Log:Not Yourself

Not Yourself
Participants Jack Fry, Cerise Hodgson	16 May, 2018 Jack runs into Cerise out on the hiking trails and soon realises that something is off about her...
Location
========-< << Tamarack Road - Wilderness Preserve >> >-========= A single public road passes through the Preserve, a pleasant twenty-minute drive (at the speed limit), all things considered, and the only road into or out of the town of Tamarack Falls. A wooden sign at the base of the steep cliff's switchback cautions against falling rocks and, too, contains symbols to indicate that cyclists and equestrians are also welcome on the trail. Thickly forested and prone to fog in low areas, the dense woods at the foot of the path are home to several protected species, managed by a private commission of local rangers. For seven miles, the road and the occasional ranger's cabin are the only proof of human life. Electricity for the town, too, passes through this area, though proof of that is more obscure, underground conduits carrying it where treefalls won't take it out. Toward the southern end, the forest thins, gradually replaced by scrub brush and grasslands where deer are often found to graze. Spring is a busy time for the rangers, for many reasons. One is that tourists and hikers come out in force, the other is fire prevention, the third is just trying to tidy up after the force of winter. So, Jack's seen often on the hiking trails, riding his big Rocky Mountain Horse, helping hikers or keeping an eye on things. So he and Troll and of course Goblin, meander down the trail without much rush. Cerise is not a tourist. Not really. Not anymore. Not after being here for nearly a year, but she is one of those who find themselves up on the hiking trail. At the moment, the woman is crouched down next to the side of the road. Perhaps she's checking out nature's bounty? When she looks up again, the horse is right there, and Cerise breaks out into a smile. "Oh. Hey. Jack." She calls, beginning to straighten up. Goblin has already smelled Cerise and runs over with wagging tail, giving her a short and not very loud bark in greeting before he moves in to greet her properly. Jack and Troll meander more slowly their way, the ranger giving a grin and a nudge to his hat in his traditional greeting. "Cerise, nice to see you," he says and jumps off the horse to be on more even level. "Out hiking?" he asks curiously, trying to look at what she's looking at there by the side of the road. The dog is greeted with a fond rub to the head, and then Cerise meanders closer to Jack, so that she can meet the man and horse half-way. "Kinda." She admits as she places a hand on the horse's neck, "I was out at a party out here last night. Lost a necklace. It wasn't anything important, but still thought that I might be able to find it." "Heard a rumor about that," Jack says drily, squinting at her. He looks way too alert to have been anywhere near any parties the night before - maybe he was honest about not drinking for awhile, after the last time. "So, you lost it around here, you sure? Maybe Goblin can help you." He looks a the dog, raising an eyebrow. Goblin? He jumps a bit and barks twice, as if saying 'sure I can!' "I ... do not quite know where I lost it." Cerise admits wryly. She shifts her hand so that it runs through her mousy brown hair. "I don't quite ... I'm not sure I was really myself last night. Parties aren't my usual thing. Besides, much as Goblin is a sweetie, not sure how much he can do in the 'finding jewelry' department. "His sense of smell is really good. He might be able to sniff it out - but he'd need to know the general area," Jack admits, rubbing his jaw. "Anything happened at that party I should know about? Did they clean up after themselves?" he wonders - his concern is mostly about keeping things tidy and clean in the park area. He looks at her closely. "Are you alright?" "I think so...I don't know. I didn't stay until the end. After Dross wouldn't dance with /anyone/, I just hung out a bit and then went home." Cerise gives another shrug, hand still on her head as her eyes scan down the length of the path. Then she turns back to Jack quickly, her head tilting. "Sure I am. Why wouldn't I be?" "I'm sure they made a mess," Jack grumps - he now has to find where they were and make sure. But later - he's focused on her, now. "You bumped your head badly awhile ago, just wanted to make sure," he suggests, his voice warming up and his gaze intent while he squints. "You didn't seem to be yourself for awhile there. Talking about cat people, and all." Cerise is quick to wave off the concern, her hand flapping in the air dismissively, "Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Memory's a bit hazy now and again, but that's to be expected after a concussion. Bruises are all gone though!" "Alright," Jack says, but watches her still like he isn't sure she's truthful about it. "Let me know if I can help you with something, alright?" he adds, giving the horse an idle pet while Goblin sits at his side. The dog watches her with nearly the same look. Cerise smiles, broadly. Could she be lying? Of course not, not with that wide, friendly smile. "Will do." She then tilts her head, thinking about something, "By the way, did you hear about Cat-22?" "I heard the rumors, yeah. I haven't even had a chance to look into that," he admits with a bit of a shameful expression. "I'll give C.B. a call later - but he's alright, I hope? What the hell happened, anyway?" Cerise pauses, turning more serious. She looks down one end of the path and then another, before pulling in closer to the horse and lowering her voice. "C.B. said it was a ghost. That it took over a person and rampaged through the place. I wasn't there though." "What the fuck," is Jack's immediate response, eyes widening a bit. "I thought it was just some random crazy." He lowers his voice too, despite the fact there's nobody near - it's just one of those topics. "Shame you weren't there," he nods, "you coulda done something about it I bet. You found anything out on the ghost, after?" "Or if any number of people had been there." Cerise adds before giving her head a rueful shake, "Nothing myself. C.B. wants to go back to Cat-22 with me so we can take a look around. But the police took the possessed guy off and ghosts ... ghosts can only do stuff like that before they wear themselves out, so I'm hoping the ghost stayed in the possessed guy until it ran out of steam and everything has self-resolved." "But will it, for that guy?" Jack says, thinking of the other victim here - the possessed man. "And his family?" He looks grim at the prospect, realising this is a situation he can't deal with hands on. "After the fact, can you sense things even if the ghost is gone?" He peppers her with questions, eager to learn more - and perhaps because of his profession. Cerise blinks a few times. It's like she never even thought about those questions. Is she always that callous when it comes to human life? "Well, I mean, he'll have to heal any injuries that he got and he'll take the fall for what happened. Plus, it will be easier for that ghost to possess him again in the future or to influence him some how, but he won't rememember what happened." "Right." Jack doesn't like this one bit. "I'll see if I can help him out somehow. I got some ideas. Someone slipped a drug into his drink and it caused a bad reaction..." He's obviously trying to work out ways to lie for the man, if needed. "Oh. That's good. I suppose. It will keep people from questioning what happened too much." Cerise doesn't disagree or argue with Jack, she just sounds as if the idea to help the man for the man's sake never even occurred to her. She follows this with a shrug, "The bigger issue is making sure Cat-22 is safe, though." Jack eyes Cerise thoughtfully. This is the second time in a short while she's seemed different - and he's a rather observant guy. Goblin tilts his head too and watches her with a serious expression. "Yeah. I'll drop by tomorrow. Anything I can do to help?" Cerise's eyes roll upwards as she thinks about that. "I'm not sure. Just keep doing what you're doing? It might be good to have an extra set of hands when we go in, but then again /more/ untrained people might just mess things up. No offense." "I'll check it with C.B," Jack says, since it's his place, his eyes narrowing a tad as he watches Cerise. "What happened... when you got knocked over the head?" he asks her instead, trying to probe a little. "When I hit my head?" Cerise blinks a few times, apparently caught off guard by the question. "Nothing. I was just crossing a stream, slipped, hit some rocks." She then decides to play it off with a laugh. "I'm sure I'm not the first person that happened to!" Jack moves closer to Cerise now, smiling grimly at her. "Alright." He could confront her, but decides not to - he doesn't know what's going on, if this is a new threat. This calls for some good old investigation on his part. However, he can't quite hide the fact he realises something is wrong here, shifting his feet a bit. If there's one thing Cerise is good at, it's reading people, and Jack's suspicion must be radiating off him right now. She steps forward again, placing a hand on the horse's neck once more, "Trust me. Nothing that you need to worry about happened. You don't need to or want to concern yourself with that stream or me hitting my head. /Trust me/." Jack always found Cerise to be reasonable and reliable - despite only knowing her for a short while. So, he nods slowly at her, thoughtful. Maybe he realises something is wrong but he's also not about to just go and do something crazy. "I should move on," he says instead, taking the reins and moving to the side to mount back up. "Let me know if anything comes up, about the ghost?" Cerise nods and she backs away. She's not about to keep the man here any longer, but there is a slightly worried look on her face as she watches him go. Jack tips his hat once more and gives her a grin - slightly edgy, but still a smile of sorts. And he and Troll and Goblin soon disappear, galloping away down the path.