Albert just knew this new job would definitely require him to be out past the shelter's curfew, and inwardly patted his own back at his foresight. It didn't take long for him to find the motel Jeremiah was talking about, and it took even less time for him to get a room for the night. There he waited for a couple of hours watching TV on the small screen. In times like this, he truly missed the novels he used to get lost in. Too bad he will never get to see their endings. But the news here was fine too….at-least that's what he told himself. The tone wasn't too different from his old world's news, stock prices were up, countries were having tensions, crime rate was through the roof. Same old, same old.
"Breaking news! The notorious crime lord, Black Mask, court hearing has been adjourned and has been declared guilty on multiple charges of murder, burglary, kidnapping and a multitude counts of aggravated assault. He has been sentenced to 20 years to life in Blackgate Penitentiary."
'They're acting as if he won't be out within the year.'
He snorted inwardly.
Blackgate Penitentiary was treated as bit of a joke in the video game and comic community of DC. Everyone knew that anyone sent there would eventually get out. Whether through force or corruption. In this world, it was hailed as an impenetrable fortress where the worse of Gotham has to offer go to rot. It was even supported by the vaunted Wayne Corporation. With cutting edge technology and 'slap me' money. It made sense, given who the man at the helm is. Bruce Wayne, the Batman himself. He didn't allude himself in thinking of using this information. It wouldn't help him in anyway and will only make him a target. Only trouble would come from trying to unmask the Bat.
'Atleast with Black Mask gone for a year, I won't have to worry about him trying to hunt me down.'
Looking over at the clock he saw that now was good time to leave and arrive early enough to survey the area. He had done a little online research on the location he would be exploring. It was an old high school that was closed down forty years ago due to an incident. Correlating with local news articles it was probably due to a teacher assistant who committed suicide. He wasn't sure if it was true or not, they said she was found on the ground with her neck broken and given the autopsy it was concluded that she jumped from the roof. That case has been closed a long time ago and there didn't seem to be any indication of opening it back up.
It stayed open for a couple of weeks, and during that time students swore up and down that they saw her out of the corner of their eyes. Some saw her in the mirrors and some even saw her walking the halls. Due to the rise of rumors, parents started taking their children out of school and it wasn't long before it was closed down. Due to this, even forty years later it was still considered one of go-to places for urban explorers. Unsurprisingly enough, everyone claims to have experience some sort of supernatural event but no one could capture anything on video. Ghost hunters were chomping on the bit for any scrap of evidence and offered a cash reward for any documented proof.
And thus, here he was. He guess the group wanted to try their luck and cash in on this opportunity. Whether or not they find anything wasn't any of his concern. Sure the cash reward would be nice given his situation but he had a feeling they wouldn't be too friend to split it another way. Plus he wanted nothing to do with the supernatural when he had nothing that could hel….
Suddenly, he felt a slight tingle from his Occult skill as if indignant. Right, he did a sort of weapon against the supernatural. But he still didn't want to tussle with one without a way to fight back. Now to defend against a ghost many things could be used; if he was devoted to a religion some kind he could forcibly exorcise the spirit directly, a line of salt that it couldn't pass or less likely, find a way to open communication with it and fulfill its final wish. Ghosts or spirits are remnants of a human that had unresolved business in the world of the living and attached itself to a location or object. If they died violently that's generally where it gets dangerous for those of the living world.
He sure hope some packages of salt would atleast startle a ghost long enough for him to escape.
He began to rummage around the motel room for a bit until suddenly felt a little bit lesser than he was previously and soon his fingers grazed upon a couple of pieces of paper packages. Wrenching his fingers back he opened his hands and saw multiple old mini salt packets. He sure loved being Resourceful.
He felt a bit dubious after eyeing the yellowing packets,' Salt can't go bad...right?'
Shrugging his shoulders he slipped them into his pocket and wished for the best. Locking the door behind, he began his track down the darkening streets. Shops were beginning to pull down shutters over their windows and the sound of alley cat yowling haughtily filled the quietening street. He passed less and less people on his way until eventually, he was all alone. Soon the street lights flickered on a cast the city give it alike to beast baring its fangs.
It took him almost an hour of walking before he found himself infront of an old, dilapidated gate that looked as though it was more rust than metal. With the flickering street lights, it gave the large school building in the distance and menacing hair. It didn't help any that the night was silent except for the occasional scurrying that occurred in the distant alley.
As he looked at the old building in the distance, he began rethink his recent decisions. Maybe it would be for the best if he didn't take this job on. This, at the most, would earn him one hundred dollars. Yeah he could just leave, block Steven and go about his life. The system must've agreed as it hadn't even given him a notification on a potential case. Just as he was ready to turn away and forget this ever happened, the scuffing of multiple shoes echoed through the quiet air.
Looking down the other street, he saw a group of four teenager walking his way. In the front was the same wiry frame of Steven in jeans and a black hoodie. To his right, a tall slender figure will long blonde hair wore slightly faded overalls. A towering figure followed protectively behind the two and wore a billowing leather jacket. And just peeking from behind the blonde a small figure wearing a baggy jacket followed. All in all, quite the group.
Albert could only internally sigh at his missed opportunity, he could still leave but then the sense of anonymity just falls through and they probably feel entitled to answers. So waved half-heartedly all the while he cursed his situation.
"Hey glad you c-could make it!" Steven waved towards the group next to him," Let me introduce every-"
"I can introduce myself!" The blonde snapped at the suddenly sheepish teen, before she turned her hard green eyes on him,"You may call me Angeline, not Angel or Lin only my friends can call me that."
"I'm Michael."
The tower youth with short brown hair grunted.
"I'm….."
The small figure in back paused in as her eyes locked onto Albert's. Her short brown hair and tanned skin was strikingly familiar to him. It wasn't hard in fact, how could you forget someone you ate right across from almost everyday for a week. He was just about say something he caught her suddenly cold hazel eyes and that gave him all the information he needed.
"Marceline."
Coughing slightly, he waved his hand awkwardly at the group.
"I'm Albert, its nice to meet all of you."
"Now that the pleasantries are out of the way," Angeline start brusquely," Let me tell you how this is going to work."
Crooking his eyebrow up he waited for the shit show to ensue.
"You're going to be behind us at all times and while the camera is on, don't speak. Cameramen don't talk, it ruins the immersion."
She held one finger up with her hipped cocked to the side, her attitude gave Albert the feeling that this girl has never been told no in her life. He knew in that moment, he should've just walked away from this group. But once he cut through her attitude he couldn't see any flaws in her reasoning, normally cameraman don't talk while recording. They're meant to be a representative of who ever is watching and make them feel as though they're actual there.
"Next, I don't know if you're aware or not but let break it down for you. We're doing this to capture some proof of supernatural happenings for the reward and you'll only get the amount that was promised to you. And once we're done here, we'll never have to speak again."
"L-lin!" Steven squeaked," You promised to be civil!"
"What?!" She blinked owlishly," But I am. I didn't try to deceive him in believing he'll get a cut of the reward and only told him what his duties would be."
"Can't you at least p-put it in a nicer way?"
"No, we're not friends with him Steve. We don't know him and aren't obligated to treat him as though we do."
"Bu-"
"Can we get this over with?"
The deep baritone voice of Michael shook the two out little feud before it could blow up into something more.
"Fine," Angeline huffed," Does anyone have any last minute thoughts? None good, let's go."
She then turned towards the gates and made her way over, with her back turned it made it easier for Albert to notice her old backpack. Looking around at the group he saw that each person had a backpack of some sort, filling his heart with unease. Following behind the group, he found himself walking side by side with Marceline. Who didn't even acknowledge his existence, only absentmindedly watching the building with something like….determination? Maybe this job would be more trouble than it's worth.
"You m-might want to start recording," Steve dropped back further to speak to him,"When she g-gets like this, its just best to stay out of her way."
Nodding his head in thanks, he pulled out his phone and hit the record button. Turning side to side to get everyone's face or figure in frame, he then zoomed in on certain areas of the school building. The cracked asphalt, the broken windows, the wild weeds, torn down boards, and graffiti. The silence between the group only made his hackles crawl up further, were they going to try and take his kidneys?! Was this their plow? 'Hire' people to be their cameramen, then when they least suspect knock them out only to find themselves in a tub full of ice?! He clenched his hands into tighter fists, if that was their goal then he wouldn't go out without a fight. He'll just run and hope his luck will get him out of a situation like that. If only he hadn't spent some his luck earlier today.
[LCK:35/45]
'All that for some salt.'
If he got out of this predicament, he would definitely look into some more mundane protection. A gun would be perfect with his high skill in Handgun, plus maybe if he salted the bullets first maybe he could shoot a ghost? Shaking his head already knew something like that wouldn't work. All that would do is cause him to have to spend the following hours cleaning out the internal mechanics.
"This is awkward."
Michael's deep voice broke the still air.
"Y-yeah he's right," Steve began," Shouldn't we provide some sort of dialogue? Especially if we're going for a documentary feel."
"Fine," Angeline huffed," Well, does anyone know the history of this place?"
They looked among each other before their eyes locked onto Albert's, who only mockingly mimed locking his lip and throwing away the key. The blonde could only scowl at him. Coughing in his fist Steve began,"Well from the i-information I could find, this high school was originally the only one of its kind in G-gotham. In fact, it was its first in this city. V-very prestigious. But 40 years ago an incident happened that caused most p-parents to pull their children out. Causing it to go under and eventually b-become what it is today."
"What was the incident?"
Michael asked.
"An assistance teacher committed suicide, she jumped from that roof." The blonde pointed towards a side building.
"R-right, the suicide itself caused some parents to pull their kids out but it wasn't the spark for the mass exodus," Steve continued," Shortly after, students and staff reported strange events. I-it wasn't much at first, maybe an out of place item or l-lockers not working. Just stuff y-you can write off."
"But it only escalated from there," Angeline picked up," From seeing things in the mirrors, to entire classrooms hearing voices and eventually even the janitor swore that they saw her walking the halls at night."
Even though Albert already knew a lot of this, just being in that same location made the hair on his arm to stand on end. Gulping he hoped that this was just an urban legend.
"A-and that is what caused this place to be a-abandoned." The wiry youth said," Over the years t-there have been a couple of sighting but no physical p-proof. I-its one the more err…."
"Safe?"
Michael asked.
"N-not really s-safe? There are more locations like this but in those places, some people have died while exploring. S-surprisingly enough, no o-one has gotten seriously hurt h-here."
"Are there any guesses on why that is?"
"There are always a hodge podge of different theories, but the leading theory is that because most of people who got hurt were all above 20 years old. So its believed because of who died here anyone below 19 are 'protected' in a way. Frankly to me, it sounds like a lot of nonsense."
Angeline explained.
"What was her name?"
Michael asked.
"Marian Gran."
Marceline's quite voice dropped cold water onto the conversation. Just the name alone caused a sense of dread to permeate the group. It made Albert realize that ambient gusts paused in its eternal dance.
"S-so what's the plan?" Angeline's usually confident and brash tone took a backseat as she hugged herself.
"We'll visit the primary place she was spotted," Michael pronounced," Her classroom, the woman lockers, and her office."
The group turned their heads in his direction with a collective feeling on incredulity causing the towering teen to shrug his shoulders," What? I decided to play the part of the dumb jock."
"Are we really assigning tropes?"
The blonde sighed in resignation.
"T-then I'll be the scholar!"
"Given what I do, I guess I'm the cheerleader" Angeline shoulders slumped before she turned and pointed at Albert," You'll be the canon fodder or the 'pawn'."
"Why's that?"
Steven frowned at his friend.
"He's obviously going to do something to release some grand evil, he just gives off that vibe."
She shrugged nonchalantly while locking eyes onto the cameraman.
He smiled bitterly, she technically wasn't wrong. Given his system, he wouldn't be surprised if he accidentally let out some eldritch monster. Honestly its a surprise that he hadn't done exactly that while about his day. No accursed tome bound in human, nothing. Shrugging his shoulders in defeat, they soon all eyed Marceline's quite figure who blankly stared back at them.
"'Final Girl'"
The three said simultaneously causing her to scowl at her friends. They chuckled heartily at her reaction. As they did so, Albert got a closer look at the dynamic of the friend group. Angeline was like the guardian, Steve was the defacto leader, Michael was the glue while Marceline seemed to be the silent support. Truly well balanced. If he had wanted to join in, it would have been most difficult and probably only led to him being a fifth wheel.
They paused in place just as they were in front of the gaping maw of the building entrance, a foreboding feeling began to creep up there legs.
"This is our last chance, is everyone sure?"
Angeline asked uncertainly. All she got back were nods before she gulped and turned back towards the dark doorway," Then get your flashlights out."
Reaching into their backpacks the fished out flashlights and turned them on, emitting multiple beams of light. Like swords they cut through the thick, suffocating darkness. Albert absently palmed the packages of salt as he turned on his phones flashlight. Michael stepped up next to Angeline while Steve stood side by side with Marceline leaving our poor camera man to stand alone in the back. Even with his preparations in place, he couldn't help but feel uneasy at the whole situation. Was he really going to go with these crazy people? Why did they have to evoke such a jinx as assigning horror character tropes? Did they know that by designating a 'Final Girl' they essentially said they were all except her going to die here?! Maybe they wouldn't notice him slipping away.
Just as he was preparing to leave these people to their fate, a familiar notification entered his vision.
[New Case opened: Strange Happenings of Gotham's First High School!
Description: Gotham's First High School has been the focal point for multiple supernatural occurrences for the last 40 years after the death of Marian Gran. Of course there hasn't been any physical proof of these events, only hearsay. But that'll change with this group of plucky adventurers!
Requirements: Find out the root of these strange events.
Difficulty: F
Rewards: 1 IP, Unknown]
[Would you like to take on this case?]
[Yes/No]
"Fuck."