Fantasy We All Fall Down [Closed]

[izayoiix]

Rowan Woods​

Rowan sighed, pushing her chair back against the tile floor, wondering if Mary was ever going to get some type of cover for the legs of the chairs so they didn't screech whenever someone stood up. Digging in her pocket she grabbed a small wad of bills and handed them to the elder woman with a small and awkward smile. "Uh...sorry bout this..." she murmured before hurrying out the door after Noah. He was right. They really should follow Sep.

Swiftly easing her way past Gene and Adrian, she sent the two of them another awkward smile and a weak wave goodbye as she looked over her shoulder and slipped out the door. She let out a sigh and gripped her elbows, crossing her arms as she glanced at Noah beside her.

"Do you have any idea where to find her?" she asked softly. Obviously it wasn't just her who had sensed her friends uneasiness, especially once she'd begun to talk about Deadwood Forest. At that absent thought, Rowan wondered if that was where her friend was headed. She hoped not, but she doubted she'd get what she wanted in this case. "I have a feeling you're going to say you do have an idea," she began after a moment of silence between the two. "And I have another feeling that I'm not gonna like it." she sighed.

After another moment she shrugged and steeled herself. "Alright, well, let's go. We aren't gonna find her out here in the parking lot so." she mumbled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear so she could try searching the area better.

Location: Sunnyside Diner | | Mentions: boo. Life. Cross S n o w ​

 

[Life.]

Noah Venz​

There was an unsettling feeling inside of Noah, an unusual heaviness on his shoulders and nausea in his throat. His grip on Leyla tightened slightly as he held the pup close to his chest. The smart pup seemed to have sensed the sudden shift of mood in her owner's demeanor to where she stood still in his arms. Noah's eyes glanced down once more to the ground beneath him as he noticed the ley-lines emitting an unusual pattern to their shine. His attention shifted over to Rowan once she approached him. He released a single, soft chuckle and weakly smiled over to Rowan, "Yup, you won't like my idea. But I want to go take a look into the Dead Forest first. It's the most recent place she mentioned so that's probably our best bet there."

After his answer, Rowan seemed to prepare herself for the search. Noah followed her approach as well in psyching himself up for the search, but internally much worry clung onto his heart. Despite not knowing Septima to the point of calling her a best friend, she was still a friend and someone he has interacted with. Plus the idea of going to the Dead Forest was not a fun one. There was a dark reputation to the place since it hoards much mystery and fear.

"Alright let's head out then. Uhm...I guess follow me and stay close? I don't want to sound bossy though but I want to be sure you stay safe," if the situation had been less urgent, Noah would probably never had the courage to directly tell Rowan these words. But in the circumstances they were in now, Noah was on cautious mode. He cleared his throat in an attempt to break the awkwardness and began taking the lead, glancing back ever so often to make sure that Rowan was close.

Because of his socioeconomic status, Noah had no quick transportation to the Dead Forest. His only option was to walk. Perhaps with the adrenaline pumping through his veins and uncertainty clouding his mind, Noah was able to speed-walk his way over to the forest in no time. Hopefully Rowan felt the same urgency as well and kept up to the boy's pace.

Once they had reached the edge of the forest, Noah could feel his mood darken. The ley-lines were weaker in this area. He felt afraid. Despite the burden the ley-lines gave him, they were a constant in his life. They were almost everywhere he went. They gave him life essentially. So to enter a place with virtually little to none scared him. It led to inconsistency, but they needed to go and try to find Sept. There was something bothering the girl and it was due to Noah's pride of saving face that he focused more on Gene and Adrian rather than Sept. It was his fault for being a bad friend. Another detail to add to his worry was that the ley-lines odd activity stopped, as if the anomaly never occurred. Nevertheless Noah still felt the urge to look for Sept.

Noah looked up to the black tendrils of warped tree branches. Leyla must've felt the heavy atmosphere since she released a small whimper. The boy had nearly forgotten about the pup, but they were here now. At this point all he wanted to do was do a single, quick, thorough search before moving on. Upon his scanning of the area, Noah's eyes caught the shapes of people close by. But as he took a few steps forward he realized these people...they weren't alive. They were apparitions. It appeared as though he was not the only one to see them as Leyla softly growled in the direction of them. But as soon as he saw them, they disappeared. Shivers clawed at his spine. While their shapes had disappeared, their voices had not.

Noah was frozen in his place. Every molecule of his body was screaming to run, which the boy almost did. Instead he looked over to Rowan, "I forgot how big the forest was. Perhaps we take a quick look and then head back and report her missing?" His words left his mouth in a hurried manner, while his composure tried to remain calm. But the voices, they were everywhere. He didn't want to be there.

Location: Lower Harwood | | Mentions: izayoiix ​

 

[Cross]

Gene Reves​

Gene barrelled into the forest. A part of him considered the haunted forest cool. It gave off a sort of energy that pinged in him. Gene glanced around for Noah and his group. He didn't see any trace of him but it was a big place.

Gene squinted at a shadow and pointed his phone at it for a better look. It shifted, slithered. He winced and took a huge step backward. Gene retreated until he was shoulder to shoulder with Adrian. His manly pride didn't allow him to run when there was a witness. "That's. . . " It looked like fifty black snakes crawling over each other, wiggling in their den. Gene made a sound like a duck honk of distress. He slammed his hand over his mouth.

His power, the ability to dream things into reality. . . Gene had stumbled onto snake nests before. It happened when his mind wandered. Anxiety was terrible for everyone but his could become real in the worst way. "That's so weird," Gene said. Adrian did not DID NOT need to know about his ability. "Let's go this way."

He stared at the ground as he walked and took the branching path right. Gene took several deep breaths and, after a couple of minutes, his mind and heart stopped racing. A voice nearby, faint but audible, caught his attention. It sounded like a guy.

"I hear they're filming the next Blair Witch Project here," Gene said. Ha-ha. Ghosts were only cool if you could leave them behind. Investigating somewhere haunted was better than being haunted.

Gene pushed past a low hanging branch. A black stick hit the ground in front of him. It took him a second to realize it wasn't a stick. Another snake crawled out of his imagination. Its glossy skin glinted as it curled up. Gene stared at the snake. He needed to shut off the ideas in his mind like turning off a facet. Gene stared at the snake. He glanced at Adrian to make sure he wasn't watching. Gene wanted it to go away, and, after a second, it disappeared. In the story of his mind, all the snakes were going deeper into the Dead Forest to live out their lives where they wouldn't bother him again.

Gene headed in the direction of the voices. Had one of them belonged to Noah? Gene followed the sound of rustling until he glimpsed Noah and Rowan. They looked afraid.

"You shouldn't be here," Gene started as soon as he saw Noah. Another voice ran overtop his. It wasn't one he recognized. Cold air touched his face and he shuddered. Anything he would have told Noah suddenly seemed unimportant.

"Let's get the hell out of here," Gene said. He didn't want to be in Dead Forest when it was so active and agitated.

Location: Dead Forest| | Mentions: S n o w Life. izayoiix ​

 

[S n o w]

Adrian Donovan​

Looking at the massive tree roots poking out of the ground, the remains of gravestones tangled in the grass, and how little light seemed able to get through the branches tangled above, Adrian could see why this place was thought to be haunted. He glanced at a bundle of dead flowers in front of another broken grave and reminded himself to ask Gene where the cemetery was, if it wasn't here. And if there was another place in Harwood with trees that looked straight out of a horror movie.

Adrian spun at the loud sound Gene made. "What?" Then he saw the snake nest. He immediately moved back, surprised but not scared. Who knew what other animals were hidden by the grass, crawling all over the trees above them? He knew there was nothing there, but Adrian brushed off his shoulder anyway. He felt maroon and a little cream. Paranoid, cautious, but still curious about his surroundings.

He nodded when Gene suggested going another way, following after him. "I've never seen that before," he mused. Adrian thought he saw something else moving in the grass, but passed it off as another snake and made sure to avoid it. He failed to notice it disappear as he looked around for more.

He thought he heard a bark somewhere ahead of them. Leyla? Did they find Septima? There was no reason for him and Gene to still be here if they did. Adrian was about to say that they should meet up and think of a plan when Gene found them. Noah and Rowan. No Septima. And Noah looked afraid. Was it just the snakes? Or did it have something to do with their missing friend? "Any clue to where your friend could be?"

Location: Dead Forest | | Mentions: Cross Life. izayoiix ​

 

[Cross]

Shadow Man/ Mr. Smiley Face

​

3:00 A.M​

The Shadow Man woke and listened to the silence. It stretchered one long, narrow, branch like leg. Instantly, it grew wary of being unseen and unnoticed. The Shadow Man realized Gene's absence. Like an orphan, it had been discarded in the dark. The Shadow Man didn't need Gene. It did need to be seen by someone. It advanced through the dark. The Shadow Man didn't walk like a human would. It was a figment of a boy's imagination but also as real as terror gripping a heart. The Shadow Man descended on all four lanky limbs. It crept along the forest floor until grass turned to road. The Shadow Man wasn't easily spotted. It was a smudge. A patch of darkness one squinted at but eventually dubbed harmless and imaginary.

A red Buick with one dead headlight sped down the road. The lonely one lane was lit momentary in a halo of light. The Shadow Man sunk its elongated fingers against the lift gate of the vehicle and hung on the back of the car. It climbed into the roof and crawled to the top to peer in at the driver. A grey haired woman clutched the wheel with one hand and smashed the same small black button on the radio. Her brows sank lower and lower and she mouthed something that the glass absorbed before it ever reached the Shadow Man.

The Buick accelerated to 60 miles an hour. The speed limit was 45. The Shadow Man stared at the woman. It didn't have eye lids to blink. The woman gave up on turning on her radio. She searched for another button. Nearer her window this time. She lowered the glass enough to let in a breeze of cold air, enough to tousle her hair. The Shadow Man crawled through the window and joined her. It hung on the cushy roof of the car, and from there, into the passenger seat.

A pine cone air freshener dangled from the mirror. The Shadow Man sniffed it. It ran its index finger along the radio that refused to turn on. Gene would know how to fix it but Gene lived in Upper Harwood. He wouldn't be at Lower Harwood at night.

The woman ignored the Shadow Man at first. The Shadow Man could only be seen if one looked hard enough. Her nose crinkled as her brain tried to comprehend the darkness seated beside her. The woman glanced at the grey seat and saw nothing. Until she did.

The woman screamed and, if there had been a wine glass, it would have scattered. She threw her hands in the air as if to defend herself. The Shadow Man leaned closer to the woman. It's eyes like pits. The Shadow Man liked being seen. It reached for the woman's face.

The Buick accelerated like it had demons on it heels. It crashed into a ditch. The Buick rocked and sunk deeply into mud on the front passenger side tire. The woman continued screaming. Until focus flickered out of her brown eyes. She searched the car frantically, front and back seats. The woman couldn't see the Shadow Man anymore even with it touching her face. The Shadow Man sighed.

It would continue its search. Another car, headlights like white beacons, halted at a nearby stop sign. It would try that one. The Shadow Man climbed onto all fours and moved toward it. A mom and young boy were in the front of the car. The Shadow Man climbed into the back center seat and waited to be noticed.

In total, the Shadow Man sneaked into 16 cars and witnessed 9 crashes. No one looked at it for very long.
-

Gene imagined Mr. Smiley Face with a happy, yellow mask. He didn't need to breathe which was fortunate since Gene didn't include any holes in the plastic for a mouth. Gene wasn't very detail minded. The doors for a Supercenter parted for him. They stayed open 24/7. A fully stocked bakery welcomed him as he walked inside. Mr. Smiley Face glanced at the customers around him. One by one, heads lifted and they noticed him. Not a smile in sight.

Mr. Smiley Face crossed over to examine a bounty of fruits and vegetables. He plucked an orange and weighed it in his hand. A breathy hiss from under the bags of apples brought a smile to his face. Figuratively speaking. He was always smiling. Beautiful diamond scales coiled. Mr. Smiley Face could have burst with happiness.

"Sir, please remove the mask," a woman with a green vest said. "Those aren't allowed in the store." She sounded ready to expel Mr. Smiley Face from the Supercenter if he tried to argue. Mr. Smiley Face detested arguments. They weren't nice.

"Okay, Miss," he said. Mr. Smiley Face pulled on the Velcro on the back of his mask and tore it off. Mr. Smiley Face pushed his hands through his buoyant hair. It was a mess. The woman studied his face as if trying to put a name to it. "Having a happy day?" Mr. Smiley asked. Every day should be a happy day.

Her brows pulled together. "I--" But someone screamed and cut off her response.

"There's a snake!" A man yanked the bag of ruby apples and exposed the serpent. A group of people ran over to see. Another group backed far, far away. Mr. Smiley Face glanced at the fuss makers and smiled faintly. Someone muttered something about animal control. Phone cameras flashed. A manager with a tucked in shirt ran over from far across the store.

"Miss?" Mr. Smiley Face cleared his throat to draw the female worker's attention. "Pardon me, but please step this way," he reached for her shoulder to guide her away from the coral snake twisting in front of her feet. The woman lunged backward. It would be a shame if harm came to an innocent snake. The sound of hissing built from every direction to a crescendo. Snakes of every color, different patterned skins, slithered into view. It was beautiful.

Gene would hate this. He didn't visit Lower Harwood much, Mr. Smiley Face figured he wouldn't mind. Even if he did, Mr. Smiley Face didn't much like Gene anyway. The intercom blared and the store asked everyone to evacuate. Mr. Smiley Face turned with the rest of the customers and made his way outside. Where should he go next?

4 people were hospitalized for venomous snake bites that night.

Location:: Lower Harwood ​

 

[izayoiix]

Rowan Woods​

"Rowan?"

"Hmm...?" she hummed absently, resting her head on her fist as she stared blankly at the tv across from her on the counter. She faintly made out a sigh before something slapped the back of her head, and she jumped, dropping the spoon in her hand. "Ow! What was that for?" she complained, turning in her seat at the kitchen table to send a glare at her grandmother.

"You were far away in the clouds, sweetheart." the older woman said. "I asked if you'd seen the news yet. People admitted to the hospital due to snake bites last night."

Rowan shrugged, shifting back in her seat so she could pick up her spoon and bowl to put them in the sink. "Well sometimes snakes bite if you get too close to their territory I guess." she responded, only to get another flick on the head. "Ow, grandma!" she whined, rubbing the new red spot on her forehead. "Stop hitting me." she grumbled, walking around the woman to put her dishes in the sink.

"They were at the Supercenter, not the woods."

That made Rowan pause. "What really?" she asked, frowning. Why would snakes be in the shopping center? That didn't make any sense. She looked up at her grandmother, watching her face for any sign of joking, telling her that she wasn't serious. At the sight of her slightly wrinkled face set in a small frown, she shivered, unable to help but think of her strange trip to the woods the night before. She swallowed uneasily, rubbing her hands on her pants in a restless motion. "T-that's not....normal." she mumbled in response before hurrying back to the table to grab her phone. At the moment she wished that she had Noah's number, so she could try asking him if he knew anything about what had happened. Just like her, he'd been extremely uneasy about going into the Dead Forest and now this was happening? And before both of those, Sep just vanished? Nothing was seeming to make sense anymore.

"Gran, I'm uh...I'm gonna be out in the garden if you need me." she mumbled before hurrying out the door. Gardening always helped calm her. She need to be calm now. So, Rowan took a deep breath, slid her phone into her back pocket and slid out the backdoor to her home and headed towards the trees that dotted her backyard where her small garden rested just beyond.

Location: Lower Harwood | | Mentions: - ​

 

[boo.]

Septima Jonet

God, my head.
She was stumbling down a cracked asphalt road, head lolling from side to side as if in a daze. She couldn’t see clearly – the shapes of passersby on the sidewalks were like shadows creeping along, staring with blank faces and whispering indistinguishable thoughts. A car whizzed by, but she didn’t react to it. Where was she going? Sep didn’t remember asking herself that question. She was just going, walking until it felt like her feet would be rubbed raw.
Oh, she didn’t have shoes on. In a moment of recognition, Sep looked down at her bare feet, which were stained with mud . They stung all at once, as if the sensation of walking on a rough road suddenly hit her like a train. When she looked back up, she was at the end of the road and face-to-face with the police station. It was a tired-looking building, dusty and faded from the merciless days of summers past. She pushed through the main office door, stumbling over the doormat and pausing in before the front desk. The lady that sat behind it adjusted her glasses, looking the girl up and down and noting her awful appearance. Sep was caked with streaks of dirt from head to toe. Her hair was knotted and disorganized, and of course, she was barefoot.
“Uh. . . Hun? You need help?”
Sep stared blankly past the lady, who pressed a button on the desk phone.
“Stan? You might wanna come out here.”
~~~
“One more time. Start from the top.”
Sep coughed weakly into a bent arm. She stared at Officer Stanson, crossing her arms and leaning back into the wooden chair. “I don’t remember. I was just. . . walking.”
“And why you’re covered in dirt?”
“Dunno.” She looked past the concerned-looking man and out the small window across from her.
“Well. . . Your parents aren’t picking up.”
Sep snorted.
Officer Stanson narrowed his eyes at the girl, then looked down at his pitiful report. There was almost nothing there – the girl had spoken little more than a handful of sentences, never made eye contact, and seemed almost restless. She didn’t even know why she was here. Whatever the reason, she looked like she had been through shit. He heaved a frustrated sigh and rubbed the back of his neck, peering back up at Sep.
“Anyone else we can contact?”
Sep was quiet, and for a moment Stanson thought she wouldn’t answer. Then, a hesitant look crossed her face before she replied.
“Noah.” Sep rattled off a number, and Stanson quickly jotted it down. He got to his feet and paced out of the room, leaving her alone. Through the doorway, she could hear voices coming from the waiting room outside. She sat back, eavesdropping out of a lack of engagement.
“Snakes. A shit ton. Just. . . Crawling out of everywhere.” There was a tremor in the man’s voice, which captured Sep’s attention.
“Had a hell of a time gettin’ them outta there. And we sent some guys to the hospital.” There were some noises of concern, then a woman cleared her throat.
“That’s nothin’. Y’all gotta hear what I saw.” The tone of the woman’s voice quieted the room.
“There was somethin’ in my car – wasn’t a person, not that I could see. I felt somethin’ on the back of my neck first – like a shiver, but it bit down to my bone.”
Sep felt a shiver race down her spine, and she curled her toes.
“Suddenly it was in front of me – like it was hangin’ off my face. I tell you, I’ve never felt anythin’ like it. I couldn’t do anythin’ but scream! I swerved off the road, hit a tree. . .”
There was a sudden rise of voices, and Sep shrank into her chair, shifting her jaw and staring out the window again. Why did that sound so familiar? What was going on?
Officer Stanson entered the room again and leaned on his desk. “I called this Noah. If he show up, maybe he can take you home. Calm down, take a drink. Any other concerns, just let us know.”
That was it? Sep nodded her head absentmindedly, curling up her legs and wrapping her arms around them. She felt cold all of a sudden, as if a shadow had crept inside her.

Location: Harwood Police Station | | Mentions: Life. ​

 

[S n o w]

?​

Another failure.

He/she ducked their head, teeth grounding together. In front of them sat a straw doll, covered in splotches of blood and wrapped with dark strands of hair. It was on fire, but it didn't burn. He/she had a single chance to take care of the outlier, to sever her connection to the line he/she had accidentally created. But she wouldn't die. He/she watched her enter that forest, drawn to the secret hidden there, right under her feet. It was a sign of something. Not that she was remembering, but that she felt drawn to that place was a problem. A problem that could snowball into a catastrophe.

Years of research, planning, gathering materials and memorizing every step of the ritual to force open another path, all of his/her dreams in the hands of a teenage girl who wouldn't stay dead. A loose end that was tangled around something ancient and powerful. The fire was blue and too hot to touch, wrapped around the doll like coils. The mess he/she made of the line, the girl burning with its power. As soon as she neared it, the tether deep underground that kept her connected to the living, he/she had tried to untangle them, her and the line. It had worked, briefly.

The line became too weak to sustain his/her efforts after a while. That, or she was stronger than he/she thought, because the doll was burning again, and his efforts to douse it had stopped working. And then there was the other problem. The one who had sapped power from him/her, during such a critical time. The Dreamer, who was at least partially to blame for why his/her efforts failed.

He/she pushed away from the desk, leaving the nuisance to burn until he/she could think of something else. He/she faced a small TV, clicking on a news broadcast. The car crashes, the snakes, too strange to be natural. The Dreamer. The thorn in his/her side. Most people in this sleepy little town were unaware of the power running beneath their feet, the threads of magic in the air and wielded by select individuals. The feud in Harwood wasn't even a footnote in his/her ambitions. As long as they stayed unaware, she/he could continue chipping away at his/her goal without interference.

Several people were hospitalized after the event, even more theorizing and arguing on the screen in front of him/her about how it all happened. The Dreamer had always been an annoyance, but one that never got in the way of what he/she wanted. Now, however, the thorn was too big to ignore. He/she pulled a disposable cell phone from a desk drawer, tapping an old contact. He/she preferred to have the thorn taken care of now, before it grew to turn unsuspecting eyes where they didn't belong.

The phone rang, "Hello?"

"What do you want?"

"You said to call if I found one."

"Hold on," He/she smiled when they heard the shift in tone from irritated to serious. "Okay, tell me."

"His name is Gene Reves."

Location: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯| | Mentions: boo. Cross Life. izayoiix ​

 

[Life.]

Noah Venz​

From the time Noah had encountered Gene and Adrian in the Dead Forest to the following day, it was all a blur. His mind had mostly gone numb from retaining memories the instant Gene had mouthed the same words that the voices of the forest spoke. It had sent shivers down the boy's spine when he spotted the curly-haired boy, but upon first glance, he had not appeared like Gene but rather a sinister shadow that in one blink disappeared. Noah's heartbeat had accelerated then, but he kept most of his outward appearance calm. Leyla had sensed his panic though and whimpered the whole time they had trekked the forest. With the adrenaline that coursed through Noah's body, it took him not even five minutes before he called off the search. Everything about the setting was haunting him. There was a lot of uncertainty, doubt and fear that resided in the Dead Forest. He was not meant to be there. After they had left, the rest of the day had passed quickly. Noah had kept mostly to himself and simply offered small words and gestures to Rowan when they walked back to Lower Harwood, the idea of going to the police station drifting away.

The moment Noah collapsed on his bed, he fell into a deep sleep. The type of sleep one fell into when they were extremely tired. But for the past few weeks, this was not an uncommon pattern of sleep for the boy to fall into. It was as if the energy from the ley-lines were being strained. Something was pulling energy from them. This meant that Noah was feeling more exhausted lately. On the first day though Noah could barely move his muscles. He felt lethargic and somewhat nauseous. But gradually the following days it receded slowly to the point where he just felt tired.

Until last night. Something unusual was occurring in Harwood that bothered the ley-lines. This in turn affected Noah. His breath grew shallow and sweat coated his face, neck, chest and back as he withered in his sleep. There was nothing but darkness that he could remember from his dreams. The chains he was shackled to from the ley-lines were tugging at him as another force was agitating the sentients. He had even coughed out a hoarse cry as he slept, his body not knowing how to react to such a rare situation. Eventually, Noah calmed down enough to return to a somewhat quieter sleep until the following morning when his cell phone began to ring.

The familiar tune of Everybody Wants To Rule The World sounded from a cellphone on the floor that received a startled wake up from Noah as he quickly rolled off his bed. After the loud thud that followed from his crash, a long groan left his lips as he looked over to the phone. Before it sent the caller to voicemail, Noah swiftly grabbed the phone and answered it. It appeared as though the craziness of yesterday was not over as he received information that Septima was at the Harwood Police Station. "Yes! Yes sir! I will be right there, thank you!"

He had only just woken up, but a million thoughts and emotions were running through his body. Absentmindedly he made himself presentable for the day. Despite the lingering tiredness from a restless sleep and the exhilarating search from yesterday, Noah was as awake as he could be. He needed to get Septima. There was no doubt that worry tinted with a hint of guilt was all that he felt in concern of Septima.

It took Noah only 20 minutes to reach the station since he ran most of the way, nearly getting hit by a car once or twice, but still made it in one piece. "Hi my name is Noah Venz and I'm here for Septima Jones." The woman at the front counter eyed him warily as she slid a tissue across the countertop to Noah, who was out of breath and nearly coming off as a mad-man. Perhaps he should've brought something with him beside himself? There was too much dialogue in his mind as questions and scenarios flooded his conscious.

"Mr. Venz. Mr. Venz."

The same woman at the counter was trying to capture Noah's attention as he was lost in thought. With an irritated sigh she slammed a clipboard on the counter. A small squeal jumped out of Noah as he finally looked up to the officer, "Ms. Jones will be with you momentarily. If you could please take a seat over there." It was clear that she was not tolerating any other reaction from Noah as she pointed over to the waiting area. "Uhm, thank you."

The slamming of the clipboard had brought Noah back into his senses as his anxiety began to calm down. He nervously rubbed his hands on his jeans as he sat in the uncomfortable plastic chair in the waiting area. But he never felt himself completely ease down as he caught snippets of the current news. Snakes, injuries, hospital, and supermarket. There was one word that made the situation weird. It was then that the discomfort he had been feeling this morning turned into naseua. There was something wrong, but he didn't know what. What was going on?

Location: Lower Harwood | | Mentions: boo. izayoiix Cross S n o w ​

 

[S n o w]

Adrian Donovan​

Adrian shook cat food into a small, wooden bowl, pushing it around with his fingers so it didn't overflow. Jasper moved back and forth between his legs, meowing at him for taking too long. He hadn't slept much the night before. Once he and Gene parted ways, he split the rest of the night between working on Gene's clown-unicycle-thing, and looking into 'Dead Forest'. He didn't find much. He felt unsatisfied. He needed to visit the library.

"Oh, Adrian, come look. It's awful," his mom called.

Adrian put the bowl on the floor and padded to the living room. The local news was on. A reporter was interviewing a man who crashed his car the night before, while a headline on the bottom told him of 'strange but unrelated' incidents. Nine car crashes. Snakes in the Supercenter. The reporter looked sympathetic, but unbelieving as the man went on about something being in the car with him that made him crash.

"I can't believe this happened in one night."

The image cut back to a broadcaster, who suggested that the snakes could have been a prank gone wrong, but Adrian wasn't listening. The snakes, he could pass off as what they said. But the car crashes, the description of the thing in the car. That was unnatural. It was the line. It had to be. He felt somewhere between bright red and dark green. Vilified, happy, reassured. Adrian only had his research, and myths to go off of before, but this was a sign. He didn't believe in coincidences.

The coin was here. He just had to find it.

"It's good that you came home when you did," she went on.

Adrian nodded, even as he backed out of the room. He grabbed Gene's sketch and tugged a beanie on. "I'm going to hang out at Gene's house for a while. I'll be back later," he lied. It wasn't the first he told her, and it wouldn't be the last. If she knew the truth about him, she'd understand. He told her he would when she told him to be careful, then hurried across the street.

He knocked on the door, full of manic energy.

Location: Upper Harwood, Gene's House | | Mentions: Cross ​

 

[Cross]

Gene Reves​

The house was without any sound, any light, or any movement. It felt dead in the way places became when people left them. Gene pecked at the crust in his eye. His curls had been flattened by his pillow. He was still wearing yesterday's clothes. He walked down the stairs. His sleep had been deep like a dark ocean. For a second, Gene forget yesterday even happened.

A flutter of white appeared as a figure in a gown glided past the doorway to the kitchen. Gene stared hard at the spot. Had that been real? His stomach squeezed tightly and his breath shortened. He got an answer a moment later when the figure walked past a second time. The floor creaked under her feet.

Grandma. Right. Those were her gnarled toenails. Every shadow looked longer and every wall seemed to have eyes. A little part of Dead Forest stayed with him after all. Gene shuddered.

Gene yanked the fridge door open and inspected the contents. The same carton of milk from last week stared back at him along with his mom's 190 proof vodka. Didn't anyone go shopping? Sometimes Gene got the feeling he and his parents were all playing house and sometimes the plasticness of it all showed through. "Grandma, for a second, I thought you were a--"

She stared at him, had, perhaps, been staring the whole time. Her wrists were rail thin but there was a strong force behind her eyes. Her wit sharpened over time and she had decades to hone it. Gene felt like he was about to receive a lecture but couldn't place what he did wrong. Gene kept his secrets close. Had Terry finally been caught shoplifting and tried to throw the blame on Gene somehow? Maybe Gene scratched her car? Or was it the don't-make-friends lecture where he would hear about how anyone he got close to would use him for his power?

"They left. They didn't want to see you," Grandma said. For a long moment, Gene didn't realize she meant his parents. "Fix this mess." The coldness in her tone stung more so because Gene was her only grandson and she always doted on him. She looked at him like he was a stranger. Someone to be suspicious of.

Gene pulled out his phone and noticed the explosion of messages. He thumbed through news articles. The snakes. The supermarket. The wrecks. Gene turned from the frigidness in his grandmother's gaze and stumbled toward the door. Away. He needed to get away. The moment the fresh air hit his skin, the scalding hot panic holding Gene's lungs hostage began to lessen.

Gene walked right into Adrian.

"You came back?" After yesterday, he doubted he would see Adrian around. The extra charge in Gene's voice was too noticeable. He willed his fingers to stop shaking. He didn't know where his nightmares were or how to stop them. Could he stop them? "Wanna go to the library? I need to--ohmygod," Gene's gaze landed on the Adrian's sketchbook. It was the only thing that could have distracted him in that moment. "Is that a pirate on a unicycle eating cake?" He reached for it instinctively.

Location: Gene's House| | Mentions: S n o w ​