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

[Ezzie Lopez]

Ezzie looked around as everyone looked for Fal. Ezzie was the first to admit she was a chicken and sh did not want to go look for fear of what she would find. She was quite happy watching Roxy mess with Thad. Ezzie looked at Roxy as she talked to her and smiled, "Go for it." She whispered. Ezzie tried to remain calm, it was so easy to freak out right now. One of her best friends was missing. It was dark and a ghost was on the loose. Ezzie wanted to run for the hills. But she stayed put and watched Roxy. Ezzie had to suppress a laugh.

Ezzie just sat back and watched Roxy act. Even Ezzie did not believe it. Then again she had planned it. Ezzie walked over to Thad's other side and winked at Roxy. Ezzie loped her arm through Thad's arm. Although she was not as good of an actress as Roxy. No one in her opinion was as good, but Ezzie could still act a little. Not well, but enough to be semi okay for a school play. "I think Roxy is right. You going first was so brave Thad. I was really impressed with you. I never knew you could be like that."

Ezzie smiled. Oh my god. This was too good. She sure hoped Thad did not buy any of this. Two girls fawning all over him. It was priceless. Poor Thad, but it was fun. And it was semi true. She had been impressed when he tried to take charge, but still...."I mean I felt so safe with you leading us. I know you would never let anything happen to anyone here." She watched Taki go ahead of them. "Want to follow him> Show us how to handle a ghost...."

[fryn]

Takumi's heart rate increased when he heard the sound again... Closer... He didn't dare shine his light at whoever it was in case he saw someone - some*thing* he didn't want to see. If it was Thad then Taki would lecture the kid for scaring him witless. As it was, the Japanese youth jumped a good few inches when a hand landed gently on his shoulder.

"Achi kaera akumabito!" he yelped. Roughly translated as 'get lost, she-demon'. Of course he assumed he was addressing the Lady of the Light when he uttered those words. "Izzy! Thank god," he added when he heard her voice. His heart was still thumping painfully against his rib-cage but at least he'd managed to regain some self-control and reigned in any building panic.

He grabbed her hand. "So we don't trip," he stated. Far from the real reason but it wouldn't look cool to admit he'd been terrified. "Look at this, Izzy-chan," he said softly and he turned towards the sea-most window. "Iikanji-jan," he breathed. "It's beautiful, huh?" The others would be with them soon enough and when Fallon had been consoled but for now at least he and Izzy could enjoy the view in relative silence.

They stared at the scene for a few moments before Takumi threw Izzy a sideways glance. "So... do you believe in these ghostly tales, Izzy-chan?" he asked. "It certainly is spooky enough here but... I'm not so sure myself that it is haunted. The tower was drafty and that was probably why the door opened." He'd need more evidence than that alone.

[Roxy Rivera]

When Ezzie joined in, Roxy wasn't surprised--it had been her idea after all. She smiled at her friend, but quickly let her smile fade the moment Thad looked at her. She didn't want Thad to see her smiling because she was going to pretend that she wasn't happy about Ezzie fawning over him. She was going to pretend to fight over him. Boy...that would confuse him!

She listened to Ezzie and when she linked arms with Thad, Roxy quickly took his other arm and gave it a little tug. "No, show me," she said, tossing her hair behind the shoulder. "I don't think Ezzie could handle it anyway...so probably just us should go," she said, wrapping her arm around his waist as she pulled him closer to her. "I wanna see how brave you are," she said, her voice coming out a little seductive, which made her want to laugh so bad that she had to bite down on the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.

She wanted to look at Ezzie...see her expression, but Roxy was sure that it would just make her laugh, so she kept her eyes fixed on Thad, waiting for him to react to their joke.

[Sidra Cotton]

Being ushered off by Taki wasn’t what Sidra would normally allow, but her sister was in the balance. Whatever balance that may be and she wasn’t about to let Fallon come to any harm. If anyone could say anything about the Cotton Patch, they stuck together. Besides, Fal was terrified of the dark, and water. A lighthouse was NOT an ideal place for the girl to get lost or locked up in a room.

“Open it already, Sidra hissed at the boy.” Her order, it seemed, was ill timed as the others showed up and took charge of the search. So focused on the task at hand, Sidra didn’t even notice when the Japanese boy wandered off on his own. No, not everyone was there, but enough.

Pushing Vic aside without so much preamble as a “Move” she held her candle aloft and called out again, “Fallon?” Then more sternly, “Fal! C’mon now.” It wasn’t stern because Sidra was upset with her sister, no. She was stern because she wanted Fallon to recognize that she was a rock. A solid person who was going to protect her younger siblings when necessary, and would take down a she-ghost if necessary.

“Vic, make sure the door stays open, please?” The please was a last-second tack-on as Si moved further into the room.

[fryn]

Izzy didn't get a chance to answer Takumi's question as another sound interrupted their conversation. A soft and barely audible scratching noise. "Did you come up here on your own?" he whispered and Izzy nodded slightly. "A mouse maybe?" No... it was too loud for a mouse. Rat? Possibly but one thing was certain... They had to check it out.

"Izzy-chan..." he hissed, grabbing her sleeve and dragging her down into a crouch alongside him. "Look!" A soft glow started to seep into the room. At first Takumi thought it came from the stair well and that the others were joining them... but no... The light was building outside the lead-paned circular window that formed the outer wall of the lamp room itself. Outside? How could that be? He knew there was a balcony out there so maybe the others were trying to scare them. If so they were doing a great job. Only problem with that idea was the door to the balcony was in the lamp room itself, making it impossible for anyone to have gained access without Takumi and Izzy noticing.

Or was it the famous ghostly apparition that had haunted the lighthouse for the past 80 years... seeking solace for her loss... and in whatever form she could take it.

Takumi shivered slightly in excitement coupled with fear. This was what they'd come here for... wasn't it?

[Izzy Chen]

Izzy smiled a bit when he grabbed her hand. She felt the closeness and it made her nerves a little less jumpy to be honest. She needed that. And Taki was becoming a good friend, so that was good too. It was better to be here with a friend then a stranger. She was about to speak when something happened. Izzy froze in place. The only time she moved was when Taki pulled her down. Their bodies were close and crouching on the floor. Her heart beat was racing a thousand beats a minute.

She moved a tad closer to Taki for safety. "I believe in them now." She whispered against his back. "Just please tell me she won't possess me and I will be fine." The idea of being possessed scared her. Then again from what everyone said she did not have to worry about it. But still the idea of her being possessed and walking to the window to throw herself to the sea below scared her. "I just want to go back to the beautiful view." She whispered.

This was beyond scary. She doubted she would sleep tonight. "So much for sleeping before school tomorrow.' She said. Talking was helping, but she was not even sure of what she was seeing. Jett would think she was crazy and she knew it. Who could she tell about this experience. Part of her wished she had stayed down stairs, but she was glad she had followed.

[Fallon Cotton]

At first Fal had been okay. She took a few deep breaths and figured it was easy to get out of the room. however, then the noises started. The sound of waves crashing against the light house. The swaying of the lighthouse. Okay so she knew the light house was not moving, but in her fuzzy mind everything was moving. Then she heard creaks and whispers. Maybe it was her mind. She had forgotten her meds. Her mind could very well be overreacting. She did do that. In her manic state her mind could take the littles sound and make it the loudest sound in the room.

Fal had tears down her face. She heard voice, but could not understand them. She covered her ears trying to regain her composure. Like what she learned in therapy when she was ever without her meds and this started to happen. Most people thought it too days for medication to wear off. Not in the case of someone who was Bi Polar. It could take a matter of hours for symptoms to appear and they were appearing. It had been a little over 24 hours since Fallon's last pill...not good.

All the sudden the door opened up and a light came into the room. At first the person looked like a ghost. "She's come to claim me..." Fallon said as she started at the ghost she thought was the woman. "She will not take me.." Fal said under her breath and started to crouch down in the corner. She would hide forever and never come out. She hugged her legs to her chest and started to rock back and forth. But then she heard it...that voice...one she knew...one that made her feel safe. Without warning Fal darted out of the darkness and into the light. She basically rammed her body into Sidra's body and grabbed on tight around her sisters waist for dear life, "Don't let her get me...I don't want to go into the water..no water...tell her to stay away..." Fal was making no sense going into a crazy rant, as she often did when she was in a manic state.

[fryn]

A very different drama was unfolding at the top of the lighthouse and one that saw Takumi start to doubt his own sanity. After all, this little adventure had been his brain-child. What had he been thinking? HAD he been thinking, more to the point! And yet he'd hoped to encounter supernatural actuivity so why should he be so afraid?

He drew in a deep breath and started to push himself back to his feet. He had to know... one way or another. He pressed close to the window... only to jerk back immediately afterwards.

He dropped down next to Izzy once more. "There's a car down there. I saw a man with a torch." He shot Izzy a terse look. "I don't think its so much the Lady of the Light as it is the Cop with a Gun!"

All they had to do, though, was keep their heads down, flashlights out and stay quiet. The flaw in that plan, though, was that the others downstairs didn't know the lighthouse was currently undergoing its routine security patrol. Should he go down and warn them? Come to that, would there even be enough time! All they could do was hope the others were trying their best to remain undiscovered... and that the cop left as quickly as he'd arrived.

[Thad Cotton]

Thad was surprised when Roxy approached, apparently as impressed with his bravado as he had hoped. He didn't realize that any joke was being played on him, and would have been thoroughly annoyed to know the truth. In fact, he was so enthralled with this new side of his two best friends that he failed to notice that Fallon was missing, and everyone else was off searching for her. He did notice the others making their way out of the room, of course, but he assumed they were still on the hunt for the ghost -- or ghosts.

"We...can all go," He suggested, having a very brief vision of Roxy and Ezzie as harem girls, which he quickly suppressed as he had an idea that women could read minds -- at least the four he lived with certainly seemed able to, and his friends had shown certain similar inclinations.

He had ceased to think of this expedition as something that could be easily halted by authority, or even as something that might be, say, illegal and therefore should be kept secret. It never occurred to him that just outside a police officer was performing a routine check for vagrants and vagabonds as he dragged the two girls forward, feeling a puffed up sense of importance now that they were so clearly impressed with his courage. Unfortunately, in his haste he missed a step and slid backwards with a yelp, dropping his candle, which extinguished into a curtain of smoke as it hit the stone stairwell.

"AAAAAH," He felt rather than heard a disconcerting crunch as he landed at the bottom of the stairwell. He attempted to sit up, wincing at the effort and feeling his side gingerly. He was definitely scraped up, and his left leg was objecting to his feeble attempts to put any weight on it. "Roxy! Ezzie!!" He shouted up the stairs; he knew any points he had scored had likely evaporated with his fall, but he didn't want to be sprawled at the bottom of the stairs alone, either.

Thump, thump, thump.

The boy tensed as something heavy dragged itself towards the door, wondering if something other than ghosts haunted this light house.

"Who's there?" A gruff voice sounded, and Thad shrank against the wall, wishing he could become invisible...

[Ezzie Lopez]

Ezzie tried not to look at Roxy, but gave her a few glances. Thad seemed to be buying it. This was way too good. Ezzie could not help, but continue to go along with the plan. She played off what Roxy did and went along with it. Ezzie gave Thad a small tug in her direction next, "I think you have that wrong Rox. I think you are the one who should stay behind. You can be our look out." She said giving Roxy a sarcastic smile, with a small wink that only she could see. Ezzie put her arm around Thad's shoulders and used her free hand to slowly trail a finger down his arm, "I am so glad you came Thad. You make this much less scary. I know I am safe with you." She purred and smiled. This was kind of hard. Acting.....Ezzie had no idea how Roxy did it.

Ezzie smiled as Thad spoke. She was about to say something when they hears a noise. Ezzie brushed it off. Then Ezzie smiled and was ready to tell Thad the truth. She figured the game had gone on long enough and the poor guy seemed to believe her and Roxy and Ezzie kind of felt bad for playing such a joke. Kind of being the operative word because it was really funny. Ezzie. Gave Roxy a look hoping to convey she was ready to spill the beans, however fate had plans of its own because Thad all the sudden took a tumble down the stairs. Ezzie watch, "Thad!." She said worried.

Ezzie raced down the stairs to her friend and crouched down. So much for telling him the truth. She heard the booming voice. Must be a cop. Ezzie looked at Roxy, "Hide...now." Ezzie helped Thad up and quickly pulled him to a dark spot under the old stairs. The stairs Thad just fell down. Ezzie crouched low and covered Thad's mouth with her hand, because knowing Thad...staying quiet would be hard...especially because his leg seemed hurt. Ezzie tried to quiet her breathing as someone with a flashlight entered the room and began looking around. She hoped Roxy was hiding.

The guy looked around, "Whose in here? Show yourself now?" The guard looked around. The place was scary at night. Something must have spooked him because the next thing Ezzie knew the guard was praying to God, "Please do not come after me oh ghost." Then the light disappeared. Ezzie hoped the guard was gone, but you never know because Ezzie went to move and she knocked into something that made a clank when it fell. She prayed the guard thought it was the ghost and ran away.