WEEK 2.

[trustfellows]

WEEK 2 Two people are dead. Jean Kirstein and Caren have both died due to a tragic accident. Of course, you're not entirely innocent, are you? You voted, you played into this game the Coordinators are running. But you know the stakes now. You know what failure to complete Rule Seven really means. No more excuses from here on out. Saturday is given to regrouping and sleep; come Sunday morning, the clock chimes the hour at seven o'clock and there are no dead bodies to be found, so it can be assumed that all of you are safe for the time being. That said, you'll be feeling a little groggy when you wake up; it seems you've regained something that you didn't realize you'd lost... Of course, exploring the building from here on will reveal something new: namely, a stairwell in the northeastern corner, leading upwards toward a new floor entirely. Another sign of how things are going to progress around here, maybe; chances are you'll enjoy what you've been given, but was it worth the lives of two people to obtain? PARTICIPANTS REMAINING: 33 PARTICIPANTS REMAINING: 32

SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
[OOC: Welcome to week two of Trustfell! Feel free to make as many top levels as you'd like and tag out to other characters! This post is for all of your interactions this week... at least until the weekend. Don't forget to save those threads for coins and the activity check!

If you'd like to get in contact with the Coordinators, you can do so through private meetings with Alena!]

Comments

[destage]

[...god, this is just gonna be another of these days.]

Talk to me, if you'd like.

[sleepytimegal]

I- [ There's a different photo she's focusing on now, one of her and a boy with a beanie, with...eyes behind them. Something there. ]

I dreamed this.

[destage]

[...never have these icon keywords been so legit

But also good god, Sayaka gasps when she sees the picture--those...weird eyes, right in back of them--]

Are...are you sure someone isn't trying to play a prank on you? That looks so...

[realistic.]

[sleepytimegal]

How could they know what I'd dream...? But- how can any of this even be- [ She pulls up another. It's identical to the photo with the eyes, with one exception: Alex isn't in it. ] They're- this one I didn't, and- they're all like this, small...differences, and-

[destage]

[...do you need a hug, Alex, Sayaka can at least do that much, pulling her in gently.]

Are you sure these aren't just...particularly fancy photoshops, Alex-san? They'd have to go through a lot of effort, but...if it was just a dream, there's no way those can have...like, actually happened, right?

[sleepytimegal]

[ A hug would be nice. A hug would be very nice. ]

But how would it be just what happened? In the dream, we- he said, we should take a picture, just to see if anything else showed up, and...some of these didn't, but- this one. [ She pulls up one of the group shots. ] Nona took it. A-and- [ this photo ] I remember this one too, but they're all mixed in.

[ She can't quite figure it out. Because it all has to mean something, doesn't it? Especially- ]

Why do this, I don't...understand.

[destage]

[Sayaka's...very much at an impasse here. She doesn't know what to tell her, really; what to tell her to put her at ease, to make it all easier on her, when the situation is so grim...but...]

...They spoke about something like this at the meeting, about...why we don't remember coming here. Maybe this is...another one of those memories that have been repressed...?

[sleepytimegal]

...You mean... You think...that dream happened?

[ That doesn't quite explain the subtle differences ones and...Michael, but. ]

Then...that'd mean we got off the island, I...think... [ ...She doesn't know. It was so hazy at the end there. ]

[destage]

If these images are real, and you remember them...well, it's a good possibility, right? Or we're in a shared fever dream. I don't think the latter's so likely, though.

[...]

What...happened to you, Alex-san? Do you want to talk about it, or...?

[sleepytimegal]

[ That's... ]

...It- ...not here. Could...you help me get all this...stuff back to my room? [ From glass eyes to chickens to...well, the photos. ]

[destage]

Of course, Alex-san. I'll help you gather all of this stuff up.

[She'll let go of Alex, at least, so they can do just that. Let's get all this stuff gathered and right over to her room, then!]

[sleepytimegal]

[ Alex won't say anything until they get there, but at least most of her things are small and able to be gathered up easily. Once they are, well... Alex spreads the photos out on her desk, setting the similar ones next to each other. She... ]

I... I think...I swear, what I'm gonna say's gonna sound crazy, but- i-it's true. ...At least, if the dream's right, then... I think my friends and I got stuck in a...weird alternate dimension.

[destage]

[Sayaka sets everything down gently--no use in making a mess out of poor Alex's room, after all, but...

...Uh. That there is a loop being thrown. She'll go over and look at the photographs.]

What...? How is that possible? Did you guys find something you shouldn't have?

cw: some suicidal imagery

[sleepytimegal]

I don't know, I just- before I woke up here, we were messing around in this- this cave, on this island that I'd been to like a hundred times, and there were these- these noises, from the radio, this static and voices and I- I tuned it in, like an idiot, because there was nothing else to do and we were trapped, and then-

[ Her hands are shaking. She's staring at the photos, not sure which one to focus on. ]

In the dream, we- we thought- they were ghosts, and they kept...possessing my friends, and making us s-see things and...turning time all weird, and they wanted to- to take our...bodies, and--

[ She cuts off. Clarissa hanging from the ceiling. Clarissa falling from the window. Ren's waterlogged body. Nona tumbling from the bridge. Them, all of them, fading out one by one. Jonas' voice underlaid with a rumbling endless crackle, somehow smooth and slippery like a snake. ]

I-it was horrible.

[destage]

[...Oh god, it's--it's like listening to some kind of modern day ghost story? This is completely horrible, and outside of anything Sayaka knows. It sounds like some kind of horrible legend parents tell their children to scare them, but made real...

Sayaka puts her hand on Alex's shoulder, reassuringly. She has to do something.]

Alex-san...I'm so sorry. None of you deserved to have that happen to you, even if you did something silly. You couldn't have known this was all going to happen. It sounds like you didn't have a choice, either...

[God, she feels terrible for her.]

[sleepytimegal]

[ ...That's alright. That's...a touch is comforting. She can't stop looking at it, at a picture where...there's no Clarissa. ]

I did have one...at the end. [ Her jaw almost locks up. ] They...they would've let me leave, if I...gave up one of...my friends, sort of. They liked her, they wanted to...keep her, but I- I couldn't let them do that.

So...I closed the portal instead, on...on the inside.

[ "It's everyone or nothing, girl. Understand your situation." ]

But I still- I...everything went weird and then I woke up...on the boat home. With everyone. ...My step-brother carried me out.

[destage]

...Wait, does that mean you were...?

[Sayaka's eyes widen, horrified. Did she--did she willingly sacrifice herself for them not to take one of her friends? What did that mean for her? Was she just trapped in there, with no hope of escape?

...Wait.]

...Was it just...like that, then? You closed it, but then your step-brother must have--did he find a way inside of there, then, to get you out?

[This sounds like a mess and a half, but...that means Alex is free, then, right?]

[sleepytimegal]

[ She shakes her head. ]

He found me outside the cave. I don't...know how I ended up there. I thought that was it b-but...I guess...they let me go?

[ She doesn't sound too convinced by that. Under Sayaka's hand, her muscles tense. ]

I- it all feels weird. I don't understand anything, and we...took a picture. [ She taps one. This one. ] And then everything gets fuzzy. Like...I was waking up but- but not.

[destage]

[Sayaka feels that, and...wow. What does she even say to all of this? That's so horrible...there was no way she could be fine after that, not from the way her tone sounds. Sayaka doesn't like it at all.]

Do you remember anything about waking up? Where you were, in that case?

[Or was it just that she woke up this morning...?]

[sleepytimegal]

No, it's like...it's like I was just drifting through the mist...

[ She shakes her head and shuffles the photos together, so she doesn't have to look at them all at once anymore. ]

I don't know. We...we were all safe but I feel like...something horrible kept happening. [ ... ] A-and with these here, I- don't know if it was...just a dream.

[ What do the pictures with Michael mean, then? Why? ]

[destage]

[...Mmph. She's not really sure what to say there, because that's honestly horrifying to think about. How many times would this have had to repeat, to get all of those images...?

She'll pull Alex a bit closer.]

...If we have a meeting this week, perhaps someone will bring these up. You can't have just been the only one to have something like that happen to you...and I'm so sorry, if it did. You don't deserve this.

[sleepytimegal]

[ She cracks the smallest of... Well, it's not a smile. Alex doesn't really smile to this. But she does let out a sigh and close her eyes, taking comfort in the contact. She likes it, really. Like reminding her she's here...even if she can't put her finger on why. ]

...Thank you. I- yeah. I'll...keep listen for that. ...Um. You're a...good friend, Sayaka. To listen to all this.

[destage]

...It's really no trouble. I love to help people, and you've been a really kind person. I appreciate it just as much.

[It's nice, honestly.]

[sleepytimegal]

Well, I- ...maybe not right now, but...if I can ever return the favor...

[ She wants to do something for someone. That's a strong feeling. ]

[destage]

...I'll keep it in mind, but...

[Her tone goes...softer, and she's smiling a little more.]

Please continue to be yourself, okay? You're a precious friend of mine. I wouldn't want something to take away that spark from you.