The Arrival

"He took some vicious looking blows to the head, I need to get him to a doctor," Hector said after catching his breath.

Grimm stood around while she did this.

Gabe shakes her head, "You're not going to believe me... I... You're really not going to believe me." Gabe took a deep breath, "I was jogging, and I came up on them, and he," She pointed to Eduj, "Was being attacked by some kind of... creature. I tried to run away but then we somehow were on a mountain overlooking campus. There was this shadow thing there, and we ran away from that until we wound up here..." She ran a hand through her hair, "I'm crazy, aren't I? I'm losing my mind... Oh, Noctis--" Gabe dug around her pocket and saw that she was still connected. She put the phone to her ear, "Noctis?"

"Yes, we're still here," Noct said, "We heard what you said to Senthose. Are you alright? Where are you? We're coming to get you."

Gabe looked around, "I... I think I'm fine. I wasn't hurt or anything, and, um, I don't know where I am, exactly..."

Azuma: "That's tragic."

Mimiru: "For you, maybe. Who'd willingly go see someome who's absolute bonkers? Present company excluded."

S"You're in the downtown area, near A Chinese Place. That is its actual name."

L"We can't just carry him there. If you really think it's that bad, I'll just call an ambulance."

*And so she digs out her phone.*
===============================
Jane<You wouldn't happen to have a computer, would you?>
===============================
E"I'm reasonably certain that our stalkers are in with the Shadow Man. Don't know if that means we should try to confront the priest to force his secrets out, or if we should avoid him for fear of him calling it to attack us."

Azuma: "I'm gonna assume our stalker isn't human. Shot in the dark, but we found nothing around or in the tree by Taiyo's room indicating anyone was around and the other day Mimiru and...someone else were being photographed in the gym."

Mimiru: "We were the only one's present."

"Thank you," Hector said. He glanced at Gabe, unsure of whether to elaborate at all on what just happened or keep quiet.

"No."

*Eve gets a glass of juice*

<Someone was following me in the library, it didn't respond when I called out. I should have tried to see who it was.>
---
How are you today? : )

Gabe relays that info.

"We'll be there in a bit. Try and take it easy until we get there," Noct said. And so they began to make their way over.

--

Gabe hung up, and just kind of stood there, shell shocked. "God... I just keep seeing those wings... What was that thing?"

E"Let's not jump to conclusions here, there are these tricks called 'hiding' & 'covering your tracks.'"

*Roatha eats more Pop-Tarts. Euryale decides that some scrambled eggs & milk would go good with the sausages. Thiera asks if she can have one of Euryale's pieces of toasts, so Euryale passes it over.*
================================
*They wait for Noctis & Mortal to arrive as an ambulance shows up. Lilith looks over.*

L"Wings? What thing?"
================================
*Jane heads into his room & starts examining the bed. She pulls up one side of the mattress, looks around, & heads to the other.*

Jane<What about a cellular phone?>

*She starts reaching into the pillowcases & squeezing the pillows, then pulls aside the covers, smooths them out, & begins smoothing out the sheets.*

*Eve snags a poptart of her own*

<You're right. So, Roatha, what are we going to do about the priest?>

Gabe looked like she was backed into a corner, "Uh, um, nothing... Just... something I saw in the forest. It isn't important." When Noct and Mortal arrived Gabe rushed over, and wrapped her arms around Mortal, and begins crying into her shoulder.

Mortal kind of pats her head, "Uh, it's alright. We're here now. Everything is fine." Gabe tries to say something but it is kind of gibberish.

Noct pats her on the back then looks at Senthose, "Thanks for staying with her."

Azuma: "Must be some kind of naturalist to pull all that off that well."

S"It's not a problem."

L"So, you DO know these people?"

S"Uh...well...it's mostly Noctis I know, I suppose."
============================
T"Has anyone thought to investigate this priest? Look him up on the internet, call the denomination to which his church belongs?"

Mortal looked at Senthose, a bit hurt seeing as how they just went to the movies together last night. She figured his reluctance might have something to do with the redhead, so she didn't say anything.

Noctis shrugged, "I suppose that is true. I'm Noctis, a... an acquaintance of Senthose's I guess. We have a class together."

Hector probably got in the ambulance with Eduj, but stopped to ask Gabe her name.

Grimm retrieved his old, buttoned cell phone and handed it over to her.

Gabe broke off from Mortal, and looked up at Hector as she wiped her eyes, "I'm Gabriel..."

Knowing nothing about the priest aside from he's a whacko, the three resume eating breakfast.

*The ambulance doors are quickly shut & they are whisked away to the hospital.*

<Blood count is low. Not life-threatening, but it's not clear how he lost it.>

*The paramedic holds 3 fingers in front of Eduj.*

<How many fingers do you see, Son?>
================================
L"Listen, I'd better check on my sister after all. I'll talk to you later."

*Senthose waves as Lilith sets off down the crosswalk.*

S"Yeah, she's not calling me back. We should probably get you to the nurse's station, come to think of it."
===============================
*She clicks around his messages for a while, then hands it back to him.*

Jane<Perhaps our suspect was the stalker, & that's the link between you.>

*In his messages are several pictures of Grimm cleaning the church, taken through the door, the broken window, & even the hall into the back room. Occasionally, there is a message accompanying it. A few cliche threats, Always watching you, & Do you see me? Guess who, but also a peculiar one, Your church? Stole it from me.*

Jane<The suspect had a stolen cell phone on him. Your number was in his recent calls, but most of the message history was erased.>

*Jane has resumed her search. After looking under the bed, she starts going through his clothing drawers.*
===============================
T"Well, I guess that settles it. We're going to the library."

R"Do we have to?"

"Shame. She was cute," Noct shrugged, "Sorry about that." She then looked at Gabe, who had done a good job of calming herself down.

"I don't think I really need to go to the nurse," She said, "I was just really scared, but nothing ever hit me. Though I remember getting these waves of hot and cold at one point..."

"Having hot flashes?" Mortal asked.

"No... it, uh... happened when the shadow figure started to walk towards me," Gabe's eyes kind of glazed over as she recalled the memory, and she was left in a cold sweat from the fear.

"Uh, do you expect that man to be the only suspect?" Grimm asked, looking fairly disturbed. "These messages are quite jarring."

"I'm Hector," Hector had said before the doors were closed.
Eduj looked up at the paramedic, blinked a few times and gave a laboured answer, "Uhh, 3...?"

Tired. You?

Azuma: "Have fun with that."

Azuma stands up and goes to take his empty plate to wherever.

Azuma: "Thanks for breakfast."

"See, the more you say, the more certain I am that you were bitten by a snake."
==============================
Jane<I do. We grilled him for hours, & interviewed at least 90% of the homeless population, but there is no evidence that he had any accomplices.>

*She closes the last drawer.*

Jane<Well, Roatha's clean, you're clean, & the suspect is filthy. I say this is an open-&-shut case. All the same, I would prefer that you live the Ulm students alone.>
==============================
<No sign of a concussion. So that's good. Would you mind telling us what happened?>
==============================
E"And what exactly are you going to do? Just ignore these creeps, & hope we do all of the work?"

Azuma: "I was gonna go watch cartoons. You're investigating a total stranger with no intention on meeting them again. The whole priest situation doesn't really concern me."

Gabe shakes her head, but still bends down to check her ankles and calves, "I don't feel any bites." She rolled up her pants legs and looked, "I don't see any either. Trust me, I want this to be just... some kind of hallucination, but I saw what I saw. It is either that, or I'm going crazy..."

"Well, you do like Pocahontas..." Mortal said, causing a weak chuckle to erupt from Gabe.

"I guess I should go to the nurse anyway, just in case," Gabe said.

"Yea, we'll take you there," Noct said, walking off in that direction. Gabe and Mortal followed.

"And I intend to do so," Grimm said. "I realize I may have come off in a poor light. But please accept my apologies if I have caused any irritation."

"Uh, a big... black thing jumped me and stomped on my face I think," Eduj said. "A few times. It happened really fast."