The painting was of a young man, with beautiful green eyes. He was hurt, and his eyes looked past the viewer with the wideness and despair of a wounded animal.
The orphanage was old, and dark, and still, and dead.
The years had not been kind to it, after its original architect vanished for unknown reasons. How many more had come and gone since then? How many names added to its deed, how many shoes crossed its threshold? Maybe the records still existed somewhere, but they might have gathered as much dust as the orphanage had.
But time and time again, as if some strange power from within its ground had whispered to them, newcomers would make their way to that decrepit place.
Against all profit, or family, or society, or sound mind, something inextricably bound within it would draw them towards it.
Mmm...
Like now.
Like the Green Family.
****
"Well, what do you think?" he asks you, showing you the photo of this strange house on the hill. That house. The house that marked the point at which she left, as if the house itself had somehow eaten her whole.
As you look back up into your father's soft emerald eyes, that gentle smile that fills his face - the smile of a man who really, really needs a win right now - threatening to crack with the same effort you'd snap a twig, you have a choice to make two choices to make.
WHICH CHILD ARE YOU? CHOOSE ONE:
-- [] Silas (19)
---- You take the most after your dad - broad nose, square chin, curly brown hair, and piercing green eyes. You've always been a stickler for the rules and got a straight A+ in almost any subject you tried and praise from your teachers. Some would say it's your own hard work and practical confidence with people - perhaps more cynically, some would also say its the privilege of being a handsome, fit, moderately well off guy who passes for white (truth is it's probably a mixture of the two).
---- You were looking forward to going to university to study medicine when it happened, and your plans for the future shifted to helping dad look after the others while you figure out where to go next.
---- Silas is by far the most physically strong and athletic of the siblings. He's also the most responsible and level-headed, generally, and has a good range of academic knowledge. Unfortunately, when he is inevitably taken to a place he cannot solve with strength or predictability, he will struggle. As the closest to adulthood, he will also be the easiest for the enemies of the green family to label a "threat".
---- You know. Hypothetically. Not that the green family have enemies, obviously. That would be absurd.
-- [] Myrtle (16)
---- You don't really take much after either of your parents, which is perhaps expected when you're related by paperwork rather than blood. They always insisted you belonged, but you can't help but feel inadequate - you always feel bigger than you'd like (and you've certainly tried to shift the pounds before, for the sake of avoiding the scathing notes you seemed to get left in every school yearbook), and your glasses were always a little too, uh, prominent (your eyeballs are hot, hot garbage, and you really wish there was a review site for eyeballs just so you could leave them the 0 star reviews you know they deserve). About the only commonality is the weird coincidence of green eyes, but typical that even those would be closer to a murky grey.
---- You were at the end of your tether with school and the endless... monsters that seemed to call it home, even with Silas trying to look out for you. Now that mom is gone, it's... weird. Everything's weird, and you can't do anything about it, and on top of that you keep having those gonzo weird nightmares about the pitch black painting.
---- Myrtle is a pretty smart girl but struggles with both low self-esteem and poor physicality and a shortness of breathe. That said, she is generally an adaptable person and may yet discover an unusual strength if placed into an unfamiliar place.
-- [] Jade (14)
---- You take the most after your mom - wavy dark hair, soft turquoise eyes, and delicate fingers - and have always been... flighty? Whimsical? Dad says gifted, Silas says quirky, Myrtle says bouncy. You don't know what any of that means - you were never great at reading people - but what you do know is that your collection of hot pink & orange meerkat t-shirts where they each have a different hobby are proof that there is some sort of cosmic force in the universe that is pure and good, and also no matter how long you've owned them the haters who want to throw them out will need to pry those shirts from your cold, dead hands.
---- Things for you are... good! Always good. Weird, but good. Mom is just... playing some sort of weird prank. You hate it - when she finally comes back you hope she's really angry that you smashed her favorite set of antique china cups - but she'll come back. Till then, you're gonna keep working on your hobbies. They're easy to pick up and fun to do and you're so talented, you're so cool, maybe she'll learn this was a really dumb move to abandon such a cool, talented girl and never, ever do it again.
---- Jade is a wild child with a seemingly infinite number of hobbies. She's not especially great at any of them so much as she's a really good beginner in almost any weird art, craft or skill you can think of. She is not however an especially studious or cautious child and if presented with a fantastical scenario (like, hypothetically, being trapped in another world full of weird aliens and faefolk) would probably view it all through the lens of a whimsical storybook adventure and not, say, a death trap.
-- [] Forrest (11)
---- You have a weird mixture of your mom's wavy hair and your dad's emerald eyes, though unlike Silas they're almost sharp. You're pretty short for your age - which your friend Ruby seems to want to relentlessly tease you about, eugh, girls are the worst. You've always been a bit of a dork when it comes to fashion, usually wearing plaid shirts with black hoodies or socks with sandals, like some sort of tiny grandpa. But whatever. You're your own person. You don't need to be more like Silas.
---- Dad reckons you used to be more talkative, but what is there to talk about? Mom was around less and less, then she got you all into debt buying a weird house in a gross fart-backwards town in the middle of nowhere and then ran away with James Bond or got kidnapped by russians or died or something. It doesn't matter, just keep your head down. Every time you get first place it feels good. Every time you reach Mythic it feels good. Doritos taste good. The guys on Reddit respect you, unlike Silas and Myrtle and dad, and that's cool and good. You're cool, damn it.
---- Forrest is a smart, strong willed kid with a real knack for computers and figuring out logistical or technical systems, and he's honed some surprisingly good reaction times and a keen tactical mind from the eclectic mix of video games he sinks more and more of his time into. He has also, sadly, convinced himself that bottling up his feelings and cutting off his family will somehow make everything okay, but it wont.
-- [] Erin (6)
---- You're the smol bean babber of the family (you don't completely know what that means but Silas calls you that and he gives really good hugs and he's a really cool big brother)! You have short, tightly curled dark hair and bright green eyes and hands with a grip like a terrifying TRUE AMERICAN BALD EAGLE or something? Myrtle joked about it once but eagles are cool so that sounds fun! Your favourite colour is yellow, so you wear a lot of it, and Jade sometimes helps do your hair because she's really good with hairdressing sometimes (she gave it up a while back because it was too difficult but that's ok, some things are difficult). You like orange juice! But only when it's sweet.
---- A part of you wants to be "cool" and "grown up" but then you remember that Forrest seems to have become way, way less fun since he started trying to be cool and grown up, so you generally spend more time listening to the part of your brain that wants to be a dog or a horse or a rocketship or a gremlin or a doctor or something, and Jade is really good at playing those games with you! She even let you be on her vlog a bunch of times!
---- You hate being alone. Mom was around less and less and then she just... disappeared, and now you're going to have to move to the weird house that ate her?! You hate it. You're more fidgety than before and you regularly stop whatever you're doing to give the nearest person a hug. You cry more than you or others remember.
---- Erin is a small child, and is not well prepared for any sort of weird, dangerous or bad situation. If you choose this character, things will be dangerous and difficult.
*****
As for your second choice (answers refer to intent, not specifics): WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE IDEA OF MOVING TO THE OLD ABANDONED ORPHANAGE THAT YOUR MOM BOUGHT BY GETTING YOU ALL INTO DEBT BEFORE MYSTERIOUSLY VANISHING OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH? CHOOSE ONE:
-- [] No, dad. That is an incredibly bad idea and I do not like it. Please don't take us there.
-- [] I don't like that place, but we need to know what happened.
-- [] Mom must have had a reason for buying it. Maybe it'll be for the best? Worst case it's only temporary.
-- [] Don't answer him, just give him...
---- [] A cold look.
---- [] A shrug.
---- [] A hug.
"Well, what do you think?" he asks you, showing you the photo of this strange house on the hill. That house. The house that marked the point at which she left, as if the house itself had somehow eaten her whole.
You can't help but scratch the back of your neck to try and calm the sensation of worms working their up your spine, but dad doesn't pick up on it - or if he does, he doesn't react to it.
"Yeah," you nod, your own smile mimicking dad's but with ever so slightly more of an edge, "I agree. It's a bad situation, but it's the best way to figure out what happened."
"Oh, phew, you have... wow, you have no idea. I'm glad to hear you say that," he sighs, mouth widening into a nervous grin and cracking up with worried laughter, "It's... yeah. Look, I know it's gonna be a painful situation. But will you help me convince the others? I think a united front will really go a long way."
A united front.
You'd overheard mom and dad using those words more times than you could remember, ever since you were smart enough to listen in on their conversations without them realizing. You can't help but squint a little bit at it.
Mom's only been gone a few months and you're still coming to terms with the fact your goals have been put on hold for whoever knows how long, and dad has just, like... immediately settled into some sort of weird... co-parenting, idea, thing?
You give a deep sigh and that same confident smile, shrugging at his suggestion.
"Yeah, dad. A united front, I guess. Though I think that-"
Your dad's mobile going off interrupts your thoughts, and he gives you the familiarly nervous "sorry, hold that thought" look that you used to be more familiar with on mom's face until - as if the expression hadn't left with her disappearance - it had jumped to dad's on an almost daily basis while he answers it.
You sigh and smile and nod, looking out the window to the street beyond it. A quaint but normally lively sort of suburban avenue, rows of boring, ordinary houses and their boring, modest lawns.
Fitting, perhaps, that it's started to rain outside. Gently does it, pattering against the window, not unusual in early October.
You wonder how many more times you'll get to see Alex before you move away? If... if they'll even want to see you again after all of this? All your shared goals for the future, the two of you to study medicine together, to share a room and eventually get a place together.
Your smile becomes a little fainter, that image cracked by your mom's disappearance. You and Alex in a little apartment, swapping notes and cute jokes and splitting bills, all with the man in black watching from the wall-
"Hey, Silas, um... did you get any of that?"
You snap back into reality, trying to shake the thought from your mind. You turn to look your dad in the eye and smile, though he looks concerned.
"Hey, hey, you... you ok? You were crying."
Oh.
"Oh!" you wince, quickly rubbing your eyes and cheeks, "sorry dad. It's nothing, just... things. A lot going on."
He nods slowly, and gently rubs your shoulder with his free hand.
"Well, if you ever want to talk about anything - and, I get it, there's a lot to talk about - then don't leave me out of the loop, okay?"
"... Yeah."
"Great. That said, the call was from school, and-"
"Forrest? Or Myrtle?"
You wonder for a brief moment if it could be Jade, but the worst thing you can picture her doing is trying to publicly audition for a talent show that hasn't started auditions yet. Certainly nothing that would require them to call dad.
Your dad sighs, the long and drawn out sigh of a man who is really not looking forward to any point of any of the conversations he is going to have to have with many different people over the next few weeks. He gently raises his free hand to his forehead and massages it.
"Both. Listen, I'm going to go and try to sort this out, then I'll need to pick up Erin, and I've got to grab some stuff from the store. We'll talk this all over some more when I get back, okay?"
You nod, and give him the warmest, more reassuring smile you can muster.
But as he goes to grab his coat and keys for the old four by four, you make a decision: CHOOSE ONE OR TWO:
-- [] Volunteer to go to the school on dad's behalf, to speak to Myrtle, Forrest and their teachers. Maybe you can get a moment to try and talk to them both about the move as well?
-- [] Volunteer to go to kindergarten and pick up Erin. Whoever picks up Myrtle and Forrest is probably going to get involved in an unwanted argument, and Erin's at a pretty vulnerable age.
-- [] Volunteer to go to the store to pick up some things, and maybe even suggest a take away? You haven't had chinese in ages.
-- [] Try to contact Alex. You need to figure out a way to heal this rift.
As your dad turns to leave, you focus on the others. Dad's become the core of this family with mom's disappearance, and he's trying to pull double duty - though you can't help but feel like he was steadily becoming more and more central in the months before all of this anyway.
It's probably not worth you going to school on dad's behalf - they contacted him, after all, so they'll be expecting him to deal with it. But, that doesn't mean you can't help out.
"Hey, uh, dad!" you shout after him as he unlocks the military green four by four.
He stops to look at you, the rain seeming to keep the air between you clear to speak even as it keeps your dad on the edge of leaving.
"What if I pick up Erin? I get the feeling that things might get... loud, with the others, so what if I take her to the Geek & Greek? They've got some fun games and the foods okay. Might help take her mind off of what's been going on."
Your dad frowns a little. You can practically hear the cogs ticking away despite the soft patter of the rain.
"It's... it's your day off though?" he asks, "I would've thought the last thing you'd want would be going in unless you had to? Besides, is it really designed for small kids?"
You shrug, then give an awkward chuckle.
Hard to know how much to tell him.
"Yeah, sorry, you're right. I'll take her to Burger King or something."
He smiles, giving a sigh and nod of relief.
"Sounds great, yeah. She needs picking up in like an hour, but yeah, I'll leave it with you! That'll be nice. Thanks Sy."
You nod and give a big thumbs up, and he gets into the car and drives off, just that bit more relieved. For just a moment, the rain seems a little lighter, and you head indoors to kill some time.
You can't help but shake the feeling that someone was watching you, though.
****
It's a pretty short drive to the Claygreen's Miracles Preschool, even in your mediocre silver toyota, and it's early enough in the day that the only other traffic is parents picking up their kids. The downside, of course, is that it's a pain finding parking, but you split the difference and park maybe a ten minute walk from the school.
The same sense of paranoia pervades you as you make your way down the smooth grey sidewalk - this is the nice part of town, you know - but every time you glance over your shoulder there's no one there.
Still, it doesn't bare worrying about. There are other things to focus on, after all.
Waiting in the reception for the bell to ring and Miss Stokins to bring out the kids, you're struck by how ordinary everything is. How many dozens of times have you collected Erin over the past year or so, whenever something would come up for dad and mom was out of town?
It occurs to you how familiar this was already becoming.
How long had your life been marching to this point and you were none the wiser?
"Baked beans?!"
You're snapped out of your own head and immediately find yourself smiling from the familiar nickname - it took Erin all of five seconds to come up with it but you're not gonna be the one to tell her it's not the funniest thing on the planet.
There she is, your favourite smol bean in the whole world, emerging from the crowd of other small hyperactive people in her favourite yellow raincoat, a bright blue backpack strapped to her back like a jetpack about to explode.
"WOOOAAHHH, gross, nasty!" you cry out, face scrunching up as you mime the idea of backing away from a giant fart.
She starts to laugh, and you immediately crouch down to give her a big hug, and it feels like she doesn't even blink before she's latched on.
"You came to pick me up?" she asks, and you think you can feel her tremble a little.
You frown, and hold her very, very gently so that she's half way to arms length.
"Yeah. Is everything... is everything okay?"
Erin frowns, and her smile has immediately fallen into concern.
"Why isn't dad here?"
Oh.
CHOOSE ONE:
-- [] Tell the truth. (He had to go to school because Myrtle & Forrest got in some kind of trouble)
-- [] Tell a partial truth. (Some stuff came up that he had to take care of, so I offered to come and pick you up!)
-- [] Tell an... extremely tailored truth. (You asked dad if you could pick Erin up specially so you could get some food together and hang out!)
You maintain eye contact mainly by virtue of Erin having gone into one of her intense moods, and smile. Even when you're not at your most confident, your smile is disarming.
"Well, some stuff came up that he had to take care of, so I offered to come and pick you up!"
Her eyes narrow slightly, but then she nods sagely, before at last her lips widen into a smile. You can't help but feel a sense of relief, when your eyes are drawn to a short, slender figure just behind the crowd of kids.
"Hi Erin!" she says with a wave, and you cough into your fist a little as she gets closer and gives a little salute gesture to you, "Hi Silas-"
"Baked beans, Miss Stokins!"
"... Baked beans. Your dad called, said you were picking her up."
"Oh!" you exclaim, suddenly aware that you never actually called them to let them know in advance you were going to be picking her up, and are struck by the realization that you could have been stuck here for the next hour or so while they went through all the extra paperwork.
Thanks dad, life saver, you think with a smile, and make a mental note to thank him when you see him this evening.
"Yeah, sorry for not calling."
She shrugs and smiles, "It's not a problem. Now," she claps her hands together, turning to Erin, "remember what we did today?"
Erin gives a big grin, ever so slightly gap toothed, and you can't help but wonder if one of these days she's gonna just straight up explode.
"Painting! I painted a bunch of bumblebees!"
Classic... "In a weird coat!"
... ally strange.
"That's right! But next time, remember?"
Erin shrugs and smiles.
"Next time I should use more red for the bear...?"
"Well, uh, no, more lik-"
"Too late!" she shouts over Miss Stokins comments, dashing past you like a bolt of lightning. You twirl and chase after her, doing your best to give a polite wave to the teachers as you push through the swing doors behind her.
****
The walk to the car is as uneventful as the walk from it, but you can't help but ask about the bear and the bumblebees.
"Oh," she says, her smile widening, "It tried eating the bumblebees because they were staring at it, but they stung it."
"Yea-"
"TO DEATH."
"Oh! Was... was Miss Stokins happy wit-"
"Nope! She said next time I should draw flowers and grass, but flowers and grass are boring! They just sit around going 'AHHHHH!' all the time, constipating and stuff."
You glance down at Erin, and see as she emphasizes the point by scrunching her eyes up as tightly as she can manage. You can't help but laugh.
"Con... constipating?"
"Yeah, thinking a whole lot! It's a really cool word."
...
The conversation dropped from a mixture of reaching the car and trying to catch your breath back, and the rain having now grown heaver and heavier, you're struck by the question of where to actually go. On the one hand, you did tell dad you'd head for Burger King. On the other, it'll probably be pretty busy on a Friday afternoon after school, and the food is bad for you, and the Burger King himself is really weird.
On the other other hand, the Geek & Greek has none of those problems, and it has Alex. You need to figure things out with them.
"So, where we eatin'?"
As you unlock the doors to your ever reliable little car, you give as loud a "Mmmmmmmagic word?" as you can muster while closing your eyes really tightly, before feeling her gently slap you on the leg.
"Please and please and thank you. Where, where?"
"That's better. And how about the Geek & Greek? Come on, passenger side."
As you take your seat and undo the passenger door, Erin narrows her eyes and watches you. She makes her own sound of "Mmmmmmm?" and skips around to the other side, but as she hops into the passenger seat you realize her eyes are narrowed, tracking you as if you'd just kicked a really big ant hill for no reason.
"Why there? You go there to work all the time. If I had to work there all the time I wouldn't want to eat there."
You shrug, and smile.
"Well, because the food is good, there's games, and I need to talk to Alex. You remember Alex, right?"
She gasps, and then gives a frighteningly wide smile.
"Is she-"
"They," you say, raising your eyebrows.
"... they! Are they gonna teach me some more magic?!"
"... Huh. I forgot about that. Yeah, I'm sure we can get them to show you something weirder than, like, stealing noses."
Erin's eyes positively light up like she was watching fireworks, and there's no difficulty at all convincing her to strap in. With a flick of the radio you start to drive to the Geek & Greek, and it plays some smooth jazz. It's pretty solid, and with a smile you ask Erin what else was going on at school today - anything to try and ignore the gentle sound of buzzing in your ear.
****
Claygreen was a modest town, mainly suburban in its structure, but the Geek & Greek was way on the edge of town opposite from the Miracles Preschool - maybe a ten minute drive all told.
It seems quieter than normal, though. You were so focused on listening to Erin talk about the "chocolate ring, like an onion ring but instead of onions it's chocolate" that you only begin to realize that you're still in the center of town.
How many times did you drive past the library?
The shops and take away's are empty.
There isn't another car in sight.
Nina Simone's I Put A Spell On You begins to play over the radio.
You tilt your head, slowing the car to a crawl in the middle of the road, because right in the center of the road ahead is a figure cloaked in shadow, and you can hear bees inside your skull.
"Hey, uh, Erin," you whisper, "hop in the back. Keep your head down."
"Huh?" she says, jolted out of her ramblings, "Wha-"
"Please, Erin. There's something weird-"
The figure leans forward and vanishes with terrifying speed, as if a crack of redandbluelightning at the height of a dark blue storm, and something crashes into the side of the car. You slam your foot on the pedal as fast as you can, Erin screaming over the broken radio, as you desperately pray that your "adequately second hand" toyota will get you to safety.
CHOOSE ONE:
-- [] Try to get back home.
-- [] Try to get to the Geek & Greek.
-- [] Try to get to the police precinct.
-- [] Try to see what just came after you and run it over.
Optional secondary vote (can be made in addition to the above):
-- [] Call the police.
-- [] Call dad.
-- [] Try to calm Erin.
-- [] Call mom.
Apologies for the delay with the post, bunch of stuff IRL plus general procrastination and some roadblocks in the writing. Plans for the quest are accelerating.
The car skids to the side as you drive, the impact of whatever the hell that thing was forcing it into a slalom style drift. You barely manage to correct it and get into a straighter drive even as something is pounding in your head, the relentless buzzing and the sensation of something "scratching" on the inside of your skull. You try to focus, trying to flick off the radio - but it keeps going, the distortion growing worse like a wasp angered by trying to slap it away.
Try to breathe. Try to focus.
Get help.
Alex? ... No, this is weirder, more dangerous, the police?
You grit your teeth. The police wouldn't be your first choice in most situations but as the sudden flash of redand bluecrackles in the air again and the sky starts to take on a sharp, neon purple tone, you feel something wretched in the pit of your stomach. This is something dangerous and unearthly, and it's trying to hurt you and Erin.
The police precinct is only a couple of minutes from the library too, so you make a sharp right turn and head there as fast as you can. Whatever that thing was, you can see it occasionally "pop" into the vision of your side mirror, before it suddenly vanishes and then crashes into the back of the car. Erin screams as you're jolted forwards, and you can barely make out she's starting to cry.
You consider calling someone, but right now you're struggling to keep your eyes focused on staying on the road, so you try to make the best of a bad situation.
"Erin!" you shout, "It's okay, okay? Whatever happens, I'll keep you safe, we'll-"
STOPRUNNING.
Your mind is suddenly clouded by static, like a swarm of bees and worms, and you feel the world around you crash, your body lurching forward under its own momentum.
Are you even conscious, now?
There's darkness, and something sharp in your skull - different to the scratching, earlier. You try to look around, catch your bearings, but there's a haze of smoke and heat and pain in your legs and the sound of something chewing in your ear.
...
You can feel your heart sink. For just the briefest moment there is clarity, and you desperately, desperately wish it was anything else.
"Hey... Erin... pl-please, Erin, beanie, smol bean... move, please... Erin! Can you hear me?! Please, we have to mov-"
FOLLOW.
You look up, wincing with the pain as you realize your legs are trapped by some of the crushed metal. You can't recall which street you're on, but your thoughts are consumed by the sight - framed by rain and storm clouds and a sky that has turned an alien purple, standing over you and an unmoving Erin, is a crackling, shadow-clad figure.
It's barely two meters away, but as you try to look through the stinging of liquid redflowing into your eye from somewhere on your forehead, you can see into what should be a "head" and instead see nothing but soft blue light and flickering shadows.
And then, it raises a hand to yours, and its hand is opened wide, as if offering to help you up.
You glance down at Erin, at the obscured yellowof her coat, and the silverof this wreckage that was once your family's, their own hard work. The town remains deserted.
THE WORLD AS YOU KNEW IT IS ENDING. CHOOSE ONE:
-- Take the creature's hand...
---- [] ...Eagerly.
---- [] ...Cautiously.
-- Reject it...
---- [] ...to try and fight it off.
---- [] ...to try and call for help.
---- [] ...to focus on Erin.
-- [] Write-in.
YOU CAN FEEL SOMETHING IN YOUR HAND. CHOOSE ONE:
-- [] Something curious.
-- [] Something balanced.
-- [] Something kind.
-- [] Something strong.
Your head is ringing, and at this point you're not sure you could even speak if you wanted. For the briefest of moments, you consider trying to understand it. The desire to know streaks across your mind, even with the piercing of this thing in your head.
BE ENLIGHTENED.
… But...
Much as this ringing, this scratching... chewing, painful, burning, hazy, static, noisy...
You want to know. You want to understand, and as the sky turns an ever sharper purple, for another moment you consider screaming for answers.
But...
Erin isn't moving.
You can't fight this thing – you can barely move, and this thing was strong enough to briefly lift your car off the ground. You can't outrun it, either – it chased you down while speeding, and you still couldn't properly see it.
But even if it kills you, if there's a chance – however small – that there's a spark of life in your little sister, then you'll focus on her.
When your life and the world itself decays into madness, you wont let her go.
You wince away from its hand and turn your attention to Erin. The buzzing sharply slows and becomes quieter, as if the creature was not expecting you to turn it down, and you can feel its gaze bare into you and turn to Erin.
You try to focus on what you can. She's not moving and there's cuts along her head and arm where some of the windshield has broken inward, but you undo the buttons of her raincoat and place an ear to her chest...
…
Breathing, you think? Barely, but it's there. You can feel burning in your own lungs, she needs to get out of this wreck.
"Erin..." you whisper, trying to unbuckle her seatbelt, jammed, "Pl-please, try to wake up. Come on bean, it's me, it's baked beans."
You can feel the ground splinter as the stranger takes a step. Keep focused, much as you want to know, keep her breathing.
"Come on, we... we have to get out," you can't help but wince as the seatbelt wont move, think, THINK.
Your head feels heavier, the stinging of smoke from the engine starting to fill your lungs. Erin seems to wince, as if trying to wake up, and lets out a gentle whimper. You suddenly remember the rescue knife in the dashb-
ER-
There is a sudden sharpness in your mind once more, and the sound of something crunching into fragments of glass. The purple light of the sky suddenly turns a strange and sickly yellow.
...
… ERIN?
You gasp for breath, the stinging growing worse and worse.
"Ye-yes, Erin, she, she needs..."
Wait.
"... wait... wait. What? You-"
ERIN! HURRY.
The buzzing intensifies, and the whole world fractures. For the briefest moment this... thing reaches down, to try and reach across you and grab Erin, but you instinctively cover her and bat its hand away. An unearthly scream runs out as it stands behind you, and you can feel something sharp suddenly stabbing into your back.
...
In the absence of invasion, your mind is tranquil.
The quest isn't finished, so please don't worry! There's no choices because it's the end of the chapter, but I intend to write and post the beginning of Chapter 2 very soon.
The ending to this chapter is perhaps a little confusing, partly because what just happened to Silas was really weird even in-universe, but things will be explained soon! ^_^
How long were you holding your breath for? The stinging of toxic smoke thrown into sharp relief by the sensation of something warm and... wet?
You can hear the faint rumbling of voices through the darkness, and your eyes snap open. The faint smell of old eggs coupled with the taste of salt on your lips, dry to the point where your mouth fills with spit to try and make up the difference. You cough, choking on heavy sludge as you suddenly vomit, clearing it in a wave of nausea.
Today just gets worse.
"Ruddy hell!" cuts across the air, a voice that sounds like it's struggling against thick lungs and thicker glass, "Thing even makes a mess in the cage, twice damned shadowfolk, why I never-"
"Remember, remember!~" comes another voice, high and delicate, seemingly still interrupted by... perhaps water? Your vision is so blurry it's hard to tell right now, "Molon says two good thoughts for every bad one!~"
The first voice seems to rumble and grumble in a language you can't quite follow, something with a lot of deep, drawn out "oh" sounds. You try to blink away the shock of white and golden light that has left your vision hazy, to try and take in your surroundings. As you push yourself up, slowly, slowly, you try to piece it together.
The texture of the floor - wood, but gnarled? Like bark that's been freshly cut from the side of a tree. You can feel faint grooves - square and sharp, almost with the vibe of circuitry on a microchip - and realize that the grooves themselves are glowing with a bright silver light, similar to static on an old TV with no signal.
It's become obscured somewhat, mind you, by a puddle of thick black oil, tiny chunks of mashed up cornflakes and congealed milk, and the soft glow of tiny blue specks. Looking down at your hand, still dripping with some of the puddle, you realize the damp dribble you can feel down the side of your mouth is more of the same-
That came from me?!
You back away as quickly as your shaking, nauseous limbs will let you. There's a cold sweat having formed in the palms of your hands and across your forehead, and looking up you begin to see a little more clearly through the haze of silver and golden light that fills this room, forming a sort of sickly beige.
You're torn over whether to scream, but mainly you're in shock. The room seems unusually large and is covered in planks of this same etched, seemingly freshly cut wood crude riveted together with thin scraps of metal. More prominently, perhaps, is the ten foot-something creature that fills the center of the room, its single eye narrowing at you with the look of a lion torn between killing a baby gazelle or letting it go. Beyond it is a large wooden door - as far as you can tell from a quick glance, the only exit.
"Mmm," rumbles the creature, its massive chest and stomach giving the impression of a gorilla or walrus, its voice coming across hazy again despite the massive weight and strength it exudes, "I... recognize I might have, mmm," it pauses, "dragged you into the unknown without your consent. There, Bippy, happy now? I apologized to the human."
"You really tried, and I appreciate the effort you put in, sir!~" chips in that same lighter voice, and you look over the giant's shoulder and realize the main light source of the room is coming from... some sort of tiny orb? It floats close by to the monster and seems to almost form wings, like a hummingbird, out of golden light. It flickers around the room every so often like a pair of damaged light bulbs that have somehow been rigged to flicker on and off in perfect sync with each other. As it does, it faintly giggles.
You look back to the central eye of the giant, and are aware of the sound of slow but heavy tapping, and look to see the creature has a heavy three fingered hand placed against some sort... engine? Computer? Atop it are balanced a number of thin vials filled with some sort of blue liquid.
You close your eyes. The buzzing and chewing of that... thing that attacked you is long gone, and now there's just the delicate hum of machinery in the room and the unpleasant scent of eggs. You take a few careful breaths, and try to focus, and then your heart sinks.
Whatever this place is, these... things are, and whatever else happened... you couldn't see Erin. She's not here, at least not visible to you in this room.
You grit your teeth.
TRY TO THINK. PLAN OF ACTION? CHOOSE ANY NUMBER, AND ARRANGE THEM IN AN ORDER YOU WANT TO TRY AND COMPLETE THEM IN:
-- [] Make a run for the door.
-- [] Look for some sort of weapon...
---- [] ... Try to grab the vials of liquid?
---- [] ... Try to tear up one of the loose floorboards?
---- [] ... Try to remove one of the pipes curving in from the walls?
-- [] You still had your phone in your pocket, try to call someone...
---- [] ... dad.
---- [] ... the police.
---- [] ... Mum (honestly, with everything that's hit the fan recently, it wouldn't be that weird).
-- [] Ask the monster and the orb a question [Write-in]. You may ask any number of (different) questions, in theory.
Note: You can choose any number of options, but time could be of the essence.
