3931/Corn Maze of Doom

Corn Maze of Doom
Date of Scene:	25 October 2020
Location:	A Scary Corn Maze
Synopsis:	The New York University Paranormal Society Goes a Ghost Hunting.
Cast of Characters:	Marly Kohler, Karita Landry, Andy Katsaros

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Marly Kohler has posed:
CHRISTMAS TIME ... oh wait, no, it's Halloween time or very near to it. With the approach of this particular hallowed night the veil between worlds becomes thinner. Easier for spirits and goblins and ghosts to pierce and walk through.

This is also the time that various Paranormal Groups tend to see an uptick in calls, business and adventure!

And for tonight the Paranormal Group that Kari, Andy and Marly are part of is all about ADVENTURE!

But first, the non-adventureous part has to be taken care of as the team arrives at their chosen CORN MAZE of DOOM.

Tonight Marly is dressed in autumn weather appropriate gear - boots, heavy jeans, t-shirt and then a giant flannel jacket that clearly goes along with corn maze chic. Her hair is pulled back into her typical pony-tail as she carries some of the equipment to the camp site.

The 'camp site' really isn't much. It's the center of the corn maze where a good sized portion of the corn stalks have been removed. There's enough room for three or four spaced out tents and also room for various equipment as well. From the central hub various paths lead off into the maze itself and there's really only a few feet of visibility to be had thanks to the pitch black evening.

"I brought snacks." Marly says brightly enough as she sets down several bags she carries. "And a ton of water bottles too." When she straightens she absently checks the belt that sits around her waist and which carries The Maker. You just never know when you might need a repair. "I brought some extra hand held records too and they're charged and ready to go. I hope we get some great EVPs."

Karita Landry has posed:
Adventure! Excitement! Investigating a haunted corn maze! Karita lives for this type of fun, and investigation! The small one person tent Karita brought is almost finished going up as the blonde ties off the last knot, pulling the sides of the tent a little to make sure it's all steady and in place.

Like she's often doing, Kari is also talking, a mile a minute. "So we've got a couple other investigations lined up after this one. The Peterson's in Jersey are having problems again, I'm guessing they've stopped smudging every day, and there's a new case on the outskirts of Manhattan, that one I'm thinking is just an old house with old plumbing."

Turning about to begin riffling through her own bag, pulling out the 'Mel-Meter', a couple recorders, and her personal camcoder, Karita turns her gaze onto Marly. "Did you get the chance to see what history this place has? I'm curious about the ancient past, whether it use to be an old homestead, or even further than that, old burial grounds!"

With a deep breath, Karita's gaze flickers about the corn that makes a circle around them. "They've done a good job of the spooky at least." She lets out a slight shiver as a gust of wind blows through, sending the stalks to billow lightly about them.

Andy Katsaros has posed:
Also decked out in weather-friendly attire - in his case, a slightly baggy fleece hoodie in grey, hanging loosely over a pair of sturdy blue jeans - Andy Katsaros has been tasked with carrying the bulkiest and heaviest of the group's equipment. An oversized satchel is slung over each of his shoulders, boxy and long, and he also tugs a large crate-like object on wheels, covered in nylon casing and fastened with both zippers and buckles. Even though the item's wheels are about the size of dinner plates and three or four inches wide, it's clear that their outdoor use was intended only for mostly even terrain. The mud and ruts of the corn maze, coupled with the hay and straw that litters the foot paths, sadly do not count.

WIth a moderate exhale, Andy hefts the large object into the approximate middle of the clearing, letting the two satchels over his shoulders slide down his arms before he catches the straps in his hands and proceeds to set each down on the ground as well. It's his last trip - his tent, a large cooler and another small duffle bag are already sitting off to one side from where he brought them in earlier. "At least I didn't get the vibe that the employees here are going to come running around at 2 AM trying to scare us," he chimes in, moving over towards his own tent to begin setting it up. "So, hopefully it'll give us a clean investigation." He grins a bit before he adds, "Or, at least some peace and quiet to enjoy our s'mores and stuff."

As he looks from Marley to Kari, Andy quirks up one eyebrow slightly, withdrawing the poles for his tent and beginning to wrangle them into the right shape and orientation. "I forget how much things pick up at this time of the year," he muses. "Everyone jumping at shadows and what-not..." It doesn't take him too long to start to get his tent into shape, though he's clearly not a practiced hand at it. "Hey, didn't you say the Peterson's were going to get themselves on one of those Discovery America shows...?"

Marly Kohler has posed:
How could she forget? The history! Her thoughts are plain upon her face as Karita reminds her of her research. She offers a sheepish sort of grin to her friends, as she says, "Yes, my gosh, thanks for reminding me. I wrote some points down, one second!"

That one second entails the young woman popping into her tent for a few minutes. There's the sound of rustling around as she digs through a backpack for a notebook and small flashlight.

When she pops back out the woman shines the flashlight upon the paper. Hurriedly scribbled words can be seen on the notebook, "So, not a burial, which is a bummer -", though is it really?

"BUT there were several generations of one family here for years and years. It's only in the last fifteen years that their farm was bought out and turned into this." She waves the flashlight in a vague catch-all gesture for the Corn Maze of Doom.

"Seems like they ran into hard times and that's why they sold. Interestingly enough back in the early nineteen hundreds there were several articles about how the Jenkins were thought to be cursed. Many of the children didn't live past eighteen and the majority of adults died before thirty-five, but it *was* the 1900s so you have to take that with a grain of salt."

At the mention of the employees Marly turns a look to Andy and laughs, "Yeah, they seemed very hands-off. I have a feeling they wouldn't even come running if they heard us screaming bloody murder."

It's why they signed all those waivers of liability!!

The mention of the new cases coming up and the Peterson's, Marl can't help but add, "WE should totally try to get on one of those reality paranormal shows. We'd kick all of their butts." And speaking of kicking butts, Marly turns her attention towards the various pathways. "So, do you think we should stay together or each take a path?"

And while the question is defintiely asked with a bravado Marly is still quite new and there might be a slight tone of trepiditon to her voice. Especially as a light breeze rustles the stalks of corn and creates an echo of raspiness that almost sounds like a breath.

Karita Landry has posed:
Turning on her camera, Karita aims the device towards Marly, filming as she talks about the history of the place. The camcorder's designed to 'see into the dark', infra-red lights illuminating through the view screen everything around them, casting it into a dark green and black hue. "Lots of things happened back then, there's that flu, there was tuberculosis, polio, so many things that killed a lot of people and struck them down no matter what age, so yeah - as you say, taken with a grain of salt."

It isn't that Karita doesn't believe in curses, she simply chooses to go with the facts, and really really hope that there isn't a curse! "Still, if there are a lot of deaths on this property, and the resulting energy that comes with it, there really could be some residual hauntings here."

Turning on one of her recorders, Karita casts her gaze towards Andy, then back at Marly. "Well, I think to begin with, we should stick together, head down one of the pathways and just see what we can find!" With that, Karita spins about in a circle, her coat of brightly hued tye-dye material flitting around her as she does, when she stops it's in that direction that Karita begins to trudge off to. "Spin and decide!" She announces with a grin.

Editing the camera which is still rolling will be fun with that particular part.

Andy Katsaros has posed:
After his tent is constructed, Andy tosses the small duffle bag inside of it and begins to unfasten and unpack the three larger items he brought in on the second trip. The two long satchels hold tripods and battery-operated spotlights for their 'base camp', and the larger item holds a tote in which has been stashed a small generator, some extra batteries and camcorder attachments and a bulky, chunky 'laptop' which looks about twenty years old and has clearly seen better days. The computer is perched ontop of the generator, and both it and the spotlights are plugged in before Andy responds to the conversation. "Multiple generations, eh? Well. Guess it'd make sense to have some energy associated with the place," he echoes Kari, "Deaths aside, could asldo be the original owners are unhappy with the family legacy being sold off to make a quick buck..."

Grabbing himself a small hand-held camera, Andy doesn't turn his on yet, instead eyeing the various paths out from the clearing in response to Marly's question. He's about ready to open his mouth to offer his own respnse, when Kari chimes in and spins with enthusiasm to choose the first path to the evening's adventure. Unable to his his grin as he watches the girl's exuberance, Andy offers a very light shrug as he starts on off after her. "Well. Guess that deicdes that," he remarks with a grin.

Having left the lights atop the tripods plugged in and on, the clearing is well illuminiated by that light is soon to fade the deeper into the maze the trio get - especially after a few turns and corners are taken. After all, even on the stands the lights are only three or four feet off the ground, and the cornstalks easily tower over all three of the college students. Andy fiddles with his camera as he realizes this, turning the device on and flicking his eyes back and forth from the path ahead and the small viewfinder screen in his hands. "I am not sure I am ever going to get used to navigating through the dark using this tiny little infrared screen..." he murmurs.

Marly Kohler has posed:
The mention of the previous owners not being happy with the sale of the farm causes Marly's expression to turn thoughtful. "You know, I hadn't thought of that, but that's definitely a possibility."

Then, "And I'm good with sticking together." Marly says with a hint of relief in her voice -

Sure, in the world of repair and antiquities Marly is definitely much more knowledgeable and brave, but in the paranormal world? There's still a tentativeness to her actions.

But that doesn't mean she isn't brave and when Andy remarks about Kari's effective way of choosing a path, Marly can't help but flash a grin over to him. "That is that.", she agrees and strikes off after her two friends. As they begin to navigate Marly turns on two of the recorders and hangs them from her neck via their nylon cords. For herself, she doesn't yet bring out an infrared camera. Instead she continues to navigate with the small flashlight in her hands, as she peers into the stalks they walk by. "I hope we find some good evidence out here." Marly adds quietly, her voice taking on a naturally hushed tone.

The pathway through the corn maze is pretty ... standard. Lots of mud and lots of dips in the road, as it were. The stalks are tall and rise well over their heads to offer a vaguely leafy canopy at times. At the widest the pathway allows them to walk side-by-side, but the narrowest definitely has them going single file.

For the first hour everything is quiet. The only noise that can be heard is their own breathing and foodsteps. Even the energy is very latent, very low-key, it's there but quiet. It gives off the feeling of something slumbering, but slowly, as the clock approaches midnight - the witching hour - the energy begins to stir.

It starts with a pool of shadow that's five feet in front of the group. The shadow is much darker than the others and then suddenly it MOVES. It darts off the pathway and directly into the corn stalks with a raspy whisper!

Karita Landry has posed:
While Karita is normally a very chatty person - in investigator mode, she's all about the quiet, the mysterious, the soft and whispery voice. Her tone is quiet, soft, never raised above that low whisper. "Me too. It has all the right makings for it, the time of the year is also - very good for it."

Tromping through the corn maze and mud, the dips and mounds, Karita's thankful she brought thickly soled, all terrain boots with her, though it's going to be a pain in the behind cleaning them afterwards!

Every so often, Karita will pause the group, the camera in her right hand will raise upwards, while her left hand holds her recorder aloft as well. "To anyone that may be listening." She intones in a bit louder voice. "My name is Karita, these are my friends, Marly and Andy, we're just here to talk. We all have devices that you can speak into, while we may not be able to actually hear you, these devices very well may."

As she speaks, Karita leaves her hand steady so the recorder can pick up any sounds. After a bit, she continues onwards. Even Karita's senses don't pick up anything strange, leaving her to think perhaps the energy is either in hiding, or not here at all. It isn't until midnight when a shiver runs down Karita's spine as her gaze flickers towards a darkness that is - in a sense - darker than dark and when it suddenly flits off in a sudden rushing move, she can't help but let out a gasp of surprise. "Tell me, you guys saw that?" She inquires, gaze flicking into the direction the shadow lept to.

Andy Katsaros has posed:
Not quite as enthusiastic as Karita nor as nervous as Marly, Andy's demeanor can best be described as just happy to be there. He's not really expecting much from the night other than a good time with some friends, so anything that happens beyond that is just a bonus. So, he maintains a pretty easy smile over his features as the trio slink along through the darkness, on or another of them remarking every so often about whether or not it's a cold breeze that they just felt or if it instead it may have been a cold patch in the air, or straining to determine if that was a normal night-time sound drifting through the cornstalks or something much more... supernatural.

He's also not as keyed in to the underying 'energy' of the cornfield, so for the first sixty minutes has remained pretty laid back. He lets Kari take the lead, steering the trio along through the corn maze and the one to ask whatever other presences there may be her questions, and is only too content to leave the role of illuminator to Marly. Instead, he's at the back of the group, keeping pace while scanning between his camera's infra-red view and the beam of Marly's flashlight ahead of him. Really, no sense of foreboding or anticipation or unease just yet though. That is... Until midnight approaches.

When the dark, shadow-like pool of darkness up and darts off into the cornstalks, Andy actually makes a sharp intake of his breath in surprise, having just switched his gaze up to the path ahead at the exact right time to catch side of ... whatever it was that just happened. Despite himself, his eyes go wide and his jaw drops a bit in surprise, an alarmed whisper sounding out from his mouth. "What was that...!? Did you see that?" He then nods over to Kari, her question asked at the same time as his. "Yeah, yeah, I saw it.. It went right across the path, up there - left to right, straight into the corn stalks!"

Marly Kohler has posed:
When Kari holds her recorder alot Marly holds hers high as well. Almost she wishes she could rewind right away and listen but that is definitely not how all of this works.

First investigate then listen.

Being in the middle you'd think Marly would have totally seen the shadow TOTALLY, but alas, she was looking off to her the right of herself and into the stalks themselves. She frowns slightly as she eyes those leafy stalks, "Doesn't it feel like -", only she doesn't get to finish that sentence. Not when Karita and Andy see the shadow!

"What? No! I didn't see it, dammit!" She says, actually swearing softly as she looks to Kari and then behind at Andy, "How big was it? Did it look humanoid?"

"Should we follow it?"

For the record the shadow looked boxy shaped, though humanoid tall, but not necessiarly fully human appearing.

When the trio arrives upon the exact spot that shadow as at Andy's infrared monitor begins to show a drop in ambient temperature. It's not winter cold, but it's definitely chilly and cold enough for the trio to feel it as well!

Beyond the temperature drop there's also a sense of something here. A residual feeling of heaviness. The air feels thicker, harder to press through, versus just a few feet back.

Karita Landry has posed:
"It was - " Karita begins, her brows slightly furrowed together, "Vaguely humanoid in shape, though not exactly a shadow-person." Which may or may not be a good thing, all things considered. Kari's camera makes a sweep around in front of her, as Kari moves her hand slowly from left to right. When the trio finally arrive in the place the shadow was, a shiver runs through her spine - the tingling all too familiar for Karita, at least.

With a low whistle, Karita parts her mouth then closes it again, a tiny bit speechless - for the moment at least. Putting her recorder in her pocket, Karita rummages around in the small knappsack she carries on her back, pulling out the mel-meter, which records temperature as well as EMF simultaneously. "Can you record this, Marly?" Karita asks, showing Marly the mel meter's dip in temperature from one location to the next. "That's just..." Spooky? Great?! Well, all of the above, as Karita lets a huge grin spread itself across her features. "Awesome. And here I thought we weren't going to get anything at all. Let's follow the shadow."

With a quick step, Karita draws into the direction the shadow fled, pausing only a moment to state. "We are not here to harm you, or scare you. We're investigators, we're curious about you - just as, I'm sure, you're as curious about us."

Andy Katsaros has posed:
After the initial surprise, Andy does his best to collect himself by straightening his posture and using his free hand to rub along the bottom of his face and chin - almost as if performing an act of 'wiping away' his shocked reaction. He flicks his gaze up into the sky for a moment, perhaps trying to see if there was something that flew past and the shadow was caused by a blockage of moon- and starlight, but as it's already fairly overcast this evening that doesn't seem to be a likely culprit. Attention back to his infrared display, he calls out the temperature difference to the other two, his voice quiet. "A few degrees cooler over here. Like seven, eight degrees..."

"It looked kind of.. Just like a big, blocky mass to me," he adds in to Kari's description. "I couldn't make out any features. It went into the corn stalks right about..." His gaze lifts from his hand-held up to where the shadow darted away from the path, nodding towards the spot where Kari has oriented herself. "There."

The corner of his mouth curls inwards a bit as Marly asks whether or not they should follow it. "Well. I don't think we booked this evening and brought along all this equipment just to say we saw some sort of shadow thing but didn't follow it..." The smile on his featurees grows broader with the comment and he stops forward, one hand reaching out to begin pushing the nearest corn stalk aside, creating a broader opening for which the group to enter, at least at waist and shoulder high. "You guys go in first, I'll pull up the rear," he adds then. "And keep your eyes on your batteries. I've got extras if you need any." He draws silent then as Kari starts to speak once more, mouth closed so as not to interrupt the attempt to engage with whatever presence it is they're tracking after.

Marly Kohler has posed:
Can she record the dip? She sure can!

Marly takes out her own camera and with the flashlight records the readings Karita's instruments display. Then she swings it around to Andy's infrared reader camera as well, sure his obviously records, but better to have two recordings than none.

Both Kari and Andy voice their approval to follow and Marly can't help but grin sheepishly. "That was a dumb question.", agrees the woman and when Andy holds the stalks open Marly definitely falls back to her middle position within the group and Karita definitely gets to be at the front of the line.

When Karita calls out to the whatever Marly likewise adds, "Yes. We're here to listen. Can you tell us your name?"

Hopefully their recordings pick something up.

Either way, the team continues to slowly make their way through the stalks. It's not nearly as easy a navigation now that the trio is off the beaten path, but it's doable. There's more noise from all three of them as they duck and weave through the dry and crispy stalks, but it's not enough to blot out all of the nighttime sounds that surround the trio.

It's hard to say if the shadow they saw is here, because right now the shadows vastly outnumber the three. But ahead of them there's a definite darkening and lightening of shadows that gives the feel of someone running? Or maybe that's jogging. It's movement none-the-less.

The breeze is likewise still much colder than before and for Andy specifically, with him being at the back of the pack, when the corn stalks close in he might feel a sense of being watched, as they step deeper into the forest of corn.

Karita Landry has posed:
With a roll of her eyes, as Karita moves past Andy, his comment deserves a punch in the arm, which she gives with a swift bump of her balled up fist into Andy's shoulder. It isn't hard, but it is a nice thwack. Afterwards, Karita turns back to Marly, "All questions are important, otherwise how will you get an answer?" She offers to Marly as Karita moves on into the front of the trio.

The cornstalks seem to get thicker as the trio are forced into a single line as they trudge through the path that is not exactly designed to be traveled. The rustle of leaves, the sploosh of boots in the mud followed by feet lifting out of the mud to take another step, even the wind is in chorus as it whistles through the tops of the corn sending the tassles to whip to and fro.

It's down right spooky, and Karita isn't afraid to admit she's a little intimidated by it all!

"Well, they certainly sell this place right, haunted corn maze." Her shoulders shiver slightly as she pauses momentarily, her eyes adjusting from gazing at the small view screen in her camera, to the darkness beyond.

"Shh!" She commands suddenly, "Do you hear that?" And yes, there is always the temptation to say, 'do you smell that', but Ghostbusters will have to go on the backburner for the moment. A deep breath is taken in as Karita holds perfectly still, listing to the unnatural sound of movement. "Hello?" She inquires, suddenly, thinking, perhaps, it's a person instead of a spectre.

Andy Katsaros has posed:
"Ow!" Andy lets out a cursory exclamation at the thwack to his arm, though he's grinning after Kari punches him. He considers a response, but instead remains silent as he lets Kari, and then Marly, advance ahead of him in the dark and foreboding corn field. Infrared camera still held carefully in his hand, the lanky young man keeps his other arm outstretched to help keep from either running into or getting smacked by errant cornstalks, his own footsteps splurching and schlocking through the mud. "Spooky. Creepy." Andy agrees, pausing a beat before he adds another adjective. "Soggy. I almost lost my shoe just now..."

As the darkness closes in, Andy can't help but look over his shoulder more than once - his nerves getting the better of him as he's the last in the group and can't shake the feeling that there's someone - or something - watching him. Maybe laying in wait to pick off the person at the end of the line, without the others any the wiser. As he continues to push the cornstalks out of the way, a thin layer of clear, jelly-like fluid starts to coat his fingers and palm of that hand, glistening in the dim light against a few of the dry stalks before Andy realizes he's started to secrete the stuff. He hastily wipes his hand against the his side as he looks around again, though stops in mid-tracks as Kari ushers for silence up ahead. "Hear what?" Andy whispers in almost hissing tone. He clams up afterwards, ears straining to hear in the darkness. Nothing, that he can tell anyways. "Kari - can't you... I mean, if it's an actualy spirit or something..."

Marly Kohler has posed:
The spook is likewise getting to Marly and Karita might MIGHT feel the other woman's hand gripping her colorful coat.

"Really." Marly whispers more to herself than Karita or Andy, though it's easy enough to still hear what she says, "This is worse than a haunted house. The anticipation is going to kill me."

With her free hand Marly swings her flashlight this way and that, but at Karita's sharp SHHH, Marly freezes. In fact, she goes so far to hold her breath as she strains to listen.

Andy's question garners a rapid sort of nod from Marly even as she turns her gaze back to her spirit-sensing friend.

To Karita's question there isn't an overt answer, only the sound of movement further ahead, and the sound is defintely starting to get quieter and quieter. Perhaps giving the impression that someone or something is running away.

And speaking of running away ...

While the team is so focused ahead (and somewhat behind themselves) they might not hear the gentle swish-swish that's coming from the side. It's ever so quiet against the loud beat of their hearts, and really it only becomes louder right before a shoulder high shadow breaks apart from the stalks and POKES outward from the cornstalks closest to Marly.

For Marly, that seems to be all it takes to get her movement. The woman literally SHRIEKS a high-pitched thing and BOLTS like a rabbit scared by a wolf. With a twist and a shove to the nearest stalks opposite of the shadow Marly goes a-running and easily disappears within the darkness and the maze itself!

Really, she's totally going to be embarassed once she calms down, but it's clear the FLIGHT instinct has taken over for a handful of seconds for the woman.

For those made or sterner stuff it's neither ghost nor spirit that sticks out now, but instead a very placid deer that's here to eat the unharvested corn.

Karita Landry has posed:
Karita answers Andy with a quiet, "They're people, or what's left of their energy, if they want to talk or show themselves, they will. If they want to be quiet, they'll do that, or heck, if they just want to scare the living tators out of me, they'll do that too. I don't, or can't have any real.." Well, control, is what Karita was going to say, but the tension in the cornstalks begins to rise as the sound gets softer, quieter, and begins to fade away.

Darkness creeps around every corner, the sound of running is now but a faint clatter far into the distance. The wind begins to rustle gently about, sending the corn stalk's tassles to once again whip through the breeze. Shadows lengthen as the clouds continue to cover the bright moon over head, and suddenly through the thick maze of tall stalks of corn a sudden crunch of sound followed by a massive form appears through the stalks themselves!

It isn't, at this point, the deer that scares the tar out of Karita, no. It's the high pitched shriek from Marly as the girl bolts through the cornstalks, racing away from the group with point blank terror. /That/ is what scares the holy hell out of Karita, for while she isn't normally afraid of the dark, long since gotten over that given the dark talks back to her, but when a good friend standing right next to you lets out a scream of pure terror and bolts, well, Karita's scream echoes that of Marly's. Not, really, because she's afraid of the thing that broke through the corn in seek of a meal, but because terror begets terror.

The next thing that Karita knows is, she's several yards away in the middle of who knows where in the maze itself, and is panting for breath. "Gotta.. work...out... move.." She gasps as her sides hurt from the bolting, the running, the cornstalks hitting her as she ran through them, and the fact she really has no freaking clue where the hell she is right now.

Andy Katsaros has posed:
"I dunno," quips back Marly as she makes her 'haunted house' comment. "You can get trapped in a haunted house. At least here we're out in the open so we can run back to base camp or the car if we need to..." Little does he know that the erstwhile Creator will actually do something very similar in just a few moments! "Besides, I'll take rustling cornstalks over creaky boards any day." Then, Karita begins to answer him regarding the conversational habits of spirits and such - only to drift off as the tension of the moment builds. And builds. And then... All heck breaks loose.

While first Marly and then Karita scream and shriek and then begin to run in random, oppoiste directions if the very gates of Hades have opened up beneath them, Andy is left to stand alone as they both hastily depart. He's not quite as vocal as the other two, but both of their reactions - a well as the presence of the unfortunate and innocent interloper - have their own impact on the young man. The first is a surge of adrenaline and a few skips of his heartbeat, his breath increasing as his heart starts pumping so loud that he can just about hear it in his ears. Then he reacts. On pure reflex, while the two women are crashing through the cornstalks in a manner that they will probably not look back on fondly, Andy starts in on his own panicked response. In a hasty move he whips about towards the hapless deer and, just as the creature is attempting to rear back and make its own escape due to all of the commotion, Andy flings a pair of basketball-sized globs of goopy, slimy ooze at the deer's legs - shouting a very loud and gutteral 'EEEEYAAAARGH!!' as he does so. The gelatinous substance splatters and coats the deer from the knees on down, immediately hardening like epoxy and trapping the animal in mid-movement, its black eyes wide with fear and a high-pitched bleating sound erupting from its snout as its trapped.

"Gotcha!" Andy shouts triumphantly before he even realizes what it is he's 'got'. "You... ah... Oh, crap," he follows up, then, realizing that he's bravely ensared one of Bambi's harmless cousins. "It's just a deer.." he begins, before he starts to turn to repeat the sentence a little louder. "It's just a deer, guys." Then, realization dawns that neither Marly nor Karita are still there next to him, and in the darkness it's difficult to tell where in the cornstalks they've dashed off too. "Uh... Guys....?" Andy calls out again, a little louder and a little more concerned. "Can you even hear me...?" For its part, the deer strugles and bleats for a moment before it realizes it can't get free and finally, thankfully, begins to calm and quiet down.

Marly Kohler has posed:
You know, the bleating of the deer only enhances the scariness of this whole thing.

Not to mention Kari's screaming and Andy's own shout of scared triumph!

But, for Marly, eventually she too stops running. She ran long enough that she leans over her knees and gasps, "Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap."

Yes, repeating it in threes totally gets her through her fear. It's only as her heart calms down and the adrenaline slows that Marly finally realizes she may have overreacted. Straightening back up Marly glances around herself and can only see corn. Corn corn and more corn. The stalks rustle around her and the woman can't help but groan.

"Dammit. I'm such a loser.", she mutters rather good-naturedly to herself and then she turns in a full circle, trying to decide which way to go.

It's only as Andy's far away shout is heard that Marly pauses, "WHAT? ANDY? KARI? Is that you?", and as she readies to shout 'I'm over here!' there's a flash of movement from the corner of her eyes. Abruptly Marly turns and squints, before her expression eases up at the flash of rainbow color, "Kari? I think I see you!" And with those words said Marly strikes off after the flash of rainbow color.

For Kari, there's a similar sense of something -

Movement, but not like before. Less shadow and more like a flash of light bobbing ahead of her, away from her. Could that be Marly?

And for Andy, he's in for a treat. There's two glimpses of *something* for him. A flash of rainbow and a flash of bobbing light ahead of him, likewise leading away.

The deer just offers a mournful little bleat before it turns its head and chomps into the nearest ear of corn. Listen, a deer gotta eat, it's almost winter!

Karita Landry has posed:
Pant. Gasp. Pant. Gasp. As Karita regains her breath, the realization that she ran because Marly ran dawns on her. What was it that scared Marly? Some kind of hideous monster!? The frantic sound from the deer and Andy's call does register as Karita begins to piece together the events that transpired. Deer came in, scared Marly, Marly scared Karita and Andy must have attacked the deer. What intrepid adventurers they are!

With a laugh, Karita rubs the bridge of her nose with her hand, "I am not going to show that on my youtube channel." She announces to the camera, lifting it up to turn the camera around and focus it onto Karita's face.

"So, we ah, decided to split up." Karita lies, but only slightly. "Other than the shadow, at this point we haven't really discovered much, hopefully the investigation of the recorders will reveal something more." After finishing talking to her 'audience', Karita turns the camera back around and returns the calls. "Yeah! I'm over here!"

With that, Karita turns and begins to follow the light that she assumes is Marly's flashlight beam, as she does so, Karita also pulls out her cell phone and begins to dial up Marly's, just in case.

Andy Katsaros has posed:
There's a faint shouting that Andy can hear coming off from... Well, he has no idea whether it's north or east, but he can at least tell it's coming from 'that' direction. And it sounds sort of like Marly. "Yeah!!" he calls back, setting off the deer to begin bleating again for a moment. "Oh, hush," he begins in aside to the creature before he thinks better of it. "Actually..." He turns towards the direction of Marly's shout, calling again louder this time. "OVER HERE! Follow the sound of the panicked deer!" Andy casts a dubious glance at the animal, pondering how long it will take for the thing to calm down again and start munching once more.

As he's doing so, he catches something out of the corner of his eye. A flash of light? One of the girls, maybe? His head swivels over to that direction, just catching sight of the odd, rainbow-colored pulse of light and then the almost orb-like illumination that bobs about breifly. He can't tell how far away they are, or even *what* they are. "Uh... Kari?" he calls out, a bit hesitatently. "Is that you?" He's reluctant to leave the deer, as he *just* yelled out for the others to head towards it. "Man.." he murmurs, "Wish I'd brought a flashlight, instead of..."

Andy blinks at his unfinished thought, fumbling for his IR camera where it had fallen to the ground upon his brave attack of the deer. Fingers pat and feel along the mud, straw and cornstalk leaves until he finds the device, plucking it up as fast as he can to turn it back on and orient it towards where he saw the odd flashes of light. His eyes are riveted towards the tiny screen, looking for whatever details he can find. "Okay... Let's see what shows up on infrared..." Ah, if only he'd remembered to start recording again.

Marly Kohler has posed:
It's a good bet Marly has forgotten about the youtube channel otherwise she might never live down this feeling of embarrassement. As it is - thankfully she can focus on following after 'Karita'.

"Man, I promise next time I won't be so chicken-hearted!" She yells out to her friends, hoping they can possibly hear her, "I promise. I will eat my Wheaties and not do this again."

Cross her heart.

As for Kari, that flashlight blob continues on its way obviously leading her further INTO the corn maze, much like Marly's does.

For Andy, when he raises up the IR camera he might be immediately put at ease, because the camera definitely shows two figures walking ahead. Definitely two figures only ... their readings run cold. Not crazy ice-monster cold, but definitely not living human beings cold.

And as he continues to watch one of those figures turns back to him, like its looking at him, and motions him to follow.

Should he look ahead he might see that bob of light make a similar seeming motion.

The walk for the trio isn't that long, perhaps ten minutes at the most, and when they push through the last layer of corn stalks they find themselves suddenly within a clearing! A clearing that while not filled with corn stalks isn't quite empty. A very very old tractor sits there, broken down, rusted and clearly no longer working. Atop the tracker sits a freshly carved pumpkin and the face that's been carved upon it is something cheery, with a rounded tooth smile.

Perhaps, another surprise for the group, is the fact that each of them comes out at different points. They're arranged like the points of a triangle, with Kari being one point, Marly another and finally Andy the last.

For his camera those two 'figures' fade to nothing as soon as he steps into the clearing.

To Kari's senses there's still a sense of residual energy here, of farm life, hard work, terrible work, but sometimes happiness to and growing things long past harvested.

Karita Landry has posed:
With a furrowing of her brows, Karita continues to follow the 'light', at this point she's pretty sure that isn't Marly, nor is that Andy. Who. (Or What) It is remains a mystery. When Karita finally steps into the clearing, her gaze alights upon the other two first, a breath of air she hadn't realized she was holding echoes outwards. Thank goodness they're okay!

Still, Karita doesn't say anything to begin with, instead her gaze looks through the tractor and the clearing, it visits old memories of times both good (and bad). Of life that was hard, but rewarding, of lives that were short - happy - sad. The energy here is vivid and 'alive', leaving Karita to just remain quiet, a faint smile written upon her features.

AFter too long of a pause, Karita shakes her head and moves further on into the area, "Are you both okay?" She inquires with a sly grin, "I suggest we make our way back to camp, pull out the cook stove, make some s'mores, and relax the rest of the night. I'm thinking we'll have plenty of evidence on our recorders."

Andy Katsaros has posed:
As initially points his infrared camera towards the strange lights, Andy isn't surprised to see a pair of humanoid figures walking there. What he *is* surprised to see is that the figures are not only walking /away/ from him, but they also read as much colder than normal people should be. Clearly, he's not looking at Kari and Marly. In fact, it's equally as clear that he's instead got a bead on something that is likely paranormal in origins - some type of spirit or energy field. And also just as clear is the fact that, despite already having been separated from the others, it's the only logical choice to blithely follow these whatever-they-ares further into the cornfield. After all, nothing bad ever happened from following a beckoning spirit-shape into the darkness, right?

Fortunately for Andy, that at least appears to be the case today, as it isn't long before he's lead into another clearing - one in which his two team-mates have also emerged. "Guys!" he calls out to the other two, a little unawares of any lingering feelings or sensations in the area. "I've got a couple of shapes on my IR cam, and..." He glances down at the device in his hands, the shapes now having since faded away. "Aw, man, they're gone. At least I've got them re...cor.." The lanky young man's voice trails off as he realizes that, in fact, he was *not* recording the temperature signatures at all and has saved no evidence of them leading him to the clearing. "Aw. Nuts. I forgot to restart the recording after I dropped the camera..." What could have been very compelling data has no been relegated to the realm of just a personal experience, a story and nothing more.

But! Stories themselves have power and as the group find their way back to their base camp there is plenty of time that evening to share them. Comparing notes of the dancing lights, laughing and commiserating about the terrible threat of the ravenous deer... If nothing else was captured this evening, at least the three friends have snared a good time and a further incentive to embark on similar adventurees like this in the future. And really - isn't that the best find of all?

Marly Kohler has posed:
Much like the others Marly can't help but give the clearing a looking over and there's also the question of just WHAT was she following.

WHAT.

Because it sure wasn't Kari.

Still, as Andy announces he didn't record, Marly can only groan. "That sucks."

And then, "God, I'm really sorry I got scared and ran. I promise next mission I'll be better."

The mention of s'mores however definitely brightens Marly's outlook and soon enough the trio make their ways back into the corn stalks at toward base camp. All seems quiet and it's only as the team slumbers within their tents that a small orb of darkness rises up from the pumpkin and leisurely drifts toward the three members of the New York University Paranormal Society. Once at camp the orb splits into three smaller orbs and settles within a bit of battery powered technology of each; whether it's a recorder, a flash light, a camera, or cellphone. The orbs nestle in place quite happily for the night and slumber much like the trio does.

To Be Continued ...