Episode 6

The sixth session of the campaign.

## Summary

Blair motions that Not-Ghost is there, but decides to go forward with the plan regardless, trusting the others. Mischa healing words their wound in an attempt to look less on death’s doorstep, but Blair’s stepfather is suspicious of the sheer amount of blood. They cover it as practical effects for a movie they’re shooting, and Blair’s friends being nerds. Luckily, he buys it and goes off about a ww2 documentary he watched. Blair pretends to listen to buy time while the gang goes up. Fletcher uses the bathroom whilst Mischa investigates Blair’s room in order to locate the safe.

At Ward’s house, The Candlemaker speaks in a way that both threatens Levy and shows some degree of being willing to work with them. This escalates as Levy takes out Ward’s ring. The Candlemaker makes a note to say that she has a history with Ward, and warns Levy that Ward will throw Levy away too. Getting a bit protective over Ward, Levy designates Ward as one of their toys to play with, and how they hate when people mess with their things. Whilst doing so, they put on Ward’s ring. The pressure of being watched and observed grows, and the Candlemaker begins to steam and smoke. Another spin of the ring. The Candlemaker struggles to keep herself together, wax dripping through her fingers as she struggles to push it back into place, to mold her body to what it should be.The kitchen counter combusts as invisible flames lick her and the surface of the kitchen, and she lunges for Levy, nearly grabbing them. Slipping away, Levy leaves her near a puddle of wax as she struggles to right herself.

They cut back to Mischa and Fletcher who have found an odd photo of Blair and someone they don’t recognize as well as a heavily annotated map for a national park they haven’t heard her mention prior. Fletcher thinks he sees an odd book in his peripheral vision, but when he goes to look for it again, it’s not there.

In the car in front of Blair’s house sits Mags and Abby, who are having a bit of a tender moment as Mags carefully treats and wraps Abby’s injuries. In doing so they notice odd webbing on Abby’s wrists, something that worries them both but they don’t have time to get into, noticing Not-Ghost on the edge of the crowd. Abby comes up with a plan to talk to Not-Ghost, to which Mags doesn’t concede, leading Abby to cast her first spell of purposeful manipulation. Pulling at Mags’ strings, Abby casts Friends, and the two of them go forward with Abby’s plan, going to talk to Not-Ghost. As they approach, Abby pretends not to know what’s going on, offering to walk Not-Ghost home, with Mags holding the bat tightly, but not menacingly behind her.

At about this time, Mischa, Blair and Fletcher exit Blair’s house, with Fletcher and Mischa carrying the safe (Mischa carried 90% of it). Not-Ghost reaches out to Abby under the guise of needing help to exit the woods, and Abby accepts. She loses her footing as she’s yanked through the bushes and out of harm’s way as the street light flickers before burning out. There’s a moment of supernatural darkness, quick as a blink, and when it clears, Mags is gone. Abby whips around, casting a spell of Not-Ghost and demanding information, but they short circuit and manage to get away back through the woods. Desperate to find Mags, not knowing where to look, and knowing they need to protect the contents of the safe, the group gets back in Mischa’s van, driving to Ward’s house which is now up in flames.

Upon arriving Abby tries to put out the flames, and Mischa goes to find Ward’s safe. As he picks it up, it notices the sheer amount of protections, runes and sigils across the surface. How could something get in with all of these protections up? It’s troubling, and Mischa thinks about it as he carries the safe to the car. The familiar sound of sirens draws closer, but it isn’t a fire truck, it’s the police. Jacob the Werewolf Failure is the officer on duty, and the party piles in Mischa’s van, with Mischa and Levy in the trunk with Ward’s safe and Blair driving as she has Mischa’s keys.

They debate over where Mags is, what took them, and where they are. The Dark is brought up, and Blair quite ominously points out that “They didn’t move like that, but something came from the so who fucking knows.” In looking for a safe place, Levy points out that there is no one place that is safe, but a person themself can be safe. They decide to drop Danny off at the hospital alone, and go towards Mags and Abby’s childhood treehouse to recoup in a private place.

Within darkness, Mags finds solace. Abby’s influence fades, their mind clears, and they have a moment to process their feelings about what their former friend and crush has done to them. Walking through nothingness, it feels comforting, familiar, and Mags realizes they’ve never truly been afraid of the dark. They sit after a while, and read Ward’s book, frustration brewing towards the group, feeling lied to and used. Preying on that feeling, a door opens, and an echoing, impossible voice reverberates out, offering power, fitting in, a reality where truth and lies merge into the same concept. Mags declined their offer, but the being leaves the door open just a crack, in case the other change their mind. The session ends with Mags, alone, in darkness, a decision ahead of them.

> Next Session: Episode 7
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