Why So Serious

Unsettled

Jacks ears still iched from embarrassment as he settled down, this time with clean pants. “I hope nothin got on your laptop. God, that startled me. Clear message though.” He scanned the picture Jonathan showed. Their ‘target’ was a middle aged man, but all in all nothing extraordinary. Yet he had something in common with his friends at his side, which were now vanished.

"Yeah, I think we should check him asap. It’s not actually a good sign that he is the last of his entourage." Jack took a little notebook and copied the adress. “First him then the rest." Somehow thrilled, Jack finished and made a mental note to get a copy of that evp for himself. After all this was somehow a ghost hunt.

With that, Jack let Jonathan work and withdrew to his bed. He was tired and somehow he did not sleep well the past nights. But luckily that night sleep came fast and JAck fell asleep with soft snoring.

***

Jack’s rather long coat swished as he adjusted it, making sure that none of his hunter utensils was showing. How else should he explain why he carried knifes alongside vials of holy water? “Alright! I am so ready!”, Jack said ethusiastically. He looked at Jonathan and ignored the slight coffee stain on the ground.

Isn’t that coat a bit excessive? For the tenth time Jonathan held back his tongue before he could have started a fight with his partner. “Nice coat,” he still had to make a comment though, adjusting his collars as he lowered his head in pretense of casualty. Jack’s blind enthusiasm stung Jonathan slightly but then he tried not to address that, even though it was simply that annoying and provoking. “How would you approach the man?” He asked, as if that was a pretest for the actual deal. The house was not far away and they did not need to drive. Taken a slow walk, soon the right number was before them and their target waiting to be discovered. “Do you hear that?” Jonathan mumbled, squinting and watching through the gap of the curtains into the house, “I think our target is preparing for a trip away. Desparately.” He gave Jack a nod and then they stormed up to the front porch and knocked on the door.

the-dark-knight-of-justice

Walking towards their destination, JAck enjoyed the walk, especially after driving quite a lot the last days. And even though streets there resembled each other quite a lot. "Thanks.", Jack replied somewhat reserved. Not sure if if Jonathan actually complimented him or if this was another of his sarcastic comments. " I like this one. You could even fall from a driving motorcycle without leaving your skin all across the road.

Somewhere a dog barked and they continued in silence. Hands in his pockets, Jack played a bit with some retractable knifes as Jonathan spoke up and Jack started to grin widely. He swung his blondish hair dramatically before grinning at JOnathan again. "Well, I'd use my irresistable charms for that guy." JAck chuckled as Jonathan sighed loudly and rolled his eyes.

More or less together, they stepped through the suspects little garden door, which swung back creeking in protest. Jonathan got in front of Jack and peeked through the frontside window. He told Jack that obviously their target was about to leave. Jack positioned himself at the front door and waited for Joathan's sign, which came in form of a curt nod. Extending his arm, Jack knocked and stepped back.

In tense silence they waited for any response, but the door remained closed. Jack looked at his partner, and knocked again. And just as Jack was about to step back, the door swung open and he looked right at a gun pointed between his eyes.

#crane-jonathan

Bat in the Bellfrey|| Batman and Joker

the-dark-knight-of-justice

The clown had been bored. Very much bored and whenever that state arrive it mostly ended in bloodshed of his or other people. And Joker had decided for the latter. It had been somewhat refreshing. Quite simple murders, which still held the joy of the clown when he was bathing in his victims frantic laughter just before they died. And it had something new as well. Completely without knives this time, though Joker had already made a mental note to include them next time. But now, as he was looking down on his loyal and ruthless thugs, he smiled pleased.

In a town like gotham, it had been not hard to get on a formula for this kind of gas. Especially with men like Crane in the ranks of Gotham’s villains. And now his men were packing away the rest of the bottles. Joker already turned away to leave. His men had their orders and meanwhile the madman’s thoughts were already whirling on how he could use his new toy for maximum satisfication.

The Dark Knight heard the noise of boxes being moved and the grunts of workmen. No, not workmen, henchmen. He switched his cowl’s settings to infrared and picked up the heat signatures of several goons. They were packing away something, and Batman could only guess that it was what he was looking for. Just in case the formula was released in a gaseous form, he put his gas breather on. All the henchmen would hear is the flicker of cloth before the large bat-form would come straight at them. His first priority was to take out the henchmen, second was to get a sample from the bottles.

Batman sent the first goon he hit flying and as soon as he landed he tossed two batarangs at the two coming at him from the left. Grabbing one that was on his right, he fired his grapple into the rafters and took the Henchman right into the shadows. Then he came from a completely different place than he had gone into! He flanked two more of the henchmen and took them down by promptly landing on them. Walking off of the downed men, he walked toward the last man, who tried to attack him with a crowbar. He ducked and sent an uppercut right into the jaw of the henchman. Walking over to one of the bottles, he pulled out an eyedropper from his utility belt.

#the-dark-knight-of-justice #hope this is ok again :)

The clown was already entering a flight of stairs, when he heard it. Very faint, but then distinct. "Ahh bats, bats...", he murmured, a smile streching his scarred lips. It was almost a pity, that he just didn't have the time to enjoy the fight. His purple coat was swishing as he went down the stairs. He groaned as he heard heavy breathing and rapid footsteps approaching him from behind. "Boss, boss! The bat's here!". "Really?", Joker sighed. His henchmen were good for brawls but just as dense. "Half a million for the one who kills the bat."

Almost instantly their panicked breathing turned into suprised gasps and Joker could almost feel their gazes lighten up. "Go!", he hissed and the thugs, now more eager, dashed away. Let the bat have some more fun, he thought. Quickening his pace, Joker descended and opened a rusty backdoor. Around the corner, a car was waiting. Joker smiled again. "I wonder when you realize that you just found half of my toys, hmmm..". Car doors close and then the car sped away, heading towards another hideout filled with other chemicals.

the-dark-knight-of-justice

Bat in the Bellfrey|| Open Starter

High above the rooftops of one of Gotham’s suburban areas, a dark figure moved swiftly through the air. While still considered an urban legend, the Batman swung through the city on a lead he’d picked up. There had been several murders, all done the same way; mouths had been stretched to an unbelievable limit into large smiles. They had died from asphyxiation The teeth of the victims were yellowed and there were burns on the upper gums from some sort of inhaler. Yet there had been no inhaler found on their person. Batman had taken some scrapings from the teeth to analyze back to his cave. It had all the signs of a normal Joker killing, but the results were completely different. The scrapings yielded an interesting result: sugar and other elements that had been enhanced in such a way that they yellowed the teeth extremely fast. The mixture together had only been manufactured by one company and so the Batman had headed in that direction.

Once arriving at his destination he silently slipped into the building using a rooftop window. There he saw large vats of the concoction and a bottling section. Slowly he moved in, searching to see if his quarry would show up.

#the-dark-knight-of-justice #hope that this is ok

In a town like gotham, it had been not hard to get on a formula for this kind of gas. Especially with men like Crane in the ranks of Gotham's villains. And now his men were packing away the rest of the bottles. Joker already turned away to leave. His men had their orders and meanwhile the madman's thoughts were already whirling on how he could use his new toy for maximum satisfication.

Im-your-demon entered the madhouse

"Hmm, and who might you be?", the clown wondered

#im-your-demon #new follow #((hii))

ifyouarelonely entered the madhouse

Hmm always these new faces. Looks like plenty o’ fun for me hehe

ifyouarelonely

"Plenty of fun? In this place?" She grimaced and looked around. She despised places like hospitals or asylums.

"Just a thing of imagination. Imagine some balloons, confetti or corpses lying around. That helps!". The clown chuckled, amused of himself.

ifyouarelonely

Crys narrowed her eyes. “That’s sick.” She was stating the obvious.

The clown's scarred smile dropped. "Sick?", he hissed annoyed. "Sweetie, I have seen doctors aroud here more sick, than I am.". He glared at the girl for some more seconds before he chuckled again. "Hehe, sick doctors. Good one."

#ifyouarelonely

ifyouarelonely entered the madhouse

Hmm always these new faces. Looks like plenty o’ fun for me hehe

ifyouarelonely

"Plenty of fun? In this place?" She grimaced and looked around. She despised places like hospitals or asylums.

#ifyouarelonely #new follow #((hii))

"Just a thing of imagination. Imagine some balloons, confetti or corpses lying around. That helps!". The clown chuckled, amused of himself.

#ifyouarelonely

ifyouarelonely entered the madhouse

Hmm always these new faces. Looks like plenty o' fun for me hehe

Unsettled

"They are linked. No way that the victims are taken randomly." Jack sipped his steaming coffe and almost burned his tounge. “We should check that as soon as possible. Do we have an adress of that guy? Who opened that threat in the forum?" If they had luck, they could get valuable info from that guy. They just had to think of some pretense for the guy as well as for the school.

Taking another sip of the strong coffee Jack almost didn’t hear the weird cackling. “The fuck?!", Jack exclaimed as Jonathan was quick to tape the laughter and adjust it on the mixer. He eliminated the white noise as best as possible. It was no doubt some laughter at first. Jack was about to listen even harder as suddenly the audio seemed to explode.

You betrayed me!

The disembodied voice seemed so clear and furious now. Startled by the loud exclamation, Jack spilled his coffee over his pants, howling in furious pain. “Ah shit!", he hissed and rose from the bed to not get dirty. He sprinted to the bathroom and quickly pulled his pants down. His upper legs were slightly burned where the coffee had been spilled.

But now he realized that he had no pants in the small bathroom which meant he had to get some from his suitcase, which was aside his bed. “Ah shit.", he repeated and put the pants in front of his boxers. With red ears from embarrassment, he quickly went into the other room, careful to not look into Jonathan’s eyes, and retrieved a clean pair of trousers and quickly slipped in.

"I need a drink.", Jonathan said and Jack could not help but smile and agree. He sure wanted one before the action would start.

"If you give me one night," Jonathan mumbled, pausing as he saved the forum page to his browser and checked for an IP address, breaking his stream of thought and leaving his sentence hanging there with an suggestive hook, “I can give you the exact address. And background information." He shrugged, the sly smirk still on his lips as he thought about the little joke he just slipped in there.

Jonathan shuddered at the exploding voice from his laptop but still he remained collected and calm; his partner, not so much. He heard Jack swearing under his breath and so he turned around to peek, seeing that he spillt his drink and hurried to the bathroom. He blinked, his mind temporarily drifting from the case towards the thought of what Jack would do about his pants. “Well that’s obvious enough," he spoke softly, trying not to turn around anymore no matter how unnatural that might be.

Jonathan played the clip again and again, listening to the mournful scream which somehow hinted on a cry for vengeance. He ran the IP address through his spyware, making sure that it would not be traced back, and waited for a result. Hearing ruffling sounds from behind, he forgot his no-peeking code and turned his head, catching a glimpse of Jack’s boxers… Well, not a pattern he would have expected.

"You have luck," he spoke, facing his screen again, “Here is his address. I think we might want to visit this person first, just in case he would be the next victim." Jonathan showed a picture with five people in it, the three on the left being their missing subjects and the forth the said forum poster.

Jacks ears still iched from embarrassment as he settled down, this time with clean pants. "I hope nothin got on your laptop. God, that startled me. Clear message though." He scanned the picture Jonathan showed. Their 'target' was a middle aged man, but all in all nothing extraordinary. Yet he had something in common with his friends at his side, which were now vanished.

"Yeah, I think we should check him asap. It's not actually a good sign that he is the last of his entourage." Jack took a little notebook and copied the adress. "First him then the rest." Somehow thrilled, Jack finished and made a mental note to get a copy of that evp for himself. After all this was somehow a ghost hunt.

***

Jack's rather long coat swished as he adjusted it, making sure that none of his hunter utensils was showing. How else should he explain why he carried knifes alongside vials of holy water? "Alright! I am so ready!", Jack said ethusiastically. He looked at Jonathan and ignored the slight coffee stain on the ground.

Unsettled

Jack yawned again as he watched his partner. He was tired but was not in the mood for a nap yet. “I’ll go for a coffee.", he said and searched their room for a coffee machine. This room was rather small and didn’t provide anything beside a ancient tv, whose remote was attached through a red rope with it. I bet you still have to pay for the porn here. He chuckled to himself and left the room.

The halls were quiet and Jack only spotted a housekeeping woman pushing her massive cart through the hallway. Jack grinned at her and pressed himself against the wall to let her pass which she acknowledged with a nod. Jack proceeded and went down the stairs into the lobby where some people were sitting in cosy chairs and sipped hot, steamy and delicious coffee. “Jackpot.", he murmured to himself and spotted a coffee dispenser.

The coffee was still steaming hot, and while Jack plunged some sugarcubes inside he overheard a conversation between two men. “And I say, this haunting thing is bullshit. They were somehow abducted or robbed." The second one was cocking one eyebrow. “But how on earth does one vanish like that. And all their stuff was still inside the cars." “I still can’t belive that. Something tells me that there is more behind that all." With that the conversation went on. Jack took another sip and left the lobby and went back.

The door creaked slightly as Jack entered. Jonathan was still sitting in front of his laptop but now he got a look on a opened word file which was already impressively filled. Jack skimmed through it and noticed some notes on a new person. “Who’s that?", Jack asked and pointed at that name. BUt Jonathan attention was fixed on a sound file. Jonathan looked at Jack and was about to play the file. “Just a note, it was not supposed to pop up by itself." he said and pressed play

"I jotted down the reporting times as well as the discovery of their vehicles on a timeline," Jonathan explained while the audio was playing and there were merely the faint rustling white noises, “And this person was the only one to set up a discussion topic online. Guess what, he might come from the same high school as the victims." Jonathan’s finger hovered over the initials in the user name, just as the cracking sound started to heighten up in the audio.

Jonathan squinted and listened more closely, fiddling with the controls of the mixer he tried to isolate the specific wavelength and clear the distracting static noises. “Does it sound like some weird cackling to you? Mocking perhaps?" He asked under his breath, holding it for so long as the audio kept playing. Or perhaps it might be some ghostly message? The thought was absurd, but being a hunter the absurdities are the norm.

You betrayed me!

The voice was suddenly clear and even sharp to the ear, it hurt both their ears and involuntarily they flinched back at the same time. Quickly Jonathan selected the duration and saved it as a new file, then leaving his seat he stretched a bit. “I need to get a drink."

You betrayed me!

"I need a drink.", Jonathan said and Jack could not help but smile and agree. He sure wanted one before the action would start.

#iworkatshield #daughter-of-the-forgotten-prince #((hi :D))

New faces in the madhouse

iworkatshield

and

daughter-of-the-forgotten-prince

"Hmm", the clown hummed and grinned. "New faces. What a delight."

Unsettled

„I’d be ok with either. After all gathering info is top priority now.“ Even though Jack felt pretty tired after the drive and the search, he would be ready to work longer. But secretly he was feeling quite relieved as Jonathan suggested to rest at the hotel for now. „I am really curious of the recording’s audio. Maybe it is some clue?“. The car slowed down as Jack steered it in the hotel’s parking lot. They jumped out of the caravan and could not stiffle a yawn as they checked in. Jonathan threw him an amused glance and Jack clasped his hands in front of his mouth to cover the yawn. At last Jonathan opened the hotel room’s door and both men stepped inside.

Jack watched Jonathan turning on his laptop and already busily installing all kinds of software and connecting his digital recorder with it. Jack smiled and retreated inside the bathroom. He quickly freshened up and splashed some cold water on his face. Then he just stood there for a couple of minutes before joining Jonathan again. He hesitated before sitting on the bed but Jonathan’s slight nod approved. He sat down next to Jonathan and watched him searching the web for any other traces.

Then Jonathan stopped as they spotted an entry. „Highschool friends! I guess that will be our next task then. We should take a look at the archives and maybe locate friends next. Who knows, maybe that will reveal some new stuff?“ „Yes, we should do that. That and searching the other houses.“

„Ha! Plenty of work then.“ Jack rose from the bed and streched his arms. „I am wondering what we will find out. Or if we might hear somwthing from our ghost.“ He scratched his chin, which was becoming quite rough. He would need to shave soon again. And they needed to find out what had happened to the victims. „Where are you…“, Jack murmured as he sat down on his bed and felt sleepy already.

Go to sleep, Jonathan managed to not blurt out as he heard the lazy yawn from his partner. Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed Jack’s half shielded eyes and his back which could hardly resist the soft bed. “I’ll let you know when the analysis is done," he spoke, then followed by a series of typing of the keyboard, “I’ll just be making a timeline of the general information I could get from the internet."

The results generated were a mess. Of course it would be, Jonathan thought, but he scribbled down the general information on a note pad anyways. The first victim, the mathematician - for now he would refer to him by this title, for it is best not to refer to objectives by names - whose house they just investigated, disappeared on a Monday, his boss reported him missing. Just a note, he was quite a promised accountant, even though his talents sure surpassed his achievements. Mathematician would be a delightful way to call him, would it not?

Then the female victim, who disappeared on Wednesday. Lived with her husband and reported with the third victim, who went missing not until Thursday. It was the husband of the writer - yes, the female wrote, even though just in local editorials - and the sister of the jobless - apparently the third victim - who approached the sheriff and reported the case. Later they matched the corresponding found vehicles on the highway and rumours started to spread like wild fire.

There was a topic on a small forum about the highway, yet the page was removed, leaving there a dead link to a clue which once was there. The user name of the question poser was somehow catching to the eye, and after a few glances on his notes, Jonathan discovered that the user had the initials of the high school of the other victims in their user ID. With a wild guess he clicked for the profile, finding that the location of that certain user happened to be in this same town. “I’ll track you down," he mumbled, just by the time the audio player jumped to the front and blocked his view.

"Awkward. Jack, come listen to this." He turned to Jack, turning on the volume, “Just a note, it was not supposed to pop up by itself."

Jack yawned again as he watched his partner. He was tired but was not in the mood for a nap yet. "I'll go for a coffee.", he said and searched their room for a coffee machine. This room was rather small and didn't provide anything beside a ancient tv, whose remote was attached through a red rope with it. I bet you still have to pay for the porn here. He chuckled to himself and left the room.

The halls were quiet and Jack only spotted a housekeeping woman pushing her massive cart through the hallway. Jack grinned at her and pressed himself against the wall to let her pass which she acknowledged with a nod. Jack proceeded and went down the stairs into the lobby where some people were sitting in cosy chairs and sipped hot, steamy and delicious coffee. "Jackpot.", he murmured to himself and spotted a coffee dispenser.

The coffee was still steaming hot, and while Jack plunged some sugarcubes inside he overheard a conversation between two men. "And I say, this haunting thing is bullshit. They were somehow abducted or robbed." The second one was cocking one eyebrow. "But how on earth does one vanish like that. And all their stuff was still inside the cars." "I still can't belive that. Something tells me that there is more behind that all." With that the conversation went on. Jack took another sip and left the lobby and went back.

The door creaked slightly as Jack entered. Jonathan was still sitting in front of his laptop but now he got a look on a opened word file which was already impressively filled. Jack skimmed through it and noticed some notes on a new person. "Who's that?", Jack asked and pointed at that name. BUt Jonathan attention was fixed on a sound file. Jonathan looked at Jack and was about to play the file. “Just a note, it was not supposed to pop up by itself." he said and pressed play

Unsettled

The ice cold draft snapped back Jack’s focus from the little notebook and his partners arrogance. While Jack had seached the kitchen, he still had felt quite stung by his partners harsh words. After all he really didn’t look like the kind who could affort the expensive collection of paranormal equipment. Only the digital recorder, which was tucked in his shirt, was his own but he hadn’t been in the mood to explain that to Jonathan. But now all he felt was this ice cold draft, which caressed his neck eerily. Jack yelped loudly and as soon as he did, the sensation died away. His heart was pounding rapidly. But the kitchen was once more quiet and completely free of some weird drafts.

And then Jack almost jumped again, as Jonathan stepped inside the kitchen. He was holding something in his hands, yet his gaze seemed irritated, if not spooked. “Hell yes, there is a bunch of wong here." Jack looked around, checking for opened windows, which would have allowed any breeze in. But then it would not explain such a cold draft, not in this season. Then an idea struck his mind and Jack patted his shirt to check for the recorder. It was still in there.

With shaky hands he rewinded the audio and held the device against his head. He could hear static, then himself mumbling as he had searched the kitchen. Nothing paranormal so far. The drawers creaked and Jack waited eagerly for the moment to come. The recording was still normal when suddenly a weird voice seemed to break throught the white noise. ‘Get out!" the voice wispered and Jack shuddered at the intensity of it. He turned around and faced Jonathan, who had an eyebrow raised skeptically. Jack rewinded again and showed the audio to his partner.

"I think we weren’t alone back then.", Jack whispered and shuddered. He was feeling weirdly exited yet afraid somehow. “And I found something, we should give it a check." Together they quietly left the house and Jack let Jonathan go first. Then he made a little jump of victory. Yes! My first evp! Then he cleared his throat and tried to contain his joy before Jonathan would squash that. He had a habit of keeping Jack’s victories down. The lights of the caravan blinked as Jack unlocked it and together they drove off to investigate their findings.

"I found a sealed envelope," he mumbled lowly, reaching for Jack’s sleeve and tugging at it softly, so that it would not trigger any big movements, “We’ll see what’s in it later." But Jack seemed to be distracted and Jonathan stopped talking. He was about to take Jack’s pulse when Jack shifted and played the recording on his device. Jonathan raised an eyebrow as Jack turned to him, placing the recorder next to his ear. He leant closer and focused on the audio, and then he heard it, the cracking static noises and the voice sending them a message.

Was it a threat or a warning? Was it the ghost they seek, or was it the victim? Jonathan frowned softly and his eyes swung from left to right, the thoughts debating themselves in his head. “Let’s put in on the laptop," Jonathan patted Jack on the shoulder, as if it were a subtle acknowledgement to his finding, without mockery or sarcasm. His blue eyes flickered again and glanced at Jack, and for that moment as their eyes met, they both looked away in an awkward silence. “Let’s go." Jonathan said, taking a final look around the kitchen just to make sure they did not miss anything; not that he had not trust in Jack, but being cautious was always a part of him. It was where Jack found the static after all.

"Do you think we can visit another house today?" Jonathan asked as he loaded the recording to his laptop while Jack drove, heading back to the hotel. Jonathan looked up at Jack’s profile, clarifying, “I am asking for your opinion. Or would you suggest that I work on my laptop for the rest of the day?" Jack had been driving all the way and having not enough rest. Taking that into account, Jonathan blinked and stared at the envelope, playing with it while waiting for the software to finish running, his fingers tapping on the black laptop impatiently. “Perhaps we could take some rest. I am tired."

Jonathan settled on the bed and started to examine the wave lengths of the audio, trying his best to perhaps isolate the whisper and figure out if it was somebody’s voice. He gave Jack a permitting glance over his shoulder, so his partner could skip wondering if he would be invading his territory by sitting next to him. Casually he did a search on the internet, cross referencing the results with the three names. Shrugging he turned to Jack, “It never hurts to try, right? Perhaps we might get a connection. Something to start with-" He stopped in between his sentence as he spotted something - and Jack did too. Curling the corner of their lips, they spoke in sync, “High school friends."

„I'd be ok with either. After all gathering info is top priority now.“ Even though Jack felt pretty tired after the drive and the search, he would be ready to work longer. But secretly he was feeling quite relieved as Jonathan suggested to rest at the hotel for now. „I am really curious of the recording's audio. Maybe it is some clue?“. The car slowed down as Jack steered it in the hotel's parking lot. They jumped out of the caravan and could not stiffle a yawn as they checked in. Jonathan threw him an amused glance and Jack clasped his hands in front of his mouth to cover the yawn. At last Jonathan opened the hotel room's door and both men stepped inside.

Jack watched Jonathan turning on his laptop and already busily installing all kinds of software and connecting his digital recorder with it. Jack smiled and retreated inside the bathroom. He quickly freshened up and splashed some cold water on his face. Then he just stood there for a couple of minutes before joining Jonathan again. He hesitated before sitting on the bed but Jonathan's slight nod approved. He sat down next to Jonathan and watched him searching the web for any other traces.

„Ha! Plenty of work then.“ Jack rose from the bed and streched his arms. „I am wondering what we will find out. Or if we might hear somwthing from our ghost.“ He scratched his chin, which was becoming quite rough. He would need to shave soon again. And they needed to find out what had happened to the victims. „Where are you...“, Jack murmured as he sat down on his bed and felt sleepy already.

Unsettled

Jack let Jonathan check the room, they had taken. Though it was not really likely to run into an ambush, there was no hurt in being cautious. And Jonathan did it with professional speed and soon both men had their blongings inside and changing into rather stealthy hunter gear. It was always possible to run into civilians and it would be a pain to explain why they are dressed almost like ninjas and armored to the teeth. Jack decided on the dark jacket, which imitated the look of some leather jacket while holding lots of space for the hunter gear. And well, it looked really cool in Jacks opinion.

Casting a sideways glance, Jack could not help but snort slightly at the infra red camera Jonathan was taking. And JAck immediately regretted it because it got him a questioning stare of Jonathan. “What?", he asked. Jack shuffled a bit embarrassed and opened a big briefcase. “Well, since we are ghost hunting, I brought some stuff of mine." The briefcase was filled with gear and Jack pointed at each device, explaining the use. “A digital recorder for evps, MEL meters for sensing disturbances in the magnetic field, nightvision camera and some rem pods." Jack closed the case and tried to avoid Jonathans gaze, so he would not see his own exitement.

They packed their gear into the caravan and drove towards the first victims domicile. Jack was still irritated with Jonathan. Why would he not trust him more? He sighed and pushed the thought away as they had already arrived. Stepping in front of the door, Jack looked back at their car. I really need another one, which is more stealthy than this… and faster. As he turned to Jonathan again, he was quite surprised to see the door opened and Jonathan grinning widely. “Nice one!", JAck commented grinning and stepped inside. Silently they moved through the house. Jack had only brought the digital recorder with him. Maybe he would capture something.

"Go to the kitchen, I will check the bedroom." Jack nodded and went to his destination. It was dark and therefore Jack’s eyes needed some time to adjust to the gloom. First he searched the drawers, which were crammed with various stuff ranging from knives to little notebooks. And amongst the mess, he found a little notebook with an integrated notebook. It was full of notes and memos. “now that could be useful.", he murmured as he felt a cold draft of air brushing his neck.

Jonathan raised his eyebrows at the equipments, then with a slight smirk he commented, his usual arrogance intact, “You mean the equipment of the association? Or are you such a rich kid to have all of those to your own?" Jack looked like little kid trying so hard to keep his excitement within control. Jonathan turned and heaved a soft sigh, trying to turn away the problems unrelated to this mission and concentrate on what was available to him now. He could not blame Jack for being overwhelmed with all the technology but then, ironically, being a science craze, he was both fascinated as well as skeptical of the modern devices which seemed to be so convenient.

Jonathan watched as Jack walked towards the kitchen, the faint footsteps soon disappearing as he headed towards the bedroom. He avoided walking pass the windows, being cautious, not wanting to be seen trespassing. Attention would be the last thing they need now. The bedroom was neat and well organized, the books on the shelves arranged according to the topics and then in alphabetical order. There were a lot books on mathematics and other academic fields, then a few travel guides on the end. Weird, Jonathan thought, looking around the room and seeing nothing which hinted a passion other than numbers. Curiously he pulled out the travel guides and flipped through them one by one, and there in one of them he found a sealed envelope.

He took the envelope and walked over to the desk, checking briefly for more hints. On the desk he noticed some marks of liquid, spilled, which upon touching was sticky. Probably juice, he thought to himself. Suppose the victim was drinking before leaving the house, then he might be startled and thus spilling his drink; or else for a person neat as such, why did he not clean up?

The room turned cold all in a sudden and Jonathan was alert. “Jack?" he called out as he went to the kitchen, “Did you find anything suspicious?" The cold air brushed at his neck and dubiously he turned sharply, seeing nothing but an open window. Squinting, he called again, “Jack, something seems wrong here."

The ice cold draft snapped back Jack's focus from the little notebook and his partners arrogance. While Jack had seached the kitchen, he still had felt quite stung by his partners harsh words. After all he really didn't look like the kind who could affort the expensive collection of paranormal equipment. Only the digital recorder, which was tucked in his shirt, was his own but he hadn't been in the mood to explain that to Jonathan. But now all he felt was this ice cold draft, which caressed his neck eerily. Jack yelped loudly and as soon as he did, the sensation died away. His heart was pounding rapidly. But the kitchen was once more quiet and completely free of some weird drafts.

And then Jack almost jumped again, as Jonathan stepped inside the kitchen. He was holding something in his hands, yet his gaze seemed irritated, if not spooked. "Hell yes, there is a bunch of wong here." Jack looked around, checking for opened windows, which would have allowed any breeze in. But then it would not explain such a cold draft, not in this season. Then an idea struck his mind and Jack patted his shirt to check for the recorder. It was still in there.

With shaky hands he rewinded the audio and held the device against his head. He could hear static, then himself mumbling as he had searched the kitchen. Nothing paranormal so far. The drawers creaked and Jack waited eagerly for the moment to come. The recording was still normal when suddenly a weird voice seemed to break throught the white noise. 'Get out!" the voice wispered and Jack shuddered at the intensity of it. He turned around and faced Jonathan, who had an eyebrow raised skeptically. Jack rewinded again and showed the audio to his partner.

"I think we weren't alone back then.", Jack whispered and shuddered. He was feeling weirdly exited yet afraid somehow. "And I found something, we should give it a check." Together they quietly left the house and Jack let Jonathan go first. Then he made a little jump of victory. Yes! My first evp! Then he cleared his throat and tried to contain his joy before Jonathan would squash that. He had a habit of keeping Jack's victories down. The lights of the caravan blinked as Jack unlocked it and together they drove off to investigate their findings.

Unsettled

“Taken in the middle of the highway and being vanished witout a trace…”, Jack repeated absently, his gaze focused on the road which seemed to strech endlessly in front of them. But nobody just vanishes without any kind of trace that would lead them to the source of trouble. Jack brainstormed all kinds of monsters and demons which would be able to abduct humans like that yet he didn’t come up with any suggestion. “And I think the question is, where those missing people are. Eaten maybe? Or being held somehwere?” Jack fell silent again and somehow avoided Jonathan’s intense gaze and kept focusing on the road.

Jack nodded. “Then we should pay Springfield a visit.” But somehow Jack’s voice lacked the usual enthusiasm. Jonathan sure noticed and raised an eyebrow questioningly at his partner. “What is it?”. Jack chuckled nervously before answering. “I just hope we won’t vanish as well.” Good point but yet very unlikely. There must be some connection the victims share.. Jonathan thought as the caravan drove over the dark asphalt. Jack was again concentrating at the road thus the sudden gust of wind startled him. But it was only Jonthan who had opened a window and was working with a special infra red camera they had. Jack blinked surprised. “Infra red? Do you think it is actually some ghost?” “Well, it is not called ‘haunted highway’ because of it’s population of elves.” Jack alredy took breath to defend himself that even non-ghosts could cause ‘hauntings’ but Jonathan just dismissed it with the flick of his hand.

Jack grumbled, his brown eyes staring at the road mutinously. That quite childish expression actually made Jonathan sigh and grin at the same time. “Anyway, as soon as we enter the town, we need quarters and a city map. The association send me pictures of the plates and the adress of the abducted. There must be some pattern to this.” Jonathan’s blue gaze seemed to become even more intensive as he tried to find any sollution to this puzzle. Jack nodded grimly and guided the caravan into the first outskirts of Springfield.

Settling down, Jonathan did his regular checking and precautions on the room and then got himself quickly changed. He only took with him a small pack of medication and the infra red camera, and then he stuffed the documents inside the small suitcase he brought along. “How cooperative would the officer in charge be, do you think?" He asked, then turning around, waiting for an answer to come out of his partner. Jonathan decided that he actually enjoyed unnerving people by staring at them.

They’d cooperate, Jonathan thought to himself, his eyes darting downwards and hiding his scheme behind his glasses. They’d have to, if I were a possible victim… “Hey!" Jack called and Jonathan quickly shot up a still stare, which read too much of conspiracy even in a brief second. Jack squinted and Jonathan squinted back, “What?" “You aren’t every talkative about your plans, you realize that?" Sure I’m not, Jonathan rolled his eyes, his frown meeting Jack’s mashed eyebrows and he sighed. “It is not a plan. Just a random thought. I’d share when things are ready." “You really have trust issues, you know that?"

Jonathan turned away and dismissed Jack’s claim with a soft huff, yet he knew his partner was right. Jack had proved himself capable, but still, what does it take for Jonathan to trust him without second thoughts? “The first victim disappeared on Monday. His car was found around dawn on the highway, all his personal belongings left in the car. Good thing about him," they arrived at a house which looked well furnished yet cold, “He lives alone." Picking the lock as he talked, Jonathan pulled up a cheeky grin and invited himself inside.

#crane-jonathan #hunter au #unsettled

Casting a sideways glance, Jack could not help but snort slightly at the infra red camera Jonathan was taking. And JAck immediately regretted it because it got him a questioning stare of Jonathan. "What?", he asked. Jack shuffled a bit embarrassed and opened a big briefcase. "Well, since we are ghost hunting, I brought some stuff of mine." The briefcase was filled with gear and Jack pointed at each device, explaining the use. "A digital recorder for evps, MEL meters for sensing disturbances in the magnetic field, nightvision camera and some rem pods." Jack closed the case and tried to avoid Jonathans gaze, so he would not see his own exitement.

They packed their gear into the caravan and drove towards the first victims domicile. Jack was still irritated with Jonathan. Why would he not trust him more? He sighed and pushed the thought away as they had already arrived. Stepping in front of the door, Jack looked back at their car. I really need another one, which is more stealthy than this... and faster. As he turned to Jonathan again, he was quite surprised to see the door opened and Jonathan grinning widely. "Nice one!", JAck commented grinning and stepped inside. Silently they moved through the house. Jack had only brought the digital recorder with him. Maybe he would capture something.

"Go to the kitchen, I will check the bedroom." Jack nodded and went to his destination. It was dark and therefore Jack's eyes needed some time to adjust to the gloom. First he searched the drawers, which were crammed with various stuff ranging from knives to little notebooks. And amongst the mess, he found a little notebook with an integrated notebook. It was full of notes and memos. "now that could be useful.", he murmured as he felt a cold draft of air brushing his neck.

Unsettled

“ACHOO!”. Blinking groggily, he wiped his nose. Birds were singing and filling the little forest with their singing. Unlike his usual sleep behaviour, Jack had woken quite early this morning and decided to take a walk. Jonathan had been awake too, busy working with his laptop. But Jack had sure noticed the bags under his light eyes. But Jonathan had nodded and so Jack went outside. The sun had just risen and filled the landscape with golden light.

But falling asleep had sure not been his intention. But after the tiresome hunt for the demon, Jack had just needed some rest. “Dammit.”, he mumbled and flicked a scrap of moss away, which had clung to his shoulder. Then his hand slid into his pocket and he checked his phone. The little mail sign in the middle of the screen told him that he had indeed recieved a message. He opened it and saw with a relief, that the text was only send a couple of minutes ago. It was short but precise, just typical of his partner. He put the phone back and started to jog back to the caravan.

“Come on!”, Jonathan snapped at Jack as he stepped inside the now so familiar car. He fliched at the hard tone of his partner, but he could understand his impatience. “Sorry, man. Give me a minute and then we will be off to that haunted highway.” Jack rummaged through a drawer and took out a jacket and pulled it over. It was equiped with standart hunter gear, just in case they would run into something. He threw an apologetic look at Jonathan, whose gaze seemed to soften a bit.

The seat squeeked as Jack crawled in and started the engine. He put the first gear in and the tyres send pebbles and dust flying as he sped away.

Jonathan shuffled the files over and over again while sitting in the front seat with his legs pulled up against his chest. He looked at the photos of the three victims again and again, throwing them in different angles and trying to look for the hint of common trait shared by them. Two men and one woman, safe to assume the trait was not gender specific. “They are all taken in the middle of the highway. Cars all heading towards the south, so I suppose they were are leaving this town,” Jonathan pointed on the map, “Where we should be going to.”

Jack glanced at him quickly and gave him a curt nod, his eyes darting back to the front as if he was trying to avoid Jonathan’s intent stare. But it was just a part of Jonathan, how he stares and makes people’s skin creep. “Keep talking,” Jack said abruptly in the awkward silence, and Jonathan squinted at Jack’s nervous gesture. “I am about to,” he mumbled, setting out his unconscious pout and reading from the files, “According to the written report, the license plates are all from this state and the records show a overlapping stop of them three. Springfield.”

He looked up to check if Jack was listening, but then he kept on talking, telling himself not to be too aware of the weird tension between them. “All they found were their drivers license. No body hair, no blood, nothing. It seemed like they just vaporized in the middle of nowhere.”

They need more information, and that was what Jonathan was aiming at. It did not seem like supernatural creatures hunting for food, so they might be lucky enough to have a break from combat this time. Soon the car reached the highway and the sun was setting. Jonathan rolled down the car window and the wind blew threw his hair as he leant out. “Hey, careful!” Jack gasped, surprised yet not in a good way. “I’m just looking.” Jonathan said, staring at the bushes on the side and quickly climbed back to the backseat for a pocket infrared camera. But as he got the camera, they already passed the midpoint of the highway. “Well, it would be nice to find a place to stay first.” He said, sitting down but too lazy to fasten his seat belts as he saw the town becoming clearer to the eye.