Mission #9 (Gabriel Heartseeker,Bon~Flame)

[jasonsprice]

Gabriel peered into the orphanage through the dusty boarded windows. Despite it being glaringly bright outside, the inside of the abandoned building looked nearly pitch black. Gabriel removed his low set cowboy hat and peered in again. It didn't help It was just as black as before. He took several steps back and examined the orphanage one more time. It stood at three stories tall. Three faded white balconies ran across the second floor windows. A healthy overgrowth of vines had grown from the ground up in order to wrap itself snuggly around the center balcony. The once bright red front door was now a sickly brown, with flecks of faded red paint. Three heavy boards barred the entrance. Similar boards had found their way to each of the 9 windows that ran along the front of the house (Three per level).
"Someone went through allot of trouble to keep people out" Gabriel said turning away from the house and facing his companion.

He then attempted to observe the back of the house only to find it was blocked by a conveniently placed edge of a cliff. Well, I have one theory for why kids went missing" Gabriel half-joked as he observed the heavy forest that lay at the bottom of the cliff. Gabriel and his companion had come to Strawberry Hill in order to investigate the mysterious disappearances that once plagued the famed Strawberry Hill Orphanage. Something about the building didn't sit right with Gabriel, his instincts told him to leave it be. However, what kind of story would that be? No, he didn't just intend to brave the darkness that lay within, he intended to discover the mysterious truth about the orphanage. That would be a story worth telling. He then removed his journal and jotted down notes of the building's description. When he was finished he turned to his companion.

"Would you like to do the honors?" Motioning towards the barred front door.

[flame08]

Along with Gabriel came a young red head, or at least now she was a red head. Her hair was originally black, it was an odd side affect of her DF abilities. She was Syphalia Minalion, though she preferred to be referred to as Syph, and recently Lisanna had also become a popular name for her. She didn't really understand her companion in this but that mattered little. The little orphans were the main problem here. Apparently they had been disappearing from the Strawberry Hill Orphanage. Or what once had been an orphanage, now it was more like a run down shack. Large boards covered up what would have used to be nice large windows.

Her partner commented about how the boards were possibly to keep people out. Quite true, though it was a normal thing done with run down buildings so people don't start living on them without paying for the land. The orphanage oddly enough was placed at the edge of a cliff which fell down to a dark forest below. What a nice placement especially with all the little children running around having fun. She sighed, some people just had no common sense. Looking around the orphanage, she saw no signs of anything happening recently, possibly because it was broken down but whatever.

Her partner then commented to her asking her if she'd like to do the honors. She nodded quietly, she was quite bored and busting down a door might interest her for a second at least. Placing a hand on her sword she stepped up to the door facing it straight on. Quickly releasing Kitasha, her sword from its sheath she swung it straight through the wooden boards that covered the door. Sheathing it just as fast she put her hand out pressing against the door. It was old and creaky, pushing it inwards a cloud of dust plumed up as it slid against the floor. Apparently this place hadn't been cleaned in a long while.

Light pierced into the darkness of the orphanage, the front room was rather plain, it was like any lobby of sorts. It looked kind of old fashioned but whatever, one couldn't blame a place that had been this run down for so long.

[jasonsprice]

Gabriel pondered a moment over Syph's skill with a blade. He had barely seen the sword drawn before it was returned to her sheath. He smiled at the thought of having a capable partner. As she pushed open the door Gabriel stepped inside, immediately letting loose a hefty sneeze as the plum of dust rose up off the floor. Ironically his sneeze caused another wave of dust to spring up, which in turn instigated a short spree of sneezes which only ended when Gabriel tucked his nose behind his shirt. Gabriel wondered how stupid he looked. His partner had just done something awesome, and here he was literally sneezing up a storm. Now a fog of dust had been blown around the filthy lobby making the setting much Erieier than it needed to be.

Regaining his bearings Gabriel examined the room. Directly in front of him was a large stair case that went to both the second and third floors. Immediately to his left stood a large U-shaped desk. Its finish was faded and there was a slight crack in the center. Gabriel walked to the other side of it. Each stepped caused the age floorboards to creak. Along the side he found several long scratches that ran along the desk, they even continued on the floorboards before they vanished in the darkness of a nearby hallway. An uneasiness crept over him causing him to move away from the scratches. On the other side of the room were three, long dead plants, two in the corners and one in the center of the wall.

Gabriel walked to the center of the lobby and looked up. His eyes barely penetrated the cloud of darkness that lurked above them. He saw a large brass ring. He assumed the ring once held a chandelier of sorts, but there was no chandelier now. From what Gabriel gathered there were two obvious ways to go. One was exploring the area in which the scratches went, while the other was to go straight up the stairs. Either way Gabriel's gut told him to be careful.

"Do you have a preference?" Gabriel asked Syph.

[flame08]

(OOC: sorry if i take a little while, since this is a mission its lower priority for me to finish ~ You gonna have to take lead i'm spending muse all over the place )

Her associate walked up next to her, accidentally sneezing causing another plume to poof up. She looked at her associate, the word REALLY was written across her face (in the metaphorical way ya know) she sealed her mouth and passed through the plume of dust into the room which was now illuminated by the sun. It didn't look too shabby, though it was getting covered in another healthy layer of dust so that didn't really help. Her hand dabbled around on her sword's hilt it was kind of asking for action but she put it aside. Combat was interesting, or at least it kept her from her extreme boredom at times.

Examining the room she noticed a few special things. A few scratches went across the bottom of the orphanage, coming onto a table and going along past it. Behind it two large staircases were noticeable one on the left and one on the right of course. To the second floor and beyond she guessed, where to go, there were so many choices. The scratches seemed a bit more interesting they seemed to suggest, combat or claws or something. Her associate asked if she had a preference, most likely in reference to the two possible places they could check out.

She shrugged, she didn't really care but if this guy was going to be so indecisive she would just go wherever. Striding forward to the claw marks in the ground she followed them into the hallway. The hallway was dark, but then that just made it all the more interesting. Her senses were on high alert, if there was a beast roaming she needed to be extra prepared if something came out at her.

[jasonsprice]

Gabriel's partner walked to wards the scratches without an answer. The young author took another look at his partner and began to assess her. She was peculiar, obviously skilled but her lack of communication suggested she was either unsocial or just a stupid freak. Neither sat well with Gabriel. Plus her judgmental stare at his sneezes ignited a flare of irritation in Gabriel. He wasn't sure what her opinion of him was, but based off her look he didn't think it was very high. Gabriel wasn't sure why the opinions of an unsocial freak bothered him. He deduced that whomever opinion, weirdo or not, would be important to him now. His goal after all was to become greater than his own stories. That being said anyone's opinion mattered, even people didn't particularly care for.

His partner disappeared into the shadow of the black hallway where the scratches led. Gabriel started to follow when he noticed something buried along the floorboard's claw marks. Leaning over he pried it from the wood in which it clung. Color drained from Gabriel's face and as small wave of nausea began to grow in his stomach. In his palm he held a small clear shell. It was broad and yellowish white on one end, then it became more clear and narrow closer to its other side. It was clear except for a deep maroon stain that began on the narrow side, and ran down its edges. Gabriel was holding a bloodied human fingernail. He turned his palm over and allowed the nail to fall back into the crevice from which he'd dug it from. His eyes ran along the scratches at once catching a glimpse of another nail a few feet closer to the hallway.

Gabriel removed his pistol from his hip. He entered the hallway not far behind Syph. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. His eyes soon adjusted to the darkness allowing him to see the faint lines of the scrathes to continue on down the hallway. Along the way there were 5 closed doors on the right and left of the hallway. Each were staggered so that no door was directly across from the other. Gabriel twisted the knob of the first only to find it locked. As he walked away he heard a faint creek of floorboards behind the first door. His feet suddenly became rooted in place. Someone is on the other side? He thought to himself. He let out a quiet hiss to alert Syph. He then took a stance in front of the door, pulled the hammer back on his pistol until he heard it lock into place. He took a deep breath and delivered a massive kick to the door right above its knob. The door ripped open, flinging several pieces of old wood off the wall and into the room. Gabriel burst through the doorway, his trigger finger pulsing with excitement as he did a quick 360 around the room. There was nothing. The room was 100% empty, no furniture or paintings, in fact that is what struck Gabriel as odd. Gabriel lowered his gun and wiped his finger along the floor of the room. The room was not only void of furnishings, it was void of dust. So far the house had been understandably dirty, however this room was spotless. Someone had to have been here regularly to keep it clean. However Gabriel drew a blank when he thought about why anyone would.