Westbrook Academy for Metahumans: Forums

Etienne led his fellow classmates up to the back door of the rectory. He looked back, knowing at least half of them though him a monster. Still, he promised to help. The Houghan never breaks a promise. That just invited bad juju to come knocking.

He turned back to the door and knocked three times. After a short pause, the door opened, and an old man, dressed in black with a priest collar answered the door. He looked fit, but not athletic. His eyes shown with youth, but at the same time had a deep wisdom about them.

"Etienne. I didn't expect you, boy. How are you? Who are your friends?"

He stepped out of rectory and closed the door behind him.

"Dese folk from de school, mon Pere," he said as he turned to introduce the Jesuit to the students. "Dis is Pere Michael Archangelus. He a Jesuit who come to our village to teach."

"And to learn. Welcome, welcome. While I never mind the company, I do have to ask, why are you all here?"

"Dey wanted to ask 'bout de Loa, and 'bout de Houghan way."

The Jesuit nodded, his face turning from jovial to serious. "I think you had better come inside..."

He trailed off, but Etienne shook his head. "Dat OK, mon Pere. I wait out here. Brought some homework."

The Jesuit nodded. "Good. Thank you, Etienne."

He turned back to the students and opened the door to the rectory. "Please, come in. Forgive Etienne, but his people are forbidden to enter a Catholic church. They believe it cuts them off from being watched over by the Loa. Frankly, I've seen enough to agree with them. Come, come. I'll put on some tea."

With that, he led the students inside.

((*cattleprods people!*))

Cady lingered at the back of the group. She still looked awful pale from her collapse the day before, but she no longer looked as if she had no energy whatsoever. Despite a lingering lethargy that she couldn't totally shake, she was otherwise okay. She probably would have been better off resting back at the dorms, but she wanted to come along with the visit to the Jesuit. She felt totally useless in the investigation, and everyone seemed to have their own theories on what was happening. She felt like she was just...there...and had no idea how to really contribute. The least she could do was come along for the visit, and if she had any questions she could pose them. Coming along also gave her an opportunity to try and look out for Etienne. She knew that people weren't happy with him. Jessie had told her how they had sort of pounced on him a few nights ago, and she wanted to make sure if something like that happened again, she would be in his corner.

She gave Etienne a bit of a smile, before following the Jesuit inside the rectory. "Thank you for seeing us,' she said quietly, timidly. "There's been some things happening at the school..." her voice sort of trailed off a little, feeling unsure of herself.

She bit her lip and stopped talking, waiting to see if one of others would chime in and start asking questions.

Roach never liked churches.

Holy men, they were alright. But churches always felt wrong to him. The feeling wasn't that of demonic origin, no, but churches had a way of carrying memories. Whispers of thoughts and guilt of past transgressions that remained in the pulpits long past the people have left and died. Churches were almost like people, aged by their flock of followers and given sentients by collective faith.

And that just gave Roach the willies!

So, Roach kept back a bit as he followed Cadence through the door. Sure, he could have stayed behind- Hell, part of him wished he had, but... but something about this entire event was making him feel invested. The other schools before this, the other groups, were quick to dismiss him as a lost cause. But last night, the folks actually took a moment to consider his theory.

'Crack pot theory,' he corrected himself.

Still, they listened. And while that wasn't making him feel like he was right at home with friends and family, it had been enough to make him feel part atleast to this little adventure going on. So, he followed behind Cady, nodding along until she began trailing off.

Rolling his eyes, Roach poked his head over her shoulder, taking over. "We're gettin' our asses haunted! Like, visions and shit- Err... I mean crap. But you dig? We're like... seein' death and feelin' crazy badness after us. And it's startin' to drive some people crazy- all except Cajun Sauce outside and his main squeeze, Cadburry here. But that's 'cause they're hot for eachother or something."

He took a breath before turning his head to look at Cadence. Yes, he was uncomfortably close. "Hey- Your hair smells rockin'- I'm totally diggin' it."

The Jesuit sat in a well worn, overstuffed chair after poking the fire in the hearth to warm the place up. "Welcome. Please, sit."

The room was comfortable, if a little cluttered. The overstuffed chair the Jesuit sat in was next to a love seat, across from which was a matching couch. In the corner, a dark wood desk, cluttered with papers. Every wall surface was taken up by a bookshelf, overflowing with books, most of them seemingly hand written, loosely bound journals, the kind you get to write diaries. The room had the smell of antiquity to it, and felt tranquil and timeless.

"I'm sure Etienne has mentioned me at least in passing, else you wouldn't be here. My name, at least since taking the mantle of the Jesuits, is Father Michael Archangelus. Michael is fine."

His warm smile seemed as if it would be welcoming to the whole of humanity. "You said you had questions. I don't know much about hauntings, but if you had questions about Creole Voodooism, or how Etienne and his people practice it, I would be glad to help. Tell me, children, what is troubling you?"

Bronka took a seat on the couch near the Jesuit. "Thank you for seeing us, Father Michael," she began. "We've come because Etienne said you had knowledge of the Loa and the Houghan way." She paused briefly to collect her thoughts before continuing.

"I'll cut right to the chase. There is a force or energy at work throughout our school. It's causing students to... how do I put this? To see things. Or to hear or smell or just feel them. Terrible things. Like snippets of nightmares." Remembering Ar and his rats, Bronka added "Some of these things are manifesting physically."

"I've been tracking this force. It permeates our entire campus except for Etienne's room. We believe it is kept away by a Houghan fetish. Cadence here also carries a Houghan charm which provides some protection.

"Etienne allowed us to speak to a Loa. One he called 'He of the Quickened Heart'. It wasn't particularly helpful, but it did give us a name before it left. 'Shortest Breath'. We've come to ask if you have any knowledge of this being.

"Is Shortest Breath a Loa or something similar?"

The Jesuit frowned in thought. "Shortest Breath, you saw. Hmm. It sounds familiar."

He rose from his seat and started looking through the bookshelves. "I think I ran into that once in Louisiana. The Loa are interesting entities. Very sophisticated in some ways, very basic in others. They have almost poetic names for themselves, and yet they name everything in the same terms they name each other."

He paused in his search, and smiled. "They call your friend the Half-Orphaned Steed."

He took a book off a shelf, and flipped through it. "No... not this one."

Placing the book back on the shelf, he resumed his search. "I'm afraid you'll have to be patient. The shelves are organized chronologically, but I'm afraid my memory isn't what it was. I think I remember this Silenced Breath, but I'm not sure when. Anyway, is there anything else you want to ask while I'm looking?"

Roach was looking through a newly acquired wallet as the others did the talking. Oh, he was perfectly fine with letting them have their share of conversation. Besides they knew more of the situation. So, Roach just looked through the wallet, leaning against a bookshelf in the back of the room.

He nodded along, mumbling as he counted several bills from the wallet's fold before plucking out a simple piece of paper. On it was a scribbled note made out to someone named 'Monkey Butt'. Roach snorted before crumbling up the piece of paper and tossing it towards the corner.

Somewhere along the time it took to pull back his hand and toss the wad of paper, he stopped and blinked. Finally, he snapped his fingers. Pushing off the bookcase, he moved towards the group again. "Yo, Father, I'm guessin' the Loa take their names from like... personal traits? I mean, that 'Quickened Heart' was all seduction and crap, yeah? So, would it be... like.. smart to think that 'Shortest Breath' like... described this entity?"

He paused, looking around. "Like.. I don't know... travelin' from person to person via breath? I don't know... Just somethin' we ain't considered. Like.. maybe the name gives us a clue as to how it works, yeah?"

The Jesuit turned his head and smiled. "Quite astute. Don't ever let yourself think you lack intelligence, my son."

He riffled through another book, then shook his head, replacing it back on the shelf. "Remember that Loa are spiritual personifications, a sort of anthropomorphism of specific emotions, feeling, or events that define humanity. Given what you said about your friend Quickened Heart, imagine what situation you would be in that your heart would speed up in the context of... romantic involvement."

The Jesuit had the decency to blush a little, and his searching became flustered. "Ah... well, perhaps you are too young to understand that. At any rate, you might be able to identify what it is by parsing who it is. Of course, assuming that it is a Loa."

"That might explain why Quickened Heart spent more time sniffing at Cady than it did answering any questions," Bronka offered. Inside she had to wonder why Etienne chose that particular Loa. Something like 'He of the Encyclopedic Memory" would have been a lot more useful.

"I'm not sure we can learn anything from 'Shortest Breath' though," she continued. "Short breath normally means you're tired, doesn't it? This thing isn't tired, it's hungry. Hungry and angry and hateful."

The Jesuit continued chatting to fill the quiet. "Of course, the Loa don't always come when called. They're more like cats, really, that way. Your friend has a knack with them most mules don't. He seems to form a stronger connection than... ah, here it is."

He returned to his chair near the fire, and settled down. Thumbing through his notes, and finally settled on a page, and read.

"Interesting, interesting... hmmm... No, it was Shortened Breath that the houghan warned me about. Might be related."