What's Real To You?

## Synopsis

Welcome to the Darkness, my friend. Your eyes will adjust in time.

## Plot

The Premiere Episode of Nocturne starts with Trick, Emma, Brian, Briar and Theo waking up on February 13th. Our Protagonists promptly go through their early morning routine and meet up at Athmore University for an excursion to see one Prof. Adisa Bellow's lecture on Time. On route to the Lecture around 11 AM Prof. Theo's car begins to sputter and they are forced to a stop.

## Pulling Over

Right before Theo's Toyota Corolla breaks down Trick had spotted a similar car which seemed to have mysteriously disappeared upon second inspection. Trick separates himself from the rest of the group to urinate and *Check It Out* where the car went. In the meantime the group banters about Prof. Theo's lack of proper automotive care.

Trick pulls out a cigarette and smokes it on his way to the mysterious disappearance of the automobile. His general knowledge reveals that the car was the exact same as Prof Theo's and nothing more. Upon returning to the group it is acknowledged that the mechanical issue with the car is electrical and none of the characters have cellphone service.

Trick realizes that while they may not have a connection to a standard cell tower emergency services may still connect. Trick calls dispatch and explains the situation as well as how they are roughly a half hour outside of Grand Theory, the destination of the group. Dispatch responds by letting Trick know that a squad car will be sent to their location. After the call Trick points out that the abandoned car is the same as the Prof. No one really pays it any mind as the make and model are quite common and Trick has a past of using drugs. Theo and Trick continue to try and fix the car for a moment with no luck. Emma goes and has a nap in the car.

## Just Over The Wall

Briar (three lattes deep) suddenly has an urge to urinate. With her *I Do* *Cross Fit* skill she easily clears the high concrete barricade on the side of the road. When she makes it over the wall she see's an odd humanoid shadow that is somewhat familiar with her. After having Brian come over the wall (in style) it is confirmed that only Briar can see the shadow. Brian agrees to keep an eye out on the woods for Briar and she goes to pee.

As she moves forward the Shadow Figure mimics her causing her to panic a little. Briar ends up urinating mere feet from Brian and the shadow crouches while she takes care of business. At the same time Brian realizes his cigarettes are the same brand Trick uses. After a brief conversation with Trick he comes to the conclusion he must have accidentally bought the same brand after a conversation about their brands.

As Briar reunites with Brian the shadow figure mimics her and returns towards the forest. A famous line about not touching Piss-Mittens comes out of Brian's mouth. Trick then jokes about selling Briar's "Piss Mittens" and it is revealed that he is, in fact, a Porn Producer. Briar goes over the wall first like a world class gymnast (natural one on the dice roll) then realizes that Brian was left alone on the other side of the wall. Trick and Briar flirt. Before they remedy the situation Brian asks, "Hey Man, can you give me a hand." followed by "Can one of you make up your mind and give me a fucking hand?"

Right after the second phrase Brian suddenly gets hoisted up by his left foot by some invisible force. He starts screaming and everyone attempts to come to his aid. Trick eventually boosts Briar back over the wall after giving Briar his revolver. All the while tiny Emma scrambles up to look over the top of the barricade.

## A "Helping" Hand

Trick gives Briar his gun who in turn aims it towards the shadow. The shadow once again mirrors Brair causing Brian to fall. Brian in his panic lands badly on his foot causing a potential sprain. Briar after panicking a little check up on Brian's condition. A bit of cheeky banter later Briar attempts to help Brian again. When she does so the shadow figure becomes visible to Brian who seems to be trying to lift him again. Seeing the Shadow Figure causes Brian to panic and fall off of Briar again. After discussing it for a second Emma ends up being able to see the shadow for the first time and starts to believe they have been poisoned by carbon monoxide.

At Trick's request Briar takes a picture of the shadow (which mimics her) and it seems to stay within the photo. Briar once again tries to lift Brian over the wall with Emma's help and fails spectacularly (KatiePetersPlays rolls a 100) and Brian ends up hurting the exact same ankle (ClassyPax rolled a 96). Brian starts swearing up a storm and Briar explains the shadow scared her which led to her dropping him.

Trick, Emma and Theo don't comprehend what is going on and don't believe that the shadow people exist at the moment. Trick and Theo get an old blanket and a jumper cable from the trunk of the car. Theo sees a strange shimmering blue residue in the back of his trunk. Trick quickly uses the blanket as a sheet rope to help Brian over the wall with Briar's assistance. After a ton of fumbling around and Brian drinking from his flask he FINALLY gets over the wall a little worse for wear.

Emma takes a look at his foot and notices that it's just a bad sprain and Briar returns the gun to Trick asking why he had it. Trick simply states that he "Has things he needs to protect." Briar then shows the photo on her phone to the rest of the characters. Both Theo and Trick fail to see the Shadow Figure in the photo. Brian and Emma (although she claims differently) see the Shadow Figure Briar saw. Emma claims that it could just be a snap chat filter and starts to pick on Brian. They fight for a bit and Trick tries to calm down the situation down by having Brian take a sip from his flask. When he does he finds the flask to be empty and concludes he has already drunk everything from the flask.

## Y'All Need A Boost?

As this is going on a police car shows up with a female fit officer with blonde hair, 5'8 and very fit ("REAL good looking"). Theo and Trick approach her and her hand goes to her gun. Trick disarms her with his charming ways and they discuss the situation. The Officer's CB seems to be working. She then mentions how they are the third call from Half Way rd. and that they keep showing up to find no one there. They show her Trick's call history which shows he has called 911 three separate times. He tries to logic it all away by describing everything they did up until that point. Theo helps and convinced the officer to give them a boost. She goes and grabs the jumper cables as Theo checks on Brian.

The officer and Trick start up a conversation with a couple of key points once they get the car started,

* He mentions the car that disappeared.
* Trick asks about urban legends using *Bedroom Eyes* (Partial Success)
* The Officer talks about a Werewolf in the woods. (Various versions)
* The Officer claims she didn't know anything about rogue Shadow Figures.
* Trick spooks her off by talking about The Boy who Cried Wolf and how false calls brought her to them.
* She reaches back on the gun and leaves after that correlation
* Trick mentions they will be at The Grand Theory Opera House to watch Adisa Bellow's Lecture

Afterwords the crew begins to drive towards Grand Theory after Brian slams the front seat into Emma. Yet, They end up in Athmore again.

## I Guess We Missed The Lecture

Upon realizing they were back in Athmore City they realize the dash clock reads 11 AM (same as when they broke down). Theo's phone reads 4:30[1] and the sun is setting however making them lose approx. 5 hours. After some talking they bring Brian to Athmore Hospital in order to get his foot checked out just in case. After some scathing remarks between Brian and Emma, the trip is revealed to not be official, Trick commenting Brian and Emma look like a married couple and finally, Briair and Emma fighting over the Shadows being real. After all this drama, they arrive at the Hospital Emma is revealed to work at.

Brian reveals that he ends up in the Hospital more often then your average person clocking in at once every two months. The Nurse on duty recognizes Brian, says they couldn't get in contact with Emma, mentions a guy with "limbs" happened again and sends Emma on her way so she can help Emma. Emma uses her clout to tell the Nurse that Brian has been drinking. Nurse Bearnstein (according to pronunciation) asks Brian what happened who scoots around the truth by giving the impression he hurt himself in a drunken stupor. Ms. Bearnstein seems very compassionate and Trick approaches her to let her know that he really hadn't consumed that much alcohol. She responds, "He's a good man." and goes to get a doctor and pain killers. Trick leaves to get Chips from a vending machine for Brian and himself.

Meanwhile, Theo finds the body of Adisa Bellow in his trunk. *~~It looks like time... wasn't on her side. \*guitar noises\*~~* Theo maintains his composure a little as he fetches Trick. Theo shows Trick the trunk of his car by having Trick open the back of his car. Oh hey, a dead woman in the trunk. Theo mentions how that's Dr. Bellow. Trick looks at the body again and concludes wisely, "She's fuckin' dead." Theo says he doesn't know how the body got there. Trick says he believes Theo but doesn't know how they are going to convince anyone that they were innocent. He then presents the options they have before them: Go to the police, Dump the body for someone else to deal with or bury/hide the body. Trick then says; "In my experience in life, All the skeletons in the closet. They stack up and they stack up and they stack up till the closet can't hold no more. Then they all come bustin out. So, I think, we should go to the Authorities." Trick then goes on to say only 2/3rds would probably come to bat for him. He also deduces that they didn't see any bodies when they went to get the blanket from the trunk (Theo didn't reveal the Aura he saw). They never stopped until just now as well.

Theo looks at the body again to try and see if there is an Aura around Adisa Bellow. Trick has apparently seen bodies before in a sexual setting so it does not set him off. He gets a general outline of Adisa Bellow's state of death. Her eyes are wide open, she is fully clothed, there is bruising around her throat made maybe by a large cord and finally three big claw marks on her chest revealing her ribs and a 4th underneath her breast. Looks like what a werewolf would look like is what Trick thinks. Trick connects it to what the officer said to him.

Trick pulls out his smokes and starts hearing some really weird whispering. Theo doesn't hear it. Trick can't make out the words. Trick drops his cigarette and then realizes upon picking it up that he has Brian's smokes and how he has his carton instead of his. "Time is Fuckey, Werewolf lady is ripped apart and things are transposed... The Cop who cried wolf." -Trick "Getting turned around and getting here (Athmore)." -Theo

## That's Exactly What A Dream Would Say

Trick burns himself to see if it's a dream right after considering the ongoing nonsense. Theo starts stroking an odd piece of paper with a symbol on it in his pocket. Suddenly he feels an odd presence right behind him. He turns to see a Shadow Figure that looks oddly familiar. Trick and Theo have a brief discussion and Trick realizes he can see this shadow as well. They both confirm that they can see this unnatural thing. Theo is spooked by this development but Trick keeps his composure as he realizes that it's what Briar and Brian saw earlier. Theo stays still as Brian reaches out for this black shadow that looks like a hazy moisture on pavement in the distance.

Meanwhile, Emma goes to talk to Dr. Burnham. He mentions a "*thing happening again*". The pair enter a side room to discuss matters privately. The conversation reveals that Dr. Burnham and Emma have an odd relationship. Emma confides that she "*Lost six hours*." and Dr. Burnham looks very concerned for Emma. They discuss these Odd-limbed patient and that they won't fit in an X-ray/MRI machine. Furthermore, rumors about the FBI being involved with the odd-limbed individuals. Dr.Burnham draws blood from Emma to check for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning which is deduced that there is no abnormality. When her blood is taken Emma starts feeling better and confides in Dr. Burnham about the odd feeling she had in the car. Finally, everyone's cell phone seems to not work. She leaves.

Brian gets some painkillers and it's just a sprain. The doctor taking care of Brian seems super exhausted and cuts some corners for Brian. Ms. Bearnstein leaves crutches for Brian free of charge as she and the doctor leaves. Brian discovers Wi-fi is also down. Briar apologizes again for hurting him indirectly and Emma comes back. Emma explains what she discovers and is still hooked on the Shadow Figure.

## Shadowy Intentions

Briar then reveals that she's seen similar shadows all her life but her immediate family never believed her. Brian and Emma push her for more detail. Emma mentions that Kids seems to see more then other age groups. Briar starts thinking about a time in College something happened with the shadow monster. She starts to have a panic attack. She explains it was always there and then one time in the middle of the night in college it broke into her room. It reached her bed and she blacked out. When she awoke the next morning with no memory the night before she found claw marks on her door. Emma notes that they lost time today as well and mentions that the rest are lucky it seemed to only be following Briar. Briar is in denial that the ShadowMan exists. Emma explains that reality is real for crazy people too. They bicker some more about whether or not the shadow in the wood is real or not. Brian believes in Briar.

Then the three finally realize that Trick and Theo never came back and they make their way to the lobby with Brian offering to help Briar if she wants to talk about whats going on. He tells her to ignore Emma stating she doesn't help.

Jumping back to the Parking lot the Trio sees Theo and Trick in the parking lot. Everyone but Emma sees the Shadow Figure standing over Theo with hair that looks just like his. When Trick pushes his hand onto the back of Shadow Theo then Theo actually felt it on his back. When Theo moves the shadow seems to mirror the hand Theo raises. Briar confirms that the Shadow Figure is very similar to the one in the woods. Then Brian (sick of this shit) tosses one of his crutches at the Shadow Figure. The airborne crutch then clips Tricks ear and passes through Shadow Theo's Head. Theo then feels and reacts like he just got hit in the side of the head by a crutch.

## What A Lovable Character

To Emma (who is the only one who can't see Shadow Theo), It just appears like a brawl has taken place in front of her as Theo reacted unnaturally to the crutch being thrown. Screeching in the ear of Brian about the cost of crutches in this day and age turns out not to be the brightest of plans as he open palm slaps Emma so hard she falls on the floor. (ClassyPax Rolled a 1) Emma is visibly shaken by hit so hard by her fellow classmate.

**Emma:** "So great we are seeing ghosts and beating the real people now! Intelligence runs in your genes. Thanks for that one you drunk."

**Brian:** "Emma... I need you... to. SHUT! THE! FUCK! UP! Are you fucking blind?! Do you see what's looking around you? Quit huffing the fucking air like it's an exhaust pipe and come back to fucking reality. LOOK! Do you not see whats going on?! Look at the picture on the fucking phone again. Is it gas?! I don't fucking think so! Get up and look. Look at the professor right now. Look at him."

**Emma:** "Brian your raised voice is not intimidating. I don't see a thing. I see a thrown crutch. Seems like a loss in bill."

After this exchange Trick interjects while Emma keeps going on about how she got hit. Trick mentions that they are in a lot more trouble then just this shadow creature. He then gestures them to come near.

**Trick:** "Now what I'm going to show you now is pretty gruesome."

He then opens the trunk. Briar sees the fate of Adisa Bellow and is more afraid of this and the Shadow Figure. Emma is a little surprised as well. Everyone else is okay with this discovery.

Trick slowly closes the trunk and explains the situation to the other three. Theo says it's Adisa Bellow. Briair asks about what caused the wounds. Emma examines and says she bled out quick from the claw marks (cause of death) but doesn't have anything to do with her patients. She claims she wants to see it and it's quite similar. Trick then puts his glasses back on and examines everyone he says,

**Trick:** "I told the professor, a couple of options here. We tell the authorities. Take her right in there. Wait for the cops to show up. Tell them this fantastical story. We could lie. We can say we found it. Or we could get rid of it."

**End of Episode**