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Home?

Junko groaned and sat up, rubbing at her head and wincing. Home? No..that wasn't right. She knew she wasn't home. She had been at the Haunted House, right? Yeah. She had. She'd been there with...with..oh! Right! She'd been there with Seiji! And Freya! Where were they? Wait..the last time she'd seen them had been before she'd dissipated.

...And then she'd..

But now there were no voices. She opened her eyes and looked down at herself, and everything was in color again..though she was missing her shoes. Where were the--oh, right. She'd thrown them at Amphi..

She looked up, checking the area around her. Everywhere she looked all she saw was dense fog, it didn't matter what direction she was looking in. She saw nothing. Aside from The Mistress..she was completely alone. As she should be, right? She..she should be alone. It was what she deserved.

She'd hurt people..she'd let herself become that way...

Junko whimpered and stood. "Hello?" She called out, not even hearing an echo back of her own voice.

She was completely alone.

Taking one step, Junko cried out with surprise and pain and stumbled back. She lifted her foot, clutching it tightly and hopping on her other foot. Ow! Owowowow! Owwww! What was this?! Oh, Jack! Glass! What had she just..ow...owwwww! It took a minute to pick all the glass out of the bottom of her foot, frowning and taking more careful steps now.

It was while she was walking she noticed the light, stopping to stare at it. It..it was cold. Like home. Maybe it was the way out? She took a step toward it and noticed another light, a warmer one now. Oh that was a comfort..but either way could be a way out. She frowned. Which way, which way..

The warmth was too warm. Junko didn't want to continue further into the house, and that was what the warm light meant, right? The cold obviously had to be outside. It had to be the way back to Halloween. Home. She wanted out of here, she wanted to go where it was safe...and the cold felt safe.

Junko headed toward the cold light.

This was not the way home.

Junko shrieked as she was attacked, raising her arms to try and brace herself against the hit. No! No! She turned, running back in whatever direction got her away from the Hunters going after her. She ran, and ran, and ran. At least there was no more glass to tear up her feet. Where was Seiji? And Freya? Were they okay? Lizzy? She hadn't seen Lizzy at the cleanup that had started all this. Was she okay? She hoped her friend was at home and not somewhere in here, trapped like her.

Finally she couldn't run any longer. Junko's entire body was shaking, her shoulders shuddering with the cries she was trying desperately to hold in..and failing. Even with The Mistress she felt so alone. She just...she just wanted to go home, curl up in bed with some minipets, and forget all of this ever happened. She wanted to find her friends. She wanted...she wanted to go home.

The first laugh didn't reach her ears, nor did the second giggle or the music that followed it. Eventually the sounds did occur to her, but even then she couldn't believe they were true. They were made up by her imagination, by her desperate desire for all of this to just end. Finally she looked up just as the fog had shifted itself to appear as a festival. No, no. This was all wrong. All wrong! Where were the colors? The lights? The music sounded off. The noises sounded off. Where were the people? Students? Trick or Treaters? Horsemen? None of them were around. She saw no one.

Slowly rising to her feet, Junko's hair wrapped itself protectively around her. She took a few steps through the 'festival', sniffing and wiping her face clean of tears. None of this was right...what was this place? It couldn't be real. No way.

Suddenly she tripped. Wait, did she trip? Really? That seemed so unlike Junko. She never tripped barefoot; her hair wasn't in her way, her shoes weren't causing any sort of unbalance seeing how they were with someone else, and the ground had seemed flat and even..right?

What are you fighting for?

What?

Junko 'landed' on one knee, scrambling quickly to stand upright as she gazed upon the figure before her. She looked left, right, behind her. No one else was here. "Who...who are you?" The figure said nothing in regards to her question, simply raising..something. Junko gasped, making a move to back away until she suddenly found herself stuck. What?! No! No, she had to get out of here! She had to leave! "What have you done to me?! Let me go! I don't want to hurt anyone! I'll leave, I promise! I won't come back!"

"Is it power? Is it for them?" The figure was ignoring her. Who were they? A Hunter? What did they want?! Glowing green eyes darted to the other shadowy figures and then back to the main one, whimpering and desperately trying to move back. She couldn't get away.

"Would you tear away those who are seeking another path, force them into a life they do not wish to be in? I am not an unreasonable person. All I ask for is an exchange, and return of the things you have taken from me. You make your own choices; the choice is always yours to make."

Junko whimpered again. "What are you talking about?" Come on, body! Move! No limbs, no fingers, not even a single strand of hair would budge so much as an inch. Her eyes darted to the other figures again. Perhaps they could help her! But what she saw made her heart stop.

"RILEY!" She cried out with relieved joy, tears building up in the corners of her eyes. "I'm so glad you're...here..?" Riley made no move to help her. She just stood there, her eyes narrowed and glaring at her. "Riley, what..Seiji?" There he was beside Riley. She knew that look. It wasn't one she saw often but she knew what an irritated Seiji looked like, and this time the look was directed at her. Was he angry at her? But why!? Was it...was it because she died? Twice? Had he found out what had happened to her after she reformed? How she'd hurt people?

He was finally tired of her...finally done..

Lizzy...Lizzy wouldn't look at her. "L-Lizzy...Lizzy please.." She sobbed, desperately willing her body to move, damnit! Lizzy backed away, her eyes darting all around and looking anywhere but Junko. Unlike the others she didn't look annoyed or angry. She looked scared. "Lizzy, please! Please help me! Why won't any of you...help me.."

No! It was a lie! Lies, lies! They're all lies! Siddie, Sammy, Shehk, Invictus, Christof...lies! All of them! None of this was real! It couldn't be! There was no way! But it still hurt to see things like this. Junko still wanted to crumple up until a ball and cry, to beg for it all to just go away. Go away, please. Please...

"Why are you doing this to me.." She finally whispered, biting down on her lip and trying to stifle another sob. "I didn't..what did I take from you?"

"You know very well what was taken. I would like it back."

"What do you mean?"

"You have taken something from me. I would like it returned."

Now she was getting angry. "I didn't DO anything! I haven't taken anything! I haven't touched ANYTHING!" She shouted at the figure, nearly snarling when they smiled. What was their game. She didn't do anything!

She...she never did anything...

No. She couldn't let that happen this time. She was innocent, she intended on staying that way.

"You have the wrong ghoul!" Her friends. Her friends. Leave them alone. This couldn't be real. They. Weren't. Real. "I didn't take anything from you!"

((Choice: Insist that you never stole anything.))

How did she get here?

Junko squeaked and pressed down on the body she was applying pressure to, her hair swirling and writhing around her as a sign of her fear and anxiety of the situation. She had no memory of what happened, who this was, how they came to be this way or how she even got here, but she did know what blood felt like. This time it was hard to tell if this was an illusion created by the house or not, unlike the last time where everything had been blatantly fake.

She heard a cough, a slight gargle to the sound along with a gasp for air. They couldn't breathe. Their body was shaking. They were in so much pain. "I..I'll make it stop, okay? I'll, um..I..I can help you! I have to let go though...oh, I know!" She removed only one hand, lifting the other to dig around in one of her sleeves. She produced a spookie from it, a spookie made with the spices that Ginger had given her. This should do the trick!

"Here, eat this..it'll help, I promise." She smiled, crumbling up the cookie so that the other person could slowly eat it piece by piece. Sure enough before long she stopped feeling the blood, stopped hearing the sounds of pain and agony. She helped them! That was great!

Or so she thought. The figure's breathing slowly stopped until it came completely to a halt. Their lips quivered one last time, forming words she could barely make out...and then they were gone. Junko just stared.

Why didn't her spookie work? It should have helped! Did..did she kill them? She'd been trying to help! She'd...she'd fed a spookie to..

Did she just kill a Hunter?

((Attempt to heal whoever (and whatever) it is))

Junko prompt 4:

Pick up the strange fish-like creature that is staring at you with white eyes.

Tired...so tired. Junko trudged along, holding her head and wincing. She felt better physically but she was tired. Why did this keep happening? Why couldn't they go back to the way things were? Before Red had died, before they had taken that stupid field trip to that island, before...before everything that had made their lives difficult and miserable again and again and again. She just wanted a happy life with her friends where everyone was smiling and nothing tried to kill them and no one kidnapped them or threw them in these strange houses or tortured them or..just...made everyone unhappy.

Was that too much to ask?

She wasn't watching where she was going anywhere, her mind elsewhere. Junko felt like she had been walking for days with no rest, finally stopping only because she had walked into something solid and hard. Squeaking, Junko stumbled back and stared up at the door she had just collided with.

She knocked a few times, pressing her ear to the door. Nothing. "Hello?" She called out, waiting again. Still nothing. Maybe it was unlocked? Junko reached for the knob, grasping it and beginning to give it a turn until she heard a voice.

"Wha--AH!" She squeaked and clutched the knob tightly to keep herself standing, her eyes wide and heart racing. She dared not look behind her. Terror greatly overpowered curiosity in this case. Whoever it was they wanted her to stay. She couldn't stay.

She really, really couldn't stay.

Junko whimpered, closing her eyes tightly and tightening her grip on the door. Doors were a way out. Doors went places. This voice, whoever was holding her, wanted her to stay here in this place of madness that didn't make any sense. She couldn't stay here. "I'm sorry...I just want to go home." She finally whispered, turning the door knob.