Galt/Hill Mining Camp

November:

"Thanks so much! I'll be sure to get back before you close, I don't expect to stay too long." Niall rolled up the window and backed out of the Gas and Dash. He hadn't really known what to expect from the small town, but the warm reception was definitely appreciated.

He followed the directions the man had given him, driving some miles down through the woods, finally slowing upon seeing an assortment of trailers that he assumed to be Galt's, considering that they surrounded...well, simply put, one of the weirdest things he had ever seen. The pit began deep within the earth like a crack straight to hell, and Niall was well aware that the mine itself extended far beyond what was visible from his vantage point. It was awe-inspiring, for lack of a better word.

"Wow," Rebekah said in a low voice. "That's, uh, that's pretty crazy, honey. You know I'm not as familiar with this stuff as you are, is this something that's normal, or...?"

Niall shook his head. "This is most definitely not normal. Like I said - should have collapsed years ago." Managing to draw his attention away from the mine, he noticed someone walking across the site who seemed to know what they were doing. "Uh, excuse me!" he called. "Do you know where we could view the orbs that were found?"

Keeper:

Alexander Marquette looked out of place on the edge of the mine. It wasn't just the finely pressed suit, but also the air of self-importance that he carried about him. He turned to look at the new arrival, taking a moment to think before approaching Niall. "The orbs, sir, are currently property of Sinai Hill research. Might I ask your interest in them? I'm just making sure that they aren't damaged in any way shape or form." And that this guy wasn't a wackjob who believed that they had found God's testicles or some such nonsense. They had come out of the woodwork recently. And this was not in Alexander's job - he was here to buy the mine property from Galt, not to babysit some rocks. "You have to understand, we are very interested in these items. Or so say the boys running the tests. And they asked me to make sure they don't get disturbed if we can help it. You likely understand, mister....." Alexander let the sentence trail off, rotating his hand as if waiting for the name.

"Curran. Dr. Niall Curran," Niall responded as pleasantly as he could. Christ, but this guy was a little prick. Who dressed like that to go out in the field? He hadn't heard of Sinai Hill before, but from the name he guessed some kind of archaeological firm. Archaeologists - always arseholes.

"I'm a geologist with the University of Colorado in Boulder," he continued. "Rebekah - my wife - and I heard of the discovery this morning and thought we'd head over to see what we could, seeing as you weren't too far from us. I was mostly just interested in taking a look at the items in question, but I understand if you're too busy. Must be quite the attraction, eh?"

Alexander paused, looking through the window at Rebekah before smiling. It seemed an odd expression, unnatural and bizarre, almost alien to his face. "Of course, Doctor Curran. I've got one of the orbs back in the trailer. Forgive me, but Armani is not the best wear for this situation. I'm really not one of the grunts, just here for business. I suppose I could show it to you, but it is really just a boring rock. However, who am I to deny such company?" Alexander left his gaze lingering on Rebekah a moment longer before turning to Niall. "Shall we? You may want to invite your wife, I'll put the coffee on. Seems like we could have a little chat about those orbs."

"Uh...sounds lovely," Niall replied. "Rebekah, shall we?" What the hell had just happened? The guy had gotten all friendly all of a sudden, after being a complete jerk two seconds before. It was completely out of the blue.

Rebekah stepped out of the car, with a reluctant look. "That guy really creeps me out, Niall," she whispered as the two followed Alexander at a slight distance. "I don't know what it is, it's just...the way he looks at us..."

Oh. Oh. That was what had just happened. That was always what happened. Of course Rebekah was stunningly gorgeous, but she hadn't even spoken to him! For God's sake, couldn't a man have one Saturday to go looking at weird rocks without someone immediately hitting on his wife? Niall's mood soured as they approached the trailer. If that guy made one wrong move...

Alexander led them towards a larger trailer, looking like a small white home in the midst of an odd amalgamation of metals shacks. Outside the trailer, a technician was discussing something with a immaculately styled blonde. She looked upset, her arms crossed and her lips in a slightly pouty expression. She was dressed semi-elegantly in a flowing gown, seeming almost as out of place as Alexanders suit. He eyed her mildly as she turned towards him and muttered something Niall could not make out. Only Alexanders reply was audible.

"Trixie, now is not the time. I have company. Go on home. I'll talk to you later, when I request your company. Got it, doll?"

Her face scrunched slightly with displeasure, and as she began to storm past Niall, she could be heard muttering under her breath. "Doesn't he know who I AM? Jackass."

She brushed past Niall and Rebekah hastily, the scent of elegant perfumes hanging in the air after her, an anomaly to the sulfury undertones of the mine. Alexander turned around as he opened the door. "Right this way. And ignore Trixie. She's...just an upset girl over some private issues." He waved them in and crossed to a small kitchen, turning on the coffeemaker. He pointed towards a table in the main room. "There you are."

The orb was about eight inches in diameter, and amazingly heavy. It was, without a doubt, completely solid. The stone itself was perfectly rounded with no markings or scuffs, and it was a solid black with a faint sheen to it. "Found about seven hundred feet down. Four of them. Three this size, one smaller one perched between them. From my understanding, not a common thing out here." Alexander seemed moderately bored, her gaze moving to Rebekah and the coffee maker alternately.

Niall was almost too distracted by his anger to notice the pissed-off blonde who looked like she had jumped out of the '40s or something. He mentally filed her as "weird anachronism girl;" maybe if she stayed around town they'd run into each other, and Niall wasn't about to forget a girl who dressed like that.

He followed Alexander into the trailer, making sure to stay close to Rebekah, although the close quarters didn't make that particularly difficult. He was momentarily shocked out of his anger by the sight of the orb on the table in front of him. He leaned down to examine it, almost afraid to touch it. (Geology check) Rebekah leaned in as well, warily eyeing Alexander.

In Niall's years of studying the earth, he had never, ever seen anything like this.

[Geology, 20/86 - Obsidian is normally a relatively soft 'rock', however this orb is solid through and weighs somewhere around fifteen pounds, comparable to a shotput. There is no mark or etching on any surface, and no additional smoothing beyond the orb: i.e.; no flatter areas. There is no reflection or sheen from the quartz normally found in obsidian, rather a dull black matte color that dimly reflects the light.]

"It's hefty, isn't it? A thick little ball. Most of the boys say it shouldn't be around here...no volcanic activity. Also a lot harder than normal. The lab compared it to diamond, rather than obsidian. Something about hardness scales and so on..." Alexander waved his hand, drifting the words away as his cellphone rang. "One moment." He picked the phone up, walking past the couple and out the door onto the 'porch' of the trailer to speak, his voice a faint rumbling in the background.
The orb took a vague shine for a moment, and in it one could see shadowy figures moving about. They seemed to move free of the light, with no discernible features. The effect only lasted for a few moments, the shapes shifting and adapting before fading away entirely. Niall and Rebekah were alone in the trailer no, Alexander having a semi-heated phone call.

[Niall - Mythos +1]

Niall rolled the rock gently between his hands on the table, feeling some sort of weird...rush? Dizziness? He wasn't quite sure what it was. Whatever it was, this rock was causing it. This incredible rock. Definitely obsidian, although he wasn't quite sure how he would be able to prove that. It had a lustre to it that Niall had rarely if ever seen in raw obsidian - but then, raw obsidian was never (to his fairly expansive knowledge) found perfectly spherical. And there were others found like this? Something geologically fascinating was happening down in that mine, and Niall needed to know everything about it.

"Becks, look at it," he practically breathed. "Isn't it gorgeous?"

Rebekah was barely paying attention to the orb; her attention was focused elsewhere. The man currently talking on his cell phone on the porch dominated her thoughts, and not in a good way. She had never gotten such a skeevy vibe from anyone before. She was thoroughly rattled by it, and him.

"Uh, yeah, honey," she mumbled, glancing at the orb. "It's pretty cool."

Alexander ended his call abruptly, reentering the room. He passed closer to Rebekah than needed, smiling a cold grin before talking to Niall. "Fascinating little thing. I suppose that you could stay around the camp if you'd like, maybe we could even get you down into the shallow draws. Take a look around. The boys might even enjoy a little company." He absently brushed at his suit. "And your wife could stay with you here in the camp, or we can comp her a room at that little hovel back in town. But I feel that there is much she could see from a tour while you're in the rocks..." Alex looked at his phone, swearing quietly. "Pardon. I'll let you two decide, my boss is on the phone again. Weather looks a little bad out there, so you might not want to delay too long." He lifted the phone again, speaking as it rose.

Yes sir....soon, just have to talk to the mine lead tonight. Maybe tomorrow."

His words drifted away as he walked out, shutting the door behind him.

The orb seemed to pulse slightly in Nialls hands, the blackness shifting around slowly and lazily. In it, for the briefest of moments, something appeared - something close to human, and yet foreign. It stared out for a breath, then melded away once more.

As soon as Alexander had left the room, Niall turned to Rebekah, practically beaming. "Can you believe that! Just think, Becks, it'll be the chance of a lifetime. I've never seen anything like this before. Maybe he's less of a prick than I gave him credit for..."

"No, I really don't think he is," Rebekah replied, but her tone quickly softened. "I really think we should head home. I mean, it's getting pretty late, and you told that guy at the gas station we wouldn't be staying too long."

Niall waved a hand dismissively. "We'll be fine. We can stay at the what's-it-called inn tonight and head back tomorrow. It's like a vacation. You really want to head back and grade papers?"

Rebekah rolled her eyes, as more of a bitter tone slipped into her voice. "Honestly? Yes, I would, Niall. I'd say grading papers is infinitely preferable to getting sexually harassed by some asshole in a suit while my husband plays with rocks in a hole that might collapse from under our feet."

"Thanks, a thaisce," Niall replied sarcastically. "Glad to know you hold my field in such high regard. Like I wouldn't punt that orb into his head the second he tried to pull anything with you."

"I'm having my doubts about that right now," Rebekah replied coldly. Niall narrowed his eyes at her. She knew, she fucking knew exactly how to get to him! She knew that there was nothing he cared about more than her, but she persisted with this anyway. Like he'd leave the prick in the suit alone with her. He'd rather die.

"You want to stick around here?" she continued. "Fine by me. I'm taking the car and heading to the inn. You can come join me once you've had your fun." With that, she turned on her heel and left the trailer, walking to the car and driving away without so much as a glance back.

Niall sighed. All he'd wanted was a simple, enjoyable Saturday... Oh well. Might as well do what he'd come here to do.

(a thaisce = Gaelic for "my treasure")

Alexander came walking in the door a few moments later. "A shame she decided to head back. Could have been a fascinating tour." Alexander seemed disinterested again now. "The boys said it's fine. They'll take you down into the mine when you want. About seven hundred feet or so under is where they first found the orbs. Other than that, there's not a lot to be done. At least, as far as I am concerned. I'll call the Inn and get your room set up." Alexander opened the door once more. "Stevens, come over here? This gentleman wants to go into the mine. Have a nice tour, Mister Curran."
[-Exit scene-]

Niall entered the trailer warily, trying his best not to look nervous. He didn't do well with authority figures, he always got anxious around them - it was a problem he'd had since he was young. Hadn't helped him too much in graduate school, that was for certain. And without Rebekah, his rock, by his side, he was even more on edge. Rebekah. Was she all right? Had the police questioned her as well? He should have just left with her in the first place.

He nodded to the officer sitting at the table. God, the fact that American police carried guns made him nervous. "I'm Dr. Niall Curran," he said as confidently as he could manage. "What seems to be the trouble, officer?" (Persuade check to see if he actually comes across as being as confident as he's trying to be)

[Persuade - 68/55 Failed.]

The man was nervous, that much was obvious. A little shaky, and he had that panicked look of someone caught in a trap. Jack made a note of it, keeping his eyes on the man as he spoke. "Pleasure, Doctor Curran. My name is Jack Crenshaw. I just have a few questions for you." He laid out Rebekahs ID on the table first. "Down at the Stagger they say that you and Miss Crenshaw checked in together earlier tonight. Alexander out there says that the two of you came here together. Then she left in a huff. Stop me if I'm too far off, won't you?" He kept an eye on Niall at all times, giving him the unpleasant sensation of a hawk watching a mouse. "And then, sometime between her leaving here and me arriving, we found your car pulled off the road. With her purse loose. The doors unlocked, and her wedding ring and a scarf close by. But here's the odd part, doctor..." He leaned in, smiling slightly. "...we don't know what happened. So we thought that maybe you can fill us in on where exactly Miss Curran is right now. Because I figure, of all people, you must know. No signs of a struggle, no violence, but no Rebekah either. And she'd stand out in a town like this, I'm sure. Everyone knows everyone. So maybe you could shed some light on this for us." Jack Crenshaw leaned back, watching the mans reaction closely.

"Because when a man argues with his wife, she storms off, then vanishes and leaves her purse and wedding ring, well....that's a real conundrum. And since you're an educated man, maybe you could tell me something that makes sense." He kept his notepad ready, making sure to leave himself able to get up if Niall ran for it.

Niall sank down into the chair across the table from the officer, the colour draining from his face. "I...are you sure it's Rebekah?" he asked hoarsely. "I mean, I'm not doubting you, I just...it's hard for me to accept." He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. "Yeah, we did have an argument before she left, but it wasn't anything serious. I just stayed behind at the mine, figured I'd apologise once we'd both cooled off a bit. One of the men from Sinai was with me the whole time, he can tell you." Could they possibly think that Niall had had something to do with Rebekah vanishing? The thought absolutely made him sick.

His worst fear, even worse than being deported, had come true. Rebekah was gone, lost somewhere without him, and it was all his fault. He should never, ever have stayed without her.

Crenshaw took his notes calmly. "Do these items look familiar, mister Curran?" He took out two evidence bags, one holding the wedding ring and another with a dark scarf, a rip torn through where it had caught on the gate. "And, while I know this may be a difficult idea, is there any reason that she would have had to leave you? Infidelity, a substance problem, etcetera.... or anybody she may have gone to meet?" He continued to watch and jot his notes, sometimes just moving the pen to see if it got a reaction. "I need to know these things, doctor. I'll check your story with the boys here, and I'm fairly sure it'll check out, but I need to know these things."

"Yes...yes, those are Rebekah's." Niall took a shaky breath before he continued. It was her ring, the ring he'd bought her at that fancy mall in Seattle just before he asked her to marry him. She never took it off. And the scarf her niece and nephew, Grace and Daniel, had sent for her birthday last year; she'd worn it near-constantly since the weather had gotten colder, saying it reminded her of winters back home.

"I can't think of any reason she'd have to just...take off like this. I mean, God, she loves teaching, our marriage is as healthy as anyone else's, she doesn't drink or anything..." Niall's voice failed him then, and he had to stop for a moment to compose himself.

"It's just not like Rebekah, Officer," he finished brokenly, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Not like her at all."

Crenshaw paused for a moment, taking all the notes in. "Let me be level with you, doctor Curran. We have nothing to go on here. We have an abandoned vehicle with a spilled purse, no wallet, a ring, and a scarf leading into a wrecking yard where we found the keys outside an old train car that hasn't done anything but rust for the last twenty years. The caretaker at the yard says he hasn't seen or heard anything. You were down a mineshaft, and the last time anyone seems to have seen your wife was when mister Marquette out there heard you two arguing and she left. We've got dogs searching the yard high and low, but so far we aren't seeing much. If there is anything, anything at all that you may know or might help us, it's your duty to tell us. Because what you're painting is a fine family affair, with no real reason to vanish - somewhere between that and what we have at the crime scene is some truth." He set his notebook down quietly. "I'm trying, believe it or not, to help you here. This is the second woman gone missing in our town in two months. So helping you might help us find out what keeps happening."

Niall remained silent for a moment, staring down at the table, his mind racing. This had happened before? So Rebekah wasn't the only one? He had to do what he could to get her back.

"This is all I know," he finally said hoarsely. "I saw an article this morning about the orbs that were found out here - odd, since obsidian isn't typically found in this area of Colorado. I'm a geologist by profession, so it piqued my interest; Rebekah and I thought we'd just make a day of it, you know, come see the rocks and some scenery along the way. We arrived out here and stopped at the petrol station to get directions from the man there, then came straight down here.

"That's where we met...I guess Mr. Marquette, I don't believe he ever told us his name. The blond in the suit? Rebekah didn't like him, he gave her the creeps. The way he stared at her. And he was definitely staring at her; he wouldn't even give me the time of day until he saw her. It pissed me off but he didn't actually do anything. Anyway, she wanted to head back because of how much he creeped her out, but I wanted to stay - stupid, I know, but I'd come all the way out here to see the rocks...

"Anyway, that's when we had the argument. She left to head back to the inn - that was the last thing she said to me, 'I'm taking the car and heading to the inn' - and I went down the mine. And after that..." He ran his fingers through his hair and stared at his hands. "That's all I know. And it's nothing."

Carl left the Stagger and got into his Audi A5. He didn't take particularly good care of it, his erratic work history saw to that, but he always made sure it was clean. In that respect is was somewhat at odd with most other things in his life. He didn't cut his hair often, didn't buy or maintain nice clothes, and treated his work materials completely opposite to his car; his camera and laptop appeared battered and worn, but were actually in perfectly working order with any and all upgrades he could muster.

He followed Isaac's directions to the offices, though he realized calling them that was generous. It really just seemed to be a collection of trailers and shacks. He wasn't sure if he'd find Dante there this late or not, but there would at least be someone who could tell him a little and when he would be around. Usually there people in these backwoods town that would be ecstatic at thought of being part of the news, though print just didn't command the same amount of fanaticism as a TV camera. He wondered how unethical, or illegal, it might be carry around a professional looking video camera just to try to get more people to talk.

Carl approached a trailer that seemed to be the main office and tried the door.

Crenshaw paused, taking a deep sip of the coffee. "Well. I wouldn't plan on leaving town anytime soon, doctor. We might need to talk with you a few more times. I've told you what I know. One more thing..." He paused, taking out another evidence bag. "Did Rebekah have any interests in trains?" Inside the bag was a small and weathered train ticket, entitling the bearer to one trip down the Fabulous 309. Rebekah Curran was stamped neatly across the middle, and the end had been punched. There was a bit of mud around the edges, and the ticket looked far too old to be anything recent. "Or maybe you took a train recently?"

----------------------------------------------------

Dante Tanner almost bowled the man over as he came out his door, a gorgeous blonde following him. "For the last damned time, Trix, I've got to sell! There's no damned..." His words faded off as he looked at the man on his 'porch', Trixie almost walking into him. She smoothed out the ruffled in her dress and pouted slightly. Dante broke the awkward moment first, jabbing his hand out in a greeting. "Dante Tanner. You must be the press guy, right? From Denver? Good on ya. Hope you found the place alright. Walk with me, talk with me...Trixie, beat it. We can talk later." He stepped aside, allowing the woman to slink her way past the pair and, oddly, towards the mine. "Woodstein? Woodberg? Something close, right? I lost the paper that had your name on it. What do you need to know?" Dante continued propelling himself forward as he spoke, keeping a nearly manic energy. "Make sure you idiots put the parking brake on that thing - no need to damage another trailer!" He turned his head towards Carl. "Good guys, great workers, dumb as the rocks they dig. What can I do for ya?"

Niall nodded. "Yes sir, I understand. I'll do whatever it takes to find her." The initial shock was beginning to fade, replaced by a cold fury. Whoever, whatever had taken Rebekah, he was going to find her. No matter what it took.

He leaned forward and looked at the train ticket. "No, we haven't taken any trains. Rebekah does like them, I guess. Last time we went to Seattle we rode the Amtrak instead of a plane, but that would've been over a year ago...and besides, the ticket didn't look anything like this. The 309? I've never heard of that." It looked far too old to have anything to do with Rebekah, but there her name was right on it... Something seriously strange was going on here, something Niall's mind was only beginning to grasp the depths of.

Crenshaw turned the ticket over in the bag. "The 309 used to run here, but that was quite a few years back. It was a mining train, really. Thought maybe you would know something, since there haven't been tickets, even replicas, sold for a few decades. I had rather hoped that there would be something to it that you could see. I'll let the boys at the scene know that you can come take a look at the car when they're done. If you're a religious man, the Lady is right nearby. If you;re not, you can go get a drink. I'll let you know if we find out anything else." Crenshaw stood up and let himself out, walking past Niall toward his patrol car. With a slight nod, Crenshaw got into the Crown Vic and started it, slowly fading down the road. From the other direction came a flurry of noise and voices, culminating in 'anachronism girl' in the red dress storming away from the Galt mining trailer, her clutch purse held close. She seemed moderately fuming, obviously annoyed by something. She slowed slightly as the patrol car rolled past, tracking it warily. The door to the trailer opened quickly, and Trixie walked in. "Alexander, you have got to-" She paused. "You're new here." It was said with an edged caution to it. "Why are you here?" Glancing over her shoulder, she seemed to check for a trap. "With the Hill?" Maybe there would be one person that would listen to logic, with all these new suits and faces coming around. This one looked a little wounded though, maybe already defeated. She pushed the door closed and leaned against it, twirling a finger in her hair and smiling slightly.

A mining train? Rebekah liked riding trains, said it made her feel classy, but she'd never been much of a collector of anything excepting her favorite books in languages she may or may not have known how to speak. Niall couldn't see her secretly collecting train memorabilia behind his back. So fantastic. Everything led back to the mine somehow. Niall trusted the cop, he seemed like a decent guy for the most part, but his mind wouldn't let him rest. He would go down to the old trainyard and see for himself what he could find.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the door of the trailer open, as a blonde in a red dress walked in. The weird anachronism girl, who looked like she was trying to be some kind of '40s starlet. Niall had seen some girls like that in his classes, with the red lipstick and the black eyeliner and too much time spent on their hair as opposed to their homework, but this girl took it to a whole new level.

He sighed deeply. "No, miss, I'm not with the Hill - Sinai Hill, I assume you mean? I'm just a tourist, came out to see the orbs they found down the mine. Niall Curran."

"Ah." She was, to be honest, a little disappointed. "Dammit. I mean, it's great that you aren't with Sinai, but still.." She pouted out her lips and sighed heavily. "So what's wrong? What got you in trouble?" She walked over, tracing her fingers lightly on the obsidian orb that was sitting there. "These things are kind of neato, aren't they?" She grinned a little. "I mean, maybe not worth traveling to see, but certainly kind of cool. I guess when you see them often enough they seem pretty normal. Just like trees and dirt, right?" She shrugged and looked at Niall. "I'm miss Trixie Carlson, the famous lady of Crestview and surrounding areas. So tell me, Niall Curran, what's the weight on your shoulders? I've got the time. I missed my train." She locked her eyes on Nialls. "And that means it must have left awful early and got itself in a big damned hurry. So I have to wait for the next one. What are you waiting for, Niall?"