A Holiday Tale
A Chronicle for Changeling: The Dreaming
Chapter 1, Turn 4 Summary

Christine stares at the man, as if frozen. Finally, she says, in a carefully controlled voice, "No, thank you. I don't care for fava beans."

He continues to stare, "What is it you covet, Clarice?"

As soon as the elevator doors open on the fifth floor, Christine steps out and hurries down the hall, her eyes locked on the floor in front of her. When she reaches the door numbered 517, she unlocks it with trembling hands and goes inside, closing the door behind her.

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Tess pulls her car up to the sidewalk just outside the garage. "It looks like it's stopped. Maybe Chris is here, or at least nearby." Tess glances about, looking to see if there is anyone nearby that might be the newly emerging sidhe but sees no one. After a moment, she turns to the girls. "Why don't you girls get out, and keep an eye on that thing, I'll park the car, and we can look around."

After the girls get out, Tess pulls into the garage, paying the attendant, and finding the closest possible parking spot.

Tess makes her way quickly back to where she left the girls. "Anything?" she asks as she walks up.

As Sebastian pulls up to the garage, Tess says, "Go ahead and park in here, we'll watch and see if the guide starts moving."

Sebby finds and pulls into a parking space and turns off the car before turning to Keighvyn and Jubair. "You guys should go and search. The last thing our friend needs right now is to see the goat man. He's probably freaked enough as it is. I'll be here with the car, and I'll watch to see if anyone suspicious goes after you. I've got a foghorn in the back in case of emergencies. If you hear it, that means trouble. Now get moving!"

Jubair and Rajabal swiftly pile out of the car, Jubair practically tearing the seatbelt off. "Righto Sebby. C'mon Kev - let's get moving before the guide sprints off again!"

Keighvyn touches his index finger to his forehead in an informal salute and nods to Sebastian. "Sounds like a plan." Then he turns to Jubair. "Shall we?"

"Yes, let's!" Jubair replies. He then turns and sets off after the glowing sphere, Rajabal flying beside him.

The ball continues to hover however, as everyone but its summoner waits to follow it...

Tess looks around for a moment, then, after watching the few people that pass, turns to the others, "No one here, I wonder if Sebastian has to be here, maybe its waiting for him?" Turning to Keighvyn, she says, "Would you mind going to get him? Sometimes these spells are just finicky that way."

Keighvyn gives Tess a nod and a brief wink. "That would be my pleasure, milady." With those words, he sprints back to retrieve Sebastian.

Chely looks at all the people milling about and says "Does anyone know what department CE Logan is in? Maybe we should just go to that building and ask if he's in. What do you think? I mean, if the spell is finicky, why not try the direct approach. At least we are out of the parking garage and looking."

"Probably in Computer Science," Tess says.

A minute later, Sebastian and Keighvyn come running towards the group.

The ball starts moving at once, but now goes at a more sedate pace that can be followed by a brisk walk.

Sebby takes off after it as it moves, yelling "Let's move folks. I don't know how long this thing lasts."

The ball moves up among the clustered, tall academic buildings. This section of campus seems devoted to science and engineering courses, after moving only two blocks from the garage down a street closed to all but pedestrian traffic, the ball passes through the doors of a building called 'Baker Systems'. It looks like the building is about five stories high, brick, with a sixties modern feel. Bulletin boards in the buildings lobby advertise engineering fraternities, and a glass-case displays antique mathematical devices. A pair of elevator doors and several hallways provide exits from the deserted lobby.

The little ball of light shoots upwards and vanishes through the ceiling.

Jubair looks up for a moment. "Damn. Can't walk through walls, so how-" He looks at his friend on his shoulder. "Rajabal, could you do us all a favor? Could you do a quick scout up the outside of the building and look for the flame please? You'll move a lot faster than any of us," Jubair asks the barn owl hopefully.

"Ummm... can't we just use the elevators or take the stairs?" Brighteyes asks.

Sebby walks over and pushes the button for the elevator. A few moments later the elevator arrives, and he steps inside with a hand in the entrance to keep the door from closing. "Come on. We'll start at the top floor and work our way down."

Jubair looks dejected. "Fine," he says as he walks into the elevator. "But Rajabal could look through all the windows to see which floor it had turned up in."

Tess pats Jubair on the shoulder comfortingly and says, "Well, you could always stay down here while Rajabal looks." She heads into the elevator after Sebastian.

Turning to look at Sebastian, she says, "Have it stop at each floor on the way up. If it's visible from the elevator, we could save some time."

"Jubair, here is my cell phone number. Stay down here and call me when Rajabal finds something." Chely smiles at the dejected eshu. "Or, Jubair, Rajabal and I could work up from the bottom and you other guys could work down from the top and we could keep in touch with phones."

"Great idea Chely! I'll stick down here and get Rajabal to check out the windows, and if he sees anything, I'll ring you guys and come up, OK?" Jubair says.

"Well, if no one has a portable, there are pay phones and I bet every office has one." Chely states, looking at the group patting their pockets and looking confused

Rajabal snorts and puffs his chest as he clacks his beak at Jubair. "I shall fly above and make certain the ball has not exit the roof of the building. If I find something, I shall find you."

Sebastian, now content that everyone on the elevator is coming, lets go of the door. "See you on the other side..." he says as the doors close.

As the doors close, Keighvyn says under his breath, "And may the Great Raven smile on our quest..."

"Great Raven" Chely stage whispers, "who is the Great Raven? Do we need his help, I mean, we are not in any danger, are we?"

Tess whispers back, loudly enough for Keighvyn to hear, "Don't know, probably some strange sidhe religious thing." She nudges Keighvyn in the ribs.

Keighvyn clears an errant forelock from his eyes with one hand and explains, "Well, The Great Raven is Scathach, the founder of my House. My uncle Ciaran used to ask for her blessings on a quest... I guess I just picked up the habit."

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Inside her office, Christine finds the room much as she left it earlier that morning. As she sits down at her desk she starts to hear some music, as if it were being played loudly, but several offices away. 'Come to my window... Climb inside... Wait by the light of the moon... Come to my window... I'll be home soon...'

"What the--" Christine begins to say, then shrugs. "At least it isn't that Country & Western crap," she mutters. She sets her briefcase down carefully and takes off her suit jacket, draping it over the back of her chair. She sits and taps the mouse in front of her to bring the monitor directly in front of her back to life. Two other monitors sit off to her left.

Christine points and clicks a few times, then taps a few keys, bringing up her email. "Oh, great, another meeting," she mutters irritably. "How can anyone get any work done around here when we spend all damned day in meetings?" She grimaces and squeezes her eyes shut for a moment. "God, what the hell is happening to me?" she implores, looking skyward. "Schmidt must think I'm a total idiot." She sighs and brings her hands up to rub her eyes but stops short. "Oh, that's clever; the raccoon look is really in this year," she mutters. She drops her hands to the keyboard and mouse and pulls up the next email.

As she lifts her head Christine sees the raven sitting on her monitor.

Quoth the raven, "Nevermore!"

Christine screams and backs up, half-standing, her chair rolling back behind her. It hits the bookcase behind her and she falls back into the chair. Breathing rapidly, her hands shaking violently, she stares at the bird. "Oh, God," she whispers hoarsely, "Oh, God... Oh, God... Oh, God..."

The raven cocks its head to one side, "Nevermore!"

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The elevator opens onto the fifth floor of the building. As everyone steps off they see more bulletin boards covered with old advertisements and a drinking fountain. Off to the left a pair of double doors leads to some offices. A corridor leads away to the right and straight ahead. Also to the right, another pair of doors opens onto what looks like a computer lab. Unlike the rest of campus, it's open and in use. The sound of several people banging away at keyboards can be heard from within.

From somewhere music can be heard playing, 'Come to my window... Climb inside... Wait by the light of the moon... Come to my window... I'll be home soon...'

The ball of fire just hangs in mid-air outside the elevator, not moving.

Tess steps out of the elevator and glances about. "Good old campus," she says, shaking her head. Pointing at one of the bulletin boards, she says, "I think that ad was here when I was a freshman. Well, come on, let's see what's about here." She waves for the others to follow, and makes for the lab.

Tess steps into the room, looking for anyone who might be CE Logan. As she enters, she says, "Hey, what's with the damned music?"

The lab has about a dozen folks in it, about half are Asian, all seem to be typing away, barely looking up at you as you enter. There are about 60 personal computers in the room.

A desk by the door has a pimply faced young man wearing a Metallica t-shirt and jeans. He's obviously the Lab supervisor. "I don't know where the craps coming from, he says, looking annoyed. "I shoulda brought my headphones today."

Keighvyn steps up to the desk, and asks politely, "Excuse me, we're looking for a CE Logan. Is he or she here?"

Before the young man can answer, a scream erupts from somewhere nearby.

The will-o-the-wisp suddenly shoots off, flying through walls in a northwesterly direction, further into the building.

Tess's head jerks around, "Geez, what was that." Quickly she makes her way out into the hallway, and starts along the hall, doing her best to follow the direction the ball was headed.

Keighvyn jerks up at the sound of the scream. "What the hell?" In a heartbeat, he starts loping after Tess.

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Christine closes her eyes tightly. "Go away!" she says, "you're not real." She holds her palms over her eyes and says in almost a chant, "You're not real you're not real you're not real you're not real..." As she trails off, she lowers her hands slightly and opens her eyes just a bit, peeking at the monitor.

The raven hops and caws loudly, then croaks, "Nevermore!"

Suddenly, a ball of white flames, perhaps six inches in diameter flies from over Christine's shoulder and hangs suspended in air before her face.

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The will-o-the-wisp leads the chasers around a corner and down a hall before shooting through a door into an office. The door is closed, the office number is 517.

Keighvyn careens around the corner and nearly collides with Tess's back before scooting to a halt. "OK, what now?" He peers around the troll's substantial frame. "517..."

Keighvyn knocks on it and calls gently, "Excuse me, are you all right? I heard a scream..."

Chely pushes through to the door and tries the handle. After it opens she pushes her head around the door and peeks in. "Hi, is everyone all right in here"

Tess excitedly grips Keighvyn's arm for a moment, whispering, "517, Jubair did a cantrip last night, he mentioned that number. He asked if it was important."

As Chely peeks in, Tess steps back, away from the doorway. "You should probably go in first, I'll run back to the lab and give Jubair a call, let him know we found the ball."

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Christine shrieks and ducks, eyes wide. There's a knock at the door and suddenly the door opens. She tries to keep her eyes on the ball of light, the bird and the door all at once.

The office is square and fairly small. The blinds are open, the only light coming from the window. There is an L-shaped desk in one corner with three different computers on it. There are wires and cables everywhere, but they are all laid out neatly and kept together with bright red plastic zip ties. There are two bookcases in the office, filled with books and locking cases of ZIP disks and CDS. The office was crowded, but everything is neat and orderly.

Atop the primary monitor is a large, black bird, a raven. It is staring across the room at a woman. The woman is sitting sprawled in a rolling office chair, pushed back against the office wall. She is ducking to get away from a small ball of light hovering over her.

The woman is a bit taller than average, slim with long hair that seems to shimmer between palest blonde to golden to reddish blonde. Her ears are delicately pointed and she's dressed in flowing maroon and grey silks. Her eyes are an icy silver, currently wide with panic. Even in her current rather frazzled state, she is exceptionally beautiful, in that drop-dead gorgeous way of the sidhe. Her eyes grow even wider as she sees Chely enter the room.

Christine sees a girl in her early teens peeking around the door and then coming quickly into the room. The girl is about 5'7" with dark blonde hair with darker highlights of red and gold. She is very pretty in that innocent, untouched-by-the-world way. Her skin is dark, almost coppery tone and her hazel eyes sparkle. "Excuse me ma'am, everything is okay, my name is Chely Rose and I think that I can explain what's been going on. I promise that no harm will come to you." Chely moves forward into the room and...

Keighvyn gently moves around Chely and takes a step toward the blonde lady, both of his hands held open in full view. "Ma'am? It's going to be all right..." His voice is low-pitched and gentle, in his best "Trust me, I'm a police officer," mode. Christine sees a young man in his early twenties with pointed ears and a face that looks like he could make his living as a model. His shoulder-length blue-black hair is pulled into a single braid tied off with silver cord, but a mass of thick, unruly bangs shades his high forehead. His eyes are a brilliant turquoise color. He's dressed like something out of a Renaissance Festival---a white silk shirt with full sleeves gathered at the wrists, tight black trousers and knee boots, and a jerkin of black leather with silver studding. A silvery sword in a black leather sheath hangs at his hip, and there are shining silver spurs on his boots.

The young girl looks at the older man as he moves past her with a look of frustration immediately replaced by a more fawning look.

Another young girl enters and stands quietly against the wall. She's short, with dark skin and long silver hair. A pair of large, pointed ears stick out from her hair and she has huge, saucer like eyes.

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Tess jogs back toward the lab, making sure she is not visible in the doorway. Once she gets there, she asks the lab assistant if she can use the phone, then dials up Chely's cell number. She informs Jubair where they are, making sure to let him know that they are up at room number 517.

Jubair sounds excited down the other end of the line. "517? I thought that had some significance somewhere! Do you want me to come up there as well? Who's in with Logan? How are we planning on getting her out of here?"

Jubair is too excited to wait for Tess's reply to his queries. He runs over and presses the lift button. Three seconds later, when the lift hasn't arrived, he loses patience and bolts up the stairs as fast as he can to the others, forgetting to hang up the phone.

"Sure, come on up. Just be careful. Me and Sebby haven't gone in, we're in the lab. The others are checkin' in with her," Tess says. "Jub? Hello?" Glancing over at Sebastian, she shrugs, "He left." Tess hangs up the phone. Thanking the lab assistant, she steps over to Sebastian. "So, shall we go check in on the kids, or do you think we should stay here?"

In a low, conspiratorial voice, Sebastian responds "You're blue. I'm a goat. She seems to be screaming. I don't think we'd help the calming aspect of the situation. Unless you know some calming spells." He looks around for a chair, and resorts to sitting on a table. "I know I sure as hell don't." He leans back against the wall and folds his arms across his chest.

"Did you remember to turn off the lights?" Tess says, glancing about the room. "Would be a shame if anyone was bothered by them?"

"Hmm... I think I'll go do that." Sebastian answers. He stands up and walks out.

Everyone else in the lab continues working, though the lab attendant is staring at Tess. "Bet that psycho is seeing birds again." he mutters.

Tess grabs a chair at one of the computers, and drags her bag around, and starts digging into it. She brings out a notepad and begins writing as she waits.

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Sebastian steps into the doorway of the office. He stares at the Chimerical flame, and wills it gone.

The blonde woman shrieks again as the light hovering over her vanishes. Her eyes flicker from the girls and the man to the bird and back. "Who are you?" she asks, standing up, her back against the bookshelves. "What do you want?" Her breathing is rapid. Despite her obvious fear and panic, there is still an aura of dignity about her.

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