The Ancient Curse

Started by Lady Jenn, September 27, 2015, 04:46:49 PM

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Lady Jenn

A sleek, black sports car pulled up on the opposite side of the street from the crime scene, the engine slowly quietening as the car came to a halt. Lehmann stepped out of the car, dressed in a long black suit, with short-cropped dark brown hair and blue eyes. He walked to the boot of the car, taking out a gun which he loaded a clip of ammo into and putting on a pair of fairly unremarkable sunglasses. He walked through the police barrier and up to the door of the house and attempted to open the door without success. He took his mobile phone out and dialled a number.

"Kirk, did you say the police left it open for us?"

"That's what they told us," a voice replied. "Is it still locked?"

"Yeah," Lehmann replied. "I'm gonna see if the neighbours have a key, I'd rather not break the door down."

Darkleather

Geoff was in his front room stretching after his run when he saw the unfamiliar sports car pull up opposite.  He wiped his face and tousled his hair with his towel as he grabbed his protein shake and walked towards the window.  As the suited man got out of the car and approached the taped off house opposite, Geoff watched him stop and make a phone call and then change direction to head for one of the adjacent houses.

Geoff wondered who this guy was.  The police had been swarming all over the house for the last couple of days, but this sharply dressed man didn't look like them.  He also didn't have that air of slightly soiled desperation that had been exuded by the press who had followed the police like a flock of scavengers. 

As he watched Mr Thomas spoke to the man and then pointed to Geoffs door.  The man started to walk across the road, so Geoff headed to the door and opened it.

"Good morning.  How can I help you today?"

Lady Jenn

"I'm Agent Lehmann of the FBI," Lehmann said, pulling out an FBI ID card and showing it to the man. "The local PD asked us to look into this but it seems some genius forgot to leave a key so I could enter the house and have a look around. I don't suppose you have one? I'd rather not break the door down unless I have to."

Lehmann shifted uneasily on the spot as he awaited an answer, putting the card back where he'd taken it from, next to his other ID, stamped with the word SPAIA. He could only hope the man didn't ask more questions as he was worried what was hiding in the house that his superiors had asked specifically for him to be deployed.

Darkleather

"Geoff Walters, Agent. uhh.. Lehmann.  I thought you guys always went around in pairs?"

Geoff waited for an answer and when he didn't get one, he shuffled nervously.

"So, the key for Patrick's place?  Yes, I have it here."

Geoff wandered into his kitchen & took a key off the peg board.

"Here you go.  So..ummm... why's the FBI involved in this?  I thought this was just a burglary gone wrong.  I mean, I've been really careful about locking up ever since then and I sleep with a baseball bat by the bed.  You know, I watch a lot of stuff on TV and the FBI only gets involved when it's a serial killer or something......is it a serial killer?  That would be very cool."

Geoff realised what he had said and blushed "Not for Patrick obviously.  I mean, that's sad - REALLY sad.  But to be involved in a serial killer case would be very cool.  I guess not so much for you, you're probably used to it, water off a duck's back for you I guess.  Well hot damn I'm talking a lot - here's the key."

Lady Jenn

"You'd have to ask my boss," Lehmann said with a shrug. "I don't ask why they give me a job, they just point me in a direction and I do my job. No offence but I'm not sure you can help much, I'll be sure to give you a shout if I need a hand though."

He headed back to the car, opening the boot again and taking out four poles, pressing a button on the side of his sunglasses as set off back towards the crime scene.

"Kirk, you sure this tech is gonna work?" Lehmann asked as he stuck the first pole into the ground and pressing a button on the top that anchored it to the ground. "I could do without any nasty surprises when I've got the guy next door keeping an ear to the ground."

"Without knowing what's in there I can't be sure," Kirk replied. "I'll keep an eye on your link to see if anything escapes your attention."

Darkleather

Geoff stood in his front room watching Agent Lehmann out the window.  He was fascinated by the metal poles that the agent was putting out  - he had never seen anything like that before.  He grabbed his camera and snapped some pictures of them.  He could see that the agent was talking as he set them up - he assumed that he was on his tactical radio to someone.

He grabbed his laptop and sat down where he could get a good view of what was going on.  Logging on, he signed on to a real crime website he was a member of and posted his pictures under the heading "FBI Using New Tech to Investigate Serial Killer?"  He was soon involved in an argument with a "friend" of his on the site who claimed that the photos were fake.  In frustration, Geoff promised to get a closer shot of them as soon as Agent Lehmann went inside

Lady Jenn

When he had placed the final pole the air around the house glimmered for a moment before the light disappeared again. Letting out a sigh of relief he headed towards the door and walked in, keeping his hand on his gun as he did so. The house was still a mess, left mostly untouched by the CSIs who had been through the scene.

"Kirk, what am I looking for?" Lehmann said, leaving the door open so as to ensure he had light without having to turn the light on. "I do-Oh, oh dear," he said as he walked into the sitting room. In the middle of the floor was a large circle, in the centre of which was the image of two snakes locked together. He bent down to take a closer look. "Kirk, tell me this substance isn't what I think it is?"

"I can't be certain without testing directly," Kirk replied. "But yeah, it looks like it's blood."

"Damnit," Lehmann said under his breath, crossing himself. "I think I just figured out why the FBI were so keen for us to get involved then."

Darkleather

Geoff jumped up, nearly dropping the laptop as the air around Patrick's house shimmered.  "What the..."  He rubbed his eyes - maybe he was just tired....maybe not.

He waited until Lehmann went inside the house, then quietly opened his front door and ran across the road to the nearest one of the poles.  He took a couple of close up pictures of it and turned to go back home.

...but then it occurred that just inside the house was a crime-scene - maybe a crime involving a serial killer.  Grabbing his camera firmly, he stepped between the poles and headed towards the door

Lady Jenn

"Two snakes," Lehmann muttered under his breath. "I've seen this image before, why can't I remember what it means?"

"Keep looking," Kirk replied. "I'll look at our records, if this is anything we've come across before I promise you'll be the first to know."

As Lehmann looked around the room, shining his torchlight into the corners a strange green mist began to emerge from underneath the kitchen door, slowly forming into the shape of a wrinkled old man, but Lehmann showed no sign of having noticed the newcomer.

Darkleather

Geoff sneaked up to the house and tried to peer through the window, but the police had been careful to pull the curtains closed.  Although he knew he was tempting the ire of the FBI Agent, he decided to sneak up to the open door and try to get a look inside

Lady Jenn

"Well all I know is she's obsessed with Ancient Egypt," Lehmann said, turning around slightly and spotting Geoff, letting out an annoyed grunt. "Which part of 'Leave this to me' were you having trouble understanding exactly?" Suddenly his coat started beeping, causing him to swear under his breath as he turned around and saw the apparition by the door. "Does no-one have any sense of timing here today?"

Darkleather

Geoff blushed as he was caught out .

"Sorry, Agent, but it's not every day I get the chance to see a proper crime scene.

While talking, Geoff casually stepped over the threshold so that he could try to peer around for the crime scene.

"Like I said, it might be normal for you, but it's very unusual for me...."

Geoff trailed off as he caught sight of the vaporous greenish figure.

"Umm...what the hell is that?"

Lady Jenn

"Are you going to explain it to him or shall I agent?" the old man asked with a coarse laugh

"Bart, what the hell are you doing here?" Lehmann snapped, momentarily forgetting the civilian nearby. "You go quiet for months on end then turn up in the middle of a crime scene."

"Because you SPAIA fools seem ignorant at what's lying in front of you," Bart sighed. "All the women were obsessed with Egypt and they all died after discovering the word Ark'haten, I'm sure you know what that means." With that the man vanished again.

"Ark...oh shit," Lehmann said under his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. "This day just keeps getting worse with every passing moment."

Darkleather

"Was..was that a ghost."

Geoff suddenly remembered the camera in his hand and cursed as he realised he could have got a photo.

"What the hell is going on here agent?  What was that?  How do you know...it?  And whats SPAYA?"

Lady Jenn

"You'll have to tell him Lehmann," Kirk said over comms. "If the boss kicks up a fuss I'll tell them it was my fault."

"Fine," Lehmann said, pulling out his real ID. "Technically I didn't lie when I said I was FBI, we are an arm of the FBI. Our name means Supernatural and Paranormal Activity Investigation Agency, we get called in when weird things start happening. Bart back there is one of our...contacts with the spirit world, who was talking about this." He moved aside to reveal the image of the snakes behind him. "THIS is why the LAPD wanted us involved."

Darkleather

Geoff looked slowly and steadily at Lehmann.

"Sure.. that makes perfect sense....Mulder."

Geoff stepped forward to look at the snakes.  "Guess Patrick made some odd decorating choices."  He looked at the colour of the fluid  "Say..is that blood?"

Lady Jenn

"Yeah," Lehmann replied. "I mean, we're not certain but unless your friend likes painting cult symbols on his carpet in red paint I'm gonna go for the blood theory."

"Lehmann, I've found something," Kirk said. "Put the glasses on a flat surface, I'll patch through what I've found." Lehmann took his glasses off and placed them on the table in the centre of the room, pressing a button. A holographic image of the symbol on the floor appeared.

"I'm guessing Ark'haten isn't the Egyptian word for hello?" Lehmann said with a nervous laugh.

"Ark'haten is a fairly obscure Egyptian priest," Kirk replied. "It was said he wrote a book which detailed the key to immortality and other...less pleasant abilities. The book was lost millennia ago, but it was claimed there were three medallions which would lead the way to it. What odds our victims have, or had, these medallions?"

Darkleather

Geoff looked on as Lehmann spoke to his glasses.  He jumped as the holographic image appeared but then leaned forward with fascination.

"What did they look like?  Were they the same as that symbol on the floor?"

Lady Jenn

"We're not sure," Kirk replied. "The records are sketchy, even in his own time people thought Ark'haten was making this shit up so your guess is as good as mine."

""Easy way to guess," Lehmann said. "I'm gonna take a punt and say she didn't have much in the way of Egyptian jewellery normally, so either the medallion is still here or we can find proof she had it. It might be worth seeing if we can get access to the other two scenes, or at the very least the evidence they took from them."

Darkleather

"So we need to search the house for Egyptian jewellery?  Cool - I'll start in the bedroom."

Without waiting, Geoff dashed upstairs and started searching the bedroom.  He loved this - he was actually part of an investigation.  He paused to tweet to his friend, Max

Lady Jenn

"You gonna recruit him then?" Kirk asked as Lehmann began searching downstairs.

"Can we worry about sorting this first?" Lehmann said with a sigh. "We've got bigger fish to fry right now." As he walked towards the kitchen a photo caught his eye. Picking it up he walked to the bottom of the stairs. "Geoff, we're looking for a necklace with a golden scarab on a jade background," he called up.

Darkleather

Geoff had his head stuck in a wardrobe when Lehmann shouted up to him.  He went back and leant over the stairs

"Did you say scarab?  ...  OK"

He headed back in and carried on searching

Lady Jenn

He went into the kitchen, looking almost absent-mindedly around the room until he noticed something strange near the kitchen sink: a large, heavily secured safe.

"Geoff?" he shouted as he knelt down in front of it. "Did you know there was a safe in this house?"

Darkleather

Geoff heads back downstairs.

"A safe? No - but I was only in the house a couple of times.  Stuff like a safe never comes up in casual conversation.  Well, maybe it does with the FBI (real or fake) but not for normal people."

Lady Jenn

"Well this isn't a standard safe," Lehmann continued, looking at it closely. "Not unless your friend hangs out with people who write in ancient Norse runes for fun."

"Lehmann," Kirk said after a short pause. "You're not gonna be able to force that safe. I'm guessing if the safe is still here, so is the key."

"Geoff," Lehmann shouted. "If you're still in the bedroom see if you can find a key. Look everywhere, unfortunately she's not gonna be able to complain if you look where she wouldn't want you to."