Naomi rode her bike alongside her sister, or 'Big Sis' as she thought of her. Hailey was always showing Naomi the ways of life, and today was no different. They were riding alongside the fields near the 'Doldrums' an area that was under construction for new homes. Sure it was a bike ride away, but with Halloween coming soon, the 'Doldrums' was a place known for pumpkin picking, sweet pie and apple crisps. At night time, the area was known for its hay rides and even haunted hay rides, but it was all in good fun.

There was an old van on the side of the rode as Naomi unwittingly pulled ahead of her sister.

"Naomi!" Hailey said in a loud voice. The kind of voice that warned her of something.

OOC: Naomi chooses what Hailey says next

1) "Don't go near that van. It doesn't look right."

2) "That's Halber Jossamen's van!"

3) "Get away from that van! There's something creepy inside!"

Naomi softly smiled as she rode her bike with her sister. Even if the girl was hardly the biggest fan of physical exercise, riding her bike had something of a relaxing effect. The wind running through her hair, the quiet squeak and rattling of the bike chain, all of that and more was just exciting somehow. Of course, Naomi always wore a helmet. She had read once that if you hit your head you lost brain cells! And that was something really scary. Still, the fact that she was riding with big sis made everything even better. She felt safe, secure, and pleased, whistling and humming as they rode. She tilted her head in curiosity once she saw the van.

"H-huh!? What?" She said for a moment as she heard the words of her sister. She immediately pulled away from the van. "There's....something creepy inside?" She said, her curiosity making her peer into the van a little bit.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:14, Tue 06 Sept 2016.

The inside looked somehow less creepy then the outside had. The interior wasn't clean, but it lacked the gray peeling paint that made it look so creepy when passing by.

Naomi instinctively grabbed her helmet as she peered into the van.

There was a dog. Just sitting there staring back at her. It was sitting on a bunch of pillows and looked like it was enjoying some time lounging around.

Naomi took a deep breath in surprise but then laughed a little bit as she saw the dog inside. It looked like everything was alright. That was...good to note. She had been worried when big sis had warned her. Instead it was just a doggy. That wasn't anything to be afraid of! Especially if it was in the car itself. The girl giggled and looked back to her sister. "It's just a dog! Nothing to worry about!" She said with a smile.

"Naomi! No!" Hailey yelled. "Get away from there!"



When Naomi turned back to look at the dog it started to growl. Then its lips peeled back to reveal a savage anger that seemed totally different from the dotting, lazy dog just moments ago.


OOC: Naomi Chooses to Roll one of the following:

1) A Reflexive Dexterity Roll

2) A Reflexive Wits Roll

3) A Reflexive Presence Roll

Success will result in a bonus to be used for the rest of the game. Failure will have no repercussions outside of this thread.

Naomi started to panic a bit. Why was the dog suddenly attacking like that!? It made no sense! It had seemed such a nice doggy before! The girl quickly moved away with a panic in her step, making sure that the dog wouldn't bite her or anything like that. Just what was it thinking!? Why was it going so crazy so suddenly!? A few ideas ran through the girl's mind, but she didn't have much time to think as she rushed away from the creature, panting as she thankfully avoided it.

07:21, Today: Naomi Brians rolled 1 success using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((4,3,8)).

Lurching backwards away from the dog, Naomi fell into the arms of her sister, who quickly whisked her away to the side of the curb. Setting her down, she kept asking Naomi if she was OK, over and over again.

"That's old man Hickett's dog." She said, looking at the van, showing Naomi the side of her face and one tangle of hair covering her cheek.

"You've got to be more careful than that." She advised. It wasn't scolding like mom, but more advice.

The woman's eyes widened as she was pulled back into her sister's arms. She felt far safer in Big Sis's arms. That much was very true. The girl whimpered slightly as she heard it and nodded. At least it looked like she had avoided getting bit or anything like that. It would be horrible otherwise. She took a few deep breaths and gulped loudly. "R-right. Thanks. That dog is, um, really scary. Why is he so mean?" She said, tilting her head in curiosity.

Hailey turned Naomi to face her. Instead of scolding her like Mom would sometimes, she simply said.

"Nice dodging. I thought that dog was going to bite you."

"That's old man Hickett's dog. Old man Hickett keeps different things in his van and his house. It goes back to when I was your age. He's the craziest person on this block. Just look at his house."

Naomi took a gander and saw a yard that was overgrown with weeds. A wheelbarrow without a wheel was pushed up against the side of the house. Shingles were missing and a few of the window were boarded up. Spray painted across the front of the house in bright neon orange were the words 'KEEP OUT'

Naomi had never rode her bike this far. This was the first time she had seen 'Old Man Hickett's house.' And now that it was in her mind, she would never forget it. Even as she looked at the house, Naomi could feel the ants within her head taking bits and pieces of data: the spray paint, the dog, the old looking wheelbarrow, and locking them away to be retrieved at any moment. Even during unwanted, unknown moments in the future.

"He keeps traps around his yard. Back when I was your age. There's an old story that something terrible happened to him when he was younger. He claimed some kind of monster attacked him and now he's living on borrowed time."

She gulped a little bit when she looked up at the house. It was a scary house. It wouldn't take someone smart like Naomi or Hailey to figure that part out. It was a large house, but it was filled with all sorts of strange trash. The idea that there were traps there was also scary. Like, really scary. Traps made sense in video games, but not in real life! She shuddered a little bit and nodded to her sister. "Yeah....it would have been bad if he bit me." She said with a frown. She was sad that she had to run away at all. It would have been better if she could have calmed him down or something, but she was terrible with animals. That wouldn't have gone well. Either way the girl winced and nodded. "His house seems crazy on its own..." The girl mentioned, clearly stating the obvious. "But he has traps in his yard? For what? And what do you mean a monster attacked him? Is he, um, worried it will come back?"

"He's just a crazy old man." Hailey explained. Then she sensed that Naomi was more worried than she had originally thought. Not wanting to dismiss her little sister's feelings, she sat down on the curb next to her.

"No one really knows. It happened a long time ago. Before my time. Heck, probably before I was even born. You know Sal Richards, in my grade? He says his uncle used to mow old man Hickett's lawn back in like, the 50s. The old man used to tell him stories. Really scary ones. That's why Sal's uncle stopped mowing the old man's lawn. At that time, old man Hickett wasn't as crazy as he is now, but even then he was well on his way."

"Sal Richards said that a few years ago, his family went to Shinnecock mountain to go camping and his uncle told him about old man Hickett. How old man Hickett used to tell stories about the circus. According to Sal, old man Hickett was scared of clowns. He said that there were creepy clowns in the 1930s before the war and that one of them tried to kidnap old man Hickett. I mean, not when he was old. But when he was a kid."

"Pretty crazy huh?"

The ants moved quickly as she heard the words of her sister's story, squirreling them away for the future. Her eyes widened slightly and she took a deep breath, waving her head from side to side. "A clown tried to hurt him? Th-that would be really scary." She said with a frown. "B-but why would a clown want to do that? Clowns are nice and funny right? They just want to make kids happy?" She probably should not have been reading too much into to the story, especially with Old Man Hickett and his madness so nearby. Still, that was really rather spooky. She tapped her chin again. "But wait...if he was attacked by a clown so long ago, why is he still scared? Wouldn't the clown have died a long time ago?" She said, remembering not to add the 'like grandma' this time. That always made Big Sis get a bit worried about her, and Naomi didn't want that right now. "Still....it's scary either way."

"Yeah, its pretty creepy." Hailey agreed.

Then she gave Naomi a small punch to the arm. It was her way of trying to change the subject. She clearly didn't want to dwell on the scary clown story. She didn't want Naomi to think of it. Especially since things got spooky at night time. Or when night time started to come and it was time to go to bed. Even getting ready for bed could bring on thoughts of night time. Those thoughts could be easily dismissed for most kids. But not for Naomi. Thoughts were something permanent for her. They stuck with her. Best to disperse the ants now, before any bad thoughts took root.

"Hey. That was some pretty good dodging with that dog." Hailey prompted.

"Want me to show  you how I'd do it? I have a few tricks up my sleeve." Hailey, assuming that Naomi was willing to allow a demonstration. She got up from the curb, ready to show her sister how the big kids do things.

Naomi was in a slight bit of reverie and introspection, the ants starting to store away memories of the man's attack by the monster. It was paired with the girl's nearly insatiable curiosity, dozens of questions forming in her head. What attacked him? Was it still alive? Had the police defeated the monster? He was just crazy right? Before she could think too much about it she felt the punch of her arm and was woken from her reverie. She shook her head after. Big sis was right. Those were bad thoughts. She had to get rid of bad thoughts really fast or they would stick with her forever. Big sis was always good at reminding her to get rid of them.

The girl tilted her head and smiled a little bit. "Yeah! I'd love to!" She said. She always loved hearing advice from Big sis! She was super smart and knew lots of things and was good at everything!

OOC: Results from 'reflexive' Dexterity roll earlier

Naomi's sister began to show her not just how to jump from side to side, but where to jump. She explained that jumping backwards, as Naomi had done was a good thing to do and a natural reaction when confronted with danger such as a dog. Then she raised concern that Naomi could have accidentally jumped backwards into the street when a car was coming.

To avoid this, Hailey explained, it was best to plan such things out in one's head ahead of time. To create a memory of something. To vividly imagine herself in the third person, considering the different possibilities of whatever lay ahead.

OOC: Naomi chooses one of the following and adds it to her character sheet

1) Fast Reflexes (•) - Naomi will always start first in the 'order' of combat
Prerequisite: Dexterity •••
Effect: Your character is the first off the starting line
for a race, the best in the neighborhood at stealing bases,
or the first to throw a punch when a fight starts. Your character’s
Initiative is increased

2) Merit  - Ego Boost (••)
Effect: Kids thrive on well-deserved praise — not
the forced kind that tells them that every child is a special
snowflake, but praise that shows someone has really
noticed what they do well. When your character receives
an honest compliment on his talent in a Skill in which he
has at least two dots, he receives a one-time +1 modifier
on his next roll of that Skill in the same scene. This Merit
can be used only once per Skill per scene.

Naomi paid attention to big sis on the subject, and nodded a little bit as she listened. Getting advice from Big Sis was even better than learning from teachers! They always moved so slowly, and never let her just learn on her own, waiting for all of the other kids to keep catching up. It was so infuriating! But Big sis didn't have that issue. She understood. The girl smiled a bit when she heard about the compliment from big sis, even giggling slightly. She always felt happy when she was praised, that much was for sure. She was maybe a little surprised when she heard about the mistake she made, but Hailey was there to help soon enough. If she wanted to do things right, she just had to pay attention, and create a memory. She could then call on her memory and get it all handled. The girl nodded. "Thank you so much!" She said cheerily.

OOC: Choosing Ego Boost

"No problem, that's what Big sisters are for. So, next time try to avoid the whole thing when you see a creepy van like that. You never know what your going to find on old man Hickett's property." Haily advised.

She got back on her bike.

"Come on, let's go home. Last one's a rotten egg!" And with that, she took off, pedaling down the road.

She smiled a bit and nodded, climbing back on her bike and starting to pedal after her big sister. "I'm not going to be a rotten egg!" She said excitedly as she started to rush down the street after her sister. It was true though...you never knew what he might not find on a weird man's house like Old Man Hickett's house. Not that it mattered much right now of course! She was just able to have fun with Big Sis!

OOC: End Scene