nevada ♔ tie your own rope

[everyredcent]

WHO || Faye, Tybalt, Miles, Jaina, Solace, and Christos
WHAT || The Knights investigate the neighborhood where the disappearances have been occurring
WHERE || Nevada
WHEN || April 17th [backdated]
HOW || Actionspam

There's nothing sinister whatsoever about Oak Street, as Christos steers the rented van onto the street and parks against a curb. Well watered and neatly trimmed lawns frame cheerful suburban houses, a paper boy rides past on a bike, a couple strolls by hand in hand eating dripping ice cream cones. Down the block, children are visible hooting and whooping as they swing from monkey bars on a small playground while mothers wait on benches and chat politely, happy to soak up the sun and get off their feet for a moment.

Christos frowns heavily through the window, as if the sight of all this contentedness is more unwelcome than an army of invading monsters would have been.

Solace speaks up first, from his place in the front passenger seat. "It may be prudent to split our group to cover more ground. At least one of the homes should be re-examined, and we ought to ask some of the locals for their take on the situation." He unbuckles his belt. "I mean to investigate the area for evil auras."

Christos nods, turning off the engine. "The sun will be down in an hour. I'll scout around the houses for access points. No point in breaking in before then."

Comments

[flyingsolo]

[ the two kids exchange terrified looks, sizing up miles' intimidating frame, and deciding it's clearly time to am-scray. they jump off the swings and one of them jerks his thumb at the younger kid.

"We were just gonna let him have a turn." with that, he takes off running towards the slide. the other kid back-pedals, casting a nervous glance at his fleeing friend, and then pleads "Please don't tell my Mom, mister" and then follows.

the little ginger stares after them, but keeps a nervous distance from the swings, eyeing up the two of them. jaina gives miles an amused look, before pointing to the swing. ]

It's all yours, kid.

[cuivre]

[Miles actually looks a little sheepish when it's over, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, and grinning between the kid and Jaina.]

Guess I went a tad overboard, huh?

[He nods to the kid then, taking a couple steps over toward the edge of the swingset, where he's out of the way but can still talk to him.]

Maybe they'll learn to wait their turn next time, right?

[flyingsolo]

[ the kid continues watching him for a second, but seems to take the question to mean it's safe to creep closer to the swing. he grabs hold of the chain, but doesn't sit.

"They'll probably just do it again when you're gone." It's said with the sullen, defeated tone of someone who accepts this kind of treatment as a fact of life and has long given up thinking there's anything to be done to change it. jaina arches an eyebrow at miles where the kid can't see, as if to say Way to be grateful. ]

[cuivre]

Well, next time, you should stand up for yourself. They shouldn't be able to tell you what to do like that.

[He glances at the swing, then back at the kid.]

Do you need help up?

[flyingsolo]

[ he shakes his head and clambers into the swing, still staring at them. after a moment, he asks:

"Who are you?" with the wary curiosity of a child. ]

[cuivre]

My name is Miles. I'm kind of a...private investigator. I'm trying to find out what happened to some of the people around here.

[It's not really a lie. He smiles.]

Do you know what I'm talking about?

[flyingsolo]

[ the kid shifts on the seat a bit.

"Maybe."

jaina gives him a raised eyebrow. ] 'Maybe' huh. [ she sounds unimpressed and the kid glances down at the ground.

"Yeah." ]

[cuivre]

What have you heard about it?

[He asks it both gently and with genuine interest. Definitely not trying to be intimidating at this point. Just the nice guy who's trying to help. (Gather info(?) 16)]

[flyingsolo]

[ the kid looks past at them towards whether the mothers sit, as if not wanting them to overhear this. a shadow seems to cross his face and he kicks off, swinging slowly, the chain giving an ominous creak-creak noise.

"They've been making deals with some of the kids on the street," he says quietly, staring off down the road. "And then their families go away."

jaina exchanges a Look with miles, concern and a little horror on her face. ] "They"?

[ he looks down again, and then points slowly up the road.

"The kids who don't go to school." ]

[cuivre]

[Miles absorbs that, and his expression is odd, as if he's considering the words, and his head slowly looks over toward Jaina, as if silently looking for her opinion before he looks back at the boy.]

They hang out that way?

[flyingsolo]

[ he shakes his head. "They live there. In the house with no grown-ups."

jaina's frown deepens but she tries to keep from looking like she's going to rat the kid out. ] No grown-ups? They don't have parents?

[ he hesitates a little more, but nods. "They do whatever they want to all day." it's hard to miss the wistful note in his voice. "The grown ups don't know about them." ]

[cuivre]

[The creep factor just seems to be skyrocketing here. Miles turns his head toward Jaina.]

Sounds like something we should check out, huh?

[flyingsolo]

Top of the list, I'd say. [ she's still staring at the little kid as if wondering what he's not saying.

the kid hesitates a little more than shakes his head. "You shouldn't go there." ]

[cuivre]

[Miles looks back over at the kid, eyebrow raised.]

Why's that?

[flyingsolo]

[ he chews on his lips for a few moments and when he speaks, his voice is very quiet, barely audible:

"Because grown ups don't come back from there." ]

[cuivre]

[He smiles confidently.]

No worries then, kiddo. I've always been a kid at heart.

[flyingsolo]

[ he looks up at miles with incredibly serious eyes. "Just promise me you'll be careful." ]

I've got his back. No worries. [ she gestures miles off to the side out of earshot and waits for him there ]

[cuivre]

See? I'll be well taken care of. Besides, careful is my middle name.

[Even if it...totally wasn't.

Then he nods to Jaina, moving away to rejoin her, speaking quietly just to make sure no one else hears.]

I don't think that story could have been creepier. Sounds like a good lead as any, though.

[flyingsolo]

So what are we waiting for?

[cuivre]

Who said anything about waiting?

[He smirks and gestures down the road, and then starts walking to the house the kid indicated for them.]

[flyingsolo]

[ she trails after him as they head up the road towards the old victorian house. it's set a little ways farther back from the road than the other homes on the street, and from a distance, they can see a couple children on the porch tossing a red ball back and forth. as miles and jaina reach the picket fence, however, the children both look up at the exact same moment and stop playing, fixing the knights with strange, cold stares. ]

Hey, you kids -- [ but jaina hardly gets a word out before they turn and retreat inside the house, as the sun sinks beyond the roof. jaina frowns as she gives the house a once-over. ] What a dump. [ craning her neck to the side, she gestures at the driveway. ] No vehicles.

[cuivre]

Well, the kid did say no adults.

[Of course they'd arrive as it's getting dark. Seriously, the sun must know when to set for perfect creepy settings.

His eyes take a quick scan of the oustide of the house as they approach (spot 20 total) before he glances at Jaina as they get close.]

Wanna try the front door first?

[flyingsolo]

Might as well. They've already seen us coming. [ one of the strangest things miles would notice is that there are no lights on - no movement within, no anything, other than strangely wafting curtains in the upstairs windows. .__. creepy. a few toys are scattered in the lawn, as well as bicycles, all older models. ]

[cuivre]

[His eyes linger on those curtains before he nods and heads up to the front door, knocking several times on the door.]

[flyingsolo]

[ noooo answer. and no one is surprised. jaina moves to try to peek in the windows, but looks back at miles shaking her head ] I can't see anything in there.