The Last Resort; Authored and GMed by Alex Sun

Intro: October 7^th, 2022. Modern Day Massachusetts: You are part of the Unsolved Secrets documentary team. 20 miles south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts is the small island town of Marwicker (locally pronounced ‘Maa Weaka’). Your producer Daniel Harding has arranged for you to create an episode on the supposedly haunted resort there, the Red Empress. This might be your chance to document a real ghost!

Jim Fontaine/Host (Nathan)

Ted Bear/Director (Mike)

Xavier Sullivan/Audio Engineer (Max)

Brad/Camera Operator (Ray)

Anthony Rivera/Occult Expert (Bill)

Cape Cod Docks: Anthony looked at the van logo once more, “Unsolved Secrets. Sure sounds too familiar to that ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ series. At least we didn’t try to copy that ‘Supernatural’ logo. Colors too bland.” Jim pulled his suit coat tighter trying to block out the chilly frost in the morning air as they waited for the ferry. 

Brad checked the company’s white-van once again to confirm all the equipment loaded. “BBRRRAAAA” The ferry horn cut thru the morning fog causing all to jump as the ferry ramp came into view. 0845 and Ted was cracking the whip, “Load em up. We got an episode to cut.”

Ted smiled as the fog lifted by the time the ramp was closed and the ropes throw clear of their cleats. “Great! Let’s get fill footage of the dock as we depart.” Jim stood at the rear as foreground for the shot as Brad held the camera. Xavier held the boom-mic overhead and Jim began his intro. “Blaargh.” Interrupted by Anthony behind them at the railing, feeding the fishes with his chumming. Brad blurted, “Damn it Anthony, you ruined the shot.” Xavier swung the boom closer to the front, away from Anthony as he corrected, “I can edit it out.”

As the ferry plowed thru the coastal waves, Anthony stayed at the railing enduring the cold mist spray, still upchucking, as the others sought warmth inside the van. As the island grew before them, Jim noted people on the island. “I thought Daniel said fall season was the end of tourism. Are those locals? We could interview some for lead-ins or background clips." Brad climbed out of the van to take more footage. 10 minutes out, “BBRRRAAAA.” Once again, he jumped at the horn which spoiled his footage. He was ready for the final blast that announced the ramp being lowered. Jim reminded Brad, “Be sure to get Captain Buchanan to sign that release form for his name and image use.” The captain reminded them, “3pm for second ferry or you’ll have to wait till the 8am morning run.” Brad thanked him, “We’re actually staying the night. See ya tomorrow.”

0915: A quaint little island town. Stonework streets, gift shops, candy store, public library. Even an electric bike rental stand. “Where to first? We don’t have to be at the resort till our 6pm reservation.” But Xavier was distracted by the colorful cursing flowing from an old sailor (Lars) kicking the generator in front of his store. “Jim, here’s your first local interview. We might have to edit most of his dialog, but it is authentic.” Brad stepped forward to help fix the generator. After a few minutes, Brad pondered, “Wiring is good. Switch on. Should work. I don’t understand.” Anthony pulled out his EMF meter gun to check it out. The indicators lights glowed, and the needle sprang to life. “Well Ted, I think I’m getting positive vibes for this episode.”

Lars (short for Larry) launched into another tirade, “Damn island power. I oughta know, I retired from the plant. The generators are on the mainland with the high-voltage shit sent across underwater cables to our island transformer station which reduces it to the standard 120 volt shit you’re used to. We run the powerlines overhead to distribute around the island. Most businesses have their own backup generators just in case. Not that we’ve had many storms for use. For the bad ones, we just pack up and vacate the island a few days.”

Lars continued, “Cursed I say. Ain’t been reliable since that fire in the 80s…” Jim nudged Brad to start filming. “Twer the west wing of the Red Empress. I say it’s the ghosts of those burnt that haunt the machines.” Jim prodded the kook, “So, Lars, have you seen aliens too?” Lars perked up, “Dang tooting. Flying orbs. Flashing lights. Ya can see sparks dancing along the overhead power lines. Aliens sucking off our energy to power their crafts. Well, they can take this dang generator with them next time they come. Say, thank ye kindly sir fer trying to fix my generator. Tell ya what. When ya get hungry, checkout our Mother of Pearls restaurant. Dolly cooks up a mighty fine spread. Tell her old Lars sent cha.”

10am and they began wandering around the town square, pausing before the New England Witches’ museum. Brad took footage of the medieval torture devices on display outside as Anthony described for the audience their cruel uses. Jim entered to find a goth teenager at the desk. Black hair, eyebrows, lipstick, clothing, and earrings dangling from every inch of exposed skin: ears, nose, eyebrows, lip, belly-button.

She lit up for the camera lights entering her store, “Jim?! YOU’RE Jim Fontaine of Unsolved Secrets! Oh wow, I’ve watched every episode. I remember the episode of the car almost running over that alien thing. What brings you here? Can’t be our witches. You know this is just for the tourists as Salem has all the witches of Massachusetts. Ghosts? You must be talking about old man Knight who killed himself up there in the Red Empress in the 70s. Drug a live toaster into his tub while he bathed. Course there are also the ghosts from the ’84 fire at the same resort. Killed 4 guests who haunt the place.” Jenny caught sight of Anthony, “Say, I recognize you too. Where do you get those occult books? Do you know any spells? Will you sign my book? Say, if you’re interested, here are some coupons for electric bike rentals around town.”

Perfect timing as they ran into Andy outside in his rainproof windbreaker, “Say, folks, that your van? Winding, steep roads around here. Might I suggest renting electric bikes? I can make you a better deal than those coupons. 5 bikes for the price of 4 all day. Free advertising from your filming? OK, but I gotta make some money. How about 5 for the price of 3? Deal. Just return them before tomorrows’ outbound ferry.” Jim looked at Ted to use the company credit card.

It was 11am when they came upon the town’s library. Anthony noticed a modern generator beside the building, “I wonder…” He scanned with his EMF meter and once again heard it tattling off-the-chart. The power switch on and good wiring but no output. “Yep, we got a story growing.” They entered to find a middle-aged man behind the desk. “Shush! Keep it down.” They snickered at the knowledge them the only guests, but they complied anyway as they whispered, “Where can we find newspapers covering the ’84 fire? Archives section B? Thanks. By the way, you might want to call your maintenance guy as your generator outside is broken.” Brad filmed Jim as he climbed the stairs playing to the audience, “Follow us as we dig deeper into the mystery of the Red Empress. What betrayals will we find? What lurks upon the hill?”

Once they found the first fire article that revealed the exact October date of 1984, more articles were found. “Fire Fighters reported it electrical in start. No guests, only the 4 staff members burned alive as the owner Jeremy Knight was out of town. The staff are listed as: Mary Wallaby, Timothy Cooke, William Hynes, and Lewis Moran. The resort stayed empty till Jeremy reopened it in 1989. I wonder if members of the staffs’ families still live nearby. We could interview them.” As they rose to put away the newspapers, Anthony thought to scan the 1936 library’s overhead lights to see if they activated the EMF. Nope. Closer look showed the electrical system updated to LED standards. If that had any bearing on the issue.

Outside, Anthony took it one step further, “Bear with me guys.” He found a long cane fishing pole and taped his EMF meter to it, then climbed a shed, to then wave the meter close to the overhead power lines and the small junction box at the pole. Nothing. “I had to try. At least I’m eliminating some electrical components. I think we just need to focus on generators.” Xavier spoke up, “I don’t know about you, but I’m famished. Let’s get lunch.” Brad added in quip, “Besides, our story is on the ghosts.”

Noon: The smell of stovetop cooking oils permeated the wooden benches of the Mother of Pearls restaurant. All nor-easterners, they felt at home as they drooled over the seafood menu. The older blond waitress, Dolly, read off their specials. Jim ordered a bib to go with his lobsters, “I only got 4 clean shirts. I AM the image of this production.” Anthony ordered, “I gotta go with what the locals eat, and good-ole Lars said to try your ‘Fish Platter’.” Dolly perked up with a laugh, “What’s that foul-mouth crazed fool doing now, chasing his aliens? He been telling ya about the old Red Empress huh? Yeah, I was around when old-man Henry Knight built the place in 1960. And I was still here when be barbequed himself in the tub in ‘82. Crazed he was. Creepy. Never liked him much, but then I rarely saw him what with his overseas travels. A lot of time in China I hear. I hear he was into weird things. Devil worship, chanting. Rumors as I never heard nor saw.”

Brad had the camera on the table recording. He’d get her signature for release later. Dolly continued, “The fire? Let’s see, that was ’84 as I recall. His son Jeremy had taken over the resort. Out of town when it burnt. Place abandoned; he didn’t bother to return. Then reappeared in ’89 to re-open the place. Didn’t even bother to repair the west wing. The smoke smell permeates the place. That must be what draws the tourists, seeking spookiness. Cause it sure can’t be the ambiance or cooking. But tourism overall has dropped across the island. Probably bad Yelp reviews about our beaches and food. Don’t bother me much, I get by. Enough business to keep the lights on. Time to myself.” On the way out, Anthony bought a gift card, “Give this to Lars when he comes in. Tell him it’s from the Unsolved Secrets team.” Dolly spoke up, “Ya know, I’ve seen UFOs too. Green, pulsing glows that follow the power lines. About once a month. From one to 15. Till about 3 years ago.” Ted gave the cut signal, “That’s a wrap. Thanks again.”

It was already 1:30pm, “We’ve got about another 4 hours before we should get to the resort. What next?” Most had 2^nd thoughts about the power substation, “I’m sure it’s illegal to trespass.” Which meant Anthony and Xavier were the lone bike riders following the power lines out of town to the transformer station. They could hear the droning “HUUUMM” of the transformers as their arm-hairs stood on end even outside the fence. “DANGER. HIGH VOLTAGE.” They quickly forgot about breaking in. Instead, Anthony found a long thin branch to use as a boom to stretch his EMF reader across the fence, closer to the transformers. “Nothing. No spikes. I don’t get it. Something is disrupting the town generators. If not from here, where?”

Meanwhile, the others moved around town taking more ‘B’ footage. It was close to 5pm when they joined back up. Ted realized they were losing light with the sun setting, “Let’s get to the resort to take some twilight shots. Maybe interview Jeremy Knight outside to build the mood.” They loaded the bikes into the back of the van and drove to the resort. An ‘80s designed billboard announced their arrival. The 3-story Red Empress was built in a ‘U’ shape with old plantation style columns. The resort like the billboard displayed peeling paint. The smell of an old fire stung their nostrils as they gazed at the fire-destroyed west wing highlighted by the background brilliant red-orange glow of the setting sun. Jim spoke to the camera, “Can you smell the smoke? The mystery lingers.”

Anthony realized, “So it was his staff who perished. A resort this size maybe had a staff of a half-dozen at most. Why would all 4 be gathered in the west wing?” The question drew Brad, Jim, and Anthony toward the collapsed wing to search for clues. “CRACK” Jim’s foot broke thru damaged floorboard. Anthony quickly spread his weight as boards creaked upon his weight. Brad looked away from his camera lens, “What’s that? There’s a glint of metal.” Anthony crab-walked to the spot and retrieved an old sailor’s 18-inch brass spyglass. Using his phone-flashlight, he excitedly tried to read the etched designs on its outer shell. Disappointment it proved not to be occult, “Just pink oculars.”

Ted mused, “Thru rose colored glasses. Let me give a look.” Ted looked skyward then to the horizon. Then compared the view with his naked eye before raising the glass again, “Holy shit! It’s like I can see the flow of electricity across the power lines. Even into the house. I can see outlets and lamps.” He continued to scan the resort, raising toward the upper floors. [5 point Sanity loss = Bout of Madness] “THUD!” Ted had collapsed on the ground. Long seconds before he came to as Xavier tried to slap sense into him. “What, what happened? I was following the power flow till I saw a humanoid form on the 3^rd floor. Freaked me out.” Anthony scoffed, “Sure fella. That’s quite a knot on your forehead. Concussion maybe?” Anthony borrowed the glass to see for himself, “OK, I can see the power flow as you described but there ain’t no body upstairs. Let’s find you an icepack.”

Ted insisted, “I’m the damn director and I say we get to the top floor now.” Jim stepped in, “Right you are boss. But since we’re here, let’s interview Jeremy first. As Anthony said, whatever you saw is now gone. It can wait.” Jeremy turned out to be the 60-year-old behind the reception desk. Anthony stayed back for cover so he could scan Jeremy with the spyglass, “Damn. I was hoping Ted was onto something.” Introductions and pleasantries before Jeremy assigned rooms. Jim jumped on the single room 107. The others spooked enough to gladly accept doubling up in connecting rooms 106+108 across the hall. “Take 20 to freshen up before more footage and dinner.”

Jim changed cloths before planting himself before the mirror to redo his makeup. Meanwhile, Brad and Xavier settled into room 106 while Ted and Anthony entered 108. Ted jumped into the shower as Anthony unpacked his suitcase on one of the double beds. Anthony laughed when he heard Ted scream, “Probably scalded himself with hot water.” But Ted stood naked in the shower when the overhead lightbulb burst, sending glass shards across the pitch-black floor. Something felt wrong, “Hello?” He flinched when he felt something touch his shoulder. And heard the raspy voice at his ear, “It’s SO cold in here.” [failed Sanity, -2 points] He freaked out. He quickly turned the water off, felt along the outside wall for the rack and retrieved a towel, felt for the top of the toilet for his phone and turned on the flashlight app. No-one there. He grabbed his cloths and quickly dressed in the shower before inching around the broken glass into the main room, “Holy shit, Anthony. Someone was in there with me. Use the spyglass to check.” Anthony tried to humor his roommate, using his EMF meter, the spyglass, and even cigarette smoke to search the room for evidence. Nothing. “I’m telling you Ted; we need to get that bump on your head checked. Call a doctor to see if you have a concussion maybe?”

Meanwhile, exactly while Ted had his shower adventure, the phone in room 106 rang. Xavier answered to hear a raspy voice, “It’s SO cold in here.” Xavier stoically signed if off as a “Prank call.” That is, until he told the story to the others. And Ted repeated his encounter. Jim gasped, “YES! We’ve got a spook.”

They descended the stairs to the first floor, past the game-room and its jukebox and pool-table, thru the lobby and into the dining-room where Jeremy sat in his finest diner jacket. Ted suggested, “You know Jeremy, you should ditch the hotel idea and go for ghost-hunt-tours. We encountered yours upstairs. Mind if we ask a few questions as to who it might be?” Anthony interrupted, “I don’t see any staff; how about I go get water for all.” Jeremy was already up, “I can get it. Bottled water OK?” He was back in a minute with the waters now dressed in a servers’ outfit. Brad made note, “You’re a one-man show, cutting costs by avoiding staff.” Jim got down to the interview as Brad filmed, “So why exactly did you reach out to us? What can you tell us about this ghost? Or are there more?”

Jeremy told about flickering lights and bulbs breaking just like Ted experienced, “I should have warned you.” Anthony asked to see the ’84 guestbook to find names of others who might have witnessed the fire. Jeremy offered free reign of the hotel and his office where the books were stored. Jim didn’t hold back, “Rumor has it your father was into devil worship.” Jeremy was insulted, “Sure, dad traveled a lot. Mostly China. Collected a lot of things, like that spyglass you showed me. Books up in his bedroom library on the 3^rd floor. But devil worship?! If you’ll excuse me, I need to tend to hotel duties.”

Brad started another video clip as Ted led the way thru the hotel calling out the names of the dead staff and even Henry Knight. Anthony held his EMF meter and Infrared Detector ready. Jim spoke to the audience, “Ted saw an ethereal glow on the 3^rd floor. Maybe it is old man Henry wandering the halls trying to contact the living to ask forgiveness on his suicide. Or maybe he’s ready to reveal just what he was doing. Follow us as we search deeper into this mystery.”

They stopped at the office behind the registration desk to look for the guest logs. Huh, strange how Jeremy was dressed in a janitorial outfit as he mopped the lobby floors. Rows of guest books dated back to the 1960 opening. They pulled down the October ’84 book. “Steady business throughout the summer then a trickle into the fall. That’s odd. On the night of the fire, Oct 21^st, the resort was actually closed for business. No guests.” Anthony [occult check- hard] pulled out his phone to research the dates, “Oct 12^th ’82 dad dies, Oct 21^st ’84 the fire. No significant celestial or astronomical event.” Anthony used his EMF meter to check for possible spell books hidden on the shelves. It gave a weak signal when he raised it toward the ceiling. He used the spyglass to check and that’s when he too saw a green-glowing form up on the 3^rd floor, “SWEET MARY MOTHER OF GOD! Ted, you were right! Your man-form just shrunk into the wall socket and pulsed along with wires somewhere else!”

They rushed past Jeremy now sweeping the floors as they headed upstairs 2-steps at a bound. Into the 3^rd floor penthouse where bookshelves lined the walls around a grand king bed, claw-footed bathtub, and ornate overhead chandelier. The sweet smell of ozone spoke about an electrical event. Anthony pointed out the charred outlet where the form escaped. And that’s when Brad happened to peer out the window, “8pm at night, in the dark, and there’s a red-suited lifeguard on duty in the raised chair by the pool.” He zoomed in with his camera, “That’s Jeremy. Damn, he gets around. Working all day, little time to relax. The fool is shivering, starring toward the ocean.”

Anthony suggested setting up cameras to monitor the penthouse outlets, “In case he comes back.” Minutes later Brad peeked out the window, “Now he’s on a ladder in overalls cleaning the gutters. The man’s a quick-change artist!” Anthony HAD to check him out with the spyglass. Nothing. But still, “Let’s aim a camera at Jeremy to record his movement and see just how he changes so fast.” As Anthony and Brad setup the cameras, the others headed downstairs to confront Jeremy. As they passed the game-room, Jim spied Jeremy now in a gardener’s outfit snipping the bushes. “Damn fool is out in the cold with snot dripping from his nose.” And that’s when the jukebox came to life, playing “Girls just want to have fun…”

Jim ignored the music as he removed his coat to go outside, wrap it around Jeremy, and lead him inside. Hearing him complain, “It’s SO cold in here. I need to go to my room.” Jim shivered [Sanity check] at the same words used in the reported phone call and shower attack. “Can someone PLEASE turn off that jukebox. It is so unnerving.” Jim stomped into the game-room to unplug it himself. But it kept playing! He rushed back to Jeremy only to find him gone. He called Anthony and Brad, “Jeremy’s gone. He was in the garden…” Brad interrupted, “What are you talking about? He’s been on the ladder since you left and only gone when you just called.” Now everyone freaked out.

They rushed to Jeremy’s room only to find it empty, except for Jim’s frost covered coat dumped on the bed. “What the hell is going on?!” They searched…and found a personal journal. Jeremy’s 15 April, 1984 confession of completing his father’s ritual. “Father lacked courage. The ‘Opener of the Way’ has shown me how to bring forth the ‘Lightning’ thru the willing sacrifice of my dedicated staff. Power and Sacrifice brings IT into the world. But I must raise the power, maintain the power, for it fears the absence of power.” Xavier realized, “Jeremy must have sacrificed himself too. We’ve been filming a ghost since we got here!” Ted realized, “The voice has talked about it cold. Could Jeremy’s body possibly be stored in the kitchen deep-freezer?”

Jim kept his composure for the camera, “So what’s next for our ‘Unsolved’ team? Tune in after this commercial break.” Jim still chasing a ghost story while Anthony thought of ways to dispel it, “We need to cut power to the resort. I’ll grab rubber gloves from the van. Maybe we can cut the power lines into the hotel. I’ll meet you in the kitchen.” He arrived to see Xavier wielding a blow torch as he melted a thick sheet of ice around the metal door of a walk-in freezer. Jim cautioned, “Don’t stand in the pooling water if there is an electrical discharge.”

Freed of ice, the door opened to reveal hanging slabs of cow meat. And there on the floor lay naked Jeremy shivering. Crackling as if popping in and out of existence. Realization a beam of green light touched Jeremy. The source: a cylindrical container with a glass window that revealed a brain inside! [Sanity check! Bouts-of-Madness] Jim turned and ran with Ted giving chase. Xavier shivered with cold (afraid of the cold) and grabbed Jim’s coat as he ran by so he could layer up. Xavier then grabbed the brain-jar from the table. And that’s when their electronic devises sparked and flared, overhead lightbulbs burst, and electricity arced from the exposed bulb sockets. The arcs coalesced into images of the 4 dead staff members’ faces. [another Sanity check!]

CHASE: Fastest, Anthony took off for the van, leaving the others behind. Followed by Xavier carrying the jar. Poor Brad, left to face a tendril of pure energy lashing at him from the exposed socket. He ducked but smelled the stench of his burnt hair. Meanwhile, Anthony jumped into the van and twisted the key. Nothing. The battery or the electrical started dead. Ted was already climbing into the van when Anthony announced, “No good. We’ll have to use the bikes.” Ted angrily jabbed, “Brad’s still back there facing the thing alone. We gotta save him and the others first.”

Indeed, Brad was now backpedaling from an electrical-humanoid-form that lashed at him with electrical whiplike appendages. Brad jumped out a window to avoid its touch. The electric-man turned at the sight of Xavier escaping with the jar but then returned its attention to Brad who was gingerly stepping across broken glass. [failed-dodge] A white-hot jolt of electricity coursed thru Brad and exited the toe of his boot. [6 damage, half his health, luck to pass a CON check, he remained conscious] Brad staggered away on his now smoldering shoes.

Jim arrived at the van, babbling, “It hasn’t hurt anyone. Let’s run for the woods, away from the power lines.” Ted slapped him back to reality, “It’s after Brad.” Jim shook his head clear, “We gotta lure it to the pool and try to short-circuit it. Grab some extension cords, I’ll get the toaster from the kitchen, and we’ll give it a tub bath in the pool reminiscent of Henry’s suicide.” Brad saw what his team was doing and did his best to lure the creature away to give them time. When he saw them ready, he ran to the other side of the pool. The creature walked across. “Now!” “ZAAP!”

The pool lit up like Dr. Frankenstein’s lab. Sparks arced skyward, the water glowed green, everyone’s arm-hair stood on end. The creature pulsed in and out of existence. But it was still there. Xavier threw the brain-jar into the pool. More sparks and arcs but the creature still lived. “We gotta cut it’s power. To the transformer station!” And that’s when they found the electric bike’s motors didn’t work, “We gotta pedal!”

CHASE: Their mistake to use the road that paralleled the powerlines. They could hear the electrical “humm” of the creature ‘flying’ overhead, drawing energy from the overhead lines. [failed CON check] Jim’s injured foot (from the west wing incident) slipped off the pedal and slowed his escape. Last in the dash. A powerline broke free to lash at him. [Dodge only by burning 36 Luck] Jim veered away. The line crackled against the roadside brush starting a small fire.

“Fuck!” A tree had fallen across the road ahead. But another tree lay across it parallel providing a possible ‘ramp’. Xavier and Anthony caught air as they flew over the ramp. Ted not so lucky as his bike spilled on landing. Brad [Jump 05] flew over the prone Ted. Jim stopped short of the tree, hefted his 2-seater over, and helped Ted get on. Another powerline struck the tree behind them, splitting it in half. “GO, go, GO!”

They arrived at the transformer station, “Now what?” Anthony had already stopped and hefted his bike in an attempt to throw it [hard STR success] over the fence and onto power lines to short them out. Brad only succeeded in straddling his on the fence. Xavier [Extreme success] landed his on more lines. The substation lit up. Sparks and arcs as the city lights on the horizon ebbed out. The electric-man no more. Jim tried to console Ted, “Sorry man about the bikes. I told you we should have bought the insurance.”

GM INSIGHT

During Henry Knight’s travels to China, he found ritual books regarding Yog-Sothoth. He returned to his Red Empress resort and began experiments to summon a Voltaic Horror into the world. Except he couldn’t bring himself to complete the sacrificial requirements. Insane, but not that insane, he committed suicide by toaster.

Jeremy had no such conscious and stepped in to complete his dad’s work. He gathered his loyal staff, had them link arms, and summoned the creature per their chants. Except he failed to properly bind it. The creature electrocuted Jeremy and caused a fire that burned down the west wing, killing the staff. The horror has been residing within the wiring of the resort ever since. But it gets better…

Due to the influx of energy from the summoning, a Mi-go scientist arrived that night. The Mi-go recovered Jeremy’s burned body, extracted his brain, and placed it in a brain canister for experimentation and interrogation. It was this canister that was projecting Jeremy in different ‘staff’ forms around the resort, continuing the façade of an operable hotel.