Young Writers Society

Chasing Ghosts

You're out with your friends one night doing nothing particularly special. That is until something serious happens, something deadly serious. That night, you find a body beside an old London canal. It's a girl you know named Suzanne Amelie, but the others are completely oblivious to the fact that you do, in fact, know her. You can't let the others know that you knew her though; they may believe that you know more than you're letting on.

What you don't know though is that someone actually does know more than their letting on. Someone in your group of friends that was there that night is a murderer, and that person is responsible for Suzanne Amelie's death. As people's history with the girl unravels, will the murderer be revealed? Or maybe knowing isn't such a good idea... The murderer doesn't want anyone finding out the truth, after all.

The Basics

This SB is set in modern day London. I suppose you could say that this is similar to Cluedo. It involves a murderer and six innocents, all of which, including the murderer, are friends. Can you discover who the murderer is before they strike again? Or if you are the murderer, how long can you keep it a secret?

Throughout the SB, you will be allowed to guess who the murderer is. If you want to make a guess, you send me a PM telling me who you think it is. If you are correct, I will let you know. You will then have the privilege to be crowned as The-Person-Who-Lets-Everyone-Else-Know-Who-The-Murderer-Is, A.K.A. Your character will be the one to reveal who the murderer is. Dramatically, of course.

Please can you not guess at the beginning of the storybook though, otherwise, it will end after ten pages or something. Don't start making guesses until we're deep enough into the plot, please.

The Girl

Each one of you know Suzanne Amelie somehow. You may know her well, but you may only know her a little. Whatever happens though, you know her somehow. None of your friends know that you know this though. If you are her ex boyfriend, for example, none of the other characters know this. You intend to keep it that way too. If anyone knows that you know Suzanne, they could easily start pointing the finger.

The Murderer

Only the murderer will know who the murderer is. The other characters, including the people who play them, will not know. I will send a PM to the person playing the murderer, who will mostly be picked out of randomness. If I contact you about being the murderer, but you do not wish to be, let me know and I will change it. The murderer has a bit of a challenge because you need to be careful not to make it obvious that you're the murderer, but at the same time, don't just have your character act entirely obliviously about the fact they're a murderer.

You

How will you cope with all of this? Will you try and forget what has happened, and try to shrug it off? Will it constantly be on your mind? Will it even send you into insanity? Each one of you has a motive for killing Suzanne, some big and some small. Due to others not aware of the fact that you know her, none of the others suspect you of a motive. Not at the beginning, anyway. A motive makes sure that not one person is singled out as the murderer. If you're Suzanne's school friend, for example, perhaps she used to bully you and you couldn't take it anymore.

Slots

Blue = Male
Pink = Female

1. Delaney (Suzanne's old best friend) - fictionfanatic
2. Rayne Sarah (Suzanne's childhood friend) - Tigersprite
3. Jesse Craig (Suzanne's last boyfriend) - Lumi
4. Luke Henderson (Suzanne's family's friend) - AquaMarine
5. Vanessa Lionel (Suzanne's old high school friend) - PinkShearwater
6. Linnea Brown (Was in Suzanne's basketball team)- ultraviolet
7. Ryan Bailey (Suzanne's old math tutor) - JabberHut
8. Kara Lyman (Suzanne's old bandmate) - Mizzle
9. Charlie Black (Suzanne's sister's boyfriend) - Skins

Profile

Code: Select all

[b]Name:[/b]

[b]Age:[/b] (15-21)

[b]Gender:[/b]

[b]Appearance:[/b] (Picture, if possible)

[b]Personality:[/b]

[b]Connection to Suzanne:[/b] (For example, an ex boyfriend, a neighbour, a childhood friend e.t.c.)

[b]Motive to murder:[/b]

[b]History:[/b] (Optional)

[b]Up For Love:[/b]

[b]Other:[/b]

Rules

- No god-modding... Please.
- Bad anguage is acceptable, but don't fill your posts with it.
- Violence is acceptable, but don't make it too vivid.
- I'd love for every post to be at least 1000 characters long, but I don't mind 500, so long as the content is good... Just not below 500.
- Good grammar is strongly appreciated.
- All YWS rules apply.
- This storybook is 16+ - bear in mind that you know what you're letting yourself into if you're under 16.
- Monkey.

If you have any questions on the SB, just shoot me a PM and I'll be happy to answer them. I feel that this lacks detail at the moment, so I'm expecting a few questions. Once answered, I'll probably put the details of the question and answer in this thread.


The official club for Chasing Ghosts - Join for updates and stuff. Also, we're going to use it as a D.T.

I'll fill in the rest later.

Name: Luke Henderson

Age: 18

Gender: Male

Appearance:

Personality: Like many who have a strict upbringing, Luke has developed quite a rebellious nature and shows little regard for rules. However, he isn't a typical easygoing rule-breaker, and has quite a furtive side that's become more pronounced over the years as he's had to be very closed off from his family. He's very sensitive, and if he thinks someone is 'getting at him' Luke'll become angry quite quickly. Most people don't get Luke's sense of humour - he says it's 'out there' but basically it's just not very funny. You could compare Luke to a bull in a china shop; a lot of the time he careers around and has no idea what he's doing or where he's going with his life.

Connection to Suzanne: Their families used to be close, until Luke's moved to the other side of London and they lost touch.

Motive to murder: Two years ago, at 16, Luke realised that he was gay. He took great pains to avoid telling his family this, as his mother is a devout catholic, and when he got his first boyfriend Luke never let him meet his parents and told no-one outside of his immediate group of friends about it. He and Suzanne were never that close, in fact they often clashed, but one day she came to his house to drop off something and came across Luke kissing his boyfriend. Although Luke begged her not to tell anyone, she told her mother who in turn informed Luke's parents. They were horrified, and after a month of arguments he subsided - Luke hasn't dated since this incident and his relationship with his family is tenuous to say the least. Luke blames Suzanne.

History: As mentioned, Luke's mother is a devout Catholic, and he feels that his life has been very confined and stifled. Unsure as to what he believes, Luke has resented his religion all through his childhood which has only served to worsen the tense atmosphere that has existed in his home for what feels like forever. He has one sister, who follows in his mother's footsteps and constantly badgers him to attend church and repent for his sins. **more later, probably**

Up For Love: Erm, if you happen to be a gay guy who doesn't mind dating in secret, never meeting Luke's family and dealing with his oddities then ... yes?

Other: -none right now-

Because I'm cool, I'm going to use my MC from the novel this SB is actually based on. Also, I can't make guesses to who the murderer is, due to the fact I'll know who they are... I might make some fake guesses though, just for a laugh. xD Unless the murderer is me... Then I'll be making fake guesses anyway.


Name: Charlie Black.

Age: 17

Gender: Male

Appearance: Sort of like this picture, just with a few minor changes. The most noticable about him are his striking green eyes. His hair's a bit messier than in the photo, and it's also a few shades darker. He also has a few scars on his face and body.

Personality: To others, Charlie comes across as positive and happy enough. You wouldn't necessarily think of him as ever being unhappy, but he's just good at hiding his feelings. In reality, he worries about things a lot. He's very unselfish - a bit too unselfish really. The problem with him is that even if he knows something is wrong, he doesn't often say anything and keeps it to himself. This can land him in hot water. Then when something goes wrong, he gets really frustrated with himself for not doing anything about it earlier. He also lies a hell of a lot, especially about his home life. Due to him trying to hide his emotions, he often can come across as rather cocky. He makes jokes about a lot of things, trying to draw anyones attention away from more personnal things.

Connection to Suzanne: He's Suzanne's sister's boyfriend.

Motive to murder: Charlie and Suzanne's sister, Jade, have been together for about three years. After a falling out about a number of things, mostly connected to Charlie's home life, Charlie ended up cheating on Jade with her best friend. It was only a one off thing, but he felt terrible for it. He decided to confide in Suzanne, which resulted in her threatening him that she'd tell her younger sister about what he'd done. Charlie loves Jade and would do anything to make sure she stays with him.

History: Charlie lives in a small bungalow with his twin brother and father, who both dislike Charlie a hell of a lot. They're a pretty poor family, so they don't live in the best neighbourhood. He hates living in that house, so he often just sleeps in parks and pulic places like that. His mother died when Charlie was younger, and since then, his father has began drinking heavily. He'd always had a drink problem, but since the death of Charlie's mother, it has esculated.

Up For Love: Yeah, sure.

Other: Not right now.

Name: Vanessa Lionel

Age: 19

Gender: Female

Appearance:


Personality: Spunky, loud, independent and sometimes a klutz. She likes to play with her hair and enjoys mix-matched accessories and even goes to the extent of wearing different colored socks. Sometimes she forgets to brush her hair but it never really looks like a mess, she knows how to pull off a messy look without looking like a slob. She's a pretty happy go lucky person and takes advantage of the good things life has to offer. If someone thinks their life sucks and complains, she feels extremely bothered by it. "If you want your life to be better, then do something about it. The choice is yours," is what she would normally say in that situation.

Connection to Suzanne: Vanessa and Suzanne were friends when she was in high school but after she graduated and went to college, they never did much talking. Maybe out of pure boredom they'd watch a movie for old times sake but other than that, they're friendship had sizzled out in the past two years.

Motive to murder: If there was any reason why little sunshine-girl Vanessa would ever murder Suzanne it would be because of a tragic event that happened during their last summer vacation when they went camping with a few other friends. During that time, Vanessa was dating a boy named Andrew and the two were in love. However, during this camping trip Vanessa stumbled upon Suzanne and Andrew one night and it broke her heart to find out that Andrew was planning on dumping her for Suzanne. Instantly the two broke up but Andrew never actually went out with Suzanne afterward. If there was a reason to murder, it was because Vanessa still carries that heartache with her.

History: Growing up, Vanessa had a hard life. Her parents would fight, make-up, fight and then make-up.This made her lose hope when it came to relationships and she's found men to be quite the heart breakers. After her last break-up with Andrew, she swore off boys and she's been quite content with her life.

Up For Love: Sure

Other: Vanessa goes to college that is two hours away from home. Sometimes she comes back to her bi-polar home just to visit her little brother, Van, whom she adores very much. However, due to her thick schedule and work hours at a coffee shop, she's been neglecting him. Family means a lot to her so she's particular about her younger brother, even though he gets on her nerves.

Name: Delaney

Age: 16

Gender: Female

Appearance:

Personality: Unless she really knows you, Delaney is pretty secretive. She's pretty quiet and isn't a fan of talking, but if you say or do something to offend her, watch out, because she will snap and start on a fuming rage. She has some anger issues, but she also has abandonment issues.

Connection to Suzanne: Old best friends

Motive to murder: Suzanne knows something about Delaney's family...she knows that her dad is cheating on her mom, and Delaney is afraid for anyone to find out.

History: Delaney was abandoned by her parents when she was five, and was adopted two years later. Suzanne and Delaney became great friends, best friends in fact, until Delaney told Suzanne the secret about her dad cheating no her mom and Suzanne wanted to tell her mom. Not wanting to hurt her mom, Delaney broke off her friendship with Suzanne, and has been terrified she would tell someone ever since then.

Up For Love: Sure, if you can

Other: None

How old was Suzanne when she died? I wouldn't want to make a 25 year-old ex-boyfriend and then find out he'd have been dating a 13 year old.

Good point, Aqua... I'd say about 17(ish)

Spekaing of age... Can all characters be between the ages of 15 and 21, please.

Name: Rayne Sarah

Age: 18

Gender: Female

Appearance:



Personality: She's friendly and outgoing, talking to everyone and anyone. She can actually be quite irritating at times, because even when things have nothing to do with her she butts in because of her natural curiosity. However, she has an anger management problem: when angered, she tends to react impulsively and violently.

Connection to Suzanne: They were close friends as children, but fell out as teenagers after a row about the sort of people Rayne was hanging around with.

Motive to murder: A few years back, there was a bank robbery that went unsolved. Rayne may have been involved, and Suzanne found out in a conversation when they were trying to reconcile their former friendship. This would look very bad for Rain, especially since she's trying to get into Oxford.

Up For Love: Yes.

Other: She's been attending an anger management class for sometime, on Wednesday afternoons. This is something she admits to no-one, though.

--------------------------------

Tell me if anything needs changing or adding to.

Name: Jesse Craig

Age: 19

Gender: Male

Appearance:

Personality: Jesse tried his hardest to be the sweet guy. He'd do anything for the one he loves, and certainly tried with Suzanne. He has the awful habit of trying to cover up his flaws because he thinks that he will be heavily rejected for them. He's secretive and secluded, and only comes out of his shell when thoroughly coaxed. He deals with an array of mental problems, ranging from panic attacks to mood swings to hallucinations to you name it. He has a hefty supply of Valium somewhere on his person at all times, and is not-so-slowly becoming reliant on his meds. Jesse only wants to love and be loved, and doesn't think that it's that much of an aspiration. He'd give his life for anyone's attention, but is scared to death of judgmental eyes. He likes to make things such as poems and drawings for the ones he loves. He thinks that the truest affection comes from the eyes and the hands.

Connection to Suzanne: Ex-boyfriend

Motive to murder: Suzanne dumped him for being too emotionally unstable (read: she broke his heart for something he can't control, that bitch)

History: Soon.

Up For Love: If you can handle the fragile cuteness, have at him.

Other: He doesn't like to hold grudges; really, he doesn't...but the way she crushed him...

I'll post my profile soon!

Why wasn't I invited Skinso? O_o

Name: Kara Lyman

Age: 19

Gender: Female

Appearance:


Personality: Kara has a mischevious personality, and when she was in high school, she was the girl her teacher's hated (except the just-graduated biology teacher, Mr. Sanders, who had liked Kara a bit too much) and was suspended at least five times. She is brutally honest, with a temper that is quick to come but a while to go. Kara is known for being a flirt, and is an outgoing girl who probably has not spent a Friday night at home since the seventh grade. She is not exactly the smartest girl out there, and is very easily fooled.

Connection to Suzanne: Kara and Suzanne became friends when Suzanne was once a part of Kara's band, Infested Fantasy. However, after a huge blow-up between the two of them and the 'dirty drummer,' Suzanne left the band, and they have not talked since (that was two years ago).

Motive to murder: One day, nearly three years ago, Suzanne walked in on Kara kissing her girlfriend. At the time, Kara was a lesbian, but it only lasted four months before she fell in to a relationship with the drummer of the band (a guy). However, Suzanne threatened to tell people of Kara's past, and to make sure Suzanne did not, Kara would go to many lengths . . .

Up For Love: Yes, but Kara isn't one for a committed relationship, so you'd have to work mighty hard.

Other: Kara recently broke off her relationship with the drummer of her band, and band practices since have been, to say the least, awkward.

.... sorry...

Name: Linnea Brown (Goes by Lyn Lyn or Lynnie)

Age: 17

Gender: Girl

Appearance:

Personality: She used to be fairly outgoing and energetic, but ever since she hurt her ankle and could no longer play sports, she became withdrawn. She felt as though a barrier had been formed between her and her friends, so she just sort of backed away from everything, and now she spends more time alone than she does with others.

Connection to Suzanne: They used to be in basketball together, when they were both freshmen.

Motive to murder: In middle school, Lynnie's life had revolved around sports, but when she and Suzanne were in basketball together, Suzanne "accidentally" rammed into Lynnie, who fell and hurt her ankle horribly. Now, Lynnie can walk, but running and other athletic activities are out of the question. She became depressed after losing all of her life's ambition. She blames Suzanne for ruining her life.

History: Lynnie used to be in a lot of sports - basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, volleyball, you name it - but when she got hurt, she dropped out of everything, not just sports. Now, her grades are a mess and her home life is no better. Her parents worry about her, because she spends all her time away from home, staying out late and just wandering the streets.

Up For Love: Why not, though she may be difficult since she's bitter.

Other: (I live in America, so I'm sorry if anything I write about doesn't match up to the location.)

Uh...is this gonna start?