After her decidedly heart attack inducing night terror, Sloane stumbles from her room, down the rickety stairs into the dining room. It looks old, with its wooden walls and white plaster ceiling. The room is empty save for a few flies buzzing by the windows.

Her feet scuff across the carpeted floor as she makes her way towards the measly buffet on a table. There is cereal, no milk, half melted butter and the sad remains of a loaf of bread.

Sloane sighs, turns on her heel and walks right back out. No problem, she will just get something less likely to give her food poisoning at the store. Surprisingly it is Cody's shift again, with him looking somehow even more dead than last time. It is perhaps something about the bright morning light that has the bags underneath his eyes look more present.

It is almost comical how quickly his expression changes upon seeing her. There is the widening in his eyes, the small twitch to his muscles like he rather wants to dive behind the counter than have another uncomfortable conversation with her.

"No worries, Cody. I am only here for simple sustenance, not knowledge this time." She sends him a grin.

Cody doesn't really respond aside from allowing his shoulders to droop again.

Sloane strolls through the aisles, stopping here and there to inspect viable food choices.

"Salad mix or premade sandwiches for breakfast. What do you think, Cody?", she calls out to the front, brows narrowed in serious consideration. Breakfast is no joke after all.

"You touch it, you buy it. So both for you." Comes his tired reply through the small speakers overhead. Is that a hint of teasing she detects in his words?

Sloane sighs, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips and decides to buy both, as a treat. She swings by the counter, carefully places the packages goods in front of the clerk. Then she slaps down a five dollar bill, grins.

"Keep the change."

"How gracious of you miss. You're still a 1.25$ short." This time he is looking at her with a grin that is anything but dead.

"Oh- shit, sorry."

Sloane digs another couple one dollar bills from her pocket, slides them towards Cody, then hurriedly gather her food choices to make a hasty exit. However she is not quick enough to miss his 'Have a nice day'. She has yet to figure out if it was meant as jest or if he genuinely wants her to enjoy the day.

Once outside she finds herself a nice little, worn bench. The morning air is nice, the gentle breeze carries the slightly salty scent of the ocean. If she weren't such a city person she might would have liked to live here. This town is a bit too empty for her liking and she really does not want to remain longer than she needs to, her bank account wouldn't forgive her a prolonged investigative holiday.

She gives herself a few minutes to relax before she scarfs down her meal within moments. After, she discards the empty containers in a nearby trashcan and checks her notes again to see what kind of plans she has today. As surprise to no one she did not really take all that many notes. So she will just have to check out the cliffs, seeing as she has not done that yesterday, with the weirdness in the forest and all that. Lucky her.

The path to the cliffs leads her past Reed manor again. It looks a bit lonely, she thinks. It is a good thirty minutes from town and the path doesn't really look well traveled. Does Lady Reed ever get visitors or is she all alone in that manor of hers? As Sloane looks up at its many windows she thinks she catches someone looking back at her, though from this far she might just be imagining things. A velvet curtain could very much look like a person from a distance, couldn't it? Nevermind.

The earth beneath her feet is wet, mud sucking at her boots with every step she takes. It makes a sort of wet squelching sound that reminds her of her uncle who would always chew with his mouth open. She shivers a little, a bit disgusted perhaps at the memories it drags up.

Another ten minute track sees her finally up on the cliffs. The wind has picked up, bending the grass to a point where it almost lays flat against the wet ground. The path has turned rockier too, and Sloane has to watch her step as to not stumble, or worse, fall all the way off the cliffs. At the though, the dream from last night returns, lingering, and yeah, she really doesn't want to find out how it would feel to fall for real. A small investigation of the area tells her that, yes, tourist who really do not watch their step or lean out a bit too far with winds this strong could definitely fall to their death her and not return home.

Next to her, a woman steps up. She is wearing a white dress that flows beautifully behind her. Another local maybe, the style of clothing definitely fits.

"A bit windy here for a stroll, am I right?" No reply and yeah, okay maybe that was a little too awkward even for someone like Sloane.

"Is this place one of your favorites? I'd assume many like it for the scenery." Still no reply. She decides to take the hint and just shuts up.

That is when the woman suddenly turns. The red stains on the front of her dress are the first thing she notices. When her eyes follow the read trail upwards her heart nearly bursts out of her chest. The woman's face is just, gone. There is a cleaved in void where eyes, nose and mouth are supposed to be. The skin around it is torn, shredded even, dripping blood down her neck in thick globs.

Sloane stumbles back a few steps, lucky enough she ends in the soft grass. Her heart is hammering away and all she can do is stare as this woman remains stock still. Her blonde hair whips around the remnants of her face as the wind picks up once more and within a few terribly horrifying seconds, she tips over the cliff.

It takes her only a moment to collect herself, and to scream maybe, and then she is on her knees, crawling towards the edge to look at the churning waters below. Such a high drop, the woman surely wouldn't be alive anymore. Nevertheless, she does what any sane person would do and dials 911. The ensuing call goes something like this.

"Mawbrooke Police Department, where is your emergency?"

"Hi..uh.. My name is Sloane Aldrich and I'm at the cliffs. Someone jumped."

"Okay, miss. How long ago was that?"

"A minute, maybe two? She didn't look well. Her face was just, gone before she even jumped."

A pause, a sigh that sounds defeated.

"Miss, is this about the lady in white?"

"Uhm... I mean she wore white. I don't know how this is relevant."

"I must inform you that prank calling 911 is considered a felony. Calling due to a local tale also counts as such."

"Wait- no!"

But the operator has already hung up the phone, leaving Sloane alone with herself again. Prank call? Do people just jump from these cliffs and no one cares? Or do people simply just call so often that nobody knows what can be considered an emergency anymore?

She slips her phone back in her pocket, stares at the space where the woman stood just minutes ago. There are no footprints, not even an indication that a woman bleeding from the face ever existing in this space.

"Alright, I will just investigate myself then.", she mutters to herself.

Though that is said easier than done. The path down the cliffs is narrow to the point where Sloane has to press her entire body flush against the rocky surface in order to feel even a smidgen less likely to slip. Once, she missteps, foot catching on a loose rock. Her shin painfully connects with the edge of the path. Her hands clench, fingertips scrapping across the rough stone to keep her upright. It leaves a thing sheen of blood on the pale rock. Sloane hisses, be it annoyance or pain, she isn't quite sure of that herself.

Another terrifying fourteen minutes finally see her at the bottom of the cliffs, safe of course, aside from the sea water being sprayed against her face every time the waves crash into rocks. Careful investigation of the cliff side brings no clarity. There is no body, no remnants of blood, not even a piece of fabric, but she couldn't have imagine a woman jumping to her death, could she?

Tired and exhausted, Sloane drags a hand across her face, through her hair.

"Great, just great. I'm going insane. Always thought it would at least take me a week."

She feels a tad defeated, now that she has once more wasted her time by losing her shit and finding absolutely nothing. Surely this is what her parents envision for her when they think of their daughter investigating missing people.

"Dammit- Back to the drawing board then."

Her climb back up is much slower, seeing as now she knows how she has to watch out for literally anything. If she did not know any better, then she might think the island itself was trying to kill her. Which is absurd, because a floating rock shouldn't be able to harbor any ill intention. She might really just be as incompetent as her former boss suggested when he fired her.

By the time she makes it back to the B&B, the sun is already beginning to hide behind the horizon again. She doesn't even feel hungry enough to consider anything from the meager buffet or the convenience store, No, she just wants to steep in her own failure a little. You know, get acquainted to the feeling of defeat some more so the inevitable victory will feel all the sweeter.

This time she at least does not remember what kind of nightmare has her heart hammering a painful rhythm between her ribs, though just before she opens her eyes she could swear to have felt something sitting atop her chest, breathing against her cheek. She pushes her hands outward, thinks she connects with something leathery, like skin, but when she makes to actually grab it, there is nothing.

So she shakes it off and prepares herself for another day of investigation, which for today means, visiting tourist attractions and hoping somebody remembers one tiny detail that might help her to figure out what is wrong with this place.