Exton

The room is much as I remember it, simple and stark and mostly bare. There is a small table with four chairs. I motion for Bloodstone to sit opposite to me. He does, moving almost sluggishly. How much sleep has he lost, I wonder, since his Alli was taken?

I take Alise's undergarments, still on their wrapping paper, and set them in the middle of the table, nearer to myself than the gargoyle. "Bloodstone," My voice is quiet, respectful. "Stoney... what I ask you to do here is no different than what you have done already - simply use her senses as though they were your own. Anything you see or hear or smell may bring us nearer to finding her. While you do that, I will work with these" - indicating the garments - "to see if I can track any residual energies to their source. I warn you, it is not likely that much will remain of Alise's aura - but perhaps we may get lucky. Ignore me and what I do; concentrate only on your Alli, and be of good cheer; we will save her, and he who has tormented her will never harm another living soul. I pledge you my life on it."

I close my eyes, centering myself. I remove a glove, place my bare hand near - but not touching - Alise's garments. I feel for her, reaching for that feel that is "Alise" and no one else. It is difficult, made doubly so by the fact that I have seen her but the once in the flesh. I focus on that, and on the familiar presence that once brushed against my shields... and I send my awareness upward and outward, Looking....

I take what I know of Alise's circumstances, gleaned from the others and I try to "home in" on the tenuous thread of her energy. I can hear, distantly, the sound of humming.

I follow.

The humming leads me a merry chase, and when I return to myself, I am weak. Bloodstone is still deep in concentration, so I sit quietly, fixing each detail in my mind. I text Pandora with a request for a map of Exton, but caution her not to bring it until I call.

Some ten or twelve minutes later, Bloodstone comes out of his reverie. I call for the map, and quickly - for dawn is fast approaching - I relay all that I have learned.

Sadly, it is but little; but with certain landmarks I observed during my search, I feel confident that we have reduced the search area by some ten miles. I draw a looping circle on the map. "Somewhere within that circle, we will find Alise, and he who holds her prisoner."