Horror Candlewood

Sidney Barnes
Candlewood, Town Hall

After the long drive down from Seattle to Candlewood she had began her first day in the small town line any other day. By running five miles. She had no time for ten. The earlier she got to work, the better.

The small motel she had chosen was just outside the town. No need to announce her presence any earlier than necessary.

As predicted the courier arrived at ten, handing her over the land-registry files from Everton. They confirmed her theory that the target was owned by the town itself. She made notes and researched in the net the responsible people. In a small Token like this the orga-chart was actually quite small. She would go right after the man on top. James Power, Mayor of Candlewood.

Once her third coffee was in her system she dressed in one of her two dresses she had with her and took her rental car to go to Candlewood. She arrived there fifteen minutes later and went straight for the town hall.

The only present person was a secretary. She approached her directly, leaning on the desk of the woman and handing her her card.

"Hello, I am Sidney Barnes from Prest and Partners New York, we represent the Hades Investment Fund and I would like to talk to the Mayor, please." She smiled as the woman looked at her as if she had seen a ghost. They did not see many of her kind around here, she assumed.

"The Mayor is having an appointment Ma'am, I can schedule a meeting for later the week, if ..."

She waved away. "Oh nevermind. I will just sit over there and wait, okay?" She announced and took her suitcase and sat at an old uncomfortable wooden bench.

Sidney was here to get things done. The Mayor would make time for her, she was sure of that. Even if she had to besiege him. And he certainly would like to hear what she had to say.

Tag: @SirakRomar

 

Jane Masters flat, Kennedy Street 61b, Southern District

Ethan nodded and dialed Julia's number. Immediately he lowered his mobile. "Seems to have no network. I try her Dad." He sighed and dialed the next number in line. "Hey Don, it's me. Tried to get hold of Julia. You got any idea ... city archive? Okay. Yeah, I got the number. Thanks." Ethan sighed and dialed the next number. "Hey Roberta, Ethan Wilson here. Can you give me my wife? Thanks." He immediately put the call on speaker and sighed.

"Hey Sunshine, it's me. Listen, I need to ask you something and I must ask you not to loose a word about it to anyone, okay? I am here with Jack at Jane's apartment and she is not here and there is a slight possibility something is wrong here. We heard she had some sort of ... affair with someone. Do you have any idea who that might be about?"

Waiting on her reply he looked around in the flat. John Palin came up again, but Ethan waved him to leave before Jack could.



The Archives, below Townhall

The Professor smiled. "A rather colorful person called Emmanuel Kramer. A catholic priest, or so he claimed. He and his brothers were basically the core of the settlement, collecting families to join them and lumberjacks of the region with German origins." He looked at Roberta. "If you can be a little precise about what you are looking for, I have made extensive notes about the settlement. It only existed for a few years, but the high level of educated people among the settlers made it one of the better documented early settlements around here."

Robertas Probe rang, an old portable wireless phone that she carried at her belt. "Hey there." She said and stepped a little away to not disturb the conversation. "Sure." She returned and handed Julia the phone. "Your husband." She smiled and then left for her desk. The Professor also took a few steps away.

Ethan began talking and from his voice she could hear he was tense. "Hey Sunshine, it's me. Listen, I need to ask you something and I must ask you not to loose a word about it to anyone, okay? I am here with Jack at Jane's apartment and she is not here and there is a slight possibility something is wrong here. We heard she had some sort of ... affair with someone. Do you have any idea who that might be about?"

Tag: @HanSolo29, @JediMasterAnne

 

IC: Julia Wilson
Archives, below Town Hall

So the colony leader was not the mysterious J.F.K., but Emmanuel Kramer was a start. Maybe it was one of his brothers?

“If you can be a little precise about what you are looking for, I have made extensive notes about the settlement. It only existed for a few years, but the high level of educated people among the settlers made it one of the better documented early settlements around here.”

Roberta’s phone rang as Julia was considering showing Fallon some of the pictures from the book, to see if he recognized any of the symbols or strange drawings. Before she could, Roberta handed the phone to Julia. “Your husband.”

For a second, Julia was confused as to why Ethan would call her on Roberta’s phone, before remembering that cell phones usually couldn’t get a signal down here. Roberta and the professor both backed off to allow her privacy. “Hey, there,” she greeted him.

“Hey Sunshine, it’s me. Listen, I need to ask you something and I must ask you not to loose a word about it to anyone, okay?” Julia was instantly concerned, and his next words only made it worse. “I am here with Jack at Jane’s apartment and she is not here and there is a slight possibility something is wrong here.”

That explained why they’d called him in, then. Ethan continued, before Julia had a chance to ask for details. “We heard she had some sort of…affair with someone. Do you have any idea who that might be about?”

Now, besides being concerned for her friend, the confusion came back. As far as she knew, Jane hadn’t been dating since she’d broken up with Miles Croft two years ago. “No, I don’t. If Jane was seeing someone, this is the first I’ve heard of it,” she told her husband.

TAG: @HanSolo29 , @SirakRomar

 

IC: Julia Wilson
Archives, below Town Hall

“Julia, it’s Jack,” the sheriff’s voice came over the phone. “Hey, I’m sorry to spring this on you, but I understand that you are pretty close to Jane, right? As a friend, she never made a passing comment about someone she was keeping an eye on around town, or who she had a certain interest in? Anyone at all?”

Julia frowned as she wracked her brain, trying to think of anything Jane might have said, even mentioned, about anyone she’d taken interest in. She even dug out her phone from her purse and started going through her old text conversations with Jane, but came up empty-handed. “No, Jack, I’m sorry.”

“Julia, when was the last time you saw Jane?”

She had to think for a second. “In person…last weekend. We met for lunch at the café. She sent me a text message last night, about meeting for coffee sometime this weekend, but I didn’t see it or reply ‘til this morning. I haven’t gotten a response.” She’d assumed that Jane was just working, which would explain the lack of a reply, but it was starting to sound like there might be something much more unsettling going on.

TAG: @HanSolo29 , @SirakRomar

 

Sidney Barnes
Mayor's Office, Townhall


Finally the Mayor arrived and she had not even waited for half an hour. A good start.

Sidney got up and gave the man a firm handshake probably unexpected from a rather petite person like her.
"Mayor, I am Sidney Barnes and I am an associate with Prest and apartness LLC from New York. I represent the Hades Investment Fund and my client would like to discuss the acquisition of one of your properties." She took out her business card and handed it to the Mayor. She had expected and older man, but the rules of politics were probably not valid out here. "My client desires to acquire an old building in the hills above your fine city, that has been unused for quite some time according to our research. A former observatory, I believe."

She smiled again. A polite smile. A professional smile. She had never bought anything from a city, so the problems that would arise might be unexpected, but she had been send to solve such problems. And she had been given the means to. The only thing she wondered was what was so important about this piece of land.


Tag: @ConservativeJedi321, @SirakRomar

Sidney:

 

IC: Julia Wilson
Archives, below Town Hall

“How was she?” Jack continued. “Did you notice anything out of the ordinary about her behavior? Maybe she was stressed, or not sleeping well…”

Julia was becoming more confused and more concerned. Ethan had only said that Jane wasn’t at her apartment, but obviously something wasn’t right or Jack and Ethan wouldn’t be there. And based on the questions they were asking, it sounded like they either thought she’d impulsively run off with a lover that no one knew about—which didn’t seem like something Jane would do, anyway—or…Julia preferred not to finish that thought.

At any rate: “No, she seemed fine.” Jane had been her usual self when Julia had last seen her.

"She didn't happen to bring up the incident that brought Ethan out here to the apartment the other week, did she? I'm sure he told you about that."

Contrary to Jack’s expectations, this was new information to Julia. What incident? Had something happened to Jane before this? And Ethan had known about it? And neither of them had bothered to mention it to her? “No, he did not. What ‘incident’ are you talking about?”

TAG: @HanSolo29 , @SirakRomar

 

James Power
Townhall

For the briefest second the Mayors eye's bulged, and he let his smile slip. What were the odds? First Charles Croft expresses interests in buying the town Observatory, now this New York Lawyer comes, requesting to purchase the same property! On the same day no less? There had to be something about that land he was unaware of, a gold vein, or maybe they struck oil.

In any case he recovered quick enough. With a casual shrug, James nodded. Seemingly indifferent. "Yes. Fascinating. Perhaps we should discuss this up in my office."
He signaled behind him. Hopefully that was where Grace had wandered off to, and perhaps a more private discussion might improve their odds of getting details in regard to the precise nature of this purchase. The last thing they needed was some Croft spy reporting in on this visit.

Tags: @TheSithGirly, @SirakRomar

 

Jane Masters flat, Kennedy Street 61b, Southern District

Ethan sighed and looked at Jack. "Okay thank you. If you remember anything unusual about Jane or anybody she might have met lately, please let us know. Love you." He killed the line and looked at Jack. "I thought Jane would tell her, but she never did. Maybe to embarrassed." Ethan looked at Jack and then shook his head. "Maybe her Boss knows something. After all he saw her every day. I know Eddy, I can talk to him on my way back to the office."

Anna came up again. "Her Dad liked bigger guns. No .38 registered." Ethan nodded.

"So what next?" Ethan asked Jack and shrugged. "Anna should talk to the neighbors probably. I check on her Boss? You should check the hospital at Martin's Beach and the doc." Candlewood had no own hospital, but shared one with the neighbor village of Martin's beach.

Anne nodded. "I can run interviews after packing up everything."

The Archives, below Townhall

Ethan was tense, very tense ... Julia heard that. When he killed the line Roberta took back the phone and the Professor came back smiling. Once he saw Julia's concerned face the smile vanished. "Everything okay?" Almost ashamed he handed her a picture. "That is the only picture of the lumberjacks." He pointed at he picture. "We have have no idea who is who, but that picture was taken fifteen days before they vanished."

Tag: @HanSolo29, @JediMasterAnne

 

IC: Julia Wilson
Archives, below Town Hall

The sheriff quickly backtracked, and it was clear he’d slipped up, said something he shouldn’t have. And while Julia was far from satisfied with Jack’s explanation, she also knew that she wasn’t likely to get anything else out of him.

One of the pitfalls of being married to an officer, was knowing that there were always going to be things Ethan couldn’t tell her. She could tell whenever he’d had a rough shift, but she knew that the rules prohibited him from discussing his cases with her. She just did what she could to be supportive, gave him space when he needed it or comfort when he wanted it, even if he couldn’t specify exactly what was wrong.

But just because he couldn't say anything, didn’t explain why Jane hadn’t told her about the incident.

Before Julia could say anything else, Ethan’s voice came over the line again, obviously tense. “Okay thank you. If you remember anything unusual about Jane or anybody she might have met lately, please let us know. Love you." And he hung up.

Julia gave the phone back to Roberta, and the professor came back over, something in his hand. "Everything okay?" he asked, his smile slipping.

No, everything was not okay, but she couldn’t talk about it, either. Fortunately, he saved her the trouble of answering when he held out an old photograph. "That is the only picture of the lumberjacks." She took the picture as he explained. "We have have no idea who is who, but that picture was taken fifteen days before they vanished."

Julia looked up from the photo, raising an eyebrow curiously. “’Before they vanished?’”

TAG: @SirakRomar

 

Sidney Barnes
Townhall, Mayor's Office, Candlewood

Sidney patiently followed the mayor to his office and followed him inside. "Well, Mayor, we have a pretty good idea what the property is worth and are ready to overpay. Actually my client plans to build a resort there to sell it to one of the big chains. He would use local workers were possible and I think I do not have to tell you what this might mean for employment and tax income of your beautiful little town." She sat down and crossed her legs. "Also we would need to build up a certain infrastructure in this town to provide the necessary environment for such a luxury resort. Of course we expect full cooperation in that regard, but a small community can hardly be expected to cover such costs. Therefore you can expect a healthy contribution by my clients. A donation to your city, if you want to." She folded her hands. "And let me guess what you think right now. Where is the catch? I can tell you. My clients gave me only five days to close the deal or they will move to Martin's Beach." Sidney smiled. "So no time for a written expertise, reports etc. I need you to begin whatever democratic process is necessary basically yesterday. Oh did I mention my client is ready to pay 3,8 million?"

Tag: @ConservativeJedi321, @SirskRomar

 

James Power
Townhall; Mayors Office

James listened carefully as he guided her up the stairs, and down the short hall leading to his office. The small chamber wasn't very grandiose , it wasn't as if he was the mayor of Seattle, or New York City. But he did his best to make it feel welcoming and comfortable. A book case in one corner, with a couple comfy chairs to its side. His desk, with papers, phone, and computer in the middle of the room. A picture of his family hung on the other wall, over a shelf containing some knickknacks.

Sure enough Grace was sitting in one of the chairs, reading a book from the book case. She looked up as they entered the room and set the item aside.
Her eye's told him she was curious about his discussion with Mike, but had sense enough not to discuss it with a stranger.

"This is my wife Grace Power." He introduced her to the lawyer. "This is Sidney Barnes..." He glanced at her as if to say 'correct?'. "She is a lawyer. Came all the way from New York to discuss purchasing the old Observatory from the town, on behalf of her client..." He stared at Grace for a second, letting the implications of that sink in.

"Nice to meet you." she responded, unflinchingly. "Please, take a seat." James offered a wooden chair that sat independently from his desk as he moved behind it.
"If you don't mind me saying, it seems somewhat odd to come so far, to spend so much, on a small plot of land, to simply build a resort." He looked again at Grace, knowing full well the idea of tearing down the Observatory to build a resort would not sit well with her. "Are you certain there are no other reasons your client wants this land?"

Tags: @TheSithGirly, @SirakRomar

 

Name: Lazarus Reeds
Age: 35
Appearance:

Occupation: CEO of rich Tech company
Biography: Lazarus was born into a privileged life, with his father as the founder of a successful Tech company and his Mother as a model for various magazines.

Lazarus inherited his Father's company at the age of 27 and has so far done well, he travels to the town of Candlewood after receiving an urgent message from an old friend of his fathers, Proffesor Michael Monroe, to meet him there...

 

The Archives, below Townhall

The Professor laughed. He had something boyish about him when he gave people this surprised, inoffensive laugh.

"I would have bet this is the ghost story everyone around here knows. But really none of you ever heard about it, did you?" He pointed at the picture. "1869 they vanished. All of them ... over night basically." He looked over at his books. "Why is up to speculation, but you can find a lot stuff on werewolves and alien abduction. Most likely though they got into trouble with the locals. The native tribes were not exactly peaceful by nature. Also I heard in reservations some of the older Indios tell a different story about the lumberjacks." He sighed. "Gonna go there in a few days. But why are you interested in this?"

Tag: @JediMasterAnne



Jane Masters flat, Kennedy Street 61b, Southern District

Ethan laughed. "Don't worry, I got the year or two until you retire." But his laugh died down quickly. "I just try to do this as quickly as possible. She is gone for at least eight hours already. Traces might get cold soon." He looked around in the flat and nodded. Anne said nothing until Ethan left without saying a word to check with the library. Anne then sighed and looked at the Sheriff. "They are kinda close?" She asked. "It obviously is pretty personal for him."

Palin had also left just nodding at the deadline. They were alone now. "This all makes no sense. The power out. The cleaning liquid. I cannot make any sense of it, you know?" She looked around and folded her arms.

Tag: @HanSolo29


Route 101, entering Candlewood

It was something a man like Mr. Reeds was probably not used to, but Candlewood actually was hard to reach. No airport, no helicopter pad even ... he had to take a car and so he was on his way to the small town with his driver Sam, a former marine who served also as his bodyguard in such trips and had worked for him for many years. They had rented a rather comfortable Mercedes S-Class limousine and were now on the road for more than two hours, with shaky wifi and lesser and lesser civilization. When they finally came closer to Candlewood the view was breathtaking at least. The small town was at the coast, but otherwise surrounded by hills that featured a mostly untouched forest.

"Sir, we are in a view minutes downtown. The Professors hotel is pretty much at the center. Shall I get you there directly?"

The Professor had been a close friend to Lazarus father. But Lazarus himself had not heard of him for years. Not since he was a child. Nevertheless he had been a friend of the family and especially because he had not been in touch for years his message had been even more urgent and alarming.

FOUND SOMETHING. COME TO CANDLEWOOD, WASHINGTON. ASAP.

Whatever a Professor for mineralogy could find that was that important, Lazarus would soon find out. The buildings of the small town appeared now left and right of his limousine. It looked like an ordinary small town in the middle of nowhere.

Tag: @Master Vo'Un'Var

 

IC- Lazarus Reeds
Route 101, Entering Candlewood

The half-sleeping multi-millionaire gazed sleepily out of the tinted window of the limousine, practically slapped out of his blissful and lazy state of sleepiness by the beauty of the town. Sam, who Lazarus was fond of, stated the following:
"Sir, in a few minutes we will enter the downtown area, the professors hotel is at the centre, shall I take you there directly?"
Lazarus closed his eyes, he was truly curious what the Professor had to show him, and what it even had to do with him, he hadn't heard from Michael in a long time, heck, not even since he was a child, but that had only heightened his curiosity.
Lazarus slipped the smartphone from his breast pocket and scanned his eyes over the text once more.

FOUND SOMETHING. COME TO CANDLEWOOD, WASHINGTON. ASAP.

Leave it to Michael to be vague, found what? And why on earth had Michael demand that Lazarus speed off to some town he'd never even heard of? Lazarus prayed he would get a proper answer.
"Sir?"
Lazarus snapped out of his trance and hastened to answer Sam.
"Hmm? Oh yes, directly to the Hotel, Sam."
Lazarus turned his attention back to the window, here goes nothing.

Tag: @SirakRomar

 

IC: Julia Wilson
Archives, below Town Hall

The lumberjacks had disappeared the same year the book had been written, and while Julia inwardly scoffed at the idea of werewolves and alien abductions, the possibility that they had run afoul of the local Native American tribes didn’t seem quite as outlandish.

“But why are you interested in this?” Professor Fallon asked.

Accepting that she was going to need his help, Julia brought her phone back out and pulled up the pictures from the book, scrolling through them as she talked. “This book was brought to my father. It’s dated 1869, most of it is written in German, with a little English. There also a lot of symbols and drawings like these.

“Do you recognize any of it, or know what any of it means?”

TAG: @SirakRomar

 

John Carver
Ocean View Café and Harbor, Candlewood

John read the message. A few weeks ago this would have made him happy, there would have been relief. But now he felt ... indifferent. It seemed far away from him. Not really anything that had anything to do with him.

Had he moved on? Had he lost his fire for the job? Yes. He had never made the decision consciously, but he kind of felt that he would probably not return.

Leaving the café he took a walk down to the harbor and found a bench that allowed him to look at the majestic Pacific Ocean. Fishermen took their ships out there to hunt their catch of the day. A few sailors were enjoying the moderate wind and weather. Maybe he should learn to sail?

Maybe he should indeed try to do something new. Maybe a new job? After all he had to do something, sooner or later. In a few month his money would be used up and the salary would not come forever if he did not soon report in for duty. A life as a fisherman seemed suddenly tempting. Or what had Jane said? This town could use a good therapist.

Jane. He felt his thoughts return to the young woman and what was happening with her. He hoped she was alright. He really did. Especially because he feared where it might lead him, if she was not. A path all too familiar.

Tag: @SirakRomar

 

Sidney Barnes
Mayor's Office, Townhall

She nodded to the wife of the Mayor and wondered why she was present at a conversation that was certainly confidential. But this was small town politics and it was to be expected that these people did not meet the standards she was used to.

"Just a resort? I understand as a Mayor of Candlewood you have not yet dealt with the impact such things have on local community, but we are talking here about a world-class luxury resort that will cost a three-digit-million amount of money to build and that will produce an income for your town that will probably be higher than the whole local industry is doing now." She laid back. "So I think this is a great chance for you. Regarding my clients intentions, the Hades Fund is well known for developing real estate and cross-financing hotel projects. So I have little doubt this is exactly what they intend to do." Sidney shrugged. "So shall I let them know the Mayor supports this project? Or shall I tell them to look at Martin's beach?"

If it was another location Sindey wanted to be on top of it before a colleague snatched the job away from her. Hades was hers now and she knew it was exactly the kind of client that made you a partner.

"I am here all week and would be available for meetings with all involved parties."

Tag: @ConservativeJedi321, @SirakRomar

 

IC: Miles Rayburn
Balzac Cafe, Candlewood

Kyle had mentioned something about the son of the Croft businessman and a break-up, but then trailed off before he finished his thought. Miles assumed he was about to bring up the military, something he knew his friend avoided as much as possible. There was always a curiosity in Miles as to what had happened to Kyle while he was in the service that would make him so reticent about his time there, but he respected the man's wishes to stay far away from the topic, so he never brought it up.

"Seven," Kyle repeated the time when he'd be picking up Miles from his apartment that evening, and then grabbed his coffee and left the shop. Miles looked down at his coffee and grabbed it and was about to get up and throw it away when he saw what was lying right there on the table in front of him. Kyle's satchel, the same satchel he'd put Jane Masters's package in a few minutes prior. His heart sank to the floor, and he turned around to look out the glass windows of the coffee shop and saw Kyle getting in his postal truck. He turned around and yanked the satchel off the table, completely oblivious to the fact that he knocked over his coffee in the process and it was currently spilling all over the floor beneath the table, and ran to the door to try and catch his friend before he left. His heart was racing as he knew he couldn't get stuck with this cursed package again. It was starting to drive him crazy.

Tag: @SirakRomar

 

James Power
Townhall; Mayors Office

But why here? And Why Now? The mayor sighed at this, he hadn't met many lawyers; but he knew enough about them to see this one was trying to play hardball. The sum was certainly nothing to balk at, it was significantly north of the figure Mike had indicated to him. There was potential in that, if he could exploit it quick enough.
Grace spoke first, blunt as always. "We do not believe a new resort is in this towns best interests." She spoke in a polite tone, but the firmness of it left little room for doubt in her seriousness.

James raised an eyebrow at that, but did not directly contradict her. It certainly wouldn't be politically suave. Still, it would be foolish to let an opportunity such as this go to waste.
"As it happens..." He focused exclusively on the lawyer, observing her expression as he played this card. "we recently made a deal to sell the this very piece of land to another. The towns own wealthiest resident. Charles Croft. Perhaps you've heard of him?"

He allowed a brief pause to follow, in order to let the info sink in. He also stopped just short of informing her they had discussed it just this morning.
"The deal hasn't gone through yet, I don't have the authority to unilaterally sell the land." In truth, he very much doubted either Burns or Farlow would mind him making a deal that would bring so much needed funds into the town. He just didn't want to be held solely responsible for the political fallout of it.

"So there is still time if you can get your client to allow a bit more flexibility. Discussion about the sale will happen at our next council meeting. I might invite you, and Charles to put forth your cases, and offers, so that the towns representatives might decide who's offer is in our best interest."
Grace grabbed a small notepad, to write down the date, time, and location of the meeting before offering it to Sidney Barns.

Tags: @SirakRomar, @TheSithGirly

 

Sidney Barnes
Mayor's office, Town Hall

Sidney could not help but raise her eyebrow at the comment of the wife. They wanted no resort? What kind of politicians were these people who said no to employment for thousands and millions of tax income? The ones who liked to stick with what they knew probably. Candlewood seemed to do okay. Why try something new that could fail if you were doing okay?

The other buyer was bad news of course. But nothing her client could not handle if they had to. Whoever this Croft was, he would have a hard time keeping up with their financial resources.

"Then maybe I should talk to Mr. Croft or this council. Well, I have limited time, but of course I see how you need to go through proper channels. I leave you my card and would appreciate an invitation to present my case to the council ... if we haven't signed with Martin's Beach by then. Thank you for the talk, was very good to learn your take on this." She stood up and pushed her costume back to a perfect fit. "Grace. Mayor." She needed Wifi and she needed it fast to contact the New York office.

Tag: @ConservativeJedi321, SirakRomar