Ascension Quest
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Ascension Quest
Chapter 1
Your name is Jericho, and you're a fan of the supernatural and unexplained.
Most days are filled with browsing /x/, watching only the highest quality animu, and contemplating your own mortality and how meaningless a single human life is in the grand scheme of things.
Needless to say, you've got some anxiety issues, friend, and the moment you close your eyes at night if you aren't masturbating to scanlated doujins, you're thinking about the universe in too much depth. Insomnia and chronic migraines don't help, and you're almost always tired.
Your hometown of Murkwater (population: 3,500) is dull with nothing exciting going on, which does nothing to help pre-occupy your mind as your final year of high school begins after the summer.
Luckily for you, some anon from /x/ has recently detailed their recent supernatural encounters in one other than your neck of the woods and there's no doubt that this means adventure!
This particular anon reported the following, all of which occurred approximately a week ago before their leaving town, and provided photographic evidence:
- A probable skinwalker in the mountains by the Eve Creek caves.
Anon claimed that they were taking pictures outside of the caves on the east side of the mountain and geared up to explore the insides when they heard a chattering sound from the distance--like teeth clicking together erratically.
Following was the voice of their mother saying, "Anon, are you hungry?"
When Anon was unresponsive, scrambling to open the video recorder on their phone, the voice snarled and went much deeper, screaming, "get out of here!"
- Vampires in the Murkwater Mansion, which you know from local gossip was purchaed just a month ago by a pair of strange twins who don't ever leave during the day but tip pizza delivery drivers generously.
Anon claimed that they'd encountered them behind the old shopping plaza (which is nothing but empty shops with broken windows in modern times) sucking the blood of an unconscious man with a syringe, then followed them back to the manor but didn't move past the gate.
- A ghost in the graveyard a mile off the interstate. Anon was stopping by on their way out of town, taking photographs and saw a white flash out of the corner of their eye. They saw the semi-transparent figure of a man in a long coat walking past a row of graves and into the woods. Pictures from their phone showed the same individual cloaked in a bright glow and orbs floating around.
Time for the most exciting time of your life to finally begin--to break the boring, normal reality that confines your heart.
There has to be more to this life, this consciousness...you'll discover--something!
Feeling determined to discover something, anything of the unknown, you weigh your options, think about what extra supplies to pack (snacks are always necessary), and think of what to investigate first as the sun sets...
What do we have at our disposal? Do we have a car? Do we have a shed and tools and/or a good camera?
You there OP? Regardless! We get some snacks, a flashlight and a camera/phone to record with, just in case, then check out the surroundings of the vampire mansion. If we can find a hiding spot, we hide and order some pizzas, then wait and record when the delivery guy gets there.
Ghost sounds least scary, we should start with that and gain more experience
Packing a camera, knife, and flashlight sounds good, but we'll never look like the skeleton boys on /fa/ if we pack snacks.
>>49783
Pizza plan is good
Oh, we browse /x/
So we're a roleplaying faggot
shit's already getting too meta man, too many spoops.
I'm interested though.
The Murkwater Mansion has always been subject to rumors of ghosts in the windows and children travelling there disappearing even before it was bought out, so that's where you decide to investigate first.
Hiding out and ordering a pizza for these alleged vampires would give you a chance to witness what they look like, firstly, and if they really do tip drivers so well...or eat them.
You can't say you wouldn't let a vampire drink some of your blood if they offered you money.
Packing a granola bar, a knife, and a flashlight that doubles as a stun gun, you load up your bag and head out on your bike.
You remember passing by the manor when you were younger, in the backseat of your parents car, and seeing it atop the hill like some sort of monument.
It was the biggest house in town, and probably had property taxes out the roof. And that was a high roof.
But now the trees had shielded the entire building, and it was only partially visible during the winter months.
Despite no longer being for sale, you realize as you park your bike below and slide between the gate's bars (ignoring that collection of multi-colored "no trespassing" signs nailed to the posts) that the grass has been allowed to grow wild.
It's halfway up to your waist!
But there's a path of brick steps leading upwards, so you follow that until you get a clear view of the building...
>>50161
What kind of grass is it, bladed or strawed?
The grey paint looks to be chipping in some places, but the windows are no longer cracked or broken, and any graffiti has been cleaned up.
Too many kids loitered here before the real estate company put the gate up themselves.
The grass is still too tall, but the brick path expands to an octagon in the middle that has a curl of blue chalk in a single swirl.
A gargoyle style statue of a silver cheetah with large wings catches your eye (it looke familiar?), along with the cryptic engravings that have been carved above the door.
It's hard to see the detail from here, but are those...sigils? Runes? Kanji?
Impossible to tell.
Across from it is a fountain with similar carvings, water dyed blue with the soothing, constant sound of a river.
Since the grass is so high, you decide that hiding behind a tree would be the easiest route, and it doesn't position you close enough to get captured.
Of course, you'd still have to stumble down the hill, probably trip, and give yourself an asthma attack to get away if need be but you were willing to take that chance otherwise, why even come this far?
You pulled your phone from your bag and dialed up the local pizza place.
"Yes," you clear your throat. "I'd like to place an order for delivery--to the Murkwater Mansion."
You hadn't bothered learning the actual address.
"Sure thing!" The boy on the other line says with the chipperness of a person whipped by corporate slavery. "You guys have become regulars, huh? Well, what'll it be tonight? We have a new flavor of wings if you're interested!"
What will it be?
>>50222
"Hawaiian, extra extra garlic"
"Hawaiin, extra, extra garlic."
"Sure thing, sir, it'll be out in about twenty minutes."
It seems silly and juvenile, and you aren't even too sure that garlic is something that would work against vampires but the temptation is too much.
If these are actual vampires, then chances are more that they fit the classical R*ce depiction. Especially if they have enough money to just buy a multi-million dollar home out in the middle of nowhere...
This is the worst place for vampires, really, if anyone goes missing the news would be all over the place.
Cities are better for bloodsuckers, right? More people ot feed from, less notoriety for missing people, a large homeless population to murder and no one would blink an eye.
...Unless, maybe these are just fledgling vampires.
Maybe they were kicked out of more competitive hunting ground because they're weaker?
That makes more sense!
With that possibility, you ease up. Take a breath. Relax and wait.
The chorus of crickets and cicadas is calming, and there's an owl somewhere above you in the tree hoots every few minutes.
And then it dives into the yard, grabs something--probably a mouse--and flies back into the leaves, audibly tearing apart its prey.
You gulp and hug your knees, pull out your phone, dim the screen, and play some Robot Unicorn Attack. It's not as fun on mute.
Eventually, you hear a car approaching, and see the headlights of the delivery car below the hill.
You turn off your phone's screen and watch as he slips through the gate the same way you did, disappears behind the grass, and then climbs up the steps with the pizza in tow.
His footsteps echo, and his humming an uppity tune is agitating.
This is it. You peek at his back as he walks around the fountain.
He knocks on the wooden doors loudy. "Pizza!"
A few seconds later, and the door swings open.
You can't make out her details for the light pouring out of the house, but a girl is standing there, kinda short, and the sound of Eurobeat is pouring out from somewhere deeper in the mansion just enough to be audible.
Night of Fire? What year is it?
The girl is too quiet to hear at first, mumbling, and then she opens the pizza box.
"Where are the wings?"
"Your brother didn't order any wings."
"What?" She sounds legitimately offended. "There's--there's...pineapple on this! Ugh, I-I'm...I'm sorry, hold on a minute..."
She pulls a phone from her pocket, dials, and scratches her head. "H-Hey, pizza guy is here, did you really order a pizza with pineapple on it and not get me anything? ...Yeah, that's weird...is someone pulling a prank on us? ....Yeah...well I'm not gonna eat it, but okay."
She hangs up, leaves the door, and comes back with a wad of cash and sets it on the box. "We don't want it, but uh, here's some money for your trouble."
The driver shakes his head. "No, you don't have to, uh, sorry, the guy on the phone didn't sound suspicious or anything."
"It's all good! If we ever place and order and there aren't any wings, assume it's not us."
"Sure thing, sorry for the trouble. You have a good night!"
She waves him off, waits until he's left, and then dials her brother again, crossing her arms and leaning into the doorway with a sigh. "Hey, isn't the electricity to the fence supposed to be on? You turned it on earlier? Weird...anyway, I'm going to get that gallon of blood from the cellar while I'm down here and head up. Yeah!"
She starts down the steps, heading in the opposite direction from you and turning around the mansion as she continues talking.
"I didn't think we'd ever get pranked. You know what we need? A pizza password--yeah, I'm getting burnt out on it, too, though, but...y'know...small town...nothing really delivers..."
In the yard, only feet away from you in the grass, are the following items: a pair of shears, a long metal pipe, and a lighter with a red heart pattern next to a stick of fireworks.
Because she said something about blood in a cellar, something is going on here.
Do you follow behind the girl?
Do you go into the mansion while the door is still open?
Do you pick up anything you see in the grass just in case?
>>50651
Getting those lighters and fireworms
Also, I'd like to pose a question to everyone reading:
Are my posts too long?
I'm a writer by nature, and so I understand sometimes I can get rather lengthy...
>>50697
-Nah it's fine, we have enough threads with super short posts so it's refreshing
>>50697
Naw man, that was actually pretty great
>>50651
I'd take the fireworks, a couple blades of grass, and follow the vampire girl.
I kinda feel bad for almost subjecting her to hawaiian pizza.
>>50651
Grab the fireworks and lighter, never know when you might need them
Maybe sneak in through an open window or balcony. Entrance halls tend to lack good hiding places
>>56521
Second
Good morning, everyone!
I just woke up and I'll be back with the next post after actually waking up and having my coffee.