Fantasy White Brick

The void nothingness between when you fall asleep and when you wake up. A vague memory Cat had of this before existence. Perhaps this is what death would actually be like. The vague air of nothing, that you can't remember yet you knew it to happen.


Was she dead?


No, this was far too much thought for a void, too much introspection.


Cat shot straight up in the bed. Greeted with what looked to be a dream. White bore into her eyes. An unnaturally clean, and harsh light. Speaking of unnatural, there seemed no light source.


Her legs slipped over the side of her bed, and she fell down. Surprisingly light on her feet as she landed. Only then she noticed the other people in the room, despite taking note of the beds for some reason it did not register.


Cat found herself walking to the center of the room, which sat a table and a note. Though she made no reach for it, instead looking over the sleeping people. A pang of her head. Morning wake up headaches were way too familiar with her, yet she only noticed in the moment. Something grazed her thoughts.


Remember


There was nothing worth remembering... At least, even her brain determined what she had forgotten could wait.

Russell smiled and took a bow, waving at the cheering crowds, lapping up the applause. He turned and grabbed the large silver cup that was his prize. First place with his huge pumpkin. No one else's in the contest came close to the monster he'd grown; a full eight feet across, glistening and beautiful. His family were in the front row, his little brother cheering louder than anyone. Cameras were flashing as they took photos for the newspaper front pages. Searing white flashes. Faster and faster they snapped, drowning out the crowd with terrible brightness. He held a hand to his face, trying to block some of the light and keep focus on Ryan who was still cheering as if nothing had changed. Tears flowed from stinging eyes and the white saturated everything...


... Russell sat bolt upright in bed. The dream was already fading but the white was somehow still all around him.


"Ryan!" His half-asleep yell for his brother sounded wrong to his ears but not wrong enough for his brain to register why. He rubbed his eyes, expecting them to be wet and finding them dry. The dream faded more. Things were starting to come into focus. A white room, a white bed. No not a bed, a bunk. The top bunk in a long row of others. A glimpse of red stood out amongst the white. It was someone else, or more specifically their hair, already out of their bed and stood in the middle of the room looking around.


Russell felt a rush of heat to his face. Had she heard him cry out? It seemed crazy to be embarassed, but his brain didn't know what else to focus on. A fuzz lay over his thoughts like this was another dream. He rolled his legs over the side of the bed and jumped down. There was a guy in the lower bunk, but he was still deep asleep. The floor felt warm to his bare feet. As he moved to the end of the bed he could see there were others that were waking up.

Don laid in bed watching as the others awoke. He had woken earlier to a blindingly harsh white light unsure of who the others were or what had happened to him. He only remembered leaving his place of work on what he assumed to be the previous day, and now he was here and had no idea why. He sat upright his hair slicked back and his eyes tiny eyes squinting he took out his glasses which he had found on the table before hand he was considering reading the note, but he assumed it might be a possession of one of the others. Plus it gave him opportunity to watch them all but he decided it was time to make himself known. "Hello, my names Don and I have no idea why I'm here the last thing I remember was leaving work then nothing I assume it's somewhat the same for you all?" He asked still observing everyone as they awoke or moved around he kept a keen eye on the two who had already awoken.

"Hey, Don... I suppose you can call me Cat," she turned her attention to the one that woke with a bit of a shout, "how about you then?"


These greetings felt odd, thrust into a situation like this one might assume more panic. Certainly none of them was calm, but this still felt more normal than she would assume. Perhaps they, as well as her were simply too tired for genuine panic. That or, too confused.

"It's nice to meet you Cat." He looked over at the other man who had awoken with a shout he seemed to have been having quite a fright in his sleep. "Yes, what is your name sir if I may ask?" Don wasn't calm as much as he was prepared for such a thing. He had been preparing for this since he started looking for his parents killer, and he could feel himself getting closer to the truth. "I'm almost there maybe this is some kind of game he set up for me maybe he's one of them but which one?" Don thought to himself as he awaited the other person response.

◇◇◇

A thin smile spread over Chuldah's face, though he didn't know it for he was asleep. Dancing along the edge of consciousness and dream, he knew that when he did finally open his eyes the plane would have landed and he'd be in America.


And I'm never going back.


His brain sleepily chimed, as if even when not properly function the deepest mindset of his subconscious hated Israel just as much as in its wakened state. Or perhaps he wasn't as asleep as he'd like to think. Other things were beginning to blur his rest...vague muffled voices and a bleary, tossing light.


With a groan he turned over. The airplane seat was surprisingly comfy...it almost felt like a bed. Was El Al always this first class? The outside noises were starting to get louder, come more into focus.





Go away. Can't you see some of us are trying to sleep?





If it was the flight attendant coming by, he wasn't hungry. He just wanted this interminable flight to be over...the one last grimy bridgeway to his new, shining American life.


Suddenly, as if to try his annoyance even more, there was a creaking above him, a sound he was familiar with. It was the sound of someone mounting off of a top bunk. That was strange...even for First Class, why would an airplane have bunk beds?


More talking.


"סתום ת'פה" He muttered with all the force he could muster, which, in his half-world state, was still pretty weak. To punctuate he tried to more visibly turn over in his bed. He wasn't going to be happy if all this ruckus meant he had to spend the rest of the flight in awareness. He had never been on a long-term flight before, but the Internet had given him plenty of horror stories. What if there was a baby on this plane? Or the inevitable creep trying to cop a feel on some unsuspecting lady who just wanted to watch her film?


"איז מיר אוי ויי..."


He'd just have to try harder and pretend to sleep...at least until fantasy and reality could blur back together and land him in his dreams once again.

The red-headed girl asking him a question took some time to register through Russell's thoughts. He was still focused on what Don had said about not knowing why they were here or where they were. He looked quizzically at the guy in glasses trying to piece together his own last memories until a sudden muttering by the person under his bunk snapped him out of it. Was that a foreign language? He shook his head, trying to clear some room for sense to return.


"Erm, Russell. My name is Russell. I, er, don't remember anything either. I was, er," he pointed at his bed, "dreaming; nightmare woke me up."


He was properly waking up now, and something like panic was threatening to creep in as more and more questions started piling up demanding answers. The accents of the others hadn't escaped him. Whatever or whoever had done this wasn't just targeting people from England, but from all over the world if his bunkmate's language was anything to go by. Cat and Don were both staring at him, and he fought to maintain some kind of composure. Putting on a brave face was something he'd do for his little brother all the time when necessary.


He noticed they both looked older than him, Don considerably so, maybe as much as mid-twenties. Somehow that was reassuring. Someone older meant it wouldn't fall to him to work this all out. Simultaneously though he didn't want to appear weak in front of the guy.


Cat was stood by a table he hadn't seen earlier. There was something on it. A piece of paper? All the questions in his head were suddenly focused entirely on the paper. Answers could be right there. He made a move toward it.


"What's that on the table?"

Don stands up and walks toward the piece of paper he had seen it previously but didn't want to read it until the others awoke just in case it was something important to their predicament. "Well, I was waiting for more of you to wake up and now that you are awake should we read it, or maybe wait for our foreign friend to wake up and I believe there's one more person sleeping am I correct at least in this room." Don looked around the room it didn't seem like it was a prison as much as more of a safe house perhaps. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about this whole situation was wrong and terribly so. "What about you Cat do you remember anything about before you woke up here?" He stared at the girl trying to figure something out about her anything at all she was obviously in her early twenties, but so far he hadn't learned much about her by her mannerisms. He paced the floor his arms crossed he knew he would have to take the lead on this one being as he was the oldest in this room and most experienced with a serial killer's mind if that was what they were dealing with for all he knew this could be some kind of high stakes game that some sadistic, bored, and rich people had put together. Ha, that would be just his luck eh dying for someone's amusement before he can find his killer what a world.

Vera was in a sound sleep, that was until she rolled a bit too far to her right and fell off the bed. Landing with a hard thump and a yelp, she opened her eyes to a blinding whiteness. "Gah...what the hell..." She muttered, using one arm to shield her face and the other to grasp onto the bed. Standing slowly, she turned to see there were others in the room all dressed the same as she was. White. All the white. So much damned white. Squinting, she lowered her arm and took a few small steps forward asking "Uhh...anyone know where the hell we are right about now?"


Seeing the table in the center, Vera approached it. Reading the cryptic note, she frowned. Her mind was completely blank. Letting her gaze look from one face to the next, she waited for someone to speak up.

[ Haha, technically speaking Cat is the oldest :3 ]


"I uh don't remember," Cat answered a bit blankly, not a lie, but she didn't even attempt to remember where she was before this. Instead, she picked up a note on the table. Read it now, read it later. Didn't matter much, except it might have to be read a few times over. The page was written in white ink. How incredibly silly. Cat could hardly read it, she could only note the presence of indents in the page. It was set back down on the table, maybe someone could attempt to read it later. Another person woke.


"Hey there," she greeted surprisingly she was smiling. It wasn't until this moment that she realized she was probably the only one. Did she feel happy? Cat certainly stopped feeling stress after a few moments of waking up.


"Don't exactly know where we are no... We've just been doing introductions, so far. I'm Cat, that's Don, and he's Russell. So how about you?" Cat had to consciously tone down herself, being too happy and nice might seem weird in this situation. Certainly it was just her nature, yet still she felt it might be too odd.


The only thing Cat couldn't figure out is why she cared. This was the first time she'd ever been too analytical about herself, at least in this manner.

Looking to the one that spoke, her name being Cat, Vera replied "Nice to meet you Cat." Looking to the others she nodded "You as two well. Name's Vera and we have no idea where we are?" A frown touched her lips as she said this. "Frankly, I'm surprised no one has run around screaming or curled up in a ball crying." She gave a half-hearted attempted at a chuckle "Its not everyday you get kidnapped and shoved into a white box with strangers."


Looking back to the note on the table, Vera spoke up again "The suspense is killing me, we gotta read it. It might also give us an idea of where we are."

Don laughed and looked up at the new comer or more accurate the latest person to wake up. "Well, I suppose we could read it but I doubt we will be able to read it, or at least read it properly. Miss Kat already tried and it seems to me she didn't get much from it am I correct miss Cat? I'm really concerned about what we're doing here and that note must say something about that. Does anyone happen to have a pen and piece of paper on them or see one around?" Don asked doubting anyone did being as they were all in different clothing and the room only seemed to have the note and his glasses how curious of their kidnappers to let him keep his eyes he laughed it may not have been obvious during all the confusion but Don had an Irish accent being as he was raised there he cleared his throat it was dry always was when he woke up he hated that so much. (So when do we figure stuff out)

[ In time ]


"I think I can read it, it'll just take a moment more is all. I mean..." Cat picked the paper back up, oddly waving her hand. The sort of wobble someone does in their 'so-so' expression.


"With the right amount of shadow it's legible," she finished. Now quietly examining the words in the page. It was more an exercise of sight than understanding.


"That's odd," she mumbled to herself. Somehow odder than the exercise of white on white. Though she pushed it back as it shouldn't matter much. Looking back at those who were already awake.


"Would you like me to read it allowed then?"

Rolling her eyes, Vera replied "Well no shit Sherlock." Her tone joking yet a tad annoyed. "I think we would all like to hear what's on it. I mean, it can't be that bad. Can it? We're already trapped in a white void..." She trailed off. If they could but them in a white brick room with no visible exit, there's no telling what shit could go down.


(Sorry for the length. Didn't have anything to go off of really.)

Don's point about waiting for the others to wake-up before reading the paper kinda made sense for a second, but was swiftly dismissed my Russell's brain. No, this wasn't some stupid game! If there were answers as to what the hell was going on, they needed them now. They could easily catch the other's up as they woke.


The word 'game' bounced around his head for a second. Like most teens he was well aware of the recent spate of survival game stories. Hunger Games and The Maze stood out in his memory because they'd been turned into films; there were probably many others. A part of him started trying to recall the details. As ridiculous as it was, could there be something similar going on here? Who would do something like that? And why him?


Yet another yell broke his thoughts once more. And it came with a bump too as the next person to wake up actually fell out of their bunk. Russell didn't smile, but he was glad he wasn't the only one to wake up noisily. She quickly recovered, and after introductions from Cat gave her own name as Vera. Her vote was immediately clear - read the paper!


From Russell's position the paper looked blank, but Cat was peering at it closely, bending and twisting it back and forth whilst muttering to herself. Suddenly she asked if she should read it aloud.


Vera took Russell's words right out of his mouth, although not in the way he would have said it. The latest addition certainly spoke her mind.


"Yeah, please read it. If it is something we need to work out, then the sooner we are thinking about it the better."

"For the love of...do you have to do this now? On the plane?"


Chuldah spoke with a lot more conviction that he probably should, seeing as this was more or less his first time on such a flight as well. But the amount of ruckus these foreigners were causing certainly seemed unprecedented.


He was now sitting fully upright, nearly hitting his head against the bunk above him that someone had crept out of earlier. In vain he had tried to throw himself back into sleep, but the English murmurings and half-caught words were enough to capture even his lazy attention. On the one hand, he couldn't deny a passing favor for puzzles, and it would become him to show off to these foreigners how perceptive he could be, easily solving whatever stupid thing had caught their fancy. On the other hand, enough was enough, and if they were just playing some silly game to pass the time there were certainly less annoying ways to do it.


Wait...this...doesn't look like El Al.


Running a hand through his already bed-muffled hair he tried to drag himself back to full consciousness, as the more he gathered of his surroundings the more he thought that maybe it would be a good idea, however unwilling his body, to try and stay awake. For even with his own limited flight experience, he was sure that this was no ordinary airplane or even airport.


המצב - חרא...this isn't because of that stupid college thing still, is it?


Maybe securities had pegged him as some sort of international criminal and thrown him into prison. Even his clothes seemed to be gone, which was slightly annoying because they were his most comfortable and thus his favorite, but the ones they had been replaced with were at least equally comfortable, so not too many complains there. In any case, the white room seemed a strange setting for a prison...especially when all the other prisoners looked like a bunch of Americans, anyways, and were running around of their own free will.


"Wait...we are in America, right?"


From the look of the foreigners, four of them standing around a little table not too far away, he felt as if he was interrupting something. Not that he really cared. If he was going to be in jail for the rest of his life, better America than Israel, so he'd like to establish that point, at least.

Don looked at the foreigner as he finally came to realize he wasn't on a plane. "To be honest, I don't really know where we are boy'o but I seriously doubt its anywhere we want to be. Nice to meet ya I'm Don and if we ever make it out of here I'll let you all know my last name. So we gonna read the mystery note or we gonna wait till whoever put us here comes back and decides to waste us, and I'm not talking about getting us drunk either. Although I probably could use a drink I've had a long day." Don was beginning to get impatient he always did start talking when he got impatient it was the only time he really spoke up besides when he was working and it required him to speak he sat back against the brick wall and waited for the note to be read. Wow, what an odd group they were an Irish man some other foreigner probably from somewhere like Israel don guessed and the others all had the own unique aura about them.

Cat glanced up at the person to next awake. They seemed more disoriented than the rest, at least having difficulties waking up.


"America? I suppose it's just as likely as any old place... Could anywhere though, could be Antarctica, could be the moon..." Cat shook her head, giving a semi-awkward breathy laugh, "probably not the moon."


Cat swayed back and forth a bit wishy-washy as she thought about it. but quickly turned back to the note. Finally reading it allowed.


"Greetings, and apologies," an odd way to start this sort of note, "While this is certainly not a most ideal way to go about bringing you all together. It seems that this is ultimately the only way it can be done, appropriately. There are many things to be saved for later, all that is to be told now is that this is a maze. Simply put it, you will be solving the maze. I can almost guarantee your physical well-being unfortunately, I can not guarantee you won't be emotionally scathed. Good luck."


Something seemed off about this note, aside from what it said. Cat just couldn't put her finger on it. Examining the letters to figure what she might be missing.

Don stood up. "He said almost guarantee our physical well-being? What's almost I suppose we could trip and hurt ourselves but still. And maze bring us together what's that all about I don't like this at all something smells fishy." Don paced around the room thinking about what there kidnappers wanted, and why they had put them here. Maybe his general idea about it being a game for some rich people amusement was correct after all. If so he disliked the idea entirely. Being used like some kind of toy for some bored rich kid it made his skin crawl just thinking about it. "Well I suppose we ain't got much of a choice so how do we get out of here?

A frown touched her lips as the note was read. "Hmmmm...odd..." It seemed as if they were now in a game of sorts, a form of entertainment for their captors. They promised that they wouldn't intentionally cause harm though there were many other things that could happen, aside from need needing a therapist for the rest of their lives. "If they can't harm us physically, they could easily mentally. That and they may try something...other? Than harm, though I don't have the slightest idea what that other option they might have..." Vera then gave another heals hearted attempt at a chuckle. "This really reminds me of that one book that became a movie, yah know with the maze?

"Maze runner?" Don asked immediately knowing what he was talking about or at least having an idea. Don liked a good read now and then he especially enjoyed supernatural things like the story about demigods saving the world from titans or the one about a futuristic world split into 12 districts and a capital where every year they would choose a girl and boy from each district to fight to the death in an arena against all the other districts nominees. Don stood up and looked around. "So anyone here see a door because I can't really see anything in all this damn white."


Don was looking along the walls trying to feel for some kind of opening not really sure if there was a door or not he had bad enough eyesight without all this damn white. "So do they plan on letting us find the way out ourselves or are suppose to wait for them to let us out like little sheep In a pin? Well, I don't know buy I'm looking for a way out while I can." There he goes again he hated when he got like this he normally was very talkative but he didn't really care he was annoyed and, ready to get home he didn't like it here he got a bad feel from it all. He eventually gave up and sat back down getting tired of looking around the bleak white room. Don sighed and began counting for some reason it helped him to calm down and, also helped with his impatience he closed his eyes and let out a weary sigh as he began thinking more about the situation. "What is this really, why are we here, and who orchestrated this whole event and why was it really just to bring them together and, if so what could their kidnappers gain from that?" It was all so puzzling to Don he decided he would let this play out and see what happened himself.

Abby was slumbering for a long while, muttering in her sleep with a scowl. It seemed she was having a dream about something she didn't enjoy, which was most likely something involving someone being stupid. As usual. As people's voices started popping up around her she started becoming irked. "I am trying to SLEEP over here people..." Wait a second. People? Who... Who were these people? She opened her eyes, the flash of white burning them. "Oh god, what..?" What had happened? The white wasn't familiar at all. Wasn't she just in her bed?! She slowly opened her eyes this time, taking in the scenery. There seemed to be a cluster of people all crammed around a table. Were they creating all of the racket?! Geez. Abby slipped off of the bed, barely noticing the change in her attire as she rarely worried about it. "I'm a little late to the party... Anyone mind telling me exactly WHAT is going on???"

Don looked over at the girl just now waking up and said it simply. "Well hello, girly I'm Don and I guess the best way to put it is we've all been kidnapped for unknown reasons." Don smiled at the girl having gotten use to explaining the situation to new comers. He was ready to get out of here. To be perfectly honest, this whole situation was starting to make him nervous. While he enjoyed observing people from a distance, this situation forced him to observe and join in which wasn't his favorite thing to do. He was always the quiet guy who watched from the side lines or the shadows unnoticed by everyone around him he really dislikes this, but he decided to deal it. "So would you like to freak out no one seems to have Done that yet which I find odd. Or tell us about yourself or do both whatever you feel like lassy."

Damn...could still be back in Israel.


The thought made him frown, and he fought the urge to flop back down on the bed, defeated. Going to America had been nothing but a pipe dream from the start, hadn't it? But no...he was certain he remembered getting on the plane...right? His frown deepened as he realized that he couldn't quite place a finger on the last of his memories before waking up. He could vaguely recall a drive to the airport...but as soon as he reached out to put a paw on the details, they would flick away, like a cat playing with a pin lazer.


He listened passively as the others introduced themselves and one - a girl with swirling red hair that, for some reason, made Chuldah instantly like her - read allowed what appeared to be the focus of their attention at the table. Chuldah, for that matter, found it much comfier to remain in bed.


"There are many things to be saved for later, all that is to be told now is that this is a maze. Simply put it, you will be solving the maze. I can almost guarantee your physical well-being unfortunately, I can not guarantee you won't be emotionally scathed. Good luck."


While the others bandied about some American pop culture reference that went way over his head because it seemed beneath him, Chuldah simmered over the information. On the one hand, a part of him (indeed, a very large part) was magnetizing his body back under the surprisingly soft sheets in hopes that this was just some sort of crazy plane-induced hallucination and he really would wake up in America...well, definite America. On the other hand...there was something quite titillating about the note's proposition.


A puzzle, huh?


For all his laziness, Chuldah had to admit. He liked puzzles. Maybe that's why he had ended up here. Someone had heard about his little college stunt and figured out that he could be smarter than he let on. In that case his talents would let him show off a little for the foreigners...maybe win him some good nature once he inevitably got back to the States.


As he was tossing it about in his head, a bed near him began to stir. The girl who tumbled out of it mumbled something about wanting to get back to sleep.


"Me and you both," Chuldah murmured just under his breath. A little louder, he continued, "If it's a puzzle it shouldn't be too hard to solve...but I don't see anything like a maze around here. Do we have to..." he frustratedly sought about for the appropriate English word, "activate it?"

[ Everyone keeps talking about Maze Runner, and Hunger Games but I made this RP before any of those books were published. ]


After slipping the note in her pocket, Cat circled the room. Figuring their first step, though above that something was bothering her about the note. It looked like her handwriting. Maybe it was just coincidence, it still unnerved her. Cat considered bringing it up, but did nothing.


"Activation," Cat mumbled, "well maybe they want everyone awake first."


That didn't stop her from looking, mumbling quite to herself "or David Bowe and his god awful hair."


Suddenly Cat turned back and started dragging the table over to the wall. It was heavier than she assumed, but still not difficult to move. The table pushed into an unseen hallway. Like the labyrinth. Stupid trick, yet fascinating. To look at in the least.


"It's here, the entrance is just right here," Cat pointed out, sitting on the table for a moment she slipped off only to vanish behind the wall. After a moment she poped her head out.


"Should we wait for more to wake up? What do you guys think?"