• This section is for roleplays only.
    ALL interest checks/recruiting threads must go in the Recruit Here section.

    Please remember to credit artists when using works not your own.

Fandom you need to comprehend who's in control. || weiirdw0lf & moggiemoof

Nea could tell just by his response that he didn’t totally understand how this place worked–which was fair. It was pretty confusing, especially upon first arrival–but after your first few trials, things got easier to grasp.

With him not knowing where their killer had gone off to, she couldn’t help but sigh. Not his fault though, first time and all–she couldn’t hold it against him. She pointed towards the barn as she began to step away from him, but she spun around on her heel as she headed off in that direction, now walking backwards so that she could face him as she left.

“I’m gonna try to get that generator in the barn finished, mmkay?” It was a nice way of saying, steer clear of the barn. “Maybe try to fix up the generator you were on before? Careful, though, he might come back to check on it if he knows we’re definitely trying to fix that one.”

It was just a gentle suggestion, he didn’t have to, but if there was some progression on that one, might as well try to finish it, right?

With another wave of her hand she bid him farewell, and then spun around again to jog her way back towards the barn, leaving Cody alone where he stood.

—

David smoothed his hand over the fabric that he had been wrapping around Winnie’s torso once he finished his job, and he stood up straight to signify that.

Winnie blinked up at him owlishly as he stood, still crouched on the ground–huh. That was faster than she had expected–but by the looks of it, the bleeding had been stopped. For the time being, at least–she could definitely still feel the wound beneath the bandages–where’d he even get those, anyway?

“Thanks, um…” She lifted her hand as she stood up, probably going for a thankful pat to his shoulder, but the tall, muscular man had already headed off elsewhere. Awkwardly she dropped her hand to press it against her bandaged wound instead. “...Right.”

She was not used to how fast things went around here. Figuring that David would give her shit if she followed him, considering the fact that he strictly told her not to–so, a solo venture.

For a moment she lingered in the area, just to get her bearings before she headed off elsewhere. They needed to fix up three more generators, right? Technically she could go follow David, presuming that Cody and the other survivor that was here were working on their own generators by now… Hey, Cody did get helped, right?

Now with two tasks–find a generator and make sure Cody got help–she darted off, completely failing to notice the lingering presence of Danny nearby. She definitely could have been more aware of her surroundings, but, hey, she just got here and she had some learning to do.

Jogging off into the general direction where she had heard Cody’s scream before, she came to the hopeful conclusion that he had gotten help by the other beanie-wearing survivor that she saw before. At the very least, none of the hooks she passed by had him dangling from it–so, that was a good sign, right?

Now she felt a bit more confident in finding another generator to work on… Hopefully.
 
When Cody saw movement from the corner of his eye, he couldn’t help but panic for a second — only to realize it was just Winnie. Not the killer, thank god.

He’d done as Nea said, went back to the generator he’d been on and was attempting to finish it up. Not done yet, but probably pretty close. And if Winnie was going to help, surely it’d get done faster, right?

As she approached where he was, Cody noticed now the bandages on her as well, like she’d been attacked too. He frowned, wondering if he’d gotten in the way earlier if it would’ve prevented that. He’d still be hurt, maybe worse, but—

He shook his head as if to clear the thoughts. Enough. He couldn’t change it now, and hopefully they’d be out of here soon enough and everything would be fine. Ok, not really, but being back at the fire would be better than getting hunted down, in his opinion.

“Are you alright..?” He asked her quietly when she was a little closer. Stupid question, really, but he didn’t know what else to say.

While he tried to turn his focus back to the generator for a moment, not wanting to screw things up, he swore he felt eyes on him. Maybe it was just Winnie. Maybe he was being paranoid. (Then again, he had gotten grabbed earlier because he wasn’t paying attention…)

She’d tell him if she saw something, right?


David had left and so had Winnie, which meant Danny was going to have to go after one of them now that they weren’t all together. Unfortunate, but it’d work.

He watched Winnie leave the barn, going opposite to David — and back towards where he’d chased Cody, back where he’d found her earlier.

Hm. Maybe someone else would be over there too. That’d be perfect.

Making his way over there, ducking behind walls and rocks and making sure he wasn’t ever directly in anyone’s line of sight, he found that Cody had hopped back on the generator he’d been grabbed from. Bold, Danny would give him that. Maybe he thought he was safe because they both were there. Didn’t he know that only made it worse?

Crouched low behind some hay bales, Danny stuck his head out just enough to see the two of them. Cody talking and anxiously looking around, but Danny couldn’t hear what he was saying. Winnie coming to a stop once she saw him there.

His fingers twitched around the handle of his knife, itching to just jump out and get them both. That’d be dumb, considering in just a moment here…

There it was.

He saw Cody whip his head around again, as if he’d heard or seen something, but of course nothing was there. Not yet. He probably just felt that odd chill down your spine he’d heard the survivors describe it as — when Danny had watched them long enough. He wondered if Winnie felt the same. If not, should be soon.

And assuming they both stay here, even for a little longer?

He had two easy targets practically handed to him.

…He ignored the little voice in the back of his head telling him to leave her once more. What good would that do him? He wasn’t fucking this up again.
 
The generator that she found seemed to be the one that she had been working on before, and–

“Cody!” Winnie exhaled his name upon seeing him, and for once during this whole trial, she felt true relief.

Nearly tripping over her own two feet, she picked up the pace to close the gap between them, and once she was close enough she gently placed her hand on his upper back. They definitely hadn't been close at all during their lives, but if there was one thing that trauma did for people, it was create trauma bonds. So, now, all she wanted to do was ensure that he was alright.

“I'm okay, don't worry about it. What about you, though? I heard… I heard you earlier.” She murmured as she lowered herself to a crouch right beside him. With a soft pat to his back, she then brought both of her hands to work on the generator instead. “I was going to come help, but David told me not to... And just between you and I, that guy is kind of intimidating, so I thought I'd listen to 'em.”

Thankfully, Cody had been helped and seemingly he had been patched up, too. Though, she still noted the blood that soaked through his flannel–that did not look to be a very fun wound. She probably would have asked about it, what it was like being up on the hook–but now definitely wasn't the time, and she'd probably be learning what it felt like herself fairly soon, right?

“I'm glad I finally found you, though.” The statement was quiet, barely a whisper–afraid of attracting any unwanted attention.

Even with her precaution, it still seemed that Cody was highly anxious–this she noted from the way he suddenly whipped his head around. The sudden movement shocked her a bit, and she nearly shocked herself with a loose wire. Perhaps something had happened earlier to make him extra jumpy about working on genera–oh.

Now it was Winnie's turn to look over her shoulder, albeit a bit slower than her companion had–a bit more hesitant. She would have asked him if he felt that, too, but instead she just offered him a look. A nervous, questionable glance, before she looked behind them again.

She could feel her heart hammering against her chest again, she could hear her own pulse beating within her ears–what the hell? Of course, she knew this was all because of him, but she couldn't place what gave him the power to make them feel this way when they couldn't even see him… And what did this feeling even mean, anyway? Was it just paranoia?

“Should we–um, I–should we leave? Or–or try to finish it?” Winnie's heart had basically leapt it's way up her throat at this point, so the hesitance in her voice probably came as no surprise. She wanted to take off running again, but she didn't know where he was, and she didn't want to go running straight to him, either. Additionally, she didn't want to flake out on Cody.

Her eyes shifted back to Cody, and then to the generator, before she pulled her hands away from it and spun around to scan the area for any signs of Danny–she didn't move from her spot next to Cody, though. Could always try and take a hit for him, she thought… But whether or not she would be fast enough to do it, was her concern.
 
Cody gave a weak little smile at her asking if he was alright too, and saying that she'd wanted to come help. Well, that made two of them -- he'd wanted to help earlier, but it hadn't been someone else stopping him, just his own fear.

"I'm... well, alright as you can be," he told her with a sigh. "The other one, um. Nea I think? She came and got me."

He didn't really elaborate on how he'd been caught so easily, feeling almost embarrassed about it. Instead, he just gave her a warning too.

"We really need to pay attention to things, I'll say that."

He had to agree when she said she was glad he found him. Yeah, sure, they weren't super close back then, but they at least knew each other. He didn't know anyone else here like that. Besides... him, sort of, but that didn't count. Not when Danny was on the other side.

A few moments later when he'd been looking around, he could guess she felt that same odd feeling of being watched, maybe something else. He made a face, confused where the killer might be. He didn't see anyone, and he vaguely registered Winnie talking but it seemed his focus was elsewhere. He did not want both of them getting attacked.

The last part of her sentence snapped him out of his thoughts, her asking about finishing this or not. He wasn't sure what to tell her, honestly. He wanted to, but he didn't want to stay right here when Danny might be watching them... this was too complicated. (Or maybe it was just because he was starting to freak out over the thought of getting hooked again.) He wasn't made for this either, despite what he thought.

"I don't know," he admitted, hands stilling on the metal of the generator. Didn't want to blow it up and alert anyone. "I don't know where he is, I just. I know he's here, I can feel it--" He let out a noise of annoyance, as if it didn't make sense to him. The sensation of being watched wasn't unusual, lots of people would have that, just a feeling when someone was doing that. But this seemed different somehow.

"Maybe... one of us stay here and the other go? Nea told me we shouldn't stay in groups, so..."


Danny just barely caught Cody saying they should split up, which made him realize he needed to at now before they did. If they were close enough, and he was fast enough -- which shouldn't be a problem -- he might be able to knock them both down.

Which is exactly what he tried to do.

Stepping out from his hiding spot, he crept up towards the generator. Cody had his back to him, had turned back towards Winnie while they were talking. Sure, she might be able to warn him, but Danny was pretty sure she wouldn't be fast enough.

He didn't have to pull Cody away from the generator like he had last time. No, he just got up close enough... right behind him...

"W-What the fuck?!" Cody cursed, trying to jump back, turn to see what had happened, but Danny's knife had already met flesh. He was lying on his back now, staring up at Danny sort of hovering there in front of him. His eyes flicked over to Winnie behind the mask, but he didn't make an immediate move to go after her. Again. Why was he doing this? He looked back at Cody, who's hands had flew up to grasp at his side where he'd been stabbed, maybe a weak attempt to stop the bleeding or just a shocked response. It didn't matter.

Cody he could leave for a minute. It'd take longer to get him back up even if one of the others did come over, but Danny doubted that they would if they knew the killer was still in the vicinity. It wasn't like with Winnie earlier, where she could actually go running away. Cody would just have to stay put.

Speaking of Winnie...

He stood up from his crouch, taking a few steps toward her. She, as expected, had gotten up from her spot near the generator when she realized what was going on.

"We meet again," he said lowly. It was less his typical mocking tone and more... something else. Almost impassive, like he still was debating whether or not to go for it this time too. "Your little friend is going to stay right there. Maybe he'll even bleed out before the others can get to him."

Danny doubted that. This wouldn't take that long, unless he chased her for the entire rest of the time the other two were doing generators and they never came to get him up. He was mostly just trying to scare them.

Another two steps forward.

"And maybe I can put you on a hook this time too. Wouldn't that be fun?" Then the taunting was back, because of course it was. That's just how Danny played these games. "No more running from me, either of you."

Except, in a way, he was running from her. Avoiding going after her, making up excuses.

He just had to do it this time. It didn't matter what stupid feelings had grown on him back then. They didn't matter here. (Wouldn't that be funny, a killer and a survivor in a relationship? The thought made him want to laugh. As if she'd even want that with him now.)

Cody made a choked sound from beside them, but Danny paid him no mind. Let him suffer down there. Danny was glad his first trial wasn't going well. Not that most survivor's first experiences here did, but either way.

He wondered how this was going to play out this time.
 
Winnie’s gaze slowly raked over their surroundings, slowly returning back to him after a few long beats. “I know, I can feel it too.”

She lifted a hand to press her knuckles to her lips as she mulled over their options–not that they had very many, anyway. “Right, no groups.”

Her bad–she just thought that they’d have been able to get this generator done pretty quickly, especially presuming that the other two would be on their own generators, she thought that it would be pretty good management. Suppose not–not with this feeling, at least.

This feeling had been lingering in the air for far too long now, Winnie thought, and only when she thought that did she see the figure clad in black creeping up behind Cody. Her hand sprang up to grab him by the wrist, hoping to pull him back, but–too late.

“Cody–ah, shit!” One of her hands flew to her mouth, while the other came to rest upon her wound–in an almost defensive manner, but mostly it was all just out of horror. Yeah, sure, she had been stabbed earlier, but seeing it happen to someone else–someone that you cared for, especially–was far more frightening.

Her eyes darted between Cody, on the ground, and Danny, who was crouched close to him. Oddly enough, he hadn’t turned to look at her immediately–at least, she couldn’t tell when he had looked at her, due to the mask–so she found herself just… Standing there in shock. She wanted to protect Cody and help him as best as she could, but it was pretty hard when Danny seemed to have a prolonged vendetta against him.

As soon as Danny stood up straight, Winnie took a few quick steps backwards, mirroring the amount that he had taken towards her–so the distance remained the same as before.

She had thought he would just lunge at her again, but he didn’t, and the hand that was pressed to her bandaged wound lifted for a moment, palm turned upwards for the briefest of moments as if to say, what the hell are you doing?

Winnie’s eyes darted down to Cody for a moment upon him being mentioned, and her breath got caught in her throat at the sight of him. “I–that’s–”

Cruel, she was going to say, but that obviously didn’t matter here. Especially not to him.

Then, he had suddenly taken two steps towards her, and she once again nearly tripped over her own feet as she shuffled backwards two paces.

At the mention of being tossed onto a hook, she visibly cringed, practically flinching away from her own hand that she held over her mouth. Wouldn’t that be fun? It was all the more shocking to hear him say such things, especially when that same voice had soothed her worries about his own crimes before. Then, came the comment of, no more running away from me.

That was kind of their job here–run away. Also, if she was remembering correctly… Wasn’t he the one that had rushed away from her during their last interaction? Yeah, he stabbed her, mocked her, but instead of getting it over with as she had requested, he had essentially fled. Funny how they seemed to remember that differently.

A soft scoff that sounded vaguely of a laugh escaped her–entirely by accident, really, and when she realized it had come out, she stiffened.

“Shit, sorry.”

Don’t apologize to him!

The sound that escaped Cody brought her back from her thoughts, and her eyes darted down to him once again. Well, he was going to bleed out if this chatter kept up. That, or, she’d end up on the ground too–which would be a not so very helpful outcome. The most helpful thing to do right now was… Run.

“I’m sorry, Cody!” Winnie blurted out with a shake of her head, initially beginning by walking backwards, but when her back met a hay bale she had immediately broken out into a sprint, heading off elsewhere.

Realistically, her trying to run away would be their best option. If they both got knocked to the ground, they’d both get thrown up onto a hook, which wasn’t the best option. Now, if Danny decided to chase after her, then someone else could help Cody–right? If Danny didn’t chase her and he went back for Cody, then someone would rescue Cody off of the hook again–maybe she could do it, if he didn’t suspect that she’d come right back for him.

Hm. They'd just have to see what happens.
 
Danny did in fact leave Cody where he was once he saw Winnie sprinting away. So she did want to run this time. Good choice on her part. He had noticed her little slip up too, like she'd thought what he said was funny. He understood, he did. It was almost funny, but more so all of this was getting incredibly irritating. (Yes, it was him who was causing most of his own problems right now. But still.)

Which is why he was chasing her for real this time, very much intending to end any thoughts she might've had of him still playing around like earlier.

He just barely made out something like a "it's ok" from Cody behind them, but if Winnie heard it, who knew. Probably wasn't paying attention to that right now. The other survivors were probably glad he was after these two the whole time, maybe wondering what the hold up was, why he was doing what he did this trial. And once more, Danny really couldn't say.

Seems he was going to find out if 'killing her' once and for all solved his issues. Truthfully, he wasn't sure if doing the same with Cody would either. Both of them would come back -- but maybe it'd at least quell the feelings for now, until the next time he saw them. (He made a mental note of maybe not sneaking off towards the campfire like he often did for a while too. Once he got fixated on something, or someone, like this, it was hard to get him to stop. And being over there, seeing them again, might just make it worse.)

Danny ran behind her, grass and hay crunching beneath his boots. Quick strides that would have him easily catching up to her. He wasn't sure where she planned to go. Back to the barn? Somewhere else?

It didn't matter, not when he'd managed to corner her. There was another one of those structures with the walls and pallets and windows, where he'd forced her to run towards only to trap her there. He raised his knife again, still wet with Cody's blood... and probably hers from earlier too.

There was the Entity's 'voice' again in the back of his mind, or what could only vaguely be called that -- it was less words and more so whispers that didn't sound like any true speech, along with a feeling he'd grown to get used to. Urging him to hurry up and act, because if he didn't, he'd once again have to hit her twice like all killers typically did.

He wasn't wasting time again. He couldn't.

She went down quickly too, if only because of that ability he'd been given. Honestly, both of them had been doing... better, if that was the word he even wanted to use, than expected for a first trial. Even with Cody's getting caught earlier, or her getting hurt too. They weren't hiding the whole time like he'd observed some to do -- he'd seen survivors who'd been here for way longer than they had do it even, much to his confusion. Jumping into a locker two seconds after you get to the trial wasn't going to do much for you or your teammates, in his opinion. Just made it easier if he found them like that though.

Pulling the knife back -- lucky for her, it hadn't been too close to the other wound. Or maybe that was worse? More pain in different places -- he knew what he was doing now. If he put her on a hook now, he'd hopefully be able to run back to where Cody was and get him too before the others could help.

So he did just that. Put his knife away only to lift her up, over his shoulder like he'd done with Cody, and started walking off to wherever the nearest hook was.

...One might note he wasn't going on and on like he had been before. Whether it was on purpose or not was up for debate. Maybe he just wanted this over with for real.
 
It felt awful to leave Cody there–she didn’t want to, but she had no choice but to do that. There was just no other possible solution to the scenario that they had found themselves in–not that running away was much of a solution, anyway.

Whatever confidence she had before that allowed her to chuckle was definitely gone now. Her legs felt like jell-o again as she ran, and she could hear her heart pounding in her ears. She didn’t really know where she was going, but she knew that she needed to find some place to stall time in. Running in a straight line was not effective–because Danny was fast!

Winnie made a beeline for the first structure she saw–it was hardly a structure at all, it was outside, a few walls with a window and a… Wooden thing. A pallet, of sorts, she supposed. The thought crossed her mind that she could probably smack him with it, if her timing were good enough. Missed opportunity.

It didn’t matter where she had intended to go, because eventually she found herself cornered. She spun on her heel, intending to maybe pull a fast one and slip by him, but he was right there when she turned around.

“Please–” Although she knew pleading was no use, she still gave it a try as he raised his knife–to no avail, of course.

The knife caught her in the shoulder, above where he had initially got her earlier in the hip. A sharp cry escaped her as soon as it had made contact with her skin, and she was swept off of her feet in the worst way possible. Knocked over immediately–she thought that she smacked the back of her head against the wall on the way down, because now her head was throbbing too, fuck!

While he tucked his knife away, she stared up at the sky, blinking owlishly at nothing at all. It hurt–god, it hurt, more than anything she had ever experienced before. The shock of it had softened the blow, but she could still feel the pressure, the heat, the tingling–she let out a sob when he lifted her up, being moved made it feel all the worse.

“Stop! Put me down–put me down! Please! Danny!” She wriggled and shifted, using her elbows to jam them into his back in an attempt to get him to drop her… And, eventually, she just started hiccuping and crying–yeah, this was not fun.
While David worked away at the new generator he had found, he heard one scream… followed shortly by another one–two different screams from two different people. Jeez!

Committing his current location to memory, he stood up straight and headed off in the direction that he heard the first instances of shouts coming from. He knew that he had to get over there as fast as possible, considering the fact that if Ghostface had already knocked someone else onto their feet, they’d be hooked soon–or if he decided to leave them on the ground, he’d be doubling back sooner rather than later.

Take a chance, give it a shot, he supposed–he had to cut these two some slack, they were new… But still.

David rounded the hay bales to find Cody on the ground, and he couldn’t help but sigh at the sight. Hoping to quickly get Cody up and onto his feet, he stooped over and got to work. “This guy got something against you two or what?”

It was a sarcastic remark for the most part–seeing as he and Nea had yet to run into him, they had only caught glimpses of him. Maybe Ghostface just really hated new survivors.
 
“Mostly against me…” Cody said weakly when David appeared and began to try and patch him up. Though from the sounds of the screaming, he’d gotten Winnie too. Either way, it definitely seemed like Danny was more inclined to hurt him this trial than anyone else, if that wasn’t already obvious.

“Thank you,” he mumbled out when the other man was almost done. He wasn’t really expecting any response back, he just felt the need to say it. He felt kind of bad getting himself hurt again, he thought maybe if he hadn’t kept running into Danny they would’ve been out of here already.

Unfortunately, they weren’t. They were still here and he just went down and Winnie was probably about to get hooked—

He had to wonder if all of this was somehow his fault. Not just this, as in what was happening during the trials, but them all being here at all.


Danny ignored Winnie’s protests and shoved her onto the nearest hook without much of a care this time. If she had anything left to say to him, he didn’t hear it because he was already walking away.

He thought about staying over here to maybe catch whoever eventually came to unhook her before they actually could, but then remembered Cody hadn’t been hooked again either and was presumably still just lying there. Or being healed, more likely.

Maybe he could just go back and forth between the areas. It wasn’t that far away. And of course if he spotted someone in the meantime, he’d go after them too.

So off he went back towards where he’d left Cody. Yeah, he definitely did have something against him. How could he not? No one got away from the Ghostface back in Roseville. Here it was… a little different, but he still didn’t have too many cases where survivors escaped.

As some of the others might say, he just had a big ego, was full of himself. That’s why he acted this way. Perhaps that was true. But maybe he put up that whole act because underneath it, not having all that attention made him anxious — not the other way around. He’d basically been taught to kill, it was all he knew for too long. It made him feel good to do it. It made him feel good when others saw what he did, whether or not they viewed it in the same light.

It made him feel the same when people started to trust him not knowing what he was hiding from them. Like Winnie had with him.

He just hadn’t expected it to go so far.

That’s why he was so upset about this. It didn’t matter she knew his real identity anymore, that wasn’t it. He was upset with Cody because he got away. With her?

Danny was mad because somehow, she got through that act of his back then. When he reassured her in the office that she’d be fine, while it started as just him playing along, soon he couldn’t tell if he really meant it or not. Then things went further.

And then this.

Whatever this was. Her still affecting him even now.

He needed to put an end to it, and soon. (Even if he’d already said that however many times this trial…)
 
David had heard the screaming, too, but he didn’t falter in his actions. If Winnie had been hooked, then Ghostface was probably coming back around here, and he had to get Cody up as soon as possible.

Mostly against him, huh, David noted his response but he didn’t say much back, just grunted to let him know that he had heard him. Considering the fact that he did ask, it was only fair to give the kid a response.

Similarly, thank you’s weren’t necessary here, but he appreciated them nonetheless, and he found himself muttering a quiet, “Welcome.”

“C’mon, up,” David stooped over to hook his hands underneath Cody’s arms, pulling him up to his feet. Cody was still injured, but he could walk now, and David could feel his heart beginning to beat harshly against his chest, which he knew was a sure sign that they had to get out of here. There was no time for him to further tend to Cody’s wounds.

“Just go, and I’ll tail you for a bit.” David insisted–intending on taking a hit for the new guy, which was all he felt that he could do for him right now.. Unless their hunter decided to go for himself instead of Cody, which was doubtful, seeing as he clearly had something against him.

With another gesture of his arms, he motioned for Cody to get going–usually he would’ve probably given him a swat on the back, but he wouldn’t want to hurt him more than he already was.
Winnie thrashed and pleaded the entire way to the hook, and when he lifted her from his shoulder to toss her up and onto it, she had attempted to keep a hold on him so as to make it more difficult for him to actually get her off of his shoulder–didn’t work, though, obviously.

She kicked her feet at him as he shoved her haphazardly onto the hook, pain causing any of the thoughts or words that she wanted to shout at him to get caught in her throat. Instead, she just gasped and hiccuped up on the hook, watching through bleary eyes as he headed off to where Cody still was.

The longer she dangled from the hook, the more she realized that it hurt to breathe. She had been taking deep breaths in hopes of calming her nerves, but with every natural movement of her body that came from just breathing, the ache in her shoulder got worse–so, she took small, quick breaths in order to mitigate that feeling.

Her eyes slowly drifted towards the barn, now–she couldn’t see or hear anything coming from over there, as she was too busy listening to her own heart beating.

Some might say they were in a pickle. Winnie would just say that they were fucked, though. Well, she and Cody definitely were.

Why am I even here in the first place? She mulled it over within her mind again, now that she was hanging here she had no choice. I didn’t die. I didn’t go looking for where they went, either.

But maybe she did? In a way that wasn’t as physical as searching rundown buildings. Maybe she had gone looking–maybe she had gone wishing to find them. Wishing to find some answers.

A jolt of pain wracked her body again, dismissing her thoughts immediately.
 
Cody nodded at David's words, but honestly he wasn't sure where to go. He wanted to get that generator done, but surely staying there would be a bad idea. He glanced around, basically picking a random direction... that wasn't towards where he heard Winnie scream, and hoped there was something useful that way.

There ended up being a small structure here -- an actual one, not just those wall things -- so he went inside. There were two entrances, one with one of those wooden pallet things propped in the doorway, and a window on the side. And also some definitely not creepy looking stairs going down to who knows where. He eyed them once before realizing there wasn't exactly much in here in terms of reasons to stay. No generator, just a couple lockers and... a chest of some sort against the wall too? Huh. He was tempted to try and open it out of pure curiosity, but with David presumably still tagging along behind him, he wasn't sure if stopping to look at random stuff like that was a good idea right now. Probably just try and find another generator, or maybe hide for the meantime until they knew the killer wasn't right on them...?

Speaking of Danny, if he wanted to come back over here, would he have already been? It hadn't taken him that long before...

His own heartbeat had calmed down some, but now picked up again; he'd come to realize that somehow this meant the killer was nearby. So Danny had been near them, left maybe, but now was close again. Great.

He glances toward the lockers, wondering if he'd fit in there. Someone did mention something about them being used as a hiding spot, he thinks, but he doesn't want to risk that. He's about to just walk out the door when--

Oh, fuck. How did he not hear or see him?! Maybe he used that weird power he had?

Recalling another thing someone told him back near the fire -- he'd honestly only been half listening to most of this, trying to collect his own thoughts, but hey maybe it'd work right now -- he waits until Danny's about to step into the little shack thing too.

And then shoves that pallet down right down in his stupid face.

...Hopefully that actually did something.


Danny steps back, grunting as the pallet comes down in the doorway. He definitely hadn't been expecting that from Cody, let alone when he was already injured, but he'll give him that much. That he actually got one over him there. Which wasn't a good thing. Danny muttered something to himself as he kicks the wood with maybe too much force, watching it splinter. He'd snuck around the other way he'd seen Cody come in here, assuming he wouldn't be seen, and then... this. He's probably lucky Cody doesn't know how to run him around this particular building like he's had the "pleasure" of experiencing plenty of other survivors do to him before.

Looking up, he sees Cody turning as if to run out the other door, and... oh. David's here too, he can see him out there too now. Maybe he'd wanted to get in the way, but they're in a bit of an odd spot for that now. David might have to jump through the window or just push past Cody if he wants to.

"What are you standing there for?" He asks, tilting his head. Cody looks over his shoulder at him instead of running. You'd think he would after doing that, blocking the way for a moment... maybe he'd just been startled. Probably. Well, that works for him. "Do you want to get hooked again?"

Despite that, he doesn't move from where he's standing in the doorway. He could. This time it's not because he's... afraid, or whatever you might call it, like he was with Winnie. (That's not it. He's not scared of her. That's stupid.) No, this is pure mind games. Waiting to see what Cody might do, or if David will intervene. Staying where he is to confuse them both -- probably more so Cody.

If he does manage to hook Cody again... well, the others better be ready to hurry and get him off it. Or else he's gonna wind up back at the campfire to wait for them all.
 
And so, like he said he would, David followed Cody despite realizing that he had no idea where to go. That was alright, he supposed, Cody would have to learn to take initiative somehow while he was here, after all. The younger man led them to the killer shack.

“Welcome to the shack,” David announced half-heartedly. He didn’t like playing babysitter, but he didn’t mind telling him what some of these places were commonly referred to as. So, he lingered for a bit as Cody just seemed to look around, and he had to hold back the urge to sigh and usher him out to go somewhere more useful. “That down there is the basement, by the way. You generally want to steer clear of ending up down there.”

Then, David sees the dark figure by the doorway, and before he has the chance to warn Cody about it, the pallet is effectively slammed over the masked man’s head. Nice.

You’d think after delivering a stun like that, he’d get a move on, right? It was difficult to give the run around in the shack after the pallet had been dropped. Well, Cody, in fact, did not get a move on!

For a few moments, David just watched in shock–even the Ghostface seemed to be shocked by this development, as well. He didn’t blame him.

“What are you–move!” Not wanting to wait around much longer to see what would possibly happen in this outcome, he practically barreled into Cody’s side, haphazardly shoving him away from Ghostface, and taking his place that he had been standing in before. “Move your ass!”

It was very much a demand, not a suggestion. He couldn’t help but get frustrated, but he knew what some of the others would say in response to his frustrations–it’s his first trial, give him a break. It wasn’t often that you’d see someone just standing in front of a killer like that–not unless they knew what they were doing and they were purposefully trying to piss them off. David couldn’t help but assume that this was not what Cody was doing.

Despite his frustration though, with his placement being right between Cody and their current hunter, it was obvious that he was still up for taking a hit for him–even with all of the frustration that was boiling up within him at the moment. David hadn’t been hit once this entire time, so he could afford to take some hits right now.
Nea had been left to her devices once again, and she had finished off the generator within the barn effectively. Three out of five, done! The Ghostface just wasn’t bringing his A game today, it seemed, and perhaps Nea would mock him for it if she ever properly ran into him–he seemed so caught up with the newbies, she doubted that she’d get the chance.

Speaking of the newbies, new girl is still on hook, right? So, off she went to go for the rescue once more. This time, she was a bit more confident in the fact that their masked killer wouldn’t be lingering around the hook, seeing as he hadn’t hung around last time–so she thought it was safe to make this assumption.

Winnie hadn’t even noticed her when she had arrived, as she had been dangling with her eyes closed–a sharp whine of discomfort and pain escaped her when she had suddenly been lifted off of the hook. Her knees wobbled beneath her as she was urged to the ground, and she blinked blearily up at the woman as she immediately began to tend to her wounds.

“First times are always pretty shitty, don’t worry.” Nea made an attempt at comforting her when she had noticed her wet cheeks. “I mean–it doesn’t get easier, but you get used to it.”

“Lovely.” Winnie mumbled before she allowed her head to drop, looking down at the dirt below them as the woman tended to her wounds… She hadn’t heard anymore screaming since she got tossed onto the hook, so it was probably safe to assume that Cody was okay right now, right? Oh, she sure hoped so.
 
"Sorry, sorry! I don't--" Cody shook his head, not finishing that sentence. What was there to say? He wasn't really sure why he'd just been standing there like an idiot either. He'd just been surprised that actually happened, and surprised Danny didn't immediately come after him -- but that didn't mean he should wait for him to! He started to move as he'd been advised (told and forced out of the way, more like it), out of the shack and... well, once again not really knowing where, but assuming David hopefully had it covered.

Danny was moving now too; as he'd expected, David did get in the way. Of course. He could try to go around, cut Cody off... but going through the window would take time he didn't have. So he just went on ahead and hoped he could hit David in the meantime before inevitably going after Cody again.

He readied his knife again, darting forward in an attempt to slash at the larger man, but somehow missed. God damn it. He'd get it this time for sure...

Meanwhile Cody was still slightly panicking about where to go or what to do. There were two generators left, right? He hoped he wouldn't get caught again before they both were finished. Knowing his luck, he very well might. But he was going to try and get away and pray he didn't.

Sort of nearby was another one of those little areas, this time with a window, and he once more was trying to keep in mind everything he'd been told earlier as he shoved himself over it. It made him wince in pain, his earlier injuries bothering him again more than they had been, but he supposed it was the adrenaline keeping his mind off of that. 'The faster they finish those and the longer I stay out of his sight, the faster we can get out of here...'

He heard David behind him -- not calling him out like earlier, but no, it'd sounded like he'd gotten hit this time for real. He risked a glance back over his shoulder for a second to see, but it seemed as if Danny was preoccupied with David now and not worried about coming after him. Yeah, he'd definitely gotten hit. He felt bad leaving him there, but also... he seemed the type to be able to fend for himself. (Unlike you, Cody chided himself in his thoughts.) Plus David had done that on purpose. It's not like Cody was just running off because he was scared... which ok he sort of was, but that wasn't entirely why!

He hoped Winnie was ok. He wasn't sure where she was. Still on the hook? Hopefully not. He didn't see anyone on any of the ones he was passing, hopefully she was with Nea and getting healed or something, or just staying out of the way. Like he needed to be doing right now. 'Please don't let him follow me again please don't--'

But it didn't seem like Danny was. He no longer heard footsteps behind him as he ran, just his own. Maybe he could find the other two and... well, he wasn't sure what then. Get something done, hopefully, and get the hell out of here sooner than later.
 
Finally, Cody moved. David watched as he headed out of the shack, and once he was gone he glanced over his shoulder to see the Ghostface with his blade at the ready. He barely even side-stepped, and somehow the masked murderer’s blade slashed through the air instead.

David scoffed before he darted away, hugging the wall of the shack. Whatever he did here, he knew he was going to get hit, because the shack lacked a pallet now. The windows themselves were fine, but the pallet was what really made the shack what it was–no point in lingering on things that were no longer there, though.

He turned back into the shack just for the sake of getting some use out of the windows while he was here, but as he hopped the window in question, he had gotten nicked across the back by the Ghostface’s blade. Shit timing on his part, but whatever. As long as it wasn’t either of the newbies getting hooked for the second time, then their chances of escaping as a team were still within grasp.

After the blade made contact with his skin, he got an immediate rush of adrenaline, and off he went, sprinting in the opposite direction that Cody had ambled off in. Eventually, David found himself in an area that he deemed effective for the time being–a jungle gym, as some of the other survivors would have called it. He was injured now, but if he could loop Ghostface around here for a little while and give the others some more time to heal up and work on the generators, then that would be time well spent.
Winnie lifted her head at the sound of someone shouting in pain–they sounded far off, though. Sounded like David–she presumed, at least. It didn’t sound like Cody, and since Nea was here, it had to be him… Which meant Cody was still okay, right? She breathed a sigh of relief at the thought.

Nea gave her a pat on the shoulder, signifying that she could get up now, and Winnie did just that. She stood, pressed her palm to her injured shoulder that had since been wrapped up, and she whimpered softly at the sting. “...Thanks.”

Once again, Nea took off, leaving Winnie standing in front of the hook, awkwardly trying to stretch her shoulder. It was oddly disturbing to her that Danny hadn’t lingered to mock her for even a second–hadn’t even said anything when he had been carrying her here, either. She didn’t like it–he kind of scared her more when he was quiet–which was weird. Maybe some odd part of her still found his voice comforting? Surely not anymore, right? That would be weird... And fucked up.

Winnie wanted to find Cody, now, though. Because that was a real comforting presence, and maybe they could finish up a generator together. Although she knew how that ended last time–she kind of yearned for companionship right now. So, off she went–jogging along the rows of corn.

A smaller object caught her attention, though–a chest. Huh. She toddled on over and leaned over, tugging the chest open with a soft huff of effort before she began searching. When she finally managed to pry it open, she found… A flashlight, of all things. Not really understanding the use of it, she plucked it up and continued on her search–for Cody or a generator, whichever came first.
 
Cody had ran across the area, and when he saw someone a ways ahead he froze for a moment, only to realize it was just Winnie. He felt relieved to see she wasn’t on the hook anymore, though both of them were injured still. Better than lying on the ground though, he guessed. At least they were up and could move around.

“Hey!” He called out to her, though not too loud, afraid to draw too much attention to them. “You’ll never guess what I did.” He let out a little laugh.

As he walked over, he saw she had a flashlight in her hand. Where’d she get that from? And also, what were you supposed to do with it here? It wasn’t dark in this realm… maybe in another one? If she kept it after being sent back. Whatever. Worry about that later.

“Also, do you know where there’s a generator nearby..? Hoping we can actually finish these and get the hell out. I’m tired of being chased…” He shook his head, one hand absentmindedly coming up to rest on his own wounds — standing here now and not running around for a moment, he realized how much they still hurt. Ugh. Winnie seemed to be searching for something too though, so she probably didn’t know where one was, but he asked anyways. “Danny’s still pissed at me for escaping him, I guess. Won’t leave me alone.”

Or at least, it seemed as if he was going after Cody more so than the others. Even Winnie. He was sure she already realized this, but he was kind of just talking to talk because he didn’t know what else to do. He also realized maybe he should shut up about Danny. Not that he wanted to keep thinking about him either, but it was hard not to when he was the one chasing them down currently.

“Managed to smack him with one of those pallet things though, somehow… not really sure how I did myself.” He purposefully left out the part about him standing there for too long like an idiot and not running away when he should’ve. She didn’t need to know that. But at least they seemed to be safe for now. Maybe Danny gave up on going after them and stuck to David. Again, Cody felt bad then, but also was thankful they currently weren’t being targeted anymore.

He glanced around as if trying to find somewhere to go, squinting as he looks up in the air to maybe see the lights of one of the generators. Two left. They can do this.

At least, he hopes.
 
Unfortunately, Winnie still hadn’t found a generator by the time she heard someone’s voice. It had alerted her for a second, but then she recognized the voice to be Cody, and she glanced over her shoulder.

“Hey!” She called out in response before she pivoted on her heel to jog towards him. “I was getting worried that nobody came to help you.”

Placing a hand on her hip, Winnie’s eyes scanned the skies again–none of those lights. At least, none that were flickering. The only ones that she had come across were finished already, so they’d have to do a bit more walking. “Yeah, uh, can’t seem to find anything right yet. Let’s… I’d like to stick together, maybe we can finish up the first generator we find quicker as a team.”

Winnie began walking again, waving her hand to signify that he should follow her. At the mention of Danny, she deflated ever so slightly–figures he’d have something against Cody for being the one that got away, or whatever. “Fucking guy should try and focus on the others–can’t imagine targeting just us is gonna do him very well. Y'know, he's lucky I’m not the one with the knife.”

It was all talk–probably, at least. Winnie wasn’t a violent individual, but given the circumstances, she probably could be, in theory at least. She was angry, confused, hurt and betrayed–and she’d never truly be able to deal with those emotions, not here. Not with him. The guy wouldn’t even tell her why he didn’t kill her before! With a shake of her head and a click of her tongue, she tried her best to brush off those thoughts for the time being. There were more important things to focus on right now.

At the mention of Cody smacking Danny with the pallet, her eyes lit up, and she eyed him with a small grin. “Really? Well look at you go, good job! Hopefully he’s got, like, a thousand more of those coming his way.”

She leaned over to carefully brush her shoulder against his–she would’ve given him a pat on the back or even a side-hug, but they were both injured and she’d rather not have them feeling more sore than necessary.

Once her eyes were focused on finding a generator again, she let out a sigh… Where the hell were these things? They were so plentiful earlier, it’s like they all just suddenly disappeared. Picking up the pace to a jog again, she led Cody through the corn field until they inevitably came upon a generator with hardly anything around it. Just rows of corn–an iffy spot, but she was willing to give it a shot if he was.

“Hopefully Nea is working on another one somewhere else, let’s try to get this one done. Do you want to go on two separate sides, so that we can keep watch for each other, maybe?” It was only a suggestion, if he felt safer being right beside each other, she didn’t mind. Either way, she got to work.

As she began fumbling and toying with the wires–that she was essentially completely clueless with–she heard a shout of pain coming from a little ways off, from where Cody had been before, she presumed. David was probably down, set to be hooked soon. If Nea and Cody were working on two separate generators, and if Winnie could manage to save David on the hook, then… They’d be done, right?

There was still the chance of Danny coming along and finding either one of them, though–finding Cody, that wouldn’t be good. Nea hadn’t been caught yet, so that would be less of a loss… Best case scenario, really. Worst case scenario, Danny lingered near David’s hook and got her as she tried to save David. No risk, no reward, she supposed.

Ugh! Winnie was not into this stupid game at all!

“When David gets hooked, I’m, um… I’m going to try to help him, so you can try to finish this and… Maybe Nea will finish working on the other one? What do you think?”
 
He followed along, listening to her talk. At her enthusiasm at him managing to get a pallet on Danny, he couldn't help but smile. "I hope so too. He deserves it!"

Eventually they did manage to find a generator, which he was thankful for. He paused for a moment as he was about to kneel down once Winnie spoke up again. Hm. That's probably a good idea, yeah. Less chance of what already happened, well, happening again.

"Yeah, that works." He finally got down in front of the generator, wincing slightly as the change in positions made him once more too aware of his wounds. Not as bad as they could be, but still. He'd rather not be injured at all... he tried to keep in mind that hopefully they'd be out of here soon. Keyword there being hopefully, if this went ok.

Glancing around as he worked, Cody didn't see anyone, survivor or killer. A good sign? Even if the others weren't getting chased, they probably were further away--

Oh. Someone just got downed. David, from the sounds of it. Well... he'd kind of expected that to happen. At least he bought them time. He'd have to thank the guy again afterwards. Or actually, maybe not. He didn't seem the type to really care for all that. Just did what he had to, or whatever.

He sighed when Winnie said that, if only because there really was no good way to do this. He didn't want her to go do it, just in case, but Nea had already helped the both of them before, so she probably didn't want to get off the generator she must've been working on by now... or maybe she'd be fine because it wasn't one of them this time. Who knows.

"I don't know," he admitted, looking around once more. Still nothing. "I don't want you to get hurt again, but... if you think you can." He realized how that might've sounded; it wasn't him saying he didn't think she could, he was just worried!

"I mean, I just--" He shook his head again. It'd be fine. Probably.

...Maybe they'd actually all get out. Danny surely would be mad, and the thought almost made him want to laugh. Not because it was really funny -- no, that might actually make things worse -- but the fact they'd have escaped on their first trial all because they happened to show up at the right (wrong?) time.

Probably shouldn't get too invested in that idea. They still had a little ways to go. But he could hope.

And from the looks of it, that's where things were heading.
 
Winnie glanced at him for a moment as she slowly stood up, placing either of her hands onto her hips as she weighed their options. She understood that he was only worried, so she cast him a small smile to quietly tell him that it was okay.

Even before she had asked him for his opinion on her plan, she had practically already made up her mind–Nea had been putting in the foot work for them this trial, and so had David, so she felt that it was time to pay it forward, or at least try to. So, with a snap of her fingers, she pointed at the generator. “Get this thing finished for us, ‘kay?”

She turned on her heel, reaching out her hand to muss up his hair for the briefest of seconds before she headed on her way.

As soon as she had left Cody, the anxiety set in. It’s not that she didn’t feel very confident in her plan, it’s just that… Maybe she put on a brave face for Cody just then. Habit, she supposed–she didn’t like seeing people so afraid. She had a tendency to try and shelter people who were younger than her whenever they needed it–older sibling habits die hard, she supposed. Here, there wasn’t much she could do to help anyone except for just trying her damnedest, so that’s what she’d do.

Every now and again she’d pause and duck behind a hay bale if she ever got anxious, or if she ever felt her heartbeat picking up–and eventually, she had managed to reach David’s hook, seemingly Danny-free.

Now that she was here, she realized… David is kind of a huge, hulking, burly guy. How the hell was she supposed to get him down, anyway? There wasn’t any time to really think about it, because she just had to go ahead and try–and it was a lot easier than she thought it would be. Maybe that was another entity’s-realm-side-effect that they just hadn’t been briefed on.

“I don’t have any medical knowledge other than band-aids and rubbing alcohol so I’m not sure what I’m supposed to–” Winnie had begun to babble quietly to the man, but he had simply grabbed her hands and pressed her palms to his shoulder wounds.

You know, this place was really weird, because Winnie definitely didn’t have any bandages or medical understanding of any kind before she ran on over here, but all of the sudden she did. So, why didn’t she have these when she was injured herself? Weird. Maybe she’d ask around again, as it was probably some stupid entity-magic-rule that she wasn’t aware of.

“I’m gonna, um… I’m gonna go back to find Cody and–”

Nea’s generator–or at least she assumed it was hers–went off.

“And, um…”

David waved her off. “Go on, then, I won’t keep you. Be careful, there’s not a lot of other places for him to patrol when we’ve only got one generator left.”

That made sense, she supposed as she watched David head off elsewhere… Where was he headed, anyway? Maybe preparing at the exits, or something? That would probably be a good idea… But it wasn’t over yet, no, she turned away from the hook and away from where David had headed, and she broke out into a sprint to get back to Cody.
 
Cody heard the sound of another generator being finished in the distance. Yeah, not the one he was working on, not yet. But his was getting there it seemed like. He hadn't messed this one up at all, thankfully. Though it'd been less that he had to worry about and more being too focused on working on it and not paying attention to his surroundings. Actually, he hadn't really had to worry about that either this whole time. Of course he'd still been looking around as a precaution, but he hadn't seen Danny at all still. Who knows where he was? Maybe he'd go toward where that other generator went off, assuming someone would still be near it.

Whatever. It didn't matter as long as he wasn't bothering him or Winnie. (Ok, obviously he didn't want the other two being hurt or hooked again, but they were more at risk if they did.)

It didn't take long before he heard someone's footsteps approaching, and just by the fact he could hear them, he presumed it was Winnie and not Danny. Turning to look over his shoulder again, he found that yes, it was.

"Was everything ok?" He asked, but if she was here and looked the same as she had when she left, surely it had been, right? "I think this is almost done, too." He nodded back toward the generator.

Ok, so when this was done, they had to open a gate and leave? How did they even get back? Were they like... teleported, or whatever it was that happened when they got sent to this place, just back to the fire? Probably, right? And where even were the gates? If he'd seen them or walked past them, he definitely hadn't been paying attention enough to realize. Other things were kind of more concerning than that at the moment.

Well, he'd probably be finding out soon. Couldn't be that difficult, especially if Danny was still doing as bad as he was right now -- because yeah, he was doing bad, by killer standards Cody assumed. Everyone was still alive -- albeit some of them were hurt -- so he'd say they were doing better than him in that matter.

Good, he thought. He hoped if either him or Winnie got sent to another trial with him any time soon, it'd go the same way. That was a funny thought, really. Just them continuing to win against him somehow. He doubted that's how it'd go, but who knew.

...He was going to have to ask around about those other ways to annoy the killer when they got back. Only thing he'd really gotten earlier was throwing down pallets, which he'd managed to do. If there were more ways? He'd gladly try his hardest to do so.
 
When she was closer to the generator that she had left Cody at, she slowed to a light jog instead. Much to her relief, Cody was right where she had left him–and she audibly exhaled at the sight of him.

“Yeah! I… Didn’t see Danny at all on my way there or on my way back. David just ran off, so, I don’t know what he’s up to… Maybe he’s going to one of those gates or something.” She was just as clueless as he was, but she was half positive that what she was saying was truthful.

Crouching down where she had been before, on the other side of the generator, she fiddled with the wires again. Judging by the movements of the pistons on the generator, this one was definitely close to being finished–she wondered what would happen after.

In all honesty, she was wondering where Danny was now. Maybe Nea was giving him a run for his money–she seemed fairly confident when they had met, so maybe she was entirely capable of doing so. What mattered was that he wasn’t here, and they could get this done. She didn't like thinking in such a way about her teammates, but, Nea hadn't been injured or hooked yet... That is, presuming that's who Danny was with right now.

The generator progressed a lot quicker with the both of them working on it, and in no time the generator had been finished. There was a loud sound that caused her to jump–it sounded like a siren of sorts, and she blinked owlishly at Cody as she stood up. Loud. That must mean that they had completed all five then, right? Now they just had to find the doors to get out of here.

“This might be a dumb question, but what do the gates look like?” Winnie asked as she did a slow spin-around, eyeing their surroundings. Well, if they walked in one direction, they’d eventually find the walls that surrounded this place, and if they followed the walls, then they’d eventually find a gate.

So, with a wave of her hand, she guided them in a simple, straight line until they eventually hit a wall. From there, she just chose left or right, and stuck to it. They’d find an exit gate eventually with this method–and still, no sign of Danny. Weird.

“I bet he’s caught up with one of the others.” She murmured as she made her way along the wall, still with the flashlight in hand. With it pointed to the ground, she flicked it on and then off again. “Y’know, I don’t totally see the point in having this thing when this place is so bright.”

Eventually during their wandering, Winnie spotted what looked to be a red light up ahead–which, usually red means bad, so she was a bit hesitant to approach. Well, she was hesitant until she saw David appear from around the corner, waving his arm. “Get over here!”

As she drew closer, she could feel her heartbeat beginning to pick up, too. Obviously they wouldn’t be getting out of here without seeing Danny one more time, but even now, she didn’t really know where he was. Ensuring that Cody was still following her, she made a beeline for David, but she paused within the opening of the gate–Nea, where was she?

“Um, David–”

“Go!” Came Nea’s shout from behind them. Now, Winnie could feel her heartbeat again–hell, she could hear it–and she glanced over her shoulder to see an injured Nea cradling her stomach, but still, she was gunning it for the gate.
 
Cody wasn't sure himself when he heard the siren go off and Winnie asked where the gates were -- he'd just been wondering the same, but he followed her as they walked around to find it.

"Probably," he replied. At the question about the flashlight, he shrugged. "Me either. Maybe you'll keep it when we go back? Might help in another place or something. I don't know. Someone back there probably knows more than I do."

Well, if he ended up finding out what they actually were for, at least here? Yeah, Cody was going to have a field day with that. He definitely would like the idea of blinding killers like that.

Soon enough they found the gate, and David was already there. Nea was nowhere in sight, but then he felt his heart beating quicker, and--

Turning around at the sound of Nea's voice, sure enough he saw her running towards them all. And a little ways behind her was none other than Danny. While Cody couldn't see his face, he could've sworn he heard the killer curse or say something to one of them, but he couldn't quite make it out from where he was standing. Figures he was upset about them all being here about to leave.

"Alright, alright!" He quickly spun back around to run after Winnie, hoping Nea would make it without getting hit. It would suck if they were this close and she went down! He didn't want to just... run out into... ok, where did this go? It looked like a pathway of some kind, but the end just kind of... faded out. Like the fog from around the fire or in the woods was creeping in here too. Probably what would take them back there, as he'd been imagining.

He stood closer to the very end, waiting for everyone before he even thought about actually leaving. Yeah, maybe he was being a bit of a coward earlier, but he wasn't leaving Nea behind when she'd helped so much. He might've been injured still but maybe he could do something still... ok he kind of doubted that part, but the point being he didn't want to leave without making sure everyone got out!

Thankfully it seemed like that would be the case.

This definitely wasn't how he'd pictured his first trial going, but he wasn't complaining either.

...Ok, he was complaining about the getting stabbed and thrown on a hook part. But having something to hold over Danny's head? Yeah, that wasn't expected at all.
 
With all three of them waiting in the entrance of the exit gate, Winnie didn’t doubt the fact that Danny would probably be pretty pissed. This was a guaranteed loss on his part, after all–even if he did get Nea. By the looks of it, though, she was just a few steps ahead of him, as she went bolting right in between David and Winnie’s shoulders, sprinting right out of the gate without another thought.

With that, Winnie gave the two men a push towards the exit, urging them ahead of her and out of the gate entirely. Of course, she followed closely behind, casting a glance over her shoulder.

Long spikes shot up out of the ground behind them–a separator, of sorts, she realized. She slowed to a stop when she came to such a realization, taking a few small steps towards the long spikes that barred her off from entering again–and, also denied Danny of an exit. She supposed she was just curious about how trials ended, and she stepped as close as she could to the spikes without making physical contact with it.

She could feel the cool chill of the fog nipping at her ankles, but she remained in her spot–peering between the long, dark, spikes. You lost. Winnie thought as she watched Danny through the gaps, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly as she just… Looked at him.

Now, she could feel the fog passing through the gaps between her fingers. Cold. They’d be leaving soon–they’d be pulled out of here soon, more like.

See you around, I suppose. She thought to herself, although she didn’t say a word to him, just watched him–perhaps they were making eye contact, but she wouldn’t know, due to his mask. Against her own will, she found that her eyes had gotten blurry with tears again, and a singular tear slipped through her lashes, but she was quick to wipe it away.

Fixing him with a hard stare, the last thing she saw was his mask before everything had gone black again–black and cold. That floaty feeling was back, too, but it felt a bit better this time knowing that she’d be headed back to the campfire.

It felt a bit long, though. Longer than it had taken for them to get there, at least. Eventually, she could feel solid ground beneath her. Not just her feet, but her ass, too–she returned to the campfire sitting down, with her knees pulled up to her chest.

All of the pain was gone.

“Cody?” She called out quietly as soon as the cold touch of the fog had left her entirely. Her eyes shifted from person to person… David, Nea–there he is, Cody.

“Cody! Are you okay? You’re… Everything heal correctly?” Winnie asked as she stood up, brushing herself off before she stepped closer to him. She wondered if any of their wounds had left any scars–she’d probably check later, though, for now she just wanted to check and see how Cody was doing. Disregarding herself a little bit? Maybe!
 
Cody wasn't sure how long it'd been when he finally appeared back near the fire. Could've been a few minutes, could've been forever. It felt so strange when that happened. Maybe he'd get used to that too, like everyone said apparently he'd get used to everything else.

Winnie's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he looked over. Yeah, there she was, and the other two as well along with some others who weren't in their trial. Getting back from their own, perhaps, or they'd just been here from before. He wasn't sure.

"I... I think?" He answered. He felt ok, better than he had during the trial now that he actually paid attention to it. Nothing hurt, and as for scars he wasn't sure either, he'd also worry about that later. No blood, no bandages wrapped around him any longer. Nothing visible that he could see. "Are you?"

She looked ok too. Well, as ok as one could be after all that. Which, to be fair, he'd say that went remarkably better than it could've gone, despite them having been hurt in the process. He supposed that was just something else he'd have to learn to deal with, unfortunately.

For whatever reason, he wondered briefly about Danny again. Cody left when he was told, so he hadn't seen him in that last moment like Winnie did. Not that it really mattered if he had or not, the killer still hadn't spoken; go figure. Was he doing it on purpose now?

He also wondered if they'd have any more trials or if that was a 'once a day' thing. He hoped that was the case, because he really wasn't looking forward to doing all of that again any time soon.

...Unless it meant he got to hit Danny with a pallet again. That he did kind of want to do sooner than later.
 
Winnie offered him a small smile, and she lifted both of her hands to place them on either of his shoulders. Her eyes traced over him briefly–all of his bandages were gone and any other signs of injury, too.

“I'm okay. As okay as I can be, all things considered.” Physically she was fine, but mentally she was deeply disturbed and probably completely damaged. She presumed the same went for most of the people here, though.

Winnie was just glad that the trial was over and done with. She gave his shoulders a gentle squeeze before she allowed her arms to drop at her sides, and for a moment she looked down at her feet.

It all felt so real, and yet not real at all. She clenched her fists at her sides, digging her nails into her palms until she felt the slightly painful pinch, and then she allowed her hands to relax again. She couldn't believe it, but unfortunately she had to.

“I just can't believe any of it.” She finally managed, and as she spoke, she shifted her gaze to look out into the looming forest.

A part of her wished that they could have shared more words–as much as she hated him, now. Did she hate him? Yes, yes she did… She had to hate him for everything that he did.

And yet, there was still a part of her that just… Wondered about him. Wondered how he managed to lie so well, especially. Now that she had seen him in action, she didn't wonder as much as to how he could do it, because she saw it–she experienced it. She couldn't believe that she had experienced being on the other end of a knife that he wielded, after all of the trust that they had built up… Or so she thought, she supposed now.

“A part of me still doesn't want to believe it, even when it's right in front of me.” Whether she was talking about their current situation or Danny as a whole, who knew? It applied well to both. “God, I shouldn't be moping around, this is… I don't know.”

Winnie stared in silence out into the trees, wondering if he was out there, maybe. She was mad. Completely beyond pissed, something that couldn't be properly labeled, not to the extent that she was feeling. Cody probably felt the same–rightfully infuriated. She wanted to–uncharacteristically–hit something, maybe she didn't just want to, maybe she needed to… Or maybe she just really needed to cry.

“I’m really mad, y’know. I guess it’s warranted, I just–I trusted him, I really did. I thought he was real. I mean, how was I supposed to know, right? God–sorry, I’m sorry. I’m rambling, I just… Sorry, sorry.”
 
Now that he was out of the trial, and actually had a moment to think about things more... yeah, Cody had to agree with her there. It kind of felt like the night at the arcade for him. The moment he realized who was behind that mask, and thinking, no, it couldn't be. He was seeing things, or it was just someone who looked similar.

Until there was that same look in Danny's eyes. Recognition, disbelief. That, and something else Cody hadn't been able to place at the time.

Not until he'd seen it moments later when the other man was hovering over him, knife in hand, burying it into his skin.

Or earlier, when he'd first ran into Danny during the trial. He hadn't seen it then, more like felt it -- he didn't need to see Danny's face that time to know what he was thinking.

"No, I get it," he told her. Maybe not in the same way she did, but he was starting to feel similarly. "I think it's... uh, it makes sense. That you feel like that."

He'd never been that good with feelings like this, at least not verbally. He always thought he could express himself better writing down words rather than speaking them aloud. That was one reason he liked his job back then, and just writing in general. Just had been something he liked to do for as long as he remembered.

Cody's gaze shifted over towards the treeline, out into the darkness where Winnie seemed to be focused too, but there was nothing besides the expanse of trees and the ever persistent fog. No masked killers jumping out of the shadows.

He didn't think he'd ever understand that part fully, the knowing him like she did. Or thinking she did, rather. He was glad he hadn't at this point, but it also made him even more mad for her.

...Maybe that was partly why he was so intent at getting back at Danny here too. He hadn't considered it until now. Just had kept thinking about it from the moment they arrived and realized he was here with them.

"Don't apologize." He tried to be reassuring, though he wasn't sure how much he'd help, if he was being honest. "I'm mad too. You shouldn't have had to deal with that. None of us should've!"

It wasn't just for his own reasons he wanted this 'revenge,' whatever vague idea of it he had in his head. It was for her too now, wasn't it?


When Danny had arrived back in the killer's side of the woods, he immediately stormed off, grass and dead leaves crunching under his boots as he walked. He wasn't really sure where he was going, but away from the main sort of clearing place -- similar to the survivor's campfire, a shared area for the killers to meet up if wanted or needed. He'd noticed it was used less than the survivor's. Figures, people (and monsters) like them were bound to be less social than the others. He didn't want any of them asking questions anyways, even if they were on the same side.

In his seemingly aimless roaming, he'd somehow ended up exactly where he didn't want to be. Maybe the Entity turned him around on purpose. Wouldn't put it past her -- this place did sometimes seem to change right before your eyes, even if you didn't entirely realize it. Then again, he had to wonder what the Entity actually thought of his... habits. Did a being like that even care? There was an unspoken rule about not hurting each other outside of trials, or so he'd heard, but he had no need to do that anyways.

Except right now a little voice in the back of his head told him that maybe he should break that rule. He'd never been one for following them anyways, here or otherwise.

He stopped before he could go any further, not wanting to just stroll out into the survivor's camp and cause a scene. He hadn't meant to go this far anyways. Probably just had been lost in his thoughts and didn't realize he came this far out.

Peering out between the trees, he saw the four from his last trial sitting around the fire, as well as some others. Cody and Winnie seemed to be talking -- as he expected. About what, he wasn't sure. It was hard to hear from where he was, but he didn't dare get any closer right now. At least here his attire actually helped him blend in, not stand out further like in some of the trial grounds.

He should just leave. There was no reason to be standing here watching. Except... well, maybe there was. Maybe he could find out something useful. Something he could use to get back at them, too. It wasn't every time he came out here that he heard such things, but now and then he would. He often just did this out of pure curiosity or boredom between trials. Or just to annoy the survivors if they realized he was there -- some of them picked up on it more easily than others. He didn't have his powers like he did during trials, but he certainly was still stealthy even without the Entity's 'enhancements.'

He stayed where he was, leaned against a tree, mindlessly staring out at the survivors mulling about. Thought about leaving again.

Saw Winnie's head turn towards the woods, and then Cody's gaze following. Hm.

They didn't see him though. Not yet. Maybe wondering if he was out here -- they'd be right to -- but not noticing anything off.

Maybe he'd stay a little longer.
 
Winnie could tell just by the way he spoke that Cody wasn’t all that good with talking about feelings–that was alright, though. It was nice that he listened, and nice that he didn’t just brush her off completely. It wasn’t a lot, but it was more than enough for her.

She smiled, and turned her head away from the treeline to look at Cody instead. It was a small smile, hardly even there, but a smile nonetheless. “We can get all pissed off together, then. Sound good to you?”

In contrast to Cody, she wasn’t hellbent on getting revenge. She didn’t really know what she wanted–there was a soft spot deep within her heart that wished for things to be fixed, somehow. Although she knew that nothing could be fixed, as this was definitely a point of no return. She couldn’t help wishing, though.

“If you could go back, would you have changed anything? I mean, knowing where we’d end up now.” It was just a hypothetical conversation starter–a weird kind of icebreaker. “Because if it were me, I think… You’re cool, so if I could go back, I’d have tried to befriend you rather than him. I dunno, guess I just really wanted to make the new guy feel at home, since he had zero connections… And then, you know, god, I wish I could go back. Maybe if I’d have done something differently, this wouldn’t be happening.”

It was weird to say that–because things were good. She had no qualms with… Jed. He had been good and that’s why it shocked her so deeply, right down to her core, that Jed was Danny, and Jed wasn’t real, it was all just fucking Danny! It was all just the town’s local serial killer–doing what? She didn’t even know. Playing boyfriend for a fucking alibi? She couldn’t piece together a single piece of reasoning in her head for it.

It made her skin crawl knowing that she had so much as touched him in the past now that she knew about all of the blood on his hands.

Winnie’s hands lifted to wrap around her torso again, giving herself what was essentially a hug.

I’m gonna end up crying again, she thought. She had effectively been sitting here, thinking too much, getting herself all amped up–what good would it do?

Tugging on one of her sleeves, she lifted her hand to dab away at her wet eyes.

Averting her gaze from Cody, she found herself looking out into the woods again. Not necessarily searching for anything this time, just looking away so that he didn’t have to see her crying–again. She just got here and she had already cried, what, three times? Winnie was not built for this, clearly.

Exhaling, she tried to relax her shoulders, just listening to the fire crackling… It would do her some good to try and chill out for a little while until the fog rolled in again.

It would be good to relax.

Maybe she would’ve been able to, if she hadn’t caught a glimpse of that familiar white-faced expression as her eyes danced over the treeline. Initially she had brushed over it, but when it registered in her head, her eyes slowly shifted to look again.

Her heart skipped a beat–scared, maybe. Not terrified, though, because as far as she was aware, he couldn’t come in here, right?

Despite noticing him, she didn’t say a word. She didn’t even budge. Should she tell Cody? She wasn’t sure what he’d do if he saw Danny, too. Would he cause a scene? He didn’t necessarily seem like the type to do such a thing, but she didn’t really know either…

I see you, she thought. What are you doing out there?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 3 (members: 0, guests: 3)

Similar threads

weiirdw0lf
Fandom furtive chase. || weiirdw0lf & virely
dbd emh
Replies
12
Views
263
weiirdw0lf
weiirdw0lf
MoggieMoof
Fandom it's only you i would be sore for. | MoggieMoof & doomieyuck
Replies
2
Views
197
MoggieMoof
MoggieMoof
Sleepy Sleuth
Realistic or Modern Someone Wants Me Dead (Sleepy Sleuth, Allybanks00)
2 3
Replies
52
Views
1K
Sleepy Sleuth
Sleepy Sleuth
Lucyfer
Fantasy By The Blood [Closed]
Replies
24
Views
381
Lucyfer
Lucyfer
pheaca
Fandom resonate in this painted world [ Yu Narukami x Rise Kujikawa (Persona 4) | deadly king and pheaca ]
mxf novella persona 4
Replies
0
Views
86
pheaca
pheaca
Back
Top