I READ THE NEWS TODAY, OH BOY

[strangerpeople]

AND THOUGH THE NEWS WAS RATHER SAD

[Good morning, (good morning, good,) Strangers.

The countdown has been steadily ticking since Tuesday, and despite the crowded nature of the house making it a couple degrees warmer than it might otherwise be, the looming threat hangs cold.

There's a certain disquiet in the air as morning dawns on the residents of 15 Maple Lane – not that anyone would be able to tell, with the darkness of Pluto, of all places hanging outside.

Maybe it's just you? Or maybe there's something up with that? Only one way to find out...]

Comments

[carryabigstick]

Yeah... I hope we can find them before it's too late. Come on.

[Let's. See who's in the living room...]

[strangerpeople]

[And...well, at the end of the trail there is a body laying prone on the ground.]

[nolongerasleep]

[Lithia will do her best to remain calm and she'll look closer at the body. Is it the sleeping guy? Is the body bloody?]

[carryabigstick]

[Estelle rushes over to check on them, whispering under her breath. Please don't be dead...]

Hey--!

[Are they still alive...?]

[strangerpeople]

[It is not the sleeping guy. And they are very definitely not moving, or responding to Estelle's reaction. And touching the body results in feeling how cold and stiff it is.

Indeed.



It is very clear once the two are close enough that Himeko Inaba, the Hunter, is dead..]

[carryabigstick]

Inaba...

[Wow, this is. Really upsetting.]

She's. Dead. Someone... actually killed her.

[SHE'S MAD. But also frustrated with herself. She couldn't stop this from happening.]

...what now?

[nightmareofdivinity]

[Fou-Lu is rousing in his corner, but when he sees what’s going on he snatches up the fire poker and cloak.]

... So someone hath succumbed to the threat after all... cowardly.

[carryabigstick]

Yeah, I agree. It was really cowardly.

[But it's. A complicated situation.]

We have to figure out who did this. I can't just leave it like this.

[That's just part of who she is. She needs that closure. And if she can, she wants at least some form of justice for Inaba.]

[nolongerasleep]

[Lithia definitely is going to look closer and try to find out what she can. Obviously there's nothing they can do besides figure out who did it. Are there any obvious wounds that could point to what caused that trail of blood?]

[galesanctuary]

[ At some point before the announcement, he came into the kitchen and hurriedly followed the trail. He saw the others and he checks the body before trying to use his power and...

Nothing.

He feels like a failure. He didn't know her so it's nothing truly personal but it's agonizing nonetheless. He at least spoke to her and...well. Time to move on. ]