WW XXIV: Winter's Heart

[Mynx]

Susan felt sick to her stomach at the grisly sight come across this morning. She had gotten a glimpse of the body before her mother had dragged her to the outskirts of the gathered crowd; wanting to protect her daughter from such an unladylike sight to bestow, while at the same time wanting to hear the discussion.

When she overheard Joseph suggest that the killer could be Cedric, she felt overcome with a range of emotions. The suggestion sounded vaguely plausable, but Susan found that her mind was bringing up the meeting they had held the day before. Cedric had treated her with nothing but kindness and respect in those few short hours they had been together - so much so that Susan was beginning to wonder if she could perhaps be happy with this man. His kindness to her even made her wonder if he would hear what had happened to her only one moon before and not cast her out for it...

No, Susan thought to herself. I don't think it's Cedric...but then who?

Her eyes drifted over the crowd, before settling on Leif.

Could it be? It's possible...he runs the tavern so would have no problem getting to that drunk...and he seems to know what actually did this...I wonder...

Before she could think further, Susan was jolted out of her thoughts as her mother, affronted by the idea that her daughter's suitor was a killer, dragged Susan away from the crowd and back to their home.

 

OOC: Leif the Bunny

[Jammeez]

Granny listens quietly to the young man's news. He had, of course, come to clear her path of the heavy snowfall, and brought the tale of Mark's violent slaughter with him.

 

"The Sheriff and the Blacksmith say it must be Mr. Fernsworth, as he's an outsider, but I dunno about that. It ain't like he's the newest one in town..."

 

"Aye, my boy, but everyone was once new somewhere. We can't go rashly accusing folks because we don't know 'em."

 

"You think it could be someone we've known, then? Someone who's been here for awhile?"

 

The old woman is silent for a long moment, her sharp eyes unfocused with internal thoughts. "I think it highly likely, son. Yes...yes, I do."

 

With puzzlement and more than a little worry in his face, the young man returns to his shovel. And Granny pours herself a cup of hot tea to warm her bones. The past haunts her mind; the faces of her old contemporaries - her sisters and brother, her friends and her beloved Itchy. Near 40 years it had been since the last killing. But the village had been plagued for years before that. What could have brought the terror back?

 

Thank goodness the deaths had stopped long before her Gnarlitch had passed, for there were those who had thought he was to blame. Jammeez' own siblings had been his main accusers after the loss of their baby sister Elwen.

 

Tears well and spill over the old woman's lashes at the memories. Well, they were all gone now, so who could be carrying on the murderous tradition?

 

OOC: vote for...Adam/Giles Jordan

Edited January 17, 2006 by Jammeez

[Lord Panther]

Being awoken from his slumber by all the screams of terror, John quickly dresses himself and makes his way out of his loft and out through his workshop to see what all the fuss is about.

 

Joining the amassing group, he sees for himself that there has been a murder in town. A rather gruesome one at that.

 

"Well, I guess I'll be working on a new coffin today. Just the thing I always enjoy." John says in his overly sarcastic way of trying to lighten the mood just a little.

 

Not being the first time he has seem death, John sees no reason to linger about. On his stroll back to his workshop, he can't help but think who would do such a thing. Who would have the killing capabilities, and who would be able to make it look like whatever they wanted it to look like.

 

One name pops into his head. Adam. As much as Adam is now a blacksmith, he used to be a good hunter and woodsman. He would have the knowledge of beasts and their killing habits. As much as he would hate to accuse a fellow craftsman, it still lingers in his mind.

 

(OOC: vote for Adam/Giles Jordan)

[Venefyxatu]

Nathaniel didn't hear anything : not the screams, not the talking in the streets, nothing. Even if the screaming had been loud enough to reach the house, he still wouldn't have heard it.

 

He did, however, see the faces when he went to town around noon to have lunch at the inn. He also saw the lips moving, and from them he could read more than just the news about Mark's death. He learned of speculations about who could have done it, and he learned every single detail of how the corpse had looked.

 

Werebeasts ... he'd read about them in several books, and he'd even encountered a few villages where they had passed. Not much was left of those villages, their inhabitants frightened and distrustful of everyone, even themselves.

The books that described these towns always mentioned the suspicion rising very quickly, but none of them ever completed the entire cycle. He'd never read anything about how the creatures were chased off or what happened after they were killed.

 

Was writing it all down worth the risk of staying here?

 

It didn't matter ... he had other reasons for staying, too ...

 

OoC : No vote ... yet

Edited January 17, 2006 by Venefyxatu

[Katzaniel]

Like most of the rest of the town, Karen was drawn to the site by the screams of those who were first seeing the body. Being accustomed to blood since childhood, and human bodies (if mainly in photographs) since starting med school, Karen didn't gasp or scream when she saw it. She actually stepped a little closer. "He didn't die right away," she said quietly. "Those punctures wouldn't be enough to kill him. Whoever did it wasn't used to killing, or didn't care if he died."

 

Her words brought more fearful chatter from the onlookers.

 

A haunted voice shouted out. "Werebeasts... and not brought out because they're hungry or needing to kill... werebeasts who are out only for the joy of the hunt!" Others agreed. "We must stop it, or it will hunt again!"

 

Karen nodded, and gulped. She watched for a while, seemingly memorizing the pattern of wounds.

 

"I don't see how it could be the hunter; he would have killed the poor man quickly, probably snapped his neck or cut him through the heart. Instincts like that die hard. I don't think it was even the bartender, either; his main reason for killing someone would probably be to have the person dead. The only person I can see that might want to wound a man this far and leave him for dead would be Tsal... he spends all his time in those woods, just watching people." Karen paused and shuddered. "He's probably wondering what we'd look like dead."

 

OOC: Vote for Tsal / Azuran

[Patrick]

He felt that he had made at least a moderately good impression on Susan last afternoon. He hoped that she did not resent him as much as before. He was just about to go and see her again, when he heard the rumours of the murder.

 

He stumbled across Susan's mother taking Susan home from the scene, and tried talking to Susan, but her mother clearly didn't want her to talk now. He watched Susan's figure walk away and wondered for a moment where he would go now. He preferred not to anger Susan's parents by visiting her at this time. His steps instead took him towards the scene of the murder, where he looked upon the gruesome sight. It definitely was not a clean kill. Either whoever had done it was still a beginner, or this was the intended effect.

 

Cedric spotted Karen and heard strangely that her thoughts were coinciding with his. Was that merely a coincidence? He remembered that Karen was at medical school, and through her father would have seen many animals slaughtered. Could it have been her? Cedric chased those thoughts quickly away. It was not a right thing to accuse someone like that.

 

But a small sliver of doubt lingered on...

 

"Who knows what she has been through since she went away?" Cedric murmured. "How coldly she reacted to it all..."

 

OOC: Vote for Katzaniel/Karen Zahn

[LeifTheBunny]

"Mark wasn't exactly welcome in the tavern. Anyone that likes the drink that much really should not be drinking. Shame to see someone lose their life, no matter how much of a shambles it was in."

 

Leif mutters a prayer to the gods.

 

"Anyone of us could be the werebeast. By day, they would be normal. Though Adam is a skilled hunter, I am not certain he has anything to do with the matter."

 

Leif goes to investigate the scene more closely.

 

OOC: no vote as of yet.

[Azuran]

Things always seemed to take a bit to sink in for Tsal, and the death of Mark was no exception. He stood just far enough away from the group around the body that he could overhear only small bits and pieces of the conversations along with the occasional outburst of tears or an accusation. It all seemed somewhat surreal to Tsal—surely this was just some horrible prank, right? Right…? He absently toyed with his new carving knife, the handle of which ironically, perhaps, had been plated with silver, and he hardly even noticed that his dark hair was obstructing most of his view. Werebeasts…

 

The sight of Lillen comforting her friend finally triggered something in his brain and brought Tsal back to the reality of the situation, his thoughts immediately turning towards the implications for the immediate future. If Mark had been killed while leaving the bar, couldn’t it just as easily have been Lillen? He brushed his hair back and looked around, more focused and serious now. Moving from face to face he felt an impending helplessness…how could one ever really know who was responsible?

 

Tsal slid his knife back into his coat and walked towards the group, every voice around him now carrying a veiled importance. At least one of them had to be hiding the gruesome truth, and every word or action seemed to betray hints of guilt. Tsal stopped short, hearing his own name mentioned by Karen. He had never really gotten to known Karen since he moved here, although not necessarily for lack of interest on his part. It had just always seemed that she was happy enough with her life and didn’t really give the impression of caring about Tsal one way or the other, although he admittedly had always been too shy to find out for certain. Her accusation, however, was unexpected, and Tsal’s immediate reaction was of sadness. He felt misunderstood and wished he could somehow get Karen to realize he wasn’t the monster she seemed to think. But seeing the fear in her eyes as she finally noticed him standing nearby was enough to make Tsal just start walking again.

 

He didn’t really pay attention to where he went, but ended up next to the two barmaids, and brushing the hair out of his eyes half-successfully he forced himself to open his mouth rather than be embarrassed again by not speaking.

 

“Hi, Lilly…Karel…” The greeting had meant to sound reassuring but had ended up almost like a question. Tsal inwardly wondered if they had already heard Karen’s accusations and if Lillen, especially, might actually believe them.

 

Lillen looked up and gave Tsal a strained but genuine-looking smile, replying with a simple yet confident, “Hey.” In truth, she seemed more concerned about her friend’s distress than anything else at the moment.

 

“Are you girls okay and all?” Tsal felt the question was a little stupid…it was pretty obvious that they were as okay as could be expected having found the mauled body of a man they had served at the bar often enough that it had become almost second nature. “It’s scary, I guess…to be honest I’m almost more worried that we’ll end up being our own downfall now. All this mistrust and suspicion… We might drive ourselves mad and do worse things to each other out of plain fear.” Tsal coughed nervously—he really hadn’t meant to sound that pessimistic and dark, and he tried to come up with something a little more hopeful. “Well, if there’s anything I can do to help, Lilly… I mean, either of you, really,” he hastily added, not entirely sure if he meant the last part but feeling it would be rude otherwise, “just let me know…”

 

Karel was still sobbing slightly with her face leaning against Lillen’s shoulder and gave no indication that she had heard Tsal at all, but he was rewarded with a second, slightly larger smile from Lillen, who silently thanked Tsal with her eyes. Realizing that it was Lillen who was needed at the moment by her friend, and not he who was needed by Lillen, he wandered off, thinking everything over and over in his mind..

 

OOC: no vote yet…

[Katzaniel]

"Who knows what she has been through since she went away?" Cedric murmured. "How coldly she reacted to it all..."

 

Karen glanced up. "I guess I must appear suspicious, too. But this isn't the first time I've seen a human body, and it's far from the first time I've been killing and blood. I can't help that none of this is new to me."

 

OOC: Same vote.

[GLJordan]

ooc if i don't get back before hand consider my vote for lord panther or who else will save my skin. need to think of what I wish to post

[Sweetcherrie]

Annie had been following Nathaniel around. The man had only moved in a week ago, and she didn’t like him. He had scared her once already by appearing straight behind her when she was peeking into the living room of his mansion, and she just didn’t like him.

 

After all it was her good right to walk around town, and if she happened to walk very close to his house and peek in, than that was her right. It was a free country, and besides Annie’s father could’ve easily bought that house if he had wanted to, but because it was hunted he simply hadn’t wanted the house.

 

She’d followed Nathaniel to the inn that afternoon, and had then followed him back to his house. Annie knew that he hadn’t heard her, and was positive that he hadn’t seen her either. Now she was watching him in his house, and just knew that it had been him that had killed Mark.

 

It all went together, the creepy house, the creepy guy, and the creepy murder. Also the fact that he hadn’t said something about the whole thing yet was simply strange. How could someone take this so lightly; it was as if with his silence he admitted that he was guilty.

 

OOC: vote for Venefyxatu – Nathaniel

[Tanuchan]

Lillen finally left a sleeping Karel at home, and decided to go out for a walk. Her feet ended up taking her to the stables, and she noticed the new snowfall already starting to hide the signs of the murder. She frowned, letting her eyes drift and linger on the beginnings of the forest, not that far from there.

 

After some minutes, she moved on, wandering a bit in spite of the light snowfall.

 

Nathaniel, unaware that he was being followed by Annie, decided not to go look at the corpse. He didn't have a very strong stomach when it came to mangled bodies, and since he wasn't a doctor it wouldn't teach him anything anyway. So he wandered through the streets, reading tidbits of information from people's lips and nodding to those who took notice of him.

 

Lillen was one of them, and she not only nodded but started talking to him. "Hello, Mr. Churnstone."

 

Nataniel looked a bit startled, and Lillen repeated the greeting in a louder voice, remembering also to let him see clearly her lips.

 

Nathaniel smiled his vague half-smile when Lillith approached him.

"Just Nathan, please. I had something else on my mind ... a book that wouldn't let go."

 

"A book?"

 

He nodded, then, sensing that something more of an answer is probably expected, added, "A good story. Too short as always, though." And with those words he went on his way, again absorbed in this thoughts.

 

Lillen smiled a bit, shaking her head as Nathaniel left. She resumed her walk and, while remembering what she had seen and heard that morning, she smiled and changed direction. After some peeking into a few places, she finally heard the faint sound of a knife whittling wood.

 

"Hey, Tsal."

 

Tsal looked up, only one eye peeking through his hair and unable to spare a hand to brush it back. “Lilly..! What do you want?” Like usual, things never came out quite like he intended them to sound. “I mean, not that you have to want anything really…just wondering, I guess…” Feeling his face turning a little red, Tsal quickly looked back down at his hands, and continued working.

 

He's such a cute boy. Lillen's smile seemed to reflect that thought. And the way he calls me "Lilly" is really nice.

 

"I wanted to thank you for this morning. I'm sorry I couldn't give you the attention you deserved, but Kari was a wreck."

 

She sat down at his side, though far enough not to get in the way of his carving. "What's it going to be?" She pointed at the piece of wood with her chin.

 

 

~~~~~~~

OOC: Day phase ends in 6 hours

 

 

~~~~~

Thanks to Venefyxatu for writing this with me!

 

Edit: mm... somehow, I think I cut out a paragraph when quoting this into the next post... just putting it back here.

Edited January 22, 2006 by Tanuchan

[Venefyxatu]

His feet took him through a few more streets before he passed the inn, where his stomach reminded him what he'd come here for. He'd been here for a week now and he still hadn't tasted that wonderful stew. Mentally scolding himself, Nathaniel entered the inn and sat at a table by himself.

 

After ordering a portion of stew he took out a notebook and a pen and started scribbling. Even had his handwriting been neat, he'd developed so many personal abbreviations that anyone reading along over his shoulder wouldn't have been able to make sense of it.

 

The stew and the warmth got him thinking, and even though he knew it was futile to try and figure out who the werebeast could be his mind inevitably returned to the subject, arranging everything he knew about all the villagers he'd met, searching for any kind of clue ...

 

Annie, who was doing a great job at not being seen by Nathaniel (and who probably needn't have bothered since the man could be very absent-minded), decided that she had to have a look at that notebook.

 

OoC : Accusing Adam / Giles Jordan

[LeifTheBunny]

After spending 30 minutes examining the scene, Leif gets up. "The evidence here is almost useless. What is here is evidence of a werebeast, but none of an individual nature that we can isolate."

 

Leif shrugs. "I think it's best that I get back to the tavern, I do need to keep things running smoothly before the rest of the village panics. No reason for this incident, no matter how tragic, get the best of us. Giving in to the beasts just gives them more power."

 

Leif wanders back to the tavern.

 

OOC: no vote.

[Tanuchan]

[Lillen] sat down at [Tsal's] side, though far enough not to get in the way of his carving. "What's it going to be?" She pointed at the piece of wood with her chin.

Tsal stopped whittling, and showed it to her. The carving was of two intersecting rings, a little nifty one since Tsal had to carve them out of the same piece of wood such that they were already intersecting; he didn't want to have to break one later to put them together. One of the rings was still pretty rough and unfinished, but they were at least detached from each other at this point so they weren't actually the same piece of wood anymore.

 

There was a pause while Lillen examined the two rings, one of which was still very rough and almost hexagonal looking, and Tsal felt the need to explain further. “Figured someone could use it as a pendant or something, you know?”

 

Lillen nodded, running her fingers over the careful work of Tsal's hands. "I think it will be a beautiful piece when you finish, Tsal. You have a gift for carving."

 

“I guess so…” he didn’t sound so sure, “really I just happened to have a pocket knife with me when I came here and it was something to occupy my time. Didn’t really care much about where I’d end up in life at the time...”

 

He already felt uncomfortable having just mentioned his unattractive past and tried to steer the conversation in a different direction. “But what good is carving, or anything really, when you’re not even sure if you’ll live another week to use it again?”

 

“You’re talking about the werebeast, right?” Lillen looked at Tsal with a shadowed expression, then after a pause added in a hushed tone, “who do you think it could be? I've been living here all my life, and know most of them so well. What do you think, Tsal? You arrived but a few years ago, maybe you see something we don't..."

 

 

~~~~~~~

Thanks to Azuran for writing with me

And my next post should be the end of phase... in about 1hour

Edited January 18, 2006 by Tanuchan

[Sweetcherrie]

In Annie’s mind the notebook was screaming ‘read me, I hold stories about gruesome murders’. It was tempting her, it was luring her to it, but she could hardly take it. Or could she?

 

She had always gotten what she wanted, and now she wanted this. Of course he wouldn’t mind if someone would just read a little, and she was after all only a child, how much could it hurt if she would just borrow it for a minute?

 

In her corner she sat there, pretending she was studying her latest bracelet, but she held a sharp eye out for what Nathaniel was doing. She normally wasn’t allowed in here, but the innkeeper knew that she would throw a tantrum if he tried to kick her out. Last time this was tried her father had simply shown up, waved his purse, and he had given in at the end.

 

And now she wanted to have that book, she had to have that book; she needed to have that book. Only to figure out how she would do this. Looking around she saw some of the other village kids outside, who of course weren’t allowed in like her, and an idea popped into mind. She got up and snuck out the door.

 

“Hello.”

 

It was her sweet voice, the sugary voice, the voice that would fool anybody…that didn’t know her. The boy she had approached however had known her for his whole life, and he looked at her distrustfully.

 

“Would you like to do something for me?”

 

“Erm…no?”

 

“But I would be very grateful, I would be so grateful that I would even give you this bracelet.”

 

She held up the silver bracelet, and the afternoon sun reflected and spots of light danced over the boy’s face. His eyes turned slightly greedy, and Annie knew that she had him. Everybody was for sale. If there was one thing she had learned of her dad, it was this.

 

She bent over and whispered something in his ear. Two minutes later the boy snuck into the inn, and looked around to see where the book was that Annie had been talking about.

 

And there it was, lying all unguarded on the table, open with the pen next to it. What a luck he had, this would’ve been the easiest earn ever. He walked over to the table, snatched the book off, and stuck it under his shirt.

 

But, just as he turned around to walk back out again, a voice behind him said, “I believe that’s mine.”

 

He felt the blood run from his face, and froze on the spot.

 

Outside Annie gasped as she saw the boy getting caught; it was all over now. The book would be guarded heavily. The only thought she felt for the boy was how stupid he had been to get caught, and all her other thoughts were already racing to get what she wanted.

OOC: Changing vote to Jammeez - Granny Jammeez

[Azuran]

Sighing, Tsal thought about the question carefully, trying to piece together all that had happened, when really, he already knew who how he felt inside. He had always been told he was unwanted growing up, and although he had gotten better about it lately, he still tended to fear the worst about everything.

 

“What if it were me? I mean…of course you know I would never do anything like that on purpose, but would I even know..?” Or would anyone else for that matter…? Sure, not everybody was always friendly, but did it really seem like anyone was hiding the madness of being a werebeast…? “Five years ago it might have even made me happy, but I hope it’s not true. But I like this town too much. And the people in it…”

 

 

OOC: Vote for Tsal.

[Tanuchan]

“What if it were me? I mean…of course you know I would never do anything like that on purpose, but would I even know..?” Or would anyone else for that matter…? Sure, not everybody was always friendly, but did it really seem like anyone was hiding the madness of being a werebeast…? “Five years ago it might have even made me happy, but I hope it’s not true. But I like this town too much. And the people in it…”

Lillen, stunned, just stared at Tsal for several seconds. Then, slowly, shook her head.

 

"Tsal... it's not like that. I've heard stories from my grandmother, about the werebeasts. All of them had conscience that they were... changing into beasts. If you were one, you would know for sure."

 

In an impulse, she touched his arm. "I've heard Karen. Don't you listen to her. She just doesn't know you, Tsal. She hasn't been around you as all of us, those who live here all days of the year."

 

Tsal gasped, surprised, as Lillen hugged him. He wondered nervously what to do with his own arms before he hugged her, too - awkwardly at first, but then more tightly. He smiled happily, his face hidden by his hair.

 

~~~

 

 

 

During all day long, whispers and suspicious looks haunt several of the villagers. Once, Leanne, Karel's sister, just throws the books she is carrying at one of the hunters who dares to insinuate that Karel herself was a werewolf.

 

 

"Enough!"

 

The sheriff barks in a deeply annoyed voice, separating one more fight. "If you want to hunt beasts down, then do it clearly. We don't need folks getting at each other's throats."

 

"Alright then, sheriff!" comes a cold voice. "If it is to be clear, then we think you should just hang Adam. It's clear he's a werebear!"

 

Other voices raise, supporting that claim. It doesn't take long for a mob to go towards the smithy.

 

"If you think he's a werebeast, then let's lock him in jail. Don't be fools!"

 

Some men surround the sheriff, barring his way. "Sheriff, we aren't going to hand this village over to werefolk. It might be one, it might be more. If it's just the one - good enough. If it's not, there will be more killings and even a rescue. We just know that Adam is one of them. Several of us have seen him going into the forest at night, disappearing in its depths during full moon."

 

"Come on, you know as well as I do that this is all hearsay. There is no one person who wants to swear on the Bible that they've seen him doing anything suspicious!"

 

The men hesitate, starting to agree with the idea of locking Adam in prison instead. But a girl runs head-on on them, yelling.

 

"Sheriff! There's a gibbet built outside the village. They're already carrying him there!!"

 

Cursing most inappropriately in front of the girl and the women who join her, the sheriff runs in the direction pointed.

 

"Stop! Down with him!" He points his gun at the men around the gibbet, Adam thrashing wealky on the end of the noose.

 

The doctor opens his way through the people to quickly examine Adam. He then shakes his head sadly.

 

"Too late, Clance." He sighs at the Sheriff. "And innocent, too. No werefolk would be idiot enough to not fight his way out."

 

~~~~~~~~~~~

OOC: Adam/Giles Jordan was an innocent blacksmith. It's now Night Phase. Feel free to RP anything that goes on from sundown on, but please no speculations/accusations whatsoever.

 

Seer/Baner/Wolves, you have 24 hours from this timestamp (until Thursday, 8pm EST) to send me your targets.

 

Good luck!

Edited January 19, 2006 by Tanuchan

[Mynx]

Susan sat once more in her chair and looked out the window to the milling crowd around Adam's lifeless body. She shivered; both at the cold at the nervous fear she felt.

After hearing the argument that exploded over the drunk's death, Susan's mother had refused to let her out of the house except at her mother's side. The concept of going out at night was strictly forbidden.

I feel like an old spinster sitting up here, Susan thought to herself with a soft sigh. She couldn't help but feel that if it weren't for her value as a bride to Cedric, her mother would have cared a lot less about her well being.

Cedric...wasn't he meant to come to some sort of family dinner tonight? Susan couldn't remember the huge number of social occasions her mother had invented to chaperone their laughable courtship. Susan had gotten to know Cedric better, but her mother's constant presence took away from the fact that he was to be her husband, not a mere family friend.

Is the dinner tonight? Susan wondered. Even if it was, is Mother going to hold it after all that happened? I wish Father wasn't out all the time. I don't even know what he thinks of this whole thing...

With a soft sigh, Susan got up from her chair and went to select one of the few, well loved books she had by her bed before returning to the chair to read it by the window. Dinner or not, Susan wasn't included in the plans and decided to wait and see, wondering quietly to herself if the night would bring about any more surprises.

[Lord Panther]

John couldn't help but feel guilty. They had lynched an innocent man. A man who deserved to live. With this on his mind, John decided it was best for him to go back to his workshop instead of going to the inn for his supper.

 

Back in his shop, John locked himself in, threw a few more scraps of wood on the fire and decided to do some finishing work on some of the chairs he had been working on. Maybe the work would help ease his mind. He could always find something to eat around here, even if it wouldn't be as tasty as the fare at the inn.

 

After a few hours work, John's mind had wandered elsewhere, like back to who had really had committed the murder, as well as how safe any of them were in the town, really.

 

With this on his mind, John decides that his body needs some sleep, so he climbs up to his loft to get into bed, hoping that a decent night's sleep will clear his mind, and that all this will be behind them tomorrow.

[LeifTheBunny]

Leif raises a glass of his special mead in honor of the fallen. "God speed your way Adam."

[Patrick]

OOC: post co-written with Mynx.

 

Cedric walked down the already darkening streets. His thoughts were in shambles. After yesterday he had come to realise that he loved Susan even more than he had thought. To him she was beauty incarnate, and it even seemed that she had an intelligence, which was higher than what she could have acquired just by watching her mother and her father.

 

As he got near the house he saw Susan’s mother just leaving the house.

 

“Good afternoon to you Mrs. Strongam. Is the dinner still scheduled? I wouldn’t want to miss your delicious cooking.” – he said, complimenting her.

 

She smiled and nodded, adding:

 

“Just go on in, I need to get half a dozen eggs. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

 

Cedric pushed the door open, and was surprised at hearing retching sounds coming from the back of the home. He entered the door and walked towards the back, where he came across Susan leaning out the back door, her back heaving as she retched.

 

"Susan?" Cedric asked, taking a hesitant step towards her. "What...?"

 

Susan let out a frightened yelp and slammed the door shut, turning her back to it as she faced Cedric with terror written all across her pale face.

 

"Susan, what's wrong? Are you sick?" Cedric took another step but stopped as he saw Susan blanch and press herself into the back corner.

 

What on earth? Cedric thought to himself, some quiet bell of thought ringing at the back of his head.

 

"I'm sorry," Susan whispered, tears glistening on her face as her hand unconsciously went to her stomach, not yet showing any sign of her situation but...

 

What? She can't be...? But that's not possible! Her mother said...

 

Cedric only managed a stunned choking sound. Susan looked at him pleadingly. "It's not what you think," she babbled. "I was -"

 

They both jumped as they heard the heavy steps of Susan's father at the front door. Susan suddenly ran to Cedric and gripped his hand tightly, her eyes wide with fear.

 

"Please, not a word. I beg you!"

 

Before Cedric could respond, Susan ran to her room to clean up before her parents saw her.

 

Susan’s father stepped into the room and seeing Cedric, walked over to greet him.

 

“Ah, Cedric, nice to see you.” He was still uncomfortable with using the slightly older mans first name, but Cedric had specifically asked him to do so. Just call me Cedric. he had said, and John did so, not wanting to offend Cedric.

 

He held out his hand in greeting and Cedric took it, returning his strong grip.

 

“Where is Susan?” – John Strongam asked.

 

“She said that she was feeling cold and was going to change in her room.” – Cedric said talking so that Susan could hear through her door, recomposing his thoughts, and coming up with an excuse for Susan. He would have to have a talk with her, but didn’t want to humiliate her in front of her parents.

 

This was definitely a most interesting development, and Cedric had been caught completely unawares. He had to think on how he wanted to act about it. He smiled at John, and then turned when he heard Mrs. Strongam come in, giving her one of his best smiles also. Having dealt with very different people during his business affairs had taught Cedric to control his emotions pretty well, and he found that useful in this situation.

 

While he watched Mrs. Strongam start preparing dinner his thoughts started turning rapidly. He couldn’t be totally sure, but he was nearly certain that Susan was pregnant, and that her parents did not know. The fact that they had said that she was a virgin and in truth wasn’t, wasn’t what bothered Cedric. What did was the possibility that Susan had someone she loved. Someone younger than Cedric, who could offer that, what he couldn’t.

 

It troubled him, and he felt jealous, but outwardly showed no emotions. He would act like a gentlemen and have the decency of not discussing it in front of Susan’s parents.

 

When Susan emerged from her room, Cedric smiled warmly at her, hoping to stay her worries while at the same time wondering how serious she was with this secret lover of hers.

 

Susan smiled weakly, but her eyes betrayed her fears, unnoticed by her bustling parents but certainly noticed by her betrothed.

She spent the entire meal being dutifully polite, if somewhat quieter than usual.

 

Even after Cedric had gone home, kissing her gently on the hand as he left, Susan's thoughts continued to chase each other in circles of panic and fear.

Edited January 20, 2006 by Patrick Durham

[Tanuchan]

Susan picks again her book, trying to not think about Cedric and what he had seen. After some time she starts dozing, stray thoughts giving her nightmares. She wakes up with a start, looking out of the window to the night, and wondering if there is someone out. Shuddering, she goes to her bed and curls up, forcing herself to not linger in the images of Mark's and Adam's bodies.

 

John also has a restless night, his dreams bringing back his easy relationship with the lynched smith and his surprised face at the accusation, making him wake up several times during the night. He gets up while still dark, not minding the cold water dripping down his neck when he washes, wondering if this day also would bring bad news.

 

Similarly, other people in the village have trouble sleeping, and many bar their doors and windows with extra precaution. Granny Jammeez even locks the door to her bedroom, and Karen keeps a sharp knife by her bedside. Even Nathaniel checks the windows before drawing the curtains over them, while Cedric leaves extra instructions to his employees to be specially careful with doors and windows. Before going to bed, he looks through the window in the direction of Susan's house, wondering about her pregnancy once again.

 

Lillen, arriving early to the tavern, looks surprised at seeing Leif sitting at one of the tables, nursing a glass of mead between his hands. A soft noise from upstairs catches their ears, and they see Tsal coming down.

 

"Good morning, Tsal..." Lillen points to a table in the corner. "I'll see if we already have bread and spiced milk in the kitchen. You're up early..."

 

"I guess no one could sleep really well, Lillen." Leif stands up, cleaning the table. "He's not the first up in the village, I've already heard Annie's morning screech and Joseph has just left after getting a bit of a breakfast with me. You're here early, too. How's Karel?"

 

"Haven't seen her since yesterday evening, Leif. Her window was still closed, I thought it better not disturb her... I hope you don't mind it. I'll work a double shift if she doesn't come."

 

"We'll see if there is need for that, Lillen. Be so nice as to see the kitchen, then?"

 

Tsal sits and waits, his eyes straying from the window to the kitchen door, waiting for Lillen.

 

It's not Annie's screech, or any woman's screech that starts the commotion in town. It's again cursing and shouting, for both the Sheriff and the doctor. The first curious to arrive are barred by the sheriff's man, but it's not too long before the news spread.

 

 

Jonathan, the old tailor, found dead on his kitchen with his body precisely rent by claws. And the kitchen door open, which proves to many that the person who killed him was known to him.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

OOC: Jonathan was an NPC. No PC has been killed tonight. It's Day Phase, and you have 48 hours from this timestamp (Saturday by 8pm EST) to try to find a wolf.

 

Scorecard at the OOC thread... and please, no tying of votes or votes by proxy this time.

 

Good hunting!

Edited January 20, 2006 by Tanuchan

[Katzaniel]

Karen shook her head. "It's not surprising. We all knew that poor Adam was not the killer. Of course there is another death. One by one, or two by two, we'll all die eventually."

 

"Karen!" said her father, who was visibly shaken. "How can you be so uncaring about it?"

 

"I do care," she replied. "Inside, I'm a turmoil, scared and confused. But I can't help being what I am. It's always been hard for me to show emotion."

 

"You don't sound confused," chimed in her mother, from the kitchen, sounding worried.

 

"I'm trying to figure out who it could be," she answered, closing her eyes momentarily. "I keep coming back to Tsal, but it's just a guess. No one knows. No one can know. It's frustrating. I can't think of anyone who would have a grudge against both those people, or anything... I don't know, does a werebeast remember itself when it becomes a beast? Should there be a rhyme or reason?"

 

Karen paused, then nodded once, decisively. "I'm going to go see Granny Jammeez. She was alive during the first attack. Perhaps she can shed some light on that." Leaving her concerned parents behind, Karen took off down the street.

[Sweetcherrie]

The whole night she had been tossing and turning, she had to get that book. Annie woke up with the screams ringing in her ears, and funny enough it weren’t even her own screams. She jumped out of bed, slipped on her expensive leather slippers, and ran outside in her nightgown.

 

The screaming had come from Jonathan’s house, and she ran as fast as her short legs could carry her. Around the entrance of the door a fair few people were standing and talking, all with worried looks on their faces. The little girl tried to worm herself through the crowd, but got caught by a pair of big hands.

 

“Where do you think you’re going?”

 

She looked up and looked straight in John’s face.

 

“I think I am going inside.”

 

Annie tried to worm herself out of his hands.

 

“I don’t think so missy, in there is something you simply don’t want to see.”

 

Denying Annie something she wanted was not a good idea, especially if she was just awake, like now. Her eyes became just slightly smaller, her lower lip started to quiver, and….

 

“You are meeeeeeaaaan! I wanna go see! I have every right to see, and don’t you treat me as a little girl!”

 

She had kicked John in the shins by now, and had tried again to slip past him. But through her screaming more people had looked at her, and a different pair of hands grabbed her; wrinkled hands this time.

 

“My dear child, come and have a cup of warm coco.”

 

Granny Jammeez had a firmer grip than Annie had expected, and there was no escaping.

 

Had even the only nice person in this village turned against her?

 

house by the ‘experienced in difficult children’ hands of Grammy Jammeez, but she wouldn’t leave it with this, no way!

 

OOC: Vote for Granny Jammeez - Jammeez