Amidst the Ancient Trees.P3

From the Beginning: https://wjr5oakley.blogspot.com/2023/01/amidst-ancient-treesp1.html

Essie Vance [Whitney], Peter Graves [Jordan], Phillip Vance [Aaron]

Peter rushed towards Sidney and tackled him. They struggled in failed attempts to pin each other as they tumbled across the yellow leaves. Phillip stepped forward and kicked Sidney in the temple, which gave Peter the chance to tie him up. Essie came forward to check the man for weapons. She pulled a watch-n-chain from Sidney’s pocket and opened it to find an old picture of a 30ish couple. The man looked awfully like Peter. She handed the watch to Peter, “I think this belonged to your dad.” Sidney shook his head to clear his cobwebs, “Who are you people?!”

Essie, although frightened & caught off guard, knew the pain of losing a loved one. She truly felt for Peter. She felt his aggression of wanting vengeance and she felt his passion for righting a wrong. Who was she to stand in his way? They had both come so far in their relationship as friends & possibly something more she wouldn't dare ruin things now. She took a step back hoping he didn’t notice her frightened look. She was confused as to what he may do, but knew one thing for sure, telling him how to behave was meaningless. He was but a shell on autopilot & Peter Graves had never liked a backseat driver. 

As Peter studied the watch and the photos contained within, he stepped a few paces away from Sidney. With rage building inside, he noticed his parents (as described above). He didn’t even realize that he'd drawn his trusty revolver, just that he was now pointing it at the helpless criminal, hammer cocked. He then saw himself (as described above) and the word "murderer" echoed in his mind. "This is not what my Grandfather taught me. This isn't who I am..." His hand wavered as rage and vengeance gave way as tears began to stream down his face. He squeezed the trigger and gave Sydney the same scar that he received all those years ago. Peter then knocked the man out and tied him to a nearby tree. "I'm not the only person he's hurt. They deserve justice too."

As Peter tied Sidney to the tree, Essie and Phillip were distracted by a blue glow leaching out the cabin door and splintered wall. They entered to check it out: Old civil war era union uniforms and caps hung on pegs. Four cots were crammed into the hunter’s cabin built with bare necessities. Which mean no refrigerator and thus a table littered with used rations and half-eaten food. The ransom money was strewn everywhere. But what drew their attention was the light leeching from the hole in the floor that exposed the cellar below.

Phillip leaned over the edge, cautious it unstable from the blast. With Essie over his shoulder, they saw 5 stone coffins that projected the light. But Phillip also noticed the table rug folded over itself from the dynamite blast, exposing a trap door. They cautiously descended, soon followed by Peter who had joined them. Five stone coffins proved the source of the blue light. [Occult] Peter gasp in realization blue light was associated with undead, “Turner’s gang of deserters!” Essie returned upstairs to look for more evidence as the men checked the coffins, starting with the 3 open ones. Where they found 60+ year old trinkets (lockets with pictures of loved ones, jewelry, and rings). Phillip found an old, crumbling notebook titled ‘Joseph Turner’s Diary’. He turned to show it to Peter, who showed his own find. [remembering his dream] Phillip recoiled at the sight of the 2-foot long metal spine (think severed rino horn, only metal).

It took awhile for Phillip to compose himself and show the diary he found.  Turner’s reveal his intended desertion into Canada interrupted by dreams that led he and his men to the lake and the existence of an Old One trapped in the lake. Gla-aki offered eternal bliss if they would but find the crystal that bound it to the lake. Deliver it to the lake, and the Old One would rise to the stars, basking them in eternal gratitude and power. Yes, they had become slaves to their master.

[Occult] Peter had heard about the Old One and filled in his allies. [Sanity loss for all at the connection and knowledge] 

They remembered the painting in the artists' camp. They realized Turner and his men undead. They must have taken poor Jane captive as another offering to the Old One.

1pm: After Peter stuffed the spine into his backpack, the trio collected what was left of the ransom money and quickly headed south for the fork in the road. They followed the dirt road (with fresh truck prints from yesterday’s encounter) northeast till it branched again: truck-prints northeast toward the sound of activity, or east/southeast along a less-traveled road. [POW] Phillip was drawn to the less used road, “Something is calling me.”

They approached with caution as they rounded a bend to finally view the lake: a cold, black lake of stagnant water that didn’t even reflect the sun. Along the edge of the water, they could just make out the image of poles set along the shoreline. They edged closer till they released people tied to the poles.

Essie led the rush forward to rescue the captive, till they all spotted the glistening metal spine thrusting out of their chests! [Sanity check] Phillip and Essie were prepared, but Peter drew short with fear at the sight of 5 lifeless bodies offered as sacrifice. Except, one body moved. “Please…help us. Remove the spines. KILL US, Please!”

Essie rushed forward as requested but paused before the poor woman. Obviously one of the Yale artists per the paint-splattered smock she wore. As were the others. Essie struggled with the binding ropes as Phillip and Peter stayed back, unsure what to do… Do as she requested and kill them?

The woman slowly turned to face Essie, “They took us in the night from the camp… walking corpses… they took us to the dig site where the others are being held. There’s a boy and a man, and a girl. One of us got away. The dead are trying to lift something out of the pit. They are using tools and dynamite. Something terrible is in the water! It’s in us, spreading, like a sickness. I can feel it burning away my soul… Please… PLEASE… remove the spines… KILL US!!”

Essie cried at the woman’s pain. She cried as she notched an arrow and took aim for her head. The woman slumped in her bindings, lifeless. But Peter wasn’t convinced, “She could have already been converted to the undead. We need to kill them all. Chop off their heads.” He drew his pistol but realized it might draw attention from the dig-site just around the corner. He used a knife instead to slit their throats. Essie grateful she didn’t have to bloody her hands any more. “Click.” Essie was shocked to see Peter taking a picture. “We might need evidence. Would YOU believe our story?”

They looked up the shoreline and saw an opening further up, but the lake creeped them out. Phillip suggested, “Let’s cut thru the woods.” They trudged thru the forest and its sickly yellow leaves and drooping branches, drawn by the sound of a generator. A chain fence blocked their way, but on the other side, maybe 20 feet, they saw 5 shacks. Peter pulled out his bolt-cutter and made an opening for them to sneak thru. They froze when they saw the guard hut to their left and a man standing watch just inside the gate. Their hearts raced when they realized he could have heard the noise of the cutter and sounded alarm.

Essie whispered, “Shush. We could capture him for questioning and to take his clothing as disguise for one of us to blend in.” But Peter could see the glimpse of movement between the shacks. Essie and Phillip recognized Peter’s hand gestures and whispered words, which inspired they too to cast Flesh Ward [1d4 Sanity lose to gain armor. All rolled 4.] Peter gained 17 points armor but took 2 wounds as he exceeded his Magic Points. Essie gained 19 points and she too took 2 wounds. Phillip gained 9 points.

2:30pm: And that’s when Phillip thought to use his rifle scoop to get a better look at the guard, “He looks human. Not undead like Turner’s diary implied. Maybe this is just Mr. Strong’s construction site we heard about.” Peter wasn’t so sure, “Keep an eye on him as I sneak up to get a look inside that shack with a back window.” No interior light but the window allowed enough sunlight to reveal cots and a few personal pictures hung on the walls. Peter army-crawled between the shacks to get a better look at the activity. 

He saw 4 men around a tripod erected over a large blast pit, initially excavated with dynamite blasting. At regular intervals, the generator raised a bucket full of dirt from the pit which the men dumped to the side. He realized other workers had to be inside the pit digging. A long stretch of raised platform stretched toward the lake.

Peter held his breath as he watched a man go to hut#5, to then exit with a shovel. [Listen- extreme] Peter was just about to return to the others when he heard muffled noises coming from shack #4. Someone inside. He began to work his way back to the others, when… [Stealth- 93] “SNAP.” (stepped on a fallen branch buried under the leaves.) He bolted for the back of the shack. Essie froze like a deer while Phillip crouched down as he saw the guard turn toward the noise. “He’s coming.”

Phillip hid in the sickly underbrush. Essie was about to loose an arrow when she conceived a brilliant plan. She stood as if she was supposed to be there and tussled with her hair. The man challenged her, “What are you doing here? How did you get past the fence?” Essie lured him closer, “I’m one of the investors of this project of Mr. Strong. I thought it wise to come check it out. Take a peek for myself instead of a guided tour where you might try to lead me astray. So, tell me, have you found gold as we investors hope?” The man almost in her personal space now. Phillip sprang forward behind the man and clasped his hand over his mouth as he wrestled him to the ground and tried to choke him at the same time. Essie had to swing twice with her crowbar before she finally smacked the man on his head, knocking him out.

3pm: Peter joined them as they drug the body back out the fence and further from the dig site, “Damn girl, that’s one large knot on his head.” It was another 17 minutes before the man began to wake. Essie splashed water on his face as Phillip warned him, “If you call out…” Peter stood threatening with his shotgun, “Rise and shine. We have a few questions.” The cobwebs began to clear as Richard Gibson stirred awake, “Have you come to worship Gla-aki too?”

So much for the weak thought this just Strong’s construction site. In fact, Peter began to wonder if Strong intentionally concocted the story of his daughter kidnapped just so he could lure search teams into the woods to be captured and sacrificed. But his thoughts proved wrong when Essie asked, “Where’s the little girl? Where is Jane?” Richard replied, “She and the other sacrifices are held in shack#4. Did you want to help bring them to the lake to offer them up to Gla-aki? The artists we tied out there may have converted by now.” Peter replied with a knife thrust thru Richard’s temple, “Oh yeah, we’re here to help.”

4pm: They coordinated their plan: Essie put on Richard’s clothing as disguise, “I’ll casually walk into hut#4 to check on Jane and other prisoners.” Peter offered to stand watch with his shotgun as Phillip snuck into the tool shed where the extra dynamite stored (they remembered the truck full of dynamite encounter on the road).

No-one took notice of Essie stepping up to the shack and enter. Enough light with the door open to see feet tied and sitting bodies butted against the interior wall. She easily guessed this the Texan Brian and his son Arthur, and the kidnapped girl Jane. She entered, closed the door, turned on her flashlight, and whispered, “Are you OK? We’ve come to help set you free.” All obviously traumatized and malnourished. As she began to untie Brian first, she noticed the interior door that implied another back room. “What’s back there?”

Meanwhile, Phillip snuck unnoticed into the tool shed where he found: tools, rope, pulleys, gas cans to fuel the generator, and boxes of dynamite. He grabbed 5 sticks and fuze cord but couldn’t find matches.

Hut#4: Arthur sobbed uncontrollably as his father began to untie his son as he asked, “Have you taken out the servants? What about those sleeping?” And that’s when Essie noticed the interior doorknob twist as if someone about to enter. She snapped off her flashlight plunging the room into darkness. They heard the interior door open and the shuffle of feet. Essie could only guess movement in the dark. She knew Brian and the kids’ location, but… And that’s when she was struck in the chest! She panicked thinking she injured till she realized no wound per her magical armor. Protected for now but unable to see her assailant nor tell how many. Alone in the dark with frightened prisoners!

DUN-DUN-DAA…. Cliff Hanger… Tune in next time for the conclusion…

TO BE CONTINUED: https://wjr5oakley.blogspot.com/2023/01/amidst-ancient-treesp4-conclusion.html