Realistic or Modern Darkness - The Horror Story

[Squad141]

The day was calm in Olton Indiana. Kids went to school, adults went to work. Everything seemed normal, but everyone knew it wasn't. Murder ratings were on rise recently, mostly in the city over. Kids were disappearing more and more. But no one wanted to talk about it.

Here we are now, in Kings Middle School. A small handful of teenagers are like everyone else, but try to make a difference in their lives. They don't know eachother, and never have. But they are about too...

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Markus shifted his dark purple jacket a bit so that it was more comfortable, as he was getting his stuff from his locker. It was the end of the third week at school, which had turned out to be okay in many cases. He hadnt made many friends, but that scarcley mattered to him. He grabbed his stuff, and flung his backpack over his shoulder, about to head out, when he saw something very peculiar.

An ivory butterfly.

It mustve gotten in from the front, Markus thought. His gaze followed it, until he saw the white insect disappear into a storage closet that seemed to be darker than usual. Nonetheless, it wasn't important to him very much, so he went outside, and got on the bus home.​

 

[Chimney Swift]

Connor weaved his way through the swarm of students, getting shoved this way and that by taller kids who failed to notice his presence. However, not being noticed was far better than the alternative, at least in Connor's opinion. Maneuvering his way down the corridor, he finally reached his grey metal locker. He retrieved his things as quickly as possible, throwing his jacket on and grabbing his bag before escaping the school.

Connor lived about a mile and a half from the school, but the long walk was nothing to him. His parents didn't own a car, so he was used to having to go places on foot. It's better that way, he thought... safer, at least. He had an odd way of walking, though: always staring at the ground, hunched over slightly as if his dark green messenger bag was weighing him down too much to stand straight.

The bus rolled by on the street. Some kid threw a crumpled piece of paper out the window at him. Connor flinched back as the object hit his head, stopping in his tracks to let the bus move ahead before picking up the paper and uncrumpling it. The enscription on the inside was fairly uninteresting. Just "retard!" scribbled in red marker. Connor frowned slightly, heaved a sigh and threw the note back over his shoulder. He no time to waste on these things.

 

[Antisocial]

Addison made her way through the mine-field that was the school hallways, everyone was pushing and shoving to try and get out of school first which meant that the hallways were too busy and noisy for her liking. She hurried to her locker and grabbed her bag and textbooks, she slung her red messenger bag over her shoulder and stuffed her books into it. Her phone buzzed and she rolled her eyes at the text that she'd received 'Hey Ads, sorry I'm working late tonight, so you'll have to make your own way home. There's a pizza in the fridge if your hungry. Elliot & Mia are sleeping at a friends house so you don't need to pick them up from school today xx -Dad'

"Typical." She muttered as she shoved her phone into her pocket and made her way out of the school. Addison lived on the outskirts of town so when she walked it took her about an hour to get home. Sometimes her Dad would pick her up in his beat-up pickup truck, which she preferred to walking home alone. She had friends but they all lived on the opposite side of town so walking home together wasn't exactly an option, besides they were all going to the cinema after school, Addison would have went too but she didn't have the money and hadn't gotten a chance to ask her Dad if she could borrow some. And whilst she would usually walk with her siblings but they didn't count as company as they had his own friends to walk with whilst she trailed behind, making her look like a loser who didn't have any friends her own age.

She kept scanning the area around her, her friends said she was paranoid but Addison liked to think of it as being cautious and if it stopped her getting beaten up or kidnapped she could live with being labeled as paranoid, especially with all of the kids that had been disappearing recently she vaguely knew one of them, it was her friends older brother, they had been searching all week for him but he hadn't been found yet. Addison was pretty sure that he'd be found dead even if her friend refused to give up hope. She knew if the situation was reversed she would try to remain hopeful too, but with the amount of kids that were going missing it seemed impossible that it was all just a coincidence.

Rolling her eyes she shoved her earphones in as she walked home.

 

[Achillea]

An easy smile on his lips, shoulders still shaking with laughter from a joke already half forgotten, Gabe waved his friends a last goodbye before heading for his bicycle. He enjoyed the energy of the rapidly emptying hallways, the frantic rhythm of lockers banging and hurried footsteps, making the outside seem vast and empty in comparison. Stopped at the bike racks to catch up on social media, then stuffed his phone into his bag and for a leisurely ride home.

It took an hour, past city blocks and houses he knew like a part of himself, the warm afternoon wind a pleasant companion.
His little brother was already waiting for him, hunched down on the porch steps, with the headphones Gabriel had gotten him for his last birthday - turned eight then, nine in another week - tucked over his ears. It's all the sign he needed, to know there was no need to enter the house - even with full volume on, the TV in the livingroom couldn't mask the shouting match of their parents.

Instead, he sat down on the steps, tucking his brother in for a short hug, before pulling out his homework.

 

[Yennie]

"Sure you dont want to come with us Char?" A group of girls stood around an open locker where Charlotte Theron was currently depositing her books now that the school day was over. She turned around, plastering a smile on her face at her friends insistence. "Really I'm sure, you guys go! Have fun!" They had invited her to join them at the local park district's pool. She had readily declined having no interest whatsoever in getting into a pool. The very thought made her blood run cold - but of course they would never know that. She didn't go out of her way to keep it a secret but never really brought it up in conversation if it wasn't relevant. Thankfully her friends did not continue to pester her and simply said their good byes before leaving. Charlotte left out a relieved huff before gathering up her things for the trip home. She walked home like most of the other kids who attended the school. The walk was rather peaceful really, the surrounding neighborhood was safe and clean making for a pleasant experience in her mind at least.

Charlotte slung her backpack over her shoulders as she made her way out of the school. The crowd of kids was slowly dispersing but Charlotte had no one to wait for as all of her friends had already gone off. She had begun to walk when a troubling scene unfolded before her. Out of a passing school bus someone had thrown a balled up piece of paper, hitting a kid in the head. She recognized him faintly from class but couldn't begin to put a name to the face. She ventured closer out of curiosity as he uncrumpled the paper. It wasn't hard to see the 'retard' scribbled in bold red. She grimaced, a dark thought of 'glad it's not me' fluttered through her head. Charlotte shook her head surprised at her own lack sympathy. She didn't feel bad for him, only grateful that it wasn't happening to her. It was kind of awful to feel that way but when the boy simply threw the note over his shoulder she could tell he was more than used to having those kinds of notes thrown at him. It made her feel less guilty and Charlotte continued on her walk, brushing past the boy as she made her way home.

 

[Vagabond Spectre]

Reginald Smith
Location: Kings middle school > Reginald's Home
Health condition: Good

It was very decent day for Reginald. The dark skinned boy organized his locker which was neat ad orderly displayed. Taking a few textbooks and other important items. He kept them all in his grey back pack, which was rather large. He projected his gentle smile and quiet personality like every other day. Reginald has been known to be kind and hardworking like his father. A true gentleman at heart. He closed his locker and headed down straight to the school's exit. As he walked by foot. He opened his textbook to study in advance while humming a mysterious song not known by many.
Ignoring his surroundings. He deeply focused in his textbook, although he managed stay alert on road. It was't a matter of time before he reached his house​

 

[Chimney Swift]

Connor McNamara
​

Connor, previously lost in a fog of thoughts, abruptly became aware of someone standing behind him. Immediately apprehensive, he visibly stiffened and moved his foot as if to spin around and see who it was. Before he even had a chance to turn around, the girl brushed past and continued on her way down the road. "What... H-hey!" He faltered, flinching back as she made contact with him. He didn't recognize her; at least not immediately. Connor made a point of not bothering to interact with anyone closely enough to learn names. That never seemed to end well. Anyway, there was no point in pursuing her. "Damn it." He muttered, lowering his head and shoving his hands in his pockets, kicking at the dust on the sidewalk.

Connor waited until the girl was further ahead before he kept walkng. He didn't want to seem like he was following her; that would be weird, right?
It would definitely be weird. He thought bitterly to himself, glancing both ways nervously before darting across the busy street. He was almost home now, so hopefully the uncomfortable encounters were over for the day. He doubted that the assholes from school had the stamina to follow him all the way to his house, or at least he hoped they didn't. He could have sworn he still felt their cold, mocking gaze following his back. Usually just being around people for that long left him deeply anxious, but school had been utter hell so far. He was almost thankful that some of the kids had started to disappear.... though at the same time he worried about who could be next.

 

[Squad141]

Six different kids, each with their own lives, their own strengths, their own weaknesses.

But remember. Humans are afraid of the dark.

In a shed. Under a shady tree. In a closet. Under the bed.

The darkness is there. Its true we can walk and see through it. But today these six teenagers were about to see what no one else would.

The Ivory Butterfly leads the way into the darkness.

The six children would meet soon, very soon.

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Markus was sitting in his one-story home all alone. His brother was out at tennis practice, and his parents were out on a few weeks trip. They had left him in charge of the house, which he had been doing a good job of so far. He was currently sitting on the leather couch in the front room, reading a story called "The Vile Village", which he was enjoying very much. The thought of the Ivory Butterfly had crossed his mind once before fading away into the sea of thought from which it had spawned. Getting a bit bored, he stood up, strtech his arms and yawned, before deciding to check the news on his phone.

As it was opening, Markus was thinking about going for a ride on his bike to bookstore that night. He was dressed that way, anyways. He was currently wearing a dark purple t-shirt, with a brown leather jacket over it to accommodate for the chilly autumn weather, and long black sweat pants with white tennis shoes, as well as glasses for it being a relaxing Wednesday evening.

The app finished opening, and he checked the news, but of course couldn't miss the many breaking news tabs for the local area of Olton. Markus looked at them, though he had looked at them many times before, just to remind himself of how the current state of the town was going. Children were disappearing. More and more frequently since the middle of July. Then the murders had begun. They were certainly random, with them having sort o timing pattern or relation to the victims. But with enough seen, Markus turned off his phone to lay back and just relax for a few seconds before heading out. Dusk had begun, and the sun was beginning to set, with colors drenching the sky, the other half turning to the darkness of the crows that sometimes could be seen around Olton.

But as Markus stood up from the couch and put his phone in his pocket, he saw something that for some reason created the small drip of curiosity and surprise in him.

The Ivory Butterfly.

It was slowly flying to the left of his face, and into the hallway leading to his room.

Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, but as the light of dusk shined through the front doors glass portal, he could see what looked like sketch marks on the passing insects wings, and how its wings looked rough, even scratchy. So Markus quickly began to walking to his room, to find that the butterfly was surprisingly fast. It had entered the door of his small closet, and had landed on the light switch. From where he was standing, Markus could see the white insect sort of stretch upwards, then down again, as if trying to jump without lifting its legs. The force from the motion flipped the switch downwards, turning the closet light off. Markus expected the butterfly to come back out any second so he could see and study its curious pattern, when he realized the closet wasn't now just dark, but black.

It was the same kind of blackness when he had seen the butterfly for the first time, that emanated from the custodians room. It was black where nothing could be seen from within, but where there seemed to be mist coming the inkiness that it was.

Then light returned to the closet, as if an invisible hand had turned it back, as the butterfly was not there.

Markus cautiously stepped inside the closet, only big enough to hold one teenager sized person at a time. The canvas-resembling bug was nowhere to be found, and somehow dissapeared when the lights were off.

Then Markus got an idea.

He closed the closet door, thinking that this idea of his was silly, and yet he continued on with it. With only the light from the bulb above him shining down, Markus reached over and clicked the light switch off. He was drenched in darkness, the same as before. But the light from dusk that emanated from the cracks behind the door had been replaced by a slight grey tinge. Markus opened the door, and stepped into, not his room, but The Dark Hallway.

He had exited through what looked like his closet door, but completely grey. Before him was a slightly darker shade of greyed hallway. With any other doors ahead. The hallway itself was misty, with he black smoke that he had seen earlier.

Markus was scared.
​

Chimney Swift Vagabond Spectre Yennie Achillea Antisocial

 

[Yennie]

Charlotte Theron

Charlotte bristled when the boy cried out in shock. She hadn't meant to bump him that hard really and almost felt like she should apologize but she was far too embarrassed to turn back now. Plus how would it look her speaking to someone labelled 'retard' by her classmates? Not good for her social standing that was for sure. And so she soldiered on, her head held high in mock confidence as she continued to strut across the street towards her home.
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Much later in the evening Charlotte sat sprawled across her living room couch, idly rifling through a nondescript teen magazine with one hand, the other flipping through channels with a remote. She had her cellphone pressed between her ear and her right shoulder as her friend Ashley chattered away about how much fun the pool had been plus all the cute boys who'd shown up. Charlotte rolled her eyes and laughed at her friends dramatic retelling of events. "He seriously tried to pull her top off? That's so gross!" She was even more grateful she had decided against going. Having her small, budding chest revealed to her friends and others was very low on her list of things to do.

Her end of the conversation lapsed as she ended up on the local new channel. Yet another story of a child disappearance filtered across the screen, the newscaster somber and resigned as they recounted the details of the case. Charlotte sighed. It seemed it was getting more and more dangerous to be a kid in their little town. She often worried for her own safety but some part of her told her not to be silly - she would never allow herself to be kidnapped like those other children.
Just as Ashley began pestering her about going silent, Charlotte's mother entered the living room dressed in a jacket for the cool weather with her purse in hand. "I'm going to grab a pizza for dinner. Need anything hon?" Charlotte shook her head no, "Pizza is fine mom." After a breath Charlotte added on almost as an afterthought "And um.... be careful." Her mother raised an eyebrow in question before her attention turned to the television screen. Though the disappearances were mostly kids, more and more murders had been springing up and adults were more often then not the victims. Her mothers line face softened into a small smile. "Of course sweetie. Look after your brother." And with that the woman left the living room.

Charlotte went back to her phone call, once again laughing at her friends theatrics when a small butterfly flitted across the room just a few feet in front of her. She almost hadn't noticed it at first but the small insect fluttered back across her vision before heading out of the room towards the front door. That was strange, the family didn't leave windows open during this time of the year. How had that gotten in? Charlotte rose from the couch and made her way down the hall. She was startled to find that the front door was cracked open, just wide enough for the butterfly to slip right outside. "What the-" Who had left the door open? Her mom was pretty vigilant about their safety and would never leave the door unlocked, let alone cracked. Confused, Charlotte crept closer to the front door. "Ash I'll call you back." She said, ending the call before the girl could respond. When she got to the front door all she could see through the crack was a deep darkness. It was blacker than any night she'd ever experienced. Curiosity made Charlotte open the door a little further. Perhaps her younger brother had gone outside and forgot to close the door behind him? She peered out the window and could not contain her gasp. Through the window the outside appeared as it normally did around this time. The sky a little darkened as the sun set, but nowhere near the blackness she was seeing through the front door. How could that be?

Charlotte flipped on the porch light, it's brightness even seemed dim in the wake of all that darkness. She could see no more then she could a second ago and that worried her. But if her brother was out there she would need to get him inside. After all her mom had instructed her to watch him. Deciding she had little choice, Charlotte grabbed a hoodie from the nearby coat rack. It was a light cloth but thick hoodie that slipped easily over her cotton t-shirt, the same dark grey color as her sweatpants. She slipped her feet into a pair of sports flippers and stepped out into the darkness with only her cellphone. Using the built in flash light, Charlotte walked forward a few steps before stopping in her tracks.

Where was the wind? She felt the same chill air from before but no wind. A sense of dread began to set in as she noticed more of her surroundings. Beneath her feet was not the concrete of the walkway leading up to her house, instead it was old wooden flooring. Like what you would find inside a house. Mildly terrified, Charlotte lifted the cellphone and shined the light onto the walls. Her fears confirmed that she was not outside, but inside some long dismal hallway shrouded in gray fog and darkness. She wanted to turn back, to run back into her home but found herself unable to. Fear rooted her to the spot and she cried out weakly. "H-hello..." It came out as a choked off whisper, nearly startling her as she realized how silent it was. Just where in the hell was she and how did she get here from simply stepping outside of her front door?

 

[Chimney Swift]

Connor McNamara

​

Finally, Connor was back home. He entered the tall brick building in a rush, dashing up the familiar creaky stairs to the door that was labeled with a brass number 6. Home... just the thought filled him with a sense of relief. Finally safe, finally away from that hellhole prison known as public school. Unlocking the door and kicking off his worn-out blue sneakers, he walked into the living room to find his father hunched over their old desktop computer. The man, who shared Connor's wild blond curls, turned around with a bright smile as soon as he saw his 13 year old son walk through the door. "Hey, buddy!" Connor's dad greeted brightly, waving the boy over. "Glad to see you got home okay..." His cheeriness faded as he took notice of Connor's weary expression. "Rough day at school?"
"Rough is a good word for it." Connor replied in his best attempt at sounding calm and nonchalant. He knew his dad was just trying to help, but he hated talking about school almost as much as he hated being there. Forcing a smile, he gave his dad a quick hug. "I'll be in my room." He said before leaving the living room for the old closet he now called his bedroom.

He switched on the floor lamp, leaving the door just slightly cracked open as he walked over to his shelf and started rifling through his small collection of video games, wanting to pick out something to play after he finished his homework... or as much homework as he could convince himself to get done without throwing his head against the wall. Getting a bit distracted, he pulled a book off his shelf and dusted off the cover. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, his favorite book ever since he was old enough to read the series. Maybe I have a little time... he thought, smiling a bit as he sat down on his bed, flicking away what he thought was a piece of paper...

It wasn't. It was some kind of moth or butterfly.

The insect deftly evaded Connor's fingers, flitting about in front of his face as if to taunt him before flying out through the crack in the door into the hall. However, Connor's curiosity had been piqued and he wasn't about to just watch the peculiar creature fly away. He ran after it, knowing there was no point in sneaking, pushing open the door. But the sight that met him behind the door wasn't at all what he expected. It was dark, darker than he could ever recall it being in his life. An eternal, smothering black. It was impossible for it to be this dark in the apartment, especially this early in the evening. Besides, wouldn't his dad have noticed? He was just in the other room... down the hallway...

"...Dad? What's going on!?" Unforunately, the only sound he could make was an awkward, cracking whisper. There's no way that he could have been heard, even under normal circumstances. Using his knowledge of the layout of the apartment, he attempted to blindly navigate his way into the living room. He estimated that it only took about ten seconds to walk through at a normal pace, but twenty passed... then thirty... a minute. This was definitely not his hallway anymore.
It was beginning to occur to him that perhaps this unsettling atmosphere might not be wholly real. Medication side effect, maybe? Unlikely, considering he wasn't taking anything anymore. A dream... that seems more like it. Having nothing to do except keep walking or panic, Connor chose to keep walking. Panicking was for school.

The long, black corridor seemed to wind endlessly into oblivion, but long walks were no stranger to Connor. As creepy as this was, at least he was alone. He was scared, sure, but he could manage. At least until he died of dehydration somewhere in here. It really did seem to go on forever. Maybe it would have been better if he stayed by his room, the last thing he'd seen other than the hallway, but he doubted he could find it again. Who would notice he was gone? Would his father think he was one of those missing children...

Then it clicked in his head. The missing children. This is what must be happening to them, right? Had he become the next victim? He might be dead already. Or worse, maybe the other kids were here with him, their empty souls watching from every corner. It was impossible to tell in this stifling black tunnel, where their cold, dead eyes might be. Dread seemed to fill his insides like icy steel, a lump rising in his throat as if to preemptively prevent him from crying out in terror. This can't be happening. This isn't real... it's not real...

 

[Achillea]

Calculus could wait. Could wait for the quiet hours of the night or early morning when he was the only one awake in their house. Could wait until Mike was tucked in, blankets heaped over his head and curled up in search for comfort and warmth around his stuffed whale.
Throwing a ball back and forth with his brother, just for a few minutes, a small respite before dinner, was more important than school or the future. Gabe listened to the bubbling laughter of his baby brother as they both watched the ball fly high above them. Jumped high trying to catch it, feeling it brush the tip of his fingers, knocking it off its course and into the garden behind them.
"I will go!" Mike rushed off, Gabriel close behind, not willing to let him drift out of his sight. He'd already been cautious about his brother from the beginning, but with the news of disappearances and crime, it had only gotten worse.

He caught up in time to hear Mike give off a little wail of displeasure. It was easy to see why - their ball had rolled right into the patch of high bushes they had dubbed Mirkwood Forest a few years back. While lacking the trees of its namesake, instead being a dense array of andromedas and peonies, it did share an important characteristic: both were overrun by spiders. He couldn't spot the white and black leather anywhere, it must have gone in quite a bit.
He did, however, immediately spot three spiders perched in their nets. Mike's laboured breathing suggested he had too.
"Don't worry, I'll get it." With a last ruffle of Mike's thick, black hair, Gabe ventured inside, turning on his phone's flashlight option as he went in.

Leaves brushed against his exposed skin, sharp edged but bearly scratching the surface. The arachnids scuttled away in panic as he moved through, pointing his light here and there to see through the shadows. Something bright caught his attention, hopeful gaze focusing on what turned out to be a butterfly artfully navigating through the maze of webs and branches. Mimicing its path, he followed, curious and amused by his own naive hope that it might lead the way to what he was searching.

Did they really have this many bushes in their garden? He idly wondered who took care of them, as he suddendly noticed his guide was gone and an odd, almost artificial dark surrounding him.
Gabe looked down at his phone to see if he had accidentally turned it off, a startled yelp escaping his lips as he did, dropping it in the process.
Adrenaline kicking in, he moved a few steps back, expecting to bump into something, anything... but finding the path behind him as empty and dark as the one ahead.
"Mike?", he called, hoping to use his brother's voice to guide him back out, blindly letting his hands feel ahead, unsure steps in some direction he believed to be the way back.

 

[Antisocial]

Addison Martinez​

Addison walked down the street to her house, she eyed up their front lawn distastefully; litter was strewn everywhere and their fence was crooked and practically falling over in some places. She knew that their house was better than most in the street but it wasn't somewhere that she would invite anyone from school. Her Dad wasn't really the type to do the housework or yard-work, when he got in from work he was too exhausted to do anything other than greet his children and go to sleep.

Avoiding the trash in their garden she headed to the front door, she had to practically wrestle it open to get inside as the lock had been jammed for ages. Kicking off her boots she chucked her bag on the floor and headed into the living room she was greeted by a hyperactive German Shepard practically tackling her to the ground, "Hey there Yogi," she grinned and rubbed his belly as he rolled over onto his back. She mentally rolled her eyes every-time that she said his name, her brother had named him after watching some stupid cartoon and the name had stuck.

Hours later Addison was sprawled out on her couch surrounded by piles of notebooks and textbooks, she had about four different assignments all due for the next day and she wasn't going to ruin her perfect grades for the sake of something as stupid as sleep. Because in reality who needs sleep anyways. The homework was easy enough though, for the English homework all she had to do was write a stupid book report which wouldn't take her more than twenty minutes.

She hated how quiet the house was without the twins. Now the only thing she could hear was the sound of the wind outside and the sound of her clicking her pen.

A flash of movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention she frowned as she saw a small piece of paper lying on the floor. Silently cursing her ability to get always loose something she bent down to pick it up, when it moved.

It was a small ivory insect, either a moth or a butterfly but it didn't look real. It looked like someone had taken it straight out of a book, it was beautiful in a strange way.

Addison realized that she felt somewhat drawn to it. Hesitantly, and against her better instincts, she started to follow it. She ignored Yogi's whining as she followed it upstairs,

Absently she wondered if the stairs had always taken this long to climb. As she made her way upstairs it got darker, with each step the light from downstairs faded. That was when her stomach dropped and a feeling of dread overwhelmed her, her hands were shaking as she reached the final step.

She couldn't see anything, everything was dark and she could barely make out what was in front of her. With trembling hands she reached for the light switch, she tried it once and nothing happened, desperately she tried it again.

The darkness felt as if it was consuming her, she couldn't see. She tried the switch again, hoping that whatever was happening was simply her imagination. Her teachers kept telling her she had an overactive imagination. That had to be what this was. Because this couldn't be real.

Her heart thudded in her chest. Her feet tingled. Her vision disfigured, as if she were looking through a fish-eye lens. She had to get away. But there was nowhere to get away too, the hallway stretched and twisted around her to the point where she couldn't see the staircase she had just walked up to get here. She couldn't breathe.

The urge to run was driving her to the edge, she stumbled backwards, trying to find the stairs. Trying to find some way to escape but the corridor seemed to go on forever. And she couldn't see. What if I'm going crazy...like mom. She shook her head as she tried to ignore the voice in the back of her mind, telling her that she was going crazy, that she was going to die.

She was going to die just like those other kids, the one's that had went missing. She wondered if they had gone crazy too, before they died. If this was some case of mass freak hysteria or if the killer somehow made their victims hallucinate before they died.

Maybe she never made it home.

The thoughts came one after the other, spiraling until she could barely think straight.

Calm down Addison. This isn't real, it can't be real. It's just your imagination.

Maybe she had fallen asleep on the couch, and all of this was just a dream. She used to have vivid nightmares when she was younger, so did her mother, she used to have to scream herself awake.

She desperately tried to reason with herself and rationalize what was happening to her.

It was just another nightmare.

That had to be it.

Because if it wasn't then whatever was happening was more terrifying than she wanted to imagine.

"Wake up," She muttered to herself, as the adrenaline surged through her body and the panic increased so did her voice until she was nearly screaming "Wake up Addison! Wake up! Wake up!"

 

[Chimney Swift]

Connor McNamara

​

One foot after the other, Connor stumbled through the dark hallway. If I can't see them, they can't see me. he thought, though his thoughts were barely coherent enough to form fully. This one parsible sentence became mental mantra of sorts, enough to keep him pressing on through the corridor. They can't see me. They can't-

"Wake up!"

A shout echoed through the darkness, snapping Connor out of his own mental fog. Suddenly his heart was racing, his brain wracking itself to determine whether the sound had come from his own imagination or whether it had come from some outside source. Praying it wasn't the latter, he instinctively froze up, holding his breath and listening for a sound. In the darkness of the hallway, he could feel it... he wasn't alone. There could be one, or ten, or thousands - no, millions of pairs of eyes, their dull glassy surfaces staring deep into the inner workings of his mind...

Fighting down the surging panic rising in his throat, Connor buried his face in his hand and took a few deep, ragged breaths. Think, think, think.... if he wanted to live, somehow he'd have to regain control.
He tentatively reached out a trembling hand, waving it left and then right, feeling around like a blind animal. Feeling nothing but the cold dark fog, he let his arm drop. If there was anyone here, they weren't too close. He could run if he had to. Besides, if there were any helpful beings or creatures in this endless abyss, he had to take the risk. It was either that or die alone in the darkness. Brushing a tangled blond lock off his sweat drenched forehead, he forced out a high-pitched, stammering "H-hello?" It wasn't an eloquent greeting, but it was all he could make himself say. He'd find the nerve to be sociable later, if he lived that long.

 

[Antisocial]

Addison Martinez​

"H-Hello?"

Addison didn't know what to do, if this was really a nightmare then going to the mysterious voice was a surefire way to make this whole situation more terrifying. But if this all was real then she really didn't want to be alone and if they were real that would mean that she was and that she hadn't gone crazy.

She didn't want this to be real because that would be terrifying. But she didn't want it to be fake as then that would mean it was all in her head, which scared her. More than anything else. She didn't want to waste away like some ghost, trapped in her own body and at the mercy of her own mind.

Please don't say I'm crazy. Please don't let this be it.

That was probably why she ventured further into the darkness, she tried to ignore the pit of dread in her stomach and the voice in the back of her mind that was describing in painful detail how she was going to die here. She couldn't die, not here, not alone. She couldn't die in this place, this nothing. What would happen to her Dad? To her siblings? To Yogi? Would they spend the rest of their lives not knowing, not knowing if she was dead or alive, not knowing who killed her or why? Not knowing if they were ever going to find her body.

Either she was going to die, or she'd already gone insane. Maybe she'd never left school, she'd had some kind of psychotic break and she was catonic in some hospital room. Trapped in her hell of a mind.

"Hello? Hello!?" Please be real.

She stumbled into the darkness, shakily putting one foot in front of the other. She held her hands out in front of her, it was as close as she could get to navigating the corridor, the darkness sent chills down her spine and she felt sick. The further she walked into the corridor the colder it got.

Is there even a way to get back?

Determined not to die in this godforsaken place she shook her head and tried to steady herself, taking deep breaths in and out, eventually she managed to stop her hands trembling although she couldn't do anything about the fact she was shivering other than curl in on herself slightly for warmth.

"Hello?! Anyone!?" Please be real.

Please.

 

[Chimney Swift]

Connor McNamara

​

"Hello? Hello!?"

"Hello?! Anyone!?"

The voice repeated enough times that Connor was now quite certain it was real. Unsure if this was better or worse than the alternative, but he had to work with it. Besides, she --at least, Connor assumed it was a she-- sounded scared; even more terrified than he was. If she really was alive and human, he had little choice but to try to help her out znd hope she'd return the favor.

Anxiously fidgeting with his shirt collar, he searched for something else to say. The fact that he couldn't see an inch in front of him wasn't helping him stay calm, but pretending to be calmer than he actually was happened to be something he'd gotten rather used to.

"Uh... I d-don't know if this is helpful at all, but I'm over here... uh, probably a few feet ahead of you... or behind you, I can't tell which way you're facing. C-can you see at all?"

Not a great start, but it was something. Besides, the last thing he wanted to do right now was to invite things lurking in the tunnel to come closer, but it was what he had to do. He wanted to somehow get her to prove that she was human, but he honestly couldn't think of how at this point. He just had to roll with whatever his stress-addled brain could come up with.

 

[Vagabond Spectre]

Reginald Smith
​

With his nose stuck on the textbook on his way home. He was deeply focused in his studies more than anything else in the world. Placing his bag in a beige sofa. Reginald sat alone in the sofa in his living room. His parents were gone at work, leaving him alone in the house. Reginald turned the TV on before him to replace the drowning silence with background noise. He sat in the sofa for thirty minutes straight. While studying his textbook he noticed a butterfly, fluttering across the corner of his left eye. "I must have forgotten to close the door" He said to himself. Reginald didn't mind but the butterfly had a rather interesting appearance. He wanted to try and catch it to see if he knows what kind of butterfly it is. The butterfly fluttered around the house while Reginald just attempted to follow and catch it. It flew to his bedroom. Slipping in the bedrooms slightly opened door. Reginald opened the door and entered. Closing the door behind him. He looked back to his dark room and noticed something different. Trying to find the light switch that was supposed to be by the door is now gone. He was in a world other than his own.

 

[Antisocial]

Addison Martinez​

"Uh... I d-don't know if this is helpful at all, but I'm over here... uh, probably a few feet ahead of you... or behind you, I can't tell which way you're facing. C-can you see at all?"

Addison let out a shaky breath, she tried to orientate herself towards the noise, she turned towards where she thought the sound was coming from and tentatively stumbled forwards. She knew that going further into the darkness was probably a surefire way to get killed but she didn't have any other options.

Just let the voice be real.

The voice seemed real enough, it sounded like a boy, probably her age more or less. Addison wondered if he was one of the missing kids, if this is where the lost children of their town had ended up.

"Not really! But I think I can try and find you," It wasn't like she had anything to loose by trying. The fact that there may be someone else here with her did help her, either way it meant she wasn't alone. And maybe if she wasn't alone then maybe they could find a way to get out. Addison usually prided herself on her skepticism, on the fact that she didn't pretend the world was made up on sunshine and rainbows. But just this once she was going to try and be positive.

Be positive. Keep going. Don't die.

"I think I'm getting closer to you." She let out a low hollow chuckle, she had no idea if she was getting closer to the voice. But she hoped that she was headed in the right direction. "I'm Addison by the way."

(Sorry I know it's basically a filler and didn't help but I kept trying to write for this little bit and was never happy with it and I felt like we needed someone to post something.)

 

[Achillea]

Maybe he was going insane.
Plausible enough, with the inpenetrable darkness and the voices and the panic rising inside him like bile. Gabe was pretty sure he'd heard about that before in some tv cop drama. The multiple personality thing or the schizo...something. He wasn't sure. The thought didn't help, and he found himself clinging to the possibility that this was real. The odds didn't seem in his favour.
"I'm Addison by the way" Female, young, maybe an arm's length away from him. The first time he'd heard the others he'd nearly screamed, jumping away in some random direction, startled. Listened since then, trying to figure out how many there were. He'd counted four so far, only certain about two.

Still scared, still uncertain, Gabriel decided to engange with them, gather evidence for his mental state.
"Hi?" The greeting, quiet and uncertain, came out more like a question than a statement. He gathered his breath and his courage. "I'm Gabe. Are you... is this-" Struggling for words, he took a gradual step forward, hands still outstretched to avoid any collisions. "What is this?"

 

[Chimney Swift]

Connor McNamara​

"I'm Gabe. Are you... is this-"
"What is this?"

The second voice echoed through the hall, immediately catching Connor's attention. Another one? Connor was sure that he wasn't hallucinating by this point, but there was still something a bit daunting about the situation. Now there were two strangers in the tunnel with him, possibly more. Starting to feel a bit crowded, Connor forced himself to continue playing it cool as much as possible. Both voices had identified themselves now. The girl was Addison, and the new boy was Gabe. I should introduce myself, too. Don't be weird. He thought briefly about this, but soon decided against it.. ...No, wait until someone asks. They probably don't want to know my name.

It occurred to him that he still had to keep talking so that they didn't lose track of his location, but by now Connor had already created an awkward silence. What on earth could he say now? It was like school all over again, but with no lights on.

Exactly. It's just like school.

Oddly enough, thinking sbout the situation like this went along way towards making Connor feel calmer. School was hell, but he did that every day. If he could go to school, he could deal with this mystery abyss. He could do this.

"So, uh... where are you guys from?" He asked, breaking the brief silence. He silently congratulated himself on the question, thinking it would be helpful to gauge how long the others had been here. Had they all been transported here at the same time, or had these two been wandering the hallway longer? They seemed to be just as scared and clueless as he was, but if they worked together, maybe they'd be able to figure out how to get out. Connor smiled slightly in disbelief, unable to remember the last time he was this optomistic.

 

[Antisocial]

Addison Martinez​

"Hi?" .. "I'm Gabe. Are you....is this-What is this?"

Well isn't that the million dollar question, "Hey Gabe, I would say nice to meet you but...you know and I have no idea what this is...unless we're all dead or insane." She realized that he was much closer than the other voice, which somehow didn't make her feel any safer.

Frowning she tried to place the other voice, so there's two of them, at least this one had a name. And it didn't sound like it belonged to some kind of monster, it sounded male and more or less her age. That was either great or it meant that everything was going to go to hell. Some of the missing kids had been her age.

Great, so I am probably going to die here, just wonderful.

She didn't know what to do, before it had just been another nightmare to her and like usual she had tried to scream herself awake. Which usually worked. But now, now it couldn't be a nightmare as her nightmares never included people she didn't know. They comprised of family and friends and occasionally the human centipede due to her stubbornness when she was eight that she was old enough to watch it.

She definitely wasn't.

So if this was real, which it was, then she really was trapped. And so were Gabe and the boy who's name she didn't know.

"So, uh... where are you guys from?" The other voice called out.

Addison realized that she couldn't keep referring to the other guy as, well 'the other guy' "Hey...other guy? Could you tell us your name? And I'm from Olton, Indiana, what about you two?"