Helping Hands
From Shazrasha
| Cast List | Jacqui, T.J, Rev. Stalker, Daja, Mircea |
| Guest Stars | None |
| Kill Count Good | 5 |
| Kill Count Bad | 1 (Missing Presumed Dead) |
| Quotes | "I'm sorry, my emergency exorsism kit is in my other priestly vestements"R.S |
A young girl races through the trees, turning to look behind a look of terror on her face. Her clothing places her as a girl from the 18th century. She stumbles over a root and falls to the ground. As a shadow descends over her everything goes dim. A few moments later the girl is dead with not a mark on her except for a ghostly hand print on her chest. Jacqui woke from her dream with a jolt. She almost regretted it when the effects of a nights drinking made itself known in full force. Being a slayer did not mean that you could ignore the hangover, fortunately it should mean that by the time she made it into town for breakfast, it should have cleared up right away.
At the same time in the centre of town Rev. Stalker stood staring at the vandalism done to St Peter’s Church. He compared the reality to the clipping he had taken from the paper that morning and sighed. He had hoped to avoid supernatural happenings when he had moved to Chester but the large gashes in the wall under the half scribbled message Man… informed him that that would not be the case.
Deciding to leave the issue for now he joined Mercea and T.J for brunch as they waited for Jacqui. The idyllic moment of eating was disturbed however when Jacqui joined them and heedless of their location explained to T.J that she had had another strange dream. In order to further the discussion Mercea invited them all to his flat on the walls.
A strange friendship existed between the group, for though they all had vague ideas that there was more to the night than met the eye, they still knew very little about each other. Mercea’s flat was a revelation as row upon row of occult books filled the shelves in the living room. Settled in their new surroundings they discuss both the dream and the vandalism, stopping only to include Daja when she turns up to present Mercea with his commission. It soon becomes apparent however that they do not have enough information to identify or locate whatever caused the damage. A call interrupts their deliberations and Mercea excuses himself as he has made prior arrangements for the afternoon but urges the others to look into the matter. Daja excuses herself as well, returning to her shop. Left alone Rev Stalker agreed to accompany the two girls to look at the damage done at the church.
Feeling if not a little out of place with the two students Rev Stalker nevertheless led them to the small alley behind St Peter’s church. The graffiti-ed word from earlier was almost completely gone as a young woman scrubbed the wall with a distinctly annoyed glare. Upon seeing them she was more than happy to discuss the vandalism though most of what she mentioned seemed conjecture. When asked what she thought they were trying to spell out she huffed and muttered something about daft Man United fans. She also mentioned that the verger Nathan Taylor was the last person at the church the night before though she had no idea if he saw the vandalism before leaving. She directed them to the tea and cakes being offered in the church, hoping that they would send someone out to relieve her.
Once in the church the trio spread out as they tried to find out if Nathan has made it in that morning. Jacqui, more comfortable with the direct approach engaged St Peter’s Priest in conversation. When confronted with a question as to why she was interested in Nathan Jacqui launched into a wild story about being baptised. The priest was sympathetic until he realised that she had been pulling his leg. Rev. Stalker rescued him from her and after a sympathetic conversation knew he had to get into the church office.
Slipping into the back of the church, Rev. Stalker made it too the office without much issue. Once the office was vacated he searched through it for Nathan’s address. Through quick thinking T.J helped detain the priest sending a mental warning to Stalker to leave and leave quickly.
Armed with Nathan’s address Jacqui calls Daja to tell her where they are going. Unable to meet them, the trio head out anyway. There was no one at home when they knock on the door. Worried for a reason they were not able to explain Jacqui jimmied the lock and let them in. The house was quiet and nothing was disturbed, not even the groceries in the fridge. However as they went up stairs it became clear that Nathan was nowhere to be found. Upon discovering his office they are shocked by the devastation that is within. Searching the room they find that for all the destruction only things related to Nathan’s obsession with the Romans have been attacked. Notes contained on his desk and letters addressed to him within steer the trio towards Micheal Heath. However the day is getting late so they decide to leave the investigation until the morning.
Daja closed her shop at the end of the day taking care to store her special items away from prying eyes. Armed she made her way into town intent on studying the marks behind the church by herself. Ghostly handprints, glowing slightly in the dark, marked the wall and a huge smear of a hand covered the now removed writing. A noise from further along the street caught her attention; neither rowdy voices of partying people nor cars in the distance. Running towards it she spotted some more ghostly handprints this time heading towards the university part of town. She traced them, running at a jog but stopped at Fountains roundabout unable to see where the prints had gone. Undecided Daja abandoned her search instead going herself to Nathan's address. Unable to unlock the door she broke it down and headed upstairs. The light from the window filtered in slowly as the clouds moved away from the moon and the entire office started to glow. Looking around hundreds of glowing handprints covered everything in sight.
T.J woke surprised to hear an alarm going in the distance. Waking Jacqui they both headed to investigate. They watched with interest as the porters unlocked the door to the English department and head inside. Moments later they reappeared and reset the alarm. They wait until the men have gone then approach the building stopping when the spot the hand print on the ground. Jacqui scoops up some of the gravel in order to see what the hand print is made of. However the moment it was disturbed the handprint vanished. Following the handprints the trail led straight up to the department door.
