Ghost Hunt (tag Taki, Vic, Ezzie, Izzy, Si, Roxy)

[Sidra Cotton]

Rolling her eyes to show her contempt for the Step Monster’s actions, Sidra whispered back to her sister, “Don’t worry about it. We’ll buy you second copies of your books and sketchpads and hide them in my room. One of the coffin cases will do nicely, don’t you think?”

It wasn’t long before it was her turn to crawl through the window and she did so with an agility that someone in a corset really shouldn’t have. That’s what she got for living in the things though, she knew how to move and bend in them the way novices could only dream of. Once her feet were firmly planted on the floor she retrieved her candle from Fallon who’d held it for her.

“Ez, you won’t have anything to worry about. I’ll drive you home myself.” Gangs, the worst sort of leech on society. Creating nothing but fear and hate where they went. Sidra had no patience for them. If her father ever did manage to find a way to create undead without the whole decomposition of zombies then she’d be all over it like a cat on nip. Then the gangs wouldn’t know what hit them.”

Pulling from her knowledge from Ghost Hunters, and casting a sideways glances towards Vic, Sidra smiled. “Let her know we’re coming, that we want only to give her company this evening and if she would be so kind as to grace us with her presence we will cast no judgment upon her.” Pausing, Sidra considered another option that had been proposed.

“I don’t believe we have anything to worry about in regards to being possessed, unless someone’s open to such a thing and allows it.” At least, that’s how it worked in the books. “What say you, Vic?”

[Thad Cotton]

Thad pranced around in anticipation as they waited for everyone to enter with them. He was thrilled that Fallon had actually decided to join them, though it was horribly unfair about the Step-witch of the west coast getting her in trouble because HE had snuck out of the house for the entire weekend. He waved his candle at her in indignation. "I didn' even tell you I was goin', cause I wasn' plannin' on it, how could she get mad at you?" He demanded, cross that his actions had gotten his sister into trouble. He didn't mind getting into trouble on his own account, and he didn't really mind if Si and Fallon got into trouble themselves, but he didn't think it was right that they should get in trouble because of him.

He jumped when Taki whispered in his direction, somehow managing not to catch Si's hair on fire as he clung to her, glaring at the Japanese youth. "Aw, tha's not nice, geez." He should have been expecting that sort of behavior, and he knew it, which only made the fright more irritating. And he didn't want them to think he was a wuss, anyway, he wanted to be brave and cool, like Si and Fal and Vic and Taki, and he wanted to impress Roxy and Ezzie. These goals were going to be difficult to accomplish if he kept jumping at every little sound, however.

He slowly released his grip on Sidra, darting to the front of the group and very determinedly set off, not sure where he was supposed to be going. His heart was pounding furiously in his chest, and the threat of possession lingered uncomfortably in the back of his mind (Si's words did nothing to reassure him), but he needed to prove that he wasn't afraid. After all, they were just spirits. Spirits seperated from their physical bodies; physical bodies seperated from their spirits were repulsive, but spirits were even more worrisome, because they so rarely lingered on the physical plane, so when they did he had to wonder just what reason they had. People always said things like revenge and unfinished business, but as he hadn't ever actually spoken with anyone who had truly communicated with a spirit, he wasn't sure if it was true or not. But it was largely agreed upon that it was true, and he took a very democratic approach to knowledge -- an approach that perhaps lead to a great deal of misinformation, despite his insistance to the contrary.

"C'mon!" He hissed impatiently at the group behind him.

[Sidra Cotton]

“Thadeus, if you set fire to my hair you will know no end of suffering at my hands. Am I understood?” Her words were offset by a wink at the Japanese boy Thad kept calling Taxi interspersed with Taki. “The same goes for spilling wax on my coat.”

When he did let go, Sidra seemed to notice a rather determined look on his face and she smiled quietly to herself. If someone else happened to witness the sly grin, she hoped they figured it for a prideful smile. Or something similar at least.

“Well let’s not keep Turbo, waiting,” she spoke in hushed tones stepping forward to follow her younger brother. Who was he trying to prove something to, she wondered, or was he just touchy now because he’d been spooked by Taki? Whatever the reason, Sidra figured him to be on edge now, and thus a far easier target than Izzy to squeak. Oh yes, the night was going to be totally worth whatever penalty the Harpy had to dish out.

Of course, it was difficult to take things away from Sidra, particularly the items of her escape (the car) as she had bought it herself in the first place (with a little help from dad after she’d told him about it) and thus it wasn’t the Step Monster’s to threaten her with. Grounding, sure, but she couldn’t touch the car. Not legally.

[fryn]

Takumi grinned back at Sidra before setting off after Thad. "Hold on, otousan!" he hissed. "These spirits might not like us to be here..." He shot a look back down the stone steps at the following group.

"In Japan we have many beliefs about yûrei... Ghosts," he said. "According to our tradition, all humans have a spirit or soul called a reikon. When a person dies, the reikon leaves the body and enters a form of purgatory, where it waits for the proper funeral and post-funeral rites to be performed, so that it may join its ancestors. If this is done correctly, the reikon is believed to be a protector of the living family and to return yearly in August during the Obon Festival to receive thanks."

He paused a little before continuing...

"However," he said in little more than a whisper, "... if the person dies in a sudden or violent manner such as murder or suicide, if the proper rites have not been performed, or if they are influenced by powerful emotions such as a desire for revenge, love, jealousy, hatred or sorrow, the reikon is thought to transform into a yûrei, which can then bridge the gap back to the physical world. The yûrei then exists on Earth until it can be laid to rest, either by performing the missing rituals, or resolving the emotional conflict that still ties it to the physical plane. If the rituals are not completed or the conflict left unresolved, the yûrei will persist in its haunting."

"Otousan! Wait!" he called out. "What we might have here is a partuclar kind of ghost... An Onryô. A vengeful spirit who has come back from purgatory for a wrong done to them during their lifetime and a female one is the worst. Powerless in the physical world, they often suffer at the hands of their male lovers. In death they become strong."

He reached out to snag the back of Thad's jacket. "We must be careful from here," he added in warning.

[Vic Webber]

"Si is right, as long as you keep your mind closed to not letting the spirit inside you. Theres also a enough of us she couldn't get to all of us at once. She'd wear down." He turned around the candle light illuminating his face. "Now unless any of you are scared, we'll keep going up the stairs."

The stairs had that marvelous haunted house squeak as a person stepped on each one, if anything was there, living or dead, it'd know someone was there.

"Vi, we've come to visit you. No harm is intended. Just give us a sign if you want us here." He held the candle up looking to the top of the stairs. The door leading up opened on its own.

Victor hadn't planned on that nor did he think anyone had. He swallowed nervously. "Ok it seems like we are welcomed but the noise needs to be kept at a minimum." He cautioned everyone there. He slowly took the stairs feeling colder as he made the climb. He wasn't about to show that he was scared but this was creeping him out. "So who wants to see where the story was to have happened?"

[Sidra Cotton]

Sidra’s eyes narrowed dangerously in Taki’s direction. She considered for a brief moment lighting his hair on fire for that comment.

“I’m sorry, I could have sworn you just said women were powerless in the physical world.” Her voice was low, to keep with the mood of the setting, but there was no less venom behind it. Powerless? He really should learn about the suffragettes of old and the feminists of new. Perhaps she’d show him just how ‘powerless’ a girl was.

It did occur to her, belatedly, that it might be a cultural thing. Even so, what a thing to say! Especially with as many girls in the group as there were. But with her brother’s unexpected actions and the door opening on it’s own, Sidra’s eyebrows rose thoughtfully. Did Vic come by earlier and rig the lighthouse? It was possible and quite likely. It was something Si had wished she’d thought of, but then hadn’t known about the lighthouse trip until her brother begged her to go and drive. She’d agreed, of course. If only because it dealt with the undead in some way or another. Not as cool as vampires, of course, but still it was something.

Catching the look on Izzy’s face, Si scooted closer.

“Hey, you okay?”

[fryn]

Takumi grinned at Sidra who was clearly not amused at his comment about women. "I mean back in history," he clarified. "Feudal Japan is very different to most other cultures. During the feudal ages, women became dominated by men as the need for strength became more important. But unlike most places, women too could train in the martial arts and carry swords for defense and become a samurai warrior. However, women of the upper class were not allowed these privileges and led very private lives. Even if a woman was a samurai, she could be ordered to do something by a male of her class or higher, but she could order the men of the classes below her."

He glanced around, noting he was gender-ly out-numbered. Time for a hasty retreat? That would definitely be the sensible course of action.

"Of course, that doesn't stand today as women are counted as equals in Japan... Just that ghosts... yûrei.. are usually from a bygone age." He shot Sidra a wink. "To show my respect for your gender I will let you lead from here!" All the better to try and scare her from behind... right?

[Izzy Chen]

Izzy enjoyed her position. Behind Taki, but in front of Sidra. She was perfectly safe right? Izzy listened as everyone talked. "I am fine." She said to Sidra. But then she could have sworn she heard a creak. "I spoke to soon. Why am I here again?" She had gripped onto Taki's shirt when she jumped. Izzy took a few deep breaths before regaining her composure and letting go of Taki's shirt. "Okay now that I have that embarrassment out of my system I should be okay." She smiled a small smile.

Izzy took a deep breath and continued on. "Nice save Taki." She told him when he covered at the last moment about women. "I agree Sidra, why don't you led us. Show us how its done." Izzy smiled and smile pushed her friend forward. "I am quite content leading from behind here. II promise if we have to run that way I will run fast." Izzy let out a small laugh. She had to laugh...right now she was scared shit less. Although she did watch Thad try and get ahead of the group. "Oh come on let Thad lead. Its adorable he wants to protect everyone." Although she had a feeling that was not the case. She figured she would give him some encouragement.

"Next time you want to go on a ghost hunt I recommend we come during the day." Although that would defeat the purpose and Izzy was aware of that, but she found it funny to suggest none the less. Izzy continued to follow on and look around. You could barely see anything in here. Which was probably the point. Izzy was not looking where she was going when she bumped into someone...or so she hoped..."Sorry..."

[Fallon Cotton]

"Thad....Thad get back here..." Fallon said as her younger brother headed to the front of the group. "I think he has a death wish Si." Fal said with a smile since she was joking around. Fal looked around the place. She wanted to kind of explore. She took the candle and started to look around at all the items in the lighthouse. She had never been this far out before. She listened as Taki talked, "Isn't that what was said about the ghost in "The Grudge" or am I getting confused." Fal offered in a whisper.

Fal looked as the door opened up once Vic spoke. She stood next to Vic for a moment, "Why don't you go up and I will stay here...." Fal said with a smile. "After all it opened when you spoke." Fal offered. She was not about to go first. "Who wants to be the sacrificial lamb and go up the stairs?" Fal asked the group quietly. She eyed everyone. She was not about to go first.

Fal shined her candle around the room and noticed some cool stuff in the corner. She decided to walk over. She was not that far from the group. She liked what she found. The stuff was shiny. It looked like stuff a pirate might have owned. The telescope, magnifying glass, a treasure map. Of course there was no way to tell if it was real, but still the stuff looked cool. And Fal had a fairytale forming in her head of a pirate and a princess. Fal's tendency to wonder off was a bad habit of hers.

[Ezzie Lopez]

"Thanks Si. I owe ya." Ezzie said practically squealing with excitement. This whole thing was too much fun. Ezzie watched Thad go to the front of the group. He was either really brave or really stupid. However it gave Ezzie an idea. She pulled Roxy over to the side so she could whisper, "I think we should both freak Thad out. We could go up to him and pretend to fawn all over him. Like tell him he is our hero and how much we love him and can't live without him..." Ezzie smiled. "That would have to freak him out right?" Ezzie laughed a little at the idea of Roxy and her going over and each grabbing one of Thad's arms and telling how much they could not live without him. It sounds hilarious to her. "After all he does want to play leader might as well boost his ego." She laughed some more quietly.

Ezzie heard the creak too. She assumed that was the same creak that made Si's friend jump like ten feet high. "Can we vote on who to send up?" Ezzie suggested in a joking manor. She looked at Taki as he talked, "Okay none of that sounded good, but very interesting,. Why is it all the vengeful ghost are always women...we are not that bad." She said still talking playfully. You had to be playful in this situation. It was scary and creepy and Ezzie was asking for nightmares, but it all sounded cool to her.

In her mind this was all well worth it. She was having fun. Ezzie did not even notice Fal wonder off. Not that it mattered. There only seemed to be two exits. Or thats all Ezzie could see anyway. "For some reason I have this overwhelming need to yell Boo at you Rox." She smiled but she was still talking quietly.