Badfic Manor

[Ichabod is sitting in a chair in front of the fireplace and a large book of notes resting beside him. He looks into the Blackberry with a stoney expression.]

Good marrow, Manor. I bid you a day of festivities that hopefully will be a day of cheer rather than sorrow. I have been a resident of this place for nearing two years come May. By no stretch of the imagination, and to some the mind and body, has the Author shown any sign of letting go nor releasing us back into our homes. Should this be the case, I would suspect the scenery to be illusionary at best. This Author has begun to show signs of maturity. At the very least, some events that have been in the past have not been repeated. Thankfully, they never will, or one hopes.

Still, I would like to take this time to offer my condolences to those written out of our story and welcome those new-comers that have had little chance to adjust. I would like to thank those that have made the Manor bearable to reside in and thank you for your time and consideration for those that have taken the younger, less experienced, residents into the folds and kept them safe.

Good day.

[He reaches over and turns off the video feed to his device.]

[The device clatters onto the floor to reveal a very scared Ichabod standing on a chair and beating something with a broom.]

Shoo! Go away, ghastly creature!

[Guess what he's been doing with his time? Yep, chasing out rodents and spiders that's what. Say hello to an arachnophobic constable in the worst possible way.]

[Ichabod has realized that the power he gained was incredible bad luck. Mirrors break around him, glass shatters from being too close and rugs snag at the toes of his boots that threaten to trip him up.]

Odd.

[He looks back to find that there was no other logical reason other than just being close to a thing that could make these things happen. Okay, on to find the reason why this was happening to him.

He enters the kitchen to get a glass of water and the faucet gasket breaks, spraying water everywhere.]

Poor maintenance perhaps?

[He tries to shut it off and the handle breaks off. He visibly flinches.]

Oh dear.

[He tries to grab the kitchen towel and the handle to the refrigerator breaks off from his pulling the towel off.]

Drat and dang it all!

[Water was now getting into the outlets that eventually short out anything plugged in.]

This is...bad.

(OOC: This is an area effect meaning that anyone that's in the same room with him will experience it too.)

[There wasn't much to be said when work had to be done and Ichabod was no exception. He felt something pang in his chest and rushed out of the lab where he was working on a few experiments. With a quick opening of the door, he looked around with a scowl. Something wasn't right.

He ran up the staircase and toward Elizabeth's room. Just as he was about to knock on the door, his fist stops in mid swing and looks at the now empty plaque. His breath hitched with widened eyes.]

No.....this cannot be.

[His hand drops to its side and slowly he turned the knob to open the now empty room. His heart sank which showed visibly on his face. Slowly he turns away and closes the door, closing his eyes to push down the tears that were threatening to come. It was too hard to not notice that Ichabod was alone once again but this time the scar on his shoulder ached more than ever. His hand touched the pained flesh as he turned to walk away.]

I'm glad your home....and do be well.

[Ichabod has been seen on occasion at the Louvre going over the scene where something was missing from a statue and now a strange pull causes him to look over his notes again about the scene of the crime that he wasn't sure could be seen as one at all. It was only a piece missing and not entirely the whole thing which only comes across as either a mistake or deliberate vandalism.

With the Kinshin out and about, he wasn't going to linger on the streets for long and a church was the best place to hide when things got really harry. His objective as an investigator was different than everyone else's and being pushed out of the Team Justice group a while back because of his methods being too antiquated for conventional means often landed him in the back seat regardless of claims.

His job now was different. He looks over his shoulder at a house and his brow furrows and lines with thought. It was time to investigate. He tries the door and finds it unlocked and enters with tentative steps. He knew that the people vanished but he didn't know why other than the obvious speculation that they were the monsters. But why and finding the why was a different matter that he would most likely come to understand later as being just the will of the Author.

Once inside the house, he found strange letters and markings on the frame that lead to the basement. His shoulder ached from the Horseman's blade that never healed correctly and kept his distance.]

Hello?

[It was very clear that he's nervous.]

((OOC: He's working on two strange cases. One was Piccolo's mistaken identity for the Dragon Ball in the statue and the other is the strange pull from Remus's condition of turning warewolf that he'll soon discover.))

[Ichabod's fears were almost always exaggerated. There wasn't any way to change that other than he had to face them. Still, the tall black figure stepped heavily across the floor with a sleeping Ichabod still in the bed. The man in black had a white wig and a heavy black cloak. This would be the man that Ichabod once called Father as a child.

Ichabod's eyes opened to peer at the pale, aging face of the man with a heavy black Bible clutched under his arm.]

Repent!

[Ichabod jumped and gasped the moment he spoke. It was an apparent flinch.]

Cowardly child of the witch whom spawned you!

No!

[Ichabod was safe on the bed, holding the blanket in a childlike way to where only his eyes could be seen. The tyrant couldn't touch him.]

How dare you disobey your father! Repent!

I shall not repent for any sins I have not committed! Unlike you, I had not committed murder! I honored you until you took my innocence away through your methods of torture you call purification! No, I shall not!

[The figure raised his hand to try to hit him only to be stopped. Ichabod was still very frightened and gulped visibly. Still, he needed to have this closure in order to move on.

The heavy hand slammed the Bible against the table, shaking the contents.]

You shall be judged! LIAR!! CHARLATAN!! Your ilk shall be destroyed in the name of GOD!!

NO!!

[Ichabod covered his head with his blanket and the man in black appeared angry.]

WITCH!! I shall find you and destroy you just as I had your mother!

[The figure twisted around left and right, sweeping the Bible up into his hands. He approached the door and exited the room. Heavy footfalls softened down the hall.

The figure under the blanket hit the wall with a thud. Yep, Ichabod passed out and the feed cuts off.]

[Ichabod found a candle that he could use in case they needed the extra light in their search through the apartment building that he and Elizabeth were staying in. He also found two thin pieces of metal and decided that lockpicking wasn't a crime if the residents were not there to protest. He learned this skill as an investigator when landlords refused to allow entrance when crimes were committed which often landed them as accessories to murder should the evidence presented and found point to the landlords along with obstruction of justice as proof.

He wasn't above doing what's necessary to solve any crime but this wasn't a crime. It was a mystery in discovering what happened to the town and to the people. With no bodies to serve as controls, he had to find the answers the hard way.]

Elizabeth, I'll need you to hold the candle for a moment.

[Ichabod is standing in the foyer of the manor as he waited for Elizabeth. Waiting outside her door would have seemed rude and waiting inside his room would make him appear disinterested. He held in his hand a corsage that he made earlier that day wrapped in rich green and gold ribbons, since he knew she favored the color.

His tuxedo was pressed and his shoes were polished to a high shine. Every detail, every button, every movement had to be precise. She was a queen after all and what good would she be if her man was less impressive.

He checked his pocket watch, the only modern thing that he ever owned and clicked the cover closed. He didn't announce to her that he was waiting. He simply said that he was going. He lifts the Blackberry out of his pocket.]

Elizabeth....would you like to accompany me to the Promenade? I believe this event would be a more stunning and less egregious oversight on the part of the Author, yes?

[Even though he can dance and very well, it wasn't something that he would advertise willingly.]

[Of all things he was wearing, he wasn't expecting to be dressed in a modern uniform for school and his room turned into a dormitory. Maybe the message that Elizabeth texted him was right. Maybe he was right in his own way.

Once in his uniform, he noticed the schedule pinned to his door. Daily routines and discipline was a major part of his life so this wasn't so bad....or was it?]

Curious.

[Looking it over, he raises his brow.]

Did anyone else get a note similar?

[Private to Elizabeth]

I do believe that we are in a bit of a precarious situation that requires my attention to investigate.( Don't laugh, please. )

[Ichabod wasn't about to put on those god awful shorts again and decided to go with something that he was most comfortable with. His hair hasn't seen a comb in a few days now and it was getting a bit messy from the lack of grooming. The same for his face since he was unable to shave and a small mustache was beginning to show.

He saw this in the mirror and cringed. He preferred to be clean cut and prepared but here, he had hardly the resources he needed to keep his clean appearance.

He sighed and moved out of the tent. He took a mental note of his tent's position among the others and this time, he found a rock and carved in it the word, "Crane" in the stone with another rock. Whether he would see it or not at night was a different matter.

After a few minutes of preparing for his departure, he felt satisfied and left the tent completely. His destination was to find Elizabeth and explore this island before nightfall.]

((Feel free to notice him and poke fun at his....small mustache.))