Dark House

[Smoothie]

Wic was crouching by the doorway, facing into the large room when first Trey then John joined him. He could see Mike at the front door and assumed that Jesse was not far behind him. Trey pointed his gun at Mike for an instant before realizing who he was then John asked about their next course of action.

How'd I become the nominal leader?

"Is that guy alive?" he asked in a whisper. Then learning that he was, went back and used 3 zip-ties to hog-tie the man with his hands and feet behind his back. "Somebody, liberate his weapon." It was half a question, half a command.

((If that goes without interruption...))

Wic then went to Mike and asked him to cover the stairs while the three checked on the room beyond the other door. He had John and Trey cover him while he opened the door and lit up the room with his flashlight (torch for those across the pond ).

[artman01]

I pick up the gun if trey does't want it and follow Wics orders.

[Treyvon Johnson]

I wave my gun slightly at John to let him know that I'm fine with the one I have.

"Dude's just in a lot of pain right now. He'll be fine."

I then proceed to cover Wic as he directs. The guy in the other room I'm not worried about. Even if he does get out somehow, he'll be easy to track.

[Storyteller]

((Flashlight is good ))

Wic: You check the other room; this one is both bare, and darkest of the lot - all the windows are boarded, and don't seem to be letting in any light whatsoever. The room has been stripped of more or less everything, but you can make out the bleached patches of the floorboards where furniture used to be.

You feel a cobweb tickle your ear, and you almost spin round in shock, but you're too well-levelled to jump at it. The only object in the room is a single crate, with a few numbers printed on the side. It's surprisngly new-looking, compared with the rest of the house. The numbers read 1542

John and Trey: You take the gun without problems, and briefly regard the collasped form on the floor - he appears to have lost consciousness.

Trey: You move to the stairs, and look up and down. You're not sure whether the stairs could actually support a single person walking on them without giving way entirely. Hell, you wouldn't be surprised if they brought the whole house down.

[Smoothie]

Wic put his knife away, wiped his ear then scratched his head as he inspected the create.

((dimensions, signs of recent openings, etc.))

A lot of something in there or an old something in there.

[Storyteller]

You estimate the crate at about 3 feet long, 2 feet wide and three feet high, and it doesn't look like it's been opened at all.

Wits + Composure -1: 3 Successes

As you're looking at the crate, you notice, with the light of your torch, several scraped lines in the floor, matching the dimensions of the crate, running of from the left, to the current position of the box. It looks like it's been pushed or dragged, and has marked the floorboards.

[Smoothie]

Wic goes to the doorway, "It's clear. John, if you wouldn't mind, drag that piece of meat in here. Trey, Mike, Jesse, come in here. Take a look at this."

He then pulls one of the makeshift chairs from the main room into the room and sets it down facing the box. When John brings the man inside he cuts the zip-tie connecting his hands and feet together (but not the ones keeping his hands and feet bound), and positions him on the chair facing the crate.

((Is the man coherent?))

[artman01]

After bringing the man in I walk around the room and do a through inspection for anything that Wic missed in his quick glance.

[Treyvon Johnson]

I gie one last glance up the stairs before heading over to Wic.

"Those stairs are an accident waiting to happen, by the way."

I look over the box carefully.

"Am I looking for anything special?"

[Smoothie]

Wic glances at everyone once they're in the room, "Does that number mean anything to anyone?" His gaze comes to rest on Michael.

[Storyteller]

The man is unconcious - see a few posts ago.

Michael tilts his head as he studies the numbers.

"Nothing special, looks just like a standard number for marking up freight."

[Smoothie]

[switching back to present tense ]

Wic tries to wake the man, slapping him lightly across the face a few times.

When he has no luck, he frowns and turns to the group, "It looks heavy, let us see what is inside." He hands the flashlight to Trey and asks, "Can anyone think of any reason why I should not open this?" He then begins to use the throwing dagger, a punch dagger and/or the wooden stake to slowly and carefully dismantle the crate.

Just do not be a bomb!

[Storyteller]

The wood of the crate rubs coarsely on your fingers as you put your hand on the edge for balance. You slip the fine point of your knife in the gap between the top and the main body, and slowly lever the lid. The wood creaks slightly, and, as it opens a touch, you can see the nails being pulled out of the base.

"Just hope i don't damage the knife."

After a good few minutes, you feel the lid pop free of the nails, and you slide the lid away slowly. The box is empty. However, your initial disappointment quickly gives way to shock, as you see that some kind of light is coming from the bottom of the crate. Leaning a bit close, you see that it's coming from between the slats of wood, from underneath the crate itself.

[Smoothie]

Wic tries to push the crate out of the way.

What the Hell?

[artman01]

I help him push the crate