Plan B

"I stood out here once before
With my head held in my hands.
For all that I had known of this place,
I could never understand...

"On the hills, the fires burned at midnight.
Superstition plagued the air.
Sparks fly as the fires burn at midnight.
Stars are out, and magick is here..."


Just a few updates. What Nick failed to mention here was that he screamed like a little girl, which was how I knew to come save his ass. The big, badass Amalgamation Sage has a bug phobia. Who knew?

Also, he may be an ass, but he's not a dumbass. The way he stupidly informed the public about something he illegedly kept secret from me? Yeah, the whole point of that was actually to get me over to his location without him making any obvious gestures. As soon as I commented, I went down to the lower guest room (Kay's place is very nice, btw, really big for just one person) to whack him upside the head, where he promptly informed me (through clenched teeth to make things difficult for a lip-reader) that someone or something was watching our every move.

He didn't know who, how, what, when, where, or why. He... didn't know much of anything, really, only that we were being spied on.

Me: Well... what does it want? Since you're apparently the only one of us who can feel this thing...

Nick: No clue. But I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the Suit sooner. I was a bit obsessive about that other dimension and... well. Just look out the window to my right. What do you see?

I looked, and if I had blinked as I did, I would have sworn there was nothing there. I still don't know what it was, but it was something. A person-shaped silhouette, thin, but small. It was gone before my eyes had even refocused at the change in light.

Me: ...Needless to say, another stalker is the last thing either of us needs.

Nick: It passed. It'll be what it'll be, I guess.

Me: Yeah... You are aware that you're still getting hidden messages in your posts, right?

Nick: (He cringes a bit) ...How many of the recent ones have had them?

Me: Just the latest one, if I recall. She also spent a bit of time commenting on other people's blogs... in haiku. Kind of bad haiku, actually, but I'm hardly a fit judge for that.

Nick: (He shrugs) She's trying to be artistic. You don't wear an outfit like her's unless you plan on dancing in it.

Me: You think that rainbow chick was definitely the Maiden, then?

Nick: It stands to reason.

Me: Hmm.

I started pacing a bit. You have to understand, I have a lot on my mind. In all honesty, those leeches are creepy as all hell. I've been more than a little on edge after two days of utter failure and only this from Kay, and watching them crawl out of the woodwork was like something out of Silent Hill. And Kay is supposed to be where these things come from? I won't lie, I'm fucking terrified for her.

Then there's Nick. He keeps getting these messages, many of which are clearly directed at him, that he simply cannot see. And now he's got this mysterious spy coming out of nowhere that he can't get any sort of hit on. Maybe the two are connected, maybe they're not. Maybe we were letting ourselves get distracted from our goal. Hell, maybe paranoia was finally getting to us. Who the fuck knows?

I decided to save time (by this time it was nearly 1am and we were both tired) and skip back to the point. He'd read about my thoughts later anyway, and I'm much more articulate in text than I am in speech.

Me: Kay is still... somewhere... and with more than a day after those messages she left, I'm already terrified for the worst.

Nick: We'll get her back. I'm gonna kick things up a notch - tear the universe a new one, risk setting off a new dark age, and generally remind everyone that I'm one terrifying motherfucker. Also, I'll be ordering pizza. When we get back in contact with Kay, we'll have to find out what she'd like on her's.

Me: That's what I like to hear. You're still an ass, by the way, but I forgive you for lying to me, as long as you don't do it again without a really, really good reason. So are we going ahead with Plan B?

Earlier today, we both realized at the exact same time why nothing we had tried so far was working - we both started spouting technobabble and Buffy Speak at the same time; it was actually quite comical, I wish I had recorded it. Anyway, Kay got moved because all the planes were somehow screwed up to hell, so fixing the screwyness was hardly going to get her moved again. However, the new solution would involve some pretty dangerous shit, and it's very likely that we'll get swarmed with leeches and other unpleasantness while it goes on.

...Yeah, when he says "tear the universe a new one", he means literally.

Nick: Not just yet. The priority is still to get in contact with Kay and find out what she wants on her pizza. Until we do that, locating her will be difficult.

Me: (I stare at him for a moment) Obviously finding her will be difficult until we've found her. You do this on purpose, don't you.

Nick: (He shrugs) I like to think there's a method to my madness.

Me: You like to think?

Nick: Incidentally, what do you want on your pizza?

Me: (I roll my eyes) Incidentally, I don't like pizza. Order me a basket of chicken tenders.

Nick: (Looks dumbfounded and rather hilarious) N-Not even veggie pizza? Are you certain? Have you done a study on the matter?

Me: Nick, there are some things in life that you just don't question.

Nick: On the contrary, I make it my policy to question absolutely everything, including but not limited to: my sanity, your existence, the olfactory merit of spiced cheese fries... Pretty much everything except my own badassery, since my ego can usually use the support... That goes off the record, by the way.

Me: Not a chance. (I wave my handheld recorder at him) This thing's good for more than just tracking down EVPs. What do you want this conversation posted for, anyway? I thought the point was for us to talk secretly.

Nick: Remember what I said about good chess players and really good chess players?

Me: Yeah.

Nick: I'm not really good. But I am good.


We spent the next couple hours going over tomorrow's plan, and my part in it. I gotta say, I'm more than a little nervous. I don't doubt my ability; I know that I'll be able to do it. That's not the issue here.

I'm just afraid of what we'll find out there. Who we'll find. And what state we'll find them in.