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"Here There Be Vampires" A Promise City, Arizona Story Hour
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<blockquote data-quote="orchid blossom" data-source="post: 2819615" data-attributes="member: 12815"><p>Jake says, "It is OK, Ruby. Somebody will help me, keep them moving. We have to hurry and not let Greely have any chance to get away or get more prepared."</p><p></p><p>Minerva turns to Ruby, "He's not that badly hurt and time is of the essence." She continues to stride through the door.</p><p></p><p>Chester picks up the lantern and follows Minerva.</p><p></p><p>"He does need it, Nanuet, thank you." Kate hurried back and grabbed the bottle she'd left on the floor. "We go together. We'll need all of us. Jake, when you're ready you can come down and back us up. Ruby?"</p><p></p><p>Jake stands, "It is not that bad, just looks ugly. Keep moving, I will be with you all."</p><p></p><p>"No, I won't leave Jake," Ruby says. "Go without us if you must go right this second without him being healed."</p><p></p><p>As the others move forward into the hallway Nanuet makes his way forward and kneels down next to Jake. He begins examining the wound carefully. "Well, normally I would like to clean this out first, especially since those dogs seemed a little more crazed than normal, but we don't have the time." He begins a familiar chant and the blue light washes over Jakes wounds with healthy flesh. Soon Jake is on his feet and ready to go again.</p><p></p><p>Nanuet lifts his head towards the doors where the dogs came and looks into the crowded 5' wide hallway. "Wow that smells terrible in there. Maybe I'll hang back a bit," he says with half a smile.</p><p></p><p>Now that Chester has shed some light in the hallway behind the door, he and Minerva are a bit surprised to see there is no other way in or out of this room. The walls appear to be made of very old brick, the floor of dirt and the ceiling is the floor from above. Cobwebs hang very thickly from the ceiling. The smell from the feces and urine of the dogs is nauseating and it is all the two can do to keep from vomiting.</p><p></p><p>Chester wrinkles his nose and coughs. "Ugh. That's horrible. Is there any sorcery that can clear the room?" Check for hidden passages. He starts tapping on the walls with the hammer.</p><p></p><p>Minerva, gagging, backs out of the room. "I think we need Ruby to check for hidden doors. This is her expertise."</p><p></p><p>Kate stays in the doorway as long as she can still see Chester. "I'll have to follow them soon, they can't do this alone," she said. "Jake, all healed up?"</p><p></p><p>"Yes, good as new." Hearing that they are not finding anything, Jake says, "He is here somewhere, I cannot believe he is not. Nanuet, can you do some kind of search or detection for that foul spawn?"</p><p></p><p>"Well, not through walls for sure, but I haven't prayed for that ability today, perhaps Minerva has?"</p><p></p><p>Ruby sighs. She looks at Jake then down the stinky hallway. "Fine." She covers her nose with her hand, then enters the hallway. She checks the walls and floors for any kind of secret door.</p><p></p><p>"I don't know any magic to find hidden doors. I wish I knew one to fix that smell," Kate said.</p><p></p><p>Chester taps on the walls, but the old bricks do not reveal any secrets. Soon he is overcome by the stench and begins coughing and vomiting.</p><p></p><p>He drops the hammer and lantern and rushes out of the hall. Once he's in fresher air, he gulps down breaths and spits out the foul taste. He says to Nanuet, "I'll be OK. Those dogs have been in there a while."</p><p></p><p>"Mierda," Jake spits and picks up the shotgun and shells from the ground. He begins checking the walls in the room with the cot while he reloads the shotgun.</p><p></p><p>Ruby is in the hallway for about half a minute before she finds a brick that does not match the others, she checks it over quickly but does not find it trapped so she presses hard on it. A grinding sound is soon heard and the end of the hallway slides open to reveal a stairwell.</p><p></p><p>The only items Jake finds in the room are a cigar box with about $3 in coins in it and a change of clothes that appear to be Thom's size and style.</p><p></p><p>"Everyone ready?" Ruby calls out as she heads quickly to the stairs, not wanting to stay in the stench. She begins heading down the stairs.</p><p></p><p>Kate took a deep breath before heading down the stairs after Ruby, casting a light spell on her bracelet as the same time.</p><p></p><p>"Kate," she whispers as they walk, "Please don't let me do anything... bad."</p><p></p><p>"I won't, honey," she said softly. "We'll all be alright."</p><p></p><p>Hearing that they found something and are moving, Jake goes back to the outer room, retrieves his bag and follows behind the others.</p><p></p><p>As Ruby heads towards the stairs she feels a pinch on her neck. She feels a abnormal sting and her left arm tingles for a moment.</p><p></p><p>"Ouch!" she says loudly, putting her hand to her neck. She notices her other arm feels funny but as she rubs it stops. "That was odd..." she mutters. "Did anyone else get bitten by something?" Ruby feels a second pinch, this time the tingling seems to last a little longer.</p><p></p><p>"No," Kate said. "But I wouldn't be surprised at all by bugs down here. Do you feel alright?"</p><p></p><p>"OW!" Ruby gives a little scream. Then she smacks at her neck, doing a little bug dance, trying to smush whatever pesky bug is biting at her.</p><p></p><p>Ruby feels a satisfying crunch under her palm as she smacks at her shoulder. A spider the size of a half dollar is revealed along with two welts that appear to be swollen and red.</p><p></p><p>Jake stops and turns back, grabs the shotgun on the floor that he had taken away from Tom and takes it with him hurrying after the others.</p><p></p><p>"Actually..." Ruby starts feeling a bit light headed and weak, "I don't feel so well." Her legs give out slightly underneath her and she grabs at the wall to keep herself upright.</p><p></p><p>"Ruby!" Kate got down by her friend and looked at the spider and the welts.</p><p></p><p>Kate is able to tell that the bites are poisonous. It does not seem like a serious poison but it could still be working in Ruby's system, the full effects possibly not showing up yet.</p><p></p><p>"Ugh," Ruby spits out, while pushing the spider to the floor. She squishes it under her the heel of her boot. "Dammit. How does it look Kate? I'm tingly."</p><p></p><p>"Honey, listen to me. You're going to feel strange for a while, and it might get worse before it gets better. The spider's bite is poisonous, but it's not serious, it'll fade. Still, we'd best go to the back. Let the others get ahead of us."</p><p></p><p>"But I have to stay up here to find other doors," Ruby protests. "What do you mean it might get worse before it gets better?"</p><p></p><p>"Alright, but you stay with me, and you tell me if it feels worse. You said it's tingly. That sensation might become stronger, you might feel some numbness. I'm not sure what else. When we get out of here I mix up a poultice to draw out whatever's still in you. Let's find the doors and get this over with."</p><p></p><p>There is only one door to be found, and even with the light spell the steps beyond go down further than either Kate or Ruby can see.</p><p></p><p>"You know Kate, I don't feel well, you're right. Let's go to the back and let Minerva and Chester go before us. We can go back up if we have to."</p><p></p><p>Ruby and Kate let the others pass them by. "Jake, I got bit by a really hugely gross spider."</p><p></p><p>That makes Jake start looking around more, and making sure there are no more on Ruby. "Are you going to be fine?" he asks with a tone of concern.</p><p></p><p>Jake finds no more spiders or anything else of concern on Ruby. The original bites do still look swollen and red. Also when looking around the hallway he does not spot any more bugs that appear to be able to do any harm.</p><p></p><p>"It's going to be uncomfortable, but not deadly. She'll be fine, but we're staying to the back. Let's get moving. Once we're out of here I might be able to do something about it."</p><p></p><p>"How should I know? I'm not the healer around here." Ruby realizes her tone was harsh. "I'm sorry Jake, I just want to get this over with. I don't know, I'm tingly. Kate said it could get worse. How do I know if I will be fine?"</p><p></p><p>"There might be more of them. Jake, could you burn the webs with that flaming knife of yours?"</p><p></p><p>"I do not see any more Chet, but if we see webs I will burn them. Keep moving, we are wasting time. You and Minerva keep walking." Jake turns to Nanuet, "Can you check Ruby? Can you do anything?"</p><p></p><p>"I'll be fine, let's just go." She makes a move motion towards Chester and Minerva. "Greely will escape if we don't hurry."</p><p></p><p>Nanuet says, "I think Kate already did the same thing I would do. If it is poison then my healing magic will not work, she will need time and treatment to help with the poison. But I do believe that the affects would have hit her fully by now if there were more to come."</p><p></p><p>"I'll keep an eye on her. Time to go gentlemen." She waved her hand forward to shoo them and hefted her bottle again. "We're bringing up the rear."</p><p></p><p>Minerva and Chester lengthen their stride, they listen momentarily before going down the stairs, watching around them for doors or anything unusual.</p><p></p><p>Minvera takes one step beyond the door way and screams as there is no actual step where she places her foot. She tumbles 10 feet landing on a bed of spikes, getting pierced by 3 of them. </p><p></p><p>Chester swipes at Minerva as she falls but can't grab her in time and just manages to keep himself from falling in as well.</p><p></p><p>"Hermes!" Jake cries out as she screams. When the word passes back that she fell, he pulls out the remaining rope from his bag and passes it forward.</p><p></p><p>Chester waves his arms as he regains his balance. "Minerva! Nanuet, she fell down a hole." He gets on his stomach at the edge of the hole. "Minerva, are you OK?"</p><p></p><p>Minerva pulls herself up and looks around in the dim light. "I'll be alright. I need some light down here."</p><p></p><p>She is in a pit that appears to have been dug out by hand. It is quite narrow, really only wide enough for one person to fall down. The spikes are sharpened wooden stakes and each is about 2 feet long. She can see Chester's face as he kneels over the edge so she knows that she is not that far down. It would be tough but not impossible for her to climb out on her own.</p><p></p><p>Minerva attempts to break off a couple of spikes to help her climb out of the hole. They break off easily enough but aren't much help in climbing.</p><p></p><p>"Minerva!" Nanuet cries out frantically, "Are you alright?" He rushes to the edge of the stairs and lies down next to Chester. He takes the rope from Jake, "You hold the end," he commands to Jake while offering the other end to Minerva. "Can you climb up?"</p><p></p><p>"What kind of a place is this?" Kate grated. A mage hand spell wasn't strong enough to help bring her up, but she could perhaps make her lighter if it became necessary. She took a roll of bandage from her pocket and cast a light spell on it. Just as it was ready she was already trying to climb out. She held it forward to give the others a better view.</p><p></p><p>Minerva tucks the stakes into the back of her belt and placing hands around the rope and her foot on the wall to brace herself, she pulls herself up the rope.</p><p></p><p>Once the rope is in use it is easy to get Minerva out of the hole. Now that she is back on solid ground, everyone can see that the first few steps must have been an illusion of some sort and that the real steps appear to start after the gap. You all figure you can step over the gap and onto the stairs and continue.</p><p></p><p>Minerva eyes the step gingerly and brushes at her skirt. "Let's keep moving." she says with grim determination. she tosses one of the stakes over to the step to be sure that it is real and then leaps over to it and picks up the stake.</p><p></p><p>After Minerva is up, Jake stuffs the rope back in his bag and picks up the lantern. With the bag over his shoulder, the latern in his left hand and his duster open at the waist for access to his pistols he leans Tom's shotgun on the wall. "Katherine can you take that with you? I do not want Tom to find it if he breaks free." He scans the stair way and carefully crosses it. "Follow me," he says as he carefully makes his way down the stairs, checking carefully for more problems as he goes.</p><p></p><p>"Considering I'm almost out of tricks, I'm thrilled to carry it," Kate answered and hefted the weapon. On her turn she lightly leapt over the missing stairs and followed the others.</p><p></p><p>She tossed the lit bandage to Miss Florencia. "Here," she said. "The light will be stronger spread out."</p><p></p><p>With Jake scouting ahead the party makes their way down the long stairway. Just as they are about to get discouraged the stairs comes to an end. Before the group now is a huge chamber supported by many pillars. Even with multiple light sources it is impossible to see the sides or far end of this large chamber. The light does however pick up the glint of metal from one of the nearby pillars. Nolan Edwards' holy symbol hangs from a nail about 4 feet off the ground.</p><p></p><p>"We're going to have to be more careful from here on in. I guess Greeley doesn't like guests," Chester says.</p><p></p><p>Kate pointed to the symbol and said quietly, "That explains why I couldn't find him this morning. We should have insisted he stay in the house." She kept her back carefully against a wall, with the gun hefted and ready as her eyes scanned for any sign of the monstrous Greely or his coffin.</p><p></p><p>"Damnation," Chester says. "Greely has a lot to answer for. He must have been behind this the whole time. All this doesn't appear in a few months. Watch the shadows everybody."</p><p></p><p>"Lead on deputy, let us be rid of this impolite host then." Jake falls back next to Ruby, blocking her view of the room and it from her. He whispers, "Why not make yourself invisible? You have a stake right?"</p><p></p><p>She nods, "Yes, I have one." She gives one quick glance around the room before speaking a few words, then disappearing before Jake's eyes. "If something happens to me, I hope you can find me." With those words Jake feels Ruby brush past him.</p><p></p><p>She enters into the room freely, guessing the vampire can sense her anyway. She walks straight up the center of the room towards the opposite side. As she walks she pulls out the stake. She tries to keep her steps as light as she can.</p><p></p><p>Ruby finds herself quickly enveloped by darkness. She knows she is headed in the correct direction by using the light of the lantern as her guide. She counts out her steps and figures she is about 100 feet away from the group and she has still not come across another wall or any other landmark besides the pillars.</p><p></p><p>Jake turns back and hefts the lantern high, following after Chester on the left side of the room. He is looking and listening carefully.</p><p></p><p>Kate followed the others into the room, continuing to keep her back to the wall and slowly inching along. She felt the comforting weight of the bottles in her pocket and kept a sharp eye for the coffin.</p><p></p><p>Minerva follows behind Jake, her senses alert for any trouble.</p><p></p><p>A voice calls out from the darkness, beyond any of the light sources. "So, you've finally found me! I was sure once that Edwards fella showed up things might get ugly, but he proved an easy foe. I hope you put up more of a challenge than he did. If I have to abandon the home I've made here I want there to be a good reason."</p><p></p><p>Suddenly the air around the party is alive. The sound of chittering and the flapping of wings is all around them as bats swarm in from every direction.</p><p></p><p>Kate took the gun and swung it like a baseball bat, trying to keep the creatures away from her. From her talks with Edwards she knew this was Greely, but she didn't know if she could damage him in this form.</p><p></p><p>While they cannot see her, the little tribe suddenly hears Ruby's sweet singing voice, singing a song about being brave and striking true to defeat foes in the face of great evil.</p><p></p><p>Chester tries to stand amidst the swarm. "Is that all you got? A flock of bats?"</p><p></p><p>"Oh no," Greely's voice says. "I had nothing to do with that, they are just my neighbors. I haven't even started yet."</p><p></p><p>Jake ducks slightly and pulls his sawed-off shot gun out. He glances around to see where his friends are before he fires one and then another shot above head height into the chamber at the bats fluttering about.</p><p></p><p>Kate manages to keep the bats away from her and Jake has success clearing most of them out with his shotgun blasts, the room goes quiet again, only Ruby's singing can be heard from ahead in the darkness.</p><p></p><p>Minerva hears the evil voice and shudders, momentarily doubting her ability to defeat such a powerful monstrosity. Ruby's sweet voice floats on the air causing Minerva's courage to return. <em>If she can stand and sing in the face of such evil than I too can be strong.</em></p><p></p><p>Ruby suddenly changes the song she is singing. Jake recognizes the song as the one Ruby sings when she wants to get inside information from people.</p><p></p><p>Ruby feels another mind in the room, one that is not one of her friends. She begins to focus on it when she suddenly feels a mental wall thrown up, blocking her mental probes. She continues to try and get around it but it's will is too strong and it keeps her at bay.</p><p></p><p>"Dammit," she swears, "Come out and play you bastard, you can't hide forever..." As she continues to try to look into the shadows, she reaches back and pulls a long rod out of her pack. She tucks her gun into her skirt band while keeping the stake in her other hand.</p><p></p><p>Kate makes her way along the wall, watching the pillars cast eerie shadows on the floor. She moves about 80 feet from the door.</p><p></p><p>Jake tucks the empty shotgun back under his duster, hanging from its lanyard. He removes and unstops the vial of holy water, holding it in his right hand and keeping the lantern high in his left. He continues moving down the room, watching the walls, ceilings and pillars; not knowing what Greely is capable of doing.</p><p></p><p>Chester hustles over to duck behind a column on his left. No sense in staying out in the open. Chester holsters his gun and unslings his rifle. He scans the shadows, looking for the source of the voice. "So how long have you been pulling the strings around here?"</p><p></p><p>Nanuet calls out, "We are not afraid of you and your evil ways, you shall be defeated by us." Nanuet makes a quick move into the room, his keen eyes searching in the darkness for his foe, a stake in one hand, his gun in the other.</p><p></p><p>Kate stopped and started back, not having yet seen the coffin and not wanting to leave herself alone and vulnerable.</p><p></p><p>As Kate makes her way back towards the door where she came into the room she sees something moving quickly on the ceiling. Soon she can see that it is man and he is crawling along the ceiling like a spider. He jumps down and stares at her with his powerful gaze. At first Kate can feel him bending her will but she is able to fight it off and look away.</p><p></p><p>Kate kept her gaze down but could still see below his waist. Quickly she cast a cantrip and threw the ray at Greely's lower half. A ray of white light comes from Kate's hand and beams directly into Greely's legs. A low whimper comes from him indicating it did hurt him but he recovers and chuckles moving closer to Kate in a slow and deliberate manner.</p><p></p><p>"He's here!" Kate yelled, casting the cantrip again and using the last of her real damaging spells. Her waving hands moved the winking light of the bracelet as she cast again.</p><p></p><p>Minerva turns when she hears Greely and Katherine. She pulls out her holy water and moves in their direction.</p><p></p><p>Chester advance toward Kate's voice, rifle at the ready. He quickly searches for Greely. <em>Where are you? You're not leaving here alive.</em></p><p></p><p>This time Greely manages to dodge the ray and he continues to make his way towards Kate trying to stay out of the moving light coming from her wrist.</p><p></p><p>At Kate's call, Ruby turned quickly on her heel and moved towards them, gripping the stake tighter in her hand. Her heart pounding she repeated to herself, <em>Don't look in his eyes, don't look in his eyes...</em> </p><p></p><p>With most of his group between him and Katherine, Jake instead bolts down the rest of the room running quickly looking for Greely's coffin. He runs for about 10 seconds before he reaches the other side of the room. There he can see a small opening in the wall. Once he peers inside he can see what he was looking for, a large black coffin lays on a bier in the otherwise empty side chamber.</p><p></p><p>Kate, Chester, Minerva, and Ruby can all see Greely now as he is illuminated by the light from Kate's spell. He appears different than he did above ground in the saloon, his skin now very pale, almost white, his body more taunt and muscular, his frame taller and more intimidating. He lunges forward at Kate grasping at her. As he closes she reflexively points Thom's gun at him and fires but her unfamiliarity with the weapon makes it ineffective. Greely grabs Kate with iron strong hands pulling her hair back to reveal her neck and then he bites into her flesh.</p><p></p><p>Ruby sees Greely clearly, as he goes for Kate's neck. Ruby runs full speed towards them, stake in hand and with the full force of her body she comes up behind Greely, attempting to stab him through the heart with the stake.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly Ruby becomes visible as she slams into Greely with the stake in hand. She hits him solidly, but for some reason her attack is turned aside, doing little or no damage to the monster.</p><p></p><p>Minerva rushes over. She throws her bottle holy water on him and it splashes over the vampire and Kate. Greely howls in anguish as the water burns his skin but he maintains his hold on Kate.</p><p></p><p>"Kate!" Chester drops his rifle and draws the stake and hammer. He tries to come up behind Greely.</p><p></p><p>Kate screamed as the sharp pain of the bite pierced her neck. She took her free hand and grabbed the bottle of holy water she had, then smashed it against Greely's face. </p><p></p><p>Greely again howls in pain as the holy liquid burns his face, this time causing him to release Kate. Kate also cries out in pain as the glass slices deeply into her hand causing blood to flow freely. Once she was free Kate dove away from Greely, ignoring the pain in her hand until she was well away from the creature.</p><p></p><p>Nanuet runs towards the evil creature attacking Katherine. When he gets there he casts cure moderate wounds, using his hands to deliver the spell and try to pry the creature off. Nanuet is able to put his hands on the creature and the positive healing energy that comes forth causes Greely to stagger as it sears his flesh.</p><p></p><p>In the mayhem Chester is able to move up close to the creature and prepare for his strike. He watches as Ruby tries to drive the stake into Greely. <em>I'm stronger than she is, plus I have a hammer. If this doesn't go in, then the Bowie knife is next.</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="orchid blossom, post: 2819615, member: 12815"] Jake says, "It is OK, Ruby. Somebody will help me, keep them moving. We have to hurry and not let Greely have any chance to get away or get more prepared." Minerva turns to Ruby, "He's not that badly hurt and time is of the essence." She continues to stride through the door. Chester picks up the lantern and follows Minerva. "He does need it, Nanuet, thank you." Kate hurried back and grabbed the bottle she'd left on the floor. "We go together. We'll need all of us. Jake, when you're ready you can come down and back us up. Ruby?" Jake stands, "It is not that bad, just looks ugly. Keep moving, I will be with you all." "No, I won't leave Jake," Ruby says. "Go without us if you must go right this second without him being healed." As the others move forward into the hallway Nanuet makes his way forward and kneels down next to Jake. He begins examining the wound carefully. "Well, normally I would like to clean this out first, especially since those dogs seemed a little more crazed than normal, but we don't have the time." He begins a familiar chant and the blue light washes over Jakes wounds with healthy flesh. Soon Jake is on his feet and ready to go again. Nanuet lifts his head towards the doors where the dogs came and looks into the crowded 5' wide hallway. "Wow that smells terrible in there. Maybe I'll hang back a bit," he says with half a smile. Now that Chester has shed some light in the hallway behind the door, he and Minerva are a bit surprised to see there is no other way in or out of this room. The walls appear to be made of very old brick, the floor of dirt and the ceiling is the floor from above. Cobwebs hang very thickly from the ceiling. The smell from the feces and urine of the dogs is nauseating and it is all the two can do to keep from vomiting. Chester wrinkles his nose and coughs. "Ugh. That's horrible. Is there any sorcery that can clear the room?" Check for hidden passages. He starts tapping on the walls with the hammer. Minerva, gagging, backs out of the room. "I think we need Ruby to check for hidden doors. This is her expertise." Kate stays in the doorway as long as she can still see Chester. "I'll have to follow them soon, they can't do this alone," she said. "Jake, all healed up?" "Yes, good as new." Hearing that they are not finding anything, Jake says, "He is here somewhere, I cannot believe he is not. Nanuet, can you do some kind of search or detection for that foul spawn?" "Well, not through walls for sure, but I haven't prayed for that ability today, perhaps Minerva has?" Ruby sighs. She looks at Jake then down the stinky hallway. "Fine." She covers her nose with her hand, then enters the hallway. She checks the walls and floors for any kind of secret door. "I don't know any magic to find hidden doors. I wish I knew one to fix that smell," Kate said. Chester taps on the walls, but the old bricks do not reveal any secrets. Soon he is overcome by the stench and begins coughing and vomiting. He drops the hammer and lantern and rushes out of the hall. Once he's in fresher air, he gulps down breaths and spits out the foul taste. He says to Nanuet, "I'll be OK. Those dogs have been in there a while." "Mierda," Jake spits and picks up the shotgun and shells from the ground. He begins checking the walls in the room with the cot while he reloads the shotgun. Ruby is in the hallway for about half a minute before she finds a brick that does not match the others, she checks it over quickly but does not find it trapped so she presses hard on it. A grinding sound is soon heard and the end of the hallway slides open to reveal a stairwell. The only items Jake finds in the room are a cigar box with about $3 in coins in it and a change of clothes that appear to be Thom's size and style. "Everyone ready?" Ruby calls out as she heads quickly to the stairs, not wanting to stay in the stench. She begins heading down the stairs. Kate took a deep breath before heading down the stairs after Ruby, casting a light spell on her bracelet as the same time. "Kate," she whispers as they walk, "Please don't let me do anything... bad." "I won't, honey," she said softly. "We'll all be alright." Hearing that they found something and are moving, Jake goes back to the outer room, retrieves his bag and follows behind the others. As Ruby heads towards the stairs she feels a pinch on her neck. She feels a abnormal sting and her left arm tingles for a moment. "Ouch!" she says loudly, putting her hand to her neck. She notices her other arm feels funny but as she rubs it stops. "That was odd..." she mutters. "Did anyone else get bitten by something?" Ruby feels a second pinch, this time the tingling seems to last a little longer. "No," Kate said. "But I wouldn't be surprised at all by bugs down here. Do you feel alright?" "OW!" Ruby gives a little scream. Then she smacks at her neck, doing a little bug dance, trying to smush whatever pesky bug is biting at her. Ruby feels a satisfying crunch under her palm as she smacks at her shoulder. A spider the size of a half dollar is revealed along with two welts that appear to be swollen and red. Jake stops and turns back, grabs the shotgun on the floor that he had taken away from Tom and takes it with him hurrying after the others. "Actually..." Ruby starts feeling a bit light headed and weak, "I don't feel so well." Her legs give out slightly underneath her and she grabs at the wall to keep herself upright. "Ruby!" Kate got down by her friend and looked at the spider and the welts. Kate is able to tell that the bites are poisonous. It does not seem like a serious poison but it could still be working in Ruby's system, the full effects possibly not showing up yet. "Ugh," Ruby spits out, while pushing the spider to the floor. She squishes it under her the heel of her boot. "Dammit. How does it look Kate? I'm tingly." "Honey, listen to me. You're going to feel strange for a while, and it might get worse before it gets better. The spider's bite is poisonous, but it's not serious, it'll fade. Still, we'd best go to the back. Let the others get ahead of us." "But I have to stay up here to find other doors," Ruby protests. "What do you mean it might get worse before it gets better?" "Alright, but you stay with me, and you tell me if it feels worse. You said it's tingly. That sensation might become stronger, you might feel some numbness. I'm not sure what else. When we get out of here I mix up a poultice to draw out whatever's still in you. Let's find the doors and get this over with." There is only one door to be found, and even with the light spell the steps beyond go down further than either Kate or Ruby can see. "You know Kate, I don't feel well, you're right. Let's go to the back and let Minerva and Chester go before us. We can go back up if we have to." Ruby and Kate let the others pass them by. "Jake, I got bit by a really hugely gross spider." That makes Jake start looking around more, and making sure there are no more on Ruby. "Are you going to be fine?" he asks with a tone of concern. Jake finds no more spiders or anything else of concern on Ruby. The original bites do still look swollen and red. Also when looking around the hallway he does not spot any more bugs that appear to be able to do any harm. "It's going to be uncomfortable, but not deadly. She'll be fine, but we're staying to the back. Let's get moving. Once we're out of here I might be able to do something about it." "How should I know? I'm not the healer around here." Ruby realizes her tone was harsh. "I'm sorry Jake, I just want to get this over with. I don't know, I'm tingly. Kate said it could get worse. How do I know if I will be fine?" "There might be more of them. Jake, could you burn the webs with that flaming knife of yours?" "I do not see any more Chet, but if we see webs I will burn them. Keep moving, we are wasting time. You and Minerva keep walking." Jake turns to Nanuet, "Can you check Ruby? Can you do anything?" "I'll be fine, let's just go." She makes a move motion towards Chester and Minerva. "Greely will escape if we don't hurry." Nanuet says, "I think Kate already did the same thing I would do. If it is poison then my healing magic will not work, she will need time and treatment to help with the poison. But I do believe that the affects would have hit her fully by now if there were more to come." "I'll keep an eye on her. Time to go gentlemen." She waved her hand forward to shoo them and hefted her bottle again. "We're bringing up the rear." Minerva and Chester lengthen their stride, they listen momentarily before going down the stairs, watching around them for doors or anything unusual. Minvera takes one step beyond the door way and screams as there is no actual step where she places her foot. She tumbles 10 feet landing on a bed of spikes, getting pierced by 3 of them. Chester swipes at Minerva as she falls but can't grab her in time and just manages to keep himself from falling in as well. "Hermes!" Jake cries out as she screams. When the word passes back that she fell, he pulls out the remaining rope from his bag and passes it forward. Chester waves his arms as he regains his balance. "Minerva! Nanuet, she fell down a hole." He gets on his stomach at the edge of the hole. "Minerva, are you OK?" Minerva pulls herself up and looks around in the dim light. "I'll be alright. I need some light down here." She is in a pit that appears to have been dug out by hand. It is quite narrow, really only wide enough for one person to fall down. The spikes are sharpened wooden stakes and each is about 2 feet long. She can see Chester's face as he kneels over the edge so she knows that she is not that far down. It would be tough but not impossible for her to climb out on her own. Minerva attempts to break off a couple of spikes to help her climb out of the hole. They break off easily enough but aren't much help in climbing. "Minerva!" Nanuet cries out frantically, "Are you alright?" He rushes to the edge of the stairs and lies down next to Chester. He takes the rope from Jake, "You hold the end," he commands to Jake while offering the other end to Minerva. "Can you climb up?" "What kind of a place is this?" Kate grated. A mage hand spell wasn't strong enough to help bring her up, but she could perhaps make her lighter if it became necessary. She took a roll of bandage from her pocket and cast a light spell on it. Just as it was ready she was already trying to climb out. She held it forward to give the others a better view. Minerva tucks the stakes into the back of her belt and placing hands around the rope and her foot on the wall to brace herself, she pulls herself up the rope. Once the rope is in use it is easy to get Minerva out of the hole. Now that she is back on solid ground, everyone can see that the first few steps must have been an illusion of some sort and that the real steps appear to start after the gap. You all figure you can step over the gap and onto the stairs and continue. Minerva eyes the step gingerly and brushes at her skirt. "Let's keep moving." she says with grim determination. she tosses one of the stakes over to the step to be sure that it is real and then leaps over to it and picks up the stake. After Minerva is up, Jake stuffs the rope back in his bag and picks up the lantern. With the bag over his shoulder, the latern in his left hand and his duster open at the waist for access to his pistols he leans Tom's shotgun on the wall. "Katherine can you take that with you? I do not want Tom to find it if he breaks free." He scans the stair way and carefully crosses it. "Follow me," he says as he carefully makes his way down the stairs, checking carefully for more problems as he goes. "Considering I'm almost out of tricks, I'm thrilled to carry it," Kate answered and hefted the weapon. On her turn she lightly leapt over the missing stairs and followed the others. She tossed the lit bandage to Miss Florencia. "Here," she said. "The light will be stronger spread out." With Jake scouting ahead the party makes their way down the long stairway. Just as they are about to get discouraged the stairs comes to an end. Before the group now is a huge chamber supported by many pillars. Even with multiple light sources it is impossible to see the sides or far end of this large chamber. The light does however pick up the glint of metal from one of the nearby pillars. Nolan Edwards' holy symbol hangs from a nail about 4 feet off the ground. "We're going to have to be more careful from here on in. I guess Greeley doesn't like guests," Chester says. Kate pointed to the symbol and said quietly, "That explains why I couldn't find him this morning. We should have insisted he stay in the house." She kept her back carefully against a wall, with the gun hefted and ready as her eyes scanned for any sign of the monstrous Greely or his coffin. "Damnation," Chester says. "Greely has a lot to answer for. He must have been behind this the whole time. All this doesn't appear in a few months. Watch the shadows everybody." "Lead on deputy, let us be rid of this impolite host then." Jake falls back next to Ruby, blocking her view of the room and it from her. He whispers, "Why not make yourself invisible? You have a stake right?" She nods, "Yes, I have one." She gives one quick glance around the room before speaking a few words, then disappearing before Jake's eyes. "If something happens to me, I hope you can find me." With those words Jake feels Ruby brush past him. She enters into the room freely, guessing the vampire can sense her anyway. She walks straight up the center of the room towards the opposite side. As she walks she pulls out the stake. She tries to keep her steps as light as she can. Ruby finds herself quickly enveloped by darkness. She knows she is headed in the correct direction by using the light of the lantern as her guide. She counts out her steps and figures she is about 100 feet away from the group and she has still not come across another wall or any other landmark besides the pillars. Jake turns back and hefts the lantern high, following after Chester on the left side of the room. He is looking and listening carefully. Kate followed the others into the room, continuing to keep her back to the wall and slowly inching along. She felt the comforting weight of the bottles in her pocket and kept a sharp eye for the coffin. Minerva follows behind Jake, her senses alert for any trouble. A voice calls out from the darkness, beyond any of the light sources. "So, you've finally found me! I was sure once that Edwards fella showed up things might get ugly, but he proved an easy foe. I hope you put up more of a challenge than he did. If I have to abandon the home I've made here I want there to be a good reason." Suddenly the air around the party is alive. The sound of chittering and the flapping of wings is all around them as bats swarm in from every direction. Kate took the gun and swung it like a baseball bat, trying to keep the creatures away from her. From her talks with Edwards she knew this was Greely, but she didn't know if she could damage him in this form. While they cannot see her, the little tribe suddenly hears Ruby's sweet singing voice, singing a song about being brave and striking true to defeat foes in the face of great evil. Chester tries to stand amidst the swarm. "Is that all you got? A flock of bats?" "Oh no," Greely's voice says. "I had nothing to do with that, they are just my neighbors. I haven't even started yet." Jake ducks slightly and pulls his sawed-off shot gun out. He glances around to see where his friends are before he fires one and then another shot above head height into the chamber at the bats fluttering about. Kate manages to keep the bats away from her and Jake has success clearing most of them out with his shotgun blasts, the room goes quiet again, only Ruby's singing can be heard from ahead in the darkness. Minerva hears the evil voice and shudders, momentarily doubting her ability to defeat such a powerful monstrosity. Ruby's sweet voice floats on the air causing Minerva's courage to return. [i]If she can stand and sing in the face of such evil than I too can be strong.[/i] Ruby suddenly changes the song she is singing. Jake recognizes the song as the one Ruby sings when she wants to get inside information from people. Ruby feels another mind in the room, one that is not one of her friends. She begins to focus on it when she suddenly feels a mental wall thrown up, blocking her mental probes. She continues to try and get around it but it's will is too strong and it keeps her at bay. "Dammit," she swears, "Come out and play you bastard, you can't hide forever..." As she continues to try to look into the shadows, she reaches back and pulls a long rod out of her pack. She tucks her gun into her skirt band while keeping the stake in her other hand. Kate makes her way along the wall, watching the pillars cast eerie shadows on the floor. She moves about 80 feet from the door. Jake tucks the empty shotgun back under his duster, hanging from its lanyard. He removes and unstops the vial of holy water, holding it in his right hand and keeping the lantern high in his left. He continues moving down the room, watching the walls, ceilings and pillars; not knowing what Greely is capable of doing. Chester hustles over to duck behind a column on his left. No sense in staying out in the open. Chester holsters his gun and unslings his rifle. He scans the shadows, looking for the source of the voice. "So how long have you been pulling the strings around here?" Nanuet calls out, "We are not afraid of you and your evil ways, you shall be defeated by us." Nanuet makes a quick move into the room, his keen eyes searching in the darkness for his foe, a stake in one hand, his gun in the other. Kate stopped and started back, not having yet seen the coffin and not wanting to leave herself alone and vulnerable. As Kate makes her way back towards the door where she came into the room she sees something moving quickly on the ceiling. Soon she can see that it is man and he is crawling along the ceiling like a spider. He jumps down and stares at her with his powerful gaze. At first Kate can feel him bending her will but she is able to fight it off and look away. Kate kept her gaze down but could still see below his waist. Quickly she cast a cantrip and threw the ray at Greely's lower half. A ray of white light comes from Kate's hand and beams directly into Greely's legs. A low whimper comes from him indicating it did hurt him but he recovers and chuckles moving closer to Kate in a slow and deliberate manner. "He's here!" Kate yelled, casting the cantrip again and using the last of her real damaging spells. Her waving hands moved the winking light of the bracelet as she cast again. Minerva turns when she hears Greely and Katherine. She pulls out her holy water and moves in their direction. Chester advance toward Kate's voice, rifle at the ready. He quickly searches for Greely. [i]Where are you? You're not leaving here alive.[/i] This time Greely manages to dodge the ray and he continues to make his way towards Kate trying to stay out of the moving light coming from her wrist. At Kate's call, Ruby turned quickly on her heel and moved towards them, gripping the stake tighter in her hand. Her heart pounding she repeated to herself, [i]Don't look in his eyes, don't look in his eyes...[/i] With most of his group between him and Katherine, Jake instead bolts down the rest of the room running quickly looking for Greely's coffin. He runs for about 10 seconds before he reaches the other side of the room. There he can see a small opening in the wall. Once he peers inside he can see what he was looking for, a large black coffin lays on a bier in the otherwise empty side chamber. Kate, Chester, Minerva, and Ruby can all see Greely now as he is illuminated by the light from Kate's spell. He appears different than he did above ground in the saloon, his skin now very pale, almost white, his body more taunt and muscular, his frame taller and more intimidating. He lunges forward at Kate grasping at her. As he closes she reflexively points Thom's gun at him and fires but her unfamiliarity with the weapon makes it ineffective. Greely grabs Kate with iron strong hands pulling her hair back to reveal her neck and then he bites into her flesh. Ruby sees Greely clearly, as he goes for Kate's neck. Ruby runs full speed towards them, stake in hand and with the full force of her body she comes up behind Greely, attempting to stab him through the heart with the stake. Suddenly Ruby becomes visible as she slams into Greely with the stake in hand. She hits him solidly, but for some reason her attack is turned aside, doing little or no damage to the monster. Minerva rushes over. She throws her bottle holy water on him and it splashes over the vampire and Kate. Greely howls in anguish as the water burns his skin but he maintains his hold on Kate. "Kate!" Chester drops his rifle and draws the stake and hammer. He tries to come up behind Greely. Kate screamed as the sharp pain of the bite pierced her neck. She took her free hand and grabbed the bottle of holy water she had, then smashed it against Greely's face. Greely again howls in pain as the holy liquid burns his face, this time causing him to release Kate. Kate also cries out in pain as the glass slices deeply into her hand causing blood to flow freely. Once she was free Kate dove away from Greely, ignoring the pain in her hand until she was well away from the creature. Nanuet runs towards the evil creature attacking Katherine. When he gets there he casts cure moderate wounds, using his hands to deliver the spell and try to pry the creature off. Nanuet is able to put his hands on the creature and the positive healing energy that comes forth causes Greely to stagger as it sears his flesh. In the mayhem Chester is able to move up close to the creature and prepare for his strike. He watches as Ruby tries to drive the stake into Greely. [i]I'm stronger than she is, plus I have a hammer. If this doesn't go in, then the Bowie knife is next.[/i] [/QUOTE]
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"Here There Be Vampires" A Promise City, Arizona Story Hour
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