Lucas Stirling - Awakening

[Gremlin]

Lucas nodded, "That's that possibility gone then." he said more to himself than Marty. Thinking that he hed covered pretty much everything with Marty, he asked "OK, is there anything else about all this you think we haven't covered?"

[Anthr4xus]

Marty shook his head but added, "I'm glad you were here for that. Please help me figure out what is going on, I keep feeling like I am going crazy." That last was a near-whisper. Something that Lucas thought Marty had been afraid to say out loud.

[Gremlin]

Lucas stood to leave. "I think we can rule that out already. I've seen it myself, after all" He told his client, hoping it sounded reassuring. "But I think we'll both sleep easier if I can figure out what's goin' on. Try to film any more incidents an' I'll keep you updated from my side."

[Anthr4xus]

Marty nodded enthusiastically. As Lucas started to move towards the door he asked, "Oh, I didn't think to clarify first. What are your rates? I have a decent budget for this, but I think it is best if we are both have a clear understanding of the likely cost."

[Gremlin]

"Since I have no idea what else to class this as, I'll call it general investigative services. For those, it's a hundred dollars an hour with a four hour minimum, plus expenses." Lucas answered, quoting from his website. "Billable expenses." He amended, since it was often hard to provide receipts for bribes, payments to informants and other outlays that people wanted to keep quiet. "Is that gonna be a problem?"

[Anthr4xus]

Marty shook his head and said, "No. I currently have a couple grand budgeted for this, so if it goes on that long we can make an assessment on how to proceed from there, ok?"

[Gremlin]

"Don't worry, I'm not in the habit of bankruptin' clients." Lucas hoped he sounded reassuring. "Stops repeat business an' once word got around no-one'd hire me." There was also the fact that he wanted to figure out just what the hell was going on. When he'd branched out on his own, he'd expected to be looking into cheating spouses and insurance claims. Not whatever this turned out to be.

[Anthr4xus]

Marty chuckled at the little joke and said, "I hope to hear from you soon, Mr. Stirling." Lucas stepped back out onto the porch and caught the branches of the shrubs that framed the porch in front of the big window shudder, as if something was moving within them. The rest of the street was still and there was no sign at all of what they had seen through the window. A cold wind blew down the street, stirring some snow and ice from the roofs of some of the houses.

[Gremlin]

Lucas looked into the shrubs to see if he could locate the source of their movement. It was almost as if the breeze that followed was an afterthought to cover up the movement. But that would mean someone could control it, and that simply wasn't possible.

After pulling a plain black watch cap from his pocket an donning it, he held out a hand to Marty in the hope of appearing professional. "As soon as I have somethin'."

"Assuming I get anything." He added, in his head.

Edited February 5 by Gremlin (see edit history)

[Anthr4xus]

As Lucas shook Marty's hand, out of the corner of his eye he saw the bushes shake again and a sudden grey and brown streak erupted from the far side of the bushes. In no more than a second or two it was gone around the corner of Marty's house. Marty gave out a wheezy scream when the animal made it's move, his hand jerking away from Lucas' as he quicky fell back into the house, his hand grabbing the door but he seems to get control of himself just in time to keep from slamming it in Lucas' face. Sheepishly, Marty says, "Sorry, Mr. Stirling, that really got me."

[Gremlin]

Lucas started slightly as the damned critter shot from the bushes and wondered what had the thing so riled up. "No need, it got me as well." He looked again towards the bush the little monster had come from and felt the need to satisfy his curiosity. Lucas approached the bush, peering inside and around it. He was not quite sure what he expected to find but at the same time, but knew he couldn't leave without taking a look.

[Anthr4xus]

Looking under and through the bush it looked like Marty's house may have some kind of underhouse sump pump or something. A small seep tube imbedded in the concrete of the porch kept a moist patch of each at the base of the shrub, even in the freezing temperature. The branches of the bush also held several small tufts of white and grey muddy fur, caught here and there.

[Gremlin]

"Hmm." Lucas muttered to himself, seeing nothing that might send the rodents nuts. "Probably a predator." He reasoned as he stood. Lucas shook his head and reminded himself to not get distracted. The weird light show was the case here, not animals behaving unusually. Unless the two were linked, "Nope, don't be seeing rabbit holes where there are none."

"I'll leave you in peace for now." He told Marty, giving the client a few seconds to add any final details before he set off back to his office.

[Anthr4xus]

Lucas' drive back to his office was externally quiet, but his mind raced with the disparate details of this bizarre situation. What had he seen, and why did Marty see something different? What other strange events did Marty catch on his camera? Why was Marty's whole neighborhood just kind of off? There was something at the back of his mind that felt like wheels turning, but nothing was jumping out at him yet.

[Gremlin]

When he got back to the office Lucas helped himself to another coffee, more to give himself time to order his thoughts than any actual desire for the drink. After giving it some thought, he decided to try an internet search for reports similar to Marty's before plugging the USB stick into his computer.