Chris Washburn (fireonice) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2021-09-06 09:44:00 |
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Entry tags: | #june 2018, chris, chris x kenzie, kenzie |
Who: Kenzie and Chris
When: night, Sunday, June 17th
Where: Juniper, the park
Status: complete
The thing about working a job that was reliant on the supernatural was that sometimes you had to pull all nighters. Chris was fairly used to not having any sort of set schedule, being a veteran firefighter, but it had only gotten more erratic, working for the Foundation. Especially having a partner who liked to be as thorough as Kenzie did.
There had been some sightings of an anomaly that looked like a very long, thin man in a bowler hat that had made their way to Kenzie’s ears, so she had brought it up to Chris earlier that day, wanting to look into it. According to rumors, it was something that only showed up at night, so Chris tried to get a nap in Sunday afternoon. Then he’d run out to fetch some decent coffee, and it was early evening by the time he was tapping on Kenzie’s room door, one hand balancing the drink carrier from Joyland, a bag of snacks hanging from his fingers.
Kenzie was stoked to be heading out into Point Pleasant after sunset. So many strange things always happened in the dark and it was a hell of a lot nicer to be outside when it was June and not in the dead of winter. She was ready to go when Chris knocked on her door and Kenzie pulled it open, a smile on her face. "You're amazing," she said, reaching for the drink carrier to ease some of his burden. The coffee was exactly what she needed. Stepping out, Kenzie pulled the door shut. "So, from what I can tell, there were a few sightings of this man Saturday night. I'm hoping to track down a few people and talk to them and find out exactly what they saw, especially if we don't see anything tonight." She tugged one of the coffee cups from the carrier, smelled it quickly and then handed it to Chris. "I haven't explored an area like this after dark in so long." She was excited, which she was sure Chris already knew.
It was impossible to miss that Kenzie was excited, and it kind of amused Chris to see. It wasn’t the first time she’d gotten pumped about something they were about to do that most people would consider “scary,” but it seemed extra adorable to him tonight. Probably because he was a sucker who’d caught feelings, but whatever, it was working for now. Chris readjusted the snack bag and accepted his coffee, bringing it up for a sip. “Were the sightings in any particular area?” he asked, as they walked down the hall toward the stairs. He was willing to bet that they wouldn’t see anything themselves, but would end up tracking down the other witnesses to take statements ... the two of them had seen some shit in their careers together, but most of the time stakeouts like this weren’t fruitful. Still, it was something to do, and the possibility was still there.
"No, they seem to be anywhere and everywhere," Kenzie said, sipping her coffee. "Backyards, the park, the woods. It's like he just shows up wherever he feels like. Assuming, of course, that he actually exists. Despite the anomalies in this town, it's possible that these sightings are just overactive imaginations." Obviously they had both seen a lot of strange things over the years, but not every story was true. "Believe it or not, a few police reports actually mention these sightings too. Apparently there are missing people who had told family or friends about seeing this thing before they disappeared. Honestly, I would say this was just a creepy man kidnapping people, but it's been going on for a couple of decades now, so..." She sipped her coffee again and eyed the bag in his hands. "What do you have in there?"
All of those were possibilities, of course. Chris found himself hoping it was some sort of anomaly so they could write up a report about it to send back to HQ, to further justify them staying in Point Pleasant. He wasn’t naive enough to think they could play house here forever, but he couldn’t be blamed for wanting to extend their stay, right? There did seem to be a lot to sink their teeth into here. “Interesting,” he murmured. “I wonder if we’ll have a run of disappearances after the bunch of sightings the other night, then. Oh, uh ...” Chris lifted the bag a bit. “Just snacks. Mixed nuts, pretzels, fruit thingies. Couple candy bars. Stakeout fuel.” He gave her a little grin. Kenzie probably wouldn’t touch any of it, but Chris had to have something to munch on when he got really bored.
Kenzie had no idea if there would be any disappearances linked to this bowler-hat wearing anomaly, but this town seemed to experience a lot of missing people, so it was entirely possible. "Stakeout fuel," Kenzie repeated, smirking a little as they descended the stairs. "Maybe we can lure the anomaly out with a chocolate bar." She was teasing him, but Kenzie thought she might dip her hand into those mixed nuts if he was willing to share. Her pack was full of things she might need for the job and Kenzie hadn't even thought to toss any food inside. "While I'm thinking about it, I think we should talk to a couple people this week. The people who disappeared in January and only recently returned. See if they'll give us anything interesting to report on."
“You laugh, but the evil undead need candy too,” Chris joked, still smirking. “Like those ‘you’re not yourself when you’re hungry’ Snickers commercials? We can fix this town with enough chocolate.” He was just talking out of his ass, of course, the candy was all for him and he would have to jog an extra few miles to make up for it, but oh well. Life was about balance and all that. “But yeah, we probably should. I dunno if we’ve got all of their names, but we’ve got a pretty decent list to start with.” Getting locals to talk to them was often a numbers game, so if they had a pool of multiple victims to try, odds were that somebody would tell them something. That was the hope, anyway. Even if they refused to talk, just being in their proximity meant that Chris could do some lowkey scans, see if they pinged strangely at all. Once they reached Juniper’s front door, Chris held it open for Kenzie.
It was a nice night, a little breezy but pleasant. Kenzie almost didn't want to drive, despite knowing that would be their best bet. Still, she had a gut feeling to walk so she turned to Chris as they stepped outside. "I think we should walk. I think we'll have a better chance of experiencing, or finding, something if we're on foot. Would you be okay with that?" They might have strange equipment on their persons but they could also look like an ordinary couple taking an ordinary walk around town on a nice, summer evening. Maybe that would actually benefit them. It was possible they could experience something supernatural, even if it wasn't the bowler-hat man.
Everything that might look odd to anyone else was concealed in a backpack slung over Chris’s shoulder, so he wasn’t worried about walking around looking like a Ghostbuster or something. He was just a little surprised that Kenzie wanted to walk rather than drive. But the weather was fantastic and it was always good to stretch his legs, so Chris didn’t see any reason to say no. “Sure, yeah,” he answered with a shrug. “Here, hold this for a sec.” Chris handed Kenzie his coffee cup. He slipped out of one strap of his backpack and pulled it around to unzip and tuck the snack bag inside of it. Once everything was settled again, he gave her a little smile. “Boots on the ground for real, here we go. Where do you wanna start?”
Kenzie drank her own coffee while holding his, and then handed his cup back when he got his snacks settled. "I was thinking the park. It has a trail that goes through a small section of trees. It's dark now so I doubt there will be a lot of people there. I don't think we can expect to see this thing at the more obvious local haunts." She lifted her free hand to half-air quote haunts. "Considering how everyone has a phone now, it really bothers me that none of these people claiming a sighting have ever taken a photo. Or if they have, they've never shared it. You would think they would want to tout proof of their encounter instead of just sounding crazy."
Chris was man enough to admit to himself that he got a prickle of anticipation that bordered on nerves at the prospect of walking through a Point Pleasant park in the dark. They hadn’t done much of that when they’d been here before, but they’d also been there in the dead of winter, so the weather was fairly prohibitive. He hadn’t packed any weaponry, but now he kind of wished he had. But if Kenzie wasn’t worried then he was determined not to act worried either. “Maybe it doesn’t show up in photos,” he suggested as they walked, lifting his coffee to sip on. “Or it happens so quick that people can’t capture it. Or they’re all just dumbasses, I dunno.”
Kenzie probably would have been more apprehensive about what they were doing, but it wasn't like they hadn't been in more dangerous situations. And she felt like they were prepared and could handle things if things took a turn. "Maybe they're just so scared they don't think to pull out their phones to take a photo," she mused before voicing his earlier thoughts. "But it would be nice to have something to send back to HQ. At least to show them we're making some progress. I don't want to walk away empty handed this time, you know?" Sure, they had been able to get some samples of that black goo to send back to Atlanta, but Kenzie wanted more. This town was paranormal behavior and she knew she would feel like a failure if they weren't able to prove it.
“Were we really empty-handed, or is that some ‘must meet quota’ bullshit?” Chris mused, good humor in his tone. He wanted more too, if he was being completely honest, because it would prolong their stay here and give him more time with Kenzie ... but also because of science and progress for humankind and blah blah. He was too much of a grunt for that higher purpose stuff most of the time, but he liked to see Kenzie excited about something. “Don’t worry though, I’m sure we’ll be able to find some evidence to send them. This town’s practically brimming with it. Maybe we can get that asshole’s bowler hat.” Chris flashed her a grin, hoping in an idle way that shit-talking the entity might make it appear.
Kenzie smiled. "Okay, so we weren't empty handed, but I feel like we could have found more if they had left us here for a few more months. I think in a town like this you have to get to know people, create a rapport, right? I actually had the thought that they should have set us up in a house and had us go undercover as a married couple. That probably would have made things easier, at least when it came to talking to people and getting them to open up." Kenzie shook her head and sipped some more coffee before glancing over her shoulder, like she might actually see that thing down the street. But it was clear, which prompted a small sigh of disappointment. "I would be happy just seeing him with my own two eyes. If only to confirm that he's not human."
Chris nodded a bit, Kenzie was probably right about how their cover story could have been better. They were still reporters, he was pretty sure. Not that many people asked a lot of detailed questions about them -- folks in this town seemed to just shrug at newcomers and move on. “We can always pretend to get married, get ourselves an apartment,” he suggested to Kenzie, only half serious. “Oh look, we were partners out on a job and we fell in love, how fun and truth-adjacent.” Chris chuckled and bent down as he walked to absently snag up a piece of trash from the sidewalk. This town had a lot of garbage cans around, that was just shitty.
Kenzie took Chris's half-serious suggestion and seriously considered it. "That might actually work." she said, gesturing at him with her coffee. There was momentary distraction watching him pick up a piece of trash and it was difficult to suppress her amused smile. Chris Washburn, keeping the earth clean. Why that made her want to kiss him brainless, she had no idea. "You know, I could get the boss to sign off on that. But I think we ought to ask for a small house. Juniper is half empty, but apartment buildings... having someone sharing a wall might not give us the kind of privacy we need for work." As far as she knew, there was no one on either side of her room at the Inn. But she could only imagine having a nosy neighbor in a building full of people.
Chris hadn’t expected Kenzie to actually give it some thought and he looked over at her with raised brows. “Oh yeah? You really want to?” he asked. The bosses probably would sign off on it, rent around here would probably be cheaper than staying at Juniper, even for a house. And it would be one bill instead of two, since they were still keeping up the facade that they needed two rooms at the inn. But the suggestion was more or less ‘let’s live together,’ so Kenzie’s opinion mattered far more to him than their bosses’. He was surprised enough to even miss the opportunity to make innuendo about why they needed all the walls to themselves.
Kenzie arched a brow of her own. "Sure, I mean, it makes sense financially for the Foundation. And I think it gives us a more accessible cover." She realized it meant they would be living together and pretending to be married when people were around, but they were together more often than not these days anyway. She realized it might freak Chris out a bit, even if it was for work. It certainly blended their professional and personal relationship in a way they wouldn't really be able to escape from. "We can make sure the house has a guest room, if that makes things... less strange? I don't want you to be uncomfortable with it."
That was such a Kenzie answer, it made Chris chuckle. Of course she was thinking about work and his comfort and not much else. They passed a trash can and Chris tossed the discarded cup into it. “That doesn’t answer my question,” he pointed out, giving her a faint smile. “Do you, Kenzie Novak, want to live with me and pretend to be my wife, for as long as we’re here?” That had come out sounding more like a proposal than he’d intended, but he supposed it kind of was. In spite of how many nights they spent together at Juniper, playing house together seemed like it would be a different sort of vibe. Chris wasn’t sure exactly how he felt about it yet, first he wanted to know if Kenzie was really considering the non-practical sides of the idea.
Amused, Kenzie brought her coffee cup back up to her lips. "All you're missing is a ring," she teased. But she understood why he wanted to make sure this particular arrangement was one she wanted. Pretending to be married wasn't anything to wave her hand at, especially since they were in a relationship now. It could affect things and potentially ruin them too if it went badly. "But yes," she said confidently. "I want to do those things with you. We can make it work. As long as it's something you want as well. We can always keep things the way they are."
She sounded sure, and that felt good, probably for stupid reasons, but it was what it was. Chris still felt like a sucker sometimes for catching Feelings for his partner, but now that he knew it was mutual, those insecure moments were getting less frequent. “Nah, I like the idea,” he answered, giving Kenzie a brighter sort of smile. “We can definitely make it work. And yeah, if you decide you can’t stand me for another second, we’ll make sure there’s a second bedroom.” Even if it ended up fucking up their new relationship, he still thought they could stay professional and work together, living in the same house, as long as they had their own space.
"Then it's a deal," Kenzie said, pleased that they were able to agree upon it so easily. She knew that some men might have floundered, unable to keep the personal and professional sides from leaking into each other, but she should have known Chris could handle it. "I'll call tomorrow and get the details worked out." They were nearing the street that would take them into the park and Kenzie began to look around, searching for anything out of the ordinary. "Do you cook?" she asked. Living in a space with a kitchen meant they could eat more homecooked meals than going out or ordering in.
He knew she was probably being practical first and foremost, because she was Kenzie, but it made him smile that she wanted to take care of it so quickly. And that he didn’t have to make that phone call. Kenzie would be better at it. Chris glanced around them as Kenzie did, but he didn’t spot anything out of the ordinary at the moment. “I can cook a little, yeah,” he answered. “I grill more than anything, but I can throw some stuff together in a kitchen. Do you?” Chris felt like they’d bantered about this before at some point, but he didn’t remember the real answer. They’d always managed to feed themselves before so he didn’t think it was a big deal, but it was nice to have a home cooked meal sometimes.
"Believe it or not, I can cook," Kenzie said. "I just don't usually have the time for it." It might be nice to have a kitchen where she could put together something for the both of them. She reminded herself not to think ahead too much, but if they had been back in Atlanta, she would be making him dinner. Starting a new relationship here, of all places, while they were working together was difficult, so maybe it would be nice to have the opportunity to "date" and having a place of their own with the proper amenities helped. Work came first, of course, but they would have downtime. "Maybe we'll get lucky and get a house harboring an anomaly."
Chris chuckled softly. “Haunted inn, haunted rental, sure why not?” he mused. That reminded him of their strange encounter in the basement of Juniper, the thing that had broken the dam holding back their attraction to one another. He was tempted to remind Kenzie of that just to make her blush, but none of the wording seemed right in his head, so he didn’t. “You’re gonna spoil me, cooking and shit,” he said instead. “I would say I’m gonna feel married again, but Jenny hated to cook.”
Kenzie hadn't forgotten that Chris had been married before. It was just something that had settled far back in her mind, especially as he rarely talked about his ex-wife. Suddenly very aware of how strange this might be for him, Kenzie paused in her steps and slipped her hand around his arm. "This won't be uncomfortable for you, will it? I know it's a cover for the job, but we only just started seeing each other personally and I don't want it to freak you out, or conjure up any bad memories for you." Actual marriage was so far from her mind right now and Kenzie didn't want this charade to get in Chris's head and have him start doubting their relationship.
Chris couldn’t even recall if he’d ever told Kenzie his ex-wife’s name, but she naturally caught onto it anyway. He stopped walking when she took his arm and looked over with a slightly raised eyebrow. Would it be uncomfortable for him? He honestly wasn’t quite sure. He hadn’t actually lived with another woman since his divorce. It felt like a completely different lifetime now. Since he couldn’t really give her an honest solid answer, Chris smiled faintly and covered Kenzie’s hand with his own. “If it does, I’ll let you know, okay?” he offered. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. Fun, even. I’m not freaked out yet, but if I get there while it’s happening, we’ll figure it out, promise.” If nothing else, it would be an interesting test of how well they actually got along long-term.
Kenzie studied him for a moment before her lips curved into a small smile. "All right." She believed him and she trusted that he would tell her if things got too "real" for him. Kenzie would do her best to keep things light. Living together in a house was very different than having rooms across the hall from each other at an inn. Lowering her hand from his arm, Kenzie turned back to the park. It was darker now and things were quiet. She would say too quiet but given how small this town was, the silence probably wasn't unusual. "I like to think I'm enough to live with," she said as she began to walk again. "I don't know for sure though, as I've never lived with anyone other than a roommate at college."
Seeing as how he was obviously not the best communicator in the world, Chris was relieved that Kenzie accepted that promise. He would try to speak up if he got uncomfortable with their arrangement and needed something to change, but Chris didn’t think he would. Cohabitation might be a little weird at first, but Chris had the feeling they would get used to it pretty fast, and it wouldn’t feel just like being married. At least it wouldn’t feel like being married to Jenny, because Kenzie was definitely not his ex. As they entered the park, Chris kept his eyes peeled for any movement or activity around them too. It surprised him a little to hear she’d never lived with anyone and he raised a brow at her. “Really? No serious boyfriends ever or anything?” he asked, just sounding curious.
Handing her coffee to Chris to hold for a moment, Kenzie tugged her backpack around to unzip and pull her camera out. It would help her see better in the dark and catch any unusual hot spots. "Well, my last serious boyfriend was right after I got recruited," she explained, slipping her bag back onto her shoulder and taking her coffee back. "It wasn't yet at the point of living together. And then the job started taking up more of my time and the relationship sort of fizzled out. That was... a long time ago. Don't get me wrong, I've had... dates. Sex, you know? But I never got to where I wanted to live with someone else." Kenzie glanced at Chris. "How long were you married?"
In some ways he envied her, that she’d never had a marriage break up. He knew it was irrational, but it kind of felt like a blemish on his cosmic record, especially since it had been his fault. Chris wasn’t sure if Kenzie could handle that feeling of failure. “Almost seven years,” he answered with a slow nod. He didn’t often talk about the details of his divorce, not even with his family, something that endlessly frustrated his sister. Chris just didn’t see the point in breaking it down for anybody else. He and Jenny had talked it to death -- and yelled and cried, and it had been an exhausting rollercoaster, right on the heels of his mother’s passing. Who wanted to dwell on that shit? “I had dates and sex after that though, too,” Chris added, smirking faintly.
Seven years was a long time for any relationship and she sympathized with Chris, knowing it had to have been difficult for him when the marriage ended. He never talked about his ex-wife, which was how Kenzie knew the divorce had affected him deeply. It was one of the many differences between the two... Kenzie needed to talk about almost everything while Chris preferred not to. She flashed him an amused smile. "I'm sure you did. No other serious girlfriends?" They hadn't spoken much of their personal lives while working together, but Kenzie wondered if the divorce had turned Chris off from getting serious with other women. Maybe it was none of her business but she couldn't help but be curious.
His divorce had felt like another death, piled on top of the deep grief he was already mired in, and it had been the worst time in Chris’s life. He didn’t really know how to talk about it, so he never really wanted to, and not many people had pushed him to open up, so he just hadn’t. And then the Foundation had come into his life shortly thereafter and given Chris something else to focus on, a purpose to throw himself into. “Nah,” he said, shrugging one shoulder. “I got recruited not too long after, so I was busy, just like you said. I just filled some weekend nights with girls here and there, but didn’t ever click with anybody else.” He paused and glanced at her. “Until now, I mean.”
Kenzie could say the same thing. Even when they were solely partners and he was driving her crazy, Kenzie preferred Chris's company over anyone else at work. She had always told herself it was because they worked well together, despite the occasional bickering, but it was obvious that it had gone a bit deeper than that. It was a crush and now it was more than that. They just had to be careful about it. She parted her lips to respond when she heard something up ahead, scurrying across the darkened trail path. Looking quickly, Kenzie didn't see anything and it was likely just an animal, but still. "Did you hear that?"
Chris did indeed hear it too, and his head had snapped up to squint into the shadows. He hadn’t quite seen what crossed their path, more just gotten an impression of it. “Yup,” he answered, dipping his fingers into his jeans pocket to pull out a small LED flashlight. There were some streetlamps scattered throughout the park, but they were few and far between. Chris twisted the little metal tube on and shined it around, but didn’t see anything. Sometimes that was for the best. “Don’t see it,” he muttered. “Probably a raccoon or somethin’.”
Kenzie set her coffee cup on the trail with the intent to come back for it. She just wanted both hands free, should this be something worthwhile. With her camera in her hands, she glanced at Chris before walking ahead, towards the edge of the trail and the trees. "Only one way to know for sure," she said. It probably was a raccoon. Or it was something else, wandering the area and watching them even now. Kenzie didn't think they would get that lucky, but they were out here to investigate and search, so that's what she planned on doing. "I'll be right back, unless you want to come with."
He muttered an ‘ohmygod’ as he put his own coffee down and moved to follow Kenzie. Chris almost called her the worst partner in the world -- the words exasperated but affectionate in his head -- but now was probably the time to stop talking and pay attention to their surroundings. Of course he wanted to go with her, both for protection and to see if she actually found anything. Four eyes were better than two, all that. Chris held his flashlight pointed downward at the ground directly in front of their feet as they stepped into the trees. He didn’t want to advertise their location too much, or scare off anything that might be lingering around them.
Kenzie heard Chris, but let him grumble as she stepped off the path to head into the trees. She knew he would follow her, but even if he had decided to stay put, she felt capable of handling things. Drawing her camera up to look through the viewfinder, she searched for any sign of something living. An animal, at least. But there was nothing but darkness, prompting Kenzie to frown. Lowering the camera, Kenzie began to venture a bit deeper into the trees. There was a prickling along her skin, like they were being watched by someone or something, and Kenzie wondered if she ought to get her gun from her pack as well. "There's something close by," she murmured to Chris. "The camera isn't picking up anything, but I can feel it. Do you see anything?" Four eyes were better than two but if the camera wasn't picking up anything, she wasn't terribly sure Chris would be able to. Whatever it was blended into the darkness quite seamlessly.
He wasn’t seeing anything with his naked eyes, that was for sure. Just a bunch of gloom around them. Chris was having that same sort of creepy feeling though, that they weren’t alone. In a swift movement, he brought the flashlight up and swept it from left to right around them, hoping to catch something before it could duck away. He saw nothing but trees and stark shadows though, and the creepy feeling intensified. “No, don’t see shit,” he muttered to Kenzie as he clicked the flashlight off. Maybe they should try to be just as invisible as whatever else was out there. Chris was opening his mouth to say something more when he heard another rustling sound off to their left. His head whipped around in that direction and he strained to see through the darkness.
Kenzie's gaze moved as quickly as Chris's and she brought the camera back up to her face. Again, she saw nothing. At least for a moment. Movement caught her eye ahead, something slipping its way up into one of the trees. It wasn't a human, or even an animal, because there was no body heat registering on her camera. It was as dark as the night had become and Kenzie lowered the camera, watching the shadow slither up higher. "There," she murmured, pointing for Chris to see. It blended so seamlessly into the darkness that she wasn't sure if he would be able to catch sight of it, but it seemed to twist and turn around the tree trunk. Kenzie wasn't willing to classify it as an anomaly just yet but it was certainly unusual.
Chris was picking up on the sense of movement in the shadows, but he didn’t really see much until Kenzie pointed. Then he could make out just the faintest outline of ... something. He had no idea what it could be, especially if Kenzie couldn’t see it through the camera viewfinder. Chris kept his eyes on it, like it might fade completely away if he looked somewhere else. He itched to shine the flashlight on it, but he knew that might just make it disappear. Instead, Chris tucked the light into his jeans pocket and pulled his backpack around to pull out his scanner. He kept his eyes up on the tree and every movement slow, just in case the thing bolted.
Kenzie brought the camera up to her face again, just to snap a couple of photographs. This was part of why she loved her job. They came face to face with some of the most bizarre things imaginable and then sometimes... it's just a shadow. A potentially dangerous shadow, sure. But could also be completely harmless. Just something drifting between worlds. Just as she lowered the camera, the shadow seemed to dissipate, leaving behind nothing more than some rustling leaves. The noise had her questioning how a shadow could physically touch things. If this thing had been what they heard on the trail then it wasn't just floating about. Kenzie was about to pose the question to Chris when a branch cracked several feet in front of them and a pair of white eyes seemed to open in the dark, staring unblinkingly at them both. "Are you getting that?" Kenzie breathed, aware that Chris had pulled out his scanner. She wasn't sure yet if they ought to run away or try to apprehend it, but Kenzie hadn't come out prepared for that. She had just been hoping to spot something unusual for their reports.
The sharp cracking noise made Chris’s spine stiffen, and those eyes sent a ripple of unease through him. It was difficult to take his eyes off of it to glance down at the small green screen of the device in his hand, but he managed to make himself do it. “Yeah,” he whispered back. “The resonance is really weird ...” That was the frustrating thing about the equipment they had -- the technology was always limited when it came to anomalies. If the Foundation had a device that you could just point at a thing and identify it, Chris certainly didn’t know about it. When faced with so many things that defied science, a lot of it was guesswork from previous experience. Chris had no idea what made resonance patterns like that on his machine and had white eyes in the dark. “Is it in your camera?”
Kenzie was reluctant to take her eyes off of the entity in front of her, for fear it would disappear. So she simply drew the viewfinder up to her eyes. "Yes," she murmured, snapping another handful of photographs. This wasn't the dark man that had been reported around town, but something else. There was movement again as the dark shape drew closer and the white eyes disappeared, leaving behind nothing but shadow. She could still see it moving and Kenzie reached out to grip Chris's arm. "I think it's time to pull back." They weren't equipped with containing whatever this was and she didn't want to risk having it attack them, which seemed almost imminent now.
“Yup,” was all Chris said, already starting to back away. He had no idea what they were dealing with, but at least Kenzie had gotten some shots for them to look at later. Leaving was definitely on the agenda now. He didn’t want to turn his back to the entity to run, even though a base part of his psyche was tempted. Instead, he pulled his flashlight out again and twisted it on, aiming it at the thing that was following them as they moved backward. He was aware that he might just piss it off, but it seemed very shadow-based, so maybe light was also a protection.
As soon as the flashlight illuminated the shadow, it seemed to disappear. Kenzie knew that didn't mean it was gone, but she was hoping the light had scared it off. She moved with Chris, keeping her steps cautious as not to fall or trip. The sound of something moving through the trees startled Kenzie until she realized it was moving away and Kenzie glanced at Chris. Her adrenaline was probably evident in her expression. "I think it's gone."
Chris thought it was gone too, but it was so hard to tell with stuff like this. He pried Kenzie’s hand off of his arm to take it in his own, and turned back in the direction they’d come from. “Come on, let’s get back to the path,” he muttered. He swept the flashlight all around them again to try and discourage the thing from coming at them from a different angle, and pulled her with him, hurrying along toward where they’d left the trail. For an uncomfortable couple of minutes, Chris thought they might not find it again, but the trees suddenly stopped and there they were on the park trail again.
Once they hit the path, Kenzie exhaled and smiled at Chris. "That was amazing. Not exactly a man in a bowler hat but did you see its eyes?" Yes, she was hopped up on adrenaline, which was unusual for Kenzie as she was generally pretty composed when dealing with potential anomalies. Letting go of Chris's hand, she pulled up the photographs on her camera, just to make sure she got some decent ones, though they were hard to see in the dark. "You got your readings, right? We can send this to Atlanta tomorrow and figure out how to proceed."
Chris wasn’t sure he would call it amazing, but it had definitely been something. They’d had many close encounters with anomalies throughout their careers, but Chris thought that was probably his first in the woods in the dark, with something he hadn’t even been looking for. This town was just chock-full of stuff, wasn’t it? The danger seemed to be over though, and Chris tried to relax as he looked back over their shoulders to make sure nothing followed them out of the trees. “Yeah, I got readings,” he murmured back to Kenzie. Her enthusiasm was cute, but he was more concerned with getting them back to the car now. “Come on, let’s head back,” he said, already starting to walk.
Kenzie followed, swiping through the photos on her camera for a few feet before she slipped it back into her bag. The urge to glance behind her was strong, but she wasn't feeling watched the way she had once they were off the path and between the trees. Looking over at Chris, Kenzie arched a brow. "Were you scared?" she asked. It wasn't necessarily in a teasing way. He looked like he was focused on getting out of the park, so she was curious. The thing, whatever it had been, had been unnerving, but they dealt with unnerving constantly.
His first instinct was to give a dismissive scoff, so that was what came out. “No,” Chris said, glancing over at her with an incredulous expression. It wasn’t entirely true, he’d been more nervous than he usually was facing down that kind of anomaly. He didn’t know if it was just being back in this highly-active town or the fact that Kenzie was with him or what. If that was the case, if their new relationship was going to make him more edgy in the field, he needed to get that under control quick. “Were you?” he added with a soft huff. Chris doubted it, he wasn’t sure that he’d ever seen Kenzie truly scared. Wary and unsettled, sure, but not scared.
Kenzie grinned. "Yes, of course I was scared. It was a shadow figure with eyes, Chris. That's scary. Not to mention we were off a path in the dark and if that thing had come at us, I don't know what we would have done. We certainly weren't prepared the way we should have been. But... we've got photos and some data, so we can send something back to Atlanta." Which helped them, since their bosses could see physical evidence of the job they were doing. Which also meant they could continue to stay in Point Pleasant. Kenzie reached over to slip her hand into his. "It's okay to be scared. This job can be terrifying."
All the things she said were totally valid reasons to be scared, but Chris still didn’t want to admit it. Kenzie probably saw right through him, but he didn’t care about that much. “I know it’s okay. Still wasn’t scared,” he said, keeping up the bravado even though his shoulders had relaxed a bit. He was glad they hadn’t wandered too far away from where they’d parked. Chris cracked a little smile and glanced over as he squeezed Kenzie’s hand. “I’m glad we got something to send back,” he added. “First of many on this trip, I’m sure.” Which was another reason he needed to get that fear in line -- they didn’t know what they would be facing now that they were back in Point Pleasant.
"Mmhmm." Kenzie didn't believe him, but she wasn't going to needle him about it. It was okay to be scared, especially in their line of work. "Definitely first of many. I'm sure they'll tell us if they want us to apprehend anything, but next time we should definitely be prepared for that. Then again, it might be difficult to do that on our own." If they were just containing an anomaly and leaving, it would be simple, but because they were in Point Pleasant for the foreseeable future, containing anomalies wouldn't be as simple. "It's not a man in a bowler hat, but it's something. Do you want to keep walking about and see what else there could be?"
“If we find anything worth apprehending, I’m sure they’ll send a team,” Chris murmured, his eyes still roaming the area around them, just in case something else made itself known. They didn’t have the equipment or facilities to hold anything for very long, and Chris kind of doubted that they could even catch anything big and powerful themselves. But if they informed the Foundation that they’d found something new or particularly dangerous, they would send out other agents to handle it. “... did you bring your weapon?” he asked, his gaze coming back to Kenzie. Chris kind of felt like an idiot now because he hadn’t brought anything to defend them, but if Kenzie had and she still wanted to keep searching for the bowler hat man, then he wanted to be armed.
"I did," Kenzie said. "But that doesn't mean we have to keep searching if you're not feeling safe." And she didn't mean it in a demeaning or teasing way. The job was only as safe as the agents were confident and aware. The shadow had clearly rattled Chris, even if he denied it. The night felt so young and she wasn't quite ready to head back to the Inn yet. Slipping her camera carefully into her bag, she glanced back at Chris. "Why don't we go get a drink? Tomorrow night we'll be more prepared, especially now that we know some things do come out at night." They would bring their weapons and anything else they might need.
Whether his reasons were legitimate or not, Chris didn’t really feel safe. His concern was mostly about protecting Kenzie -- at least that was how it felt in his head. She’d brought a gun, but it wasn’t his, and Chris was the most comfortable with his own weapon. He’d be even more comfortable if both of them were armed, but they weren’t. “Okay,” he said, letting out a sigh. “That sounds good. Tomorrow night.” He would be more ready to protect her then, and maybe they would find something they could get better evidence of. It was what they were there to do, after all, and they had to justify their assignment here back to HQ. Chris squeezed her fingers gently again. “Should’ve been more prepared, kinda ... forgot how this town is.”
"I think most of the people who live here forget how this town is. It makes sense that we would begin to feel that way too." They had been here for several months prior to this visit and it had been something of a jarring experience returning to Atlanta and "normal" life. Now they were back in Point Pleasant and Kenzie had shifted so seamlessly back into it. "We'll be fine. Maybe we should just make sure we're always prepared, even if we're enjoying downtime." It made more sense just to have what they needed always on them. Point Pleasant was unpredictable and they needed to make sure to adapt to that.
“Yeah, that sounds smart,” Chris muttered. Maybe in a weird little redneck town it was inviting trouble to walk around armed, but he didn’t care too much about the human threats that were wandering around. Chris knew there were much scarier things to be afraid of. “Always prepared.” They were nearing the entrance to the park and he felt a bit of tension leaving his shoulders, glad to put distance between them and the shadow thing in the trees. He was ready to be in a building somewhere with a beer in his hand. It made him feel a bit like a bad agent, but he was less concerned with that and more focused on keeping the both of them safe. They’d just begun something that felt important and he didn’t want anything to fuck it up so soon. “Where you wanna go get a drink?” Chris asked, wanting to focus on what felt the most normal. “The Porch? Dragonfly?”
“The Porch is closer,” Kenzie said after a moment of thought. “And it seems like there are a lot more loose lips there than Dragonfly, so we can relax and also potentially hear some interesting stories.” She smiled at him, more out of a desire to get him to relax than anything else. They had worked for the Foundation for years now but she couldn’t remember the last time he had looked so uneasy about an anomaly encounter. It was likely because he wasn’t armed and she understood that. They knew what was out there.
If Chris remembered correctly, the Porch wasn’t the most relaxing environment, but it was safer than wandering the woods, he supposed. Human monsters always seemed easier to deal with. At least Chris knew he could fight one and have a chance of winning. He just nodded his agreement and quirked a faint smile back at Kenzie as they walked. Maybe a couple of beers would settle him down and they could have a pleasant evening together. He told himself that he would be more prepared the next day, with a weapon, so he would feel more secure. Chris just hoped that would be the case, otherwise his feelings for Kenzie might become a real problem. They had enough of those to deal with on this assignment.