediately relaxes, snatching her hands back with an apologetic sound. "Sorry. I...just, it's so good to see you again!" Her brittle smile is back. "Dinner's fine! I don't want to interrupt anything, and I have to take care of a couple of matters, myself. I just didn't want you to leave without a chance to catch up!" She laughs. "So, let's meet at Spinners. Say, seven? What's your number, and I'll call you if anything changes."

Instead of just rattling off digits, Alexander reaches into his coat, and hands Catherine a business card - it's incredibly plain, but it does have his number, e-mail, and even his address, since he doesn't have an office. She takes it, and looks it over. "Gray Harbor? I don't think I've ever heard of it."

Alexander glances at Isolde, then admits, "It's a small town. Most people haven't."

And then they both have to brace themselves, because Catherine is flinging herself at them in a frantic embrace. "It's so good to see you both! I'm so glad you're here! Thank God!" It's a bit much for an old college friend, and Alexander looks worried as he pats her gingerly on the back, and gives Isolde another of those glances.

There's a lot of looks being exchanged between Isolde and Alexander. It's concerning, and something feels wrong. "Spinners, Seven we'll be there." Isolde assures Catherine and makes a surprised squeaking sort of noise when she launches towards them to hug them in such a way. Something feels very wrong. "It's good to see you too Catherine." She doesn't say anything until after Catherine has finally departed from them.

Isolde turns to face Alexander fully, concern in her eyes. "I don't think this is going to be a good thing. Have you heard anything going on with the cult since college?" What was more concerning to her was that despite all the cults spoken messages and orgies and practicing of various supposed spells and rituals nothing concrete had ever really manifested itself. But what if something had? After she and Alexander were gone?

Catherine squeezes a bit, then backs up and...are there tears in her eyes? If so, she blinks a couple of times, and they're gone. She does, however, look incredibly relieved. "Thank you. I'm looking forward to it so much." She tries to laugh again, but it's a weird sound. Then she's excusing herself and practically skittering back into the crowd.

Once she's disappeared, Alexander says, "Something's definitely wrong." He frowns at the crowd. "But if it was pressing, surely she would have demanded to talk to us right now? Maybe it's just...Catherine was always a little high-strung," says the guy who can literally scream and punch someone when touched without expecting it. "But no, I haven't. I mean, I know it continued for several years until someone finally reported the professors for sexual harassment and the college disbanded the club. I can't imagine it continued much longer than that - it's one of those things that only really exists with a steady supply of intoxicated and lonely young people," he admits, voice dry.

"I suppose. Unless there's someone here." Isolde murmured. "I'm not entirely sure she was alone...why was she here to begin with? I never really pegged her to be the type to enjoy these sorts of places." Isolde peeks around a moment again and then sighed. "Maybe some of them started it up again on their own? Not associated with the college." She slipped her hands into her pockets. "I guess we'll find out at dinner...I have so many questions, but I don't know what any of them are. Does that make sense?"

Alexander hums to himself. "It's been almost twenty years. I don't think I have any real understanding of what she'd like." He shakes his head. "Well. Anyway. We'll find out tonight. I wish we were closer to the Harbor. I'd have read her. But I might go ahead and try this evening. Sometimes I get things, even out here." Then he smiles. "Let's not let it ruin the rest of the day, though. We can finish up our explorations, then find this Spinners place. You were saying you wanted to hit the fantasy gallery, weren't you?"

"True. Tastes always change." Isolde agreed softly, trying to set the situation mentally aside for now. "Trying to read her tonight wouldn't be a bad idea." Then she brightens again. "Yes! Let's check out the Fantasy gallery. I want to see how it measures up to the Horror one." She agreed, starting to head back on the way they'd been going before Catherine spotted them. Though every now and then she can't help but peek around just to make sure they aren't being followed or watched.

As far as either of them can tell, no one in the whole museum shows any interest in their progress, although with this many people, many of them loud children who want to run everywhere, it's hard to know for sure. The fantasy gallery is seen without any incident, and after that, Alexander realizes that there is a functioning, interactive series of music studios, with soundproofed rooms and instruments to be used. Poor Isolde is DEFINITELY getting dragged into one of those for a bit so that there can be a brief attempt to live out adolescent rock-and-roll recording star fantasies.

By the time they get through with everything they want to see, the museum is heading towards close, and it's dark outside as they drive almost across town to pull up in front of the restaurant, a good ten minutes early. Alexander is always early, and this particular meeting makes him nervous, no matter how much fun he was having earlier. When they go inside, Catherine isn't there. Alexander goes ahead and puts his name down for when she comes, and snags them a table for three, with a good view of the door. "At least we'll be well-fed," he murmurs to Isolde, looking at the menu, then his phone. It's seven o'clock.

And then it's seven thirty.

Then eight o'clock.

Catherine never arrives.

Isolde is a trooper! She doesn't bat an eyelash when Alexander wants to check out the sound studio. She picks up the keyboard, catching on to it easily. She never took formal piano lessons but she'd seen her mom play enough that she knew some of the basic keys. It's fun even! She takes a few more pictures and has mostly relaxed, though the nerves are starting up again when they pull up to the restaurant. "Well fed is a good thing." She chuckled softly, peeking it over. At 7:30, she's getting antsy but hasn't vocalized anything.

At 8?

"We should have gotten her phone number." Isolde declares softly. Kicking herself mentally for not thinking about it. "No messages or calls on your phone?" They should have followed her, at least for a little bit to make sure she was okay.

At least the food is good; it's Italian, and delicious, even if the server is giving them a pitying sort of look when it's clear to everyone that Catherine's not coming. Alexander checks his phone, shakes his head. "I left the ringer on. If she called, we'd have gotten it. I've got full bars." He starts checking some things, looking up Catherine's name, trying to see if he can get an address for her. He makes a grumbly noise. "If we were back home, I could fire up my background check programs and get her address. She doesn't have it publicly available...and there are a lot of Hu's in this city." Grumble grumble grumble. But the grumbling hides an edge of worry to it. "You're right. We should have. But we didn't."

There's a part of him that wants to start roving the city and tracking her down - but Seattle isn't his town, and his contacts here are slim to none. And neither of them came prepared to track down a missing person. "She might have just stood us up," he points out. "Thought better of it, and decided to ghost us." He pulls out some cash to pay the bill and tip. "And I don't think we can find her without a lead. I don't even have anything personal of hers to try and track her with. Let's...head back to the Harbor. I'll look up her address and phone number from there, and give her a call. It's only a couple of hours. We can always come back on another day." He doesn't look happy to leave things dangling like that.

The food is good, despite Isolde's bundle of nerves. She can't finish it all but that's not a bad thing. Just means she'll have delicious leftovers for later! She is very concerned about this Catherine situation though. "Yes...maybe." She doesn't sound convinced that Catherine just decided not to show up. Not after the way she was acting at the museum. She stands as Alexander settles the bill and lightly chews her bottom lip.

"..Yeah. Let's go home. We can do more good from there than here." Isolde concedes. At least, Alexander can. Isolde is not very good at investigating things when it's all said and done. Still, she's got a vested interest in Catherine's well being! So she'll do whatever she can to help. "Hopefully you can get a hold of her and it was just a case of cold feet after all."

"Yeah." Alexander tries to make light of it by adding, "Maybe she decided to Google me and realized that she was all full up on crazy," with a smile and a wink he means to be reassuring. He managed to eat all of his food, but before they leave, he talks briefly to the host, instructing them to give Catherine his number, again, if she happened to show up very late.

Then they drive back to Gray Harbor. It's an uneventful trip, and as the traffic thins out on the roads the closer they get to home, it's clear that they weren't followed. Alexander drops Isolde off, saying, "You know, this was a lot of fun. Despite the weird blast from the past. I'll check things out and give you a call back, okay?" He flashes a smile. "Don't die."

The phone call comes quickly - it's not like Alexander sleeps, and he's too curious to let it lie. His voice is grim: "I'm sending you an e-mail." The e-mail is just a link to a Seattle Newspaper: Body of Local Woman Found in Car and the details are sparse, since it's clearly one of those 'update as we get it' real-time news-blog style articles. But they do have an identification for the woman: Catherine Hu, 45.

"It was fun. We should do it again some time." Isolde agrees. "I'll be waiting." For the update.

And she was waiting. She couldn't sleep with the gnawing curiosity of it all. "I hate when you sound like that." Isolde mumbled at his grim tone, grabbing her laptop and pulling her email up. She's quiet for a few long seconds. The instant thought of I knew it crossing her mind as she skimmed the article. "Should we be concerned Alexander?" So what if they hadn't been followed? Isolde knew full well there were other ways to find people.

"We...should look into this, right? Make sure it's not connected to the cult?"

"Concern seems reasonable," Alexander says, still grim. "I'll see what I can find out - but they'll probably be contacting us, anyway. She has my business card. Or had. If she still does, then Seattle PD will probably be calling, and they'll more than likely want brief interviews with both of us, especially if they find out about our previous ties. How brief depends on if it was murder or suicide. Or she just had a heart attack or something." It sounds dubious; she'd seemed healthy when they saw her, just scared. Then he pauses. "Then again, it's Gray Harbor. Things like that tend to get forgotten here. But just be prepared for it. I don't suppose you have anybody you still know from those days? I don't, but I could probably track someone down. I remember the names of the professors."

"I will keep my ears and eyes open." Isolde agreed, though she was not a fan of the idea of needing to talk to the police. Especially with her record. But maybe they won't look into that. She is very doubtful it was just a heart attack. "There is...one person." Isolde thinks about it. "I ran into them a few years after leaving and then we sorts just ran into each other now and again over the years. But, you remember Denny?" Dennis "Denny" Morrison. No relation to Isolde but they semi-bonded over having the same last name. He was one of those members that was somewhere between taking it all seriously and just wanting to get laid, but he did seem truly interested in some of the stuff the cult had studied.

"I ran into him again last month, while I was waiting tables. Got his number and stuff now. He's doing something with like...writing maybe? I can't remember...but I can reach out to him. See if he's heard anything?"

"Dennis," Alexander murmurs. Of course he remembers the full name. "Yeah. Reach out to him. Was he still involved with the...I'd guess not. It's been twenty years, and he was never one of the true believers," he admits, with a wry little chuckle over the phone. "Okay. See if anything's weird happened on his end, and I'll see what I can find out with the Seattle PD. Maybe see if anyone at the GHPD would be willing to do a little outreach on my behalf." He sounds deeply skeptical that this might be the case. "In the meantime...don't die, Isolde. Make sure your doors are locked, and let me know if anything odd happens."

Isolde checked the time. It was getting late. She nods to herself before speaking, "I will call him in the morning. See what I can learn and let you know. I don't know if he's still doing anything with it or not...if he's not, maybe he knows someone who is. Or maybe he was in touch with Catherine, being not too far away?" She theorizes and then sighs. "Good luck Alexander. Hopefully someone will be able to tell you something. You don't die either...stay safe. And I will let you know if anything odd happens that is not just Gray Harbor odd."

And on that note, Alexander just hangs up. Partings were never a strong point of his already erratic manners.