Forums » General Roleplay » Ripley and the Ghost Club (1x1)

In answer, Ripley reached into her shirt pocket and delicately extricated a green and white sea snail shell. She placed it on her hand and turned it to reveal that the shell was not empty. A tight bunch of dark brown legs and pincers closed the shell opening. After a second, the crab relaxed and stretched out. Its eyestalks looked around curiously as its armored legs tapped around Ripley's hand cautiously.

"This is Jonesy, my pal," Ripley introduced him proudly. "He's got a tank at my place, but he likes riding around in my pocket as long as it's not too cold out. He's not a fan of cold weather."

As soon as the crab came out, Livia let out a yelp and took a step away from it. To her, this was the same as if Ripley had pulled out a tarantula. On the other hand, Francis' face lit up.

"Wow! What an exquisite Coenobita Clypeatus!" he exclaimed. Gently, he brought a finger down to touch it, not thinking about what might end up happening to him.

"Jonesy seems like a wonderful companion." Mrs. Cygnus said with a smile. In truth, she wasn't much more fond of crustaceans than Livia, but she was at least polite enough to respect Ripley's interest in them.

The hermit crab instantly drew into his shell and held his claws up warningly. He was used to being handled, and thus did not immediately go to pinch, but he was highly familiar with Ripley's touch. He knew this was not Ripley touching him.

"Sure, whatever you said," Ripley said doubtfully to Francis. She noticed Livia and Mrs. Cynus' reactions and moved to put Jonesy back in her pocket. She often enjoyed teasing squeemish adults, but Mrs. Cygnus had been pretty cool, just a little weird, so she tried to be polite. Jonesy was not happy about it, wanting his munchies, but he allowed it. Mostly. He ended up hanging off the edge of her pocket, mostly inside with just the tips of his legs showing. "He's a little grumpy because normally I'd have given him a treat by now, but we've been too busy."

In the following weeks, Ripley would find out why Livia was so bored the first time they met. Ghost Club meetings, if no one showed up asking for help, typically involved Francis giving some kind of painfully dry presentation. The topics included paranormal news from around the world, advances in ghost hunting technology, and research into ESP. That being said, Livia was often absent from these meetings, citing an event at her church, charity work, or something else her mom demanded of her. But there came a day where she burst into the club room in the middle of a presentation.

"There's something going on at dad's church!" she exclaimed. "We have to help!"

Ripley was starting to regret agreeing to be a part of this group. It was like Poltergeist: The Homework! Still, it was something to do other than ride her bike or, worse, go home. Her parents were still Working Things Out, and they tended to do that rather loudly. So, she took any opportunity to stay out of the house. Even pretending to listen to Francis' lectures while slowly building Jonesy a full-on palace in the back of the classroom. She kept it covered up with a black cloth when they weren't there, and so far the teacher hadn't seemed to have found it. If they had, they hadn't cared enough to say anything. Jonesy liked it, crawling around and exploring new things she added or napping peacefully under the heat lamp.

Ripley was in the middle of trying to build a tiny moat with a bridge when Livia came bursting through the door, making her jump and ruining her bridge. "Isn't taking care of the church the pastor's job?" she grumbled irritably. "What are we supposed to do about whatever it is?"

"No, you don't understand!" Livia insisted, shoving Francis out of the way to take center stage in the club room. "Members of our congregation have been injured one by one! The police say it was wild animal attacks, but it happened in their homes! How would wild animals attack members of the same church in the same way in such different locations?"

"That would be a highly improbable coincidence." Francis mused, letting the shove slide for now.

"This must be demonic in nature! The enemy has sent one of his foul minions to attack the faithful!"

Ripley stared at her as Jonesy crawled over to investigate the fallen bridge. "Can I ask, how come you jumped straight to demons?" she finally asked. She'd just recently accepted the reality of ghosts, but demons? Really? There was no way! It had to be religious propaganda and fearmongering. Right?

Ripley continued, "Okay, so maybe it's a bunch of people from the same church, but what if it's not just your group? What if it's other groups, too? What if it's actually ghosts angry that they got buried with the wrong prayers or something? Or maybe it really is a wild animal being used by a real, live person to hurt other people because people suck."

"It's in the nature of demons to persecute the faithful!" Livia insisted, glaring at Ripley as though that should be obvious.

"No, no, Ripley makes a good point." Francis interjected, moving between the two in an attempt to defuse the situation. "There are many other possibilities for what could be behind these assailments. We shouldn't immediately assume it is demonic in nature. However, it seems reasonably likely that there is some kind of paranormal phenomena involved. We should investigate. I propose we start at the church since that seems to be the center of these events."

In what was likely a relief for Ripley, he started gathering his presentation materials and stowing them in his backpack. "Are you coming?" he asked her.

Ripley was, indeed, relieved to head out after Francis. She paused long enough to pick up Jonesy and grab the small backpack she'd started bringing with her to these club gatherings. She still did not believe the demon thing for one second, and wasn't even sure there was a paranormal problem at all, but going off on a wild goose chase was a lot more interesting than hanging around here!

"Let's go, slow poke," she said cheerfully to Francis. To Livia, she asked, "So, where is this church, anyway? Good for biking?"

Francis rolled his eyes, but didn't have a retort. After all, he still struggled to keep up with Ripley whenever they rode places. Being the most concerned about this situation, Livia lead the way out front this time.

"Yes, we can bike there." she said, already unlocking hers. "It's on the south side of town. Follow me." She was off before even having time to climb on fully.

Once again, Francis was panting hard by the time they rolled up to the church. You would think all the time he spent cycling would get him in better shape, but stamina always seemed to elude him. The building was nothing fancy. Certainly no gothic cathedral. It appeared to be a repurposed office building. The main thing that indicated it to be a church was the sign out front that read, "Hawthorne Baptist Church." There were some other smaller signs advertising a community dinner and daycare services.

When Francis managed to catch his breath, he pulled out a device with five LEDs on it and switched it on.

Ripley held herself back to let Livia keep the lead since Ripley didn't know where she was going. It wasn't a bad ride by her reckoning, but it did lead through some of the busier parts of town, and she took note of any interesting places they passed. She was not often in town on her bike, preferring to stick to the wilder areas. Still, places like this could be interesting to visit.

When they reached the church, she looked around, confused. This was a church? It looked more like a supermarket spot than a church. Churches were supposed to be buildings, white usually, and definitely with some kind of steeple and/or cross thingy. Weren't they? Why would there be a church in a strip mall-style place? Then she got distracted by Francis' flashy device.

"What is that thing?" she asked, watching the lights.

Ripley would soon have to learn not to ask about Francis' devices. That was like opening the floodgates for him to nerd out. His face brightened and he held the device up proudly.

"This is an EMF reader! It's designed to detect electromagnetic fields in the environment! Certain types of paranormal entities emit electromagnetic fields. However, the presence of an electromagnetic field is not conclusively paranormal. It may also be caused by faulty wiring, or-"

"Will you shut up so we can figure out what's going on!?" Livia shouted.

"Oh. Right." She had already locked up her bike, so he locked his and followed her. There wasn't currently a service going on, but she was able to let them into the building. The inside had a cozy feel to it. The carpet was a pleasant red and there were plants set up to keep the place lively. Next to the door was a rack full of pamphlets, with topics ranging from the story of Jesus to advice on how to support someone struggling with addiction. Across the hall was the entrance to the main congregation area. Rows upon rows of pews were inside, with a podium at the far end, and a large cross on the wall behind it.

Francis checked his EMF reader. So far, none of the lights were on. "Sensing anything yet?" he asked Visia. She shook her head in response.

Ripley stared at Francis blankly, regretting her impulsive question as the boy babbled excitedly. She had no idea what he was talking about other than something about electricity and magnets. Then Livia let out a shout, startling her. She was normally so mild... or not around at all. She must be really worried about all of this.

She didn't bother locking up her bike and followed the others inside. She looked around curiously. She hadn't been in a church since her grandfather's funeral, and before that, there had been some Easter egg hunts and things like that, but there had always been something going on, and she hadn't been able to see what the church looked like. There was a lot to see, but nothing special. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but this was actually kind of calming. Nothing demonic at all. She sniffed curiously. Nope, no sulfur. Just flowers and mothballs.

They combed every room of the church Livia could get them access to. Like Ripley, they didn't find anything demonic. Francis didn't see more than one light on his EMF reader, and Visia didn't sense anything. As gullible as he could be at times, he was able to debunk the negligible readings as a result of nearby electronics.

"Nothing going on here at least." he mused.

"Well of course." Livia said. "Nothing demonic could exist in this sacred place."

"It was still worth investigating. Even if the entity was not inhabiting this location, there may still have been remnants of-"

"Livia? What are you doing here?" The woman that had shown up caused both Livia and Francis to pale.

"Oh, h-hi mom!" she stammered. There was a clear family resemblance. Her mother had the same red hair, the same "Sunday best" fashion sense, and the same judgmental expression. The subtle wrinkles on her face made it seem like she scowled a lot. Livia stepped forward to try and explain themselves. "M-my friends are just...helping me find something. I lost my favorite hairpin last service."

"I checked under the chairs over there," Ripley said, instantly picking up the cue. "I haven't seen it yet, but I did find," she reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a handful of things, "three buttons, two thumbtacks, and I think about two dollars worth of change." She held them out to the woman with her best parent-pleasing smile. "I don't know where the poor box is, but I figure the coins should go in there. Right?"

She could guess this woman was somehow connected to Livia, and if there was one thing she knew, it was when adults didn't need the truth. Although she was shocked that prim and proper Livia was lying in her own place of worship. It must be important.

The woman narrowed her eyes at Ripley and her collection of things. After a moment, she put on a condescending smile. "I'll make sure they're added to the collection box." she said, accepting the change. The word "collection" was carefully enunciated, as a correction. Her gaze moved to the other children. "Are these your friends? I've never seen them at service."

"Oh, um..." Livia fidgeted with her cross necklace. "I met them at school. They...go to a different church." That lie was supposed to save face with her mother. But even that didn't seem to be enough to stop her narrowing her eyes at them.

"Hmm." she said. Livia looked like she was going to pass out, throw up, or both. Finally, her mother shrugged. "Well, you're welcome to come to our service instead, if you'd like. My husband is doing a series on..." Whatever she was about to say caused her face to scrunch up in disgust. "...never mind. Normally we have topics that are less...divisive."

Ripley was used to adults like Livia's mom. Indeed, adults, especially women, who didn't act like her were viewed with great suspicion, as they were most likely after something, in her view. She was not looking into turning into an adult and mysteriously turning into an absolute jerk like all adults seemed to.

"Thank you for your invitation. That is very kind of you, ma'am, but I must decline. My parents wouldn't like it if I went to a different church because church is a family affair in our house," Ripley lied through a polite smile. "I wouldn't want to go against their wishes, and my church has a very loving group. We are currently going through..." she looked at one of the posters behind the woman's head, "Romans. We're on chapter 10."

The woman didn't look entirely happy at that answer. It was safe to say she would have preferred they come to her church instead. But she tried already, and pushing any further might upset these children's parents.

"A good book to study." she said. "Paul proves that the whole nature of man is poisoned and corrupt, and we are justified by faith only." She turned back to her daughter. "I need to get back to work. Don't play here too long, and take better care of your things in the future."

"Okay mom. Sorry mom." Livia responded. She watched intently as her mother finally left them alone. Only then did she finally let out a breath that felt like she'd been holding it the entire time. "God, please forgive me..."

"That was expertly handled." Francis muttered to Ripley.

"Thank you," Ripley said with a nod. "Alwwys happy to help with a bit of rebellion. So... any other demons in here? So far, this place has been a bust. Are you sure there's anything happening here?"

Instantly, Livia shot a glare at Ripley. "'Other' demons? What is that supposed to-"

"This place does, indeed, appear to be a 'bust.'" Francis interjected before the situation could escalate. "We should focus our attention elsewhere. Perhaps interview one of the victims. Livia, can you enumerate the members who were attacked?"

She huffed, reluctantly turning away from Ripley. "Let's see...first it was LeVerl Allyn, then Kailan Burgess...oh! We could probably ask Nadrie Chapman. She'd like having someone to talk to. I think she was taken to...Pine Rest Clinic."

"Capital! Let's traverse to Pine Rest."