Sleep Journal - 190119 - Fairge Anma

[kimurho]

Index to Fairge Anmna Sleep Journal entries

Sleep Journal
19 January 2019

Justine must have called more than just emergency services; Douglas Monaghan arrived before the med techs and he wasn't alone. With him were the two other department professors, JJ Stillman and Laura Wingate, and a student intern, Nikki Bower.

Craig was half-lying on the floor when he saw Dr. Monaghan and the others, Justine kneeling beside him. He started to stand, despite Justine's protest, but quickly sat again when he head got woozy. Too woozy to string together a coherent account of what they'd found or what happened. Justine took over and explained that they, he and she, had done right up to the time Craig had gotten injured.

"So when you tried to go in, you couldn't?" Douglas asked, turning toward Craig. "What was it like?"

"Like I was trying to put my foot through a door," Craig said. He pulled the handkerchief away from the back of his head, looking at it. Justine took it away from him and replace it where it had been, holding it in place.

"And it's like the door is still shut," Douglas pressed, turning to question Craig.

JJ went up to the opening and stuck his hand through. "I've got no problem."

"Okay," Craig drawled. "Maybe more like a half door. You know, like they have in barns? I could stick my hand to reach the lightswitch, but when I tried to lower it, I got about halfway and then it pushed me out."

"He almost fell over backwards then," Justine added. Craig gave her quelling glance, which she didn't see. She was watching Dr. Monaghan.

"Interesting. Let me see." He told Nikki to get the video camera out and set it recording.

Douglas and JJ both approached the cubicle and tried to step over the symbol burnt onto the carpet just inside with the same lack of success that Craig had enjoyed. Douglas then motioned Laura and Nikki forward, suggesting that they try. Neither woman had the slightest problem entering or leaving the closet-sized room. Justine demonstrated her own ease of movement in and out.

"I got my hand in pretty easily," JJ observed. "Let's see how far I can bring it down."

Once again, JJ stuck his hand through the door opening, reached around for the lightswitch and turned the light inside off and back on. When it was established that he could do that easily enough, he began to slowly move his hand down. Just at hip-high, he rocked back on his heels. He wasn't knocked off his feet, as Craig had been, perhaps because he'd been expecting the reaction and braced against it. Perhaps because he weighed more.

"Craig's hand went down further," Justine observed.

Douglas gave her an assessing look then, then visually examined the two men. Standing up, Craig was, at most, five foot ten. JJ was more than half a foot taller. Douglas, himself, stood at six foot.

"JJ, stand beside me. Laura, watch and see if we both hit the ... what did you call it? The resistance? Sounds like a rebel army in scifi movie. Let's see if we both hit this resistance at the same spot. JJ, stop as soon as you feel the slightest push back, try to keep your hand in place. Ready? Let's go."

The two men lowered their hands in concert. JJ's hand stopped moving almost four or five inches before Douglas's.

"Intriguing."

"I think I should try climbing over, the way Craig did," JJ suggested. "The step-ladder's still here."

It was. It had fallen inside the room when Craig went flying. Laura had moved it out of her way when she went in.

"That would be a mistake," Laura said sharply.

Justine's objection was more pointed. "We already have one man injured by his own stupidity. That's too many already."

Craig had to defend himself against this character assassination. "It wasn't stupid when I did it. It was the logical thing to do."

"It was you being stupid and arrogant," Justine countered. "I could have taken any readings you needed. You didn't have to get into that room with me."

"JJ, the ladies are correct, we don't need you to get injured as well. However, Craig is right, Justine ..."

That was when the EMTs arrived.

Their arrival did not exactly clear up all the noise and confusion, it just changed it to medical confusion instead as as they examined Craig's head and bandaged it, asked him questions about pain level and perceptions, and then tried to convince him to go to the hospital with them. Craig refused, but he did accept some pain pills when they were offered.

The lead med tech stepped back, regarding Craig with somber intent. "If you won't go to the hospital ..." Craig indicated that he would not. "Then you're going to need someone to stay with you overnight, to observe for any signs of concussion."

"He'll have someone," Douglas said. The way he said it made it clear that Craig had no say in the matter.

The med tech turned toward Dr. Monaghan with an expression of relief, probably at finding someone responsible present. It was clear that the medic did not consider Craig an especially good patient.

"He'll need to be wakened every two to three hours. Check that his eyes are tracking and ask him to answer a couple of simple questions. If he can't, bring him to the hospital, no matter how hard he objects. If he complains of a headache, he can have a pain killer with acetaminophen in it, but no aspirin. He shouldn't drive for at least twenty-four hours, and he should be under observation in that time. He also should see his physician tomorrow for a more comprehensive examination."

Douglas nodded sharply, recording the instructions to memory. "I'll see to it," he promised.

With that settled, the medical technicians gathered up their gear and left.

As soon they were gone, Dr. Monaghan turned to study the set-up again. Craig started to speak, to protest the high-handed way Douglas was trying to organize him, but the old man waved him to silence.

Finally, he gave a decided nod and turned around. His gaze gathered the attention of the other five to him.

"As I see it, we have three questions to answer, three courses of investigation." He started counting them off on his fingers. "The design. What is it? Where did it come from? JJ, I think you'd serve us best figuring that out and what the intended effect was."

"That's obvious," Craig stated flatly. "To keep out men."

"That's what it does," Douglas replied patiently. "That may not be what the author intended. JJ?"

Dr. JJ Stillman was the best person to figure out the symbol. He was an acknowledged expert on magical systems and ritual, well versed in the magical writing of a number of cultures. He could not only recognize what the symbols were but also know what they meant, both mundanely and in intent.

JJ nodded agreement.

"You may want to start with the papers that are covering the windows of the door and side. Did you notice those?" JJ frowned and glanced toward them. Whatever he saw intrigued him. He leaned forward, so that it looked as though he were drawn to the cubicle, bending down to study the writing closely.

JJ's intent focus gave Craig cald grues. What if he identified the writer of the pages?

Dr. Monaghan continued with his instructions. He turned next to the student intern.

"Nikki, your task is to ... carefully ... remove those pages for study. Do your best to not tear any or to damage any of the letters or symbols if you can help it." The girl nodded and immediately turned to go into the room.

"Those pages may not mean anything at all," Craig pointed out, just as he had to Justine. "Look at them. Look how crumpled they are, as if they were balled up, tossed away, and then flattened again. I think the person who put those up just what they needed out of a waste bin."

JJ shook his head but before he could speak, Douglas did.

"That may be so, or they may be significant. We can't overlook the possibility."

"They're significant," JJ said shortly. Douglas nodded, accepting the other man's initial assessment without comment. He faced Laura Wingate, giving her her marching orders next.

"Laura, I want you to take the physical readings. EMF, IR, UV, heat signatures. If you need any gear other than what we brought, send Nikki to get it. After she finishes taking down the pages, of course. Get whatever readings you can here and in the two rooms to either side." Laura nodded her understanding.

That would normally be Craig's task, and he found he resented seeing someone else doing his job. Dr. Laura Wingate was an expert on folklore, specifically demonology. She knew her way around the equipment, but she wasn't a tech-head.

Craig started to get up, to protest the assignment and insist that he was up to it. His head and body both immediately disagreed, letting him know what a bad idea that was. His head spun and his stomach insisted that he remain still. Defeated by his own weakness, he fell back and added what he could to help out.

"You should take the same readings from the corresponding spot on the floor above, too," he said.

Douglas agreed and added the floor below as well. "We want to know exactly how far this influence extends," he finished. Dismissing Laura to her task, he finished with Justine.

"Justine, you and I are going to interview the interns and librarians who were on duty here from the time Mr. Samson locked that door yesterday until the moment he opened it today. We'll get names, numbers, and addresses from Mr. Samson, he's compiling them now."

Craig wondered who Samson was, but found he didn't care enough to ask. They separated to their tasks, leaving Craig lying on the half-lying on the floor, his head and shoulders lifted up off the floor by a gear bag.

Laura started with a measurement of the electromagnetic field strength in the room. Then she recorded IR and UV information. It took her a while to complete the entire survey. The windows were clear long before she finished, so Nikki was able to help her.

From time to time, Craig offered suggestions, but most of his attention was on JJ, bent over the sheets of paper nearby, examining each one closely.

After they finished the affected study room, Laura and Nikki performed the same measurements in the two rooms to either side. Then they headed up to the first floor to take the next set.

They would need special permission to get into the vaults in the basement.

After they left, JJ shook the pages into a loose pile. He took the pile with him over the affected study cubicle and knelt down just outside, studying the design burnt on the carpet inside the threshold. After a while, he began to compare a couple of the pages to the design.

Craig watched him for a while. Finally, he asked, "Any ideas what it is yet?"

"Oh, yeah," JJ said, almost absently. "It's a Celtic caim."

"Kayum?" Craig echoed. "What's that in English?"

"Hmm. Circle of protection. According to Carmichael, they're supposed to be drawn in the air with forefinger, moving in a sunwise direction. But then again, our girl here seems to be the belt and braces on jumpsuit sort."

It took Craig a few seconds to decipher that.

"You mean she used redundant systems?" JJ agreed that was the meaning. "How? What do you mean?"

"Like I said, a caim isn't supposed to be drawn on the ground, though I suppose it could be. Our girl not only drew it, but she burned it in place. In addition, a caim is a simple circle. Our girl combined hers with runes and added a second circle." He paused for a few long seconds, holding up one of the sheets. Then he continued, more quietly, "I suspect it's because she's calling on several different caim spell-prayers at the same time."

"She is? Was?"

JJ nodded, giving a murmur of affirmation. He picked up one of the pages and brought it over to Craig. For the first time, Craig noticed that JJ was wearing thin plastic gloves, of the same sort that the EMT's were wearing when they examined him.

"Look here." He took a pen out of his pocket and used the back side of it to point to several lines on the page. "This is a single caim prayer-spell, employing the typical three-fold request for aid." He moved the pen to another section. "This is second. And here's a third. A three-fold, three-fold prayer."

The pen moved again, to indicate the symbols Craig had identified from the novels by author J.R.R. Tolkien. "Here, though, she skips traditions. These are Norse runes, Viking if you will. Thuriz, eihwaz, algiz, and mannaz inverted. And this one, in the centre, that's pethro. I'll have to check on the meanings, but I suspect she was attempting rune magic."

He then indicated another set of symbols looked like hatch-marks, counting of some sort growing out or through a horizontal base. "And then back to Celtic magical tradition again. These are ogham letters."

Replacing the pen in his shirt pocket, he sat back on his haunches. "Belt and braces on a jumpsuit. Any one of these should have been enough. She was hedging her bets all around."

"How do you think she managed to burn the symbol into the carpet?" Craig asked. That was bugging him. He'd expected to have more time to examine the design on the carpet, but from what he could remember, the lines had been crisp and clear enough, if a bit faded.

JJ looked bothered by that as well. He shook his head, indicating bewilderment. "I don't know. It looks like it was done with a brand."

"Cattle brand?" Craig queried. JJ nodded and Craig gave a snort of amusement then hissed as the back of his head responded.

"Don't make me laugh. It hurts too much." After a pause, he added, "I can't see it. Little thing like her walking through the library carrying a big old cattle brand. Somebody would have noticed."

JJ gave him a strange look, then stood. "What I want to know is why the fire alarm didn't sound?"

Craig shrugged, moving very carefully. "Maybe the door being shut prevented smoke from getting to it?"

"There's one in the room." While Craig expressed surprise, JJ turned to face the open door, murmuring to himself, "I wonder if it's working."

Abruptly, he strode toward the study cubicle, stepping over the symbol on the floor, and continuing right into the room. Craig gave a cry of surprise, pushing himself fully upright so he could confirm what he thought he saw. He did. JJ was in the study cubicle.

JJ pulled the chair over to the centre of the cubicle and stood on it, reaching up toward the small circular installment near the water sprinkler. Craig felt like a fool. Not a CCTV, as he'd thought ... which was a relief, of sorts ... but a fire alarm. JJ pressed something in the device and was rewarded by a blare of warning. Quickly, he turned it off again and stepped down.

"Well, it works."

"How did you ...?"

"Get in the room? Remember I told you that your girl was attempting rune magic? I took a chance that it was those drawings on the papers that were keeping us out. Nikki removed the spells when she took the pages down."

"But ... the design! The kayum! Isn't that ...?"

JJ shook his head, kneeling beside the double nested circles on the inner side. He sighed, touching one of the lines gently. "It's broken. She broke it before she left ... although, strictly speaking, a caim is a movable protective ward. It goes with the caster. Or the one it's cast upon. That's why they drew it in the air and not on the ground. When you're threatened by something big, hungry, and supernatural, you don't want to be stuck in one place."

He looked up, his eyes fixing Craig in place.

"Actually, the biggest question in my mind at the moment is this. When do you plan on telling us who she is?"

Craig forgot how to breathe.

"What makes you think I know?" he asked. Buying time.

JJ gave Craig a look of admonishment, shaking his head slowly with a low chuckle.

"Craig. I've known you since you were an undergraduate. I advised you when you decided to go for a doctorate in the field. We corresponded over your thesis topic. I've watched you the past couple of years as a professional. This is not you."

He sobered, his expression turning serious.

"More than anything, you want to know. You want to prove for once and all if there's something out there. Or if there isn't. If you thought there was someone who had the answers you're so desperate to get, you would let nothing stand in the way of you finding that person and getting those answers out of them."

"Twice here today you argued that these papers were unimportant. You called the perpetrator of this incident 'a little thing' and you didn't correct me when I called her 'your girl'. You know who she is, and you're trying to protect her. I want to know who and why."

"No I don't." The denial was knee-jerk. Automatic. But Craig realized it was the truth. So he offered the truth.

"I think I may know who wrote what's on those papers. I think I recognize the handwriting, but I don't know for sure. I want to talk to her before I accuse her of ... of doing something."

JJ looked dubious. Craig continued, pleading his case. Pleading the case for Sarah.

"She ... She's skittish. I don't want to scare her into running away. And this would scare her."

JJ stood and crossed back over the threshold to stand beside Craig.

"If I weren't here, you'd be out of here going to her, wouldn't you?"

Craig swallowed hard and admitted that he would.

"Okay. You need to be watched overnight. I'll call Sharon and have her make up the spare bedroom for you. Don't worry about waking up every three hours - Aaron will take care of that. Tomorrow, we'll both go find her."

With that, Craig had to be content.