New Beginnings (Mystery Plot)

[BRANDON GARCIA]

Brandon hardly realized there was someone kneeling close to him until he looked up and saw Flynn. He could see the horror and sadness on her face as well. She was the only one here besides him who could truly understand what Mordecai had been put through in his last hours. His eyes turned from her, looking once more to Mordecai. This wasn’t just a crime of passion; this was a hate crime. Hate against Mordecai for what he planned to do or hate against Avisailles in general, he couldn’t tell, but hate was written all over Mordecai’s mutilated body.

“We can’t let anybody see him. Don’t we have to burn him? L-like the last one?” The redhead’s words called him back to the present. Yes, they would have to burn him. Brandon was set on carrying the body. He was already covered in the man’s blood and now he was a part of this. Brandon also knew just where to take his body to be burned. “How many dead bird guys have you seen, lady?” The Asian kid’s crass words sparked Brandon’s anger. He turned fierce black eyes to the boy, glaring dangerously. “Show some respect,” he spat at the boy, infuriated. He was about to tell him to go the fuck home, this had nothing to do with him, when something began to happen beneath him.

The earth was shaking. It started as a gentle vibration but it quickly became a violent rumble. Brandon instinctively placed as arm over Mordecai’s body, shielding him from further desecration. There were voices around him and Brandon realized the man who came with Flynn was knelt beside her. A loud snapping noise rang in his ears and Brandon thought for a moment that it was thunder. He winced from the noise before looking up to the tree and seeing the break in its trunk. First Mordecai is dead and then their sacred tree breaks open once more. What more could go wrong?

As soon as it began, the trembling stopped. Brandon waited a long moment, his arm still bracing Mordecai’s body, waiting for more shaking. It never came. He eased up off his dead leader and looked at the two people nearest to him before his eyes went back to the tree. The tree…There was a rush of wind that exploded from the tree, a black smoke that frightened even Brandon. It swirled and rose into the air and all Brandon could do was watch in wide-eyed awe. For a minute the tree spewed forth the smoke before it suddenly stopped. The air grew cold and Brandon’s heart was racing. What just happened? Thunder rumbled above them and Brandon looked to the threatening clouds above. It had been a clear night until now…

He looked around him, seeing if anyone was hurt, and happened to notice the feathers scattered about them. They were Mordecai’s feathers, some tainted with blood, and he had no idea where they had come from. Brandon felt sick at the sight of them. He turned back to his leader and very quietly said, “Will someone help me carry the body to my car?”

[LIAM AVERY]

Liam’s heart felt like it was breaking at the look Flynn gave him. She looked like she could break at any moment. Why did she have to see this? But while he wanted to hold her to him, lie and say it would be alright, Flynn pulled away and went to the body. He didn’t stop her, just watched as she knelt beside her leader. He happened to look at his hands and see they were covered in the dead man’s blood. Liam had experienced blood on his hands before, but not like this. He wiped them on his suit jacket, hardly caring that he would ruin it. That didn’t matter anymore. Liam stepped closer to Flynn, but allowed her some space. When she was done mourning, he would be there to comfort her.

“We can’t let anybody see him. Don’t we have to burn him? L-like the last one?” Liam’s eyes went to the girl Flynn called Claire and wondered how she knew Avisaille customs. If she was an Avisaille herself, she wasn’t acting like the other two, though she was edging closer. Then again, she could be like him and knew much and more about guardian customs out of sheer curiosity. Either way, she had a point. They needed to remove his body from the park before somebody walked by. “What do you mean the last one?!” Liam’s eyes panned to the young Asian boy. “How many dead bird guys have you seen, lady?” Did this kid have any respect? Liam’s brows lowered over his eyes in disapproval before Brandon spoke up. “Show some respect.” Before he could gauge the boy’s reaction, the ground was vibrating beneath Liam’s feet. He had never once experienced an earthquake in Scriptor Bay.

The ground shook more violently and Liam made his way to Flynn before he was forced to his knees. His arms wrapped around her again, ready to protect her if something fell on them. When he heard the crack, he pulled her to him, certain there was some kind of explosion that made such a loud noise. When the quaking stopped, he was breathing hard and his eyes looked around frantically. It was the tree that made that noise and there was a giant split in the trunk. To think he and Flynn had wondered what it would be like if the tree opened again. He felt a surge of fear, waiting for what would come out of the tree. He believed the legend, after all. At least Flynn was close so he could keep her safe.

With a rush of wind, black smoke emerged from the trunk, swirling into the sky and Liam just watched in awe. Was that what had been sealed in the tree for centuries? For a minute the smoke spewed forth until at last all of it had shot into the air. It was suddenly cold and Liam sat watching for anything else that might emerge from the trunk for a long moment, but nothing more came. He looked to Flynn as the thunder rumbled above. He pushed hair from her face to get a better look at her, his eyes full of concern. “Are you alright?” he asked softly, breathlessly. When he was satisfied she was okay, he pulled her to him again and held tight. What just happened? “Will someone help me carry the body to my car?” His eyes went to Brandon, slumped and covered with blood, and he felt sorry for the man. He carefully released Flynn, looking at Brandon with pity. “I’ll help,” he offered gently. Brandon’s eyes came to his before he nodded, obviously grateful for the offer.

[FLYNN YOUNG]

"We can't let anybody see him. Don't we have to burn him? L-like the last one?" Flynn heard Claire ask and at first she was confused, lost in the moment and unsure what she was talking about, but it came back to her. That night at the museum, they'd stolen a display that held the bones of an Avisaille and burned them out on Megsy Isle. "What do you mean the last one?! How many dead bird guys have you seen, lady?" Flynn turned her eyes to the Asian man and just stared at for a moment. He wasn't an Avisaille that much was clear, and it didn't seem like anyone really knew who he was. "Show some respect." She heard Brandon shoot back, something she thought of saying herself but words were lost on her at the moment.

She was about to reach out and touch the side of Mordecai's lifeless face when she felt the ground vibrating under her. "What's happening?" Flynn asked as the vibration became more violent. She saw Brandon shield Mordecai's body and she grabbed at Brandon's arm to brace herself when she felt someone grabbing hold of her. Liam! She let go of Brandon and fell into Liam's embrace, clinging to him with all her might and just hoping the ground wasn't going to open up and swallow them whole. When she heard the crack she shut her eyes tight and tensed up as if she was expecting something to fall.

When everything finally simmered down she loosened her grip on Liam and looked around to make sure everyone else was still there. She could see Claire on the ground no far, Brandon was still right next to her and Liam and she could still see the other two men as well. Everyone was safe from the looks of it. But the setting was different.. feathers.. there were Mordecai's feathers everywhere! Where had they come from?

When she heard the howl of the wind her eyes turned to the tree and saw the long split down the tree. Her eyes went as huge as saucers staring at the split, and just when she thought that it couldn't get any worse she watched as the black smoke came sailing out of the tree's opening and up into the sky. What did this all mean? It felt like an eternity sitting there watching the dark smoke but it finally stopped. "Are you alright?" Flynn's horror-struck eyes turned to Liam and she found herself at a loss for words again, but when she finally managed to blink a few times she nodded fervently."Yes," she whispered and looked back over to see Brandon trying to pick Mordecai up, "Will someone help me carry the body to my car?" She felt Liam's hold loosening and watched him as he offered his assistance. "I'll help."

She got up to her own feet and saw the the bottom of her dress was covered in dirt and blood. None of that mattered though. "Does anyone have a blanket to wrap him in?" Flynn asked meekly and looked around at all the other faces. The sooner they got Mordecai out of there the sooner they could give him a proper farewell. "Brandon, we're riding with you." Flynn wasn't about to let Mordecai out of her sight, and if she had to be crammed into Brandon's vehicle in the back with their deceased leader then so be it. She heard Claire offering to help Brandon and Liam with Mordecai's body and Flynn decided maybe she'd better just worry about the feathers.. there were so many but it didn't stop her from trying to pick them up anyway.

[CLAIRE MCLEESTER]

"How many dead bird guys have you seen, lady?" What?! She stood there, her lips moving to say something but words escaped her. What was she suppose to say to that? "Show some respect." Claire felt a little bad since it was what she said that made the Asian guy blurt that out. It did sound kind of weird and now she just wished she would have kept her mouth shut. But they were there for a reason! There had to be a reason that they were picked to be there.. or was it random? The Asian and her downstairs neighbor didn't seem to be wondering about why his back was so marred, and the Asian even called him a dead bird guy. So they had to know the secret and were most likely Guardians themselves. She was about to ask when she heard the rumbling and then felt it under her feet.

She tried to brace herself as the ground began to shake but she could barely keep herself up on solid ground an fell back onto her back. She propped herself up with her elbows, laying there in the grass and just watching as everyone braced themselves or others in different ways. Claire didn't know why but she was actually watching the tree and witnessed it split down the trunk with a loud crack. Her jaw dropped as she stared at it, grabbing fistfuls of grass as if that would help her as the shaking stopped. There was no way that was an earthquake.

Claire climbed back up to her feet just as the smoke shot out of the new crack in the tree. What could she do but stand there and stare at it?! When there was no more smoke coming through her eyes started to scan around and she did a spin making sure there wasn't anybody coming. They really needed to get out of there. They were all going to look a mess and if this was some way to pin a murder on them then they were doing a pretty good job! Although she was pretty sure nobody could expect the tree to just split apart and start spewing black stuff into the air. It was like the Exorcist in tree form. Where was an old priest and a young priest when you needed them?!

That's when she realized who she really needed. She started to pat her chest with her hands which must have looked weird, then she pulled at the top of her dress and reached into her strapless bra to fish out her cell phone. Who needed pockets when you had boobs?! When she got her cell phone out she scrolled down her contacts until she found Griffin. It was his leader and he deserved to be there. She hesitated though, wondering if it was really a good idea to have him come down and see Mordecai the way that he was, but if she didn't she had a feeling he'd be more upset. Either way it was a no-win situation for her so she hit send and put the phone to her ear. When the line connected she spoke quickly and quietly, telling him that something happened at the tree and that he should hurry over there as discreetly as he could. She didn't go into details and hung up quickly, slipping the phone back into her bra.

"Will someone help me carry the body to my car?" She heard the guy who had practically sprawled out over Mordecai say and then the guy that Flynn was with offered his help. She looked over to the other two guys and then sighed. Neighbor boy puked his guts out and the Asian probably didn't want to get his hands dirty from the looks of him. She kicked off her shoes and came up to the opposite side of Brandon of the body. "I'm in too," she looked over her shoulder at the other two wondering if they were going to offer to help or not. If not then she was sure they could probably do it, and her eyes glanced over to Flynn's date. "Gargoyle?" She asked almost quietly, since she'd never actually met a gargoyle, but she heard they were pretty strong. She hoped that were true. "I know it's not the time for formalities. But when I get nervous I talk. A lot. So I'm Claire."

[CHECOTAH RAE]

"We can't let anybody see him. Don't we have to burn him? L-like the last one?" The hell?! "How many dead bird guys have you seen, lady?" Cotah was about to grill Zane about being rude and opening his mouth in general, when one of the men beat him to it. Instead he moved closer to Zane and gave him a stern look. Cotah then went about scanning the darkness, in hopes that the man in the gold mask would be lurking, and wondering why they were all here. He was still watching when the ground began to shake, at first just a small tremor, then violently. The shaking sent him to the ground back first. The shaking was so bad that he tried to will the earth to stop shaking nearest the tree, but his power was not strong enough for whatever was causing the quake.

There was a defining crack, and Cotah spun his head to see the tree splitting. His eyes grew wide with horror, his body still shaking on the ground. WHAT?! NO! Why?! His frantic thoughts were all focused on the tree. He felt his own heart break a little. How could someone ruin such a beautiful thing? The tree was special and sacred, and whoever or whatever did this must be insane. If this and the death was the moment in history it was a shity one. When it all stopped he quickly climbed to his feet and moved to the tree, to see how bad the damage was. When he got to the base a strong wind blew out from the tree, threatening to knock him on his down again. He instinctively rose his arm to shield his eyes, but left enough space to what was happening. Cotah watched as the black smoke rose into the air, swirling into the air. It reminded him of a forming funnel cloud that signified a tornado, and those could be bad enough with regular air.

When it was all calm and settled again, he backed away from the tree. It's beauty was no longer of importance to him, not after it just spewed whatever it did. He backed up till he was again a healthy distance away from the whole scene, but close enough to hear the group. The cracked tree, the dead avisaille and the approaching storm. He wished he could just back away from the whole night together and go home and crawl under the blankets and wake up the next morning and this all be a bad dream.

"Will someone help me carry the body to my car?" There was no way he was going to touch the body and was just going to stand there awkwardly when the other man sad he'd help, and seeing him pull out the nails, Cotah knew his strength and guessed he was a gargoyle. He has met one before and knew there strength all to well. "Does anyone have a blanket to wrap him in?" Thank you lady. He wanted to help some how and thankfully he had a covering in his car for when it rained.. The covering was not a blanket by any means but it was something. "I have a cover in my jeep I'll go get it. Bring him over I'll lay it out." He jogged over to his jeep and pulled the cover from the back see floorboard and laid it out a few feet back towards the group, waiting and hoping no one would see what was happening.

[zanedaggett]

“Show some respect,” Scruffy spat at him and Zane narrowed his eyes. It was a legit question! Everyone was giving him dirty looks, even Cotah. Cotah was the last damn person who should be giving HIM a dirty look though and Zane reached out and shoved him gently as if to tell him silently to back off.

No sooner had he shoved him that the ground began to shake. "Whoa.." Zane put his arms out to balance himself but the shaking continued and he fell to his knees, his hands pressed to the ground to steady himself. This was a FINE damn time to have a freaking earthquake! He was more than a little freaked out and the shaking seemed to be getting stronger and stronger and stronger....and then it just stopped. He had never lived through an earthquake before and was unsure if that was how it felt, but the shaking had cracked the tree.

Zane stared at the crack for the first time feeling real fear. He'd grown up hearing the stories and though he thought maybe there was a lot of bullshit behind it, he couldn't hep but get freaked that this tree was now broken. That just seemed like bad news, but things were going more and more south.

Turns out the legend was true. A gush of black smoke spiraled from the crack and rushed to the sky. It didn't smell like smoke or anything, but it freaked him out all the same. Was it going to kill them? Didn't the black smoke do that in the legend? Kill all the settlers? He was too young to die! He didn't even really want to be at this party!

Like the quaking, the smoke stopped sudden,y but it left a chill in the air which made Zane uneasy as he rested there terrified on the ground. He didn't scare easy, but this... this scared him.

The group seemed intent on getting rid of the body and Zane honestly wanted no part of it. He didn't want to get his hands covered in blood. He didn't want to be there! He wanted to go see Noah and tell him about what he'd just seen! Zane bit his lip, stepping away from the others who were trying to wrap up the dead dude, not so fascinated anymore. He wondered if they would notice him ducking away.

[CUPCAKE]

The dark smoke swirled in the sky above, darkening it. Slowly it crept throughout the sky, seeming to grow as it tangled with the clouds infecting them with its darkness. The sky grew darker, the lightning streaking through it and rumbling, as if the clouds themselves were mad of electricity. A breeze began to whip through the branches, making the leaves rustle once more. The night seemed to be growing colder and colder, but the tree lay dormant once more.

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The mod is finished with this thread. Players may finish it as they see fit. Please watch for rules posted pertaining to this plot. Have fun

[MAXINE MCMANUS]

Maxi was hustling with Jack and Becky over to where the black smoke had come from. She knew it was the tree, but the closer they got, it only confirmed it. Maxi felt a surge of dread. Was the legend coming true? Was that the darkness that killed people centuries ago? Was that what the guardians existed to contain? Her heart was racing, and her skirts were hiked to her ankles as she rushed to the tree, hardly noticing the pain in her feet. “I have a really bad feeling about this,” she commented to the other two. Jack was hustling as quickly as she was and she heard his voice, a low anxious grumble. “I do too.” She looked up at him, her brow furrowed. “Do you feel that? It’s like…it’s like pure anxious just vibrating in the air. And it’s just getting worse as we get closer,” she said. Jack nodded down at her, indicating he felt it too.

The air was suddenly colder and Maxi was glad she had long gloves, but she wished she had sleeves too. They were moving so quickly, Maxi was beginning to feel out of breath, but they reached the park and hurried up the pathway to the tree. What happened? Why was there thunder and lightning in the sky all of a sudden? As they came closer to the tree, she saw several figures standing near by it. Two men and two women were lugging something big and what appeared to be heavy, and they were coming their way with it. Maxi and the others approached and the people carrying the thing looked shocked and nervous. A familiar redhead caught her eye and she looked surprised. “Claire? What’s going on here, what is this?” she asked.

Claire seemed to be stumbling for an answer, but Maxi looked over at what it was on the ground. There was something showing through the cloth…it was a face. A familiar face. She gasped and covered her mouth. “Oh my God! Mordecai!” she cried out, rushing forward. She dropped to her knees before the body and pushed the cloth away more to confirm what she was seeing. Tears rushed easily to her eyes and they fell from her eyes to Mordecai’s stoic face. “What happened?” she asked with a thick voice, her eyes turning up to the men and women who had been carrying him. It appeared, from their attire, that they had just come from the masquerade as well. Who could do this to Mordecai?!

[JACK ROCCOGRANDI]

Jack had been just as baffled by the black smoke as Maxine had been, and felt the same anxiety. That smoke just felt wrong, especially with the way it made the clouds churn and spark with electricity. Now, approaching the tree, he had a sinking feeling in his stomach. Through the darkness he saw the long split in the tree. Oh, no…Just as he was wondering if the smoke had come from the tree, as it appeared from afar, Maxine’s voice called back his attention. “Oh my God! Mordecai!” He recognized the Avisaille leader’s name though he had never met the man. His eyes turned to where she was running and he saw exactly what she did. The blood drained from his face, realizing it was the dead body of Mordecai those men and women had been carrying. His eyes flashed to the four surrounding his body, ready to grab Maxine away from the murderers she was surrounded by. She looked to them as well, crying again. “What happened?” Jack took this opportunity to take out his badge and show it to them. “I’d like to know as well. Detective Roccograndi,” he introduced in a firm voice.

The man who had been at Mordecai’s head and was covered in blood, put his hands up defensively. “We didn’t do this, okay? We found him…crucified to the tree,” he said, sounding almost like he was going to be sick. Jack swallowed hard, horrified at the thought. “They tore his wings off too. Someone tore them off and crucified him to the tree with his back out so we would know why he was murdered.” The man was obviously upset and all Jack could do for a long moment was stare at him. Maxi was sobbing quietly as she looked up at the man and then she looked like she had a thought. “The feathers. The feathers at the museum…they were covered in blood…” Her voice was soft, and Jack remembered the feathers as well. He felt sick. Maxine stumbled to her feet to get away from the body and she wretched into the grass as far away as she could get. Jack had to fight back the urge to do the same.

“He was our leader. Just let us take him to be burned.” Jack’s brow furrowed and he looked around at the group. “Are you all Avisaille?” The redhead, who he thought he vaguely recognized and the man at Mordecai’s feet indicated otherwise. “I’m a Gargoyle.” The man said. That still meant the other woman was an Avisaille. What a cruel thing to make Mordecai’s own people find him like this. “Do you know who did this?” Jack asked. The man at Mordecai’s feet glanced to the Avisaille woman before replying. “The masked man. He gave us our invitations to be here. The mask had an elongated nose, it covered his whole face. Liam Avery, I’m a criminologist with the police department. I don’t have my badge on me, though.” Jack felt a sense of relief that there was a cop there, and he recognized his name. “You worked on the Montgomery case, didn’t you?” The man nodded in reply and Jack glanced to Rebecca quickly; they had worked that case as well. His eyes came back to Liam’s and he nodded to him. “We’ll need more details when you can. Right now, you guys should probably get out of here, before more crews show up,” he instructed. They four got back to work hauling the body and Maxine even joined in, taking a spot beside the Avisaille woman. “I’ll help too.” There were still tears on her cheeks, but she helped to carry the body without complaint, her eyes sad as she did so. Jack looked to Rebecca and worried she might have questions about it. “This is Avisaille custom. They have to burn the bodies of their own. My guess is, they’re going to take Mordecai out to Megsy Isle and burn his body there. He was their leader…I think it’s best to let them do what they have to,” he explained softly, hoping she wouldn’t be angry at his decision to let them go free. He wasn’t about to haul in four innocent people, especially the Avisailles who had just discovered their leader’s mutilated body.