Xelyn's RP Post Samples

[Xelyn Craft]

After Althea let him in with a snarky comment, Miguel gave a mock laugh, though it was all in good humor between them. He entered and waved at Elizabet with a smile before moving out of the doorway so more partygoers could come inside as well. It didn't take long for the place to fill up real fast. Half the town was probably there within a couple minutes of Miguel arriving, even though he'd been one of the first there.

It seemed everyone was eager to meet the new faces in town. They were all practically swarmed by people as they arrived and spread out. Miguel didn't want to crowd them, so kept back for the time being, waiting until things calmed down a bit before he would approach them. Sure, he was just as curious as anyone else, but he didn't have anything to hide like many of them did. The rest of the town needed to scope out the newbies and see if they were safe before he should concern himself with them.

For a while, Miguel just watched the chaos around him. It wasn't exactly the same energy as the chaos of work, but it was still a bit crazy all at once. Which made Miguel feel right at home. However, he was so busy watching everyone else that he almost missed the boy coming up to him. With a quick glance, Miguel noticed the youngest Boone child walking towards him and took a double take, realizing how the boy was holding his thumb like it was injured. He would recognize that posture anywhere.

The boy seemed nervous as he said hello and asked where the bathroom was so he could grab a band-aid. Miguel had to force himself not to laugh at how comical the boy was, but he managed to keep it just to a friendly smile. "Of course, hun. Here, follow me." Miguel put a hand on the boy's shoulder to guide him towards the restroom and started walking with him. "I'm Miguel, by the way. You're one of the new faces in town, aren't you? What's your name?" After learning his name, they were almost to the bathroom when Miguel asked, "How did you manage to get cut like that?"

Once they reached the restroom, Miguel forgot to knock and just walked right in with Callum in tow. He was more focused on getting the poor kid a band-aid for his bleeding thumb than he was on checking to make sure the room wasn't already occupied. As soon as he saw Cassandra lifting up her dress, he stopped mid step in shock for a split second before quickly reaching over to cover Callum's eyes. Looking over his shoulder, he backed out with Callum and shut the door again before knocking on it and calling through it to Cass. "Sorry about that, sweetie. Honest mistake. Do you think we could get a band-aid from there when you're done? This kid managed to cut himself somehow and needs a bit of first aid."


>>>>>
location: party x | x with: Callum & Cassandrax |x ooc: n/a

[Xelyn Craft]

The game ended rather quickly after all the commotion that Kaleb hadn't been able to see but had heard. Some kind of drama that he couldn't be bothered to care much about when he was up in the clouds like this. Instead his attention was caught by a buzzing in his pocket as his phone received a text. Kaleb dug his phone out and looked at it to see a message from Dante asking if he was still planning on going to the party.

With a groan of realization, Kaleb remembered the after party at Tae and Dae's place. That was an awful lot of people. Kae's anxiety was not going to deal with it well, but if there were drugs there, maybe he could make it through for a few hours. He'd promised to hang out with Dante there, so he didn't have a choice. Kaleb typed up a quick reply before hitting the send button.


To: Dante
MSG: Yeah, I'll meet up with you there soon.


After sending the text message off, Kaleb looked to Jung and Parker. "I promised Dante I'd go to the party with him, so I gotta head out. If you guys are going too, maybe we can hang some more there." Kaleb kind of hoped they would be there. They were some of his closer friends and he could use the support with his anxiety. But if they didn't end up going, he supposed he did have Dante, so it would all work out. "See you guys." Kaleb excused himself and stood up to leave the bleachers behind.

He didn't drive, so he had to walk the whole way there. Not that Kaleb minded. He was pretty familiar with the city. Kaleb's insomnia left him with nothing to do but go exploring the neighborhood, so he'd walked it hundreds of times at night. Eventually he made it, the loud music drumming in his ears and the heat of lots of bodies gathering together making him feel uneasy. He hoped no one would touch him...

Looking around for Dante, Kaleb wandered into the mansion, slipping in between dancing bodies and people conversing. Eventually he spotted the other boy sitting on a couch looking just as uncomfortable as Kaleb felt. Well, at least he wasn't alone. Though, neither was Dante. It looked like he'd gotten into a conversation with a few girls. One of whom, Kaleb recognized right away as Sloane. The other two were friends of hers that Kaleb wasn't as familiar with. Chloé and Kadejah, if he wasn't mistaken. He didn't know them as well, but he knew their names from observation.

Not wanting to interrupt, Kaleb quietly stood behind them, leaning to the side to give Dante a quick wave and let him know he was there. Was it awkward? Yes. But so was Kaleb. He just hoped he wouldn't scare the girls by sneaking up behind them so quietly. He didn't want to bother them by speaking up though, so he just stayed quiet and observed for the time being.


>>>>>
location: party x | x with: vaguely with Dante, Kade, Sloane, and Chloéx |x ooc: n/a

[Xelyn Craft]

The moment mention of the captain left Alma's lips, their commanding officer approached from behind and announced his presence. Alma Turned his body to face more towards Roman and his already perfect posture somehow seemed to straighten even more in the presence of the captain. He listened intently as Roman repeated Alma's suggested plan in the format of orders before tilting his head when the man turned to him and simply said "... Alma, you're with me." It was a vague order, but an order nonetheless, so Alma nodded his head and proceeded to follow Roman as he walked away from the other's, going about their assigned duties.

A few moments passed in silence and he honestly wasn't sure what the Captain had in mind for him. Roman had not elaborated on any specific tasks and Alma wasn't sure where he was leading him. At first he assumed the man would tell him soon enough, but Alma's curiosity was stronger than his patience. His mouth opened to ask Roman for orders, but before he could actually say anything, Dinah caught up with them and addressed the Captain first. The synthetic was surprised to see her abandoning her task in order to complain about Roman's initial absence when they had all first assembled outside.

Although Alma was sure Roman had a perfectly acceptable excuse, he had to admit, he sided with Dinah on one thing. She wanted to know just as much as he did what Roman's plans for himself and the android were. Alma looked expectantly at the captain, waiting for his response. Before it could come, Zarina, too, abandoned her task to approach the slowly growing group. Alma couldn't help but frown. Was everyone going to disregard the plan in order to join in on the conversation? He was curious just as well as they were, but this may be getting a bit out of hand.

And then Zarina removed her helmet.

Alma felt what could only be described as a surge of panic as every muscle in his body simultaneously tensed. His knee jerk reaction was to grab her helmet and shove it back on her head, but the speed of his core processor reacted faster than his organic parts and he wirelessly connected to the atmosphere reader she had in her possession. He quickly read the information on it and discovered that she already had the results of the planet's conditions and knew they were safe before she had taken her helmet off. In the milliseconds it took for Alma to realize this, he was able to bring his reaction down from lurching forward violently to simply flinching before letting out a rattled breath and relaxing.

The casual tone of Zarina's voice as she took her gloves off and stuffed them into her helmet made Alma feel slightly irritated, which wasn't something he was used to feeling. After all, he wasn't supposed to feel anything at all. He couldn't help it though, she'd caused him a massive amount of stress, brief as it may have been, and didn't seem to think much of it at all. He wasn't sure why she would do such a thing without warning them first. It seemed completely irrational to him, and irrational things frustrated him. He wanted to understand.

Instead of explaining herself, Zarina chose to reprimand Dinah for calling Roman out on his tardiness. She seemed to be far more bothered by it than Alma thought necessary. Dinah was just asking a simple question, wasn't she? The synthetic could relate to the desire to remain informed on such things as the status of the captain and crew, and their whereabouts, especially if it was relevant to the mission. Alma was unaware that Dinah's actions could be taken in a different context and even seen as her questioning Roman's authority. Such social politics were still beyond his full comprehension and it hadn't even occurred to him until Zarina said something. He wasn't sure if her concerns were founded or not, still unable to judge the situation very well with his limited social programming.

Even as Zarina dropped the subject to instead (finally) explain the atmospheric conditions and her results on them, Alma felt uneasy at the tension that still seemed to be strong between the three humans he stood next to. He looked back and forth between Zarina, Roman, and Dinah with a slight crease between his brows and a worried frown tugging at the corners of his mouth. Once Zarina finished her report, she turned away from them to return to the task she'd been assigned. Alma watched her retreating figure for a moment before turning back to Dinah and Roman.

"Sir, I must admit, the pre-scripted social programming I was designed with is very limited. I was designed to learn social skills through experience, but I still have limited interactions to draw upon for information." He spoke to Roman with the timidness of a child, trying very hard to mute his emotions but unable to keep from glancing at Dinah nervously every now and then. "I'm not entirely sure what Dr. Tasat was so upset about, but I can still pick up on a certain amount of... tension. Should I be concerned?" If the crew members started turning on each other, it could severely and negatively impact the mission's chances of success. Alma's entire purpose on the Horizon project was to ensure the colonization of the new planet was seen through to the end with as few complications as possible. Although he wasn't sure how he could help in a situation like this, if anything was wrong, he had to try.

"If there's anything I can do t-" Alma stopped mid sentence, and his eyes glazed over, his expression completely blank. For a moment he just stared at nothing, but then he turned his head away from both Dinah and Roman, instead letting his optic sensors scan the treeline as if searching for something.

Alma offered no explanation for his behavior, instead focusing on his core processor's wireless network connections. The Horizon's network should be the only thing in range, seeing as they had left Earth light years behind already and there should be nothing to connect to this far out in space. But, in defiance of all probability statistics, a new, unnamed network had popped up in his systems and his internal process was asking if he wanted to connect to it. It was just barely in range, but somehow the signal seemed to be gradually growing stronger, as if it was getting closer.

Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back. Alma had to know. So, throwing caution to the wind, he allowed his systems to connect to the mystery network.

It was unlike any wireless network he'd ever experienced on Earth, so similar in function but so vastly different in design execution. Instead of zeroes and ones flooding his data banks, the transfer of information was somehow more abstract and organic. The information he received was not precise and streamlined, it was vague and conceptual. There was clearly some sort of language barrier as well, something that Alma was sure he could decipher, given time, but not as urgent an issue for the simple fact that instead of knowing the information, he could feel it, like emotion.

Completely immersed in this experience, Alma ignored anything the humans around him were saying as a delighted smile lit his face up in a display of emotion the likes of which he'd never expressed before.

He continued to stare off into the forest as he explored the network further and tried to break down it's processes. Soon he recognized that something in it was trying to start a dialogue with him, not through words, but through concepts. It wanted to know who he was, where he came from, why he looked so strange, why he was stupid enough to touch the glowing mushroom like plants in the forest.

The smile on his face quickly morphed into a frown as he struggled to figure out how to send a response to it and ask whatever this entity was what they were talking about with that last concept. A few seconds passed before he was able to figure it out and send an - albeit ungraceful - message back. His question was answered with a sudden visual feed flooding his processor. The sight of Lin and Jerrik wandering away from the group and into the forest together played through his mind before showing the two of them talking and then starting to collect samples of bioluminecent alien fungi.

Fear flooded Alma's systems and he jolted back to the here and now, cutting off his connection and tearing his gaze from where he was previously staring to look towards the ship. "Linnea!" He called out with wide eyes that scanned the area for her and Jerrik. When he didn't see them, he immediately bolted off towards the area of the forest he'd seen them at in the visual feed, far too panicked to stop and offer any explanation for his behavior to the others. "Jerrik! Linnea!" He yelled, running into the forest and finding them not too deep inside.

His relief to see them unharmed was only slight as he remembered that the visual feed must be coming from somewhere, which meant whatever he had been interfacing with was probably nearby and could still be dangerous. Just because he'd managed to communicate with it, didn't mean it was friendly. Alma quickly made his way over to Lin and Jerrik, standing in front of them protectively while his optic sensors searched through the trees for whatever he had interfaced with. It blended in well with it's surroundings, but eventually, with the aid of his optic sensor's infrared settings, he spotted the alien creature several yards away, peeking out from behind a tree with faceless features.


>>>>>
location: alien planet tab | tab with: Dinah, Zarina, Roman > Linnea, Jerrik tab | tab ooc: The link is to images of what the aliens sort of resemble. It's not exactly what they look like and there is a lot of room for variation, but it kind of gives you a general idea at least. Also, I apologize again for the novel.

[Xelyn Craft]

"You belong to me." Despite the years that had passed since he had heard that voice in person, it still sounded clear and perfectly familiar in his dreams, sending a chill down his spine and causing panic to bubble up from his throat with a forceful "No" escaping his lips. The sensation of his own vocal cords involuntarily mirroring his imagined struggle caused Garick to stir from his dream, his eyes blinking open a few times groggily. It was just a dream. Just another ******** nightmare.

Tired teal eyes stared up at the ceiling blankly for a few moments as Garick replayed the memory of his dream over in his mind, wondering why the hell he was still reliving his childhood traumas every night when he was now a full grown adult that shouldn't be afraid of the boogeyman anymore. Even if the monster he knew didn't hide under the bed, but in the bed with him, he had slain that beast a long time ago. And yet, even in his grave Garick's father still held power over him, visiting him in the night and trespassing into his own mind to torment him where he couldn't run away or fight back. "Fecking shite." Garick dragged his hand across his face, pushing the thoughts out of his head. He didn't need to indulge them anymore, it wouldn't get him anywhere but crawling into a dark tinted bottle before the day had even really begun. He couldn't do that today, he actually had a job waiting for him on this particular morning.

Riley had informed him that a smuggling job from Roman had been pushed their way. It wasn't anything fancy that the jackass needed, but it was stuff that wasn't readily available within the safe zone. They'd have to trek outside to see if they could scavenge the supplies from nearby abandoned residencies in the rural areas of the woods. That meant gas masks and more danger risk from infected and possibly survivors that were hanging out there on their own. Not fun, but nothing Garick couldn't handle with a couple people there so they could all watch each other's backs. Of course, since Riley had been the one to bring the job to Garick, he was coming along. Besides that, Garick had invited Embry along. The kid was good with a gun, which had surprised him the first time Embry demonstrated for Garick, but he trusted him to tag along and help out. They'd done a few runs together and worked well as a team.

Finally forcing himself out of bed, Garick took maybe an hour to get ready for the day and throw everything together that he'd need to get the job done. The other two already knew the drill of bringing their own s**t and meeting him at the designated rendezvous, so he didn't have to worry about anything as he made his way there himself. It was a hidden exit from the safe zone on the border of District 4, placed conveniently in an alley that was difficult for the guards to really add to their patrol because of how out of the way it was. They passed by it rarely so as long as Garick, Riley and Embry were cautious, they could slip out without raising any alarms. Not that most of the military would give them much trouble anymore anyways. Garick was known for sneaking out under their orders as well, not just Roman's or other questionable employer's demands. They usually didn't question it anymore, but Garick still preferred not to raise any suspicions and just kept a low profile.

When they met at the checkpoint, little words were exchanged before they donned their gasmasks and left the safety of the city. Not that it was truly safe there either, just more predictably dangerous. But now they were in the wilderness and anything could happen now. That knowledge might have been part of why they all seemed to be on edge so much, or perhaps it was something else that kept the party quiet as they made their way through the woods. The silence hung heavy in the air just like the fog in the trees around them. Riley seemed particularly distracted, or maybe it was just his short legs that made him lag behind. Garick had plenty of experience dragging him around because he couldn't keep up back before they had made their way to the safe zone. The whiny little p***k had threatened him plenty of times to slow down back then, and sure enough, Riley finally piped up now to ask Garick and Embry to slow down for him.

Normally Garick would have retorted with a smartass remark but the cutoff in Riley's voice had Garick turning around to look at him with some concern. He raised an eyebrow while following the other male's gaze into the forest around them. "Hold on," Garick said slowly, holding a hand out to Embry to get him to stop as well, though the younger male had seemingly gone off ahead of them enough that their group wasn't as tight as Garick would have liked it to be. Especially with what was coming.

It could have been a false alarm, that was what Riley seemed to think. Garick watched as he lowered his crossbow but didn't agree with him. Something was off, the ginger haired man could feel it as he reached for his survival knife, clicking open the latch on the sheath that kept it in place. The fog was too thick for Garick to see far, but he kept staring out into it, even when Riley lowered his guard and started moving towards him again. An unmistakable clicking sound was heard and both of them sprung into action, Riley turning around to fire his crossbow at a clicker that had lunged out of the fog at him while Garick did the exact same, turning the opposite direction as another clicked and leapt down at him from a fallen tree suspended a few feet above the path.

Garick could hear shouts from Riley but was too busy with his own struggle to help him, the clicker that had come at him now trying to claw its way on top of him. Fungus encrusted jaws snapped at him, trying to bite into his flesh but Garick quickly pulled the knife out of it's sheath and thrust it up through the things mouth and into it's brain in one swift motion, twisting for good measure as it's body fell limp. Before he could push it off of him, another clicker had jumped on top, forming a pile. "Crivens!" Garick kicked the corpse of the first creature into the the other, causing it to stumble back off of him so he could get back on his feet once more. As he did so, he noticed the clicking sounds growing louder and more shapes moving from the mist. "How many of these bastards are there?" He quickly shoved the knife into the second clicker's head as it launched itself at him again, letting it's own momentum impale it's skull against the blade before letting it drop to the ground with a sick thud.

If they were going to stand a chance against this many of these ******** they needed to get closer together. Garick quickly spotted Riley and ran over to him, nearly getting himself shot by the other male's crossbow in the process. An agitated growl left Garick's throat as he shoved the crossbow bolt out of his face. "Pardon me, I was a bit busy trying not to die. You're alright so quit bitching if you want to stay that way. Where is Embry? We need to form a tight circle if we are going to make it out of this." He was still bewildered at just how many of these things there were in a forest of all places. Something was really off about this whole thing. Where did they come from? It was like they had ambushed them. They weren't that smart after they became infected, were they? And where the mammy fecking hell was Embry? Garick wheeled around desperately looking for the younger male, unable to spot him through the mist and trees. Gods, he hoped the kid hadn't gotten himself killed already. Garick would never forgive himself.


>>>>>
location: Forest x | x with: Riley & Embryx |x feeling: Alert & concerned

[Xelyn Craft]

Growing up, New Year's Eve had meant dressing in nice clothing for corporate parties hosted by his father's company and being shown off like a prized show dog in front of all the coworkers and associates that acted as the judges, inspecting and admiring how perfectly prim and proper a child could be groomed and molded into. Alma had spent many annual parties holding hands with his sister in her gold and black dress with puffy sleeves and lots of ruffles while he wore a suit far too tailored for a young boy his age and a corresponding gold tie. The siblings had looked like a matching set of New Year's Eve themed collectables, every year, dressing up and putting on a show of good manners and quaint, mild personalities that were sure to please the adults cooing over what perfect angels they were. Every year, their father would puff his chest out and beam at the compliments they got for being such a perfect picturesque family. Every year, Dr. Chen would force a polite smile in front of the onlookers while shooting her children warning glances to behave, not a hair out of place or a toe out of line, while they celebrated in front of their esteemed colleagues.

Alma had hated every moment, and Arda had too. Often they would sneak out of bed later that night after they were supposed to be asleep, just to go to each other and complain of the creepy ogling adults and laugh together about how ridiculous the dress code and etiquette was at the party earlier that night. The siblings found solace and refuge in each other when the rest of the world expected them to be priceless objects to be admired, but not loved, instead of the living, breathing, feeling people they really were.

This year, Alma didn't have his sister though. He didn't really have anyone. It was by his own choice, so he had no one but himself to blame. After all, going to school far away from home was the goal, to get away from his overbearing mother and the constant reminder in every piece of expensive furniture, every pristine countertop, every crystal doorknob their house held of the man who had traumatized him. The goal was to get away from every torturous memory of his childhood and start fresh and clean.

Getting away was easy enough to accomplish, but whether he'd managed to wash away those reminders was questionable at best. Some days were better than others. Tonight was an 'other' night.

Alma had chosen not to go home for the holidays, so his boss had asked him to come in to work New Year's Eve and wait tables at the unreasonably priced, snobbish restaurant he was employed at. Numbly, Alma had accepted the hours, having nothing better to do with his last night of the year, and donned his uniform before driving in to work and clocking in. He adjusted his tie and straightened his vest, making sure the white collar of his shirt was smooth before tying an apron around his waist and dissociating into the mechanical state of mind it took to work such a mind numbing job. The work was entirely unfulfilling and soul sucking, and he didn't really need the money, but he wanted to prove to Dr. Chen that he could take care of himself without her constantly hovering over him like the helicopter parent she was.

It helped him to imagine himself as an android, like from some of his favorite sci-fi films and books. An unfeeling robot that just did as it was told without feeling offense or distaste when customers patronized him or his boss barked sharp orders at him. After all, as silly and childish as it might be, pretending was a coping mechanism. Escapism, his therapist had called it. He'd taken a psychology class that went into the details of exactly how it helped, and that made him feel less childish about it. So long as he imagined himself as an android, he could make it through another night of dealing with people that couldn't care less if he dropped dead so long as he brought them their thousand dollar, bite sized steak first. Sometimes he even fantasized about being one of those robots that eventually broke their code and killed everyone on the space ship for ever treating it like a lesser being just because it wasn't 'normal' and human like them.

A small smirk flitted across Alma's normally stoic features for just a moment as his mind dwelt on this thought. "And just what are you looking so smug about?" a woman who he had just finished writing down the order of in his little notebook snapped at him. Alma blinked at her with a completely blank expression on his face, all traces of his smile vanished.

"Pardon, ma'am?" His voice was polite, but monotonous and detached.

He was met with a sneer from the woman as - presumably - her husband rolled his eyes. "Let the boy do his work, Ellen. God forbid our waiter crack a smile while on the clock."

She stuck her nose up in the air and scoffed, but didn't accuse Alma of being too cheerful any further before sending him on his way. "Just take our order to the chef, and be snappy about it," she snapped her fingers for emphasis and Alma resisted the urge to sneer right back at her. Instead he nodded his head, ever so slightly, and ripped the page out of his notebook to take back to the kitchen before turning on his heel and walking away.

Four more hours of the same treatment passed and by the end of it, this sad little robot boy felt like crawling into a scrapyard and breaking down. But robot's didn't cry. Alma wouldn't cry, he refused. He hated crying. His human body betrayed him with tears far more often than he liked, and he refused to give in to the urge now.

It was just another night. Another lonely New Year's Eve without anyone giving a damn about him or how he felt. If he was going to be alone, he could at least be up in the endless vacuum of space among the stars that wouldn't judge him or demand anything of him. Where he could stare at their beauty in awe and wonder without the crushing weight of gravity pulling him down and tethering him to this cruel planet with all it's cruel people on it. How he longed to be free like a star among the cosmos.

But instead he was stuck down here, not even able to look up at the sky full of worlds unknown through the concrete of the parking garage outside of work. He shrugged his coat around his shoulders, taking silent steps towards his car on the B level subbasement of the garage. His keys jangled as he pulled them out of his pocket, but the sound quickly quieted as an eerie feeling overcame Alma.

He didn't know what brought it on, the sickeningly familiar feeling of being watched by lingering eyes washing over him like a childhood memory that left unseen scars in his brain. Neurons fired across the synapses of those scars like jolts of electricity, filling him with adrenaline in a fight or flight response.

Funny thing about Alma's fight or flight response, though, was that it tended to misfire, and instead he froze in fear. Anxiety overtook him, all because of the eerie feeling of being watched. He couldn't bring himself to turn around, the mental image of his father standing there etched in his mind and halting all movement. Which gave ample opportunity for his attackers to close in on him and drug him before he even had time to pull himself out of his fear induced trance.

When Alma's consciousness returned, it came in waves. A wave of unfamiliar voices crashed closer and then ebbed away into silence again. Another wave of bright light and blurry figures slipped nearer before falling away into a black void once more. A smell like freshly butchered meat, thick with metallic accents, washed over Alma in a particularly strong wave as his senses struggled to hold onto something. Finally, he was able to pull himself out of the foggy lake of his drugged haze long enough to open his eyes.

Stark white walls, illuminated by an artificial light source, surrounded him on all sides. Or, Alma assumed it was all sides. It was difficult to tell. He tried to swivel his head around to see his surroundings, but instead, his head merely flopped to the side, his neck unable to support the weight of his cranium through the effects of whatever he'd been drugged with.

His arms and legs, too, were immobile. He tried to open his mouth, to call for help, but nothing more than a pitiful groan escaped his lips as he slid further to the side in his chair. He felt paralyzed, unable to do anything as he slowly slid further and further to the left before falling out of his chair completely and smooshing his face against the cool, white tiled floor. The smell of iron was cut with the same sterile scent he'd remembered from the hospital after-

He'd been abducted. Again.

Panic flooded his senses, giving him a burst of adrenaline that overwhelmed whatever drug was trying to work its way out of his system. A sharp breath was drawn in through his throat, scraping the back of his throat as he made a sound like a drowning man. Then, with quite a bit of willpower and force, he wretched himself up off the ground, pulling his weight up to rest on his right hip and his sweaty palms. He felt like s**t, but he was finally moving.

Alma's head whipped around fast enough to make him feel nauseous. Or perhaps that was the lingering effects of the drug he'd been put under with. But that nausea only increased when he saw what had been hiding just out of sight behind the chair he'd been precariously propped up in moments before falling out of it.

A body - no, at least two, if not three or four, judging by the amount of blood seeping from within - were swallowed up by the wall. Half of what used to be a human being, but was now just a gory torso with a face caked in crimson and contorted into sheer terror stared back at him while the rest of it was somehow crushed within the wall. Another arm hung out of the same space above the half a dead body. Someone else's arm, by the angle of it. The longer Alma stared in horror and morbid curiosity, the clearer it became that the bodies were not, in fact, swallowed into the wall, but had been crushed by two opposing walls that came together at what must have been quite a rapid speed, judging by the splatter marks of scarlet along the seam.

Alma swallowed down the urge to regurgitate his last meal, breathing slowly and deeply through his nose and trying to ignore the smell of gore. He'd never seen anything quite like it before. His arms felt weak beneath him. Another wave of nausea threatened to take over him and he felt that awful combination of cold chills and uncomfortable, sweaty, heat roll down his spine like a thick liquid.

"Shock... I'm going into shock..." he mumbled to himself weakly. "Deep breaths. Lay down. Grounding techniques." Alma followed his own advice, making sure to breathe even and calm, laying down on the cool tile of the strange place he found himself in, and reached for his tie, loosening it from around his neck enough to make it easier to breathe and rubbing at the silky, black fabric in an attempt to keep himself from spiraling.

What was this place? Who's bodies were those? How had they managed to die like that? How did he get here? That last question he at least had some sort of inkling of an answer to. He knew he'd been drugged. He recalled the memory of the parking garage. Feeling like he was being watched. Freezing up. He could beat himself for that, but guilt and regret would get him nowhere. Someone had taken him, the blame was on them more than it was himself. But who?

The sickening smirk of his father replayed in his memory like a VHS tape and Alma felt his breath speeding up and growing more ragged. No. No, it couldn't have been him. He was in prison. Besides, that didn't explain these bodies lodged in the wall and how they'd gotten there to meet their unfortunate demise. He didn't recognize the face he could see at all. Staring at it was not recalling any memory and only served to disturb him. He turned away, closing his eyelids and dragging the tip of his tie over them gently, still trying to ground himself.

He probably looked ridiculous, lying there on the floor, shaking like a leaf, clinging to a strip of fancy fabric like it was his lifeline, and struggling to keep his breath from hitching in his throat and his lunch from jumping out of his stomach.


>>>>>
wearing: outfit tab | tab with: corpses tab | tab ooc: keep in mind I wrote this between midnight and 2am so forgive any mistakes

[Xelyn Craft]

Gayle had to work that night, so Arda and her brother were left to their own devices for Halloween night. They used to go trick-or-treating together as kids, at least, whenever their parents would allow them to. When they got older, they spent Halloween at home, handing out candy to children that came knocking on their door. But this Halloween was different. Arda had made important plans with Hawk to go searching the forest for any signs of proof about what happened to his brother, Kenny. She knew something other-worldly was going on when Kenny had disappeared, and so did Hawk. When Kenny had returned with stories of strange creatures and another world, it had only confirmed their suspicions, despite him trying to dismiss his earlier claims now. Arda knew it was just because he was afraid everyone would think him crazy. But she didn't think he was crazy, and she wanted to know the truth.

So, when Hawk had asked her to search the forest with him on Halloween night, she had agreed. Despite the fact that Alma had said it was fine and he'd just go to Magnus' party, Arda knew it had upset Alma to be left alone when normally they would spend holidays like this together. He might be able to fool someone else, but her? No, she knew he was lonely and relied on his sister as one of his few close friends. She could read him quite easily.

That's why, even as Hawk pulled up in their long driveway, Arda couldn't help but go upstairs and knock on her brother's door before going out to meet her friend. "Hawk is here to pick me up. Will you be alright while I'm gone?" she asked through the door softly.

There was a beat of silence before Alma called back to her. "I'll be alright." The door to his bedroom opened and he appeared there to look at her. "Just be careful. I do not want you getting lost in the woods at night. Especially with him putting all those frightening ideas in your head about impossible creatures lurking in the dark."

"They don't scare me," Arda replied. "But I promise I will stay alert and aware of my surroundings. Hawk will also be there to protect me if anything happens."

That last thought didn't seem to comfort her older brother like it did her, but he relented. "Just be safe."

"I will be, don't worry. Have fun at your party and tell Chris and Magnus hello from me," Arda said with a smile before hugging her brother and heading back down stairs. Picking up the picnic basket that functioned as an accessory to her Dorothy costume, she made sure the toy scotty dog, flashlight, and small first aid kit were all there before clicking her sparkly red shoes across the tile of the house until she reached the front door and pulled it open to go out and meet Hawk. Climbing into his car, she smoothed out her blue and white checkered dress before buckling up.

At Hawks reminder to keep their trip a secret from Kenny, Arda nodded her head in understanding. "Maybe if the party is still going when we are done, we should stop by. Then it wouldn't technically be a lie that we were there." Arda didn't like lying, but she understood the necessity of it in certain situations.

After Hawk handed her the map, they set off driving to the woods. Despite the fact that Arda's house was fairly close to the woods, it would take a few minutes by car to get to the area where Kenny was found. She navigated them to a road that was close by until they pulled over to the shoulder and parked the vehicle. When Hawk asked about her flashlight, she responded by pulling it out of her basket and clicking it on with a determined smile."I came prepared," she said, getting out of the car and carrying her picnic basket with her.

The two of them left the car and headed into the dark woods, Arda using her flashlight to find the route they needed to take on the map while Hawk lit up the actual path ahead of them. Eventually they reached the approximate location in the forest where Kenny was found. Hawk turned on his little device that was supposed to detect supernatural things. Arda knew there was a name for it, but she had already forgotten what it was.

For a while there was nothing, but they kept searching, covering as much ground as they could. While Hawk waited for the device he held to pick up on something, Arda shined her torch all around, looking for any physical clues they could actually see. However, when Hawk stepped on a stick, Arda glanced over to see that they weren't alone. There was another boy (who actually looked a little older than her, maybe Alma's age, but that didn't matter much to Arda) there with them in the woods.

He looked scared, even when he answered Hawk's question about him being lost with a nod of his head. Hawk also asked for the boy's name, but he seemed quite afraid of them. Arda decided to join in on trying to reassure the poor thing. Stepping beside Hawk, she gave the other boy a concerned, almost motherly look. "My name is Arda, and this is my friend Hawk. I know he is very tall, but you don't have to be scared. His big size just makes it easier for him to protect us. We can help you if you are lost. I have a map here." She shined her light on the partially folded paper map in her other hand before showing the boy a soft smile.

"Don't worry, we only want to help. Could you please tell us your name?" She shined her light up and down him, taking in his appearance. "And maybe how you got lost out in the middle of the woods at night with no shoes?" He wasn't exactly dressed for the chilly weather and rough terrain. Though, Arda supposed her and Hawk's costumes weren't quite ideal clothing for the woods on a night that was threatening to become stormy either.


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location: home > woods tab | tab with: alma > hawk & thirteen tab | tab ooc: n/a

[Xelyn Craft]

Making his way through the crowd, Errol headed towards the stage to watch the performers for a bit, hoping that might alleviate his boredom, or at least bring him to someone that could entertain him better. Not that he didn't like the band he'd hired for the party tonight. He found their performance positively splendid. He just needed more.

Always more, never enough. He needed a connection, something real to make him feel less hollow inside. But that seemed impossible at this point. He truly wondered if he was even capable of making a genuine connection with another person. It was always so fake and forced. Even with his girlfriend, Circe, he had to force feelings for her. He liked her well enough, but he wasn't sure he really loved her. Not like people are supposed to love each other.

If he did love her, it was more like a child loves their favorite toy than like someone genuinely caring for another human being. He tried so hard, but he didn't really know how to love like that. It was all about what he could get from her emotionally, not what he wanted to give in return. He did give, but it was only to get the reaction he wanted, not because he actually cared about her emotional well-being.

Errol was like that with everyone. It was all just a game of manipulation to get what he wanted. But in the end he didn't get what he really wanted. He was still left feeling disconnected from everyone and everything, completely alone with himself even surrounded by people that adored him.

The more he thought about it, the less he was enjoying this party. It was just another distraction to keep him from acknowledging his own monstrosity. Luckily, that's the moment a better distraction came to steal him away from the thoughts that were slowly starting to send him spiraling.

It seemed Circe had arrived, bringing her sister and a friend he'd never met along with. Good. He already liked Thalia, and Errol always enjoyed meeting new people. Upon seeing them, instantly a smile lit up Errol's face. "You made it!" Holding out his arms to receive Circe as she embraced him, Errol was quick to wrap them around her and return the kiss she gave him. If he couldn't make the emotional connection quite right, he at least could have a physical connection, and couldn't get enough of that affection. He didn't let go of her even as she broke the kiss and apologized for being late.

The excuse as to why they were so late had Errol taking a closer look at Thalia to see what Circe meant. Once he actually had a good look at her he was... shocked. He'd never seen her in a dress so revealing before. She usually wore pretty modest clothing. It was still cute, alluding to innocence with the white and floral pattern fabric. But the cut was... he felt a bit awkward thinking this about his girlfriend's little sister, but- it was sexy as hell.

And then he noticed the one thing that always made him weak: the petite choker around her slender neck.

It took him a moment to take her appearance all in, but he raised his eyebrows and smiled at her in what he hoped was a friendly way, that would disguise the direction his mind went seeing her like that. "Well, it was worth the wait. You look great, Thalia. I've never seen you dressed like that before. I'm glad you came." He quickly turned his gaze back to Circe, not wanting to stare and make Thalia uncomfortable.

His girlfriend went on to introduce her friend, who Errol looked back at and reached around Circe, still holding her in the hug, to shake Seong-Min's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm so glad you all came! You three all look gorgeous, you're going to make everyone else here jealous," he flattered, throwing Circe a quick wink before giving her another short kiss.

"What do you think of the entertainment? They're a local band called Sugarsweet, but they're already getting quite popular here in Pacific City. I thought I'd support them and give them even more publicity by hiring them on here tonight. I'm quite pleased with them personally." Errol glanced over to watch them sing and dance for a moment before looking back. "If you'd like I ca-"

Errol never got to finish his thought, as at that exact moment, an extremely loud explosion sounded from dangerously close by. The whole warehouse shook with the force of it, and the sound even drowned out the loud music, which quickly came to a stop as many people screamed. Then it fell silent. Everyone was wondering what had happened, quietly whispering to each other about what could have caused the explosion and where it came from. There was more noise coming from outside as those still waiting to get in to the party had actually seen what had happened and were screaming outside.

"I'm going to go see what's going on. You three stay here," Errol commanded before letting go of Circe and quickly making his way outside the warehouse. There were a lot of panicked people, all pointing in the same direction and holding phones out to record. Errol pushed past them to get a better look, and then he saw it.

The bridge, visible from the warehouse because it was by the docks, had been blown up with heavy explosives. Enough to demolish it completely as it fell into the water below. That definitely wasn't an accident, someone had caused this.

Then the sound of an explosion further away sounded, along with more screams, and Errol could see another bridge light up before crumbling. Then another, and then all four went down, and then another explosion closer to the warehouse made the ground shake and caused an uproar of panic from the crowd as the ferry at the other end of the docks exploded.

Now there wasn't a doubt in Errol's mind that this was planned. Someone, or several someones, had effectively trapped everyone in Pacific City, leaving no means of escape back to the mainland. This was deliberate. But to what end? And who?

"Well, look what I found. The wretch and his pet. It must be my lucky day." Errol recognized the voice calling out above the crowd immediately and wheeled around to see Nattaleah holding Thalia hostage, a dagger to her throat. He thought he told her to stay inside where it would be safer.


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location: warehouse party tab | tab with: circe, thalia, seong-min, nattaleah tab | tab ooc: n/a