Ooc: .. -grumble- You guys are taking forever.. =P

Just then, a very short old-looking man walked slowly past the gate. The week was up already, and he wanted to see how the group was doing. Yes, he was the Professor. The one that assigned this whole horrible trip. He had long white hair, which was pulled into a short pony-tail, and he seemed very confident, despite his age-difference. He paused, as he squinted at Nicholas, Elizabeth, Roma and Jakob, then yelled, waving his hands in the air once he saw the smoke and half-collasped Mansion. "Oi! You group! Get away from that Mansion!" He yelled, having a very loud voice indeed.

Roma smiled with the fact that she had brought a smile to Jakob's lips, but then jumped quickly as she heard the freaky-looking old man. He looked quite scary, but then again, didn't look like he was going to harm them in any way. She took Jakob's hand for protection, just in case, and walked a bit away from the mansion. "Errr...may I ask who you are?" she asked him, despite the fact that it sounded quite rude at first.

OoC: Eevee, you're too impatient. =P

ooc: I second that lol. Oh I gotta go again... sux

Jakob's attention swivelled at the sight of the old man. His first thought was that it was someone set out to rip them to pieces or something; then, he realized he was being delusional again. Would he continue seeing danger where it wasn't? Jakob frowned at the conception of it.
Getting further from the mansion, he stopped, alongside Roma, eyeing the person, suspiciously enough.

Ooc: =D So sue me.

The man looked at Roma and Jakob, then blinked. He suddenly looked behind them, then shook his head. "You guys.. weren't the group that was suppossed to stay here, were you?" He asked, shaking his head. "..But.. how...? I mean, I was renting the Mansion for one week to a sad-looking lad, then.. the week after that, I was suppossed to bring you guys into the Mansion myself." The Professor stopped, then blinked. "..I am Professor Whic."

Roma shook her head to make sure she wasn't hearing things. "What?!" she said, surprised. "Orion lied to us? Why would he do that?" She turned to Jakob and then to the rest of the group. She looked down after a moment of contemplating the real reason. Orion, led by his curiosity, wanted to find out the answers to the questions he had, so he led us in earlier than we were supposed to. She was lost in her thoughts for a few minutes before snapping back into reality, as if lightning had just hit her. "Did he mention why he wanted to rent out the mansion?"

Professor Whic shook his head. "By the looks of it, the lad --- Orion, you said? --- wanted to find out something. He never told me what, but, I admit.. I.. did tell him about you group. I told him that we were suppossed to investigate the Mansion, and.. I did mention names." He shook his head, then sighed. "That's what I get for trusting everyone, though," he mumbled, then glanced up again. "Though, I bet I could piece together what happened. He must've called you group, said that he was the leader, and let you guys know to meet him someplace, right?" Professor Whic stopped, then went on. "..He must've known more about this Mansion than what he shown. He did mention that he knew someone close to the Murderer's Family." Pro. Whic shrugged, then gestured to the half-collasped Mansion. "..What happened?"

Ooc: Roma, you can post what I just IMed to you.. =D Please? Because..Professor Whic's not suppossed to know lots, and I want to make sure no one is confused.

OoC: Of course!

Roma let out a defeated sigh, shaking slightly as everything came together like the pieces of a puzzle all coming together. She was right about Orion not telling them everything he knew. And what he knew was quite important. She turned back to the rest of the group, wanting to explain everything she figured out.

"Orion decieved us. In the beginning, when he had told us all that the proffessor couldn't be there and he was going to lead us all in. The proffessor was actually supposed to lead us in next week. Orion rented out the mansion this week and the the proffessor accidently told him about us, the search group, while he was there. Orion wanted to solve this mystery so he called us in a week earlier than we were actually supposed to go in. His plans backfired, and he ended up...dying," she finally finished, shaking still at the very thought of it.

Nicholas's hands were shaking. They had started shaking when the mansion started blowing up, and it didn't look like they were going to stop anytime soon. He sighed and put them in his jeans pockets to try and warm them up. He could see his breath forming mist everytime he breathed out.It was good to be outside...it was good to finally know they were safe. Well, what was left of them, anyway. "So that's it then..." He said, unconvinced that it really was it himself.

"But...doesn't that sound a little crazy to you?" He knew Orion was a little bit introverted but this seemed more like the psycho quiet kid in the corner...Not Orion.

I realy like the idea!

Ooc: Um, slitherinssecret, that's considered spamming. Read the rules, please, before posting in this, or any RP. Thanks.

Professor Whic stared at Nicholas, then shook his head. "..Everyone's a wee bit crazy, lad," he said, looking a bit sad for Nicholas. He shook his head, then adked him, "Could you tell me.. what happened.. why this Mansion is burning down...?"

Roma sighed before answering. "There were toxic gases in this mansion. And...spectres also. Hoxac, the one who owned the mansion, killed Orion," she said a bit sadly. Despite the fact that Orion had decieved them all, she was still very sympathetic towards his loss. He may have lied, but it was for a good reason. "I don't think Orion was crazy. He just wanted to know the truth. We all did...."

"Spectres?" Professor Whic opened his eyes, then looked thoughtful. "..Interesting. But.. what exactly happened throughout the whole mansion? If you gathered facts, then this will be a big hit! You.. did gather facts, right?" He raised an eyebrow, looking at them.

Roma nodded. "A few, yes. Hoxac had a secret affair with one of his maids. She got pregnant and Annabella had killed her when she found out. Hoxac got very angry, and it's said that that's how he began his killing spree." She paused, trying to think of more. "She then killed herself by jumping off the balcony. As a spectre, she came back and killed her three children. There are no long spectres in the mansion now, obviously, since there's no mansion left to haunt."

Professor Whic nodded. "..A weeping woman. Annabella, you said?" He wrote down something, then asked, "..I mean. Do you have any proof?" He was meaning like, proof on EVP's or EMF's or counters, or camcorders or something.

Roma frowned and looked at the rest of the group. "Proof? Orion told us to take it, but I guess we just forgot. We were in such a rush to get out of that mansion before it exploded. Or else we would have gotten it, too," she replied to the proffessor's question. She looked around to the rest of the group. They all looked defeated, as if they had lost a war or something. She just shook the thought out of her mind, thinking that this was all too much to take in.

The Professor's head drooped, as he stared at the Mansion. "..It's ruined. No.. proof..nothing..." He sighed, then fiddled with a strand of his hair. "..I'll tell you guys what. The police and fire department will be here in about an hour. Go home. All of you. Or to a hotel. But meet me back here, when I call you. Right after I call you, come. Don't wait or hesitate. Okay?" Professor Whic said, turning to walk away. He suddenly faced them again, then added, "..The press will be after you guys. Most likely they'll get ahold of your numbers and addresses. Avoid them until you have come back here, after I called you. We don't want to make this a bigger deal, before you hear what I have to say. Alright?"

Roma nodded again. "I doubt any one of us are ready to talk to anyone at this point, though," she said, speaking for the rest of the group. She turned to everyone else. "So...what are we going to do tonight? We have no money, remember?" But then she remembered something. Her bag of clothing was inside the mansion. Well, I guess I'm not getting that back.

Nicholas shifted through his pocket, looking for some money. "I've got three sickles and one knut...If there's a bank nearby i can take out more." He usually carried more money with him but it was still inside the mansion. Not like that bothered him-he was the star athlete on the Chuddley Cannons. He had more money then he knew what to do with. "If we can find one i'll pay for everyone's hotel fee." It would barely cost him anything, and he felt like it was the least he could do.

Jakob frowned. He didn't like the sound of this... proof, police, making Orion seem demented... Keeping quiet, he threw suspicious glances at Professor Whic, thinking that Orion was partly entitled to do what he did, and that he himself would have probably done the same, in name of finding out the truth. But the question remained: what truth? Of course, there were the details and accounts of what Roma told the professor, but Jakob wanted more.
"Press?" he mumbled, as if it was a new word for him, alltogether. He figured he'd probably end up in jail for aggression towards journalists if the case would have occured.
"Let's find a bank, then." he said to Nicholas.

Roma shook her head at Nicholas's offer. "No, thanks. I have my money in the bank, also. I'll pay for my own and chip in for anyone elses. But for now, we better call a taxi or something. We don't want to be assailed by the media," she said looking around for any trace of cars. She walked up the street a bit as she finally began seeing cars pass by. Signaling a taxi, she opened the door for everyone to get in. "Let's go, then."

"Ok now I feel in inferiority." Jakob said sincerely, as he waved Roma to get in first, not forgetting his manners. He was beginning to feel ill-at-ease: everyone appeared to have some money on them, save himself. What was he thinking? Then again, he was sure he had had some back in the mansion.
"Everyone in?" he signalled, looking at the others. Surely enough, they all fitted in the car, and Jakob addressed Roma: "Should we tell him[the driver] to take us to the nearest bank, and then to a hotel?"

Nicholas nodded his head and stepped into the taxi after Jakob, shutting the door behind him. "I've got some money stored in a muggle bank, so i suppose that works. I can go in, take money out, then pay him to take us to a hotel." Without waiting for an answer, he turned to the driver. "Take us to the nearest bank." He said to the driver, and leaned back in his seat. Money to him barely mattered, he felt horrible taking any from anyone else who might need it, and avoided doing so under all circumstances.

Roma leaned back in her seat as the driver swerved down a few streets, made a few turns, and ran a few stop signs - but she hardly noticed. Her eyes were closing and it was now very hard to stay awake. She never had a wink of sleep inside that mansion. And the fact that she was on guard duty every night didn't help her sleeping times a bit. She could have fallen asleep anywhere, anyhow by now.

As the driver stopped in front of a local bank, Roma opened the door and got out first, taking a glance at the bank. It was an ordinary muggle bank. Luckily, she had started an account there when she couldn't stand wearing wizard clothes anymore and wanted to start wearing muggle clothes.

She stepped inside and walked up to the accountant at one of the desks. After a few minutes of chatting and a few typed words on the lady's computer, Roma had gotten her money and walked back to the group. "Anyone else? Nicholas?"

Nicholas nodded at Roma and stepped up to the desk. He didn't feel much like talking...so much had happened within the past few days. Speaking of days, he couldn't even remember what day it was. He looked at a calendar on the wall. It had only been 2 days. That can't be right, he thought to himself as he went back outside to pay the cab driver.

"Could you take us to the nearest hotel?" He asked. The driver nodded and Nicholas opened up the door, holding it for Roma and Jakob.

Once again, the driver had stepped on the acceleration as if it were a coakroach, and drove off into the evening. It was already starting to get dark, which meant Roma had to put more effort into staying awake until she were in a nice, comfy motel bed. The driver finally halted in front of a motel. She opened the door, got out, and entered the office. After a bit of talking there and handing the man some money, she finally got her room key and walked back to the group. "I can't wait to get to sleep. It feels like I haven't slept in days."