Part 2 (Conclusion) - Dead Light: Lights Out
FROM THE BEGINNING: https://rigglew4.blogspot.com/2017/03/entry-1-dead-light-beginning.html
Kyle (Aaron) has only been able to convince Mary and Emilia to drive
with him up to the cottage. Sam and the diner patrons remain behind (fear
holding them back). Kyle doesn’t bother gathering items for his trip…no extra
flashlights, blankets, or even rain-gear (if there was any to be had). So it’s a
mad rush into the driving rain to reach his car stuck between the gas station
and diner, with Emilia climbing into the backseat as Mary takes the passenger
seat. Everyone shivering cold from soaked clothing. 47 degree temperature but
the wind-chill feeling like mid-30s.
Luck that Kyle is able to start the car he’d flooded in his last episode trying to move the car away from the burning pump. A slow u-turn back onto the road heading south trying desperately to see thru the windshield with wipers failing miserably to keep the rain at bay. Luck that a flash of lightning reveals the turnoff to the right up the hill toward GreenApple Acre cottage. But luck runs out as the rear wheels sink into the muddy road as Kyle accelerates trying to climb the shallow hill.
Kyle totally committed to driving rather than walking the
rest of the way. He fails his attempt to persuade Mary to help push the car
free with Emilia driving. So it’s Kyle alone outside trying to get footing to
push…only succeeding getting a face-full of mud from the spinning tires. Then
an idea: attach his tire-chains and weave short branches thru the chains to
create “teeth” that should dig into the mud for better traction. Anything will
do; even his cooking gear skillet with long handle and the long-handled ladles.
It works! Leaving Kyle behind as he’s failed to completely coordinate with
Mary.
[Mary will later argue she was afraid of stopping and not able
to get started again. Deep down, she was anxious to be the first to reach the
cottage.]
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Kyle is slipping and sliding on the muddy road unable to catch-up to
the slow moving car. By the time he reasons to run beside the road on more
solid ground, the car is already out of sight. Thus he can only follow the
road and minutes later finds the abandoned car parked short of the dark
cottage; no lights. He calls for the girls as he approaches the house. Only
when he enters with flashlight in hand does he hear sobbing which draws him
to the side reception room where a grisly sight awaits.
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Sanity loss as he finds Mary kneeling over a half-burned body
(contorted arms, blackened skin, bloody eyes burst open, and ashen remains of
his lower extremities! He remembers the cow attack by the ‘Dead Light’ all
over again! And the sobbing Emilia
knelt before an older man slumped near a chair. Motionless; his right
shoulder a bloody mess pocked with pellet holes.
“What happened?!” Mary turns at his voice to then act somewhat
surprised as she tries to hide something. “What’d you find?” Mary stammers,
“I, I was looking for ID. Don’t know who this is. That’s Emilia’s grandfather
over there.” Kyle asks for the wallet he saw her take but she refuses, “I
told you, I’m checking.” Kyle continues to politely ask while Mary handles
the wallet behind her back. [Kyle fails his Psychology roll to reason Mary is fumbling to get
something out of the wallet...the incriminating photo of her and this Clem.]
Kyle finally DEMANDS the wallet which Mary reluctantly hands over. Kyle is
surprised to find money still in it (he’s reason she was stealing from the
dead). But he also finds a driver license…”Clem Tailor, 22, of Orchard Run.”
Kyle moves on toward Emilia and the other body. Dead. Surprised since
his experience with such shoulder wound shouldn’t cause death. He stumbles
over a box. Looking closer, it’s ancient looking with ornate carvings on the
side, clawed footing, and bust open. An obnoxious odor wafts from the broken
wax seal. But what really catches his eye is the white ashes that spill from
the box.
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He quickly turns to look at Clem’s body to realize the ash
represents something killed.He ignores the fact he sees Mary back searching Clem’s body.
“We need to get the lights on. Is there a generator in this place?” Kyle calls
Mary to help move Emilia from the room; she stoops to pick up the shotgun Kyle
has ignored, “What? I plan on defending myself from whatever that light thing
is!”
Getting his car keys back from Mary, Kyle and the girls
maneuver back into the hall, where Kyle is startled at the sight of a man in
the doorway. “Mary, oh God Mary. We’re gonna die. It’ll kill us all. Why didn’t
you warn Clem and I about it!?”
Kyle turns to ask Mary behind him what’s going on, only to
see the shotgun leveled at him. “Just backup. I don’t want any trouble. Damn it
Billy, why’d you have to blabber all.” Kyle finally starts acting like an assassin
and he moves to grab the gun. But Mary is ready and quicker…”Click.” Kyle grabs
the barrel and gut-checks the bitch. Cracking open the gun, he sees the
single-barrel has a spent shell still chambered. Checking Mary’s pockets he
finds 2 shells she has pilfered from Clem’s coat. “I want answers. What the
hell is going on!!” The unstable Billy Esterhouse spills all, “Mary planned the
robbery. Clem and I were to scare Doc Webb into emptying his safe full of money
for us. But that crazy girl attacked me which startled Clem who shot the old
man. As he fell into that chair he pulled down that box. It broke open then all
hell broke loose. The ‘Dead Light’ spilled out and poured into Clem. Him
screaming and twisting and contorting. Then the light starting to seep out his
eyes and nose. I ran. And ran. Been running ever since till I saw your
headlights that brought me back.”
Leaving Mary and Billy in the hallway, Kyle takes Emilia
into the doctor’s study in search of the rumored safe and money. His rummaging
interrupted by the sound of footsteps on the front porch. He steps out of the
study to realize Mary and Billy are gone. Rushing to the front door he sees his
car headlights flicker…they’re trying to hotwire his car! Kyle steps closer
when the car starts; his leveled shotgun ignored as Mary hits the gas trying to
backup. And the car floods, engine silent. It’s now past 10pm as Kyle marches
the two back into the house; Billy kicks something in the mud. His discarded
crowbar for the robbery. K takes it and throws it to the side…one less weapon
for him to worry about. Now ever-vigilant of Mary, Kyle follows the group into
Doctor Webb’s study to continue the search.
Billy and Mary are sent to the basement to restart the
kerosene-fueled-generator. The lights come on to aid their search of the study.
A locked bureau; Emilia remembering her grandpa has the key on his watch-chain.
E reluctant to see gramps again, so Mary is sent to retrieve the keys to open
the roll-top desk. Loose papers, a ledger book, and a stack of cash! $600. The
ledger is a bank tally…$19K in savings. A paper falls out. 16 entries: date,
name, city). What’s that all about?
As Kyle tries to put the ledger back in the desk, different
shelf bin, it doesn’t fit. Spot
Hidden to realize there is a hidden compartment on the back. An old
journal of yellowed pages. Entry on 1st page, “May God have mercy on
the physician”. Blank pages before more entries that describe a century old
practice. Webb’s ancestors handing down the book father to son. The ‘Dead
Light’ held captive in the box. Requires an incantation and special wax seal.
The Light used to kill cancer patients. A mythos form of Euthanasia (except this version NOT so painless). Feeds on those in extreme
pain or heightened anxiety. Susceptible to sunlight and electricity.
Kyle and the girls are left to form a plan. Emilia suggests
alcohol to calm the nerves. Kyle reasons an electrical trap, “Maybe we can run
wires from the generator to electrocute the beast!" It’s 11:30 as the group heads
outside to the garage to check for useful items. Behind Emilia’s new roadster,
they find (Luck rolls): extra
wiring, a metal shelf that can be dismantled into crossbeams and shelves,
rubber gloves. “Now all we need is water to throw to complete the contact.”
It’s 1am by the time the trap is set; the grid mounted vertically in the
doorway since Kyle remembers the Light
hovers waist high thus no chance of it stepping on the grid. And that’s when
the generator dies! Shit! Panic as Kyle goes downstairs to find the problem.
Billy didn’t fill the generator; only used the pint container. Kyle finds three
5-gallon cans using half-a-can to fill the generator. [Meanwhile Mary uses
Kyle’s absence to sway Emilia, “You owe me for saving your life. Give me your
car keys and the cash.”]
The trap is set: Emilia the bait standing in the hallway
behind the front door. Mary in the kitchen door to pull E to safety when the
beast arrives. Kyle in the reception doorway ready to throw a pail of water.
Now wait. Wait. It’s almost 4am when, “Wait. We need an alarm or noise to help
draw it to the front door instead of windows or the backdoor.” Kyle exits the
back door to start his car moving it closer to the cottage front porch. He then
wires the horn continually on. As he returns to his place in the reception
room, he sees the Dead Light
coming up the road. “It’s here.”
Did Kyle realize what he’d done? The announcement causing
panic. Emilia losing it all, “I can’t take it! I’ve gotta get out of here!”
Then the Light in the doorway
attracted to her rise in fear. Electrical discharge, Kyle throwing the water,
the electricity flowing along the stream of water toward the beast and back
towards Kyle. An electric “fist” knocking Kyle off his feet and slamming him
into the reception room (-8HP). Lightbulbs popping throughout the cottage from
the surge in electricity. Momentary unconsciousness. Minutes? Longer? Darkness.
And silence. “Emilia? Mary?” Kyle searches. Finds Emilia in the basement
huddled in a fetal position. Complete insanity. No sign of Mary. Kyle goes
outside to search. The rain letting up. The storm dissipating. The garage empty.
Mary has driven off in the roadster.
Kyle stuffs Emilia into the backseat of his car for a slow
drive back to the diner. The farmer’s truck silent…both cows dead. The diner
doorway scorched. Tables knocked loose. Jake dead in the freezer as reported.
At the gas station Kyle finds Sam and Winnie dead. Teddy Brewer unconscious, having
fainted when his wife died and thus no anxiety to attract the Light. Kyle calls the police
getting the news out but only hears static in reply. He stays till the
police arrive. So much for the assassin’s appointment in Bolton. His contract
unfulfilled. Kyle hauled to the police station for questioning. Why the
Engfield rifle in the car trunk? No-one around to confirm his wild story
of a Dead Light. Just dead
bodies. And Kyle the only suspect. It’s days sitting in jail before he’s
released. His story verified by Teddy who has finally come to his senses.
As Kyle collects his personal property, he buys a newspaper
to catch up. Buried on page 3 are two articles…unrelated to anyone else,
“Police are on the lookout for a young 20 year old Mary Laker. Of Orchard
Run. Wanted for questioning. Last known driving a new black roadster with
hundred dollar bills in hand.” Further down, “Lucas Oil Company looking for new
manager for the Orchard Run Gas Station and Diner.”
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