[center] [hr][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjEwNi5mZmI2YzEuVG1WcmJ5QkRZWEppWld4c1lRLjA/fairy-mother.regular.webp[/img][/center][right][b][code]Summit Motel, the Night Before[/code][/b][/right][hr] A dying light spilled through a hole in the moth-eaten curtains of the dark motel room, flickering on and off in a slow, steady rhythm. The room smelled of stale cigarettes and creeping mildew while the bed groaned and creaked with the slightest shift of weight. Still, despite this Neko should've been fast asleep. The day of travel and investigation had left her exhausted, yet Neko watched the alarm clock on the bedside table roll past two in the morning. Her mind refused to let her sleep. Her body jumped at any unusual noise. She kept thinking about Blake, and about all the missing people he said were dead, and how it had all started two months ago. The timeline checked out: it had been two months ago when her daughter Nora disappeared and was replaced by a stranger. Hesitantly, Neko reached over to the nightstand and grabbed the heart locket her daughter had given her over a decade ago. She flicked it open and stared at the picture of the child. Parts of it looked right, the chin, the eyes, but the rest? Wrong, all wrong. The girl in the photo wasn’t Nora. Neko closed the locket, wrapped the chain around her hand, and let her head fall back against the pillow. The girl wasn’t—[i]tap tap tap[/i]. Neko bolted upright and looked at the door as a heavier knock rapped on it again—[i]rapt rapt rapt[/i]. She froze in place, a chill running down her spine, Blake’s words ringing in her ears, fearing for her life that the Black family had sent their goons out to get them, and then she shook her head and laughed. It was more than likely that one of the others was also unable to sleep and had seen her outside smoking a little bit ago. Normally she paced herself, but this evening she’d already gone through half of a pack since settling down for the night. Neko pulled her body out of the bed and placed her eye to the peephole: nobody. She turned and was halfway under the sheets when another [i]knock knock knock[/i] came from the door. With a frustrated sigh, Neko went back to the peephole. Once again there was nobody. She had hardly turned around before another trio of [i]knock, knock, knocks[/i] rang out, followed by the sound of feint, girlish giggling. Irritation got the better of her. [color=FFB6C1]“Hey, seriously!?”[/color] She unchained the top lock, undid the deadbolt, and flung the door open before whoever was fucking with her had a chance to run away. Nobody. The hot night air did little to prevent the chill that ran through Neko’s veins. Quickly she closed the door and locked it. She wrapped herself in a blanket and sat on the edge of the bed, watching, waiting. The bed creaked. The light cutting through the curtain flickered. Her hands shook and she wrapped herself up tighter still. Her breathing slowed, her pounding heart slowed, everything slowed until time seemed to stop. Then the door: [i]bang, bang, bang![/i] The frame shook, the knocks heavier than ever before. [i]Bang, bang, bang![/i] Neko, wide-eyed, looked on in horror as she saw the chain hang freely out of the lock, swaying with each knock, mocking her forgetfulness. [i]Bang, bang, bang![/i] She watched, terrified, frozen, as the deadbolt jiggled and then flipped itself from the locked to open position. [i]Bang, bang, bang![/i] The door burst open as Neko launched herself from the bed. Neko tripped over something and stumbled, driving her shoulder into the door hard and closing it. She screamed as the flash of pain that shot through her arm was pummeled into submission by the adrenaline kicking in, allowing her to latch the chain before another. [i]Bang, bang, bang![/i] The door buckled but the chain held, supported by Neko pushing her full weight against it. [color=FFB6C1]“Go away, go away,”[/color] she begged, her pleas drowned out by the banging of the door. She felt the door strain and heard the frame splintering and animalistic growls as something rabidly beat itself bloody against the door. She closed her eyes and covered her ears as she continued to cry out, [color=FFB6C1]“Go away, go away! Please, go away!”[/color] Then, miraculously, it did. Neko opened her eyes and she was back in bed, the alarm clock reading a quarter to three, the rest of the room black as the bottom of the abyss. The dying fluorescent must’ve finally bit it. She rubbed her shoulder, sore from the awkward way she’d slept on it, and winced. She wouldn’t have to worry about getting murdered for trying to find her daughter because the bed was already killing her. Neko grabbed a pillow and the blanket and stumbled around in the dark, searching for the big chair in the corner of the room. She found it only after her hip found the tv stand, cursing and rubbing as she curled up, sighed, and buried her face in the pillow. Neko fidgeted in the seat for a few minutes, trying to find a way to make herself comfortable. Eventually her head drooped, her chest began to slowly rise and fall, and her vice grip around the blanket loosened. It was only then that the shadow moved away from the window, a flickering light once again spilling into Neko’s room. [center] [hr][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjEwNi5mZmI2YzEuVG1WcmJ5QkRZWEppWld4c1lRLjA/fairy-mother.regular.webp[/img][/center][b]Interactions[/b]: The Group and Jen[@Punished GN] [right][b][code]The Webb Family Coffee House[/code][/b][/right][hr] Dark, bloodshot eyes with dark circles glazed over without focus as they stared into a cup of dark coffee, closing themselves as Neko stifled a yawn by nearly punching herself in her mouth. She rubbed her eyes and blinked rapidly, trying her best to pretend that last night had not been the pinnacle of bad nights of sleep in a two-month streak of bad nights of sleep. She’d never slept so roughly that she’d bruised herself before, but the welt on her shoulder had already started turning purple. Neko stared across the table and nursed her cup of coffee as Jen spoke, absentmindedly drumming her fingers upon the table in a series of triplets that mimicked the knocking from her nightmare the night before. Something had been bugging Neko about Jen since the first day they’d met in person, exacerbated by their abrupt call yesterday. Sometimes through the fogginess of sleep deprivation there would emerge an island of clarity, and such an epiphany hit Neko this morning: Jen acted like an awkward, twee kindergarten teacher—[i]Oh, wowie zowie class, you all played together so nicely today! Gold fucking stars for all![/i] The keyword there being “acted”. “The, ummmmmm, only problem issssssssss...it's in the swamp," said Jen. [i]So make sure you get mommy and daddy to sign your permission slips![/i] [color=FFB6C1]“Um, yeah no, I’m sorry but that’s not the only problem, [i]Jennifer[/i],”[/color] said Neko, carefully setting down her mug of coffee and then placing her hands in her lap to hide the shaking. The way and the weight with how Neko chose to use Jen’s full name would send echoes of the past through any at the table who had been scolded by their mother before. [color=FFB6C1]“Yesterday, you told us some girls went missing. Later, we heard from Mr. Thornton that people who came to Quintin to look for Eleanor have gone missing over the past two months. No, not just missing: dead. Dead, Jennifer. Dead.”[/color] Neko’s eyes burned but she didn’t blink, forcing herself to keep her gaze locked on Jen. [color=FFB6C1]“It’s not right to tell everyone that things are hunky dory and that we’re doing a real bang up job when there is actual serious danger involved. Life threatening danger.”[/color] [color=FFB6C1]“I’m going to look for my daughter no matter what,”[/color] said Neko, freeing Jen from her glare and turning her attention towards the group. Her voice waivered with discomfort before she found her stride, exhaustion and frustration holding down her anxiety. [color=FFB6C1]“I have to. I have no other option. I won’t think less of anyone who wants to leave. Honestly, I encourage it. I’m sure you all noticed that one of the groups from the other day is already missing—maybe dead. Apparently [i]Jennifer[/i] didn’t notice. Jennifer’s too keen on getting us to go into her skull swamp. But you know what I think?”[/color] Neko shifted her tired eyes back to Jen. Neko thought that nobody cared about what she thought and that she should just apologize and shut up. Somehow she didn't. [color=FFB6C1]“I think Jennifer hoped that we didn’t notice, just like we didn’t notice that she didn’t mention what she did yesterday or how she didn't mention how she knew Eleanor. Sorry, Jennifer. I noticed.”[/color] Beneath the table Neko's knee bounced uncontrollably, hitting against the frame. Bang. [color=FFB6C1]“Where are Harmony and Eugene? We should inform somebody if they're missing.”[/color] Bang. [color=FFB6C1]“And what did you do yesterday? Seemed real out of breath on the phone.”[/color] Bang. [color=FFB6C1]“Oh, and who is Eleanor Black? To you, I mean.” [/color]