2021-04-12 - Ghosts of Gray Pond

This time of year, Gray Pond is getting towards its busiest. The weather is getting nicer and that gloom that likes to clings so tightly to the town during the winter and autumn months is starting to lighten. Which means it is the perfect time to go in the middle of night and check out some possible ghost activity!

Kip has recruited Ari, Rekani, Nova, and Ravn to assist her on this particular endeavor. After doing some footwork, Kip has narrowed down the most consistent of the local legends. A young woman named Lucille had supposedly drowned in the pond - though foul play was suspected and the killer never caught. Now she’s rumored to roam the area - sometimes spotting crying, occasionally reported to intervene in certain situations and cause some minor havoc.

Over all? She seems like a benign sort of ghost when you consider ghosts in general. Which is why Kip figures it would be a good trial run. Especially to experiment with Ravn’s supposed ghost sight. If he could see ghosts and he wasn’t just crazy, well he would be able to describe her right? Kip hadn’t divulged any information about what Lucille looks like and only just explained the legend once they had all met up.

“Okay, so the plan tonight is simple. We’re going to try and get this ghost to reveal herself to all of us. Ari and I will utilize our equipment to try and communicate as well. But if all else fails, Ravn will be our go between. Everything I’ve heard lends me to believe that we aren’t in any danger from her. But we should be on our guards anyway. There is no telling what else might be out here.” Kip is explaining as they make their way closer towards the pond.

"Assuming that I can in fact see her," the folklorist inserts because that might be considered a somewhat vital point in the plan. "I don't see everything supernatural that moves about -- only the ones who want to be seen, or don't care whether they're seen. If this Lucille gives me no reason to suspect that she is in fact not alive -- I may have to ask a few times if everyone else also sees that woman. When you don't, we've hit jackpot."

He smiles, a little wryly, and glances at Ariana -- a face with which he is not familiar; nothing like starting a new friendship with declaring yourself the crazy guy who claims to see dead people. Then the Dane looks back at Kip and quirks a copper blond eyebrow. "When you say she intervenes in certain situations -- are we talking about an angry ghost who might react to, say, a man yelling at his girlfriend, or lovers being too happy, things like that?"

While Rekani’s belief in ghosts wasn’t as concrete as some certain Russians, his belief in other things such as tears into the other side and giant spiders were completely another. One set of those things was enough for him to accompany Kip with no complaints. It was his normal time to be awake regardless, so it wasn’t even that much of an inconvenience. Still, if he were going to come along, he might as well play to his strengths, having taken stock of Kip’s sound capturing equipment and making sure it was in good working order.

Strangely, he didn’t seem to actually be carrying anything other than the boom mic, its thick spiral spring cord dangling from the end and leading to half-open zipper of the fanny pack that was an ever-present possession of the rotund DJ. He’d pulled a family sized bag of Twizzlers from it earlier and offered it around, before tucking it back away impossibly, idly chewing on one twisted red strand still.

Another cord runs from the pack to the big open-can headphones that were around his neck for now, allowing him to listen to the others unfettered. Oddly, he had not seemed to hit his pen for an hour or so, maybe trying to keep a clearer head for something he might actually respect as a danger.

It's nice to be back at work. This is why Kip and Ariana came to this country - to explore the supernatural. The United States may be a new country but it seems to have a plethora of ghosts. Must be all those violent deaths. So, what better place to get footage for their online broadcasts? They'll prove the naysayers wrong!

Though Ariana is excited to be back on the case, you wouldn't be able to tell from her expression. The same grumpy, impatient look that seems to be permanently etched on her face. Not the most welcoming of faces for Ravn, but she is not bothered if he is a 'crazy guy'. They always see the best stuff.

"What are the links between ghosts and this Veil thing?" the blonde asks as she checks the digital video cameras once more - a shoulder cam and a chest mounted 'Ari Pro' (she makes her own cameras). Attached to a utility belt is also various equipment to measure electromagnetism, temperature, capture ectoplasm. and a flask containing the most important thing for a Russian ghost hunter. Vodka. A bemused smile at Rekani's equipment. "Size does not matter, only how you use it." A beat. "Which is a lie, as I am sure Kip has let you know."

"What if we do see her?" she asks Ravn. "Ghosts can materialise to others as well. It might be dangerous to ignore the woman we can all see."

"Kip, do you want to do an on-camera introduction before we go closer?"

"Right." Kip agreed with Ravn's assessement of if. "If you see a person, definitely ask if we see it. I don't see any others besides us right now." She offered, if that was helpful. "As for the intervening...she is not an angry ghost, per say. From what I can gather. Nothing like a wraith or a poltergeist. I don't have any specific examples but the idea I got from what people would tell me is like...trying to mediate?" Kip paused a beat to further explain. "Like a calming presence to try and mitigate any bad bloods."

Kip doesn't even question the wild fanny pack set up Rekani has going on. One day he's going to pull an inflatable innertube out of that thing and she won't even bat an eyelash! As they get closer to the spot she leans up to kiss his cheek - and steal a bite of twizzler - "I am glad you decided to come." She murmured to him.

"I don't know yet, the connection specifically. Aside that the Veil clearly provides some sort of energy to the town itself and the people who have abilities. So maybe it fuels the ghosts too." Kip made a thoughtful noise. "And if we do see her? We try to engage. If things get hostile, well..." All of them had some manner of abilities and should hopefully be able to deal with it.

As for an introduction. "Yes, that is a good idea. Let's do it...here, a good view of the pond and woods behind me." Kip nodded. It would be a good shot in the last remaining strands of light (probably - she wasn't the video person!) Once Ari was ready:

"Welcome to Hauntings in the Harbor." The name is workshoppable, okay? "My name is Kip Zakharovna. Tonight my team and I are investigating a place known at Gray Pond here in Gray Harbor, Washington. Specifically we are investigating stories of a young woman named Lucille who died her under suspicious circumstances and has reportedly been seen and felt by many who come around this time of year. Our hope is to make contact Lucille and discover what happened that night, and maybe even put her to rest."

Cut! Once the intro is done and Kip can get out of 'host' mode. She pulls out a a couple devices from her bag, handing one to Ravn. " This is an EMF reader - it should let you know when there's evidence of electromagnetic fields. Which equals ghosts. I admit - it may not entirely read correctly because of the Veil BUT the stronger the EMF read out perhaps the better our chances of finding Lucille." Or, you know, stepping into the Veil! Whatever.

The other device, she hangs on to. "This is called an Ovillus. It captures energies or EM waves and can covert them to words or phonetics. Again, I don't know how it will react with the Veil but it is important to try all the things we can."

Somehow, Ravn manages to not be wherever that camera is pointed. Whether he's got some kind of career or professional image that he doesn't want to have ruined by appearing on a paranormal show, or he's just plain camera shy is anyone's guess. He looks around, watching the area at Kip's insistence that there are no other people present. He glances at Ariana at her inquiry and replies, "If a ghost appears and we all see it, then I guess it makes things easier for Kip? It'd certainly make things easier if Lucille feels like popping visible and just telling us what she needs. If she has some kind of mission or attraction to particular situations then we may need to qualify -- or pretend that we do, in order to catch her attention."

Then Kip stuffs electronic things into the hands of a man to whom an old cellphone is the height of technological marvels, and the Dane stares at them a little blankly. "Not going to pretend I'm familiar with any of this equipment outside of having watched Ghostbusters. The Veil does seem to empower some ghosts, but it's anyone's guess whether it interacts with ghosts that already exist, or it creates its own for shit and giggles."

He continues to scan the area -- not with the EMF but with his own baby blue-greys. If a woman -- presumably some young thing that might respond to the name of Lucille -- wanders into the near vicinity he intends to at least notice. And quietly nudge whoever's nearest to find out if they see her as well.

Rekani gives Ariana a eyebrow raise and a look downward at himself, then back up... Well... Still slightly down... to the blonde Russian. The look speaks volumes, mostly communicating that if she wanted to talk about the size of anything, he wasn’t sure he’d met him. He snorts good naturedly through his nose though, not one to show off when another performer was onstage. Kip gets her own little eyebrow waggle from him when she Lady and the Tramp’s his twizzler, an adoring grin sent her way and a nod. Still, he seemed distracted. This was one of those holes in the Swiss cheese that made up Gray Harbor, and it always made him feel like he could just reach his hand through the water’s surface to the other side.

He does the thing he’s supposed to, leveling the mic at Kip when she does her introduction, pulling his headphone onto one ear and reaching into his pack, his forearm and wrist seen moving, but his hand just seeming to be in an impossible position while out of sight. She gets another down-up look of appreciation once she’s done, a quiet, “Mmm, girl, that reporter voice...” with a bite of his lip, but after a relisten to something, he gives a thumbs up.

Putting both headphones on now, he starts to slowly sweep the mic around the area, hand disappearing into his pack, moving. After a long moment, his eyes can be seen shutting, his motion pausing. He freezes and he seems to be listening in. He didn’t want to jump to a conclusion just yet, and he was recording, but he wouldn’t say anything just yet in case maybe he was pointing his mic across the water and picking up the conversation of some lovers on the far shore or something.

Magic Hour! The perfect time to do an introduction. Getting the framing perfect, just ask her how perfect it is, Ariana records the introduction from Kip. Once 'cut' has been called she allows herself one of those snarky smiles that denote amusement. "Should we say that a female ghost has been felt by people? That has, like, the two meanings, da? If someone had said they felt me, I would slap them." A beat. "Okay...punch them."

With the others doing their thing, Ariana takes video of the locale with the last remaining light. She has a searchlight sat atop her shoulder camera, so that is flicked on by the time she is done. The bevy of paranormal detection machines around her belt also checked every now and then. "How is you sister, Rekani? Still hot?"

"The Veil shits for giggles?" Ariana may be fluent in English, but there are always odd bits that's she not sure about. "I met a man once who was similar. He could not pay me enough for that." A shiver at the thought before getting back to work. "You are one of the team now, Rekani? I hope you enjoy it. And help keep away the giant spiders."

"Oh, that is a good point." Kip mused. "We might re-record that bit. But we will worry about it later." She presses a couple buttons and turns a knob or two on her Ovillus to get it ready.

To Ravn she assures, "It is okay. Ari and I know how it works. You just hold it, move it around some. And when it starts making crazy noises, we will look at it." The truth of the matter is that Ghost Hunting was relatively boring typically when you got to the nitty gritty of it. It involved a lot of walking around and dead ends. Kip made sure they set up a stationary camera that would give a wide view of the place before moving on.

Kinship. Artificial. Truth. Story. As the group got closer towards the edge of the lake where they would be rounding it to start on the other side, the Ovillus starts going a little crazy. Spouting off words a mile a minute it feels like. Though 4 of them do stand out. She would have made sure Ari got some good footage of the device and the words. Then Kip lowers some settings on the device, looking excited. "This is good! Did you see some of those? Truth. Story. Kinship! I think Lucille must definitely be here! Now it is a question of where." She shifts her pack to dig around some and perhaps look for another device.

"Though all the other words...definitely Veil interference." She chuckles a touch at Ari's comment to Ravn's. "I am not sure that means that. Though...it might. The Veil is not a nice place after all." They all know this first hand. "I would not be surprised if it could be both? It influences current ghosts and makes them. I am sure it's had a hand in making everything on that side, no? Those spiders were no joke and definitely not ones like you see here." She looks towards the forest a moment and made a thoughtful noise but then immediately shook her head.

No. This was about finding Lucille! Not crossing over to the Veilside. Even though it would be extremely easy to in this place.

"There," Ravn suggests and nods very slightly towards a stretch of the lake a little off in the distance. "Unless the rest of you see her too? The lady looking into the water like she's half contemplating just jumping in and getting it over with."

If his wry little smile means anything it's probably Yep, I sound crazy, rather than Haha, she's sad.

He glances at the Ovillus with interest; this is something the folklorist has not seen before, and the idea that one might be able to communicate even with the kind of ghosts that don't want to talk is new to him. He can see a few uses for this. There's that poltergeist -- the Dane glances at Kip and adds, "If that thing is really reading out what's going on in the ghost's mind then I know another ghost you need to to introduce it to. A real piece of work who absolutely refuses to talk. Let's get back to that later."

A sense of humor that was sometimes pretty juvenile, Rekani absolutely snorts when he hears Ariana’s joke about ghosts being ‘felt’. A grin on his face he was trying to suppress even as he concentrates on what was coming through the headphones. When she follows up with the question, his face falls into a pinch of his mouth and nose, for all appearances about to say, ’Ew.’ but then breaking into that good natured smile again. He certainly wouldn’t find his sister attractive, but it would take a special kind of ignorance to think other people wouldn’t.

“She doin’ a’ight.” There’s a shrug that accompanies it. For all he knew, she was, anyway. “And fuggin’ no one wants to deal with those fuggin’ spiders again.” He blows air from his nose and shakes his head. There might have been more commentary from the Latino, as there usually was, but maybe the combination of less THC to make him jovial, and something just on the verge of hearing that was was distracting him contributed. Though when he hears Ravn states where something was, Rekani looks up from his concentration, arm moving to point the mic in the direction the Dane had indicated.

"Of course the Ovillus works" Ariana growls at Ravn. "I modified it myself." She's not mad for long, especially since he brought up another possible ghost. "We could look into that one too, Kip. If we get some good footage, we might be able to sell it to 'Unsolved Mysteries'. And then Netflix can give us our own show. I've seen some of the crap on there, anyone can get a show. At least we won't be hunting Bigfoot for ten years and finding nothing." A shake of her head. "And it's so easy to find a Bigfoot too. They are not even trying."

Spotting Kip's plaintive look at the woods, she puts a hand on her shoulder. "Another time" she whispers before getting back to checking her own instruments while wandering the area. "Rek, your sister is way more than a'ight. I'm sort of in a relationship now but if Nova wants to send me some hot pics of herself, I'm sure we'd both enjoy them." A wink for the brother before Ravn is announcing the presence of a ghost.

"I can't see her" Ariana confirms, which is supposedly a good thing. A glance at equipment readings as she points them at the location. "There's something there though. Electromagnetic spiking. Some phasal readings too." She holds up a device. "Phaseometer, of my own invention. Measures when something is out of phase with reality. Like in another dimension...maybe. I can't get it to register the Veil, but ghosts, da." A beat. "Sometimes."

The words have her curious. There is footage taken of the Ovillus picking up the words. "Artificial truth? Is that like alternative facts? You know...lies. Has someone in her family lied about her story?"

"Wouldn't that be something. Hopefully the footage works." Unlike their Veil trek where none of it was usable when it was all said and done. "Then I would not mind selling it to UM. At least we would be getting paid again for what we like doing." Kip chuckled. She nodded to Ari's words of next time and looked to were Ravn was. "I do not see her either. What does she look like?"

As for Artificial Truth, "Well there were rumors that foul play was involved with her death even though the ME eventually ruled it natural causes. Reportedly a heart attack. Even though she'd shown no signs of any heart issues."

As they got a bit closer, Ravn would see a young woman in her mid twenties perhaps. Long brown hair, fair skinned and with 80s attire. Rekani would pick up some more distint conversation. It sounded like some kind of argument taking place - but there was definitely no one else here but them as it stood now.

---

Rekani (You hear the following through the boom mic)

"You have to stop hanging out with them, Yvette. They're gonna get you killed!"

"You don't know what you're talking about Lucille! What's your damage?? Mikey is great and so are the others. You just won't give them a chance."

"Because they don't deserve one! They're assholes. I don't see how you gave them..."

The argument starts to fade out back to static

---

The woman standing at the lake edge raises her head and focuses on Ravn - because he's looking at her. She doesn't speak yet though.

"If she's not a ghost she's sporting a decidedly retro look," Ravn says quietly and remains as he is -- unthreatening, making eye contact with the ghost but not yet doing anything. "You said you have a physical description of her? Let's see if there's a match -- tall girl, twenty-five-ish. White, long brown hair. Dressed like 1985. She's aware of us -- she's looking right back at me."

He raises a gloved hand in a slow, deliberate wave hello at the presumed ghost. "Who knows? Maybe she wants to talk. From what you all said earlier, she's been trying to communicate. Wanting a proper burial in hallowed ground is a common motif for the ghosts of suicides or murder victims whose bodies were not recovered. Was hers recovered, do you know?"

He seems, on the whole, quite comfortable with the idea of somebody long dead looking straight at him. Maybe this lends a little creditability to the man's claim to see things sometimes that others don't. Maybe it just means he doesn't possess the imagination it'd take to figure out that ghostly attention may not always be a good thing.

Rekani just gives Ariana a look, that scrunch of his nose, “Just go by Platinum and get her number. Ugh. I ain’t playin’ hook up.” He snorts after though. He didn’t resent the Russian camerawoman for trying, it just wasn’t his bag. Rekani seems confused by the other exchanges, maybe because a lot of it flew above his head. He wasn’t that complex a guy... Except.

“I mean, if she died in a Weird way, stuff always kinda slides ride off the normies.” The reminder a product of the phenomenon he lived with all of his life. His voice was low, though, and he was clearly distracted, finally calling attention.

“Y’all...” It was a harsh whisper, “Y’all there some girls talkin...” He pauses, listens, voice still raspy like he was trying to keep a secret, but horribly, “One of ‘em named Yvette... One Lucille? Talkin’ about some Mikey dude...” He opens his eyes again, lookin between the other three, clearly creeped out, which might be hilarious given the comparison of his mass to any of theirs. “Yo, what the fuck, I don’t see nothin.”

"We don't do this for the money, Kip" Ariana deadpans, "We do it for the fame." A beat. "Fuck, we're failing at that too."

Attention moves to the unseen spirit that Ravn seems to be in conversation with. Or at least he can see it. "If she wants to be buried in hallowed ground, we better make sure we know the right hallowed ground. It would probably piss off a ghost even more if we put it in the wrong churchyard. I don't get that burial thing. Plenty of ghosts in cultures that don't bury their dead."

A frown, if anyone can tell the difference, at Rekani. "Hey, I helped you and Kip hook up." Did she? Well, she didn't tell Kip to run for the hills, so that helped. She is about to continue her tirade when Rekani talks about voices. Interesting. She looks to Kip, with an expression that suggests it is one of those hauntings. "Replication of events" she muses to her fellow investigator. "But if she is stuck in a loop, with non-spectral entities, it's not often they leave it to hurt people who were not part of the original loop. Maybe hurt some that they believe are replacements. If the ghost is one of those women, then she could consider any passing woman to be the other person."

"I could be just talking crap too. Kip is the expert."

Kip couldn't help a soft chuckle at Rekani's reaction to Ari's inquiry by Nova and a wry grin to her paranormal partner. "Yeah we are," failing, "But hopefully this will get us on the right track." She grins a bit at Ravn's description. "That sounds like her! But do you see anyone else with her?" She asks since Rekani is hearing a voice. "Lucille is our ghost. Perhaps Yvette is the person she was with that night?" Kip has no idea who Mikey is. She refrains for now from 'I told you so!' on the ghosts being real thing. This is important! "If she is stuck in a loop shouldn't she be talking to the other girl? Not just standing by the lake?" Like Ravn said she was.

"I wonder if it could be some kind of Veil thing? I mean this is a very thin point." Which Rekani probably had said more than once during their preparation for the trip.

To Ari, "It was really unclear on if she hurts people or not. Maybe she hurts the aggressor? Or tries to stand in for the victim?" However that would work. Kip was entirely positive. Ari's gadgets would start going a little haywire as the group progressed closer to Lucille's approximate location. Kip ended up needing to hurt the Ovillus off because it kept spouting words in a way that made her think it had to be EMF interference. Either that or there was a cacophony of spirits nearby that Ravn couldn't see.

It was a barely perceptible shift but Rekani would hear those same voices coming from somewhere behind them now. Closer to where they'd come in from and not too long after that? The others would hear it too. A look over their shoulders would confirm a pair of young women walking towards the lake in some kind of heated discussion. One of them definitely Lucille by Ravn's description.

Speaking of the ghost, she's still there. She lifts a hand to Ravn in return and starts walking closer to him. "You can see me. If you can see me, can you help me?" Her eyes were slightly widened with wonder and maybe a bit of hope. Oddly enough she doesn't seem to register herself and the other woman talking somewhere off behind the group.

"If ghosts can replay like an old video tape, then surely so can conversations." Ravn glances at Ariana. "I imagine it correlates to the beliefs you held in life. If you can come back because you feel bad about not paying your taxes, surely you can come back because you feel you were buried in the wrong place. I suspect it largely ties in with the whole 'unfinished business' narrative."

He doesn't appear to have anything to say about Nova. Not even 'oh, right, did I tell you about the time she threatened to stab me'. Instead, he glances at the Ovillus as Kip turns it off; the thought about a choir invisible may have occurred to the folklorist as well as he says, "It's entirely possible we're wading in spirits and ghosts. We're at a place where the Veil is extremely thin. If that thing has any range it might be picking up from half a dozen parallel realities at once."

Then his attention is caught first by the women behind the group; one of them is also Lucille? He looks back to the Lucille that is front of him. "I can see you," he confirms softly, as not to startle her. "How do we help you? What do you need us to do?"

Were this a playful situation, Rekani would look at Ari’s insistence she helped make Kipani a thing and raspberry his lips, roll his eyes. Instead, Rekani simply gives her a look that almost non verbally reads, ’Is this really the time?’ He starts glancing about, and when the voices are heard behind him, he jerks his head around. His neck can be seen pinching in, his lips pulled back in a grimace. His free hand dips to that fanny pack again and out come two long, flat pieces of metal, black and sharpened on two edges. Of course, the three people around him probably wouldn’t know what lawnmower blades were, but he didn’t seem to care. His fingers were hooked through the central hole, hanging at his side, but not releasing them yet. He didn’t know if they were in danger. He steps closer to Kip and the group, wary.

“Yo, just be careful. Sometimes it’s like wet paper around here. I don’t need to do nothin’...” Yeah, because Rekani was actually a scholar of the mysteries of the Veil and absolutely had not walked face first through nightmare territory and had to claw his way out again. Nope.

"The ghost is in two places at once?" Ariana looks between the replay that she can see and where Ravn still seems to be talking to one of the people she can see. "Definitely the Veil doing the shits and giggles thing" she deadpans, cameras trained on the pair walking towards them. Please let them show up! This would be perfect footage. "Wading in ghosts?" A beat. "Cool."

Of course Ariana knew what lawnmower blades look like. Raised in the Russian equivalent of a trailer park, and with no lawns to actually mow, those blades were vital street-fighting gear. She even gives a nod to Rekani along the lines of 'respect'. With the sound man protecting Kip, which used to be Ari's role, she can concentrate on recording everything and anything around them. That the instruments are going berserk is a good thing. It means they work!

"That is true." Kip agreed about the Veil all around. The Ovillus was likely picking up stuff from the other side or maybe even sides. Her attention is drawn by the vague talking sounds behind them. "That...is Lucille?" She sounds confused. Because Ravn was talking to Lucille, wasn't he? "I do not know who that woman is though. Is she seeing this too? Can she tell you who that is?" Kip asked Ravn.

Kip, like Ari, was hoping all this footage would amount to something good. "I don't know if they're all ghosts or...maybe it's a remnant of the fog that was here? Some weird things were seen without fully being a dream?" This could be one of those...maybe. She looks towards Rekani as he moved closer to her and withdrew the lawnmower blades out of his fanny pack of holding. She really didn't think the weapons were necessary, but appreciated his protectiveness all the same. "Yes, definitely stay together."

And then? "Hello!" She calls out to the two girls. To no avail. They were clearly in ear shot but didn't seem to hear Kip. Caught up in their own conversation that seems to be getting increasingly more agitated and irate. At least on the side of non-Lucille.

---

Lucille sighs, looking back to the water. "I don't know if you can." Then to Ravn. "I just wanted to help her, you know? She's such a great person and she had such a bright future..." Her brow furrowed. "But instead she hurt me. I don't want her to hurt. I just want closure."

"It's about to get ugly," Ravn says quietly, his focus entirely on the Lucille that is actually trying to communicate. "The two women behind us seem to be stuck in that loop -- I'm not sure they're even actually there as much as they are some kind of temporal recording. Lucille in front of me, however, is real, and she wants to talk. She wants us to help her get closure. She is telling me that her friend was a great person and had a bright future -- and she hurt Lucille. She doesn't want revenge, she wants closure."

He reaches out ahead of himself in a gesture which is probably quite futile insofar that Lucille is not very likely to have a physical presence -- but with a bit of luck the ghost will at least read it as a friendly approach. "We want to try to help you, Lucille. Please tell us what we need to do."

And some of us want to get you on electronical record, he adds mentally. But maybe that's not something to bother the dead woman with -- and really, if her need for closure coincides with the ghost hunters' need for documentation, is this not merely a stroke of good fortune?

The blades held easily at Rekani’s side, he was mostly just staying alert and wary. He does attempt to hold the book mic both toward the area they claimed to see Lucille and also where they could actually see Lucille and the other woman, recording, listening. He looked spooked, absolutely, and a thoughtful look almost visibly displays his wish to take a long drag from his vape, but a clear head was probably better here. Didn’t mean he wasn’t jabbing another twizzler in his mouth and chewing slowly, as if the act was some sort of salve for his nervousness.

"I don't care if it is ghosts, the Veil, or fairies playing tricks. I just want to get it on camera" grumps Ariana. But which to get on camera? The loop she can see, or the ghost that she can't? Both of course. Since the loop seems to be happening in a set place, she puts the shoulder camera on a tripod to take it all in. Her chest mounted Ari-Cam is aimed at Ravn as she turns to watch him.

It seems to be one of those 'help me finish something' ghosts. At least they're not usually angry. A little insane with frustration perhaps, but not angry. Those sound like some great last thoughts, Ariana. "Can she materialise for us? That would help."

It's about to get ugly. Those are good words to describe this situation Ravn. Lucille mostly looks confused when he talks about two other women. "I don't see anyone besides you four..." Even if he was primarily talking to the rest of the group. She watches Ravn carefully as his hand reached out towards her. Suspicions confirmed! She is indeed not material in the sense she can be touched.

Yet, she can hear the others of course and on Ariana's question? Seems to try just that. A moment or two later, where there was once empty air in front of Ravn to the trio is Lucille in all her 80s glory. "Can you see me?" She asks, half turning to look at the group expectantly.

Kip stares, stunned at the ghost. That had never happened before. Ever. She's really hoping Ari is getting this and that this film all pans out. She pulls out her phone with the intention of snapping a quick picture as well. "Yes, Well, I can see you. I think if I can see you, so can they?" But she would let the others answer that.

Then Lucille would elaborate on Ravn's question even as the argument several paces behind them - the pair now stopped at the water's edge - continued to grow. "I just want an apology. Some kind of...explanation. Bring Yvette here so we can talk."

Before the others have a chance to respond to this information, there's a rather large and bright crackle and flash of lightning behind them. The kind associated with mental glimmer. If and when they turned to look? Lucille was on the ground and Yvette was freaking out, trying to wake her. Then when that didn't work? Pushed her into the lake and took off running back the way they'd come.

And ghost Lucille? Is no where to be seen either.

Ravn's immediate concern is to keep his back turned on Ariana; the Dane clearly does not want to be recognisable on film. He doesn't seem to object in the slightest to the filming -- he just does not want to be on record. Maybe he's got family who would be less than impressed to see him doing something tied in with the paranormal -- the step to chemtrails and tinfoil hats isn't far, after all.

That concern evaporates when suddenly, things happen entirely too fast behind them. He turns around (and probably does get his face caught on camera) and then spins around a second time to see where Communicating Lucille went. "I don't see her," he tells the others -- because the notion that he might and they might not is not illogical at this point either.

And then he breaks off at a run, following Yvette. Worth a shot. If this is a typical haunting he'll lose the woman in a matter of minutes as she fades away and the whole 'movie' resets itself -- but, worth a shot.

Look, giant spiders, rifle wielding trash monsters, sentient metal filaments, these were all normal, all contained one step over the boundary from this world and the next, the place where his powers could grab hold of the very fabric and tear holes in it at will, bring friends to life with his mind, send half a ton of objects in lethal paths uninhibited.

A ghost on this side of reality makes Rekani nearly jump out of his skin. “Dios mio...” Rekani gasps after the initial sharp intake of breath and hitching and startling of his shoulders. His arm holding the lawn mower blades was lifted and ready to let fly.

And then there was lightning too, but... Well, that was Nova’s stick, and that was normal. He turns to look at that, and watches events play out. He doesn’t move. He certainly wasn’t running after her.

“Wait... I know that chick... I seen her at Platinum...”

Damn right Ariana is going to be getting a manifested ghost on camera. That means she has to point her chest-cam at Lucille's ghost since the big camera is on the loop, but it's not as if paranormal shows don't have shaky-cams. The ghost doesn't bother her so much, she has been after these kinds of things for years, but the sudden explosion of lightning does. She turns quickly but has missed the big event, just catching Yvette on the run. And when she looks back to Lucille, she has gone too.

"Oh, come on!" she grumbles before looking at Kip with an expression of 'I really hope we got that'.

"The Platinum?" Ariana doesn't make the match herself - she's rarely looking at the dancer's faces. "So, we need to bring this Yvette here to apologise to Lucille for accidentally killing her...dumping her in the pond...and then running away." A shrug. "Okay. That could be good to get on camera."

By the time Ravn reaches the trees, Yvette has disappeared. Maybe the loop is resetting, maybe it was a semi-manifestation of the Veil. Maybe both! Whatever the case, shes' in the wind and there's no more Lucille of either type.

Kip is stunned, to say the least. This was undeniable proof right? So long as the imagery came out properly. She's going to completely fan girl and freak out later. For now? She's managing to hold it together. She quickly looks up to Rekani, studying him. "Are you doing okay?" First wanting to check in on his well being and then, "You know her? Can we find her?" She nods in agreement with Ariana's assessment. "If we can get her to come here then maybe we can help put Lucille to rest."

She turns to call out to Ravn, "Do you see anything else?"

The Dane walks back, not really surprised at all that the ghostly Yvette is gone; worth a try but, that's pretty much how it usually works. He shakes his head at Kip. "It's over for now, from what I am seeing -- or well, not seeing."

With a nod towards Rekani he agrees, "We probably should talk to Yvette -- the modern day Yvette. Doubt she's going to be very happy to see us, though -- if she's been keeping this secret since Lucille died, then we're basically going to be accusing her of murder. If Lucille died in the 1980s -- that's a long time to convince yourself that you were right and that girl deserved it, and actually, it wasn't your fault at all."

“Yeah,” Rekani says with the force of someone trying to convince themselves this was the case, “I’m ok.” Maybe he sounds like he even believes it. He awkwardly switches the blades to the same hand as the boom mic as he starts checking the levels on the sound equipment, at least diligent enough in his job to try to make sure things were right. He looks thoughtful as he does this.

“I mean... Yeah, I know her cause she’s uh... she kinda old now.” He glances to Kip as if wondering if that made sense, “She still dances at Platinum sometimes.” Probably why she was memorable, “And when she ain’t she sniffs after dudes after hours. Prob’ly a workin’ girl.” It seemed he was trying to keep the terms nondescript, since the others were more civilized than he, in his opinion. Mostly. There’s a look given Ariana. Then back to Kip.

“But yeah, we can defo prob’ly find her.” He cocks his head in the direction of his parked car, as if asking if they wanted to go... And get away from the fucking ghosts.

"I've only seen the replay, but I don't think it was murder" Ariana states sombrely with a nod towards where Yvette and Lucille had been arguing. "Manslaughter. That flash, that was like someone suddenly discovering their powers, you know? I think we've all been there. Freaked her out and she ran for it. Destroyed her, probably. Why she has made the career choices she has made. And is still making by the sound of it. Not that stripping is a job to be ashamed of...or prostitution...but I doubt she was telling her parents as a child that she wanted to grow up to be a stripper."

"Yeah, it sounds like we're done here until we can bring Yvette. I fucking hope we got this stuff."

“Yes. Let us see what we can do.” Kip agreed.

And so they went!

---

Yvette Stone could have had an easy life. She could have had a house with a white picket fence, husband, and kids running around the yard. Hell, she could have been living in a mansion and mingling with the upper crust of society.

Instead? She’d let young love and stubbornness dictate the rest of her life. She hadn’t listened to her best friend or her family and now she didn’t have much of anything anymore.

She was old for a prostitute, nearly 60, and the drug use and smoking has left her true face looking worse for wear. Haggard and tired. Though thanks to her powers she’s able to project the facade of someone who's aged well and doesn’t look nearly as old.

When the group pulled up to Platinum, Rekani would spot Yvette making some small talk with one of the other dancers on a smoke break. She’s clad in a pair of jeans with a low cut tank top. The illusion isn’t up right now. That’s only for johns.

Typically it helps that they’re usually drunk and just think they were seeing through beer goggles. She has dark brown hair with some gray showing through, dark brown eyes, and olive colored skin that shows those signs of age.

Ravn catches the look Rekani sends an older woman. He pauses, and he does the math -- if Lucille died in nineteen-eighty-something then Yvette...

Oh boy.

It dawns on him that he's looking at a woman who is at least fifty, probably closer to sixty, who makes a living using her mental powers to convince unfaithful husbands that she is young and attractive. And for some reason this strikes the Dane as absolutely hilarious. He has to turn around long enough to finish silently laughing lest somebody starts wondering what the hell is up with that guy -- hysterical snickering is not the best first impression to give, after all.

Eventually, he manages to wipe the laughter off his face. "Oh God, I like her already," he murmurs. "On some level, this is bloody fantastic. Here's to hoping she's ready to come clean and talk to Lucille, though -- might take a bit of delicate handling."

He glances at Rekani at that. Ravn. Delicate. Platinum Cabaret. He's been here once before -- once -- and Rekani's sister ended up threatening to stab him. Maybe he is not the man for this choice.

Rekani driving afforded a few benefits. For one, of the Nazario siblings, his was the car that was actually four door, and he took pride in the look of a classy ride, choosing not to fill his backseat with nitrous canisters. That stuff was tucked safely in the spare tire well. He used runflats, it was fine. Sure, either Ariana or Ravn might lose a little leg room if they sat behind him, but it was a comfortable ride. He was a good driver, and generally behaved when he had extra load and was on city streets. His hand resting possessively on Kip’s thigh for most of the ride when he wasn’t shifting, he takes them directly to the Cabaret.

The second benefit was that his loud as a football stadium exhaust was actually expected when he would pull up. He was DJ Supermassive after all, here three nights a week, everyone knew when he rolled up. His flamboyance was normal, covert in it’s obviousness. He hadn’t gotten out yet, though, hand placed on the back of the passenger seat’s headrest so he can turn in is own seat and look back at Ravn.

“Bruh, she killed someone and shoved the body in the lake. Can we not like her?” Brows furrowed in incredulity, he looks back out the front windshield and shakes his head, cutting the ignition and pulling his keys out. Finally, after a breath, he opens his door and levers his bulk out, waiting for the others and approaching the woman, figuring it would be normal for him to be seen greeting her, “Yo! Yvette!”

"She accidentally killed someone" Ariana persists in her deadpan way. "Then dumped a body and fucked off" she adds while trying to extricate her legs from behind Rekani's seat. Not the most comfortable of rides. And so noisy.

When they see the woman and Ariana ponders Yvette's life since then, she feels she should add, "She may have already suffered a lifelong sentence already. But I guess she still had a life, not like her friend." She only has the Aricam for this interaction, not bothering to remove it...Yvette's reaction would be a good capper to the show. And if Ariana happens to wander into the stripper changing room by mistake. Bonus.

With Rekani leading the way, since he knows the GILF, Ariana hovers in the back, camera rolling.

"Yes, we only saw a small portion of things. " Kip agreed. "Let us not rush to judgement. " As they piled out of the car she studied Yvette curiously. She felt bad for the woman honestly. There was nothing necessarily wrong with being a prostitute (legality aside) but at this age one would think being a prostitute wasn't something they necessarily chose. But maybe it was. She had no idea the inner workings of prostitution.

Yvette turned her attention from the stripper to Rekani, brow lifting lightly when she saw the people with him. But a smile is given to the Latino. "Rekani! I didn't think you were working tonight." She flicked some ash off her cigarette. "Whose your friends?" And upnod to the group.

Ravn acknowledges Rekani's comment with a small nod; man's not wrong but neither is Ariana. He manages to wipe the grin off his face at least, and continues to do his best to stay off camera -- resulting, perhaps, in a bit of a contest between him and the Russian, both of them trying for the rear guard. The Dane vividly recalls his one previous visit to the establishment -- the part in particular where Nova Nazario assumed that he was an undercover cop and threatened to stab him. Given present company (and the fact that Nova has since come to realise that the man is in fact not in any way affiliated with law enforcement) he does not expect a similar misunderstanding to occur now. He's just very keenly aware that he's a fish out of water in a place like this, and the last thing Kip's little crew needs is somebody saying or doing something stupid and managing to divert focus from the things that matter.

Things that matter include convincing a stripper who could be his mother to come apologise to the girl she murdered forty years ago.

"I think I'm going to let you do the talking," he murmurs in the general direction of everyone who isn't him, as the group approaches Yvette. "Rekani, she knows you, right? We're all a bit off kilter from what we just saw, but the friendly 'here to help you' approach might be best?"

“Jus’not workin’ here, girl.” Rekani responds, an overhanded wave dismissing the thought. He steps one foot back so his bearing includes those with him, “This my girl, Kip, her BFF, Ari, and uh...” glancing at Ravn, “Ma’boi Rown.” He looks back to Yvette after.

“So like, this is gonna sound real weird, and I wanna stress, girl, you know me.” He splays fingers on his chest, waves toward his car, the cabaret, all the things that demonstrated what side of law and order he was sorted toward, “So like, we got some shit we gotta ask you about. We ain’t cops, or like, even cop adjacent. Like, ACAB, know-wha-I’m-sayin? But like... I don’t... I ain’t got the words for this...” He waves a hand to the others, asking for someone to step in and do the deed.

Ariana gives one of her grumpy upnods to Yvette as she is introduced, hands folded over her chest to discretely aim the Ari-Cam hidden on her person right at their prey. And then Rekani lets loose, using the charm of strip club DJ to get his point across. Eventually.

Nope, he didn't get it across. Ariana sighs and rolls her eyes before stepping forward to use her natural Russian charm. "We talked with Lucille and she wants to talk to you at the pond where you had your fight and accidentally killed her. Like he says..." A jerk of her thumb at Rekani. "We are not police and we do not want you to get in trouble. We want Lucille to go in peace and she needs you to do that. It will stop all the strange things that happen down there too. You are local, you know bad juju stories from there. If you come with us, we give you five hundred bucks. If we talking shit, you make money doing nothing. But you need to come now or deal off." At least she didn't add 'and we'll shove you in the boot and take you anyway', but it was there in her eyes. C'mon, Rekani, wouldn't you want Ariana as a sister-in-law?

Some might argue that Kip knows Ariana so well she shouldn’t be shocked by anything that comes out of her mouth. That they’re both Russian so the blunt straightforwardness should come as no surprise. And yet, as Rekani fumbles and Ariana starts talking, the tiny Russian woman’s eyes widen with shock and maybe a bit of awe. She’s never been able to be as blunt as Ari unless she’s angry - which isn’t too terribly often. So it always amazes her when the blonde can be so straightforward. It’s a miracle her jaw hasn’t dropped.

---

Yvette originally had seemed a little skeptical and perhaps confused as Rekani started talking. Maybe a little on edge. They never really talked beyond casual small talk so this was definitely out of the norm. Her lips part like she’s about to say something, but Ariana beats her to the punch and the cigarette that had been hanging from Yvette’s lips falls to the ground in shock and maybe fear.

She had known this day was coming, hadn’t she? Knew her past would catch up with her eventually. Maybe she was in a Dream? But...no. This didn’t feel like a Dream. Nothing really seemed out of place except for being confronted with the murder of her best friend. She should just start running right? These people are clearly crazy. Or at least one of them is.

But all the memories of that night that Yvette has tried so hard to bury came flooding back up. A tremble ran through her body and tears started welling up in her eyes. “It was an accident.” Mostly. “I definitely didn’t mean to kill her.” Her voice wavered some. She doesn’t even seem shocked at the idea that they talked to Lucille. She’s been around and exposed to the Veil long enough to know that anything is possible.

“...I’ll come…” She seems reluctant. Torn between a few different avenues. 1 - Not wanting this Russian chick is harm her. 2 - Not wanting Lucille to harm her. 3 - Wanting to unburden herself of the guilt she’s been carrying all these years.

Guess time would tell!

Ravn isn't quite certain he'd have gone for quite so ... blunt an approach -- but the ball is in the air, and the only choice is to try to keep it up there. "Lucille just wants to move on," he supplies, hoping that Ariana's lead is the right lead to follow. "She just wants to find peace. It's all so long ago, now."

And maybe tear Yvette's face off because yes, Lucille seems all compliant and reasonable so far, but Lucille wants Yvette there. A vengeful ghost with half a brain would not open with 'bring me the woman that I may tear out her beating heart and sacrifice her entrails to the crows of carrion'. Here's to hoping that Lucille is playing it straight -- mostly because he's not really certain what to do if she isn't. Hearing and seeing ghosts that want to be heard and seen in the first place does not come with a manual on how to deal with them if they decide to go all Veil monster on somebody.

Like that last one, which tried to tear up the Black Bear Diner, and several people inside. Not Ravn's fondest memory, that one.

There’s stuff Rekani can handle, RE: a thin curtain of energy between this world and the next he can just punch a hole through. There’s stuff that he just didn’t want to, like someone killing their friend and hiding their body instead of taking the wrap. This was a kid that had seen gang violence, had been basically town hopping ever since to get away from that thing. Rekani didn’t like what had happened, but he was here with his girlfriend, being supportive.

Rekani seemed a little shocked at the straight offer of a half grand for doing what Yvette should have done in the first place. He’d cock his head and lead the way back to his car after it was decided they would go. Yeah, he could fit five, if the three in the back didn’t mind being friendly. Kip was still assumed shotgun. And he’d drive on back over. He drives even more careful now, because who knew what would happen. This woman had used lightning, so she was like Nova, which could mean any kind of wild mental manipulation at any moment if she got spooked or wanted to bolt. Kip could clearly tell he was nervous, for all the time she’d spent with him, he’d never looked in his rear-view as much as he had for this trip. Even more jarring? He was basically silent.

The five hundred payment would come with conditions (unsaid) and a unspecified time (whenever Ariana has it to spare) so it could be said that Yvette was doing this to ease her conscience (unknowingly). Cramped in the back, Ariana studies the aged woman who should be drawing a pension, not drawing a bubble bath for randy gents.

"Did the accident lead you to this life?" Ariana asks in her flat way. "Or do you like sex? How much do you make in a week?" A beat. "Asking for a friend." Ariana is also a sparky person - see how much she has in common with Nova. She should probably try to stab Ravn too but they can do that later. The Russian knows the problems that Yvette faced. "Was it the first time you did the electricity?"

Ariana probably doesn't expect answers but she has a hidden recorder going just in case. And the Ari-Cam. Rekani is oddly quiet. Maybe Ariana should tell him a joke?