Episode 1.02 Memory Lane Part 2

part 2 of 2

[FADE IN]

CUT TO: INT - BENEATH RYLINOR HOUSE

The tall man, dressed in a black oilskin walks straight for them, the knife wet and gleaming in the pale light.

Jennifer draws the witch blades yelling “Get back, this guy could be tough.” She moves in to do a decapitation move, striking swiftly and decisively. (235 points) Her blade passes through its neck but the head, unusually, is not removed. That's weird, Jennifer thinks, that shouldn't have happened.

“What's going on Gabriel, has someone voodoo'd the zombie to make it's head stay on? It should be dead!” she yells.

The creature gets up slowly. Jennifer reacts but the creature is able to strike at her legs as she does so. Its eyes are glowing a greenish colour and it has a pungent odour about it. She strikes at its neck again (hits but does not penetrate because the skin is very hard) and then dodges then attempts to disarm the creature with a kick before it swings at her. The attempt is unsuccessful because the creature is exceedingly strong. And it retains its long knife. This results in deflecting the creature's attack.

(Dex+Acrobatics –check - 13 - Good) Jennifer is on the edge of where the rocks meet the water and has nearly slipped in. While she has lost her footing she is still standing.

Gabriel gestures with his right hand and the figure stops moving, except to cover its eyes with one hand. “I've temporarily blinded it,” Gabriel says.

Jennifer concentrates and regains her footing, then attempts another decapitation and dodge again. It senses her as she draws close and attempts to parry. It blocks her and she hears a voice shout a chilling command “Invictus” (Invincible in Latin) but does not know where the voice has come from.

“Did you hear that?” She yells to Gabriel.
“Yes, it means invincible in Latin you know, I can't see anyone.”

Then the figure, very quickly, moves and attacks before she can try to react. It tries to grab Jennifer and succeeds, throwing her towards Gabriel, like a rag doll. She lands on the ground near the fissure opening. Gabriel is close by and uninjured. The witch blades are still in her hand. Jennifer is winded and bruised but otherwise uninjured. The creature had considerable strength.

“Let's get out of here and figure out what it is exactly that we are dealing with. That thing is way too tough to mess with right now. And somebody is controlling it. I like to know who I'm facing in a fight and hate having unseen foes lurking in the shadows.” She motions towards the fissure and Gabriel moves through it.

“You go first,” he says. “I have a little something I want to leave behind, just in case.”

Looking back Jennifer sees he has a small glass vial that he sprinkles water from before he follows. She leads him back to the elevator and enters it, waiting. He joins her.

Jennifer realises the fissure is very narrow and it was tight squeeze to get through. The creature is large and unlikely to fit. Nevertheless she tells Gabriel, “Let's wait and see if that thing can follow. But be ready to press the button if we need to get away quickly.” A couple of minutes pass and there is only a dull thud and splash of water at the far end near the fissure. There was a low voice, like a whisper but it was too hard to hear. There was also a glimpse of movement that caused the light to flicker, followed by a gasp and a low cursed tone.

“Hmmm, that narrows it down to two,” Gabriel says.

“What do you mean?” Jennifer asks him.

“That was holy water.” he replies. “And as far as I've been taught, only vampires and demons are adverse to it.”

“Great, so there's one of those controlling the big guy out there. That's wonderful, not.” Jennifer says. “I guess this is our lucky day. Let's go back and taunt it to see what happens. Are you game? After all, it can't get through.”

“Yeah, sure. I can sort of help. “ Gabriel replies.

“Look, don't worry - do you have any weapons, other than your mojo of course?”

“I've got a night stick but that's about it. Oh, and I've got another bottle of holy water.”

She looks around and sees the crates. She breaks the side of one and splinters it into pieces, selecting two of the larger pointy bits to use as crude wooden stakes. She hands one to Gabriel and says “Take this and then, if it's a vampire in there, you've got half your problems covered. “

“I think more than half,” he says with a wink. “After you, let's go.”

Jennifer leads him back to the fissure and calls out “Hey you, fang boy. Show yourself. I know you're there.”

She hears laughter from above on their side of the fissure and looks up, witch blades at the ready.

[FADE OUT]

[FADE IN]

CUT TO: INT - BENEATH RYLINOR HOUSE

Looking up they see a man hovering beneath the ceiling his arms outstretched, wearing a dark suit and expansive cloak billowing above him. "My…my such a pretty girl I deem, and so dangerously alluring. So, is that your boyfriend behind you…hmm, come here to nose around. I do like the smell of you young lady…and the warmth, soooo inviting." He says in a rasping callous and rueful tone.

“So ... what's your real name Count Dufus ... and haven't you got anything better to do than float around and try to scare tough little girls (she momentarily looks at Gabriel and thinks about what she said) ... oh, and tough boys too (shrugs).”

"Ah so you have not run away…nor seem scared. So then, girl you are a dumb blonde, giving away that at least you are enlightened."

“So are you going to fight already or just bore me to death with your fantasies?” Jennifer tells it.

“You seem so VERY VERY sure of yourself.” It says. “So what's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this with weapons like you have. Oh, and I do mean the witch blades,” it says with a smile.

“You know, the weirdest thing happened to me today .... I opened my accessory drawer and there they were, I like them. They're shiny. And they go with my jeans and earrings nicely. Plus, they'll help me kill you.”

The creature says “well then young lady, perhaps we should get better acquainted. Why don't you join me up here, if you can.” He giggles like a mad man after that.

“Uh, uh that 'aint going to happen. But this can ...” she promptly throws the crude wooden stake up at its heart, seeking to destroy it. (Very good = 72 damage) Severely wounded, it falls and then the impact on the ground forces it to turn to dust instantly vaporised. “Cool ... my first true kill since I freaked three years ago. What a rush. Did you see that Gabriel, I kicked its butt?!”

“I couldn't help it, that was awesome.”

“Yep, that put an end to that big bad. Just the zombie thing left. Hopefully it will be brain-dead without dear master to pull its puppet strings. Let's have a look.” She moves towards the fissure and nearing the end, by the opening, she stops and listens. Gabriel follows.

Thunder echoes in the cave from the storm outside. She looks out towards the boat. Nothing to see. There is a figure lying on the shore with its face in the water. It looks like the thing she faced earlier.

“The big guy looks dead in the water. He's floating face down. I think we should make sure its permanently dead.” She moves out with the witch blades at the ready. She advances towards the floating figure and attempts to sever its head. She does this easily.

“Look ... its no longer invincible. I am! Phew ... I can't believe we did that. That was lucky. I wonder what this boat is here for? It's probably the one that Wolfred's brother went missing on out at sea. Strange that its here now. Let's check it out.”

“Yeah, sure, but it looks like its been here a while.”

“That just makes it more interesting. We might find clues on board about what happened. Like a captains log or something.”

“Yes, but the problem is it looks like its been submerged for a long time.”

“We'll see. Come on.”

Gabriel follows. They step out onto the rocks and its not that slippery. But the boat is a different story. Brown seaweed, putrid smelling. Slippery.

“Gross. Watch your step.” Jennifer tries to clamber further onboard. As she touches the railings to get further on board her hands start to sizzle, like a burning sensation. “Owwww, watch out, it's like protected with a spell or something. Get back.” She moves back quickly.

(Minor burn damage that will heal).

“I think the boat is cursed and when you touched it, it saw the fact that you were alive and tried to extinguish it, or take it from you.”

“Right. Then I think we should leave it and get back upstairs. Let's go.”

CUT TO: RYLINOR HOUSE – GROUND FLOOR – MAIN HALLWAY

Jennifer leads Gabriel to the entrance of the house. “I think we've done what we can here. I'm pretty sure that killing Wolfred's brother has helped him move on. I'm still puzzled about where all the books have gone, unless those crates in the basement were that collection.”

“If so, then how did it get there. And what about Gantt? Look, if you want to, I can put my friend onto it. It might take a month or so before we can do something about it. I'm not sure if the professor will tell you about this but Witherspoon, the college coach, has been working for the professor and he has detected the arrival of at least 40 vampires to the city on ships from the Canadian Federation or BAMA.”
“What Witherspoon, the NFL coach? And yeah that would be good if your friend can look into things. I get the feeling I should visit the professor to let him know myself that I'm back and ready. I've put my personal demons behind me and it sounds like we've got trouble hitting the town if Witherspoon is right. We should get going.”

Gabriel says “there might be another access to the cave along the coast road. Oh, and if you are going to talk to the professor then what are you going to tell him about this place?”

Jennifer looks at him and says “I'll tell him that I saw the house in my dreams and that I remembered it from visiting in my childhood. And then I'll tell him that its owner is a ghost and that his brother got lost at sea and became a zombie controlled by a vampire. Which is dead. “

“Then I can say nothing.” Gabriel says.

“What do you mean? Did anything else need to be said to him?”

“No, but remember there were two of us here.”

“Yes, I'll tell him you were with me by fortunate circumstance.”

“Right ... so ... Wolfred a ghost ... brother a zombie dead ... vampire dead ... nothing else? Just getting the story right.”

Jennifer nods and says “That sounds right. Is there something you've done here that you don't want the professor knowing?”

“Not at all. So we agree not to mention Gantt, the talisman, or the books?”

“Agreed.”

“OK, let's see if we can find an entrance to that cave. We can take my car. I'll drop you off when we're done.”

“Sure.”

[FADE OUT]

COAST ROAD

[FADE IN]

As they drive, Jennifer eventually sees the partially covered cave entrance amongst some foliage. Its still stormy and to access the cave they'd have to walk a track.

“Probably not a good time to look in this weather,” Gabriel says. “I'll check it out in a couple of days.” he says.

“Call me and I'll help,” Jennifer says. “It might be safe if you're alone.”

“I promise I'll do it in broad daylight and at midday.”
“Ummm ... not good enough ... you know its dark inside the caves and who knows, there might be more vampires living in there. In the dark. In the cave.”

“Alright ... I'll call you.” Only because you've insisted.”

“Good.”

“Anyway, if that vampire knew of Wolfred Gainsborough's library or even just the location then others might do as well. He might have been working under instruction. His occult library is quite famous and such libraries don;t grow on trees by any means.”

“Yeah but trees grow to become books don't they? Oh, you know what I mean.”

“I'll give you a call.”

[FADE OUT]