[center][h2][b]Carl Knight[/b][/h2][/center]
[center][img]https://postimage.me/images/2025/04/10/Screenshot-2025-04-10-at-22.40.18.png[/img][/center]

---- One Week Earlier ----

Carl flips through the notifications on his phone while trudging down mainstreet. Turning the corner where the hardware store was the sun was particularly high in the sky. It was 12 and he was just heading back from the GYM. Still wet from the shower he thought he'd dry in the sun. He was headed to the Diner for his usual lunch. Except he noticed the new cafe, Graces Grotto. Far from being surprised given the towns history for the paranormal he didnt blink an eyelid and headed in, probably for something like pumpkin-spiced soup. 
There was a chime as he entered through the glass front door and shuffled passed the busy tables. Scanning the chalk sign for something like a burger. 
"Hello young gentleman"
[color=FFF8DC][b]Uhm hi, i'd like aaah...[/b][/color]
“I know just what you need” Said Grace
“A menu” Grace pushes the menu into Carls hand.
[color=FFF8DC][b]ah-o id like an uuuhm...[/b][/color]
Carl scanned the menu, it was filled with the typical hocus-pocus themed lunch menu. Lets see here...
[color=FFF8DC][b]Oh, wow, waffle-sausage burger!
Ill take one please? [/b][/color]
"Home-made Ketchup?"
[color=FFF8DC][b]Oh you bet.[/b][/color]
"Any Coffee"
With a warm smile Carl returns [color=FFF8DC][b]"How did you know?"[/b][/color]

Within a second Carl shuffled sideways into one of the stall seats and was shovelling his burger into his mouth. The ketchup was fantastic!! Tasted of fried zucchini, paprika, both sweet and salty.
Taking a drag from his Coffee in between mouthfulls he began to shuffle through his checklist in his mind.
Got my course work, professor gave us a week to complete the first design for the shirt... wait...
Something didnt seem right... 
"There you go, cav"
Had she called him cav? That wasnt his name. Did she really call him that? He mused as he took another mouthfull. 
Finishing the last of his coffee including the dregs which trickled down, it was a beautiful coffee. Perfect temperature and the flavour was smooth with a slight clawing at the back of your throat. The smell was something in between java and amazonian with a hint of some herb. He scrunched up his frown. I hope people arnt gonna start calling me ‘cav’, maybe she had misheard his name was Carl… both started with a ‘C’ anyhow. But how did she even know his name atall? With little more thought he brushed it off, grabbing his GYM bag he headed off in the direction of the college.

Later that day Carl was the worse for wear. He kicked his shoes off as he entered into his room. Stretching to undo his shirt he winced, the heat of the day was unbearable. What was going on? He felt like he was covered from head to toe in sunburn. Only worse. The heat travelled up and down in waves like an ocean. What could be happening? Reluctantly he thought he might be suffering from an illness and crawl under his prestine cotton bedsheet. Closing his eyes there was a flash and smoke. He could hear the booming in the distance. What in the hells? He tightened his fatigue shirt. There was a tinkle of metal. "If we dont get out of here they'll swing around" The orders were plain and their importance bode a slowly dawning terror. "Listen if we dont make it, someones gotta check in on my darlin'", "Shhhh!" whistled Knight. "All we gotta do is keep our heads down and they'll pass right by us". There was a crack from over by the treeline and all-at-once Carl woke up drenched in sweat. 

How long had he been asleep? Had he slept through 5th period? No matter… he was just exhausted. 
Trying to close his eyes he could feel something moving on his skin. No, it felt more like a heat signature. Slowly it moved around to his ribs.
There was a creek of the door and his mom poked her head in. With intuition she had known something was wrong with her son. 
“What is it? You didn't even come in for dinner?”
[color=FFF8DC]Sorry mom, just tired from gym.[/color] 
“Ok, well ive left you some steak in the fridge”
A moment passed.
[color=FFF8DC]Im up. Im up.[/color]
A steak is something he couldn't afford to pass up, no matter how much courage it took to fight his way through the sun stroke.
Trudging through to the kitchen he opened the refrigerator. There she was, all gleaming with fried-goodness. 
But the refrigerator revealed something else. The heat of his heat stroke retracted instantaneously to a gleaming point over his heartspace and his body absorbed the cold weather of the appliance, all that was left was a prick of heat, the size of a finger… He could feel everyone in the house as they were moving. More so with the quiet crackling of the fridge, he could hear his breathing. But there was something more, he could feel the breaths of everyone in the household, as though they were breathing on his skin, his arm hairs pricked up.
Well… this is new. I seem to have ESP… he said drowsily. Hope it isn't always this exhausting…

---- 19:00 Study Room C ----
Carls trainers squelched in the gutter as he mounted the pavement. Maddeningly, not much had changed since he’d discovered he had super powers. He hadn't been contacted by some secret order of heroes, or kidnapped by black ops. What HAD changed was his approach to life. There was something about knowing you had super powers which brought a tremendous restructuring of his priorities. Carl felt it was only a matter of time before someone else figured it out.
Tucking down his red windbreakers’ hood that was covering his jacket, shirt and jeans, he was covered in the residue of rain. Waving at Mrs.Winters he proceeded to the study room corridor passing by a display textbook shelf.

Stopping at study room C he turned the aluminum handle and went in. A few moments passed shyly he stood there blinking, then sat down at the table with the group that was already there. 

[color=FFF8DC][b]Are you the group thats about Graces Grotto? Ive been having these weird side effects, something in the coffee, been keeping me out of the shower for days, even walking in the rain’s about all i can stand, you guys have been affected too right? 
I need this to go away because ive got studies but i kinda wanna get to the bottom of this…[/b][/color]

A few moments passed the flustered bodybuilder proffered out a hand to all of those sat at the table. Though he was broader in the shoulders than most of the other occupants of the tiny room there was nothing off-putting about him.

[color=FFF8DC][b]Sorry, where’s my manners. -Its like I've got fingers running up and down my arms!- The names’ Carl Knight! [/b][/color]

Carl tried to force a congenial smile but it was hard with a group of students he didn’t know. He thought he recognised some of them on campus but couldn't be sure. Thinking he’d better put his best side on show was one thing, doing it was another. The trickling of finger nails, each one denoting a position of an occupant in the building was beginning to fray his nerves. It was always more unbearable in the rain. Somehow the temperature differential…

[color=527d9a]"Cian Cahill. I put up the flyers about Grace’s."[/color]
Cahill was about what you’d expect of a nerdish type. He wouldn't look very out of place with a lab-coat on. For a matter of fact if you let your vision blur his white hoody sorta resembled a lab-coat.

[color=03ddfb]"That's me! This is where I haunt!"[/color] said Watkins with a typical display of the cripple kids gumption. He lent over the table with a jaunty movement, though Carl could see that his condition must be improving as he was visibly in less pain.

Olive was already sitting, she seemed to be wearing allot of skater attire. So Carl assumed she would be easy to find down by the skater park. Though he did note a few band name bracelets hung from her wrist.

Carl noted that Dasher closely resembled Gordon Freeman from the games. He hoped that between him and Cahill they’d get some answers to what was happening to them. Hopefully before one of them had to visit the hospital.

Jacob was playing his cards close to his chest. Carl tried to guess what he studied but his outward demeanour displayed very little.

Serena was sitting listening to everything that was going on. Her mind was clearly processing, if it was social anxiety it didn't show, instead a beam of healthy zeal radiated off-of her. Carl noted the juxtaposition between Serena and Olive. One was clearly dark one was clearly light. Carl briefly compared them to the game pokemon, if Serena was Vulpix then Olive was probably an Absol. 

In a moment the conversation had run on.

 "Could you guys, I dunno, keep it down? I'm trying to think here."
 "You guys might call me crazy, but I think that place, Grace's or Gertrude's or something, might have messed me up a little.” said Jacob
[color=527d9a]“You’re not crazy.”[/color] Cahill responded.

[color=FFF8DC][b]Carl let out a big exhalation WHOOT. Finally. I was beginning to think i was the only one.[/b][/color]

He let it hang there and hoped it sounded more confident than he felt. [color=527d9a]“That feeling you have. I have it too. That's why I put up the flyers. That's why we're all here.”[/color]

Gathering himself Carl tried to show composure, though it was getting easier. [color=FFF8DC][b]So when you say feelings… you couldn't possibly be talking about… conspiracies, we couldn't be talking about something thats only… skin-deep[/b][/color] He let his witticism shimmy its way though the air. The smile peeking from the edges of his face.

Within a second Cahill started scratching with a marker into the board

WHERE IS GRACE?

WHY NO RECORDS?

Carl had hoped there was more to go on. Could it be that she had blown into town, was she working for some shady chemical factory searching for human test subjects. What did the government know? And if he did go to Uncle Sam would he end up in some secret research lab? Quest as he might Carl couldn't push the possibility out of his mind, “could this really be a supernatural occurrence” if it did it was the first genuine experience he’d had in Redstone.

[color=FFF8DC][b]If we havent got any records, maybe someone could find one of the coffee cups, or better yet a coffee filter?[/b][/color] It was a good idea, as good as any. These were the first steps in building a case. However the trail was about cold being over a week ago. The only way to get the disposable coffee cups would be to raid the dumpster behind the old set of buildings where Graces Grotto was placed. Either that or they'd have to approach it from another angle.