A/N: Chapter 2! Of hopefully a five part upload. Depends on how quickly I can get through the next three chapters. Enjoy!
RWBY is owned by Roosterteeth and the late Monty Oum
The Catalyst
Chapter 5
He began his investigation of the asylum by wandering around the lower floors of the building first and then the surrounding grounds outer buildings, looking for anything strange right off the bat. It was how he had gone about his other investigations.
Sometimes, something really would be just that obvious. Not so, this time around though. Unfortunately.
Other than finding a bunch of dead and dying plants within the confines of the main building as well as the rotting bodies of various vermin within, he saw nothing. Nor, did he find anything else in the few offices and rooms he had been able to go in.
For the rest he would have to come back with his lock picks. It wasn't just robbers and thieves that used those implements. He had had to unlock a few doors in his time as a cop as well as a private investigator.
After wandering the halls of the asylum for over half the day he then decided to leave and rest in the room he had rented while he went over what he had found so far, which wasn't much to be honest.
Well, except for the animals and plants, that is. If one could call that evidence.
/ /
In his room later that night at the motel he had rented, a shabby place off of the water called the Sunflower of all things, he went over what he had seen so far.
Or, the lack there of.
He stroked at his chin in thought as he took a step back from the white board he had set up in the room, looking at the only things he had written down on it. An apparition in red and dead animals/plants.
Normally, he would've ignored the all the dead animals and dying plants within the confines of the building as just the ascetics of an abandoned facility. He had been to a few in his day after all.
Except, that outside of the main building, as well as at the other two facilities on the asylum's grounds, were all overgrown with a variety of plant life, and he had clearly seen evidence of plenty of animals outside while he had wandered the halls.
So, what was going on inside the asylum itself?
He continued to tap at his chin while he thought of a solution for the peculiarity. A toxin of some kind, perhaps? Or, some kind of poisonous gas?
Not likely, or he'd have subcome to it by now himself.
Likewise, neither option logically explained the cause of so many deaths in the past as both would've been discovered long before the death toll reached the numbers that it had, and both options would've long since faded away before he, or his uncle arrived on the island.
So, where did that leave him now?
He sat down at the desk in the room and wrote down the evidence he had "collected" so far as well as his current theories on the outcome of the investigation. After a moment, he then jotted down the apparition in red and circled it after writing down three question marks behind it.
Then he went back to tapping at his chin as he thought over it it.
Just because he felt like the option was illogical didn't mean that he wouldn't follow through on investigating it.
To that end, he decided that he would go through the local archives. If there was a chance for any evidence to found anywhere, it would be there. No matter how small that chance could be.
But, before that, he decided to sleep in.
It had been a long trip after all.
/ /
Oscar frowned tiredly as he looked through the next series of of old hard copy. There were dozens, if not scores, of reels of old newspaper articles and municipal paperwork within the archives.
Most were so faded it was impossible to read them.
But that was fine. He wasn't looking to read the articles, but to read over the photos and headlines therein.
And there were plenty of those.
Patch was strange in that it seemingly had a history of unquiet deaths from the loss of one of the first colonies to be set up on the island to the abandoned asylum to the most recent event where a local fishing hauler was found adrift with its entire crew dead on board with no earthly cause as to their demise.
He rubbed at his chin again as he thought things over again.
His uncle had clearly been here. The records keeper had remembered him as soon as he saw the cane in Oscar's possession, and been saddened to hear about his death, too. The old shop keep next door had been saddened to hear about his loss as well when Oscar had gone over to get some lunch.
Strangely enough, everything seemed to go back to the asylum.
The land there had been in dispute amongst some of the more wealthy locals for decades due to the various descendants of survivors from the original colony arguing over who actually owned it. The original colony had even first broken ground there, and subsequently fallen by unknown means. The local hauler had recently dredged up some kind of artifact from the waters off of there before they had died. An artefact that had subsequent been lost somehow.
Then there was the asylum itself and its rather supernatural end.
No matter what, it would seem that he had to go back there, if he wanted to uncover anything solid.
He left as soon as he gather his things.
/ /
Upon his return to the asylum's grounds, Oscar found his path inside obstructed by the local police. They had set up a barricade of yellow tape and stationed two officers on the other side of the barricade.
He looked beyond the barricade from where he stood near the local woods and saw the now familiar sight of Officer Winchester as he and a trio of other constables looked around the grounds within the fence with flashlights out. He frowned as he saw that, thinking of the potentially trampled bits of evidence the foursome of clods were leaving behind.
He said familiar due to having to constantly dodge the officer the other day while he was wandering about the town of Patch itself, trying to look for clues as to what his uncle had been doing there.
It would seem that the Officer Winchester had an interest in this investigation as well. Too bad he was such a racist asshole then, otherwise Oscar would've been quite happy to compare notes.
To that end they could have come up with some feasible conclusion to this by now.
To that end, he still needed to make his way back inside. He was almost certain that he would find what he was looking for in the old Director's office. Within the local Archives he had found evidence that the man in charge of the facility, one Dr Watts, had been interested in far more that just the medical care of the residents there.
Moreover, the asylum itself positively glowed with that strange greenish light as had a few of the articles had had read over at the archives. He was beginning to think that had something to do with this investigation, but he wasn't sure how.
He was roused from his thoughts at the sound of one of the officer's radios going off. The man spoke into it for a moment before he and the other officer with him took off down the road past Oscar's position. Oscar didn't bother to thank his good fortune and instead made his way quickly towards the asylum.
Once there, he didn't bother to try the main gate, thinking that the rusted hinges would've give him away as he opened it. Instead, he dodged around to the side of the tall, stone wall and made his way towards the back of the asylum's grounds where he recalled there being a smaller side gate in the Northernmost corner.
He had seen it on his first time through the asylum's grounds, if he recalled correctly.
Once there, he found his way blocked once again. This time by a rusted padlock and chains.
He thought about using his lock picks on it before deciding against it, seeing how corroded the metal was. Instead, he went over the top of the gate. The metal may have been rusted shut but at least it was still sturdy enough to hold up his slight weight.
Creak! Snap!
Or, so he thought, right before the upper left corner of the gate bent inwards under his weight before snapping off, causing him to fall eight feet to the weed-ridden ground below. He took the impact on his left shoulder, rolling to a stop as he did so.
He laid there a moment before grunting, groaning as he got back to his feet and clutched at his shoulder as he looked up at the broken metal frame.
The jagged, broken metal frame.
Well, he wasn't getting back out that way, that was sure. Though, he did note that there was a raised section of the gate further down. He could probably squeeze his way back out from there if he needed to.
After a quickly bit of brushing off his close he turned and made his way towards the main building once more. He noted, however, that the grounds were empty once more. He hoped that meant that Winchester and his men has left, not that they were now inside.
That hope was abandoned as soon as he made his way inside and heard their voices off in the distance as well as saw the beams of light from their flashlights.
"Shit," he cursed under his breath at that. This just got more complicated.
Now, he had to avoid being seen and heard while he made his way to the Director's office. At least, it was on the first floor.
A/N: Well, things are getting rather serious here, aren't they. And, yet no appearances of anything supernatural yet, besides Oscar's visions, that is. I wonder why? ;)