Kasee: 10/28/96 (10/28/96)

Oct. 28th, 1996: Well, if the phrase "Where am I going and what am I doing in this handbasket?" has never had meaning before, it certainly does now. My world has turned upside down, inside out, sideways, and now into little tiny charred pieces, without even a hairball left. I have no idea what I last wrote in my journal, because it was at the house. The house, is, well, not there anymore. In rather spectacular fashion, I might add. I think I am going to go crazy, I am so confused and lost right now.... So I am going to write everything down, from when it started (esp. since I no longer have anything written down, I really doubt my journal survived), and maybe, just maybe, it will make more sense when I am done. I doubt it, but it's worth a try. I'd really hate to lose my sanity, I'm rather fond of it.

It all started one day after school. Just a normal Thursday afternoon. Honest. I came home from school as usual, said hello to Eclipse, and went out to the garden to pick the ripe vegetables, and make sure all was well. Perfectly normal, right? Yup, until I felt the very strong presence of evil coming into the front yard. This was definitely not normal. So I snuck around the house and hid in the bushes to see what it was. I mean, walking out to meet it face on seemed pretty silly. Not that it ended up mattering. A guy, dressed in black, was walking up to the front porch and knocked on the door. Aunt Molly opened the door and let him in, closing the door behind her. Then there was another man coming across the yard. Where the hell did he come from? He was looking right at me, so I wanted to sneak back around the side of the house, but there was another one coming from the side. Our yard was infested with men in black. Creepy, evil men in black. The one in front of me reached out a hand and said, "Come here." Yeah, right. So I looked at him and asked, "Why?" He looked briefly confused, then repeated himself, only this time, I felt rather compelled to obey. This really scared me, so I concentrated really hard, and I was able to keep from being drawn to him. I've never had this sort of thing happen, and it kinda scared me, so I decided the smart thing to do was run. I figured there was only one in the house, hopefully he hadn't hurt Aunt Molly, so I ran for the front porch. One tried to grab for me, but I slipped away. As I scrambled up the stairs, someone else grabbed me and when I turned around and struggled to get away, I realized it was Aunt Molly. She calmed me down, and told me these men were from the government, they had information about my mother, but they wanted to talk to me, so I needed to go with them. I didn't really have any desire to go with these creepy men, even if they did have info on mom. So Aunt Molly said she would come with us, since she realized I was obviously scared. OK, safety in numbers, right? Hahahahaha. I got into their black Cadillac with aunt Molly, and we drove off. Then it occurred to me, just a bit late, how had Aunt Molly gotten out of the house and behind me?

These guys weren't much for small talk, and Aunt Molly just kept patting my hand. I hated it when she did that. We headed to Durham. I had no idea where these goons were taking us. So I sat and watched and waited. Things I am very good at, fortunately for me. It also kept my mind off little doubts like, is this really Aunt Molly? Then I saw her reach into her purse and pull out a syringe. This was definitely bad, so I did the only logical thing I could think off, I jumped across the seat over the guy next to me and jump out the door of the car. Yes, it was still moving. I didn't say it was the brightest thing in the world to do, just the most logical. And now that I think of it, it probably was the smartest thing to do. The car squealed to a halt as I headed for the woods. I had a vague idea where I was, and it was getting dark, so I hoped that would give me some sort of advantage. I hoped.

I ran. I ran a lot. I am soooo glad I have kept in shape, and that I spend a lot of time in the woods. I think it saved me. From what, I still don't know. Two of the guys were chasing me, but I had a decent head start, lucky me. As I ran farther into the woods, I heard gunshots, though they didn't seem that close, so I assumed they weren't aimed at me, but at who? I kept running. I was going to run until I couldn't anymore. At one point I paused, and sensed something really powerful underneath me. I still have no idea what it was, and maybe I am the saner for it. I kept running, seemed logical, I figured if it was a good powerful thing, it would stop the bad guys, and if it was a bad powerful thing, then it might eat me and leave nothing behind for the bad guys. So I ran. The guys had gotten closer, and one managed to grab me, then the other. I fell and struggled to escape, and miraculously, I did. They must not have expected me to struggle so much. So I kept running. At one point I heard a horrendous roar, scared me half to death, because it did not sound friendly. I kept running. The guys had fallen behind, and I heard a weird sucking noise, kinda like mud. I hoped that was good for me and bad for them, but I kept going. There was a clearing up ahead, and I heard no other noises. Then the sound of something running toward me again. I glanced behind me, and a big wolf was chasing me! Great, not only had I been kidnapped, but I was now going to get eaten by a wolf. It ran up beside me and then tripped me, so I fell on top of it, and it started licking me! Wait a minute, wolves don't do this. So I looked closely at it, and saw it had an aura, kinda like the fairies do, only this one had a scary, mean sort of overtone to it, which was not normal for fairies, but it was happy. A happy but potentially mean fairy wolf was licking me in the woods while I was being chase by men in black who had kidnapped me and it had now gotten so dark I could barely see? What else could happen? I had to think it, because more did. The wolf got up and disappeared behind a tree, and came back out as a human. Or at least it sounded human, I couldn't see him very well. He told me my friends were here, that they had saved me, and I had no idea who he was talking about. He tried to get me to follow him, but I wasn't going back down there. Fairies did mischievous things like that, tried to get you in trouble. So I hid in a bush and rested, because I figured I would be running again soon. And the fairy disappeared. Typical. Then another guy showed up, with some sort of gadget he was staring at, and walked up to the bush I was hiding in and called out my name. I had no idea who he was. He said something about saving me from my big brother, or something. He sounded generally confused, but I decided he probably wasn't too harmful, so I crawled out of the bush and talked to him. Then I heard my name called from the woods, and it was Daedelus! I have never been happier to see a familiar face in my life, I jumped in his arms and started crying, and tried explaining everything to him. He said they had killed all the bad guys, and they turned into goo. They killed four, but there hadn't been that many in the car, just three and my aunt. And two had been in the woods, and they were gone too. Creepy. So we went back to the road, where I met the rest of the people who had come to rescue me. Seemed none of them really knew each other. I kinda got introduced, and we were trying to figure out where to go, when someone realized two people were missing, John, and some little girl who'd been with them. So one of the guys, Reuben, tried to looked for the missing by going into the fairy world, the Umbra, and he kinda got stuck. It was weird, we could see him only he wasn't solid, at least not to everyone else. Daedelus tried doing something with his VR glasses, but they fell right through him. So I reached out to try to touch him, and I could! He was weird felling, kinda like jello, and I could pass my hand through him, but he felt like jello, so I couldn't get a grip on him. Jello just isn't a substance that can be grabbed and pulled. So I stood there touching him and was asking if anyone else could do anything when he disappeared. That is not a good sign. So we tried to figure out what was going on, and so did I. Because it had occurred to me that these people were not bothered particularly by these things, and actually seemed to be able to do stuff of their own. Most of my friends thought fairies weren't real, and magic certainly wasn't real, but here was Daedelus telling me I am a Mage, and so was he and the rest of these people. Boy, did that shock both of us. Never occurred to me he had a clue, and obviously he thought the same about me. Nice to know I can appear normal. So I kinda got a crash course on magic, that it really was real, I hadn't been imagining all the stuff I thought I could do but was never sure I could really do, even though it always seemed I could do it. However, I was unusual in that no one had "awakened" me. I was an orphan, in more ways than one apparently. Cool. Then three people came screaming down the road, running and yelling that we needed to leave. We decided to meet at Renee's house, and I rode with Daedelus on his bike, and everyone else piled into the Cadillac they had and we left. I had previously been insisting we drive up the rode and look for the car and my aunt, but their urgency scared me, and Daedelus said we could look for her later, it didn't seem safe to go further up the road, so we left.

And that was were it began. It gets better, sort of. It at least gets weirder. I'm still nowhere close to explaining about my house blowing up. That was this morning, and I would still rather not think too much about that now. So I won't. I am going to collect my thoughts some more, and try to remember what happened next. It was all very confusing, and I was rather dazed and confused myself, and have been for the last month or so. I think maybe I spent too much time studying in the Chantry's library about fairies. And speaking of fairies, I certainly can't forget to write all about Wolfie, our resident fairy. Though he is actually living with Renee, which makes me wonder about those two. She seems more the quite type. I am tired, it has been a stressful day, with the house blowing up, my aunt being found dead, and I am listed as missing. How can I be missing if I know where I am? I'm actually surprised they noticed. School never seems to notice when I skip. Have to ponder that, but later. I'm taking a nap. I'll finish this later, when my brain isn't quite so fuzzy. Wonder what everyone was doing all day?

OK, that was a short nap. I'd rather write than have weird dreams any day. Guess I'll finish writing all this down. Daedelus drove me on his bike to Renee's house, so we could all regroup and figure out what was going on, and who everyone was. I don't know about Daedelus, but I sure didn't know any of these people. Renee has a nice apartment on Lake Lynn. So we all got there and introduced ourselves. There was Nathaniel, whom I had met. He's pretty strange, I don't think everyone is home upstairs, if you know what I mean. And Eric, who was just kinda quiet. And Reuben, who seems OK, but I'm not sure if his feet are planted on the ground or not. I mean, he did have the consistency of jello earlier in the evening. And there was some girl, somehow attached to Wolfie, I now know her name is Mary. And of course there was Wolfie. Everyone called him John. I like Wolfie better. More descriptive. Guess everyone here is used to hanging out with fairies, since they didn't seem to mind Wolfie being around. Or maybe they didn't realize he was a fairy. He had wandered outside, so I followed him and asked him why he looked like a fairy. Seemed a logical question to me. I think I confused him, because he made a funny face, then said, "Think about that and get back to me." Huh? What kind of answer was that? Then it occurred to me it was a typical fairy sort of answer. So I stared at him to see his aura and see what kind of feelings I could get from him, and it just confirmed my belief that he is a fairy. But I was intrigued by him, and wanted to learn more. Daedelus tried explaining more about magic to me, but I can't remember exactly what he said, I was feeling kinda tired at the time. Renee and Wolfie were talking quietly, so I tried listening to them, and they didn't seem to like that, so they went to go into the back bedroom to talk, but I managed to sneak past them and hide under the bed. I love doing that. From what I could understand of the conversation, Wolfie somehow knew Renee, but from a previous life or something, because Renee didn't recognize him. He said he was Garou, which I had no idea what that was, so I asked Daedelus afterward and he said it was a werewolf. So werewolves are fairies. Neat. Never would have occurred to me, but since Wolfie is a fairy, and he is also a werewolf, it only makes sense that werewolves are a type of fairy. And a rather hairy fairy at that. Hahaha. I'm so funny. They left the bedroom, and later went outside to talk. I tried following them, but I think Wolfie could smell me or something, because when they were crossing the street, Wolfie saw me and sent me home. But I was getting pretty tired, so I went back and got a blanket and slept on the floor of the bedroom where Daedelus had crashed.

The next morning, I decided I was skipping school, not to mention that Daedelus told me I was not going to school, because they might look for me there. This blonde bimbo stopped by, and gave Renee an invitation to some party on Halloween, apparently she was a Verbena too, which is a witch with a fancy name as far as I can tell. That's what Renee is too. A witch. At least she isn't a bimbo like Stephanie. After that and breakfast, we went to Mr. Forteau's house. He was the guy who got everyone involved with each other, well except for me, that was Daedelus' fault, and he sent everyone with Daedelus. Anyway, he's a strange man, with a strange house. But he was able to heal me. It was weird, all of a sudden, I felt better. Which was nice, because my back was pretty bruised from having jumped out of a moving Cadillac, and my legs had been sore from all that running. I can't remember much of what went on here, except that we all for some reason or another owed him a year of service. Daedelus didn't seem so thrilled with this idea, and neither was I. He didn't find and rescue me, Daedelus did. I think Daedelus was just opposed to the whole idea of being someone's minion for a year, and he had no idea why. Then, after he told us all this, he told us about this thing called the Weather Machine, and we were supposed to find it and get it for him as part of our service to him. Yeah, sure whatever. Sounded like more fun than school, but otherwise, who cares if the world's weather is controlled by some machine? I care a lot more now, but I know more about magic and stuff now than I did then.

After we left there, I said I needed to go home, at the very least I needed to get Eclipse and some clothes and see if my Aunt was home and OK or not. So Daedelus and I rode his bike back to my house. Everything looked as I had left it. Daedelus did something with his magic I guess that enabled him to know if there was anyone in the house. He said it was OK to go in, so we did. All of the cats were there, but they didn't rush me like I expected. So they must have been fed recently. I went up to my room, and found Eclipse, who was hungry, so I fed him and looked around the house for any clues. No calls on the machine, except for my hang-up the night before. And the cats' litter boxes were completely clean. I fed them, and they ate, but they didn't act like they were starving. Weird. And the litter boxes were clean. That really bothered me. So I got some clothes and grabbed a shoulder bag and stuffed Eclipse in it, much to his chagrin, and Daedelus and I left. Try holding a cat, a very unhappy cat stuffed in a bag, on a motorcycle sometime. I don't recommend it. But we got back to Renee's, and that night I ended up staying at Daedelus' place, and left Eclipse at Renee's. I really didn't want him on the bike again, and I didn't trust anyone enough to stay with them without Daedelus nearby. I at least knew him.

The next day we went to the Chantry, the place that Mr. Forteau had given us to live at. It was pretty nice, one story with a basement, and a nice kitchen and decent rooms, and a common living room. So I picked a room and put Eclipse in it and my stuff and decided I would later have to get the rest of my stuff from the house, since my Aunt still hadn't shown back up, and I sure wasn't going to live in a house with cats that didn't use a litter box. It was too weird. Of course, now all but one of the cats is dead, since the house blew up this morning, and my Aunt's burned body was found in the ruins. Glad I had gotten all my stuff, and hadn't stayed at the house any longer. But I am sidetracking. Actually, not much happened after that. We spent the weekend trying to straighten things out and figure out who was who and so forth, and I got the rest of my important stuff from my house, like my computer and clothes and crystals and stuff. I went back to school on Monday, and no one noticed I had been missing on Friday. Gee, now there's a surprise. Not sure why, but no one seems to notice when I am not there. Of course, sometimes they don't notice when I am there, but that I understand. Anyway, over the next month, I studied in the library about the fairy realm, and my school grades suffered a lot, but oh well, it's only school. And the fairy stuff was so much more interesting! I can't wait until I figure out how to do what they call "stepping sideways." I think that is what Reuben had tried to do when he turned into jello. That'll be cool, to not only look into the Umbra, but to actually go into it. Neat!

During that month I studied, I'm not really sure what everyone else was doing. Renee and Wolfie were living together at her place, and I think she went to work. I have no idea what Wolfie was up too, I guess whatever fairies do. Nathaniel installed cable and a drink tap in the kitchen. Reuben also has a cool dog that likes to watch TV. Who ever heard of a dog that watches TV? He even harasses Nathaniel when the cable goes out. Weird. But then again, I am getting used to everyday being weird. The place seems quiet, wonder what everyone is up to? Oh wait, I do hear voices. Oh well, they'll get me when something interesting is about to happen.

Wolfie came back one day, it was getting close to Halloween and the party, and he had some info for use about the Weather Machine. He said the kids at the mall with chains were interested in it. Kids at the mall with chains? They sounded familiar, so I told everyone about Ogre and his gang of "cool people." They hung out at the Crabtree Valley Mall, usually in the food court or the arcade. So that evening we went to the mall to meet them. Daedelus talked with Ogre, and played Mortal Combat with him. It was weird, they played for awhile, then when I walked by, they weren't moving, but their characters were. It was bizarre. I studied the group's auras. Ogre's was kinda dull and flickery, one of the guys has no aura, which is very, very weird. Everyone has auras. Another guy looked like a sleeper, and the other guy and girl had that kinda flickery aura. Betsy, Ogre's sister and apparent leader of the group has an iridescent aura, which is also a bit odd, but at least she has one. We talked for a bit, then we got kicked out of the mall by security, and Ogre and his group vanished! That's a pretty cool trick. I couldn't find them anywhere, and that is unusual for me not to notice something like that. So we left, and shortly after we got outside, we saw Nathaniel walking out with Ogre and the rest. We talked in the parking lot for a bit, trying to decide where to go, when mall security showed up (seems to have been a lot of that going around, huh?) So we agreed to meet them at Shelley Lake, and we left for there.

Once there, we talked. It was kinda cold and rainy. Actually it has been raining for the past several days, quite a bit actually. Probably something to do with the weather machine being screwed with. Some dry weather would be nice. Anyway, we found out the were interested in the machine, and we kinda agreed to help get it with them maybe so we decided to meet with them at the mall the night of October 30th to decide on a plan. We then went home and probably talked and tried to plan some more then went to sleep. I wish I could remember more details, that I'd written all this down sooner, but oh well, if my memory gets jogged any, I'll be sure to write more.

Well, I found out what they are all up to. Daedelus just knocked on the door and said they were going to the post office to try to get the package that should be the Weather Machine. Guess Daedelus tracked it somehow on the computer, wish I could do that. Anyway, I don't really feel up to going with them, so I told him so and they left. I mean, what interesting things could possibly happen just going to the post office to pick up a package?

Oh wow, I'm getting closer to my house blowing up. On Saturday, the day after we had met with Ogre and his gang, I decided to spend some time at my house to try to figure out why the cats didn't eat or use the litter box, and hopefully find out something about my Aunt. I did, sort of later and in a not very pleasant way. Have I mentioned my house blew up? Anyway, I got Daedelus to drive me there, he gave me a beeper to contact him with when I wanted to go home. So I fed the cats and sat and stared at the litter boxes for quite some time. Not a single cat used the litter box. And there were no hacked up hairballs in the house, nor excess cat hair. Really weird. Cats that eat but don't poop. But then again, I don't think they were being fed either. I looked at them, and after eating, they were full. After awhile, they were no longer full, but not hungry, and where did the food go? So how were they living, and who had done this and why? The Technocracy that Daedelus keeps telling me about? But why kidnap me and replace my Aunt's cats with what still feel like the same cats, only the don't eat or poop? And where is my Aunt? At around six I decided I'd had enough, and really didn't want to stay there past dark, so I beeped Daedelus. He came and picked me up, and I took one of the cats in a bag back with me for Renee to look at. She knows microbiology, so maybe she can figure this out. Again, I don't recommend a motorcycle ride with an unhappy cat in a sack.

We got the cat back, and I convinced Renee to stare at it awhile, and she eventually discovered that the cat had become very efficient, and all the food was absorbed and the waste was expelled as carbon dioxide out its nose. Cool, the ultra clean cat, for all those people that hate smelly litter boxes. That is just too weird. So I named the cat Hairball, since I have no idea which cat it is, and left her and Eclipse in my room, they seem to get along OK. Guess cats aren't bothered by other cats that don't need to poop. Weird. Then Renee left and I went to bed, because it had gotten pretty late.

Sunday was pretty uneventful, except when the stag walked through the house. We were in the living room, and this white stag just walked out of the room where Mary and Dog were watching TV, walked down the hall, out the door, then vanished. I looked into the Umbra, and it was just inside the edge of the woods, dead. I watched for a bit, and it decayed away and was gone. How very very odd. We still don't know where it came from or why, except that since the Chantry is a node, it was an Umbral creature that was able to step sideways at the node, wander away, and for some reason died when it got to far from the node. Weird fairy stuff. I can't wait until I can step sideways!

Then, finally, today happened. I was getting ready for school when Cab saw a news story on TV (you know, I can't remember when Cab showed up here. Some time while I was studying I think. Maybe my brain is dissolving into carbon dioxide). Anyway, she pointed out the news story about my house blowing up. They said the house just burned right to the ground, and that a body had been found, and identified as my Aunt Molly. And they said that one other resident of the house was missing. Hi, that would be me. Needless to say, I wasn't going to go to school today. Especially since I was missing, and they might think I did it. There was no mention of any cats on the news, they must have all been crisped too. Poor kitties. They were all annoying calico hairballs, but they didn't deserve to be crisped. And is that really my Aunt's body, or just that person who looked like my Aunt who tried to give me that injection? Hopefully I will find out eventually, but it doesn't look good. I'm just really glad I didn't spend the weekend at the house. Hmm, I feel a bit better now, but I want to get out of the house. Since no one is here, I think I will take a walk to Pullen Park and check it out. Until later.

October 29th, 1996: Boy was I wrong! Remember when I said that going to the post office would be boring? Hahahahahahaha. Daedelus, Reuben, and Eric were arrested on drug charges! They thought they were getting the Weather Machine, but instead it was a fake that was full of drugs, though Daedelus transported the drugs to Saratoga, so the DEA didn't actually find the drugs, but arrested them anyway. Wish I could teleport stuff like that. That could come in handy someday. Anyway, let me back up a bit first. I left for a walk, got to Pullen Park around 4:45 or so, and looked around. I wanted to get a feel for the place, see what it was like, and if there were any nasty surprises hiding in the Umbra. Well, the park is a really low level node, smaller than ours even. It seemed a happy place, which is good. However, there were storm clouds building in the Umbra, which is bad. I remember reading about that, and bad things happen when it storms in the Umbra, so I wanted to make sure I remembered to tell someone. Then I got a sandwich at Mitch's Tavern. I went there after an Outing Club meeting once with some people, and it was really good. Anyway, after eating, I decided I didn't feel like walking back, so I called the Chantry to see if anyone was home. Renee answered and asked where I was and told me that Daedelus, Reuben, and Eric had been arrested. So she came and picked me up and we went back to the Chantry to talk with Cab and Nathaniel about what to do. We try calling Mr. Forteau, thinking maybe he has the resources to free them, but no one answers. We decide maybe he is being antisocial or something, so Nathaniel and I take Renee's car and leave to drive over there. One the way, on I-40, the car ahead of us swerves (did I mention it is still raining?) and Nathaniel tried to avoid hitting them, but skidded then the car flipped and I don't really remember anything after that, because I was knocked unconscious.

I awoke in the hospital around 10:30pm, and about jumped out of my skin because I swear there was a fairy making faces at me out of the corner of my eye. Not a good thing to wake up to. I really hate it when they do that. Cab and Renee were there, and Renee told me she was my Aunt. And they said not to mention fairies around the nurses when I complained about them frolicking in my side vision. Stupid fairies. Actually, now that I think about it, that was probably paradox effect. Daedelus told me about paradox, he described it as reality being unhappy with you for playing with it. Kinda like that time I temporarily grew horns. Boy was that weird. I'm sidetracking again, but my foot hurts. I twisted my ankle in the crash, and have to walk on crutches, which really sucks. Also, I am rather bruised, more so than when I had jumped out of the moving car. You would thinking jumping out of a moving car would be less safe than sitting in one. Guess not. Anyway, Renee said Nathaniel had disappeared after checking me in and being checked out himself. Who knows where that wacko could have wandered off to. He still hasn't shown back up. Daedelus and them showed up at midnight or so, so Cab left and Daedelus and Renee stayed the night with me in the hospital, so I could get out ASAP in the morning. Very nice of them. Of course, it would have been kinda strange for my "Aunt" to leave. I was kinda worried about someone realizing I was the missing person from the fire, but I discovered today I had nothing to worry about. I looked in the paper when we got back to the Chantry, and the article just listed a "Miss Chester" as missing, and there was a composite sketch of me that looked more like Eclipse. So I am not too worried about someone recognizing me and realizing I am the missing girl. I'm going to take a nap now, 'cause I am still kinda tired from getting beat up in the car.

Well, I've never been so offended in all my life! They were actually blaming ME for all the weird and bad things that have been happening. Renee and Cab starting talking about it, how all of this started when they had to rescue me from being kidnapped, that the weird cats were mine and then my house blew up shortly after me going home for a day, and then the car accident on the way to Forteau's, and I was the first to notice the storm clouds in the Umbra. They think I'm some sort of disaster magnet or something. It's not my fault, I swear! Like I wanted to get in that car accident, like I wanted my house to blow up. Maybe the Technocracy is out to get me or something, and I'm extraordinarily lucky and they keep missing me. I think I will stare into the Umbra for awhile.--- Nothing new there. The storm clouds are still building and it is really quiet. There are no creatures anywhere in the Umbra that I can see or hear. Hmm, that's kinda weird. Oh well. Guess I have sulked enough, time to go see what's going on.

Tom Brady <tabrady@mindspring.com>

Last modified: Wed Jan 15 17:45:00 1997 by tabrady