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The Promise - Second Star to the Right, and Straight on 'til Morning.

Archie

---

As soon as Lynn had released him, Archie had forgotten her instruction to sit on his hands almost immediately, instead bringing them up to his ears in an effort to drown out all the yelling as he came down. He blinked, trying to focus his eyes as the shine slowly died down. It was an odd feeling, for the darkness of the forest to return and for the colors to wash away into the shadows of the night. It dawned upon him that he had color night vision. He shook his head, trying to clear his senses and go back to his normal state now that he could no longer taste and smell the corpse a ways from them. He could focus again, and he was able to tune back into the conversations that were being held around him.

"...so I went running after Freaky D..."

So that's where Amelia had run off too. He hadn't seen her on the tapes and given the situation they were currently in he could understand her fear. He would feel this way, too if he had seen what she saw and then saw... this. He cast a glance over to the body, which hadn't moved much from its current spot. The new girl he had seen earlier spoke up that it was certainly a coincidence- that her power allowed her to know truths if she guessed them correctly. Useful he thought. A part of him was glad she was here instead of down on earth stealing social security numbers.

"Guys, I let Cara know about this..."

Now, this jolted Archie some. Primarily because it was the first thing that had happened since he came into the woods that made sense. Given everything that's happened, calling the police or whatever the equivalent was on this space ship was probably a good idea. It would at least clear their names from immediate suspicion. That was a good thing, right? Well, evidently not based on Lynn's reaction. Archie had pushed here and there to try and get closer to Lynn a few times now with little progress. She seemed to be warming up to him, and he was thankful for the baby steps they had made if anything. He could accept her honesty, and her compassion that she so desperately tried to pretend she didn't have. He had been on the receiving end of it twice now, after all. But it was becoming more and more obvious even to him how paranoid she was. Maybe it was justified, he was not and never would be a judgmental person so he couldn't for a second claim to know if it was or not, but it was hard to stomach sometimes. Especially now, given that Natalie had only been trying to help. They had just found a body for god's sake! This likely hadn't happened to any of them before.

Unless it had. Archie glanced between the aggressively postured Natalie and Lynn and briefly questioned whether either of them had seen dead people. He also considered getting between them, but decided against it. They had successfully stopped him before, and if the other guy had gone down to their combined might it was likely a better idea to not give them a common enemy. Lynn looked just about ready to explode when she threatened Natalie. Archie felt monumentally awkward in that moment, his mouth opening and closing like a fish when he tried to interject, but ultimately being unable to find the breath. Then Lynn announced that she was leaving, and told others to do so too, before stalking off herself.

Lynn had raised a solid point, he felt. Archie didn't want to end up like that man in the river. He had gathered that Lynn had it rougher than him. That much was certain, but despite his apprehension all that he could think about was what Natalie had said to him earlier that very evening. I think we should look out for each other from now on.

Archie gulped. He was a man of his word. He looked onto Lynn's retreating form, now a dim light in the trees that was fading rapidly as she booked it out of forest. He turned back to Natalie, who was facing him now that Lynn had departed. He cleared his throat.

"I'm staying," he began, more to himself than anyone else. He steeled himself for whatever was to come. He knew she wouldn't rat Lynn out, but she had left before Amelia had even told her about what this AP Bio murderer even looked like, so he decided that he would find her again once he knew more even if she'd kill him for it. His eyes met Natalie's and he finished his earlier words. "We should look out for each other."

---

@Typical@Silver Carrot@He Who Walks Behind@levinfist@SepticGentleman

The Haunting of Crestwood Hollow - A Supernatural Coming of Age Story

Kayla

---

Autumn was sure an anxiety attack was well on its way.

Not only was her hair pinned up haphazardly—a stark contrast to her typically perfected ponytail—but now she was running late. This was not how she wanted to start her semester. Not at all.

The four-laned road was so congested with cars that she hadn't moved for the last ten minutes. She lived and commuted from one of the more populated areas in the city, so she was more than used to traffic, but it seemed that today was simply not her day. Autumn's pressed button-up already had a stain on it from slamming on the brakes at the beginning of what she would later note as the most inconvenient traffic jam of her life. She couldn't find her familiar this morning which was odd but not uncommon, she was nursing three burnt fingertips after taking her bagel straight out of the toaster, with her coffee— which had initially burnt her tastebuds— chilled, she was sure it couldn't get any worse. That is, until she felt a sharp pain in her foot, alerting her that her body didn't agree with her choice of shoes.

The only good luck she'd had was the fact that she remembered her backpack and had managed to acquire every possible item she could need for the coming school year. She was set in that sense. Textbooks, calculators, a whole battalion of pencils and pens, protractors and post-it notes. But that wouldn't matter at all if she couldn't make it to school. She inched her car forward, simply to feel like she was going somewhere and not wasting her time. Tapping her hands to the beat of a song on her steering wheel entertained her for all of a moment, and Autumn scowled as she realized her ADHD was acting up. She moved uncomfortably in her seats. Her legs were sticking uncomfortably to the leather seats of her Mercedes. Disinterestedly, Autumn glanced at the older man on her right nearly dozing off in the morning traffic. She watched him yawn twice, glancing away sharply when her noticed her gaze. Swinging her head to the left, utterly desperate for some source of entertainment before she went absolutely crazy, Autumn elicited a sharp pain in her upper back, adding to her unfortunate day. Feeling like she wanted to hit something, repeatedly, she watched the car before her's brake lights flick off as they pulled forward.

She cheered sarcastically to herself, letting off the brakes and moving for only a small second before stepping on them again. It would be so easy to just shove all of these cars out of the way. Collateral damage be damned. Actually- it would be so much easier to just not go to school now that she thought about it. She should've stayed in bed. Groaning in annoyance, Autumn changed the station three times before settling on the news channel and redirecting her gaze to the right once more.

She nearly snorted at the sight of a woman—who was probably around her age based on the Crestwood High sticker on her car- hitting her head on the wheel of her car, unceasingly. She drove an old beat-up ford truck that seemed to be held together with popsicle sticks and hope, and seemed to be muttering something to herself—probably curses. She dropped her head a final time and rested it against the wheel. Considering copying her actions, Autumn continued to watch the entertaining woman as she bolted upright and fumbled in the backseat for some unknown object.

When she situated herself to face the front again, Autumn found the will to stop staring at the girl. Autumn tuned into the news channel for all of five seconds before unconsciously letting her eyes wander to the woman locked in traffic next to her. She was scribbling manically on a pad of paper, as though her life depended on it. Shoving the pen in her mouth for safekeeping, she ran her hand over the sheet, closed the notebook and—

Oh, dear god. She saw her staring. Wanting to kick herself, Autumn snapped her head back forwards and changed the radio station again before casting her gaze upon the woman once more. She was smiling at her like she knew a secret she didn't, which made her want to ask her everything. She still had a pen in her mouth, and she looked admittedly stupid when she nodded to her in greeting.

Mortified that she'd caught her glance a second time, Autumn nodded back at her uncomfortably, inching forward into room she didn't have. Her jaw clenched and unclenched with the effort of not looking at the woman— and she busied herself by rehearsing her class schedule in her head, which she had more or less memorized.

HOPE, AP US History, AP Bio, Calculus II, Acting, AP Geography, AP Mico/Macro Econ.

Autumn inhaled sharply at the noise of something hitting her car window. It didn't sound like a rock, but it was enough to make her jump out of her skin. She turned to the right, the origin of the noise, her expert glare in place. The woman was leaning slightly out of her window and waving. Taking a deep breath, Autumn rolled down the window of the passenger seat.

"What," she asked simply, "did you throw at my car?"

Folding her arms over the windowsill of her car and leaning her chin on her hands, the girl let a stupid smile adorn her face. "A piece of paper. Balled up."

Autumn pursed her lips, examining the girl's tanned face. "Why?"

"I needed to tell you something," she answered simply and earnestly, digging into her pocket. She pulled out a stack of small slips of paper, and Autumn's eyebrows furrowed as she recognized them.

"Fortunes?"

The woman smiled lopsidedly. "Yep." She said with a wet popping sound at the end of the word. She slipped one out from underneath the rubber band the held them together, glancing up absently as the traffic moved a little. "Progress," she muttered bitterly, slamming on the brakes not a second later. "'Of all 27 alternatives, running away is best,'" she read from the paper, thereafter dropping the slip into the foggy morning. "Your lucky numbers were 12, 2 and 38." It swayed down the highway, riding the wind, and Autumn looked at her as though she were certifiably insane— which she had to be. She briefly considered taking the fortune to heart and finding a way to book it out of this chance encounter. Running away is best, after all. The strange woman grinned, shoving the stack of papers back into her pocket.

"What was that all about?" Autumn asked, having to shout a bit over the hum of engines.

She shrugged, tracing the circle of the car wheel. "You looked like you could use a good omen."

Autumn raised an eyebrow, and started rolling up her window.

"Wait!" the girl yelled. "What's your name?"

"Susanna," Autumn answered, deciding to give a false name. The girl opened her mouth to say something else, but the window had sealed her car shut. She gave the girl a pointed look, alerting her that she should roll her window up too, but the brown-eyed loonie shook her head, pulling the same notebook out of her pocket and leaning it against the wheel. When she finally held up what she'd been writing, Autumn could just barely make out six words.

Your name is so not Susanna.

Autumn gave her a look, and then proceeded to ignore her once again. She found peace for all but a moment before yet another noise startled her. With barely contained fury, she rolled down her window, the slow speed contrasting her hot annoyance. "What do you want?"

"I'm Kayla, 17, currently on track to be late for first period!" the girl- Kayla- she reminded herself, said easily. "Noticed that we're going to the same place based on your bumper sticker."

Autumn inhaled sharply for the third time this morning. This was going to be a long ride, but at least she was no longer bored.

The Haunting of Crestwood Hollow - A Supernatural Coming of Age Story

And Myles is cute! In a younger brother, still coming into his own way!

@Daydreamz

Birthday: October 24th, 2004

Age of consent in USA: 16-18

The Haunting of Crestwood Hollow - A Supernatural Coming of Age Story

Okay guys, here's the plan

let's all group together and kill wraith's character so he cant control us any longer. death to the bourgeoisie!

The Promise - Second Star to the Right, and Straight on 'til Morning.

Archie

---

"Archie!"

Lynn's voice broke him out of his stupor and he was yanked backwards and away by his arm. She was warm, borderline hot and was a jolting contrast from the cooling night air. She was questioning him now, trying to find out if he had touched the body, or done anything to it. "No, no. God-" he just about choked out, trying to find his words. "I was going to look for flowers for Natalie and Amelia to apologize and I saw-" his eyes flashed over to the body again. Lynn seemed to sense this, or at least he thought she did. Archie was pulled again, this time to his feet away away. His arm hurt from the heat of her hands and from how tight she was holding him. He looked away from the body and at Lynn. Archie's eyes were stark white and were producing a sort of bioluminescence, just like they had when he had gone under last time.

"Get the fuck up. Get up and walk away. C'mon." Lynn's tone was commanding, and he followed her instructions. She had gotten to him a little late and her smaller stature might've play into her not immediately noticing the signs, but he stood easily six inches taller than he normally did. Or maybe she did, and this was simply her way of trying to calm him down before he made a mess. She forced him to face the tree line, away from the body. He caught sight of Natalie who was destroying trees in what could have been frustration? Anger? He knew how that felt. Amelia screamed and the high pitched fear reverberated painfully in his head. He groaned and brought his hands up to his ears, just about lifting Lynn off the ground as he did so. He could sense that there was a new person here from the scent of bile in her throat. All the more reason not to turn, Archie thought. He didn't want to sour any more relations. He had been lucky that Lynn and Natalie had been so forgiving. This new person might now.

Not again. Archie thought. He wasn't going to turn again and make them do what they had to do on the first day. Not after he had just promised them that he wouldn't hurt them again. He had stopped the transformation as it was, having successfully convinced himself that he wasn't being bodily threatened. He felt his muscles relax again, and he winced as his spine audibly cracked back into place in a few locations and his height reduced.

"I'm- I'm okay. I promise." he said, putting his hand around Lynn's arm in an attempt to get her to loosen her grip. His eyes were still bright white, but he was coming down and that's what mattered. His senses were still in hyperdrive though, and he heard Amelia coming from behind before he saw her. She was cursing to herself, about how someone was following her. Once again he felt like he was a passenger in his own body as he centered himself on instinct. He leveraged his and Lynn's (admittedly low contribution to their) weight so that when the free arm shot out on its own accord and snatched Amelia just about out of the air as she passed, they barely moved. Amelia's momentum was instantly stopped and she was put down on her ass again, this time by Archie. He held onto her with an iron grip, not so much so that it hurt her but enough so that his hand did not move.

Archie felt his control return and he relaxed, instantly releasing Amelia's arm. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Are you oka-" He caught himself, processing what she had been yelling about. It's him? She's following her?

"Who is following you? What do you mean it's him?" he asked earnestly, concern written into his features. They were far enough away from the river bank that he was afforded enough clarity that he could force himself to ignore the body that less than a hundred feet from them. He didn't remember Amelia leaving on the first day, but Lynn and Natalie might. How was Amelia related to this body?

---

@Typical@Silver Carrot@He Who Walks Behind@levinfist

The Haunting of Crestwood Hollow - A Supernatural Coming of Age Story

It's like counting a god-like deity that could twist your life into a living hell as one of the 'people'. :P

@Fallenreaper

we can bully wraith. he's canadian.

The Haunting of Crestwood Hollow - A Supernatural Coming of Age Story

If it wasn't for the 2 boys, the faculty might wonder if Lehrer was making a group of female followers lol.

@Fallenreaper

Chad Thundercock and Johnny Narcissist carrying their nuts in wheelbarrows is all the testosterone this RP needs.

The Haunting of Crestwood Hollow - A Supernatural Coming of Age Story

@Typical

Woah hey this aint the space boat. Wassup homie

The Promise - Second Star to the Right, and Straight on 'til Morning.

Archie

---

"I think we should look out for each other from now on. Help each other stay under control and stuff."

Archie smiled at this, and let Natalie's hands go. He felt the weight lift off his chest knowing that for the most part everything was okay now. He liked what Natalie insinuated, though. That they would look out for one another. The promise of not letting him go too far. It was sweeter, and 'If you go too far, I'll kick your ass' didn't have the same ring to it.

He looked over to the other two, three now. It seemed that the club had gained a new member. A new friend that he could make. He caught Lynn's eyes on him for a moment and frowned when he noticed her glare. She sharply looked away and continued conversation naturally. A part of Archie wasn't sure what to make of that other than she was upset at him for something. He looked back at Natalie and gave her an apologetic smile. "Why dont you go on ahead. I'll catch up."

When Natalie had nodded and given him at the beautiful quaint smile of hers, Archie had absconded off of the sidewalk, intent on getting her and Amelia flowers as well. It dropped off into a decline for around eight or so feet before leveling off and transitioning into pines and conifers. The forest floor was dotted with ferns and other low underbrush- but Archie was looking for wildflowers again. He didn't have any particular type in mind, just some sort of flowering plant. Hell, he'd bring Natalie a pine cone back if he thought she'd get a kick out of it.

The dirt was becoming progressively more loam, and he could hear the sound of flowing water. The smell alone brought back fond memories of home, and without much thought he allowed himself to travel deeper. The trees were becoming thinner now, and he found himself by the river that traveled around the length of the ring. He looked to his left and followed the easy arch as the water, land, the small orange lights of a campground of all things, and buildings sloped easily and faded into the darkness of the sky above. He looked directly upwards and found himself trying to discern between the lights of still-lit rooms and the stars in the night. Eventually he realizes that he's still breathing— his lungs are protesting and his chest feeling as empty as ever, but it's nothing he can't handle. Archie opens his eyes (when did he close them?) and looks back up at the sky, the stars—they had known all his secrets, once upon a time. The night sky stays as silent as ever. He listens to the sound of insects and frogs croaking away along the river. It's funny- perhaps this tin can in space wasn't so unlike his home after all.

He turned to his right and followed the river a few more paces in search of a flowering plant- and eventually found one. He knelt down, humming to himself, and gathered a few more flowers with the intent of giving them to Natalie and Amelia.

Then, he saw it. Less than ten feet from him. A shape had washed ashore and was shifting ever so slowly with the flow of the river. Archie didn't realize he was moving until he was almost upon it- but stopped short as soon as realized what it was. It was a body.

The man was horribly broken- collapsed chest, the leg was bent in all the wrong ways, missing fingernails, missing fingers. Archie skidded to a halt, falling flat on his ass no more than a few feet from the body. He was screaming, a part of him realized. In surprise, and in fear. He hadn't even realized that he had started screaming until he had stopped. His chest pounded, and with shaking fingers he placed his hand across his chest—

And there it is, the familiar thump, thump, thump of his heart, now far stronger than it normally was. His chest burned and for the first time in days he felt the call of the other guy. He was scared, terrified even. He turned over and threw up, but whipped around as soon as he was finished as if the body was going to come alive at any moment. This didn't happen here. The Promise had zero deaths in history and here he was, faced with a literal corpse. Someone had been killed and recently, too. The body was in the early stages of decay and his rapidly sharpening senses could now detect the horrid odor of rotting flesh. He seized, his clothes tightening on his body, but he fought the transformation. He didn't need to turn- he rationalized. He wasn't in any immediate danger. He was okay. He was okay.

He felt his body physically relax without his say, as if he were an observer and no longer in control. He felt the heat and tightness in his chest fade, but he was still paralyzed in shock by the body in front of him. He pushed himself away from the corpse- further away from the water, unable to take his eyes off of it. The others must've heard him. They'd be here any moment now. They would follow his gaze and see it too.

What the hell were they to do?

---

@Typical@Silver Carrot@He Who Walks Behind@levinfist

The Haunting of Crestwood Hollow - A Supernatural Coming of Age Story

inb4 @Fallenreaper’s bat gives everyone rabies/ebola and black plague’s the rp.