undergrounds | Dear Eliza [for Clara, Aradia, Liam, and Mab]

Faust had asked that Clara meet him at a familiar place: somewhere quiet where there was not much chance of them being interrupted. And what better place to carry a thing like that out but a cemetery?

He waited in the early morning at a corner of the same cemetery at which they'd first met, hopefully avoiding any confrontations with Enrique in the process.

Clara and Aradia had their own special means of looking for fellow ghosts. Faust, on the other hand, had at least one earthly lead open to him: the name of one of Eliza's uncles, now living in London. The question was whether he'd be willing to cooperate. And whether he could be found, of course.

"Haven't seen the man in years," muttered Faust darkly. But if he knew some secret about his wife that Faust did not...

Earlier that morning, Faust had flipped open his small, outdated phone and laboriously typed out a message to the number of the woman he knew only as Ms. Sommerset:

It seems that I owe you some thanks. I've found a man that can tell me about my wife.

He'd included an address and time.

Now, whistling low, Faust locked the door behind him and descended to the basement of a small suburban home, slipping on some rubber gloves as he went. "How is our patient?" he asked quietly as he descended.

Meinke Heinemann, an elderly man in his late 50s, was seated in a chair at the center of the room. His wrists and ankles were bound with silver duct tape, tying him to the heavy wood. His mouth was taped firmly shut. His eyes, wide and bloodshot, followed Faust as the doctor approached.

The walls and floors were covered with arcane symbols. There were candles, magical ingredients, a lone lightbulb hanging from the center of the ceiling.

It was time.

Armed with his new knowledge, Faust waited a few days after the interrogation of good Mr. Heinemann before making his next move. The circle of those he invited to attend this particular summoning was small; he had no desire to be caught by the police before he had the opportunity to use this knowledge.

This evening, the sign in front of the clinic was turned firmly to the side that said CLOSED. His assistant, however, still answered the door, ushering any expected visitors to the back room where Faust had set up his summoning pentacle.

"Thank you for coming," he said in a quiet voice. The lines of the pentacle were glowing with an eerie light.

"I've waited a long time for this... I... thank you. It's because of you that I'll be able to talk to my wife again."

Edited 2015-08-19 05:18 (UTC)

Explaining this situation to Aradia was a little bit difficult. Finding Aradia to explain it in the first place was even more difficult since it's been a while but she managed both, able to track her fellow ghost down at long last to tell her what's going on.

"There he is!" Of course he'll be nearish to the grave where they had first met here. That makes the most sense to do.

Clara turned to face Aradia and thinks perhaps it was best to make some introductions first before they go any further. "Um! Doctor Faust, this is my friend Aradia. She'll be helping us.

Aradia, this is Doctor Faust. The one I spoke of and who needs a hand or two pairs."

Mab arrived some time later as her phone did not actually work in the Other Realm. That would have to be dealt with. Fortunately she'd had business in his realm and so found herself curious enough about what Faust had found to end up here on the doorstep of a house. She looked out over the street it sat on and then back at the house. She didn't sense any spirits about but they could easily hide behind a threshold.

Lifting her hand she pressed the bell and then slid her phone into her pocketbook.

Aradia hadn't minded offering her spare time when Clara finally tracked her down. Only knowing the basics of the situation wasn't really a deal breaker - finding things was fun and makes for decent manifesting practice, and she could always try to pry further details out of Clara's mysterious friend if things start looking shady. And if Clara trusted them, then they clearly couldn't be that bad.

Right? Right. Flawless logic.

"Hope you don't mind that I came with. She thought I could help out a little." Meeting in a graveyard at an absurdly early hour doesn't even rate as surprising anymore, though she does note that maybe Clara didn't tell the stranger beforehand that Aradia'd be joining them. Oops. "At least as far as a ghost can, anyway. But I can go if that's a problem."

Might as well offer a way for her to leave, even if she's oddly curious about where this could head. It's only polite.

Faust smiled at Aradia. What a nice young ghost. He was sure he could trust Clara despite only meeting her a few days ago, this sounded like an excellent idea and not like questionable judgment at all.

"Aradia. Pleased to meet you. As Clara mentioned, I'm Faust. And I'm trying to track down the spirit of my late wife. I... someone suggested to me recently that I might not know her real name. Her true name. I can't imagine why she would have kept something like that from me. But the truth of the matter is she's the only ghost I haven't been able to contact."

The hand at his side tightened slightly with emotion as he spoke. "I may have a lead. Eliza had an uncle living in London -- Meinke Heinemann. He may know her name, even if I don't. I'd like to ask for your help in tracking him down."

It was Faust who answered the door. "Ah, I was beginning to wonder. Come in, please. I've already finished with the necessary preparations."

What preparations, though?

The house was fairly ordinary inside -- small wooden coffee table, a few simple rugs, chairs. Nothing to indicate that it belonged to anyone supernatural in any way.

Clara thinks she did tell beforehand but she isn't too sure now thanks to all the whirlwind activities of late. So it doesn't hurt to be sure and it's a good thing too. She smiles at the introductions, relieved to see it's going well and then her smile is replaced by a look of surprise to hear that's there a lead.

If Aradia looks over her, she'll see that she didn't have a clue about this. It's a good thing of course. Makes their searching much more easier to do.

"Mr. Me- Mine- Mr. Mi-- Mr. Eliza's uncle. Of course." Fingers crossed that neither noticed her flubbing the last name. Her English has improved over the years but not that much, sadly. She hopes Aradia is able to pronounce that name properly. It could prove crucial if they want the full proper name. "We'll be more than to happy to help since you're open to the idea. Did you know him personally? If we knew what he was like, it'll be easier to find him. If not, well, we can always improvise."

Surely nothing will go wrong if they do that. Besides possible angry/scared uncles.

He answered the door as though it was his home. Which by all appearances, it wasn't. It didn't have the feel of him at all and in general looked far too normal and... well clean. She got the distinct impression unless it was important to him, Faust probably let things like dusting slide. She moved to step inside and she felt the threshold press back, an almost physical wall. Pausing she cleared her throat.

"Perhaps you might ask the owner to extend an invitation?" Really she could go in if she wanted to force things but it would mean leaving the majority of her power outside. And she didn't trust Faust's sanity in those circumstances.

No questionable decisions here. Clearly everything happening today could accurately be called Good Life Choices without any lies ever.

Aradia listens politely through the explanation - odd circumstances aside, the plan seems normal enough and not that different then the medium favours she did while alive. And she's always a sucker for helping people's relatives find peace, though the lead's name could end up being a problem with both of them being jittery over the pronunciation.

"Mr. Heinemann--" she's not even going to try that first name unless she has to, "--can't be that hard to find between the two of us. Someone's bound to know him. Though it would help if you've got an idea of where to start."

She steals a glance at Clara, wanting to gauge how her friend was feeling about the situation. Seeing the normally wiser ghost visibly clueless was... not reassuring. Welp.

"Of course. Just a moment." He disappeared back into the house. A few minutes passed. There were a few thumping noises from down below, maybe a sort of dragging of heavy wood. Faust returned, looking only slightly more mussed than before.

"Invitation extended."

"Not very well," said Faust. "Actually, though he and Eliza were fairly close, he never really took a liking to me. Odd, isn't it?" Maybe this actually was a little odd, as back then, Faust hadn't been such a trainwreck. He wondered if Meinke would recognize him. Probably not.

"In any case, I haven't been in contact with him since before my wife's death. He may even have moved. But I hope not." For his benefit, as well as theirs. "When I knew him, he was a man of medium height. Receding hair, blond. Light blue eyes. I remember he showed up to one Christmas wearing a terrible sweater. Just terrible. Green, with little prancing reindeer..."

Faust was getting a little off topic. GOOD LUCK GUYS.

Clara relaxed enough. Now and then she'll look around to make sure the groundskeeper isn't making his rounds just yet. Otherwise? She looks a little worried which could be chalked up to nerves and Aradia can probably bet on that is isn't the case. At all.

It-- It's not like she wants to seem clueless of all times now but it's either to look clueless or look petrified for what may happen next and Clara decided clueless isn't that alarming to show compared to petrified. She hadn't gone out of her way to explain the full version of events that lead up to this. Maybe when everything has settled down there'll be time to explain it more in-depth. She's sure Aradia will find the story of her meeting the skeletal remains of Faust's beloved wife interesting at best.

That only happens when it is all said and done which may take a little while. That's not a lot to go on and she wrinkles her nose in deep thought, trying to rack her brain on where a man of that description may go to.

She looked at Aradia now, a few ideas in mind, knowing they'll have to do this on their own if Faust had no personal connection with the man. "Do you think we can hedge our bets and look around bars and taverns and listen to gossip over a M-Mine- Oh! Listen to gossip over him or hear his name being yelled? It's rather unique, I have to say."

Mab waited, her eyes not straying to take in the sights. She listened to some thumps before she felt the threshold give and finally stepped into the house passing the threshold as though it was a curtain now. Walking in to the main room it looked generally as mundane as her first impression. She took it in with a sweep of her eyes before returning her gaze to the doctor.

"You wish for me to be present while you ask your questions?" She asked taking in the slightly mussier look.

"If you have some time on your hands. After all, you're the one who made the suggestion." Finish what you start, Mab, and don't look away from what it takes to get there.

"This way." He opened a door and descended down the steps to the basement, where Elsa's uncle was waiting. The man looked terrified; his eyes darted from Faust to Mab, but it was clearly the former he was worried about.

"Herr Heinemann," he said softly, amiably. "I'm sorry about that interruption. But now that my guest is here, we can begin in earnest, hmm? You can tell me what I want to know."

Aradia had tuned Faust's rambling out when he started describing the man's sweater, of all things - the basic picture was enough to help narrow down whatever leads they manage to turn up. Which is about as far as her detecting skills normally stretch but the rest can't be that hard to pick up as they go, right?

The fact that there's already the beginnings of A Plan only fuels the younger ghost's enthusiasm, her prior worry over Clara's unease already forgotten. Between the two of them, they're bound to find something worthwhile, especially when they can go places that humans like Faust can't. "And if that fails it's not like we can't poke around town ourselves. Or start questioning people. It's as good a place to start as any, and that way we can find out where to go next."

This was going to be fun. London beware, the ghosts are loose.

"Anything you could do would be helpful," said Faust. He fished a note out of his pocket, held it out with a slightly tremulous hand. Oh, great. It was in vampire territory.

"This is the last address I have for him. Perhaps it might be of help...?"

GOOD LUCK GUYS.

"That would be wonderful!" What luck for her and Aradia. "That should narrow our line of searching quite a bit! Hopefully it's a place where he sticks out like a sore thumb."

Maybe he even still has his sweater! It sounds too cute to throw away.

Clara took the note after a moment's pause to concentrate enough to hold the note. When she opens it and reads the address, the way her nose scrunched up at the location said it all: It was in a place she was not comfortable with for some reason but she still looked optimistic. It wasn't too far from safe territory so if anything happened, they could phase back for safety. She showed it to Aradia in hopes of getting her opinion on the place since the vampires there didn't exactly try to hide its nests.

Either way these ghosts are on the case. Electrical appliances and people who like being warm, fear for yourselves.

"Very well." She tried to decide if he meant it as some kind of reward. She certainly doesn't shy away from horrific things so he'll have no worries there at the very least. Not that he was the type to worry.

She followed him through the house, and down into the basement. Her eyes fell on the unfortunate soul. If she was tied down, she'd be concerned to have the necromancer around as well.

There was an open space to the side of the chair and Mab moved there with a fluid grace. The room's temperature dropped just a little as she moved but no frost formed on anything. "He does not wish to speak I take it?" She took in the bindings and it made her voice a little wry. From here on she would leave most of the speaking to Faust. It was his wife and her soul that he was after. Mab's part came later.

"It doesn't matter what he wishes," said Faust. He carefully peeled the tape from his captive's mouth. Heinemann was breathing hard, whispering something in German.

"Yes, yes, I know. This is a recent acquaintance of mine. Don't worry; I think we can rely on her not to call the police. Now, where were we? Ah." Faust patted the man's shoulder, slid his hand down and somehow into his chest. His fingers phased through the man's skin and tissue without a hint of resistance. There was the slightly sickening sound of a fingertip scraping bone.

The man screamed.

"Tell me," said Faust, "What I want to know."

Willing meant no torture was necessary. It was interesting that he didn't even seem to consider the possibility. She tilted her head a little, listening to the German. She spoke German enough to understand but her face remained impassive as the man looked close to panic.

Her expression did change when Faust pressed his fingers into his captive. That was complicated magic. Being able to pass through one layer and then becoming solid enough that she could hear bone being touched. Suddenly Mab was a whole lot more interested in the proceedings. She stepped closer, watching his work more carefully. Like an observer in a macabre surgery quorum but with a better seat. She remained silent, allowing Faust to do what work he found necessary.

Heinemann was breathing hard, with sweat now beading on his brow. His chest heaved, his back arched, but Faust did not seem to notice his distress. The old man was babbling something about trust or perhaps not trusting.

"You," he managed, "Keep company with monsters. You are a monster. The monster who married my sweet niece. I won't tell you anything."

"But you will tell me," said Faust, switching to German himself. "Oh, you miserable old man. How long have you sat on this knowledge? Did stories get back to you? Stories about what I'd been up to?"

"Yes," the old man breathed. "Yes! I know what it is you're trying to do."

"Then let me make this simple," said Faust. "Give me what I want, and I'll go away."

She peers over Clara's shoulder while the latter holds the note - it's easier that way, with how bad her manifesting is and oh, she knows that patch of town. Or she knows it's reputation back when she was alive, since she's not entirely sure how much has changed. Clara gets a wince, and the sight of Aradia struggling to come up with something positive about the location for the sake of a possibly-still-listening Faust. "At least we're safer then most would be?"

Ghosts don't have blood, so clearly they'll be useless to vampires and therefor not worth notice. It'd make sense, even if vampires are also one of the few things perfectly capable of seeing them. Welp.

Normally she'd immediately dash off now that she has a goal, but that feels... awkward, in a situation like this. So instead she waits, picking through words in her head for what to say, eventually settling on an awkward smile for Faust. "I can't really promise we'll find him, but... hopefully we will! Or at least find something to help, at least. The address definitely helps though."

Dear Eliza [for Clara, Aradia, Liam, and Mab]

The Search (for Clara and Aradia)

The Search (for Liam)

The Find (anyone who wants to see some torture...?)

The Summoning (similarly, anyone who wants to hang around to see the summoning)

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