The village is literally hundreds of years old, maybe thousands. It is settled in the landscape and seems to have escaped the ravages of modernism. There are plenty of cars parked on the street and many shops, but the commerce seems aimed at locals, not tourism.



At the edge of town, on the Bath Road, the Queen's Head Inn fits right into the theme of Old England, and the accommodations are comfortable and modern. There is a well-stocked bar and a tiny restaurant.

The girls will be sharing a room with two double beds. Trevor has a room to himself down the hall.



He suggests that everyone settle into their rooms and that they meet at five o'clock for an early dinner. Over onion soup and a Caesar salad, he asks what their plan is for the evening.

"I understand that you've already made a connection with one of the Visitors," he says to Evelyn. "Will you be focusing on her tonight?"

From: True Peace Agency

Evelyn idly toyed with her food looking at it. "I think it's more accurate to say she's going to focus on me tonight. And it would be unwise of me to ignore her." she answered sounding a little distracted.

"What do we know about a lady haunting the upper part of the house?" Eloise asked Trevor. "We can contain her with iron chains, of course, but we should be looking for her source. Not sure how we find that."

"Becky is doing research for us back in Bristol," Trevor replied. "And I had planned for us to spend a day or two here looking into old archives -- church records and the like -- to see if we can find any clues. Even interview some of the older people who live in the village and may have worked in the Hall when it was inhabited.

"No one left from the Edwardian times, of course, but maybe someone from the Second World War period or the time it was a school.

"Would you be willing to wait another day at least before we go rushing in?" He looked pointedly at Evelyn who seemed dead set on just getting herself killed.

"You're the Boss I'll wait a week unless my companion talks me into sneaking out to do some Ghostbusting. But you have my word when I'm on my own I'll try to be sensible." she teased Eloise

"Well, maybe you ladies should get some rest while I scope out the possibility of local records -- just in case we do go in tonight. Want to be refreshed, right?"

Trevor left them at the hotel while he went out into the town to see what he could find.

Upstairs, the hotel bedroom had heavy black-out curtains for guests that liked to sleep in, and it was easy enough to get the room pretty gloomy despite the bright sunshine outside. Sleep came harder, but eventually, everyone drifted off . . .

It's cold. There's snow on the ground outside the leaded glass window panes. And the sound of laughter and conversation downstairs. They're having a party. A Christmas party. You can hear the carols they're singing, along with songs you've never heard before.

Step by step you drift down the stairs. The back stairs. The Picture Stairs. Always the Picture Stairs for you, but it never occurs to you to wonder why.

In the drawing-room, there are candles and a fire. Shadowy servants come and go with trays of food and drinks. There is laughter . . . and music . . . and warmth . . . and desire.

Inside the room, from a dark corner, you can see more clearly. There's a man who looks like Edward. That gives you a nasty turn. The last time you saw Edward he had been lying on the cobblestones, his head split open and his brains dashed out from where you had pushed him . . .

And her! Dancing with . . . Edward? She's beautiful. Elegant. Witty. Everyone loves her. You want to be her. So much it hurts.

And now she turns. She sees you. A moment of puzzlement. And then a look of horror. Of terror. Of loathing.

She screams. And screams. And screams.

Evelyn shot up in bed, the fragments of the nightmare clinging to her still. The face of the beautiful woman dancing in the drawing room -- that had been the face she'd seen in the window earlier today.

"Cobbler's Awls!" she exclaimed sitting up and catching her breath. "So an old timey lesbian. Yeah. Wish these visions meant you were here with me because we definitely need to talk about how many compliments you were thinking about her. Seeing her as a Goddess in the flesh. Did you kill Edward to win her heart or were you still confused about your feelings?" she was talking to herself as she typed up every detail of the nightmare texting it to the boss. "Believe me I know what it's like to look at someone you love and see them disgusted at you. It hurts." she sent the message and got out of bed and undressed not that she slept in much anyway and stood in front of the mirror and committed the image of her body to memory to share with a lesbian ghost as a distract later. It then occured to her to look around and she took out her notebook and wrote "I'm 14 delete this footage" and showed it around the room to any hidden cameras that might be recording then got dressed and went to meet the others.

Trevor returned as Evelyn was putting her clothes back on. He tapped at the door.

"Funny text," he forced a hollow laugh showing her his phone with her message on it. "Maybe just a teenage fantasy?"

He swallowed hard, trying not to look at her. She had not yet buttoned up her shirt all the way and the lacy edge of her pretend bra poked out a bit.

"Look, I found a lady whose mother worked at the Hall when she was young. She has some stories of the place when it was a real home. Do you want to talk to her before we go in? Or are you just going to meet this . . . needy thing . . . straight on?"

"Look...." she then paused a moment and tilted her head. "You know I expected that note I showed around the room might be seen by the proprietor of this establishment but for as red as you are..." she leaned in scrunching up her face and scratching her chin then shrugged. "Whatever if you're doing that that's your business. but if you sell it I get twenty percent." she then yawned and stretched. "First. Breakfast. Then interview. then Library for research. Then actual investigation and slash or battle. never go into a strange dangerous situation without all the knowledge you can get." she then poked him. "And don't discount dream visions. You know what happens to adults who don't take teens seriously in horror movies don't you?" she then grabbed her pack ready to start her day.

The Queen's Head Inn is a cozy place, easy to sleep late. The three new Talents at the True Peace Agency are all young women in their teenage years, all sharing a room and an adventure, with a sense of purpose and a conflict ahead of them. As the night settles in and they get ready for bed, they undress and put on their pajamas, and realize that they are all sneaking peaks at one another.

Charlotte breaks the ice, parading around in her slinky underwear. She's tall and slightly older than the other two.

"Get a good look, girls," she grins at the others. "Might be our last night in the land of the living. I wouldn't say no to a cuddly bed warmer tonight."

Eloise giggles and blushes bright red, but she can't take her eyes off of Charlotte's long limbs until she wrenches her eyes away and looks over at Evelyn, who has already established herself as the leader of the new gang.

"You want to?" she whispers. "I will if you will."

Charlotte


Eloise


Evelyn


OOC: Feel free to update your picture

"Hmmmm that does sound compelling. " she answered sipping an red bull. "A fun little slumber bundle sounds delicious. through I am worried if the Boss comes and checks on us hell have a heart attack and then we'll have another ghost to deal with." she joked.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:24, Fri 23 June 2023.