14544/Safe Haven

Safe Haven
Date of Scene:	20 September 2022
Location:	Derelict Hotel - Haven County, near Sunnydale
Synopsis:	That was an oddness. A haunted house with some rather more psychic overtones. Will this mystery be continued?
Cast of Characters:	Lucifer, Sinister, Phantasm (Drago), Sarah Connor

---

Sinister has posed:
There is no excuse for the way the evening has been feeling for those that are sensitive to a world gone strange. Such feelings can act like magnets and although October draws near, it is not quite yet the season for spookiness.

And yet, over Sunnydale and nearby Melville, things rarely wait for convenient timing and the right seasonal approach. But, this being America, the land of capitalist retail, Hallow'een decorations ARE already being sold; here and there, the colours of the season have begun to show their faces - oranges, browns, the lurid of a pumpkin's face, the pristine white of a bleached bone...

There is something wrong though. The humans, unless sensitive, simply feel an unnatural chill, find their hearth and home to be the best place to be, unless they have no choice at all. But for some, the feelings of unease can be like a magnet, drawing the body ever onward to the Trouble with a capital T, that lurks just around the corner. Out of sight, but rarely completely out of mind.

It is also raining, a strange rain that is so fine it leaves mist pockets hanging here and there, where the wind does not dissipate. Not everywhere in this area did well for itself either; sunnydale's real estate value has always being low-hanging fruit and there are areas that border both townships where boards cover windows, not even the hopeful promise of a 'for lease' sign to be seen on their awnings and dusty windows. These places seem to hunker to the landscape on nights like this.

Nick Drago has posed:
Nick is neither a resident or a Halloween shopper. Due to some jerks on the less than legitimate side of the world's workings, he's not even dealing with the usual seasonal bookings that come with being in a cult horror film. So sorry Life Bites! fans, there is no 'unnaturally young looking' Dominic actor to have meet and greet alongside the protagonist players.

So what is Nick doing in Sunnydale or near it? Well. Technically he's more- alongside it. Just because he's had to hold back on public appearances doesn't mean he gets to hold back from maintaining his dream travel skills.

Lucifer has posed:
Many would argue that this time of year - regardless of it being actual spooky season or not - is Lucifer's time. Course, some of that has to go along with the idea that one believes in Lucifer, or the idea behind Lucifer. Not that Lucifer himself believes in such things, or profits on it in any given way. Of course not. Why would he. At all. Ever.

You all need to stop laughing.

In all seriousness, there's a few places in Sunnydale that Lucifer is keen to visit on rare occassions. Keeping up the idea that he is actually a living, breathing person and not just the Devil in Mortal Skin who walks the earth just because he can. (And he had to fight for that right as well!)

The weather isn't playing nice, and that lingering something in the air bothers him, even as he's casually walking through the mist without a care in the world. Umbrella out and open to keep himself as dry as possible. Stopping in front of a particular piece of rundown real estate and just staring. As if he's contemplating the idea of partaking of the estate regardless of it's lacking 'for lease' signage.

Sarah Connor has posed:
Sarah isn't someone who feel the paranormal. Too bad, right?

Not exactly.

She's been around the neighbourhood, thinking, and looking for the latest signs of terminators. Okay - she's always on the terminator trail. But lately something was creeping up her back, figuratively. If she had met up with Faith, she might have got a little bit of a clue.

But, she didn't. Too bad.

In her usual clothing, plus the usual knives and guns, hidden around her body - except for the really big gun, tucked under her jacket, she wandered around, until she stood in the middle of the street shaking her head.

Sarah couldn't get it.

Sinister has posed:
It really is a shame about the seasonal bookings being a bit dry. But it's still September, this could theoretically be called a warm-up? Or a chill-out depending on your perspective.

In a similar ilk, its always good to hone your sixth sense for the out-of-place, whether they're Terminators or whether they're things that aren't quite... right. At least it seems to have even kept some of the local denizens out of the area. For Sunnydale's borders to be this Vampire free, is relatively unheard of. You can usually tell by the empty hunger in their eyes and the dated clothing, meant to lure or to make a statement around here. No, even they are elsewhere, perhaps at places of easier pickings, like the Bronze.

But this street, where steps have halted, eyes have been held and 'alongsides' have aligned....

Why that was once a hotel, on a reasonable patch of ground, with a small motorcade now overgrown, an iron-wrought gate that is off its hinges on one side, black painted spears that thrust toward the sky, crooked and held at the middle by chains. Once, the grounds probably looked quite refreshing of an afternoon, to the right clientelle. For the historians, it is actually even older than its hotel designation these days. Once, was a bordello during the time of settling this region, when the hellmouth drew the sinful in a rather more forthright manner...

But there's music coming out of there, a haunting refrain of the memory of Big band, the drone of a singer on an old recording one moment, clear as if the singer themselves were performing for an evening the next; waxing and waning, vivid then a memory, the crescendo of a metaphysical snore and ultimate exhale.

In the Dream, the whole property seems more vivid. Aware of itself, or at least chock full of enough memory to have residue. And the music can be heard on either side, at the moment.

Nick Drago has posed:
Man, this dream is hopping! With a bit of appreciation for music considering part of his chosen career, the purplish black raven perches upon a railing, overlooking the performance. Not striving to draw too much attention to himself, the raven keeps his presence small. The slightest bob of the beak to the beat ends up being the only indicator to the bird not being of the usual variety.

But then again, in dreams, what bird is usual?

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer tilts his head from one side to the other and then hums. The pull between reality and dream is an interesting one - and a line the Devil has walked a few times already. He puts a hand up to the gate and gives it a little push. Does it give? Does it depend on dream or reality? If it gives, he'll walk in to begin following where the music is leading.

Sarah Connor has posed:
Something doesn't make sense.

You know, she told herself, if this were Halloween, it would make sense. Haunted houses. Whistling winds out of the corner of your mind. The dead silence when she looked at anything.

Then..

Music. In the distance. Faint.

Sinister has posed:
Ahh, the Dreaming. it is a crazy place sometimes, following its own rules, fulfilling its own criteria, working its own purposes through. It has its own metaphysics, too -- perhaps its own Lord somewhere. Certainly, it used to. Now HE would have an interesting time of the Devil walking through Iron, lured by the Piper. There'd be rules there too, like there were when once a jaunt to Hell was taken...

The gate gives easily enough. A memory of applause rings out, then a different melody, this one more melancholy than the last. Observing the windows, within there are ... entities. In the Dream, they seem to be inky black, androgenous and rhimed in a purplish haze, anthropomorphic, but amorphous. No features to distinguish, like living shadows, in negative space. Nick is also not the only raven, there's a hooded one sitting on the highest guttering before the slope of the roof. It's eyeing the goings on, a dim greenish-purple glow in its otherwise black eye.

Why this night? "What do you want?" - that voice seems to be heard right behind just about everyone here.

Nick Drago has posed:
Nick does not applaud. He does not have hands at the moment. But with a tilt of the head, he looks over to the other raven. Interesting. There's the slightest wondering if it is another element to the dream or another traveler wandering through. Both are good possibilities and with the distance between them, it is hard to tell which.

The voice that pops up behind him ends up being an interesting addition. Leaning into the general dream role, the bird's head pivots. Black eyes look back to the direction of the voice.

Lucifer has posed:
Why does this sort of stuff have to happen when Sinister isn't around? Viable ways for the scientist to get his hands a bit more dirty when it comes to things magical or supernatural. Of course, Lucifer is taking this in stride. What does he have to fear from the Dream? Not a whole lot, as far as he is concerned, and he's more here to observe than to actually suffer. Eyes shift upwards to the gutters and beyond. A tilt of head given before he shifts to glance around again. "Oh. This trope? You're stealing my best move...tsk tsk." He says aloud before searching for a door where he can walk further inside. "Are you coming along, little raven?"

Sarah Connor has posed:
Sarah couldn't recall walking over to the gate.. could she?? In her mind there were conflicting versions. Standing here in the middle of the road; and pushing open the gate as the she knew what she was doing - and nothing in between.

Strange.

It opens neatly, as though all it wanted was to be open! In fact, when she was done opening it, suddenly, she was on the other side, and it closed with an audible *click*.

Sinister has posed:
If this actually WAS a haunted house scenario, there'd be a shriek from the actor about now; the script was not followed there! The encroachers are not reading the scenery and the ambience the right way! More dry ice, more dry ice, cue: the air cannons at appropriately spooky times. But this is NOT a haunted house for the Spooky Season. It is... itself.

Sarah, this is tall dark and handsome. Lucifer, this is... a woman who has seen many to many a thing and look, there's a hooded raven up there AND a purple one, which cannot... really be seen? The hooded one can. Maybe the purple one can also, for the Dream and reality are close here and sometimes one side bleeds to the other.

No person belongs to the voice behind each of them. It came from absolutely nothing, as is appropriate. The front door has some stained glass, which is one moment clean and bright and the next covered in dust. There are warning sigils, or should that be... warding sigils carved into the lintel though.

Protection. Forbiddance. Salt and sage can be seen also, the latter fresh, the former not so much, dried up to dry leaves that would smudge in a second now. The salt looks recent over old lines, the sage looks as if the smudger dropped it in a hurry and fled.

Inside, the music turns to Scott Joplin, of all things -- all those figures inside, amorphous shadow people, are there in one instance and gone the next, leaving... only faded halls.

Nick Drago has posed:
The raven looks over to Lucifer as the invitation is extended. But is he looking to him or the other raven? Well, there is one way to find out. The wings unfurl and the bird hops from his perch, gliding down to perhaps cast Lucifer as captain of this dream ship. But he'll have to make do with a raven. Nick's not in the mood to play parrot. As his end of the view is more dream, the view of the sigils are unseen, much like the source of the voice from earlier. "Thank you."

Dream ravens are weird.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer steps inside and still has this funny weaving feeling of being in and out of a dream scape. He glances to the raven that alights on his shoulder and gives a little smirk. He surely won't mind a raven. He only wishes it were HIS raven.

A further glance is given as he hears the gate click again and a glance is given behind himself to spot a woman approaching. "Well well. This is getting interesting indeed. I suppose we're all being drawn to this one way or another. Careful as you go... there be strange inklings afoot..."

The Devil even places his hand against the doorway for a moment tho whether to steady his step or get a feel of any sigils is anyone's guess. Perhaps trying to see if he can feel the energy of who or what is behind this.

Sarah Connor has posed:
What? Who? What?

Sarah may have seen too many things, but not like this. It was strange, it was like playing with a view master, only the right eye saw people - shadowy people, and the left eye saw a broken down mansion that was abandoned.

The only thing that was okay, was as far as she know, the terminator couldn't duplicate anything like that.

She hopes?

The salt and sage made her roll her eyes. Hah! It hadn't helped, now, did it? Not in the least. Mind you, Sarah didn't believe in the sort of thing. Well, she had to admit vampires, werewolves, and zombies were a thing. Reluctantly.

But the voice had taken over, for just a second. She tried to identify it, to no avail. And as soon as she noticed the tall, dark and handsome one (but not the raven.. yet), the ambiance began to belt out 'Sarah Dear'. (circe 1905)

Sinister has posed:
Sadly, Lucifer's Raven is busy doing other things, terrible and self-righteous things as they might be, he is nevertheless otherwise occupied. Substitutions will have to do.

As to the touch upon wood? Perhaps it ought be a knock-knock-knock -- everything else fits a certain gothic horror novelist. Maybe there is a tinge of joy, maybe a hint of the rights of spring when sap rises and the memory of trees persists. But then, there's just a little flash of screams, of the scent of burning, of chordite and...

Nothing. All over again, there's nothing, but the music playing continues.

The hallway looks more or less safe for feet. There's a few patches here and there where the floorboards look warped, but the place isn't entirely condemned, just boarded up and lacking even in squatters, which is odd for the hellmouth. Signs of finery from what it once was still linger and a slight light as from a very small fire, can be seen coming from what was probably the small dance hall/dining hall once upon a time.

Nick Drago has posed:
Fortunately the stand in for Lucifer's raven does has some acting experience. The bird tilts his head to give a low whisper of assessment. "I feel like I'm in a Stephen King novel. Which kind of fits for the area." The bird admits.

Was the other raven a speaking type? If not someone might have to go over the role with Nick in between takes.

Lucifer has posed:
"Stephen King? Not Edgar Allen Poe? I suppose it's the former unless you start saying Nevermore over and over again..." Lucifer chuckles, and doesn't seem phased by a talking raven on his shoulder. He's more perplexed by whatever is going on inside this building.

He takes a step forward, carefully testing the floorboards before moving into the front room where nothing really greets them. "I wonder if we're going to encounter any type of spirits or a god or something..."

Sarah Connor has posed:
Sarah perked her head. /That/ was definitely Nick's voice.. but from a raven? What the hell? And the man looked vaguely familiar? She was certain she hadn't met him, but there was something familiar just the same. Had she served him at the diner? Did he have a sister? Something..

Even his voice sounded familiar.

"For once I have no culpability." Surely Lucifer heard her. "Do you know what's going on around here?"

Sinister has posed:
Encounters with a god. Only certain individuals can actually say that and mean it in a genuine manner. Floorboards are good, even with the additional negligent weight of a raven. In the raven's eyes, inside the building is far more the way it once was, being as he sees in that spectrum as it were. One room is an old saloon style, another is the turn of the century, but then, heading into the dining room, the walls are slashed and dripping with blood, there's bullet holes and part of it is on fire, licking up the curtains and giving off nothing in regards to heat at all, saving for what the mind supposes it might feel like in a dream.

There's a large, old wing-backed chair, overstuffed and worn at the edges, some areas threadbare. It faces a fire that is literally just things that combust that have been collected from the street and an some bundled up newspaper to kindle.

There's a smell here. The smell of age. Of old person. A few blankets and an old sleeping bag inhabit a wall close to that fire, along with a few meagre possessions, a rucksack and such, but of their owner there's no sign at all -- the music though, seems to be coming from here. From a musical instrument that does not actually exist.

Nick Drago has posed:
"Also I'm not the one rapping on the door nor am I giving bad news about someone named Lenore." The bird adds in. "Besides, " A wing lifts to wave in the direction of the music. "Poe did not have music like this."

The bird's head turns, taking note of the approaching Sarah. The beak slams shut for a moment as the mother of the future rebellion (resistance?) speaks.

He looks to now opened room. He considers Lucifer, then Sarah. And then the room. "Wel-" The heat and smell is lost on the raven. Two of the senses sacrificed to dream travel. But the appearance of the flame and blood does cause the bird to shift back a bit. The weight change is still unnoticeable but the shift of the talons is enough betrayal of him seeing something. "Skipped the red rum and went straight to the murder."

Lucifer has posed:
"It's somewhere along the supernatural line...whatever it is..." Lucifer seems to respond to Sarah first and then notices the shift of negligent weight on his shoulder.

Head turns just a bit to regard the raven named Nick and he shrugs his unoccupied shoulder. "Are you saying someone was murdered here? So were in a supernatural murder mystery? ...That's kinda fun sounding...I wonder who the victim was."

Sarah Connor has posed:
"This is some joke, right."

Sarah turned around. And around. "Fuck. I've had it. First, the scenery doesn't stay still. There's weird noise coming from the non-existent stereo unit. Between a horror house look - if that. Someone is having a good laugh at our expense."

"And what are you, anyways?" Sarah gives Nick a once over. "Because, it stopped being funny back at the doorway."

No, Sarah didn't not enjoy this at all. She preferred things that she could shoot. Terminator things.

Sinister has posed:
As far as places the old occupant of the ballroom/dining room could be, there's the short passage into the kitchens and likely to a cellar and the way out to the overgrown back yard and what was probably a veranda in a time when it wasn't covered in decay and vines. The windows are so covered in grime and dust that clearly nobody's been there to disturb it in a while. Also, no footprints disturb the dust around the back area, probably because there's an actual hole in the floor over there, where the floorboards collapsed with a partial collapse of the ceiling above. A beam is sort of haphazardly hanging out over there.

That leaves cellars and servants passages and possibly secret doors.

"Who's there?" it's an old voice, from somewhere down below. "Go away. You should leave whilst you still can..." a man, the thickness and wavering of age thick on the tones.

"No, don't leave. Stay with us. Stay."

Nick Drago has posed:
"If this is only bordering one world and you two are still awake, then that other world is one of the dream variety." He looks to Lucifer, "I initially thought you were the dreamer. It didn't occur to me to consider an overlap between dream and waking. But that would help explain the shifting visuals."

The bird's head tilts back. "Blood and bullets in the dining room."

The bird looks over to Sarah, "I'm not a comedian. And I really don't know what I am anymore. I came here via dreams so I don't know what you're seeing but the floors are mostly intact from my view point. And this place is giving off SERIOUS Shining vibes at the moment."

Lucifer has posed:
"I could see that. Alas one has to be able to dream in order to be a dreamer. I can make myself dream but...normally I just...reset myself." Lucifer offers and then looks around the room once more. "Blood and bullets hmm?"

Then there's a voice from beyond. Not like beyond the grave but beyond the room. Could be both, actually. "It's alright! We aren't staying for long... just wanting to have a look around you see?" Course this is when the Devil does what the Devil does best. His eyes flicker and flare with hellfire as he looks around again. Likely working to show the truth where he can see it.

Sarah Connor has posed:
Now Sarah takes her gun out.

"Shining he says. You, Nick - if it really is you - will owe me an explanation when we get out of here."

*grumble*

Sinister has posed:
Maybe it is something to do with what the Devil is up to, looking around with eyes that see the measure of a person's soul as they supposedly do. But do houses have souls? Many a parapsychologist will tell you that sometimes, /places/ go bad. They absorb all the echos of the people that lived in them, events that transpired and sometimes, they end up with a kind of life of their own.

Maybe it's also something else that triggers what occurs; the right chain of events, perhaps.

A gun was drawn you see. And the piano music goes plinky plonk, as if the invisible pianist took his cue to dive behind the bar, or back out of the room. The sussurration of whispers grows a little as infernal regard brings things into clearer perspective.

The room shows what it is. The truth of what it is. This was the site of a massacre-- the blood on the walls becomes visible, but old. The bullet holes pock through the plaster job that went over the top to try and hide it and the stains of fire show visibly.

A little vignette of yesterday, with people, high society people being gunned down as they enjoyed the end of a musical night. One man, his eyes empty as if he isn't quite himself at the time, firing at the memories of people at tables, who flee... Lamps are shattered, the oil spills, catches drapes...

and a single fellow in a bowler hat quietly locking the door and walking away with a tip of the brim, looks... strangely... like he ought to be familiar somehow. Medium height, wearing dark glasses that he folds into his pocket as he walks away... reveal that he has no eyes at all, just empty sockets where they ought to be. Creepy as all get out! And just a memory. But something in this vision... lingers. Still remains here.

Nick Drago has posed:
The bird looks back to Lucifer curiously. "Have you ever dreamed or did it go away at a point?" As the room shows it's past damage to the awake. It likely leaves questions of just how long a crime scene can go without being cleaned up for those who see it. But as the dream side itself provides context, the raven's more watching what's going on. The talons shifting as he turns his head to watch the scene unfold.

The man with no eyes gets a gander. As two things make for a disturbing thought. One is that he feels that he should know who this is. But maybe that is locked away in the pages of that mental book he can't access. Or at least the overall visage. But there's something else a bit disturbing to this.

If the man's face is seen on the dream side- Who was still around to see the face?

"I don't think this is just dreams and waking world colliding."

Lucifer has posed:
"I have dreamed. When I allow myself to. Sometimes I control them, other times I let my mind do what it wants. I dream walk with my partner occassionally especially if he's in the midst of a particular nasty. But angels, like myself and my brethren, don't have to dream. Technically we don't even have to sleep..." Lucifer has never, not once, denied who he is. Why would he? If people don't want to believe him so be it. He knows the truth. He should.

Even as he talks he's walking further in. Looking over bullet holes and old, dried blood. "I think someone finally wants justice... but the dreamer isn't here...not in the house anyway I don't think. The house just seems to be a...focal point? No that's not the right word..." A pause. "Music stopped...should we wander downstairs?"

Sarah Connor has posed:
"Fuuuuuuck." Sarah whispers. Right now all she can think about is getting out of here. Now. But there was a little bit of a problem: Nick she wasn't sure about, but the other gentleman? She couldn't abandon him to whatever was happening.

Shit.

"Hey you?" To Lucifer. "Get behind me, and we will get out of here." Especially with the man with no eyes.

"Really," She tells 'Nick'. "I really couldn't give a crap about who is dreaming whom. It makes no sense, and really, all we have to do is take our steps back to the beginning and take off."

Really. It was that simple.

enh. Try again, Sarah.

And!?! What the hey was that man doing. She distinctly said out. Not in. WTF.

Sinister has posed:
It probably isn't just one thing, no. Oddly, that whole set up looked like it was arranged, didn't it?

Leaves the question of whether the gunman came to his senses or not.

Speaking of gun men... well... women....

That, that there, was heroism. Although it could have some interesting side effects in the current situation, couldn't it?

"Please, just leave me alone will you?" that old man's voice downstairs sounds sad and well, tired to be honest. And then a more mumbled "...warned them..." the sound of a lot of creaking stairs and careful steps upward tell their own story. It probably takes a while to get up form the basement when you're old.

Nick Drago has posed:
If you needed to track the dreamer, there are ways." The bird responds. "But focal point is a good term considering where this building is located. It is old. I do not know what you saw but each room looked different to me in terms of decor."

Despite Sarah's warning, Nick also travels with Lucifer to go deeper into the well. Then again being that Lucifer is his perch at the moment, that might go without saying. The raven looks back to Sarah, "Looks like we're continuing on."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer sighs and turns back towards Sarah. "Believe me. You'll be thanking me for staying in front. I promise you that. If you don't believe me. You can shoot me. Now. Anywhere you like...except for where the raven is. But I'd rather this all go a bit faster and you just believe me. After all... I'm Lucifer Morningstar. I can handle anything."

He turns back towards the stairs that lead to the basement, hearing the voice coming from the stairs. "We don't want to trouble you...we just want to know what happened here..." A pause. "Are you the owner of this home?" Speak to them as if they're real and current. Usually does the trick.

Sarah Connor has posed:
Well fuck it. Maybe the man's voice isn't part of this.. whatever it is. Maybe (dammit all) he was alive - like them. Which made her have to reimagine what the next step should be.

"Tell me he's not real?" But even as Sarah says that, she makes up her mind to rescue that old man.

"Come on, let's help him. And then we can go. Look for a door that leads down. Probably in the kitchen." As if she made up their minds.

Then something stuck in her mind. "Try that again?" Lucifer. Morningstar. THE Lucifer Morningstar??