Sleepy Hollow IC (Accepting see OOC)

[Imperialisium]

https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=390767

September 27th, 2016

Sleepy Hollow, quaint, cozy, scenic, a touristy destination in the Empire State's Adirondacks. The town of over 6,000 people was the largest in the county, surrounded by mountain ridges, dense old-growth forests, and farmland. It's historic center held many preserved sites and homes like the Van Tassel Manor as but one example. It was officially Fall, Autumn had begun, and the kids where back in school. The yellow buses scooping up the youth to deposit them at the doors of Cornelius Academy. The Academy was rather nice given the small town supporting it. Thanks to large investments from the Van Tassels and Von Auguste families. It's marbled entrance and campus was worthy of a small college. Perched on the North End of Main street facing West. It's students wore the deep blue coats and slacks of the school colors, the girls wore sailor style outfits, one of the traditions in the town. Since the Academy was originally a private school.

The cool breeze wafting through the hills and mountains brought sweater weather. The morning fog, dense and dark, rising like a blanket slowly being lifted to the heavens. Spiraling mists from the forests rose like a hundred chimneys. People went about their business, walking too and fro from the many mom and dad stores. Sleepy Hollow still wasn't home to department stores to any kind. You'd have to drive out of your way to find those outside of the County. No, but the town had a thriving economy of its own. It was neighborly, picturesque, as the leaves began to turn from green to a myriad of reds, orange, and yellows. Already leaf peeper tourists where driving through and making a nuisance of themselves.

Van Tassel Manor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU3VTCmCWjs
(Alarm clock)
In the Van Tassel Manor, now inhabited by Katrina von Auguste, the blaring of an alarm clock filled a dimly lit room. A porcelain arm thrashed from the covers to strike the clock. Full of tired anger. Her hair was matted and in disarray. Moving swiftly from the shower to the walk in closet, clothes being thrown in disarray, like a tornado had materialized in the room itself. A half ate bagel dangling from her mouth as the door swung closed behind her. She wore a simple blue dress and black knee high socks. Her hair now freshly combed and cleaned. Rose gold earrings festooned her face. She was pretty, attractive, a town belle. Not the most popular girl during her Academy years but earning a fair following of male suitors.

Making her way to Granny's Diner she walked down Main Street. Saying hello's and good mornings to the passer-by's. Katrina passed Luke's Pawnshop as she looked both ways about to cross the street. "Nice breeze, today, Ms. von Auguste?" Katrina stopped in her tracks and looked behind her to see Lukas Kasymir, commonly referred to as just Luke, with the key to his shop held out inches from the door. He wore a small smile and inquisitive eyes. The eyes of a man who specialized in telling the authentic and making a tidy sum off the attached trade of such items.

"Yes, yes! Very nice but I've always been more of a Spring girl." She returned a small smile as she instinctively moved a strand of hair out from her face. A nervous tick one might guess. Not that Luke was a cause for anxiety. A quiet man, respectable, and generally seen as having peoples interests at heart. Luke chuckled, "Ah yes, Spring, well I won't keep you dear. Enjoy your shift." At that Luke turned away and Katrina smiled as she turned around. Granny's Diner before her. Taking a step she stumbled, catching herself a meter from the road, the flash of a car driven by a youngster going way too fast blazed by. Whipping her hair around her. "Hhh." Eyes wide. Standing up shaking she looked back too see the door of Lukes shop closing. It had felt like someone had pushed her down. Preventing her from stepping forward. Had she taken the few short steps she'd have been hit by the reckless driver. Hopefully someone would get the plates of that bastard and report them to the Sheriff.

Looking both ways she finally crossed the street into Granny's.

Several Hours later

The first thing people heard was the scream, of an elderly Sleepy Hollow resident named Margery Zelle, with her husband Jakob. They had been at the extreme South End of Main Street and she'd just happened to glance over into a side alley. There she saw a pair of legs sticking out from behind a dumpster. A dark stain on the ground around them. Her shrieking didn't stop as people crowded around. It was a gruesome sight. The pair of legs where indeed attached to a torso, but that ended where the belly button would be. Upwards the top half was separated. The right arm several meters away down the alley. A pair of fang marks on the neck.

Katrina walked out of Granny's Diner as the sirens of the local Sheriff's department cruisers could be heard rapidly approaching. Glancing across the Street she saw Luke watching from the steps of his shop. A serious expression on his face. "What's going on?!" said Katrina as she approached the crowd of people. Some cried, others in shock, a middle aged man hurled in the street. A murder. Katrina gasped with hand clamped over mouth. There hadn't even been a violent crime in Sleepy Hollow since 1984. The last major incident was a young girl having gone missing some years before. That was it.

"Oh god its Jonah, Lucardo's boy." The son of the towns oldest family of Bakers. The Lucardo's had been in Sleepy Hollow since the 1860's and ran a small but successful Bakery next to Granny's. The murder was gruesome. A hackjob. Some speculated an animal by the ferocity of the attack. Others noted the lack of struggle. He had died quick and that the evisceration had happened after. Closer inspection would be that his spleen was missing.

"Very peculiar." mumbled someone behind her. Katrina turned to see Luke standing next to her. "What did you say?" exasperated Katrina. Luke looked at her, "I have some medical knowledge. He'd been dead for several hours. But someone would have noticed long before then..." Katrina turned her head and didn't catch what Luke was still saying.

Indeed. The body had been dropped there, specifically to make a scene, the killer wanted people to know.

[Kerzacistan]

Beside what amounted to a post office was the two story brick with 'Dent's Collectibles' sign, and if you knew how to look, in cursive seemingly floating beside that sign, 'Dent's Armory'. Indeed someone had noticed the killing, even before it had happened, the long blonde haired, seemingly blind man saw nobody and heard nobody in the darkness as he walked towards mainstreet. Sighing internally as he walked, he felt the person he was to be attending to die, there were sometimes last minute changes, that being one of the reasons he usually took his time on arriving to these. But as he rounded the corner he sped up a bit. Removing the queerly shiny sheers from his pocket and headed over, seeing someone who's family you watched come into existence one by one die was painful and he quickly ended that by whispering assurances and drawing out the dying mans thread, wincing at its violently sheer end before sniping it with a macabre grace, ending his suffering. Instead of a click, it echoed silence into the cold of the morning, and after replacing the Sheers and walking again slowly back towards the Bakery, tying a knot in the thread and inspecting its luminosity before hanging it around the Bakery's door and tighting it, not that anyone but a select few would see its glow or feel its warmth. At the entrance to his shop Allister heard the screams and sighed again, before turning his face to the rising sun, and opening his eyes, squinting them against the glare, "Looks like Fate has caught up to Sleepy Hollow after all these years." Looking at the brightening sky for a few more seconds, he entered his home and started making his breakfast.

[Patrick OConner]

Several Hours later

The first thing people heard was the scream, of an elderly Sleepy Hollow resident named Margery Zelle, with her husband Jakob. They had been at the extreme South End of Main Street and she'd just happened to glance over into a side alley. There she saw a pair of legs sticking out from behind a dumpster. A dark stain on the ground around them. Her shrieking didn't stop as people crowded around. It was a gruesome sight. The pair of legs where indeed attached to a torso, but that ended where the belly button would be. Upwards the top half was separated. The right arm several meters away down the alley. A pair of fang marks on the neck.

Katrina walked out of Granny's Diner as the sirens of the local Sheriff's department cruisers could be heard rapidly approaching. Glancing across the Street she saw Luke watching from the steps of his shop. A serious expression on his face. "What's going on?!" said Katrina as she approached the crowd of people. Some cried, others in shock, a middle aged man hurled in the street. A murder. Katrina gasped with hand clamped over mouth. There hadn't even been a violent crime in Sleepy Hollow since 1984. The last major incident was a young girl having gone missing some years before. That was it.

"Oh god its Jonah, Lucardo's boy." The son of the towns oldest family of Bakers. The Lucardo's had been in Sleepy Hollow since the 1860's and ran a small but successful Bakery next to Granny's. The murder was gruesome. A hackjob. Some speculated an animal by the ferocity of the attack. Others noted the lack of struggle. He had died quick and that the evisceration had happened after. Closer inspection would be that his spleen was missing.

"Very peculiar." mumbled someone behind her. Katrina turned to see Luke standing next to her. "What did you say?" exasperated Katrina. Luke looked at her, "I have some medical knowledge. He'd been dead for several hours. But someone would have noticed long before then..." Katrina turned her head and didn't catch what Luke was still saying.

Indeed. The body had been dropped there, specifically to make a scene, the killer wanted people to know.

As usual in these situations someone called the police and given the nature of the crime in such a small rural town one got a fast response.
A beat up old pick truck rolled up to the entrance of the alleyway minutes after the call was made. The truck was painted green but the there were nicks and dents in it and is was a regular cab. On the roof was mounted a police siren and lights that were currently going full blast.
A tall well built man steps out of the truck with the beginnings of a dark beard and brown eyes. His face tanned and lined from exposure to the sun. He wore a wide brim dark brown hat with a black band. His clothes were simple home spun brown shirt and jeans with worn cowboy boots. An old canvas jacket covers his torso but is unbuttoned and open enough to show his shirt. Around his waist was an old fashion gun belt with loops for spare rounds and they were all filled gleaming rounds made of brass, lead and slivers. A holster hangs from the right side and left side; they both hang down to about mid thigh and the worn brown grips of a pair of revolvers stick up. The rear of the guns are exposed as well and the metal is black as midnight and seem to be free of tarnish. The holsters and revolvers perfectly positioned so that when the man's hands rest at his side, his hand rest on the worn grips of the old looking guns. On the left side of the belt, next to the left gun, a badge hangs down, identifying the person. A cigar sticks out of the corner of the mans mouth unlit.
The man stops and surveys the crowd for a minute before calling out in a gruff voice
"All right people please stand back from the body the law is here. Deputy Earp is on the scene."
And with that the crowd moves back from the scene and Earp moves forward to examine the body, or rather pieces of the body. He looks over the scene quickly and sighs to himself.
"Alright people disperse, there is nothing to see here." Earp walks back to his truck and removes some yellow police tape from a tool box in the back and quickly ropes off the scene with it. The crowd quickly disperse under Earp's gaze. Earp walks over to Luke and sighs audibly this time.
"Well Mr. Luke, it seems someone broke the One Rule. And you know what that means. Bet it was a vampire. Mary Grey. Never trusted her. Oh boy, Mr. Luke this means a whole lot of paperwork and bad news and other bad stuff gonna happen now...Got my work cut out of me this time...and today was looking so great."
The question now is, who done it? And why did they display the corpse in such manner? Clearly someone or something is trying to send a message but why do it like this? Why break the One Rule and get yourself in a heap of trouble? This is a major breach of the Hollow Peace and for this someone is going to die.

[Nuridia]

Another figure was among the crowd around the clearly mutilated body. It was a woman with dark eyes and long curly brown hair braided back. She was wearing a figure hugging white dress that was slit in the sides, the hem brushed mid thigh. She wore a pair of tight black leggings under that and high heeled boots that clacked against the concrete as she shifted herself around. "Azrael's got this one now...but still, such a way to go." she said thinking about the angel of death. That same angel of death who was one of her partners on this mission...the same mission that prompted her to leave the place she was staying in as soon as she heard about the murder.
"I don't sense any aura, so it's not likely that it's the work of a demon. But what else would be this brutal? Why would a human want a spleen...unless for some odd magical ritual." she muttered, placing a hand under her chin in thought. Except for the situation she was in, she was an ordinary woman. Except it wasn't an ordinary woman...although these people didn't need to know that. Although many did know her name, Ariel, they didn't know what she was. Which was good, makes this mission easier anyway.

Another young woman came running out of a store, wearing a blue sweater and brown skirt. Her blonde hair was styled in such a way that it fell over and concealed her ears, and she was wearing strange jewelry. Green eyes scanned the gory scene in absolute horror and shock, she wondered what manner of creature could have done such a thing.
"Could it be the thing that opened the portals? If so...why does it need a sacrifice? Or maybe it was a werewolf? Whatever it is, Father will want to know." she said to herself quietly, schooling her horrified features into a calm mask. Never show fear, or weakness in front of strangers is what she was taught.

[Prusselanden]

Liesle peeked out of the back of her bar at all the commotion.
"What, a boy has died." she muttered to herself in a monotonous voice and polished some glasses, watching the crowd with vigilance.
It's obvious, someone's trying to send a message to us. Or...
Her sharp nose sniffed out blood, some muscle and bone.
She couldn't sniff out any traces of gunpowder on him which meant that he probably wasn't killed by a shooting.

[Dyelli Beybi]

The town had more than one Deputy, and the second one who appeared on the scene actually wore a proper police uniform, albeit one that looked like she had slept in it. She also had a real cruiser as opposed to a beat up old truck. She pulled up behind the truck and switched the siren off, taking a couple of minutes to close her eyes behind the dark glasses she was wearing. She couldn't remember exactly how she had ended up getting home last night... so presumably it had been a good evening though that almost always meant it would be a terrible morning. And someone had had the poor timing to choose that morning to turn up dead.

Okay... she had been sitting in the car for too long. Cropper reached into the glove box, finding a her aviators and slipped them on, stepping out of the car with a suppressed curse. Everything was so damned bright... Cropper was a pretty girl, slim, dark haired and stronger than she looked. She was also very definitely human and, apparently, completely oblivious of the secrets that Sleepy Hollow held, "Nothing to see here." she remarked to one passer by who had stopped to have a look, that was before she saw the crime scene herself, "Shit, Earp!" she called, "You're supposed to cover the body parts. You're just lucky I haven't eaten breakfast."

She grumbled under her breath, stepping back to the cruiser to retrieve a tarpaulin from the back... not that that was going to be enough. The body had been 'distributed over a wide area'. Of course the obliviousness to the reality of the town was all a ruse on her part. She had allegiances that lay beyond Sleepy Hollow, allegiances to people who had an interested in being in a position to do something quickly if a spark fell too close to this supernatural powderkeg of a town. She spread the tarp out over most of the body. Some of the outlying bits were left in full view of the public but she couldn't do much about that, "Hey Earp!" she called again, "You got another tarp? Also, have you called for a photographer or should I do that? We'll need to get all of this photographed then get the ME to take the body back to the morgue and count the bits up - make sure we aren't missing anything. I would offer to do that myself, but one red chunky bit of person looks a lot like another."

What the hell had done this? Cropper grimaced, holding her hand against her nose in a vain attempt to ward off the smell which did not mix well with her hangover. Hopefully the ME would be able to give some more answers. While she was waiting she decided to examine the scene to see how much blood there was. A murder like this, even if the dismemberment had been done post-mortem would leave a lot of blood on the ground... unless the body had been dumped her afterwards or unless something had been drinking the victim's blood. Having finished that she snapped on a pair of latex gloves and took a few minutes to check to see if she could find a wallet on the corpse. It looked like the Baker's son, but it never hurt to get confirmation. Something about this scene made her suspect this wouldn't be the last corpse they found. Would the killer be here, getting some kind of satisfaction in watching the aftermath of their action? She took a moment to cast a bleary-eyed gaze across any people who were still hanging around. She'd need to remember those faces...

[Elerian]

Frank Dufresne, Sleepy Hollow

It was a good year so far, as good as could be expected from Sleepy Hollow. No gruesome deaths, no war with the Hunters, no fuss. Humanity had advanced quite far since Frank had first found himself trapped in Sleepy Hollow, for all intents and purposes things had gotten better. But in all his many years of life, Frank knew that all good things must come to an end, and the idyllic peacefulness of Sleepy Hollow was no different.

Frank awoke, his eyes fluttered open.

Something was wrong, he could feel it.

Frank slowly raised himself up from bed, giving his senses time to adjust.

He sighed, someone was dead, just his luck. He snapped his fingers and a bottle of Jack Daniels appeared in his hand. Frank took a long swig and then set it down on a nearby end table. He snapped again and his police deputy uniform materialized on his body. On a nearby table sat his belt with his sidearm attached. Frank walked over and slung it on his waist.

Frank walked through his small house towards the front door. As he passed through the threshold, he found himself in an alley off Main Street. Frank walked out from the alley and looked on at the scene of the crime, which was gathering quite the crowd. He watched from the periphery for a few moments, taking in everything. Frank saw the young orphan von Auguste girl, and watching from a distance was also Lukas, whom Frank had long known to give a wide berth. It seemed his two associates had beat him to the scene.

Damn he was getting old.

Dufresne crossed the street to a Starbucks and quickly purchased three cups of coffee. He walked back across the street and made his way through the crowd until he stood next to Cropper. Even with her aviators on, she looked like hell.

“Coffee? Looks like you could use it” Frank asked while glancing at the body.

Frank didn’t much like vanilla humans, but he could at least empathized with the boy. Mutilation was bad form, even for those that inhabited Sleepy Hollow.
As far as Frank knew Cropper was unaware of the true nature of Sleepy Hollow, but Frank was always vigilant.

“Find anything useful?” Frank asked through a yawn.

[Laurvier]

James Aubert

The crowd, the shrieks, the screams, they caught James's alarm for a moment as he was passing by on the way to the office. He noted the time, noted the weather and the location. The police would do their work investigating, collecting evidence and witness testimonies. James would find a way to legally get a hold of the paperwork to flip through to see if there was something off. Given the location, something certainly was. It was all standard procedure for him. The same thing he did back in New York City.

Being an inquisitor was a nuisance. James felt it a duty to humanity he must carry out but not necessarily something he enjoyed. It did give him a sense of purpose. There were times were he fantasized about moving to a town like this without all the supernatural elements going on. Somewhere quiet and normal. Where murder victims had stab wounds and bullet holes. He would have liked to investigate the crime scene more but that was not his place and it would have blown his cover. James dealt mostly in civil matters of the law. Although the Lucardo's were one of his clients. It would be easy enough to get the information from the police citing insurance needs or whatever else.

James took a quick look around to see if he could spot anything from his position in the back then walked on without another glance. There was still a real job to get to.

[Prusselanden]

Liesle Ackerman
Liesle sighed and shook her head at the sight.
There's a balance of a full and happy life. It can't be too long, then it'll go stale. But then It can't be too darn short either, or else it'll be too raw and the juice won't be sweet. Poor kid. That was a dishonorable way to go out. It didn't look like he fought much. If he did, maybe the people around him would have left him some respect but now he's just another hapless victim to everyone. The memory of shame can be quite unfair.

She poured some tequila into the shaker along with some ice and green syrup. The customer who had ordered the drink had gone outside long before. She shook the drink rapidly and paced herself carefully, hoping the ice wouldn't melt before they got back.
(Warning: Don't drink alcohol. It's bad for you. It will kill your liver.)

She didn't know the boy well. She had seen him walk by the bar a few times. She sniffed the air again and caught a faint animalistic smell.
I'm darn sure one of those vampires or werewolves did it. This ain't the work of an animal or a human.

[Patrick OConner]

The town had more than one Deputy, and the second one who appeared on the scene actually wore a proper police uniform, albeit one that looked like she had slept in it. She also had a real cruiser as opposed to a beat up old truck. She pulled up behind the truck and switched the siren off, taking a couple of minutes to close her eyes behind the dark glasses she was wearing. She couldn't remember exactly how she had ended up getting home last night... so presumably it had been a good evening though that almost always meant it would be a terrible morning. And someone had had the poor timing to choose that morning to turn up dead.

Okay... she had been sitting in the car for too long. Cropper reached into the glove box, finding a her aviators and slipped them on, stepping out of the car with a suppressed curse. Everything was so damned bright... Cropper was a pretty girl, slim, dark haired and stronger than she looked. She was also very definitely human and, apparently, completely oblivious of the secrets that Sleepy Hollow held, "Nothing to see here." she remarked to one passer by who had stopped to have a look, that was before she saw the crime scene herself, "Shit, Earp!" she called, "You're supposed to cover the body parts. You're just lucky I haven't eaten breakfast."

She grumbled under her breath, stepping back to the cruiser to retrieve a tarpaulin from the back... not that that was going to be enough. The body had been 'distributed over a wide area'. Of course the obliviousness to the reality of the town was all a ruse on her part. She had allegiances that lay beyond Sleepy Hollow, allegiances to people who had an interested in being in a position to do something quickly if a spark fell too close to this supernatural powderkeg of a town. She spread the tarp out over most of the body. Some of the outlying bits were left in full view of the public but she couldn't do much about that, "Hey Earp!" she called again, "You got another tarp? Also, have you called for a photographer or should I do that? We'll need to get all of this photographed then get the ME to take the body back to the morgue and count the bits up - make sure we aren't missing anything. I would offer to do that myself, but one red chunky bit of person looks a lot like another."

What the hell had done this? Cropper grimaced, holding her hand against her nose in a vain attempt to ward off the smell which did not mix well with her hangover. Hopefully the ME would be able to give some more answers. While she was waiting she decided to examine the scene to see how much blood there was. A murder like this, even if the dismemberment had been done post-mortem would leave a lot of blood on the ground... unless the body had been dumped her afterwards or unless something had been drinking the victim's blood. Having finished that she snapped on a pair of latex gloves and took a few minutes to check to see if she could find a wallet on the corpse. It looked like the Baker's son, but it never hurt to get confirmation. Something about this scene made her suspect this wouldn't be the last corpse they found. Would the killer be here, getting some kind of satisfaction in watching the aftermath of their action? She took a moment to cast a bleary-eyed gaze across any people who were still hanging around. She'd need to remember those faces...

"Sorry I forgot to cover the bodies" Earp responds to copper absentmindedly as he keeps studying the piece of the body "Have a late night again, Cropper? Stomach weaker than normal?" Earp chuckles to himself.
"Yeah I got it." He walks back to his truck and retrieves a tarp from the tool box and a camera from the cab. He quickly snaps pictures of he scene from all angles. Earp them pulls on a pair of gloves and starts searching the area for any clues, bagging a few items like a wallet and phone then covers the remaining body parts with a tarp.
"ME should be here soon I think but from what I can tell most of the parts are here, just not connected like theys supposed to be...strange lack of blood though." Earp comments untroubled by the scene still.

Frank Dufresne, Sleepy Hollow

It was a good year so far, as good as could be expected from Sleepy Hollow. No gruesome deaths, no war with the Hunters, no fuss. Humanity had advanced quite far since Frank had first found himself trapped in Sleepy Hollow, for all intents and purposes things had gotten better. But in all his many years of life, Frank knew that all good things must come to an end, and the idyllic peacefulness of Sleepy Hollow was no different.

Frank awoke, his eyes fluttered open.

Something was wrong, he could feel it.

Frank slowly raised himself up from bed, giving his senses time to adjust.

He sighed, someone was dead, just his luck. He snapped his fingers and a bottle of Jack Daniels appeared in his hand. Frank took a long swig and then set it down on a nearby end table. He snapped again and his police deputy uniform materialized on his body. On a nearby table sat his belt with his sidearm attached. Frank walked over and slung it on his waist.

Frank walked through his small house towards the front door. As he passed through the threshold, he found himself in an alley off Main Street. Frank walked out from the alley and looked on at the scene of the crime, which was gathering quite the crowd. He watched from the periphery for a few moments, taking in everything. Frank saw the young orphan von Auguste girl, and watching from a distance was also Lukas, whom Frank had long known to give a wide berth. It seemed his two associates had beat him to the scene.

Damn he was getting old.

Dufresne crossed the street to a Starbucks and quickly purchased three cups of coffee. He walked back across the street and made his way through the crowd until he stood next to Cropper. Even with her aviators on, she looked like hell.

“Coffee? Looks like you could use it” Frank asked while glancing at the body.

Frank didn’t much like vanilla humans, but he could at least empathized with the boy. Mutilation was bad form, even for those that inhabited Sleepy Hollow.
As far as Frank knew Cropper was unaware of the true nature of Sleepy Hollow, but Frank was always vigilant.

“Find anything useful?” Frank asked through a yawn.

Earp waves t the Sheriff.
"Morning Sheriff. Seems we got a bit of trouble here. Already photographed it and searched area. Waiting for the ME now to come and collect the body parts."

[Prusselanden]

Liesle Ackerman
Liesle, continuing to shake her customer's drink, went outside as well to take a closer look at the body.
"Teeth marks and lack of blood. Isn't that a vampire's work then?" She asked the policemen who were busy investigating the site. "Have you ever considered that? It's quite obvious. The boy might be a virgin as well, making him a favourable target."

[Dyelli Beybi]

"Sorry I forgot to cover the bodies" Earp responds to copper absentmindedly as he keeps studying the piece of the body "Have a late night again, Cropper? Stomach weaker than normal?" Earp chuckles to himself.
"Yeah I got it." He walks back to his truck and retrieves a tarp from the tool box and a camera from the cab. He quickly snaps pictures of he scene from all angles. Earp them pulls on a pair of gloves and starts searching the area for any clues, bagging a few items like a wallet and phone then covers the remaining body parts with a tarp.
"ME should be here soon I think but from what I can tell most of the parts are here, just not connected like theys supposed to be...strange lack of blood though." Earp comments untroubled by the scene still.

"Late night? I have no idea where you are getting that from." Crocker replied absently as she searched around for any anything else that might give her some kind of lead on this case. There was a long pause, before she added, "Define 'late'."

She smirked slightly then stood up, stretching her back, just in time for Dufresne's arrival.

Frank Dufresne, Sleepy Hollow
Dufresne crossed the street to a Starbucks and quickly purchased three cups of coffee. He walked back across the street and made his way through the crowd until he stood next to Cropper. Even with her aviators on, she looked like hell.

“Coffee? Looks like you could use it” Frank asked while glancing at the body.

Frank didn’t much like vanilla humans, but he could at least empathized with the boy. Mutilation was bad form, even for those that inhabited Sleepy Hollow.
As far as Frank knew Cropper was unaware of the true nature of Sleepy Hollow, but Frank was always vigilant.

“Find anything useful?” Frank asked through a yawn.

"I have no idea what you mean." Cropper replied, then grinned, a grin that turned into a wince, "Thank you Sir, you are a life saver." she said, pulling off one slightly unpleasantly stained latex glove and accepting the coffee without any further attempts, jocular or otherwise, to hide the fact that she had drunk far too much.

Apparently the crime scene didn't upset her that much, which was probably a surprise. This should have been Crocker's first murder... but then again she had grown up on a farm so was probably more used to death, "Nothing immediately useful without confirmation from the ME but I'm going to hazard a guess here and say it looks to me like we don't have quite enough blood at the scene. That suggests to me that the murder might have taken place elsewhere and the body was dumped here, which might also explain why nobody heard it happening. If it was dumped here, somewhere so public, then it suggests the killer wanted this found. Are they sending a warning to someone specific in the community? Or perhaps this is some kind of game to them..."

"The level of violence suggests, either, that the killer was really pissed off or perhaps they were trying to hide something about the nature of the murder. We will know more when the ME has had a good look. The body appears to be the baker's boy, but I haven't found a wallet yet or any form of ID and we haven't had a formal identification of the deceased so we are sort-of speculating on that point." she continued, paused, before adding, "I would suggest, Sir, that the next course of action be to interview the baker. If someone was trying to send a message then he seems the most likely target and, if he is not, he should at least be able to fill in some of the background on the boy's life."

Liesle Ackerman
Liesle, continuing to shake her customer's drink, went outside as well to take a closer look at the body.
"Teeth marks and lack of blood. Isn't that a vampire's work then?" She asked the policemen who were busy investigating the site. "Have you ever considered that? It's quite obvious. The boy might be a virgin as well, making him a favourable target."

The civilian's voice cut through her train of thought. That was alright, she had pretty much finished. Vampires. Yes, she had considered that, but she wasn't about to admit that, "Vampires? Really?" Cropper nodded gravely, "Have you examined the fields nearby for crop circles? My personal theory is that this is an alien autopsy gone wrong but you know the police. We always keep an open mind."

"The truth is out there." she added in a passable impersonation of David Duchovny.

[Prusselanden]

Liesle Ackerman
"Crop circles? I think those were cause by some hooligans or some farmer trying to have some laughs. I don't think the aliens would build their ships the way that the patterns suggest."
She threw the shaker into the air, and it formed a perfect somersault before landing in her hand again, still keeping an almost emotionless expression on her face.
"Who knows? Maybe they know something about flying that we don't. I doubt they'd be barbaric to tear him up like this though."
She started to walk back to her bar.
"Anyways, you might want to ignore that idea. I've been staying up late, and I've been kind of lightheaded. You can't trust my mouth. Or my brain for that matter."

[Ism]

Owen Grady

The pub was quiet, it being a low point of the day for such places. Most of the people there were just catching a quick bite. Owen was cleaning the bar absentmindedly, just killing time. That's when he heard a good deal of noise outside, drawing his attention to the door. As he looked up, a small crowd swarmed in, making a beeline to the bar. At the head of this crowd was an weeknight regular, Fred Mason. "Strange, they only come here Wednesdays for their date night." Owen thought to himself.

"Fred, something going on? What's with the crowd?" Owen leaned over the bar waiting for an answer.

"Oh Owen, it was just, just, just horrible! That poor Lucardo kid. I-I haven't the words!" Fred said, sitting at the bar and burying his face in his hands, the five people who were with him sat down as well. Owen shot a worried look at each of them, before resuming his questioning. "Come on Fred, I need a little more than that." Lifting his head up, Fred took a deep breath. "Jonah Lucardo was murdered. It was horrible, the body was, mutilated, cut up into pieces and left out for anyone to find. I think the Zelles found him first. The police are down there now just trying to sort this whole mess out. I mean, what the hell is going on here Owen? Who would do something like this?"

Owen kept a straight face, though he knew full well the kinds of creatures that called Sleepy Hollow home. Any number of things could have done this. "A monster, Fred, that's what did this. Beers all around fellas?"

Owen made a mental note to call the Lucardo's later, and maybe drop some old Grady journals off at the sheriff's office later.

[Elerian]

Frank Dufresne, Main Street

Frank greeted Earp with one of the two remaining coffees and a nod of the head. He was later than he originally thought if Earp had already photographed the scene. Perhaps the chains that held him here were beginning to rust? Or . . . perhaps he was weakening faster than he’d previously anticipated, a disturbing prospect to consider.

He pushed the thought to the back of his mind as Cropper began detailing what she knew. Listening intently, Frank took mental notes, and nodded every so often. As Cropper finished Frank took a few moments to through everything in his mind. He would need to look at the body himself, but that could wait.

“Agreed Cropper, You and Earp should head on over to the Baker’s. I’ll stay here and wrap things up. Maybe Margery and Jakob saw something.” But from the look on Frank’s face, it was obvious he found that doubtful.

Frank turned away from the two deputies, he had no intention to talk to the elderly couple, they were Vanilla humans, and Dufresne had no doubt that the boy’s death was supernatural. From his examination at a distance, Frank saw some bite marks on the boy’s neck, telltale of a Vampire, but that seemed far too obvious.

Frank approached the crowd. “There’s nothing to see here folks, move along back to your business.” He cast a quick glance at Ariel. Frank was aware of her true nature, and it made him uneasy that an Angel was here in Sleepy Hollow.

Frank waited for his deputies to leave, and approached Lukas, if only for this one time.

“What do you know Lukas?”

[Prusselanden]

Ackerman
Liesle walked back into the bar, finishing the cocktail. She poured it into a martini glass, delicately stuck a small umbrella in it and handed it to her customer.
She then walked to the end of the bar to take more orders.

Liesle hadn't been lying to the police. She had indeed been waking up in the night sweaty and cold. The dreams only seemed to get worse recently. She had been taking medication, and for a while it seemed to work. So why did they come back so sudden?

"So...what would you like Ma'am?" She asked the customer.
"Could I have a bloody mary? Shaken, not stirred."
"Sure thing." She could sense a wave of unease on the woman, who was obviously a tourist. Everyone in Sleepy hollow was used to the large scar on her face.

[Patrick OConner]

Frank Dufresne, Main Street

Frank greeted Earp with one of the two remaining coffees and a nod of the head. He was later than he originally thought if Earp had already photographed the scene. Perhaps the chains that held him here were beginning to rust? Or . . . perhaps he was weakening faster than he’d previously anticipated, a disturbing prospect to consider.

He pushed the thought to the back of his mind as Cropper began detailing what she knew. Listening intently, Frank took mental notes, and nodded every so often. As Cropper finished Frank took a few moments to through everything in his mind. He would need to look at the body himself, but that could wait.

“Agreed Cropper, You and Earp should head on over to the Baker’s. I’ll stay here and wrap things up. Maybe Margery and Jakob saw something.” But from the look on Frank’s face, he found that doubtful.

Frank turned away from the two deputies, he had no intention to talk to the elderly couple, they were Vanilla humans, and Dufresne had no doubt that the boy’s death was supernatural. From his examination at a distance, Frank saw some bite marks on the boy’s neck, telltale of a Vampire, but that seemed far too obvious.

Frank approached the crowd. “There’s nothing to see here folks, move along back to your business.” He cast a quick glance at Ariel. Frank was aware of her true nature, and it made him uneasy that an Angel was here in Sleepy Hollow.

Frank waited for his deputies to leave, and approached Lukas, if only for this one time.

“What do you know Lukas?”

Earp took the coffee
"Thanks Sheriff." and he started to drink it still contemplating the scene. He thoughts shifted from what could have done it to how to kill it. Killing things was what he was best at. Part of the reason he was on the force. He was only so-so as a detective but as at a hunter and killer, he was without peer. And this whole thing was going to kick off a massive Hunt and hopefully he would get to kill some monster. It had been along time since Earp had killed a monster. He smiled in anticipation of doing it and his free had started to flex automatically, reaching for his gun.
"Sheriff I think that Cropper should visit the Baker's alone. I am not exactly the best at dealing with these kind of delicate situations."
Which was a massive understatement. To describe Earp ability to relate to people started at poor and went down hill fast.
"Instead, I think I may have a possible lead and I want to pursue it sir."
Which Earp was going to do with out the sheriffs permission.
"See you round then." Earp turns and walks back to his truck. He soon takes off heading for his own chosen destination.

[The Land of the Golden Blobfish]

Spirits and Paranormal Activity Office:
"Greatest Psychic of the 21'st century"
_______________________________________________________

“So this is all started… when?” Jake sat behind his desk in his office, looking towards the woman before him. She looks nervous, no, frightened. She had rushed into his office the day previous to schedule a meeting with him. It was about ghosts, spirits, or whatever. They all were. It was more than common for these superstitious folk to blame every little incident on otherworldly spirits. But he didn’t complain, after all, paranoid idiots were how he got payed.

“When I was in the library last Monday, I started getting these chills like no other. I knew something was wrong. I made sure to get home quick yet now this sore throat won’t leave me and I'm coughing like crazy. I tried everything I read online but nothings working!”

“Ah, I see. It seems you are suffering from a curse. But yeah, nothing you read online will help you. This is a very powerful curse that was placed on you. Luckily for us, I know quite a few remedies.”

Jake handed her a sheet with a list of options followed by prices.

“$49.99 for a… garlic tea?” She turned to him, puzzled. “Isn’t that a tad… expensive?”

“Well that’s because it’s not your ordinary type of garlic, no, this is special garlic. I got it from an old gypsy caravan when I was touring the ruins of the Aztec. But that won’t work in this case. It’s good for, uh, lower level curses. Which this isn’t. What you’re looking for is…” He directed her attention to the bottom of the paper, “This. A natural salt massage. Both spirits and their curses are weak to salt which will no doubt cure you of your illness. Now, this is a very hard ritual to perform which explains the whole $200.000 bit.”

“Yeah… Maybe I should wait it out, you know? Anywa-”

“Wait! I assure you I believe in nothing else but the satisfaction and health of my custo- I mean clients! Because I hold such so dear close to my heart, I might be able to give you a 10% discount. Why would I do such a selfless thing you ask?”

“I never asked-”

“Because I despise demons with an utmost passion! They wish nothing but ill on innocent people like you and me. So I have made it my goal to help the victims of their meddling in any way I can (for a fee of course) so I assure you, will you allow me to fight our continuous battle against such a menace!”

“Y-yes I will! Absolutely!”


Heh, that was too easy.

[Nuridia]

"Michael is going to want a report of this...better get it to him. So it's not a demon, but it may be a monster which means I have a job to do here." Ariel thought while scribbling on a note pad. She was writing in Hebrew, the common language of the angels. "Might as well grab a drink and come back, they've covered the body so I can't do any forensics in front of a big crowd like this."
Meanwhile the blonde had moved herself to the back of the crowd, her sensitive nose couldn't take the smell and she felt like she was going to wretch. Looked it too, her skin had almost turned as green as her eyes.

[Patrick OConner]

Earps head whipped around as he caught sight of the first person he wanted to talk too.
"Damn it almost missed her" Earp gripes as pull a u turn in the middle of the road with tire squealing. He gun the engine and races up beside her hitting the brakes. He rolls down the passenger side window and smiles at Areil.
"Hello Ariel mind if we talk for bit? If you are free that is."
Earp opens the passenger side door and pushes it open for Ariel.

[Altito Asmoro]

Alicia Hermann, Hermann's Security Consultation, Sleepy Hollow

The news went fast. A dead body and a criminal case of sort had entered Sleepy Hollow, and apparently considering its status as..."Sleepy Hollow" (mind the pun), it is a major incident within the town. Of course, Sheriffs are the ones who take care of the situation, and so there has been more offers to her to give some training to the citizenry in the Hollow. But Alicia didn't mind about it too much, as she also already felt what looked like to be a sort of supernatural feel in Hollow.

And yet, she was casted to here from Germany. Oh, what a luck. Perhaps if she takes a ride across the town in research and investigation of the case, something can be revealed. Unfortunately, she's a foreigner and almost without connections with the laws and the non-laws. Probably should keep all of this in secret first.

She took her shotgun and key and into her car, a used Toyota sedan. Her job is quite uneventful, but it paid much. Something to be considered later. Riding across the town, noticeable events are noticeable. It seems that most citizens felt the same scary feeling.

[Nuridia]

Earps head whipped around as he caught sight of the first person he wanted to talk too.
"Damn it almost missed her" Earp gripes as pull a u turn in the middle of the road with tire squealing. He gun the engine and races up beside her hitting the brakes. He rolls down the passenger side window and smiles at Areil.
"Hello Ariel mind if we talk for bit? If you are free that is."
Earp opens the passenger side door and pushes it open for Ariel.

Ariel was just about to head to the local pub for a drink or two before she heard the screeching of tires. She barely had time to jump out of the way before the familiar beat up pickup truck pulls up on the side. She glared up at the grinning human sheriff before speaking. "Earp, your driving skills have not improved a bit, have they?!" she snapped before cocking an eyebrow. "Talk...to me? Is it something to do with the mission, any demon sightings?" she asked him curiously. Earp wasn't a bad guy, if Ariel was honest with herself the annoying alcoholic hunter has kinda grown on her. However she was a little weirded out by the way he looked at her sometimes. She looked at him with wide eyes when he pushed his passenger door open. "I am NOT getting into that screaming metal death trap." she said, crossing her arms. But two minutes later she ended up climbing into the truck anyway.

[Patrick OConner]

Earps head whipped around as he caught sight of the first person he wanted to talk too.
"Damn it almost missed her" Earp gripes as pull a u turn in the middle of the road with tire squealing. He gun the engine and races up beside her hitting the brakes. He rolls down the passenger side window and smiles at Areil.
"Hello Ariel mind if we talk for bit? If you are free that is."
Earp opens the passenger side door and pushes it open for Ariel.

Ariel was just about to head to the local pub for a drink or two before she heard the screeching of tires. She barely had time to jump out of the way before the familiar beat up pickup truck pulls up on the side. She glared up at the grinning human sheriff before speaking. "Earp, your driving skills have not improved a bit, have they?!" she snapped before cocking an eyebrow. "Talk...to me? Is it something to do with the mission, any demon sightings?" she asked him curiously. Earp wasn't a bad guy, if Ariel was honest with herself the annoying alcoholic hunter has kinda grown on her. However she was a little weirded out by the way he looked at her sometimes. She looked at him with wide eyes when he pushed his passenger door open. "I am NOT getting into that screaming metal death trap." she said, crossing her arms. But two minutes later she ended up climbing into the truck anyway.

Earp smiles as Areil climbs in and shuts the door.
"Glad you could come." Earp guns the engine and heads out he takes a few random turns and then pulls off into an alleyway off the main road.
"Okay, all cards on the table. This is about the dead body, possibly murder. I need to know if say heaven ordered a hit on that kid or not. Also spoiler I know you are an angel from heaven, anyway, if some Higher power did order the hit I would like to know if so and why. Cause if someone up there did, it can save me and other alot of trouble and paperwork, not to mention keep alot of other alive. Also any other information you might have on Jonah Baker would be nice too."

[Imperialisium]

Lukas "Luke" Kasymir

Luke's eyes scanned the growing crowd. Followed by the Sheriff and deputies rolling up in their own timely fashion. Earp's eagerness was followed by Officer Croppers own tact in obscuring the body with a tarp. Indeed, luckily no children had been present, cause they'd have to spend weeks with therapists to make sure they weren't traumatized. Earp moving over to Luke signaled the immediate fact of the matter. Someone had breached the Hollow Peace, well, the One Rule. The Hollow Peace was strictly in dealing with the Secret War and forbade negative actions between the natural and supernatural. If it was a human murdering another human, well, Luke had less to say in the matter. Others milled about and eventually Earp left in his truck.

"What do you know Luke?"

The voice of Frank Dufresne wafted to his ears. Luke didn't look at Frank, the towns resident genie, well Djinn. His kind probably hated the Hollywood version of their kind like Vampires loathe being called, 'sparkles.' Luke remembered a time when a knife fight almost raged on Second street between a Vampire motorcycle gang and a Werewolf group living on Dorchester Ave when one called them, to quote, 'Glitters.' The body count would have easily been a dozen on each side if several other individuals hadn't diffused the situation. Luke among them.

"What do I know? Good question. Give me a second." Luke's right hand moved, snapping his middle finger and thumb, Luke closed his eyes. Luke muttered something in Latin, specifically a spell of disembodiment, and the sensation of being disassociated from his own essence was nauseating. He turned and saw himself, Frank, and everyone else. The Sun was black and the sky a blazing purple. Everything was odd, strange, dissociative of each other. Out-of-body experiences where often the only time a Human can project their soul out of their bodies. For Luke it was easy and he could do it at well. Luke's 'spirit' copy of himself was invisible to Humans and most other Supernatural creatures. You had to actively look to spot someone's spirit self meandering about.

A moment later Luke's spirit self appeared in a puff of smoke next to the body. Taking a couple steps and passing through the dumpster which felt tingly and even a bit icky despite the obvious dimensional difference. Looking about he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Out of the ordinary in regards to a gruesome murder of a young lad and oh yes the spleen was gone. How could Luke tell, well, lets just say given that his intestines and other organs could be clearly seen his spleen was curiously absent.

Luke sniffed the air. A scent. "Smells kind of like...Fate." Luke turned and walking back out of the alley he spotted it. A glowing object on the bakery door. To his spirit form it was so painstakingly obvious. Luke's spirit copy disappeared in a puff of black smoke once more. Luke opened his eyes and spoke to Frank, "No overt unnatural traces on the boy. Spleen is indeed removed. Though its such a common ingredient it would be hard to pin down why. But I know who I would ask. Our resident dispenser of Fate."

Luke turned and began to briskly walk towards Dents Collectibles. Approaching the door he gave a rap on the window before touching the handle. Muttering under his breadth the handles locks disengaged and the door swung open on its own accord.

"Hello, fancy a cigar and a chat?" said Luke as he pulled a case of Cuban cigars from his black coat pocket.

Katrina von Auguste

Katrina could only gulp as she turned and walked away from the scene. She needed a drink of some kind. Something. Entering the Grady Bar she spoke not looking at Owen in particular. She was nineteen, not old enough for alcohol, and Grady knew that. Yet Owen was a likable fellow in Katrina's mind. She didn't need alcohol, she just need to get away, and something to nurse.

"Owen, Shirley temple, virgin, please." She curled a strand of her hair around the left index finger as she sat on the bar stool. A tear trickled down her cheek. She had known Jonah, since childhood, the gullible bakers boy. Often seen feeding the ducks bread crumbs and leaving out bread taken off the shelves to be deposited outback for anyone who was needy or down on their luck. No one deserved a fate like that. Certainly not Jonah.

She could only wonder if the parents had been told yet...

[Ism]

Katrina von Auguste

Katrina could only gulp as she turned and walked away from the scene. She needed a drink of some kind. Something. Entering the Grady Bar she spoke not looking at Owen in particular. She was nineteen, not old enough for alcohol, and Grady knew that. Yet Owen was a likable fellow in Katrina's mind. She didn't need alcohol, she just need to get away, and something to nurse.

"Owen, Shirley temple, virgin, please." She curled a strand of her hair around the left index finger as she sat on the bar stool. A tear trickled down her cheek. She had known Jonah, since childhood, the gullible bakers boy. Often seen feeding the ducks bread crumbs and leaving out bread taken off the shelves to be deposited outback for anyone who was needy or down on their luck. No one deserved a fate like that. Certainly not Jonah.

She could only wonder if the parents had been told yet...

Owen had been putting some tankards away when Katrina walked in, though he hadn't noticed. Her question broke his tempo and he looked up to see Katrina, taking a second to process her request. He broke into a smile as he set about working. "You know, kid," he said while preparing the drink, "asking for a virgin Shirley Temple is a bit redundant. Don't think I've heard of anyone making a Shirley Temple with alcohol." He worked quickly, topping it off with a cherry garnish. He set the glass down by Katrina, then noticing she had a tear rolling down her cheek. Owen's smile evaporated in an instant, a pit forming in his stomach. She knew. Things just got a whole lot more complicated.

"Listen, Katrina, I can't express how sorry I am about Jonah. But whoever, did that, the sheriff and his deputies will find them. There'll be justice for Jonah, and for the town yet. In the meantime, you'll always have a stool at my bar, and I'm always a phone call away." He hoped his words were helping her, but really he didn't think anything but time would heal her wounds.