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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pathfinderq1" data-source="post: 6864817" data-attributes="member: 48394">Horror High 1.4 (after school, day 1); Later- from daylight into darkness[sblock= Bobby and the Coach]>(5 PM): “Hey Bobby, can I talk to you for a few minutes? Yeah, come on in, and close the door, would you? I wanted to talk before practice, but now is just as good.”“Sure thing, Coach Sullivan.” Bobby Campbell was a handsome boy, except the arrogant look that seemed perpetually fixed across his face. Only a sophomore, he was tall for his age, still a bit lanky but beginning to get his real growth spurt- his shoulders, at least, hinted that he was going to be a big guy in a few years, and he had a languid, almost feline grace, unusual for a teenager. He strolled into the coach’s office and sat down without being asked. “What can I do for you, sir?” he asked with a winning smile that soothed over the subtle sarcasm in his tone. He had been feeling weird all day- great, but weird; full of confidence and energy. It was something about being in this school- he knew he should have felt bad, being stuck here at a public school instead of in a higher-class private school like Belmont Hill, but…“I know you want to be part of our team here at Belmont High, Bobby,” the coach said, leaning forward across the desk just a bit. “And I also know that you are NOT eligible to actually play this year.” Bobby’s smile flashed into a scowl, just for a second- he did NOT like being reminded of the consequences of his expulsion from private school; his father had leveled enough punishment.Coach Sullivan smiled, a bit more broadly. “But we aren’t going to let all of that foolishness stand in our way. I mean, boys will be boys, right? It isn’t like you did anything really bad…” In fact, the coach had no idea exactly why Bobby had been expelled from the exclusive all-boys private school- but he didn’t really care either. “I mean, I’ve known your dad for years- so I’m willing to, well, bend the rules a little bit. I got the approvals all lined up for you to be our Team Manager this year- you can’t suit up or anything, but you do earn a Varsity letter, and all of the privileges that go with it. You interested?”Bobby’s smile returned, but it was tense, wary. “I don’t know how I feel about pouring Gatorade and washing uniforms, if that is what you’re offering. I mean, no offense, but…”The coach shook his head, his smile still expanding. “No, it is nothing like that. We’ve got freshmen for that, kids who want to play but aren’t ready yet. They’d kill for anything that makes them feel like part of the team, and we can only use a few of them on the practice squad. And we’ve got a few employees to handle the real dirty work. Manager, well, that’s for somebody with brains, somebody who is willing to LEAD. We would be asking you to handle some of the scheduling of tasks for the grunts, but you don’t need to get your own hands dirty. If you pick anything up, it is something important, like one of the playbooks. You’d be more like a junior coach or something. And, more importantly, you would learn a lot about how we play the game, down here at Belmont High- so next year, when you are eligible to play, and when we are looking for a new quarterback, since Drew is going to graduate, well you would be in a pretty good spot. And, even if you can’t suit up, or take the field, you can do some of the off-field workouts and stuff- we’ve good a really good Strength and Conditioning coach on board. You want to think about it, at least?”Bobby’s smile widened just a bit- now it had a dangerous, almost feral edge to it, the sort of smile that rang alarm bells for most normal people. “I think I’ll take it. When do I start?”[/sblock][sblock= The Three]>(7 PM): Ashley Morgan, Rowena McKenzie, and Holly Merritt had been best friends practically since kindergarten. By the fourth grade, they were all but inseparable- and by junior high almost everyone referred to them as “The Three”. Their friendship had been solidified by a mutual love of the Harry Potter franchise- especially the books. They didn’t talk about it at school (they were Popular after all, not lowly geeks) but when they were alone, they dissected the stories voraciously. And as the years went on, that fascination fostered an interest in many other facets of the occult, and the study of magic. They were not, after all, particularly serious students (none of them wanted to spend the effort needed to learn, like, Latin or Sumerian, not when there was crucial shopping to do)- but they had spent many amusing hours with a Ouija board, or with various old books that they had picked up at tag sales around town, or funky little shops over in Boston.And in their own secret hideout, their private sanctuary- what they called simply ‘The Place”, they decorated accordingly. The Place had started out as a two-car detached garage with an in-law apartment above it- Ashley’s father had converted it into a massive man-cave. When he left after the divorce, Ashley had claimed the space for herself and her friends. Especially after the divorce Ashley’s mom let her get away with almost anything, in a kind of misguided display of love for her only daughter, so The Place was very much their private space- no one besides the Three had seen the inside of the little building in years… It had gone through a number of changes over time, from a Barbie dream house, to the castle of some Disneyesque princess- and as their interest in magic grew, it had evolved in some kind of wizard’s lair that would have been right at home in Hogwarts. In an old and wealthy town like Belmont, you could find all kinds of things that fit the Potter aesthetic- old books, crystals and knick-knacks of all kinds, even old rugs that were woven with ‘magical’ symbols… The floor was brushed and sealed concrete, mostly covered by those old rugs- but there was one clear space in the center of the room, for them to draw their ‘magic circles’; it was covered with a small rug most of the time, simply for comfort, but preparing it didn’t take long. And propped on top of one of the bookshelves was their honorary mascot- a dark-colored fuzzy rabbit; it was one of those BunBun talking toys that had been so popular back in 2014. It had never worked right, spouting only random static- but when the recall went out they had simply taken the batteries out of it and ‘adopted’ it, nicknaming it ‘Oswald the Magic Rabbit’. Oswald kept watch on the Place when they were out, and its ‘supervision’ was an integral part of their “magic rituals”.This year they were seniors, and they had long since decided that they were going to have things their own way this year. After all their years together, it seemed likely that they would be going off to different colleges next fall- so this was going to be THEIR year, the one they could still talk about when they were old and grey, like even forty or something. They had been preparing the whole summer, scouring the local sales and shops for just the right elements- and now the school year was here, the first day of classes was done. Ashley, Rowena, and Holly had all hurried through dinner in the separate houses, and then hurried out to The Place. By the time her friends arrived, Ashley had lined up the candles and stuff for tonight’s big ritual- but they had discussed this before; they were going to wait until the time was right to get things started. Midnight was, of course, the right time- and that was still hours away.So Ashley had been setting up some little lamps, some drinks and snacks and stuff. They could spend a few hours doing their homework and chatting together, going over the most minute details of the first day of school- best friends or not, they did have separate classes and schedules, so there was plenty to talk about, to pass the time until midnight…[/sblock][sblock= Some kind of animal]>(11:15 PM): “Belmont 911- what is your emergency?”“Yeah, listen, I got some kind of animal out on my back porch. I think it might be a bear.”“Sir, you said you have a bear on your back porch? What is your address please?”“I’m at XXX Channing, down across the tracks from the high school. I don’t know if it’s a bear- we used to have lights out back, to keep the kids from cutting across the tracks after school, but… Whatever it is, it sounds really big, and really mad. It keeps growling like a damn chainsaw, and it is clawing at the back door.”“Sir, we have a unit headed your way now. He is going to crank his lights and siren when he arrives, to see if we can scare this thing off. Can you stay on the line with me until he gets there, in case something changes?”“You mean, in case it gets in, right? I sure hope not- we had a break-in a few years back and we put in a reinforced door. If it can get through that…”“Belmont dispatch to BE-23. Be advised, we have a second call on that possible animal at XXX Channing. Came from a neighbor, concerned about the noise. May be a large dog, or several- could even be a bear like the first caller thought; it might have followed the tracks in from Metrowest, Framingham had two bear calls last week. Approach with caution- we have a second unit on the way for back-up.”“This is BE-23 to Belmont dispatch. I am arriving at XXX Channing now- I just gave a blast of the lights and siren and we’ve got house lights coming on all down the block. You may get some more calls. I’m out of the unit, headed around back.  I can hear something back there, definitely a loud growling type of noise. I’m going to pop the trunk for the shotgun- put it in the call log.”“Belmont dispatch to BE-23. Caller is off the phone, but by the front door. Be advised BE-27, Sergeant Riggs gives an ETA of three minutes- he is going to pop his siren when he arrives, so keep your ears open.”“BE-23 to Belmont dispatch. I’m around the corner of the garage- I just saw motion at the edge of my light, and the sound has faded. Whatever it is, I think it might be headed back down towards the tracks. Maybe advise MBCR of a large animal in their right-of-way. Can you reroute BE-27 over to the high school, make sure whatever this is, it doesn’t just go straight across to school property? I didn’t get a good look at it, but it definitely sounds like it is moving out. I’m going to look around a bit, maybe take some pictures or samples if it did any damage to the porch or the door…”“BE-23 to dispatch. I’m looking at the porch right now. I don’t think this was a dog- maybe it was a bear after all, but whatever it was, it clawed the heck out of this door. I’m going to take pictures with the digital for the report. Looks like maybe some fur here too, caught in the splinters on the porch steps and rail. I’m going to collect some of this- we can send it out to be analyzed…”[/sblock]</blockquote>

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