Aileen could feel gazes drawn to her like magnets as she walked in the door. Was it just that she was in her cheerleading uniform still? It did show off an awful lot of cleavage, more than most other cheerleading squads' uniforms. Then again, it could have been something to do with what Francis had been talking about. He'd said she might be stronger and faster... could it be she was more eye-catching, too, like Helen of Troy?<br/><br/>Whatever the reason, a hour of scouring the library had come up with a few leads. Books and newspapers were scattered across the table in front of her. So far as she could tell, there were no local cults - well, not unless one counted the Scientologists or the Freemasons. If there were, they'd been kept secret enough that she wouldn't be able to find out about it in the library. But the local university<em>did</em>supposedly have a secret society of some kind, though material on it was sparse. They'd been around for almost a century, called themselves 'the Esoterics'. Her parents - or, rather, her mom and the man who thought he was her father - had attended the local university, though. They might be able to tell her more... or at least know someone who might be able to tell her more.<br/><br/>Conversely, there was a wealth of material on the criminal element in the local area, almost an overwhelming amount of material to wade through. Despite that, there were no references to stealing occult artifacts or selling them on the black market. The closest any of them came to it was a gang that had survived longer than any other - generations. And the only reason they might have even the most tenuous connection to the occult was one of the tags (http://pathfinderwiki.com/mediawiki/images/thumb/c/c3/Dagon.png/150px-Dagon.png) they used to mark their territory or sometimes had tattooed on them.<br/><br/>Eventually, though, Aileen heard a throat clear across the table from her. "Hi." A boy. Her age. Sounded familiar. If she looked up, she'd see a nervous, awkward face across from her. Charlton. Charlton Vo. He was in one of her classes, and he was supposed to be the top of their class. "I, uh - I already finished my homework, so I thought maybe - if you need any help with - " He gestured to the research she'd sprawled out in front of her. Well, he wasn't<em>entirely</em>inarticulate.