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 Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 11:42 am
Quote: Recent rainfall has kept temperatures cool but one of the parks can’t handle all the water draining into it. The water has turned it into a strange swamp and, in addition to the terrible smell, people have claimed to see strange floating lights—or, weirder—a strange, hulking figure that seems right at place in the swamp. Some have described it as being seven feet tall, covered in moss and weeds and mud and who knows what else; while no one has been able to confirm this, if you venture too close you might wind up observing something strange, yourself. The park no longer feels safe and if you wander too close you may feel hateful eyes upon you. You may even wind up chased out by a monstrous swamp monster, but if you try to approach him or interact otherwise, he seems to disappear. It’s probably best just to stay away from the park until the water dries up, just in case.
Penelope Rey was on her way from Romano's to the Destiny City University campus after her short assistant librarian shift had ended. It wasn't exactly practical to walk from one school to the other, but it was practical for her to go from her house to the university's campus and that was exactly what she was doing.
Or had intended to do, at least.
There was a park that she often crossed through to get to her classes when she felt like walking instead of attempting to deal with parking and all that nonsense only...said park had been flooded. Which left her in a predicament as going around the park would cost her an extra thirty minutes that she didn't have. Backtracking and driving wasn't exactly feasible either, she'd be late regardless.
She had paused before the park made swamp to pull out her phone and text one of her classmates asking them to get notes for her and update her about any projects or homework as she wouldn't be making it into class. The blonde was annoyed, but willing to work around it.
The smell of the swamp began to permeate her nose and she looked up, wrinkling it. Before her she spotted soft lights that appeared to float above the bog and despite the stench, she stepped forward.
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Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 9:48 pm
Katie had places she needed to be.
Of course, Katie always had places she needed to be. If it wasn't a full load of coursework, it was practice, and if it wasn't practice, it was taking her cousins to and from school, and if it wasn't that, it was generating content for her blog. Katie's life was hectic by design--it burned off all the energy in her limbs and tuckered out the whirlwind in her brain, because if she had anything left at the end of the day, then it transformed into restlessness after dark, whispering at things she couldn't stomach.
Today's fight against dread had her jogging through the park, headphones in and her mind wandering, an hour to kill before practice. She didn't make much of the fact that the ground started to squish under her running shoes; it had rained pretty heavily the past few days, and she wasn't afraid of a little mud. More concerning was the way the trees seemed to fold over one another into a canopy denser than Katie remembered, the smell of bog fart, and a soft glow just out of reach between the brambles. Further down the path, there was the silhouette of a woman, stepping forward into the gentle light, paying no mind to the mud on her much nicer shoes. Something about the scene tugged at Katie's senses, screaming danger, that none of this was safe.
"Hey, wait," she called out, tearing her earbuds out so she could listen for something a little more concretely dangerous than a gut feeling while she jogged to close the distance. "There's, like, probably sewer alligators or whatever in there."
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Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 9:33 am
Ahead of her Penelope could see some sort of figure but she was distracted by the lights that she wanted to catch in her hands and maybe stick them in a jar for later. Beneath her boots the grounds was squishy, the squelch echoing in her ears but she kept moving forward.
Even she felt the angry, hateful gaze of someone on her. Blue eyes shifted, intending to look around when a girl was calling out to her. Seemingly startled Penelope half turned, feet sticking in place, and spotted the freckle-skinned ginger. Pale brows crinkled in confusion before she was looking back at the swampy area, her lights having faded and something more...ominous appearing out on the distance.
A chill ran down her spine when she thought she made eye contact, but when she looked away the figure appeared to disappear.
"Huh?" Blue eyes blinked and she attempted to move only to find herself stuck.
"Oh, well it looks like..." Penelope frowned, pushing blonde locks out of her face and tucking them behind her ears. "I think I might be stuck." If she tried hard enough she knew she would be able to pull free but she was curious about this girl who sought to caution her. With wide baby blues, she deflated slightly. "Do you think you could help me?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 9:50 am
Something was staring at them from beyond the treeline, that much was certain. Even though Katie couldn't quite make out figures in the long shadows of the tree trunks, she felt the evil of a sentient gaze like ice down her back, and it made her a little too eager in her jog for the other girl, who seemed so sweet and small and in need of help.
"Yeah, I'll be right there," Katie nodded, taking no heed of the softness of the ground as she waded her way out to the other girl. "This whole park is crazy, you'd think they would have just roped this area off if it was going to be this bad--" Accompanied by a wet splorch, one of Katie's feet sunk into a particularly wet patch of sod, and she couldn't help but make a retching face as the cold water rushed over her ankles and soaked her socks.
"Oh god, this is the worst feeling in the world, I'm pretty sure I'm actually dying," she shivered, tearing her feet free of the muck only to wade in it further, reaching the pretty blonde. "Okay, umm, game plan, so if you can hold on I can just lift you up, and we'll just piggy back out, easy peasy. I'm a little sweaty, but it's better than the mud, and there's sidewalk over there." Arms open, she nevertheless jumped when she heard something rustle in the treeline, her head tilted past the woman to a vague shape that didn't look exceptionally tree-like and more humanoid and moving, which Katie was pretty sure was bad.
"Because, uhh, yeah, we probably don't want to hang out here," she shook her head, vibrant pink eyes alert for the edges of the bog. "The spooks are too real."
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Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 2:02 pm
Penelope watched with interest as the girl made her way over without a second thought. Quick to help, she noted, taking care to keep the smile off of her face as she came closer. "Oh, I know. I feel a bit silly," she said with a sigh. One delicate hand was placed over her chest and she looked like she felt embarrassed, rosy color coming to tinge her cheeks. "I got distracted by the glowing lights," she glanced behind her then back to her companion with an apologetic smile.
"They're gone now, but I promise they were there." She didn't think her rescuer would question her, but she put it out there just in case.
She had to cover her mouth with her hand when Katie exclaimed as water seeped into her socks. "Oh no! Um, I can get you new socks if you get me out of this?" Not that it seemed like a necessary offer because freckles was still treking over to her.
"You're my hero," she said. When the girl was close enough, she complied with the game plan, wrapping arms around her shoulders and allowing her to pick her up.
"You're so strong!" She sounded like she might swoon. "I'm buying you coffee, or whatever you prefer, for this. No if ands or buts about it!"
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Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 6:44 am
"I mean, I've got socks at home," Katie shrugged, curling the other woman into a lift with practiced care. She wiggled her shoulders a little until Penelope was securely onboard, then began to slog her way back through the mud and the grime for higher ground.
"Oh my god, coffee with a pretty girl? Spoil me, why don't you?" Katie grinned, keeping her eyes on the sidewalk so she wouldn't have to think about the thing in the treeline. Still, she heard the crunch of snapping twigs and put a little extra pep in her step, her breathing only slightly ragged when she crossed the finish line to concrete.
"Alright, last stop on the Catigern Express, please collect all items from the overhead bins and remember that they may have moved around during your trip," Katie said in her best Transatlantic accent, crouching down so Penelope's feet could touch solid ground. "Everything make it out okay?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2018 9:48 am
Comfortable in Katie's arms, she leaned close and placed her lips near the girl's ear when she talked. "Least I can do for my hero," she murmured in a low, sultry voice.
Reluctantly she allowed herself to be set down, making sure her hand slid along the back of the redhead's neck and across her shoulder before she was smoothing out her clothing and checking for all her things. "Looks like everything made it in one piece," she answered with a soft smile.
Shifting from foot to foot Penelope tucked loose wisp of blonde behind her ears before she extended her hand out for the girl to take. "Come on, I promised you coffee."
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2018 9:40 pm
Katie might have shivered when Penelope whispered in her ear, and she definitely shivered from the sensation of fingers on her neck. While the other girl checked for her belongings, Katie did her best to casually check her, looking for signs that she might, well, y'know...be into girls who liked plaid.
"Sounds good," Katie purred, taking the other girl's hand with a wink. She could play this game. She could totally play this game.
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