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@Prosaic@Surtr Inc
Camping Trail



"Ouh!" A grunt slipped forth from a hoodie-clad figure's mouth as a branch recoiled and whacked him over the back of the head, "Fuck you, tree."

Somehow, Nate had let himself get roped into this - not that he really knew anyone here yet, but he'd heard from and spoken to enough people to know where to go. Maybe it was just him to blame - there hadn't been anyone tugging at his sleeve for him to come. It just beat doing nothing, sat on his ass whilst everyone else had a good time - and he wanted a good time, for a change. Which was why he was out here, stumbling through the woods on the trail to the camp - a very light knapsack clinging to his shoulders.

He felt a buzz from his pocket, prompting him to stop for a moment and reach down for his phone, sliding it out of his pocket - he swiped and checked his text messages.

-Viv-
Have fun with your friend, don't get into trouble


Trouble? He shot a quick message back,

Quent will bail me out if they catch me

It didn't take long to get a response.

-Viv-
He can't shoot every witness.
Seriously though, have fun - and be safe


She made a good point.

Yes ma'am

Of course, nobody back home knew he was out here here - as far as they were concerned, Nate was headed out and stopping with a 'friend' at Grand Ridge - not out here in the middle of the woods, ready to wipe his ass with poison ivy leaves.

His Aunt Viv probably wouldn't have appreciated the idea, whilst Quent probably would have had a few choice words for it - yes, Uncle Quentin, who was in fact no biological relative of Nate's at all, in fact he wouldn't have even passed for a blood relative if the two were stood together because of one obvious factor - whilst Nate had the pale skin complexion of someone who'd spent their life in Washington state, Quent on the other hand was black, with an accent that suggested he'd grown up in Los Angeles or somewhere around it.

Oh, and he was a beat cop - or, had been one back when he had lived in LA, though after his marriage to Vivian he'd retired from that, then taken up a local sheriff's department. It was a safer life, at least - you didn't get much in the way of drug busts or gangbangers around Farmer's Hill and Viv was grateful for that.

So, no need to compensate for her gratitude and relief by giving her more bullshit to to worry about.

Pushing thoughts of the two real parental figures (since the CEO of KW&Co Haulage was always preoccupied with other matters) in his life aside, Nate continued onwards up the trail - making out the glow of a campfire and rising smoke in the distance, with the backdrop of that mountain lurking just behind it.

Great, just think on that.

Seeing it at night, this time of night, no artificial lighting, was different to observing it in daylight - it almost reminded him of the monolithic behemoths that marked the skyline in his home state of Washington, except unlike Bellevue or Tacoma there was no great cityscape to challenge that imposition. Throw on top of that all this stuff about people disappearing?

No wonder this place spooked some of the locals. Nate felt a chill running down his spine just from looking at it, nevermind going there. At least the camp was on the right side of the fence, else maybe he'd have given it some second thoughts. Too many hours running through Silent Hill, Raccoon City and hostile woods at night from the confines of his bedroom had given him instincts for those kind of places.

He stepped in closer, where the cabins were close up in sight and plenty of other figures were seen wandering around, one even brushing past him. On his way in, he couldn't help but notice a familiar face - though not one he particularly liked, staggering away, muttering something under bated breath.

This guy, he recognised.

He was Sheriff Reese's kid, an obnoxious prick that Nate had been graced to meet once before whilst Quent had first been taking him around town. No doubt someone had probably clocked him for acting like the shithead he was - it was even tempting to make a barbed remark about it too, but second thoughts crept up - Nate figured it was best if Reese didn't know he was here. Last thing he needed was the guy bitching to his old man, who in turn would bitch to Quent - and get him into shit from there. Instead, he stepped past, intentionally kicking up some of the dirt from his boots towards Reese's kid, prompting him to swear at him a few times. Not that it made a difference - he kept his hood pulled up enough that he could easily get past without being recognised and within seconds he'd slipped inside the camp, blending in with the half-dozen other party goers.

It was too crowded around the campfire for his tastes, though Nate recognised a few faces here and there - Claire Sullivan, Hagan something, Dex Quinto - plus others who's faces he couldn't put names to.

Instead, Nate turned his gaze towards the lake - and the docks by them, where there were people - but less people. And with that, plenty of sitting and/or standing room - whichever he felt like. Closing in, he made out two dark-skinned girls with similarly messy mops of hair talking, neither of them ringing any 'local girl' alarms on his accent detector. If anything, they each gave him an East Coast vibe - though for different reasons. Letting off a grunt, he stepped closer towards them, setting a palm on the handrail by one of the walkways, "Someone forgot to bring their boat."
<Snipped quote by Zombiedude101>

He's already accepted, scrub.

you're the co-gm jesus christ


wait, what?

shit
In [Closed] 7 yrs ago Forum: Casual Roleplay




"Exploring." Nate said, with air quotes, "Because why not celebrate a near death experience by giving whatever crazy shit is out there the chance to explore our chest cavities?"

Britney rolled her eyes at Nathan's comment, "I mean, they're also out here, but whatever floats your boat." She gestured at the wide open woods that they were all exposed to.

Kimberly looked up at the cabin resort, and wondered how this place was so recent. From the looks of it, it was ready for use. Which was weird because nobody was even allowed beyond the fence. They always said that the mountain range was dangerous, too dangerous to even go past it. The past few days, Kimberly got a new perspective of what "dangerous" meant. Still, she fidgeted with that camera in her hands."I'll stay out here." She knew it was dangerous in there, and she kind of more interested in taking some shots with her camera.

On the other hand, Jordan shook her head, and said, "I'll stay out here. I need to rest." She looked down at her bad leg, and sat down on the fence.

Samson quickly threw a thumb in the direction of Jordan, and said, "I'll just keep watch." He put his hand up, and created a white flame, "Make sure nothin' goes in after ya'll."

"Good, hun," Claire crossed her arms as she looked up at the cabin. While Claire was pretty apprehensive about going inside (because there was a fifty-fifty chance of actually finding a clue) if Britney had a gut feeling about it, then Claire was going to go along with it... yet, she still had a gut feeling that Brit knew a bit more than she was letting on. "I'm going to head in."

"And you best believe I'll go in, too!" Hagan loudly said as he crossed his arms, and earned a groan from Claire.

Behind Hagan, Peter frowned, he suppressed an inflammatory remark and leaned against a notice board in front of the cabin. "Chances are I'm the fastest." he said "So if's trouble's brewing out here I can warn you all quicker." he shrugged.

Caelea frowned from where she stood at the edge of the group - she was pretty torn. She didn't want to sit around and do nothing, but she didn't want to be in an even smaller group with Britney. Eventually she made up her mind, and muttered, "I'm going in."

"I'll be staying out here," Rien shrugged, sitting down near Jordan and pulling out their sketchpad. "Something about that place doesn't quite appeal to me."

"What is it, R?" Claire teasingly put a hand on her hip, "Afraid of ghosts?"

"Something like that," Rien laughed, not at all put out by the teasing.

Nate had kept his silence. Normally? Instincts learned from running through the RPD and Wood Side Apartments from the confines of his room would've given him second thoughts, never mind actually going into a place like this - but he was curious. And it wasn't like he was alone, right?

"Fine. Fuck it. I'll go in." he almost exclaimed. On top of it all, he was probably the only one of them that had a direct exit route, no matter what.

"I'll stay out here." Lee said as he wiped the crumbs of uncooked instant ramen noodle that are still on his face. But he felt no reason to say that there are just too many yin in that house. After all, who here would believe in Taoism apart from Lee himself?

"I doubt I'd be safe out here when Scott could be planning his revenge, so yeah, I'm going in." Madeline blatently said, walking up to the cabin resort. "Besides, we could find something useful. Like a better weapon."

"Says the girl who's slinging a rifle around," Claire incredulously (and teasingly).

"Hey, I only shoot animals, not monsters that have only been in video games till now."

"Hmph, right sugar," Claire said.

"Just be careful in there," Samson said as he crossed his arms.

"Right." Maddie nodded.

"And try not to shoot us," Nate added, silently lamenting that he'd not 'borrowed' a pistol out of Quent's collection. Then again... that probably wouldn't have gone well. Assuming he didn't notice something was missing, Nate had only been shooting a couple of times. His aim was probably garbage compared to hers.

Callie didn't speak up much at all during the conversation, but her intentions were clear as she remained behind, following up any quizzical gaze with a simple shake of her head. As much as she wanted to go explore the random resort in the middle of the woods, that didn't seem like something someone who survives a horror movie would do. Either way, she had other plans that would take precedence, especially if the giant monster boy was still lurking around trying to murder people, and those plans involved not being one of the people he murdered.

With the group Britney needed, she lead the team to the cabin, and walked up to the porch. Was the door open? She thought to herself, but even if she wasn't, they could easily break it and get in. Britney put her hand on the knob... and slowly turned it until it opened. She pushed the door open, and the first thing they experienced was the dusty, still, air of a building that hadn't had a window opened in a long time. It was followed by a faint wretched smell as if something was rotting in here somewhere. Britney coughed a little bit as she tried to fan the air and dust away. She stepped inside first, being the brave leader of this expedition, it was expected of her. She reached into her bag, and, fortunately, she had brought something that'd be useful: a flashlight. She flicked it on, and shined the light around... before resting on a particular point.

Besides the dust, the cabin was relatively clean... and that made the dried blood stain on the nice hardwood floor all the more apparent. It trailed further off into the distance and out of sight behind a corner... and that made Britney so worried. Curiosity made her want to investigate, but her gut made her want to do the opposite. Her face scrunched up as she considered it. Before ultimately going with it, "I'd like to investigate that..." She trailed off as she slowly walked forward.

"Let's hope it's just a dead rabbit or something..." Claire groaned as she followed behind Britney, "... and not kiddy Reese's latest victim."

"Let's hope it's 'Kiddy Reese'," Hagan said, and gestured towards his bag. "I got something for him in here."

Nate snorted at that, "A vibrator?" In retrospective it probably wasn't the smartest comment, but what could Hagan do that Reese hadn't already tried and failed at?

"Yeah, one the size of a baseball bat," Hagan said, before he grinned, and said, "I took it from your mom - told me she didn't need it anymore."

"Really?" he paused for a moment, as if stung - and there was a shred of truth to it, but fuck that, "I guess she must've thought it was the only thing you'd feel up there."

Before Hagan could get another comment in, Claire had grabbed his arm and yanked him towards her. Active use of her abstraction was the only way a girl like Claire could move a mountain like Hagan. It was the only way she could get them to shut up, lest she wanted to hear this back and forth go on forever.

Britney ignored their comments as she proceeded deeper into the confines of the cabin. Their footsteps made it impossible to sneak up on anything, and she was hoping that whatever was in here would be scared off. Though, she noticed something about the floor. Despite the building being new... it felt a bit... unstable. Like something had damaged it previously. She didn't know what exactly it was, but it felt damaged. And that was a sentiment shared by not just her, but Claire, too.

"... Don't think we should all be standing on this." Claire noted.

"Ain't it a little late for..." Hagan trailed off briefly, as he felt the floor crack underneath his feet. Everyone stopped in shock as they all felt the cracks underneath their feet, tell-tale sign the floor was about to collapse underneath their combined weight.

"Ffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuc-" Claire said as she immediately broke off into a sprint, only to feel the floor collapse underneath her feet along with the rest of the hallway. She felt the floor escape her feet as she descended downwards. Hagan also screamed as he fell to the ground. Britney attempted to avoid falling down, by creating a series of vines out of her hands, but yet, she couldn't find something to latch onto. Only thing she could do was slow down her descent.

Claire's descent and impact of the ground was completely and utterly negated by her abstraction activating. A blue aura surrounded her back, and she hit the ground without a mark on her. Almost as if she hadn't fell... everyone else didn't have such an advantage.

".... Ow, fuck!" Hagan said as he landed on his side, and loudly groaned as he pushed himself to his hands and knees. Good thing I can take a hit. Hagan thought to himself.

Nate didn't count himself so hardy, but landing flat on his ass proved yet again to be better than landing on something important. At least this time he hadn't sunken into the floor.

Britney made it out with a few bruises, but was able to stand up. Okay, that was weird. Britney thought to herself, but she had to ask, "Is everyone alright?" Before she noticed that rotting smell had gotten a lot stronger.

"Nope," groaned Nate, who lurched forward and awkwardly pressed a palm into the ground to stand up again, "My ass is dead."

"I'm fine," Caelea muttered as she pushed herself up. She'd managed to land relatively safely with little injuries.

"So much for a 'resort'" Madeline groaned, looking over the collapsed floor. "But yeah, I'm alright." She reassured Britney, trying to climb back up from where she fell.

"There's no point in trying to get back up there," Britney said, "The floor is unstable - you'll end up falling again... at best."

She willed the plants that were attached to her hands to fade away. She could easily have created a way back up there, but she didn't want to risk it. She looked around... all she saw was concrete, and piping - along with other machinery. It was obvious that this was the basement. So, there should be stairs back to the ground floor. Though, there was that rotting smell that she couldn't ignore. She hoped that it was a dead animal, as Claire had implied earlier.

"Alright, I think we have a better chance at finding stairs... unless you all want to risk trying to get back up with my abstraction..."

Taking heed to what Britney said, Madeline instead dropped down to see that the cabin had a basement. "We should be careful going back up though." She added to what Britney had said. "If anything, I suggest walking back upstairs one person at a time."

"Yeah..." Britney trailed off, as she brushed off the dust... as if it really mattered since she wasn't "dressed to impress" so to speak. She shined her flashlight through the darkness, and then gestured the group to follow along. Thankfully, nobody was stupid enough to suggest that they split up to cover more ground. They walked through the halls as quietly as they could... Britney knew there could be anything in here, and she'd rather they find it - than the other way around. Though, there were some disconcerting sights in here. The first thing that they inevitably came across was the blood splatter on the walls and floors. Britney felt that was a bit... concerning, but there was nothing Britney could do besides carry on. Then as they kept going on through the building, they came across pieces of broken glass, scattered all over the floor.

It was green, and some of the glass pieces were stained with blood, almost as if they had been used to pierce some poor bastard's flesh. It didn't mean much to the rest of the group, but Britney knelt down, and picked up a shard. Staring at it with wide-eyed shock. Yet, she kept her composure as she dropped the piece of glass, and kept moving on. Trying to play it off like she was just inspecting it.

Moving on, she kept walking through the halls until she saw a large metal door with a stairs sign next to it. It was like a stroke of luck! Britney walked over to the door, and without a second thought, she pulled the door handle....
.
... and the door was forced open as something came falling.

Everyone jolted, as the initial surprise wore off, only to reveal that it was a dead body. A sick disgusting rotting smell immediately filled those noses, as various gasps and signs of surprise came from the group. Britney was frozen in shock, and it briefly wore off enough for Britney to take steps back until the wall was the only thing stopping her. She made a loud gasp, as she covered her mouth. She couldn't take her eyes off the dead body despite desperately wanting to turn away. It didn't take too much examination to tell that it was a woman around Britney's own age. Caucasian, with matted hair... but it was hard to scan the other features because she was covered in distracting maggots, and green glass shards protruding out of her body... that made Britney even more frightened.

"Holy shit," Claire's demeanor broke upon seeing the horribly mangled dead body. The massacre at the mill was nothing compared to this, she loudly panted as she took steps backwards. Trying to compose herself, but the mere sight of it made Claire sick to her stomach. It seemed that Hagan had a far weaker stomach than hers, because he was off to the side, profusely vomiting. That nearly pushed her over the edge. She just turned away while she tried to refocus her attention on everything.

The hell was up with this place? As calm as Caelea looked on the outside, cause showing anything but anger wasn't really her thing, she was freaking to fuck inside. A dead body? Not something she can say she ever wanted to see. She really wanted to run honestly. But instead she carefully picked her way around the people in front of her, wrinkling her nose as she crouched down near the body. It was disgusting, yes, but someone had to take a good look at it. "Does anyone recognie them?"

"Nope, never seen them." Madeline said, holding her nose from the rotten smell of the corpse. "Anyone else?"

A disgusted exclamation slipped loose from Nate as he drew sight across the body, "What the fuck?!" He almost felt nauseous by the odor itself, let alone getting jumped by a corpse entering the later stages of decomposition. It was sure as shit different from seeing the fresh bodies at the party, instilling a greater sense of dread in his gut. What caught his attention, though, were the shards embedded in the body, "Tell me that shit isn't fucking normal. Like worse than finding your missing classmate dead by the train tracks."

"At this rate? It might as well be." Madeline answered, shrugging.

"I'm..." Britney said, probably the most composed of everyone here. It was difficult, masking that she had an idea of what the glass was. Maybe she could disguise it with shock. "... I have no idea who this is. But, you shouldn't be touching dead bodies, hun."

That was when Britney noticed bugs crawling on her foot. She looked down, and realized that, despite all the shock and chaos, they had been ignoring their surroundings... a bit mistake. They could have prepared a bit better for this. Miriam.. the girl that Dexter had brought along, probably took this a bit harder than the rest of them. To the point where she had Awakened... which is what Britney immediately gleaned from the glowing sigils down her arms in the shape of an anthill tunnel. But,. that wasn't what caught Britney's eye... it was the floating insects that were a lightblue color. Almost ghost-like. A massive swarm had formed around Miriam, and that was certainly cause for alarm.

".... Oooooooooooh, shit!" Hagan said... before all hell broke loose when Miriam loudly screamed, and the swarm pushed outwards. Claire had the bright idea of running, while Britney tried running and covering herself in vines for protection. Nate, ever an insectophobe, swat away at them with his arms until it seemed that they were passing through him like ghosts. "Fuckfuckfuck!"

Yet, it didn't seem like they were attacking... only going past everyone.

"Like hell is this normal," Caelea backed away from the body, and the swarm.

"Screw normal!" Nate rasped, his face contorted with disgust, "We need to call a fucking cop or a fuckin' exterminator, or - or something!"




Back outside, the group mostly took position up on the porch, with Jordan standing off to the side, sitting down on the far end of the porch with a cigarette in hand. She took a drag of it, and quickly blew it out of her mouth and shook her head. She was hoping that Kimberly and the others were okay in there. While this group of misfits stood outside, either because the place gave them the creeps, or they just needed a bit of a rest. Jordan felt a bit cold, and that was visible in the way that she shivered. She was hoping this cigarette would keep her warm, but it wasn't getting jackshit done. Part of her wanted to go inside, but she didn't want to get all that dust in her lungs... which was ironic since that was probably safer than tobacco.

Meanwhile, Samson was practicing... the embrace of the mountain coursed through his body. He theatrically opened his hand, and created a white flame in his hand. He noticed that, weirdly, it felt less like a fire, and something more... ethereal. Samson couldn't explain it. But, sometimes, it was like a fire. He wondered how he could make it like a fire, and burn anytime he wanted it to. He created the flame, and made it a bit more intense... until he felt that heat.

Peter remained still against the notice board, save for his fingers which had been tapping against his arm the moment the group ventured inside cabin straight out of something like Scooby Doo. To be frank he didn't want to be out here for the simple fact that nothing was happening. He didn't really know anyone here and his mind was much too preoccupied on what the other group might find, Pete had yet to get a real handle on his "powers" and chances were he wouldn't be much help in a more confined space but that didn't make watch patrol any more monotonous. He looked over at Samson, watching the flames dance on his palms and recalled the night all of this insanity begun. He couldn't take it anymore.

Peter left his refuge and walked over to Samson, looking at his flames for a few more seconds before speaking. "What is it you can do then?" He asked interested "Shoot fireballs and the like?" He knew some of what the others could do but from the way they described it their powers weren't always straightforward and from the way Samson was practicing he didn't strike Peter as a Human Torch or a Firestorm.

"Honestly," Samson replied as he decreased the flames before it could uncomfortably affect Peter. "I'm not entirely sure myself... one second, it does nothing, but another, it's setting that bastard Reese on fire."

Callie once again appeared to ignore any idle conversation. As soon as the brave bunch left the crew waiting outside, Callie moved towards the treeline. Of course, she stopped at the forest's edge, not getting too far from the group. She made sure to keep Jordan and the others in sight, but most of the time, her eyes were focused on other things. To her nearby cohorts, it may have seemed as if the girl was just casually wandering along the edge of the trees, unconsciously flicking her gaze around the woods that surrounded the group. Her ambling path continued as time went on, exploring more and more of the environment around her. She was up to something, and it undoubtedly involved a bit of experimentation.

Within her mind, Callie was as intensely focused as she could be without letting her guard down. After all, she was the closest target for any evil monsters to pop out of the woods and devour on the spot. The thought made her shiver a bit, but still she pressed on. The wandering of Callie's eyes was precise, as if she attempted to take in every detail that surrounded her— both deeper into the woods and around the resort. She was finally starting to understand all the superpower nonsense, but to her, it really seemed like she got the short end of the stick. She needed to do some more exploring, and this would be just the applicable practice.

Kimberly was also off out in the field in front of the resort, with her camera. Her attention was seemingly on the mountain in particular. She never got a view of the mountain this up close before, and was awe-struck by the view. Her photography class was gonna be so jealous! Or they're going to beat the tar out of her for sneaking out into the mountain range! She caught sight of Callie, and was almost tempted to strike up a conversation - maybe something about how they were both enjoying the forest - but she seemed more concerned with doing her own thing. Something about it felt... deliberate. Like Callie was practicing her abstraction, or whatever. Yet, Kimberly had no idea about her own Abstraction.

Jordan, who was largely withdrawn was their conversation in order to enjoy her cigarette. They could talk about their abstraction all they want to, but all Jordan could do was shake her head. They had the flashy stuff that could stop things like Scott in their tracks, and all she could do was... stop things literally. Probably an ability far more useful than theirs in some situations, given that she could save people. They couldn't. Then it occurred to her the unintentionally genius in staying outside; if something were to go wrong, she could stop time and buy them even more time to get a warning out, and maybe even get out of here. Who knows? Maybe they'll avoid danger altogether with her abstraction. That was all Jordan wanted. To avoid it.

With one more drag, Jordan pondered for a moment; how were the others in there? She hoped that they were okay. There was a strange feeling about this place, a fear that was creeping up her gut. She felt that otherworldly feeling creep up on her even stronger, and stronger. She could feel it pulling at her... until she looked forward and saw the air distorting in front of her. It was such a strange sight, especially as the orange light appeared following it. A orb of orange light formed... and yet, it didn't cast any light on the environment around it. If anything, it made it darker.

"... What in the world?" Jordan asked as she dropped her cigarette.

The orb floated there as everyone wondered what it was... she could make out a vague black shape beneath all the light.... but she still couldn't wrap her head around what the fuck it was. It was constantly changing, and... she just couldn't get a good idea of what was underneath the orange light.

Kimberly almost dropped her camera in sight of the strange abnormality... but kept her camera primed on it in a strange fascination. It was something that... she didn't know what went through her head, but she hit the button to take a picture of it. Standing there in awe, she flicked through her camera's database to see what it looked like... only to see a visible black mark in the camera where the light should be. Almost as if the image was burned.

"Hey, um..." Samson was at a loss for words. "... We need to let the others know." He put a hand on Peter's shoulder.

Peter stared in nervous awe at the floating ball, bopping up and down slightly as if adrift on water. He felt Samson's hand on his shoulder and nodded slightly after a moment. "Yeah..." he said simply. Then without warning Peter darted sideways into the cabin.

"Wait, Pete-" Samson tried to stop Peter, but it was too late. An unearthly sound came from the orb as a bright orange light appeared and shined itself where Peter went. Both Samson and Jordan jolted as the orb moved forward. Seemingly following after Peter, but they could see the orange light swaying towards them, almost like a flashlight.

Callie was momentarily distracted it seemed, not noticing the eldritch anomaly that had decided to ruin everyone's day until a moment after the commotion had begun. She was held in her tracks, merely observing as the group before her watched it. She was about to head over and explore it with them, but her step was halted once again when she saw the pair of guys dart off. "Shit..." Caught solo again... Callie wasted not a second more rushing towards the house, though her path was indirect as to not immediately intersect or chase after the freak of nature that was a floating orb. With any luck, she would hold back and it would go after them. Then again, being out there alone wasn't something she was fond of.

That same unholy sound pierced through the air yet again, as the floating orange orb intensified for a moment. Almost as if it was some kind of flame. A spike erupted from the orange light, and it gave everyone looking at it a headache. It constantly shifted shapes, that people could vaguely make out. While still retaining that sharp look, it went clean through Callie's thigh. Jordan loudly screamed, "... Callie!" Before time suddenly came to a stop. A massive pulse came from Jordan that extended fairly far - since they were in the graces of the mountain - that engulfed everything in an inverted color light. Time had completely stopped within the field. The being of orange light was stopped too... unfortunately trapping Callie on the spear. Jordan said, "... Shit!"

Callie didn't halt with time and nor did her reaction to the searing pain that wracked her form as she was skewered by the eldritch orb's spike. She had not a second to react to its swift strike, and with a pained cry out, the girl dropped on her working leg. She braced the ground with a palm, but halted there. Between the striking pangs of pain that shot towards her brain, Callie could barely focus on her own thoughts, but she did know what was occurring around her. For the moment, she wasn't immediately in danger. Jordan bit her fingertips, as she watched Callie suffer.

"Uh, what do we do?" Rien stared at the light with an open mouth. "Maybe we can move it?"

"Pull her off it!" Jordan commanded, near shouting. "It won't last forever!"

“On it.”

Lee said to the black girl as he runs toward the wounded girl. And unlike last time, where he run off like a chicken and getting haunted by the eyes, Lee chooses to risk his life right now. But does he think it worth risking his life? Of course not. He had not live long enough to make his mother proud. Hell, Lee would like to choose again if he can. But nevertheless, something moved him to save the lady that is very likely to get himself killed in the process. Honesty, Lee would like to think clear before head straight to her. Sadly, time does not let Lee take his moment to search for his stupid answer. If anything, it rushed Lee as the orb begin to recover its action. And near the orb lies the wounded girl, who seems to be bleeding to her death if being honest. Darted to Callie's location, Lee placed his arm under her armpits and begins to lift her body up. She is much lighter than how he expected. So Lee lifts Callie's body even higher to the point only her ankles are the body part that are touching the ground and begin to drag her out. But even so, Lee does not feel relaxed as his eyes could not move an inch from the glowing orb. One strike from it and Lee and Callie here would be on the scoreboard and counting numbers. The only thing that Lee could hope for is the orb attacking Samson and the others as Lee pulled Callie out.

Samson went over to help, because the faster they got Callie away from this thing, the better. Once Callie was dragged off it, Samson reached and looked at her gaping wound that was spilling blood all over the place. Samson glanced up at the thing, and the weird effect that it had on reality. It won't be held like this for long, so Samson grabbed Callie and tried to pull her away even further. He was no doctor, but he knew that if they didn't handle Callie's wound now, Callie was good as dead. Especially since they're hours away from the doctor. He put his hand up to gesture for Lee to stop, then materialized a bit of flames in his hands, "We don't have time for this." Due to his heightened emotions, the flames were red-hot... but they were a yellow color. "This is going to hurt, a lot, Callie."

He pressed the hand against the gaping hole with little warning, and braced for her screaming.

"Dude, what the what?"

Lee held back Samson's arm flaming hand as the African American teenager about to press his palm on Carlie's open wound. What could he possibly think, Lee wondered to himself as he pulled out a first aid pack from his backpack. But there ain't time to spend crying and questioning others as the whatever glowing thingy is right behind them, so Lee went straight up on trying to do what he remembers when getting a cut. Just pour hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol over the wound over the wound until it is clean. And then just applied the pressure and more bandages until the wound stop bleeding. The last rule, don't remove the bandage. Lee knew he may have missed something, but that is all he could do with this limited amount of time. Haphazardly putting the first aid into his backpack, Lee then lifted the wounded girl up by placing her right hand over his shoulder. Despair and fear beginning to grow in Lee's small heart as the monster before him beginning to move. And so, Lee beginning t.

"A little help here."

And that is all Lee could say before getting to move Carlie toward the resort's gate. The further they are from that thing, the safer Lee and the injured girl.

"Lee, we don't have time-"

In the meantime, Kimberly slowly moved over to her friend, Jordan. In hopes that they could slip away - because she didn't have a clue what this thing was, but it was obviously hostile! Kimberly was briefly reminded of creatures from Lovecraft's tales... a creature beyond description, and renders humanity hopelessly outmatched. Her eyes narrowed, as Jordan's abstraction gave her a bit of hope that wasn't the case. Yet, she could notice movements coming from it. Small, yet noticeable ones. By the time that Kimberly made it to the cabin, she was a bit relieved that she at least had a place to hide somewhere. Jordan looked scared out of her mind as she stared at the orb, her sigil glowing brightly on her back through her clothing.

She was praying that it lasted long as it possibly could. She could also notice the small movements, but they were getting a bit more intense. Before a sudden wave of orange light broke out, and "shattered" the stopped time. Nearly giving Jordan a heart attack since it could break free of her stopped time. It's spear that impaled Callie continued it's course and dug deep into the ground... Her jaw dropped as she took a few steps back, and the only thing she encountered was the wall. The appendage retracted, as the being of orange light moved towards Samson, Lee, and Callie.

"Holy shit!" Kimberly said as she covered her mouth. "Run!"

The orb materialized several strange appendages that seemed somewhat similar to that of a spider's leg. It was freakish, as several limbs had grown off other limbs. There were several dozen of these thick limbs coming out of the orb, and when one scraped the ground, it created an effect where reality was burned away. Leaving a large gap in the ground that was clean. As if it was cut by a precision tool.

"Lee, get her out of here!" Samson said as he materialized large flames in his hands. The orb was threatening them, and was obviously poised to attack; Samson wasn't going to stand here and do nothing. He swiped his left hand upwards in a scythe motion, then the right. Both movements were followed by a wave of fires that collided with the orb... and had zero lasting effect on the abnormality. He grit his teeth as one of the scythes came downwards and he tried to jump backwards... only to get sliced by the blade. His arm was cut wide open, and he loudly shouted as blood splattered in the air. He grabbed the open wound, and seethed in pain.

"Samson!" Jordan shouted, before feeling Kimberly pull at her arm.

"Jordan, we gotta go!" While Jordan didn't like it, it was becoming more and more apparent that she had to leave now. Jordan and Kimberly went inside the building as the orb was making that hellish sound again, vibrating.

Samson tried to crawl off, but the amount of blood he was losing, and the pain, was making that extremely difficult. The orb's strange tendrils were just floating there, even though it could had just killed him here and there. Samson thought that was strange, but he wasn't in the right of mind to worry about the details. He was just trying to crawl away, looking back in hopes that he could avoid the inevitable death that he felt was coming...

... Then the orb made a sound louder and more violent than before. Then it seemingly collapsed in on itself... disappearing in thin air. Samson's jaw was still wide open in shock because he was still in disbelief. His heart was still racing, and his breath was so fast that it felt like he was panting.

Kimberly poked her head through the door, before asking, "... Is it safe?" Then when she realized that the orb was gone, she sighed in relief, before she panted again. She ran over to him, and then reached into her bag and pulled out a first Aid kit... that she had no idea how to even use. God damn it, she knew she should have taken that first Aid class while she had the chance! Still, Kimberly opened it up, and tried to do her best.

"If we don't help you now, we're going to..." Kimberly paused mid sentence when she noticed Jordan tapping on her shoulder.

"Guys..." Jordan weakly said as she pointed towards the cabin... which brought the group's attention to a hellish buzzing sound as a horde of spectral insects came flying out of the place, interjected with the sound of Nate's profane exclamations. The group could only look on in awe, as one weird thing happened after another.

"... What the fuck is going on in there?" Kimberly asked.
In [Closed] 7 yrs ago Forum: Casual Roleplay






@Surtr @Zombiedude101 @OppositionJ @Scarescrow


Cafe Sucre



Jordan was almost glad for proving herself right.

But, with the overwhelming weight of death looming over her, resting on her shoulders, waiting for her to fail. Jordan realized the implications of having such a superpower... and the effects it could have on everyone around her. She looked around, there were some people frozen in place. Then... there was the fact that she was rude to Callie. All because she didn't believe something that she had no right to believe. That guilt inside of Jordan welled up, until a small tear fell down her eye.

"... Look, Callie," Jordan calmly trailed off. "I'm... sorry for snappin' at you like that."

Callie offered little more than a shrug in response to Jordan. Sure, she was definitely weirded out by Jordan's crazy talk, but Jordan getting all nice all of a sudden just offput Callie even further. "Don't worry about it..." Her words trailed off. Perhaps Callie had more to say. She wasn't quite sure, but she knew she would have spoken further if her attention wasn't drawn elsewhere.

In the middle of stopped time, someone bravely approached Jordan. Someone who seemed to be immune to the effects of her stopping time. Jordan could see her in the corner of her eye - as a large, white figure. She turned her head, and saw that it was that Britney girl that she heard so much about. Seen so many times. Jordan was curious as to what prompted her to approach her group of all people. Jordan saw the confident look in her eyes, and her swagger. She narrowed her eyes, worried.

"Why hello there," Britney greeted Jordan.

"... Time froze girl," Jordan flatly said. "The best you're going to say is hello?"

"That's because something like this doesn't surprise me, or phase me, even in the slightest," Britney confidently said, as a smirk formed on her face (and at the same time, a frown on Jordan's).

"Is that because you're on the shrooms as well?" Nate jibed, breaking his silence.

Britney frowned at Nathan as she manifested a small dark-blue mushroom out of the palm of her hand, and flicked it at him as a joke, eliciting a bemused snort as he awkwardly batted it aside. She smirked as she turned her attention back to Jordan. "I'm going to be... honest here," Britney said. "We're both special here... that's why I can move in stopped time and...." She turned to a girl at the adjacent table.

"... she can't."

"Yeah, figured that much out when you created a shroom," Jordan crossed her arms as she looked at Britney. "So..." Jordan trailed off.

"I wanted to ask for your help," Britney said. "Well, it's a mutual kind of help... but let me explain."

Jordan raised an eyebrow, as she listened.

"I'm looking for the help of anyone who has a strange ability," Britney said as she looked around. Briefly coughing into her hand. "Because there's something coming after us... safety in numbers, they say."

Nate shrugged. "And you're coming to the rest of us because... ? I mean, shit - 'strange abilities?' This is beyond strange. She just stopped time," he jabbed a finger in Jordan's direction, "You grow mushrooms out the ass and I'm sure as shit that Hulkster at the party was on more than steroids and daddy issues."

"Trust me," Britney said. "You haven't even seen weird yet."

Despite deflecting Nathan with the same humor he displayed the entire conversation... Britney could sense his incredulous attitude towards her. Yes, she was asking for a lot from some strangers. But, she knew they could all benefit from this. They just had to understand for a moment, and think; the situation was a lot bigger than each of them alone. And... She looked between them all... They'd get pulled into the conflict one way or another.

"I know this is a lot from a complete stranger... But, I need your help. You don't have to accept it."

"What kind of help?" he asked, gesticulating with his fingers, "You're going off the idea that I can actually help you."

"I'm running under that assumption because I know you can help," Britney said, with a smile on her face. She reached into her purse and pulled out a photo of her missing cousin, since it felt like she was giving out these photos like they were candy. "I'm looking for this girl, her name is Cindy Keagan, and she is my cousin. She went missing a few days ago, and Sheriff Reese and his goons are too busy looking for his boy to give a damn."

Britney bluntly spoke her mind, staring down Nathan. Around this time, time had resumed as normal. Britney only paused for a moment to look from left to right, to notice the shock that the frozen people had on their faces as something happened. "I'm just going have to start being blunt here, you all are something special... or else you'd be like them right now, and scratching your heads right now," Britney nodded her head in their direction. "And you each have a special ability that can be very useful in finding her..."

She looked between the group, and raised a finger up into the air, before asking a very piercing question

"... Did any of you have a dream last night?" Britney asked. letting her hands rest, "About some kids in the woods, perhaps?"

Callie was just about to reply to Jordan having finally formulated a sane response when the trio was approached. Another one? It was starting to seem like every kid had superpowers at this point. Callie stayed relatively silent as the newcomer spoke with her two acquaintances. Such was the life of an outsider. Callie didn't know anyone in this god forsaken town where everybody knew everybody. Her strange manifestation made Callie almost roll her eyes. In one day, the world had become storybook, and it was only getting worse as mysterious shroom girl spoke up about recruiting them for her superhero team.

You are all special.. It was cliche as hell, but it made Callie realize something. She couldn't be like them... Or maybe she just didn't want to be, but all the nonsense that had been randomly coming to her had to come from somewhere. When the newcomer brought with her talk of dreams, Callie was wholly convinced that even if all the superpowers were insane, they were all batshit insane together. Whether she wanted to help or not, Callie at least had to deal with all this. Maybe Jordan was right, then, and something could be done to stop the maniac axe guy... Her distant gaze finally lifted. "What do you remember?"

"Well... where do I start..." Britney said raising a finger to her lips. Looking off to the side, almost as if she was thinking. "I vividly recall the kids finding their dead dog, getting lured into a shack where they were attacked, and the one girl awakened an ice ability. Then they were saved by people in robes, using magic."

She kept that grin on her face, as she rhetorically asked, "But, do you by chance remember things differently?"

Callie wrung her hands under the table as the girl continued on. She was surely the most knowledgeable of the eldritch circumstances. "Crazy video game, stuff..." Her words came in mutters, only really audible if one really cared to make out her ramblings as the dream was described. Callie still didn't wholly know where she fit in to this weird superhero nonsense, but things were coming together.

"So you think something is coming after us, then? I suppose you're talking about the... thing?" She didn't have a better word for what she witnessed and as time went on, Callie was further deterred from calling it Scott Reese. Callie's mind then wandered to the girl's mention of her cousin. What did that have to do with things? Callie could only suspect that there was selfish motive behind her 'pseudo-recruitment'. Then again, who was Callie to sit back and not help someone in need? Oh wait... That was exactly who she was...

"Yes." Britney clearly said. "There is in fact." It went without saying that Scott is going after them. "And if we're going to stop it and survive this, we need to work together."

"And how does that work?" Nate asked, repeating his earlier question near enough, "I mean sure, this is too weird to be a coincidence so I'm gonna come out and say yeah, I saw the same trippy dream as the rest of you, but still."

"I already have made a group of... people like us," Britney said with a sly grin on her face. "We'll just work together with them."

"What, like the Avengers?"

Laughing for a moment, Britney said, "... Yes, like the Avengers."



Lee continued staring at the crumpled piece of paper in his hand as he waits for his food. The newspaper then changes into a small key, a boat, and a paper airplane. And Lee discovered some limit in his power. Different part of the newspaper changed in different amount of time. The more the color or ink presented on that page, the longer it took for him to change and reshaping it. Tearing the bikini model picture into half, Lee placed the piece of paper on his right hand. And slowly, the paper turn into a cube. And Lee repeats this experiment with a different paper with less ink on it. And this time, the paper turned itself much faster. Lee stared at the two paper cubes on the table. It was small and does not turn back yet.

Suddenly, Lee's stomach began to rumble, demanding its daily input of food. Standing up from the seat, Lee fixed his grey jacket as he slowly makes his way to the counter. He was planned to ask where his food is at for it seems that the cafe just take too damn long to make bacons and sausages. Of course he could ask the waitress back there, who is still engaging a very long topic with a guest about the same age as him. But common sense and decency tell Lee not to. Pressing the yellow hotel bell laid on the table, Lee patiently wait as he examined the hammer and wall symbols on both of his hands.

Since Miriam was on break, Kimberly was the only person working the counter. Not a task that Kimberly wasn't prepared to handle, as she was often the sole person at the counter during the slow days. She noticed someone trying to get her attention. She was a bit... confused, but there was no one at the counter, and she moved over to his table. Hoping to quickly gesture him back to the counter before anyone gets confused, and she gets backed up.

"Hey!" Kimberly chipperly said, somewhat annoyed that he didn't just come to the counter... he probably didn't realize that this wasn't a restaurant! But, Kimberly was going to be a bit understanding since this kid probably wasn't from around here. Or this was the first time he's been to a cafe. One of the two. Kimberly gestured towards the counter. "If you come to the counter I'll help you..." She looked at the symbols on his hands, and briefly wondered....

Lee nodded, dragging himself with an empty stomach to the counter. At there, welcoming Lee was a girl about the same age as him. She has long wavy black hair that stretch to her elbows and a pair of glasses that covered one-third of her oval face. And a pair of extremely dark and thick eyebrows above her jade eyes. But what is more interesting is her tattoo, Rex thinks as he looks at the symbol on her forehead. It was similar to the Indian bindi, with the exception is this bindi is black. It took a while for Lee to realize that is not a bindi but a camera symbol. Lee shuddered, ashamed for staring at a girl too long. Just the thought alone was enough to drive make his face to flush. Avoiding to look up at the girl, Lee try to calm himself and wishing that Samson was here. The thought of the waitress' eyes locking on him was enough for Lee to felt his bile in the stomach began to slowly rising toward his throat. Saying while still looking at the wooden floor, Lee said with his low voice and ending here and there due to his discomfort at the woman constant stare.

"Yes, I... want to... ask where is my bacon and cheese at. Thanks."

The boy was awkwardly staring at her... mostly the symbol that had appeared on her forehead. Kimberly was scared, about to say something. But, she had to remember that she was literally being paid to pretend to be nice. So, she just awkwardly pulled at her collar before she said,

"... You didn't order one?" She noted.

At the end of his sentence, Lee bowed with his head move 25 degree forward to show his gratitude. It feels much better for Lee to say those words out, despite the woman that stood in front of him did not do anything. Suddenly, Lee face palmed himself as he just realize what he said. Bacon and cheese?, Lee shakes his head as he is too shy to even look at her. Her green eyes are looking at him, judging or laughing at him. Just then, for no reason, Lee stands straight and talk clear at the waitress who was offering her help while scratching at the back of his head.

"Yes, Can you delete what I just said and replace it with bacon and sausages please. Thank you."

Lee could feel the blood flowed to his brain begin to inflate as Lee looked at the waitress' eyes. Those jade-like eyes with its purpose that Lee could not tell had pierced his soul. A small vibrant even make Lee to has a goosebump, and it was all about the woman in front of him. Smoke began to form above Lee head as the girl continued to stare at him. Raising an eyebrow, Lee asked with his low voice mixed with a little rushed.

"Uhhh, do you need me to repeat my order?"

This was fairly awkward... since Kimberly heard it just fine, but it was just the way he talked. "No, no, no, I heard it loud and clear." She said as she wrote down the order on a piece of paper and handed it to the crew member in the back. She went back to gazing at him. "... Are you okay? You seem... uh, y'knooooow..."

Lee smiles, shaking his hands to both sides as if there isn't anything wrong with him. "No, uhh.. nothing is wrong," Lee said, cracking another awkward and shy smile. And then, there came silence as there is nothing to be said between the two. Part of Lee urges him to go back to his seat and wait for his portion to come out but the other said that would be rude. In afraid of the silence between the two extended and created an awkward situation, Lee scanned his eyes to see if there is something that he could talk to. And the most noticeable thing was the cafe eerily silence. There were almost no one despite this is one of the few cafes that this store presented. Usually, as Lee imagined, the store should be more crowded. The sound of waiters and waitresses constantly bringing out the foods for its hungry customers should be a common site. But this is nowhere near it, not even thirty percent closed. Of course, Lee knew the reason for the cafe to be like an abandoned warehouse. It was probably due to the mass murderer just happen last week which cause a huge scandal for the chief of the town and raised some demands from the victims' families. Then, Lee shifts his attention toward the Kimberly tattoo. Only now Lee is beginning to question his eyesight as why did he not realize it was a camera lens.

"That is a very nice tattoo, where do you get it from?"

In his mind, Lee is beginning to pray for his mother to summon Samson from the unknown just to save him at this moment. After all, Lee was never a talkative guy in the first place and talking like this certainly pushed Lee to his limits.

Immediately Kimberly's face went rush with embarrassment as she realized somebody finally noticed this mark. She covered it up with both hands, briefly forgetting that Lee was acting very strange. "I don't know, I just woke up with it one night," Kimberly said. "Please don't make a big deal about it, I'll get fired!"

Lee grinned, trying to be less awkward by being friendly while extending his right hand. "Well, I guess that makes us equal as I also got these about a week ago." Lee stopped, trying to find suitable questions or something that may carry the conversation. But he found nothing. Looking at his hand that is extending out for almost no reason or uses, Lee slowly pulled it back as he smiled sheepishly and bowed with his head tilted slightly forward before saying. "Well, thank you for your listening ." And with that, Lee returned to his seat, letting his brain to relax after the intense interrogation with the woman. The image of the waitress constantly staring at Lee makes him blush and causing him to let his head to rest on the brown wooden table. Any more of this kind of embarrassment and Lee is going to throw himself off the bridge, Lee thinks while staring at the wooden floor beneath him. Lee doesn't know what he is looking for by constantly staring the floor like that. He just stared at it, hoping there will be something that happens. But what is he hoping for, Lee doesn't know. He just stared at it and hoping for something. Something so obscure and profound that may raise his excitement like what he just did with his power. So Lee waits for anything to happen. Or at least for the waitress to bring out his order because he is starving.

Kimberly looked at the strange markings on his hand... sigils. Kimberly thought to herself. It almost seemed as if they were the same. Same color. Seemingly same ink? There wasn't a lot of things in common between a hammer and wall, and a camera's eye, but Kimberly felt that there was. Before the girl could think on it a little harder, the boy pulled his hand away, and she raised an eyebrow. Maybe she was just thinking too much into it. At this point, the cook in the back announced that his food was prepared, and maybe he'd stop acting weird once he got a little food in him! She grabbed the plate and held it in hand, and went to hand it over...

... then that was when the boom erupted from Jordan's back.

Kimberly caught it in the corner of her eye, and when she noticed it, she dropped the plate out of shock. But, after a second, the plate paused - suspended in midair. She gasped for a moment as she looked around. Her attention not even on Lee. As she pushed the latch on her counter door open, she looked around with each step. Everyone was frozen in midair... except for her, Jordan, and many others. She was confused for a moment, as she adjusted her glasses in the off chance that she wasn't going crazy. But, it was true. Then she turned her head towards Lee.

"Wait..." Kimberly trailed off, piecing things together. "Let me see your hands again!"

Slowly lifting his head up, Lee looked at the waitress and confused by what she had to said. Nevertheless, Lee still lets her seeing both of his hands before asking. She took a good hard look at his hands, before determining something. She had the marks, Jordan had them, and so did this guy... and they all could move in stopped time.

"What happened?" And that was before Lee saw the floating dishes. Lee is confused about what is happening before his eyes. The silvery white disk with his breakfast on it is floating. There is no hand beneath it, no string attach, or any extremely strong magnetic to pull a prank on him. Eyes opened wide that fill surprised, Lee touch it. The moment when one of his fingers touch the edge of the floating dish, the dish pursue its course of falling toward the center of the Earth. There seems to be no magic, no tricks, or no paranormal phenomenon behind it. To Lee, it was just his eyes and brain become a little bit hallucinate while desperately waiting for his food. And then, once again, the dish stop mid-air as if it is challenging all the thing that Lee knew in his life. Constantly touching and pull back from the edge until the dish finally settle on the wooden floor, Lee look up at the waitress.

"So what now?" Lee asked the woman that stood next to him as he slowly rises from his seat and fixing his jacket. "Any idea?"

"I don't know..." Kimberly said, she was unsure of what to do next herself. "From the last time this happened... it only lasted a minute at most... but it could be longer."

She looked around... until she saw that Jordan's back was glowing - the hourglass symbol that Kim saw earlier this morning was glowing brightly. She realized something else, she looked back at Lee, before gesturing towards Lee. "Follow me."

Lee nodded before he carefully places his hand on the bottom of the disk and put it on his table. Despite his growing hunger that is slowly chipped away his stomach and heart, Lee thinks he should not keep the waitress waiting. But his food seems too good, Lee thinks as he pursued the woman before him. His legs feel weird, numb due to starvation. The buzzing sound begins to come back to his ears. Lee knows he ain't die if he skipped a meal, but the thought of having a food that he is not spending his time eating keep stuck in his mind. Besides, those slices of bacon and sausages that are still located on the plate seem to be glowing under the midday sun of Montana. And it just makes them to be more beautiful under the starved eyes. Letting out a small sigh, Lee follows the woman in front of him like a shadow. Head held high and spine straightens up, his mother's words crept into Lee mind. And the steps begin to turn into unity, 1..2..1..2. And like an obedient machine, the little robot will stop as the leader stopped. No questions that need to be answered. No complained to be heard. Just pure actions.




During the whole conversation, Jordan remained quiet the entire time. All because she was giving what this girl was saying some thought. Not dismissing her like Callie or Nathan were, but giving it thought given that she legitimately seemed like a being like her. Not only demonstrating her abstraction, but also demonstrating her immunity to her stopping time. But, there were questions that were piling up... and she had the feeling that Britney knew the answers to them. After the "Avengers" comment, Jordan stood straight up, and stared Britney right in the face.

"... I'm going to say yes," Britney smiled, but Jordan raised a finger up into the air as she made another point. "... But, on one condition."

"Oh? What is it?" Britney said.

"... That you start giving answers," Jordan bluntly said. "You obviously know a lot about this - a hell of a lot more than a rich nineteen-something rich girl should know... so why the hell should I, or anyone else, trust you?"

This was a question that Britney knew was coming - in fact, she was prepared for it. She sighed, as she looked away for a brief moment, covering her mouth. She sat down, before she sighed. "Okay, believe it or not, but this isn't the first time I've encountered something like this..." Britney started off, "I'm not sure if you heard about that car accident I got into a few years ago? When my car hit a tree?"

"No..." Jordan trailed off.

"... But, I did," Kimberly added when she walked up raising an eyebrow.

"Well, dunno how to put it anymore simply, but it was no accident... something knocked my car off road while I was driving and came after us while we were in shock... I still dunno what in the world it was, but it was definitely hungry... it attacked me." Britney said, as she looked around to see if anybody was paying attention.

"... That was when I Awakened," Britney explained. "But, I was saved by a man... John Reid. A farmer who died two weeks ago. I don't know how familiar you all are with him, but he's an Awakened - or was one, but that's just semantics."

She trailed off for a moment, as she sighed, trying to hide the remorse for the man.."John Reid knew a lot about Awakened... probably because he was so powerful, but he trained me a bit. Taught me everything I need to know about the Awakened.... and figuring out why he died may be the key to solving this problem."

She assumed a neutral posture, and folded her hands together, "Any questions?"

Awakened... Damn. How come she got to name it? As Kimberly and Lee approached the table, Callie finally started to put things together. Perhaps it was something that had to do with the party, but then again, there were way more than a handful of kids at the party. As Jordan conceded to the still unnamed girl's superhero team, Callie furrowed her brow. This was all insane no matter how true it was. Also, what lets her get to lead the superhero team? Not that Callie could do it herself. Once again, the almost wholly silent girl spoke up, eyes flicking in between the ever-growing party of people in the... time bubble?

"What's your plan then?" Callie's voice was determinant. Perhaps this was the best course of action, especially if Callie was able to pull off something like Jordan.

"Well... keep this to yourselves, but my cousin knows something about this," Britney whisped, looking over her shoulder for a moment at Dex. "... if we find her, we figure out what the hell is going on, and we stop this."

"I like how you just casually talk about this stuff like it's nothing," Nate shrugged, "You think maybe this could've been more help at the party?"

"What happened at the party was..." Britney nervously said, as she looked to the side. "... Completely unexpected." She hung her head, her hat covered her eyes somewhat. She wished that she could ha helped, but she had no idea that it would happen there of all places.

They also didn't invite her.

"Unexpected," Nate echoed, "For someone who knows a lot about all this shit you didn't know jack about Bruce Banner's younger, inbred cousin hulking out on us. But y'know what? I'm alive, those two are alive and some weird shit is happening so fuck it. Why not?" Britney knew that Nathan didn't exactly get it - and he was unlikely to ever get it, unless he sawit for himself.

Callie didn't necessarily want to help, but she didn't really feel she had much of a choice. She hummed a moment, eyes averting from the onlookers. "Keep me informed. I can at least try to help..."

"Same," Jordan nodded. "I'm going to help get to the bottom of this."

"Where ever Jordan goes, I go." Kimberly said, "There's somebody I'm hoping to find myself."

"Excellent," Britney said as she looked at the group. There was a bit of distrust in the group, Britney could see that. Like she previously thought; once they see the things that Britney had with their own two eyes... they'd change their mindset preeetty quickly. "I'll definitely keep in touch with you all, just..." She reached into her purse, and pulled out a piece of paper, and then grabbed a pen. She wrote down her phone number, and slid it to them.

"... Make sure to give me a call if you need anything." Britney said as she turned around, and walked off..
In [Closed] 7 yrs ago Forum: Casual Roleplay

Cafe Sucre



"So you remembered my name?" Nate remarked, relaxing in an instant. Before she could get another word in, he followed up on her question, "What, is this the part where some neckbeard with a camera comes in and talks to us about how American society made Reese's kid hulk out on us?"

And like that, his composure was back. It was kind of a weird coincidence that she happened to be working here, but like he figured before - it was a small town. "Yeah, we can talk. I'll take the waffles with whatever good jelly you got." A hand lazily dug into his left hand pocket and eventually fished out a wallet, withdrawing enough dollar bills to cover the cost and then some extra. "Tip," he said, then pressed it on the counter in front of her and turned back towards the table where her friend with the (probably) fake leg sat, sitting opposite to her. It seemed she'd been joined by a friend.

Who'd have guessed it would've been another familiar face?
In [Closed] 7 yrs ago Forum: Casual Roleplay

@Surtr@Junkmail@Drag@Scarescrow
Blacksmith Square - Home



"He's... an awakened."

Light spilled into the room through where the curtains had been left parted, momentarily blinding Nate when he first opened his eyes, startling him further. Only half-undressed, he still wore the same boxers and shirt he'd thrown on the day before, the rest of his clothes haphazardly draped over the back of his chair at the other side of the room. "Ugh," he barely mouthed, his mouth feeling dry to the point it was like tone, before fumbling around the side of the bed for the bottle of juice he'd left there the night before. First time he felt it, he knocked it over, but a half-assed effort to lean over the bed and pick it up rectified that and his notions of thirst were quenched with a couple of gulps. Despite actually getting down at a reasonable hour last night, he felt as tired as he would've if he'd been sat at his desk until two or three in the morning - he even checked the clock to make sure it wasn't an early hour.

The dream was probably to blame for that.

Awakened?

In that dream, Nate had seen something that looked like a tattoo on the kid's chest. There was a familiarity to it, one he realised when his thoughts drew back to the mark he'd noticed out of the corner of his eye whilst toweling down from the shower, an abstract symbol seared into the back of his neck. Touching it didn't seem to bring about any sort of sensation different to what it normally would've felt like, but the fact it had just appeared overnight was enough to raise questions. The weirdest part? At first, he'd thought it was pure luck that Aunt Viv and Quent hadn't yet seen it, plus his own habit of wearing a hoodie or a shirt which allowed him to keep it covered up. That in itself would've taken some explaining to do, not to mention it would have probably meant getting a lecturing call from Dad about impulsive decisions. Yet, in the end, it seemed only he could see it - Quent had caught him quickly making his way back through the house after a shower with just a towel around his waist and made no mention or glance towards the new 'tattoo' and these suspicions had been confirmed when Aunt Viv had noticed a 'discoloured patch' on the back of his neck - not quite yet healed from the night of the party - but made no mention of the brand either.

It was yet another reminder that this wasn't a long-term hallucination induced by the shrooms, as he'd joked moments before things had gone to shit at the party.

People had died, seen some fucked up stuff. He almost died and he'd definitely seen some fucked up stuff there, no amount of desensitisation able to blot out the thoughts of people stampeding to get out of that fucking claustrophobic lumber mill, dead bodies left right and center.

Blinking, he checked the clock again and realised that about five minutes had passed since he'd last taken notice and groaned, eventually shifting his weight out of bed. There was a faint, almost musty odour in the air and Nate quickly figured out the cause - himself. Grumblling again, he slipped out of his old clothes, kicked them towards a small heap on the corner to put in the wash pile later, then gave himself a quick spray of deodorant. Better.

Once that was done, he threw on some fresh clothes and headed downstairs, ready to grab something to eat. Viv would probably be sat downstairs or something whilst Quent, he figured, would've been out working again. No surprise there - it had been a busy week for the man since that clusterfuck at the lumber mill. The way Nate had heard it, Sheriff Reese was barely a couple inches from becoming an exhausted wreck in the wake of hearing from over a dozen eyewitnesses that it had been his kid who'd gone on a bender, butchering people left and right, to the point he'd left most of his deputies to pick up the pieces, taking witness statements and co-ordinating with other agencies from out of town.

This shit was on the national level, even.

And Nate, for his part, had bullshitted his way out knowing any part of it - when Quent had inevitably checked by to figure out where he'd actually been that night (and if, by extension, he'd seen or heard things happen at the party) he played dumb. To corroborate his story, that night he'd got home, slumped into the shower and stuffed his damaged clothes under the bed, out of sight and acted as if he'd got lost, wouldn't have known how to get there. Most of the other folks who'd been there couldn't have known him yet, so he'd hoped that nobody could ID him.

Besides, even if he told the truth, how could he have explained it without causing any more bullshit for himself? Oh gee wiz, Uncle Quent - you sure aren't gonna believe this, I went to a party to get wasted and have a good time but instead had to narrowly escape being skullfucked by Bruce Banner's redneck cousin! Aunt Viv didn't need any of that crap on her plate and neither did Quent, not when they'd been good to him like that.

On top of that, there was one other thing that definitely went beyond explanation. And guess what? It turns out that I can pass through shit! Nate had no means of explaining it, no idea what it meant. Time to think on it had given a little more gravity to the fact that he nearly died, would've died if that club hadn't phased through him.

The morning after the shitshow at the lumber mill, he'd woken up from a shitty dream about it, only to find himself half-sunken into the bed, that same sensation of being immersed in water overwhelming him. Another time he'd been caught off-guard by Viv's early return from work when he had first been trying to hide the mark on the back of his neck, accidentally backing into a closed door - only for colour to bleed out from sight and for him to step through, almost seamlessly. A dozen other accidents of the same caliber had occurred, all caused by necessity or by something catching off-guard.

His thoughts drifted back to the dream again, of the two kids who'd narrowly been saved from that thing by those three weirdos in renaissance garb. Never before had he dreamed about something with that degree of clarity, nor had he ever dreamed up something like that before.

What would Mom have figured?

No, Nate shrugged the thought off. She wasn't here, no point thinking on it now. Instead, he gave off a low chuckle at just how fucking stupid it all sounded, even more stupid that it had actually happened.

"What's funny?" A feminine voice asked, jolting him from his thoughts. His gaze shifted over to find Aunt Viv, reclining on the couch as she filtered through the newsfeed on a tablet. She remarked again, "Something must be, otherwise I wouldn't be seeing you down here so early."

"That's very observant of you." Nate shot back, deadpan. Living with Viv and Quent was like living in a boxing ring, only instead of sparring with fists they used words. "But the only thing that's funny around here is your taste in daily propaganda." He thumbed towards the crappy reality show that was being broadcast on the TV.

Sucking in a breath, she idly reached out with the remote and shifted to another channel - the news this time it seemed, judging by the faint noise about the recent spate of murders in the area, "You can skip the sarcasm."

"Hey, don't hate a critic for peddling his craft," Nate threw his hands up for a moment, then turned towards the direction of the kitchen and headed over to the fridge, leaning down to get a peek inside. "On rations?" he groaned, finding it relatively sparse. Viv didn't take long to call back, "Forgot to fetch some groceries last night and I don't have the heart to make your poor Uncle Quentin head out when he's busy with things already."

"Sorry I asked," he said, a pang of genuine remorse for his blunt remark hitting him, "Screw it, I'll get something in town, I guess. Any suggestions?"

"You know where the Sucre is?" Viv asked.

"Yeah," he nodded, "I've dropped by there after classes before."

"Breakfast there is good for the money." There was a pause, just for a moment, before she spoke up again, "You good on that front?"

"Yeah." Nate admitted. He wasn't about to bullshit and try and bum more cash off Viv of all people, especially not when Dad mostly had him covered. It wasn't like she couldn't afford it, but there was something in that which felt wrong - like taking advantage of their decency. After all, they never had to take him in, Dad could've easily got him a spot in a dorm at Grand Ridge if that had been the only option on the tables. "Thanks, though, Aunt Viv. I'll see you later, yeah?"

One more time, he heard a reassuring note, "Call me if you need anything."

The only thing on his mind that he needed right now, food aside, was beyond her help. Repressing a faint, half-assed snort, Nate stepped out and set off for the Sucre.



Cafe la Sucre



It wasn't a particularly long journey in the end - Nate had gotten used to it enough that he could quite comfortably brisk-walk through town when he wanted to - and right now his interest was getting some good breakfast in his stomach which counted enough to hkm. As he approached the cafe, he made a renewed effort to wipe and brush at his hair with his fingers, willing a few stubborn strands to stay down when he pressed his bunched fingers on them.

His arrival hailed by a bell, Nate briefly shot his gazeacross the room where a few, vaguely familiar faces were in the periphery of his vision. That Hagan guy from the party at one table and the girl he'd been talking to near the VIP entrance by another, plus others he couldn't distinctly put down but looked like he could've walked past them there. It's a small town, he told himself, figuring it just a weird coincidence. The events of that night were going to be fresh in his mind for many years' worth of therapy sessions to come, so it was hard not to dwell on it. It was a little more disconcerting when he noticed the dark-skinned girl, Kimberly's friend, who he'd figured had a fake leg or something. She was enjoying a coffee and seemed to be happy minding her own business, but he had questions that had gone unanswered over what happened that night and...

His priority right now was getting something to eat. Questions could be asked later, when his stomach had finally shut up. Shuffling towards the counter, he shot a brief glance towards the menu board fixed to the wall without so much as making eye contact with the girl manning the front counter.

"Hey uh, can I order a waf-fuck.." Nate caught himself before he could insert any more startled vulgarity into his order. Very small town. Recognising the girl at the counter as the same one he'd rescued twice at the party, that he'd almost died helping, definitely threw him off guard. Kimberly wasn't what he'd normally have called a scary person but given the whole clusterfuck of all this and... yeah.

Maybe he hadn't taken notice or something that night, but she had some kind of tattoo in the middle of her forehead in the same kind of vein as his own mysterious brand - except this one looked like some kind of eye or a lense.

"I mean - waffles... what?"
In [Closed] 7 yrs ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Three NPCs to throw in here;





In [Closed] 7 yrs ago Forum: Casual Roleplay

@Surtr
Thompson Lumber Mill Inc - Interior



Mumbling in response to Kimberly's stated agreement, Nate shifted his weight towards the door and felt around for a handle, resorting to using the flashlight app on his own phone to get a better look - there was a hole in the heavyset wooden door for a key, but wrenching back on the handle proved it wasn't locked and the door slowly scraped back against the floorboards, the muffled rhythms of the music on the other side becoming less so. As a guess? They'd probably used this place as a foreman's office or a storeroom or something. It wasn't like they'd left any real furniture lying around to figure it out, not that it mattered, just a curious thought.

Instead, he glanced back towards Kim for a moment, took another look at the fresh cut that marked her cheek, then tugged further back on the door using his weigh as leverage.

"Better get moving before some shitlord jerking off in the corner realises we aren't hallucinations from the shrooms."

The glow of his phone's light illuminated what would have been an otherwise pitch-black corridor, with various assorted pieces of junk from emptied crates to loose debris scattered around, posing a trip hazard. Age hadn't been kind to this place and neither had the elements, but inside here? It seemed... there wasn't really a word to put it down to, otherworldly? Nate blinked, and for a moment swore he'd seen the walls covered in a thick, hellish rust that hadn't been there moments before. Or was there? No, it wasn't. Just his eyes fucking with him.

It proved a point - place like this? On his own, in the dark, no ambient noise in the background - he'd have been legitimately shitted out, a decade's worth of video games and movies having painted his memory with images from the likes of Resident Evil or Silent Hill.

It might have explained why some of the other party-goers hadn't seemed to have found this particular section yet, if not the assorted crap in their way.

He stepped over the loose portions of debris and junk that were set in their path, making sure to keep the floor illuminated for Kimberly's sake so that she wouldn't trip either.

Each nook, cranny and crevice they passed or approached, he passed his light over it to make sure they weren't stumbling across a couple screwing in the darkness or dosing (though he had no plan for the chance they did) but the only sign of people they encountered were the growing pulses of music and the jubilant voices accompanying them.

It was only when they hit yet another doorway that he figured they were on the home stretch - a thin shaft of multicoloured light seeped out from a thin gap beneath the door, the once-distant noises now just a few metres ahead. Nate gave Kimberly another stare, deadpan. "If anyone asks, we're roofers."

With that, he took a hold of the handle, twisted and pulled, the door drawing open with a squeak that was drowned out by the collective squeals of the crowd on the other side.

No, he then thought . Not squealing. Screeching. A shrill noise which seemed to piece through his skull, inducing an agonising headache that almost had him scrabbling for something to support himself.

When he looked up again, that same rust he'd seen a moment ago on the walls now seemed to touch everything, the crowd included, clothes and skin rapidly decaying and sloughing off to reveal a mass of rotting, skeletal figures trampling each other underfoot.

And his own hands... skeletal, ethereal, coated in more rust.

"What the fuck?!" Nate began to backpedal, startled, only to back into Kimberly - and then he saw, not a corpse but a person, flesh and blood, mundane.

It was an act which brought him back to reality, the party in front of them carrying on without a single eyelid batted.
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