Back to Work (ATTN: Kai)

"No problems. After that, We will be heading to Calligan's Hostel. He missed an appointment with John to port out of the city." Kai put his jacket in the back seat and removed his tie. It was so much easier for a guy to go from night out to work. Half the time they were the same outfit.
"I'm still looking forward to another dance though" Kai said with a slight grin.

~~Narration~~

After a short drive, Ekko pulls up to Hostel HI. Kai's Sybil Sight sees the building as if in the shadows of an overcast day.

Well, it started off a good day
"We need to be careful. This place has a bad air about it now." Kai exited the car and waited for Ekko, walking slightly in front.
"Calligan already got hit by what we suspect to be a Banisher. Nearly killed him. It's safe to assume they might have a bead on the building."

"I believe this is where Calligan got attacked." Kai takes an initial look around the front of the building

Spoiler:

"There were some other pentacles here that happened to foil the attack just before Calligan ate it."

~~Narration~~

Ekko sees the fading wisps of Prime and Space surrounding the house, testament to once powerful Wards and Bans which had fallen.

Kai walks up to the door, and checks to see if it's unlocked. If it is, he doesn't bother knocking, he enters the house.

~~Narration~~

It's locked.

Kai casts "Shifting the Odds" in hopes of finding a key:

Spoiler:

And searches a few places such as under a welcome mat, plant pots, etc.

~~Narration~~

No key, despite searching everywhere.

"Yeah. I feel like an idiot. I'll grant you that. But usually my luck is a little better" Kai wasn't terribly comfortable with knocking. But any mage worth his salt had wards up by now anyway.
So much for cool and collected. He had already gotten the cold shoulder anyway. FOCUS
Kai knocks on the door.

~~Narration~~

After waiting a few minutes, Kai realizes that no one is going to answer. He also realizes the sickly sweet odor of decay isn't just his imagination. It wasn't strong enough to notice when trying the door before, but standing in front of it for a few minutes made a difference.

Then again, it could be the Sybil, whispering in his ear again.

Kai looks back and smiles at Ekko.
"You know, I was hoping to show you a much better time for our date than this."
Kai smile turns to a frown and then he turns around and kicks the door in. "Someone is dead in here. It smells terrible."

(( I'll actually need a roll. The Structure of this building has been upgraded quite a bit. ))

Kai loudly kicks the door twice, but it remains firmly in place, with only minor damage.
Can something go right today? Please...just something

(( PER check -5 for Kai, -1 for Ekko; success reveals Spoiler ))

Spoiler:

Seeing the little red light and knowing what the generally means, Ekko attempts to “listen in” to the alarm system to make sure Kai has not tripped it by slamming his foot in the door.

Spoiler:

~~Narration~~

The alarm is transmitting a simple alert, both to a mundane telephone company as well as along a ley line. In ten more seconds, it will change from being a 'possible' intrusion warning to a 'definite'.

~~Narration~~

Ekko successfully directs the flow of electricity away from the alarm system and telephone connections.

~~Narration~~

With a creaking, cracking protests, the deadbolt splinters through the interior door jamb, freeing the door. The sudden differential in air pressure causes a wave of noxious odor to assault Ekko's senses, making her eyes and nose sting with the fetid stench of decay.

Kai briefly looks dejected.
All that, a bag of chips, and kicks a door down which you couldn't
"I may not seem like much, but I'm really good at chess." he gives a sheepish grin. "Shall we?" he says, as he walks through the door.

Kai couldn't could the number of dead he had seen in his lifetime. Her reaction showed that she wasn't used to this kind of thing.
Should I act like this bothers me?
Kai begins to quickly search the hostel.

~~Narration~~

Stepping over the remains of a broken laptop, Ekko and Kai see an overnight bag as well near the front door. The faint buzzing of flies can be heard from the kitchen area.

Streaks of blackish-brown are scattered on the walls adjacent to the staircase leading up.

The smell is much worse, inside, although the fresh air seems to help. The heat and humidity is high, giving the dark house a charnal feel.

Kai goes and looks in the kitchen
"aw fuck" he mutters to himself.

~~Narration~~

The sound of flies intensifies as Kai enters the kitchen; and he can see why.

The man once known as Calligan Wellmer is crucified against the refrigerator, cooking knives from the overturned knife block piercing his arms and collarbone areas. Flies buzz in confusion at the fetid stench of decay, but lack of blood. Calligan's throat is torn open, and only the knife through his mouth and the back of his throat keep the dead weight from falling off of the body. He seems drained of blood, as well as being a wizened husk of his former self*.

Ekko's tour of the upstairs is akin to a slaughterhouse. She finds five bodies in all, whether once Sleepers or Awakened, she can't tell. One is halfway out of a broken window, with it's spinal column exposed from a deep, ugly laceration down the back. The rest seem to have been randomly killed as they fled to rooms or through halls. The attic access ladder is pulled halfway down, and the body under it still holds the torn pull-cord in it's stiff hand.

* Kai rolls INT+Occult for Spoiler

Spoiler:

Kai looks at Calligan's body.
seems a little early for him to be that decayed. Must be the flies.

Spoiler:

Kai hears Ekko vomiting over the buzz of the flies and goes to meet her at the stairs
"I think we've seen everything we need to see here. This place isn't a hostel anymore, it's a mausoleum"

~~Narration~~

Ekko notices the tears in the flesh of Calligan's throat are ragged, and messy. There are also faint scratches on the bone of the visible portion of his spinal column. One arm has four punctures, where a hand might have held it while driving the knife into the arm.

Also seen are linear gouges in the stainless steel surface of the fridge, with curled shavings of metal on the floor.

Kai looks at Ekko examining the body.
"what did you see upstairs? And what are you noticing on Calligan?"

"Could be a thrysus shapeshifter, though I doubt it. Seems a little brutal for that though." Kai looks at Calligan's body again. "I doubt this was done by mages though. It does seem a a little odd that Calligan would get attacked twice by two different supernals though in such a short amount of time."
Kai turns on a radio, and searches for any other media he can look for and casts synchronicity.
"What did this?"

Spoiler:

~~Narration~~

Kai hears a local store's advertisement for this weekend's specials; Swiss Army knives on sale, Bad Boys DVD boxed set, Perrier bottled water 12 pack 24oz only, Frommer's County Durham travel book, and Carharrt jumpsuits.

Sounds like a pretty good sale for an economy in recession.

Kai takes a mental note of what he heard on the radio
"What an odd mix of items to be on sale." Kai states, oddly intrigued by the ad.
I need to do some research
Kai looks at his phone with the response John give him. "John wants us to call him when we are through here."

Ekko heads back upstairs, almost used to the smell by now. Examining the body hanging out of the window she sees the same jagged tears in the flesh and notices parallel lacerations that she had missed before. No one would blame her, it's not often one sees a spinal column still inside a body.

The victim under the attic access is similar, with scratches on the torso and around the severed hand... if Ekko had to guess, the man was forcibly pulled away from his attempt to escape into the attic.

The remaning bodies are more of the same, parallel lacerations -- although pools of blood and tissue stains of settled blood set them apart from Calligan's body. The resonance of death is heavy in the air.

"Did you glean anything extra upstairs?" Kai pulls out his phone and begins to dial JD. "What do you know about County Durham?"

~~Narration~~

After Kai has a short conversation, a silver pinprick appears, slashing open to reveal John's 'playpen' at the Mysterium.

He's sitting in his LaZBoy, eating franks & beans out of a can. His movie is paused and he dabs at his mouth with a napkin as he waits for Kai and Ekko.

Kai steps through the portal with Ekko. "That place looks like the wrong part of a murder hole." Kai takes a breath of fresh air, trying to ignore the stench of franks and beans.