Topic: Weirdness Magnet

Liss Evreux

Date: 2016-07-12 16:53 EST
"Strange and bizarre things happen to you with alarming frequency. You are the one with whom demons will stop and chat. Magic items with disturbing properties will find their way to you. The only talking dog on 20th-century Earth will come to you with his problems. Dimensional gates sealed for centuries will crack open just so that you can be bathed in the energies released....or perhaps the entities on the other side will invite you to tea. Nothing lethal will happen to you, at least not immediately, and occasionally some weirdness will be beneficial. But most of the time it will be terribly, terribly inconvenient." ?"Weirdness Magnet" disadvantage from GURPS

It was quickly approaching the witching hour and Liss was nowhere near home. She was terribly late, like always. It was as if her internal clock was outright broken. She rushed down St. Charles at a quick pace, it was always wisest in the city to walk as if you had a predetermined destination and you were in a hurry. People didn't bother you as much and criminals" tended to steer clear of you choosing tourists which were nearly always considered easier prey. Liss pulled her oversized sweater tighter around her and crossed her arms over her chest. It got cold at this late hour in Fall or so she told herself as she quickened her pace.

A flicker of glowing light just to her left caught her attention and she turned to inspect it. Why oh why did she do that' It was nearly always the wrong thing to do. Yet, she still did it every single time. When was she going to learn"!

She knew immediately that the ghostly vignette was a Memorex moment, as she called them. They weren't ghosts exactly, but more like a memory a place holds and occasionally plays out for those unlucky wandering souls out after midnight. Not a true haunting, because it didn't have a soul. It was just a flicker of the past being replayed like a tape or a movie. And everyone involved was locked into their time-frame. They didn't see or interact with those watching. Liss shivered deep in her oversized sweater nonetheless. It was still downright creepy.

Well" If something had to happen this was the best choice, Liss thought as sighed heavily. She let the vignette play out, feeling the sting of tears in her eyes and the wetness of their trail down her cheek. They always ended so tragically which is why they likely keep replaying themselves over and over again. Still, she always felt an urge to try and stop them. As if stopping them would somehow give peace to the place, an end to the souls suffering through the constant loop of fear, death and ultimate endings. Unfortunately she hasn't yet figured out if that can be done. She scrubbed her cheeks free of the moisture with a fistful of her sweater's cuff before once again taking up her hasty pace towards home.

These kinds of things happened to her a lot. She was what her table-top gaming friends called a "weirdness magnet". If something odd was going to happen it would happen around her. Sometimes it was something small and rather insignificant, like the Memorex moment tonight. But other times it could be really dangerous. Liss was grateful that tonight's little display wasn't anything more active. It made her feel less fearful and it reassured her that no one, or nothing, would follow her home to scare her or her sister half to death.

Liss quickened her pace. She could feel time slipping by, inching closer and closer to the Witching Hour. She wanted to be indoors before the clocks chimed 3 am. She knew it was for the best.

How had she done this again?! She knew better"

(To Be Continued?)