D A Y 0 2

[founds]

CHAPTER 1

NOV 1ST | 58℉☂

▸ In a sad turn of events during last night's activities, local teenager Bela Gage was found dead at Gainsbourg Resort as festivities were wrapping up. Local authorities have opened up an investigation regarding the circumstances around her death.

▸ Several houses were egged in height of last night's events. Locals are offering a small reward to anyone with information that may lead to identification of the culprits.

▸ Now for the weather, expect light showers from late morning to mid afternoon. Blackwell is expecting the storm to keep rolling through overnight, so drive safe!

▸ That's the News In today. Now back to your regularly scheduled tunes. This one goes out to the Gages, may you find peace in these difficult times.

THE RISING IS NOT IN EFFECT

Comments

[townies]

[ what a strange little man ]

Headin' out already? Well, go on and get in the back. Noodles already has shotgun. [ noodles is her dog ]

[espish]

[yeah i get that a lot. opens the back door and climbs inside. buckles his seat belt. leans forward a little to look at noodles. hello noodles. you are a small dog all right.]

Not leaving yet, no, just taking a look around. My name's Sam, by the way.

[townies]

[ noodles is sitting in a baby carrier, promptly creaks over to sniffle sam's big nose ]

Pleasure, Sam. I'm Mathilda Perkins. I can tell you anything you want to know about Blackwell. My family's been here for generations!

[espish]

[smiles politely at the dog but leans back before it can lick him. no, noodles. no licking. please.]

Thanks for the lift, Ms. Perkins. I was actually brought here to look into Kara Samson's disappearance, so I imagine I probably will be on my way out soon. Did you know Kara at all?

[townies]

Oh I'm familiar with the Samsons, yes. Their little girl never caused anyone trouble, no one knew why she'd vanished. Never would've run away, so her parents thought it a kidnapping. They didn't let that poor boy off the hook though, the one that was courtin' her at the time she vanished. Colby Moran, strange boy. [ shakes her head, she never saw the appeal ]

[espish]

[mirrors the headshake regardless of whether or not she can see him.]

Poor girl. And her parents... I can't imagine what it must be like. I just wish I could've found her, before... Well, before she was found.

[townies]

[ noodles yips. she nods in agreement ]

Some things ya can't help. I heard it was suicide, can't help but wonder just where she was all that time that drove her to take her own life .[ whispering almost, we don't want jesus to hear ]

[espish]

I have to admit, I do wonder. Unsurprisingly, I've always had a problem with unanswered questions.

[he's got a little map he picked up from a rest stop on the way in. not too far from where they found her, really.]

Strange place for it, too, the interstate into and out of town. Could've been coming from or going to anywhere.

[like that other dot on the map where she went missing in the first place. he should really talk to the boyfriend.]

I guess the most likely answer is the town on the other side of the lake where she and her boyfriend got into the crash, but that really just raises more questions.

[townies]

Oh, that place. Not much to see there, it ain't a town anymore. Not for some time now. [ shakes her head ]

Kids go down there to fool around, but that's it. The county puts up blockades ever so often to slow 'em down. Too dangerous with the roads unkempt and the buildings in the state they're in.

[espish]

Just abandoned buildings? Mining town gone bankrupt, that kind of thing?

[he'll have to stop by the library on his way back into town. sounds like the perfect place to take a kidnapping victim, but that doesn't explain the boyfriend. none of this makes sense. he'll definitely have to speak to colby, and maybe take a trip to the lost town of lost lake.]

[townies]

[ dont get ahead of yourself ] Something like that, more lumber than mining. Most people just moved to Blackwell because it was gettin' bigger. There was a fire when I was a little girl, swept most the town out in one go.

[espish]

I see.

[if she was kidnapped, how did she get away, and why would she kill herself on the way back home? if she ran away, why come back only to kill herself on the road into town? no mater what happened, it seems like suicide is, if anything, the least logical explanation for what could have happened to kara samson. lazy police work at its finest. sam wouldn't be surprised if they tried to rule what happened to that poor girl last night a suicide, too.]

I guess there'd be a lot of Blackwell families who used to be Lost Lake families, then.

[if it was a kidnapping, it'd make sense for her to have been taken somewhere the assailant would find familiar, in addition to being remote.]

[townies]

More Gainsbourg families than Lost Lake families, really, my own included. When that lake gone flooded, that's when the real migration came. Lost Lake tried to be the new Gainsbourg, but it never took off the way people wanted it.

[espish]

I see.

[belatedly takes his hat off and sets it in his lap. running his hands back through his hair only makes it flop worse. he doesn't know why he tries.]

Sorry for all the questions, ma'am. I guess I'm at kind of a loss here.

[and here's civilization, if you want to call it that. blackwell.]

[townies]

[ pulls over for him along main street and pats noodles on the head ]

Oh it's no problem, I'm happy to share.

[espish]

Well, thank you, Ms. Perkins. For the ride and the conversation. It was nice to meet you.

[looks like this is the end of the line. well, it got him closer than walking would have, so that's something. climbs out of the back of the woman's car and slides his hat back on. nods to her and to the dog.]

See you around, I guess.

[townies]

Do be careful. [ pointed look and a smile before she's off ]

[espish]

[oh, he won't. for one thing, he's going for a walk along a highway. and for another thing, see the rest of his life.]