I know, another last-minute one. Still working on freelancing edits, which have been unexpectedly brain-frying in places. In fact, the only reason I'm able to get this out when I did is because the deadline wound up being slightly later than anticipated so I've got time to step away from that and bang this out. Admittedly it's kind of a light one.
And with that, on with the show!
We pick up on December 8th after the krewe has had a good night's sleep. Kenneth spends the morning doing paperwork for his case, and about noon-ish the group heads out to Woodlawn Cemetery to access the gate there. Kenneth pulls out the penny he was carrying when he died, and the gate responds appropriately, producing the coin slot and opening when 'fed.'
They make their way down to Las Minas, where they start asking around about their missing comrade Abe. He has been seen in the area, spotted by the river. As they search the riverbanks for him, the krewe talks about building a couple of phone booths or something down in the Underworld so they can use the Lovers' Telephone ceremony if something like this happens again in the future.
They wind up in a building that looks like an Old West saloon, complete with a heavily distorted player piano. The bartender, Evette Wood (whom the krewe have heard of in passing), approaches them wanting to know what a handful of sin-eaters are doing in her establishment. They give her the run-down, and she recognizes Abe's description. He came in a couple of days ago, looking pretty rough, and he stayed in a room there for a while... until the Dealer's people came looking for him and hauled him off.
Cut to the krewe outside of the Dealer's building, ready to kick in the door, knowing this is probably a fight they can't win. They've had enough trouble ganging up on Reapers, but somehow they get the vibe that the Dealer would be even worse of a fight.[0] They decide to try talking this out first.
They head inside and address the ghost of the old lady at the front desk, explaining they're here to talk to her boss regarding the abduction of one of their friends -- or they'd settle for just being directed to the holding cells. She just looks at them for a moment and says he'll be right down.
And sure enough, in about a minute he comes down the stairs. They ask about Abe and he tells them that he doesn't have him. But when a ghost comes down from above, he makes it a point to pump them for information about what's going on in the world above. But he knows where he went, though. He says that he sent Abe to the empty Native American 'village' where the krewe fought Mel. He offers to give them actual directions for a price, but they pass on that and decide to find their own way.
So the krewe hits the metaphorical road and Kenneth uses the bonds he's formed with the ghosts in this corner of the Underworld to find their way to a train track that leads them to that village. On the way there they see cockroaches the size of dogs skittering past them, ignoring the sin-eaters for now. They reach the spot where they find Abe next to Mel's body, going through his pockets.
They call out to him and ask him what he's doing. He tells them that he got grabbed by that Reaper in the bandit mask, managed to get away, but got his ass beat and had to reform at the river. He explains that he's looking for something he can use to open an Avernian Gate from this side. The subject of the nearer gate comes up, and he says that he wasn't planning on using that one, that he's willing to leave Nelson to the suckers stuck out there.
The krewe gets a vibe that something's off about him. Eddy, getting paranoid, reaches out with the Boneyard to claim the chamber and makes it a crime to lie, and then asks Abe what's wrong. Abe reflexively says that nothing's wrong, and is suddenly struck with the marks revealing that's a lie. Then he says he's checking Mel's body for stuff, and that seems to be the truth. Richard asks if he's even Abe, and he truthfully says he is.
They call him out on whatever he's holding back, arguing that he owes them. With a sigh, he reaches into his back pocket... and pulls out the bloody cloth bandit mask, and tosses it to the ground.
Abe is the Reaper.
And they really just unleash on him, utterly pissed and betrayed, as Kenneth picks up the mask, ties it around a rock, and throws it in the nearby golden river, pretty sure the water should dissolve it.
They ask how many ghosts he's 'fed' to the Dealer in the whole previous deal with Mel, and he admits that he brought two to the Dealer, among other ghosts he's dragged down to the Underworld. At first this was a deal offered him to let him move around freely and figure out who he was in life, but he admits he slowly became overwhelmed by the mask.
The krewe's not sure what to do, partially because two of their krewe doctrines are 'Don't let injustice stand,' and 'offer asylum and comfort to the needy' and this seems to be a scenario where these conflict. They talk about it among themselves and decide to leave him to his own devices, and warn him never to go back to the hotel even if he can return to the land of the living. He accepts their judgement as they turn and walk away.
As they start to leave, Eddy is briefly drawn to Mel's body, where his dead flesh is in a weird transitional state between meat and ectoplasm. He studies it for a second and comes to an understanding about where the line is drawn between the two 'states of matter,' giving him the ability to pick up the Caul Haunt.
They use Eddy's Stillness Key to leave the Underworld. While he's not going to do it right this moment he's planning on getting the rug that's Abe's anchor and take it out to the graveyard where Abe is buried and buy it next to his body so all of his anchors are in one place.
And we leave off there.
[0]-- For the record, they're absolutely correct.
No comments:
Post a Comment