It's been a couple of months since the events in Homer, and it's now late March in Seward. The powers that be in SAVE (since the Seward HQ is now hooked in to the larger organization) figured that since the road trip mission worked out, this HQ might wind up becoming the kind of hub for SAVE in the area. But that's a future discussion.
Tonight, Dr. Kirby Bellman has asked five envoys to meet up at the Crab Pot, but he's running a little late. The envoys - Arlo Miller, Amelia Rostov, Tuulugaak Hanta, Mercy Williams, and Khalil Barnes - are sitting around hoping this meeting isn't about what's on all their minds.
See, earlier in the week, a man named John Petty shot and killed his best friend, Houston Spears, and then shot the rest of Houston's family, and then was shot dead by the Seward police. Petty and Spears were both Army vets, both young - they enlisted right out of high school and did their four years - and both recently returned from Afghanistan. Tul wonders if Petty just snapped, and Barnes (whom you'll recall is retired JAG) says that of course it's possible, but it'd be weird for him to shoot his best friend and his whole family. If Petty and Spears had a problem they'd be more likely to just fight and then get drunk.
Bellman shows up, goes to the bar and orders something very strong, and then sits down. "Ever have a really shit day and then suddenly it gets worse?" he says. "I'm about to make your day worse, sorry."
He sends them a link to an Instagram story posted by a tourist in Seward. The story puts the photo of John Petty that the media has been using side-by-side with a photo she took of a man standing outside a strip mall in Seward. She says that this guy is Petty, and she took this photo at 1:40 PM on the 20th...which is a few minutes after the 911 call that got the cops to the Spears house. She rants a bit about government conspiracies and cover-ups, but Dr. Bellman has a different explanation ("always amazes me how competent people think the government is," mutters Khalil).
Bellman freely admits this could be nothing, could be a coincidence, could be a lie from the poster, but y'know, worth a look. For his part, Arlo is actually somewhat...maybe not relieved, but heartened? by the idea that this was a creature of the Unknown rather than a man committing a quadruple murder out of nowhere. He also mentions the words "doppelganger," and Bellman nods; that had occurred to them, too.
The envoys plan out their approach. Mercy knows some of the cops in the city (can't be an EMT and not get to know them), so she offers to take Khalil to meet them so maybe he can get involved. Amelia figures that tomorrow she'll go to visit John Petty's mother - Dr. Bellman had mentioned that she wasn't doing well and was having health problems before all this happened. Bellman also informs the envoys that John Petty is actually dead, and was killed by the cops; he saw the body when it came in. He also was the ER doc on duty when all this happened, and Houston Spears' mother, Bonnie, was actually alive when they brought her, but he couldn't save her.
Arlo and Tul decide to go over to the Spears house and poke around, and since it's nighttime and it's took late to be calling on Ms. Petty, Amelia tags along. The house is dark, police tape still up, but when does that stop SAVE envoys? Tul picks the lock on the front door and they slip inside.
Tul takes a moment and sense the Unknown, and feels something pushing him toward a door. He opens it and reveals stairs to a basement. The three envoys start heading down, but Amelia's cane misses a step and she goes crashing down to the bottom ("ow"). Tul helps her up and Arlo uses a quick use of Heal to fix her wrist up, and they start looking around.
The basement is finished - carpet, couch, TV, Playstation. But there's a big ol' bloodstained in the corner. Arlo checks the scene and figures that the blood spatter is indicative of a gunshot, probably from someone standing more or less at the bottom of the stairs. There are a couple of glasses on the coffee table; maybe Petty and Spears were down here when the shooting started. Arlo tries to sense the Unknown, too, does it maybe a bit too well...
He sees red smoke rising up from the bloodstain, and sees a humanoid, maybe masculine figure in the smoke. He hears it whispering to him, and can't exactly understand the words, but feels the weight of a pistol in his hand and feels a strong urge to shoot at the thing in the corner. He shakes it off and reports this to the others.
They head back upstairs and find more blood in the kitchen, and at the top of the stairs to the second floor. Arlo's reconstruction of the crime is that the shooter came up the basement stairs after shooting someone down there, shot someone in the kitchen, and then shot another person in the kitchen who then moved around and bled everywhere. And then finally he walked a few steps and fired up at someone coming down the stairs.
The envoys head out, a little more certain of what happened but not why...and wondering what the thing in the smoke was.
Meanwhile, Mercy and Khalil head to the Seward PD. Mercy spots Darren, an officer she gossips with (he showed up once before, during the affair with Charlotte Deneer). Mercy asks what he knows about what happened with Petty, and introduces him to Khalil, and Darren offers to introduce Khalil to the detective in charge of the case. Said detective comes over to introduce himself - Lance Winslow. Mercy and Winslow have met (here), and while he seems generally suspicious and busy, he listens to Khalil. Khalil's knowledge of military law and the fact that the case is really already closed prompts Winslow to talk with him a little; he confirms that the gun was Petty's and he brought it with him. They don't have any real idea what set it off, and since the principals are dead it's going to be hard to know. He agrees to send Khalil some of the case information.
Everyone heads home. Khalil stays up and does a deep dive into Spears and Petty, learning that they were both born in Seward within a month of each other, went to the same schools, enlisted right out of high school, and were stationed in the same base (though Petty was boots on the ground, and Spears was communications and worked with computers). Mercy, likewise, focuses on the Insta post. Zooming in on the picture that purports to be Petty, she admits that it really does look like him. The conspiracy theorists in the comments have already latched on and have identified that he's standing outside Two Bits Barbershop ("that's where I get my haircut," says Khalil), but he's wearing a hat, which the internet takes as proof that he didn't get a haircut.
(Mercy also notes that the comments bring up Corey West and Roger Brewster. Seward has a recent history of people just flipping out and killing people.)
The next morning, Khalil goes to Two Bits to get his haircut, and to check in on Monte Noble, the old fella who owns the place. He's thinking he'll see if there are security cameras there or in the area, but when he gets there, no one's in. This worries him - Monte doesn't open late. He waits around until Timmy, the other barber working there, opens up, and asks him about Monte. Timmy doesn't know, and in fact calls out to Monte.
But then Monte walks in from the back door, and right away Khalil can see something's up. Monte is 72 years old, and he still looks it, but his posture is straighter, his eyes just a little clearer, his diction just a little too crisp. Khalil questions him ("you going to go out this summer and get some bass?") and "Monte" falls for it ("I certainly am"). Khalil calls him on it ("Monte is allergic to fish") and "Monte" shrugs and sits down. "It's so hard to keep track."
Khalil quickly texts "GET HERE NOW 911" to the group chat, and "Monte" asks him for his phone. Khalil, feeling that this request is very reasonable, hands it over, and he looks at the screen, nods, and hands it back. Monte tries to get a little information about of him, and asks where he's from, and man(?) answers with a phrase in Arabic. Khalil understands a little, and recites it in his head while he waits.
Arlo pulls up outside, and the man stands up. Khalil draws his pistol, and suddenly the room goes completely black. To Arlo, this just looks like the lights go out, and he opens the door into the blackness. Realizing that something is very wrong, he activates a Sphere of Protection and moves forward. Khalil heads for the back door and Arlo follows, trying to keep the Sphere up. The darkness goes away about the time they get to the door, and Tul and Mercy arrive (they were both at the gym). Tul grabs the wall and uses Schematic, getting a mental map of the whole building, as well as the sudden sensation of something watching him from above - something much more dangerous than anything he's yet seen.
Khalil carefully makes his way into the hallway, calling out for Timmy (based on the creature's comments, he figures Monte is probably dead). He sees Timmy staggering down the hall, and as he becomes visible Khalil realizes he's got a pair of scissors jammed into his throat.
Khalil runs forward to help him, but Timmy grabs him by the throat and starts to squeeze. Tul, seeing this, rushes past Arlo and tackles him. The scissors fall out and Tul expects a jet of arterial spray, but gets barely a trickle. Timmy is already dead, but that's not stopping him from fighting back. Khalil kicks the scissors further down the hall.
Arlo messages Amelia and Bellman, and Tul grabs a fire extinguisher off the wall and tries to hit Timmy with it...but misses. Timmy reaches up and punches Tul, knocking his head against the wall with a "you now have a concession" thump, and Mercy runs over and pins Timmy's arm.
Khalil looks down the hall, and sees Monte coming toward them, holding the scissors. But Monte has a horrible wound across his throat - not a slash, more "ligature strangulation." The smell proceeds him and as he squeezes the scissors, Khalil can see fluid dripping. Monte slices down with the scissors, trying to stab Khalil, but he moves back and just gets a small cut. Arlo runs forward and knocks Monte over, and he tries to stab Mercy in the leg and gets a similarly shallow slice. Khalil leaps forward and smacks his head against the wall. There's a squish kind of sound, but Monte keeps coming.
At this moment, Amelia arrives in the hallway. She sees Mercy restraining one zombie and Khalil battling another, and, thinking quickly, draws a sigil on the wall. The hallway is warded, and both corpses become inert. Everyone sits and catches their breath...and a barista from the coffee shop next door comes into the hall. "What the fuck."
He retreats, and Amelia follows him to try and reassure him there's no danger (but the police are 100% on the way). Khalil moves quickly - he reminds everyone not to talk to the police and to ask for a lawyer, and then types the Arabic phrase into his phone. It comes back as:
Now, we truly know that we cannot frustrate Allah on earth, nor can we escape from Him into heaven. - Suryah Al-Jinn.
Khalil quickly calls his brother, Hamza, an imam in Anchorage. "Hello?"
"Hey, it's Khalil."
"Yeah, I have caller ID. What's up?"
"I need help. Can you get down to Seward?"
"Sure. What's going on, 'lil?"
Khalil takes a deep breath. "I think there's a djinni, and I think it's killing people."
A pause. "I don't know what I thought you were going to say, but it wasn't that. I'm on my way."
Khalil hangs up, wipes down the scissors, and waits. And shortly thereafter, all five of them are arrested.
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