I'm sorry I'm a day late for posting! I usually try to post on Saturdays (if any of you have noticed!) But I was in a car literally all Saturday and couldn't get online.
Thank you all for your continued support! Let's get going!
"Back we go again," Wally groaned, throwing his feet up on the dashboard, "I just love dramaland,"
"They have a reason to be freaked," Artemis offered, turning the heat on the front vents full blast until Wally got uncomfortable and moved his legs.
"It's not just that, they're just really crazy in general," The redhead waved his hands around, trying to emphasize. Artemis snorted and pulled none-too-gently up to the theatre.
"You used to think I was crazy," She smirked, double checking her jacket for her ghost-fighting essentials as they got out of the car.
"I still do," Wally pointed out, smirking at Artemis's scowl as they reached the door, "Shall we?" He asked with a flourishing bow.
"Don't make me hit you," She glared, pulling the door open and walking into the theatre with heavy steps.
The two grew quieter as they took in the raucous noise filling the theatre.
"We totally should have seen this coming," Wally chuckled dryly. Artemis sighed and he threw a supportive arm over her shoulder.
She allowed it for about two seconds, so Wally considered it progress from their usual shtick of zero seconds and a punch to the gut.
There was noise everywhere, pouring from in front and behind the stage as the crew and actors scattered around preparing for a show while the audience was settling in.
"We wanted to ask about stories passed down through theatre lore, to try and find the object," Artemis reminded the redhead, leaning over to make sure he heard her over the din, "So we'll start with the actors,"
"How do I even catch one of those?" Wally frowned, ducking backwards as a rolling prop crashed past.
"We'll go to the dressing rooms," She explained, leading the way through the bustle toward the glowing entrances that spewed glitter and shrieks.
"I'll take the girls room," Wally offered chivalrously.
Artemis simply slapped his arm and pushed him into the boys' dressing room. His laugher dissipating into the room along with him.
She entered the girls' dressing room with more hesitancy that she would if it was full of demons.
Creatures she could handle.
Women terrified her.
"Miss Wilbur!" One actress shrilled from her dressing table, calling her over with a wide smile the moment she saw the blonde, "Have you come to see the show?"
Artemis shuffled over as her eyes darted around the room, carefully eyeing one woman who was brandishing a glitter puff, "Actually my partner and I are looking into the history of the theatre," She began, frowning when she noticed the extreme amount of makeup all of the actresses were caking onto their faces.
The woman noticed her face and laughed good naturedly, "We're not being silly, love. We have to exaggerate the makeup because otherwise the distant audience won't even notice it,"
Artemis nodded in understanding and was about to ask about the lore of the theatre when her friendly companion shrieked and scattered across the room for her costume.
She sighed, realizing that she had no idea how to talk to these women.
"Hey Boys!" Wally announced after stumbling into the men's dressing room. He got a few eyebrows but the majority of actors were too busy to notice.
The noise wasn't nearly as loud as what the redhead could hear from the other dressing room, but he still couldn't seem to catch anyone's attention. He tried scurrying about to catch the busy men but was continuously waved off.
"I'm Special Agent Tom Hayes," Wally spoke up louder, standing in the middle of the room, "Would someone be willing to talk to me about the history of the theatre?" He asked.
"We're busy!" Someone behind a clothing rack grumbled.
The redhead grimaced as he was ignored some more.
"Hey, copper!" An older man called him over, a makeup brush in hand as he worked through the various actors. It appeared that he himself wasn't going to be on stage and Wally grinned thankfully as he jogged up to him, "Why do you need to know about the history of this old place?"
"My partner and I are just wanting to check every angle," Wally answered professionally, leaning against the wall next to the man's table where the costume makeup kit was spread about, "Do you know much about this place? Old owners or things like that?" He tried to sound casual, but he wasn't sure if it worked.
Thankfully his informant was too preoccupied to notice, "Oh yeah," He nodded while he worked on an impatient actor squirming in his chair, "There's always the story about Roxy, that always gets the newbies in a fright,"
The runner bit his lip, recognizing the name of the old manager's wife, "What about Roxy?" He kept his view on the rest of the room, trying to act normal.
"She was an actress here a long time ago, killed on stage during a prop accident," The man explained.
"Sounds terrible," Wally sympathized, pretending he'd never heard the story before.
"Yeah, we tell the newbies that she still haunts the place," He shrugged, "We blame her for things that got missing, stuff like that,"
"Yeah I bet that freaks them out," Wally agreed with a laugh, unsure of how to bring up her husband.
"That's why the girls don't know that the mirror is hers," He let out a loud hearty laugh, "Don't wanna make them flip out,"
"What mirror?" The redhead asked quickly, his nerves on edge as his mind spun with theories.
"We found Roxy's hand mirror about a month ago in storage; the manager gives it to the leading lady during each play. A fun little game the girls have," The man waved his hand and rolled his eyes, "I just know that they're gonna start fightin' over it eventually,"
"Thanks," Wally breathed, standing upright as the cogs of his thoughts settle into place, "I have to go,"
The redhead felt his chest tighten as he ran out of the men's dressing room and across the way to the women's. He definitely expected to be smacked around.
"A-" The name died in his throat as he launched himself into the room and he corrected himself, "Doreen!"
Shrieks filled the air and suddenly shoes and hair brushes were flying everywhere, Wally dodged them as best he could as he worked his way to Artemis, who seemed frozen in shock and anger. She grabbed him by the sleeve when he reached her and pulled him to the corner where he couldn't be in view of the women, 'Wally!" She hissed, baring her teeth, "What the hell are you doing in here?"
"The mirror! It's her," He spoke quickly, grabbing the hands of his partner that were clenched in his button up shirt. His bright green eyes were wide and Artemis yanked him harder when he tried to catch a view of the room again.
"What?"
"We were wrong, it's not Cody," He explained with a harsh whisper, "Its Roxy, his wife!"
Artemis ducked her head close to his in order to hear each other better as they spoke above the din of the room, "The wife?"
"She's hooked onto her hand mirror and one of the actresses has it here," He pointed to the floor in order to signify that he meant the women's dressing room.
"Shit," Artemis cursed, releasing the redhead and leaning out of the corner to scope out the room, "Alright, you get out of here and start a fire somewhere containable," She emphasized with narrowed eyes, "I'll find the mirror,"
"It wasn't that bad," Wally defended with a frown, "And it was my first ghost,"
"You singed your eyebrows off!" She hissed, "And nearly burned the church down!"
"What was I supposed to do?!" He retorted, "You were gonna get skewered! I didn't have time to think about how to do it right!"
"Just don't burn the place down, please, Wally," Artemis huffed, shoving him toward the door. The redhead went with a smile and immediately started searching for something helpful.
Luckily it didn't take him long to find a metal barrel that was hanging around a collection of props. He rolled it to the center of the prepping area where there weren't as many flammable objects nearby and went looking once more for fuel to start the fire with. He had a lighter, but he also needed something that would burn.
"What are you doing man?" A stage crew worker asked as he discovered Wally collecting blankets from a couch against the wall.
"Don't worry about it," Wally grumbled, not even sparing the man a glance. The redhead didn't find himself being heckled any further he supposed that the worker had better things to do.
He dumped the blankets in the barrel along with some scrap wood he found by the set repairs. Wally pulled out the water bottle of lighter fluid Artemis made him carry around (which he considered a fire hazard waiting to happen), and poured a generous amount in the barrel.
"Wally!" Artemis called out, completely throwing away the use of their fake names as she rushed from the women's dressing room, a feather boa wrapped around her neck.
"What is that?" He laughed, pointing obnoxiously at his partner.
"A present," She growled, pulling it off of herself with ferocity and throwing it into the barrel, "And now it's fuel,"
Wally chuckled some more but pulled his lighter out and used the boa as a wick to the bottom of the barrel where the rest of the lighter-fluid covered items easily burst into flames, "Got the mirror?" He asked.
Artemis nodded and held out an ornate silver mirror, decorated with engravings of flowers.
She was about to drop it in the barrel when the ghost appeared, throwing her violently to the side, along with the mirror.
"Artemis!" Wally yelled, swiveling to face a raging ghost. Roxy stood only a few feet away and she was furious. Her attire was a ratty old costume from what Wally assumed was some sort of medieval play, there was dried blood matting her hair and dark circles under her eyes that stood out because of her overall glowing gray aura, "Roxy," He said slowly, his hand slipping into his jacket pocket to grab his iron wood file.
The ghost gave him no chance to attack, roughly throwing her arm out and tossing Wally across the way. He grunted when he landed, rolling to dispel the pain and quickly getting up on his elbows to look for Artemis.
The blonde had crashed into a group of props and her form was lying along the concrete floor; she wasn't moving. Wally scrambled to his feet and faced Roxy as she walked closer, her features menacing. His heart raced and he pulled out the file he'd been unable to reach before.
Roxy rushed him with a screech, her hands held out as claws and her long nails glinting with what Wally guessed was blood from some poor soul. The redhead shifted his good foot back and held his stance, his focus growing. The spirit got close and he moved fast, sliding his step to the side and ducking to avoid her hands, his arm reaching out to slash her with the iron file.
She screamed and disappeared in a cloud of smoldering gray ash, but Wally knew she wasn't gone for good. He turned quickly towards where Artemis had been thrown, his instincts readying himself to run there. But she wasn't there.
And suddenly Roxy was back, swiping at him from behind. He jumped to the side and rolled away from her grasp, his eyes narrowed as he concentrated on his surroundings and anything she might throw his way. One of her hands rose toward the ceiling and Wally braced himself as he heard something metallic snapping. He understood that soon he would have to dodge.
But then the spirit's face fell, her murderous expression quickly dissolving into terror as flames appeared at her feet and fingertips, working inward.
She screamed, raging, and held her hands up in front of her face as she was engulfed in flames, her ghostly form turning into a few flecks of embers.
Wally knew exactly where to look for an explanation.
"Thanks for holding her off," Artemis spoke up with a smirk, her proud stance commanding his notice. Wally grinned and jogged over to her.
"You weren't really knocked out, were you?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.
"No, but I had the mirror so you had to have her attention." She shrugged.
"I love being bait," Wally sneered with crossed arms, his eyes hinting at amusement. Artemis chuckled and bumped elbows with him, glancing down at the fire that was still going in the barrel.
"You did good," She nodded in approval.
"What the hell was that?" An actress shrieked.
Artemis and Wally turned to the sound apprehensively. There, standing outside of the dressing rooms, was all of the actors and actresses.
"Was that Roxy?" The man that Wally had gotten the information from asked, his face pale.
"Yes," Wally grinned sheepishly, pointedly ignoring the flaming barrel he and his companion were standing next to.
"You're welcome," Artemis crossed her arms, a smug smile growing across her face.
"Goodbye," The redhead spoke up quickly, using the shell-shocked attitudes of the actors as a buffer as he ushered Artemis toward the door. The blonde chuckled and went along easily, pulling out the car keys as they reached the exit, "Time to get out of town!" Wally sang, getting into the car with a huff.
"Oh I don't know, that went so smoothly I was thinking that we deserved something for our hard work," She hummed, drumming her fingers along the steering wheel; although Wally could tell that she already had something in mind.
"Does this something involve a something that is somewhere?" He leaned over with a childish grin.
Artemis turned to give him a skeptical look as they drove, "I'm going to drop you off at the motel and you are going to pack up all of our stuff and check us out," She laid it out, "Then you will wait for me at the front office where I will pick you up,"
"And then we will go our somewhere for our something?" He continued eagerly.
"Yes," Artemis sighed, pulling into the motel parking lot, "But if my underwear has moved even an inch when I next open my bag I will skin you alive," She hissed, her eyes narrowed as she stared him down across the car.
Wally laughed and saluted, "Arty I already know your measurements, I bought you that swimsuit," He wiggled his eyebrows as he hopped out of the car.
"I hate you!" She yelled at him, her posture suddenly rigid.
"See you in a little bit, Darling," He smirked, blowing the blonde an exaggerated kiss.
Artemis bristled and peeled out of the lot, repeating a mantra that her plan was going to be worth it in the long run.
"We both need it," She muttered, "He did do really well against that ghost. Great reflexes. His stance is much better too," Artemis sighed, reasoning with herself and calming down.
She just had to keep her sharp anger in check.
Please review and let me know what you think!
The last chapter for this hunt will be posted sometime this week (Probably Wednesday or Thursday). I'm already halfway finished with the next hunt but, if you read the authors note in the first chapter, I won't start posting a new hunt until I'm entirely done writing it! I'm pretty confident that I'll have it finished by next weekend though!
(Why do you wait to post the next hunt until your finished?) Well! It's because I want to make sure all of the plot holes are filled and everything is consistent!
Thank you for reading!
Love, Veg