「R」 【S T R A N D E D】 「IC」

[Dire Hoef]

https://secure.static.tumblr.com/bbc95a2469a711c14f2f5b5b67df2765/v647zxo/Z9knakecg/tumblr_static_tumblr_static_8omam7pjikw8ko8owo8g8c gss_640.jpg

Where are we in vast expanse of space, one might say as they look up into the night's sky. They would contemplate the mode of their existence, and then constantly speculate whether their purpose was to breed and die or achieve a higher plane of existence. Yes, a simple person wouldn't think of such a thing. They are too bothered with their problems to really take a moment to stare at the sky and contemplate life. But, as we're talking about a simple person, some individuals do take the time, out of their not-so-busy day, to contemplate their own existence. These few believe that their existence is not paramount to reality, but is merely a pebble in the great pond that is the cosmos. These people, who have completely battered their natural lives, sing to heavens every night in hopes of reaching to those who live beyond the stars we normally see in the night's sky.

But there are those who do not sing to the heavens, and receive that very wish...


S T R Λ N D Ξ D



http://media02.hongkiat.com/film-noir-digital-artworks/photographic-film-noir.jpg


Destination: En-Route to Blake Household
Time: 8:37 PM EST
Date: April 5th 2013


"I thought you said they were going to take the car down here," a young woman steps out of a car, "not a fucking boat..."

A young man, who was clearly distressed, quietly stepped out of the car where he would move his way towards the door of the gas station.

"Charles," the young woman stared at Charles who had not even batted an eye, "come on Charles don't be like this! Just because your friends are missing doesn't mean you can fucking mope around like Eeyore!"

Charles stopped, mid-stride, and turned to look at the young woman, "Shut the fuck up Darla.. I don't want none of your shit.. These are my friends, not yours.. You don't have the fucking right to dis my friends just because you didn't get to see Azriel! Now I could leave your ass here at this gas station and not give a fuck about you, or do you mind shutting the fuck up so we can get back to the house in peace? Mom and dad have more shit to deal with than I do. So I don't need a naggy sister who doesn't even know what the fuck she's talking about!"

Darla stepped back a pace, obviously taken aback by Charles' outburst. She wasn't sure what to say, or even react for that matter. She was aware of the situation, but her snarky attitude towards everything made it even worse. She stood there, on the passenger side of the car, staring at the departing Charles as he would step into the gas station's mart area. Darla, quietly grumbling to herself, stepped over towards the gas pump, did the occasional thing with gas pumps, and waited for the gas to come to a stop. She leaned against the car, sighing heavily. 'Idiot.'

Meanwhile, Charles was sifting through the various snacks and drinks the mart had provided. Sadly, though, it did not have the snacks he had desired and thus took some Sprite to quench his, strangely benign, thirst. He would take the bottle from the rack and move towards the front counter where a dead-looking fellow stood waiting for him─keeping his eyes trained on him.

Charles, feeling slightly disturbed, took the Sprite and settled it onto the counter where the man would total in the cost. "2.50..."

'2.50...? Ugh... Whatever...'

Charles paid the man and would turn to leave, but something about the man irked him. Charles would give a passing glance at the man, and he would notice that the man seemed rather lifeless. As though the man was simply going through the motions of daily life without really putting any spark into his existence. And, if Charles had looked any further into the man, the man's skin was a distorted color of which had no name. A color that would of been akin to grey, but not exactly grey. It had faint traces of pink and other such colors to give a average Caucasian man his pigment. But this man was different. Different in the sense that something wasn't right with him, and Charles sort of suspected this─as he would step out of the mart of course.

Returning to the car, Charles could see that the fueling of the vehicle was finished and there was no real need to stand outside in the summer cold. Charles, opening the Sprite and taking a swig, quietly stepped back in the car only to find that his sister was staring at him─Charles didn't notice this until after he had started up the car. Charles looked over and immediately furrowed his brow, "What?"

His sister turned away, "Nothing... Just... Sorry... Okay..?"

Charles completely ignored the apology, and put the vehicle in drive.

A small glimpse into the mart, Charles could see that the light had flickered for a brief moment revealing faint shadows that would dance about the walls. However, being the non-observant one that he was, didn't notice the shadows and kept on driving. The car would pull onto the road and then race off into the night heading towards the port town of Harrisburg.

That entire drive was made in silence and contemplation.




http://40.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mavd0wObb41reyk2bo1_500.jpg


Destination: ???
Time: ???
Date: ???



You find yourselves at the foot of a great structure amongst a grey horizon. The sound of the waves crashing against the cliff's edge just beyond the structure. The structure, from what you can gather from the darkness that clouded everything about you, was a lighthouse. Strange (could you fathom), you never once noticed the structure until seconds prior to your realization that you were, in fact, on an island scattered about with dark waters.

You, without really investigating into the structure, come into the presence of four other individuals such as yourself. You never noticed them either, but you assume they were with you on that boat you were riding when you decided to attend a birthday party. From that realization alone, you would soon come to know that you were on a boat heading for a birthday party in Georgia. Really, from what you could tell, that's all the information your cranium can reveal to you at the moment.


≪Once everyone has made their intro post, I'll post again to get things moving yet again.≫

[Damacyn]

The sound of the waves was the first thing she heard after the hell she've been through.
She was soaken wet, weakened and she felt her chest burning, most likely due to all the gallons of sea water she drowned intojust some minutes ago.
She was lying on her back like a toppled tortoise, and for some reasons George Harrison popped in her mind, but she decided to try to lift herself, slowly, painfully and with half a gallon of barfed out water on what was once a couple of days new shirt.
"Hack! bleuuuurgh! Anf... anf... Where the f***k I'am?" said shocked the girl while wobbling to an erect position, her legs where heavy as iron and her weightened wet clothes didn't helped.
Before everything she checked her pockets for her pack of cigs, the good new was that it was still there, the bad one was that they where soaked and salty.
"Goddammit!!" She yelled while letting out a stressful sigh, but at least her precious jacket was still in one piece.
She looked around, it was pitch black but she could clearly see a lighthouse and... people?
"Heyy!! Over here!! You ok?!?" She waved her arms and groggly walked towards the figures in the dark.

[Kicks]

One moment on a boat... The next on land, presenting himself before a great structure that shown but a glimpse of light to the place. For a moment he closed his eyes, considering for a moment what had happened. They had been on their way to a birthday party. A smile flickered across his face briefly.

He was on his way to see his friend, to say his congratulations on another year of living. He would have wished for another blessed year, shook his hand, passed along a gift.

He would have made a crude joke or two, only to apologize and then give a wink as if to say 'I wasn't joking and I'm not sorry about it either'.

But that all had changed, all those plans, when he came to the sudden realization he had no idea where he was. A dark gloom cast over his countenance as his mind whirled around what to think.

He mumbled something in Hebrew, something that would translate along the lines of: "fucking glad there's at least this thing", as he looked up at the structure. And there were other people too. Had he met them before? He didn't think so. He remembered all the faces he had met. These were not some of them. At least, he didn't think so.

He brought a thumb up to his lips and bit down lightly on the tip of it. Nervous and concerned, he wondered what to do. Maybe see if everyone was okay, ask what the hell had happened to be exact, and what to do about it. But he was fearful that would get them nowhere.

"Charles," He practically giggled, "Just like him to get me into this mess!" He boasted before coming to the realization that there was another voice, yelling practically like a banshee.

Now was not the time to make jokes about his friend when he was lost on some... What was this? An island? Huh. He was most accustomed to a great big river, so being surrounded by it was a bit different to him. He had been around the world, seen the ocean before. But to be surrounded by it! Ah! This brought great horrors to his imagination.

"What a disaster." He rubbed the back of his neck, mumbled to himself again. "Just like my intestines after some Indian food. Oy! Just awful."

Why did he continue to joke?! Now was certainly not the time! And he didn't think anyone would appreciate humor at a time like this, anyway.

Azriel cast a glance towards the grey horizon. He could make out shadows, possibly of trees. But beyond that, it was hard for him to even use his imagination to think of what this island had. He thought that possibly, if he could see beyond the structure, that he could find something to use... to... maybe...

He frowned, bringing lines across his young face. He was still in shock to not be able to think of anything more than this horizon and this structure, these strangers, and a birthday party he would never make it to.

[Thrushwing]

The first sensation that greeted Nathaniel was the cold sand that stuck to his damp skin.

What happened?


The image of boat, and then various people who he assumed were traveling in the same vessel flashed across his mind. That's right.., he remembered he was wondering what Charles looked like. 'Was he fat? Short? What if he was forty and Nathaniel realized he couldn't get along with him?' The last thing he remembered was falling and water engulfing him. The sensation of the water had felt calming, as he knew at that moment there was nothing he could do, just let the ocean take him.

The bright light flickered briefly across his face, which made him open up his eyes. A large structure which he realized was a lighthouse towered above him. The memory of the small lighthouse back in his hometown, Polperro came to his mind. This lighthouse was nothing like the warm, bumbling vibe his childhood one presented; it felt foreboding, and ominous. The light that the building emitted was swallowed by the darkness and Nathaniel had to strain his eyes to see the shifting outlines of the trees. People, he thought with the sudden realization, as one of the figures shouted.

He got up slowly, and looked at his surroundings A grey horizon lines, and the outlines of trees was all he could make out, beyond that was anyone's guess. It's no use, I can't make out anything past the trees He sighed, it would be better to not explore, especially because there was strength in numbers. Besides this island was.... weird to say the least, and the chill he got was not from the temperature out here. The figures seemed friendly though.

He started to approach the one making a lot of noise, and inwardly he wished (he guessed it was a female by the voice) that she would be quieter. All the noise would attract potential predators if there were any; besides, a lighthouse meant people.

judging by that lighthouse though... I would assume they're not friendly, His eyebrow rose and he felt small, as if he could be watched from the lighthouse, He took a deep breathe and suppressed the feeling. He learned especially with the ocean, panicking and worrying wouldn't help or remove the situation he was in. Only here and now mattered, and their survival depended on the decisions they made from this point on.

He walked at a brisk pace, until he reached the figure waving her arms. The noise was making him uncomfortable, as if they weren't exposed enough already, but at the same time he couldn't blame her. Besides, getting angry wouldn't make anything better, even if what he wanted was to just be by himself.. hopefully on a nice beach

"Hey... uh... calm down there a little?Unless...." he glanced around, he was never good at interactions or calming in general. Guess it won't matter much. There must be other survivors besides us.. besides... there doesn't seem to be any animals here...yet" he muttered unintelligibly, and sighed quickly. "Well this is one hell of a party" he said and his voice was laced with sarcasm. They were fucking stranded for god's sake.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

He sat up with a jolt, coughing up what seemed like gallons of saltwater. The last few moments were a blur of being tossed around by waves until everything was black. That darkness hadn't seemed to last very long, but it was hard to tell whether he should place much weight on that speculation or not. He went from absolutely nothing to the feeling of cold sand beneath him, all the while wondering to himself, What the heck just happened?

Erick stood up, attempting to brush away the sand that was stubbornly clinging to his skin and clothes. Upon examining the landscape, he soon came to realize that he was definitely not where he was supposed to be. Was this an island of some sort?

He had been on a ship headed for Georgia to the birthday party of a guy named Charles, whom he was really only an acquaintance with. It was supposed to be his last deep breath to relax himself before he had to face hell... or maybe it was unfair of him to think of it that way. He was going to see his daughter after how long? Sure, he would also be confronting her mother again, but his cause outweighed the downsides, right? Or at least it would have if it hadn't been for... this.....

As he stood there, he felt his heart begin to race. He had absolutely no idea where he was. Just a short while ago he might have died, and if he made it, then what about the other passengers? Still, freaking out would get him nowhere. He closed his eyes, allowed himself to breathe now that the pathway to his lungs was finally cleared, and... noticed that there was some sort of structure in the distance. Was that there before? The landscape has seemed pretty empty. How did...?

Dismissing his confusion, he walked towards it, hoping the structure would bring forth some sort of prospect. As he drew nearer, he was pleased to find it was a functioning lighthouse. That meant that this place, even if it was mostly empty, had at least one other person, right? Or perhaps... a few. He stopped when he noticed other figures, one of them jumping and calling out to them. They weren't there just a moment ago either...

Slowly, he took up pace again, trying to figure out what was going on. These people had to be his fellow survivors, but he was sure he would have noticed something like that. Something didn't feel right... but then, he'd just been through a traumatic experience. At the very least, I know I'm not the only one who made it.

[Merry]

She hated being wet more than anything. So waking to find herself fully clothed, soaking wet and itchy from sea water was at the very least, annoying. Her jeans would probably be ruined. They were stuck to her skin and coated in salt from the nearby ocean. Her hair stringy and plastered to her head, she felt like a wet rag doll and was instantly miserable. Squeezing her hair to try and wring some of the damp out, she noticed a few other people and a light house in the distance. The lighthouse meant warmth and shelter. Definitely on the list of needed sooner, than later.

The last thing she could recall was a birthday that she was supposed to attend. A friend of a friend had insisted she go, and somehow she didn’t think this was on the plan. She barely remembered the birthday person’s name. Chester? Chuck? Charles? Something like that. She wasn’t sure it matter, at this point anway. How did I get here? Crossed her mind more than a few times, and would undoubtedly be answered at some point once she figured out where the hell, here, was.

With the sound of her sneakers squishing water with each step, she jogged to catch up to the other people she could see ahead of her, moving toward the lighting house, calling out as she did so. “Hey! Wait for me”

[Dire Hoef]

╠═══════════════════════════════════════╣
☆

≪Party≫


Upon converging as a single unit, it is revealed that all of you have some sort of consciousness when referring to how you ended up here. All of you seem to understand that you were taking a boat trip to meet Charles Blake, a (now) twenty-one year old man entering his forth year of college. But, that's about all you really can gather from your cranium; which, to some of you, is still booming with some latent pain. However, that is to be the least of your worries.

As you begin to speak amongst yourselves in idle chatter, something begins to stir in the heavens above and in the earth below. You feel a faint rumble. That rumble escalating only gradually. There, in the heavens, a storm approaches bringing rain, lightning, and thunder. Though, something seems off about the storm that approaches from just beyond the cliff. The lightning seems to be rather light purplish in hue, and upon seeing it from a distance it would come off as pure white. The color, from what some of you can gather, isn't all that unsettling. It's the time and place of which this storm had appeared.

Thus, with a storm now approaching and thoughts of wetness coming to your cranium. You have two choices:

✧ A. Take shelter in the light house until the storm passes
✦ B. Use the dense covering of the forestry to use as a sort of shelter against the storm


╠═══════════════════════════════════════╣
★

≪Charlotte Martyn≫


You wake up to a distorted sight. You feel groggy─tired even. You aren't sure how you ended up here. In fact you don't even where where is. You assume you're in some structure, but that's the best of what you can discern from your situation right at the moment you awake from your "sleep". However, upon awaking to this new world, you find yourself in a rather tight bind. Your arms were pulled behind a chair, and were tied for some strange purpose. That purpose, in which you are not familiar with.

You have a few choices here:

✧ A. Take a look at your surroundings and assess the situation.
✦ B. Try to break free of the bindings.
✦ C. Call for help.

[Kicks]

There were others among this island, like him. They too had been going to see Charles for his birthday. They too had been on the boat. What exactly had happened, Azriel still could not gauge. He felt almost dizzy, possibly from confusion or shock... It would not surprise him if it be both.

His tongue slipped over his upper lip as he moved his eyes around these people. The same people that had been on the same boat to see the same person as he was. How had they not all met before now? And why did he choose to take a boat instead of a plane? It would have made more sense, now that he thought over it. He should have taken a plane.

Had he went straight from Tel Aviv to the nearest flight to Charles Blake's, then he wouldn't have ended up in this mess.

Women and men alike, gathered on this island because of some... event. He still couldn't bring to mind what had happened. Though a heavy reminder was laid upon him by the throbbing in his head.

He grimaced and rose a hand up to his temples. A headache was never a good sign. Most commonly he got them from irritation. Now thinking of it, he realized there was wet sand sticking on his skin. Fuck. That was going to be a pain to get off.

A scowl briefly crossed his face. They were all covered in it and to no blessing either. He would be shaking off sand for days! Ugh!

Azriel almost released a groan aloud when it came to his attention that there was lightning in the sky. It was like nothing he had seen before. He had seen his fair share of storms in Israel, but this was something entirely different to him.

"Is this... eh... common here?" He asked to no one in particular. He could only assume they would know more than he did about the stupid and surprisingly beautiful weather of this country.

That shouldn't be his real concern though. The fact was that it was a storm and they were being pounded with it. The forest did not look too promising to him. He could pray that the trees covered them, but that wouldn't keep them very warm. Then there was the strange lighthouse that brought them together. At least it was a solid structure, and hopefully no water could get into it.

He bit down on his lower lip, deciding to stay hushed until someone said something.

[Damacyn]

In a way she felt somewhat relieved that there were other survivors with her, she couldn't bear the idea of having a volleyball as her only friend for years!

Her mom, as the usual loving pain in the a**, told her not go to some unkown dude she just met once, she would die if something happened to her precious daughter!

For once her mom was right, but not for the reasons she feared.

She gave a look at her fellow survivors, they were shocked and wet just like her, but they all looked older than her.

Suddently, a thunder disrupted her trail of thoughts.
"Dunno man, I'm not from 'round here" she answered to the man with the funny accent with her own brand of funny accent, some weird mix of "Big Apple" accent and southern drawl.

As the first drops of rain came down, she looked around for a shelter, the beam of the lighthouse almost blinded her, but it waa the only man-made construction around her and the forest sounded like a bad idea.

"Hey, what 'bout we do the smart thing and take shelter over here?" She said while pointing at the lighthouse.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

She woke up with a snort. Ladylike. Her heavy eyelids and the heavy fog around the edges of her mind and vision begged Lottie to fall back to sleep, but the ache in her shoulders, the nagging cold, and the stinging, burning around her wrists told her otherwise; those, among something else, told her not to go back to sleep.

“Ow,” she groaned and rolled her shoulders, trying to get her arms into a different position, but they were bound at the wrists behind her, around the back of a chair. Charlotte scowled as she peered over her shoulder, peeking down at her wrists and twisting them in the binds. “Christ that hurts.”

Her wide, green eyes darted up and around her then, into the darkness and to try to discern where she was – some chamber, a building maybe but she could barely make out the silhouette of a door let alone any real markings, if any, upon the walls in the darkness. Nor did she discern any other presence in the room other than her own, but that might have just been the sleep nagging at her consciousness. How had she gotten here? Was she still in New York? Charlotte turned her head side to side and then again, sweeping her gaze and trying to adjust her eyes, to see something she hadn’t before.

“Oh, yes, let’s tie up Lottie, that’ll be a fun game,” she muttered to herself, giving up on looking about. It was making her eyes ache far more than the grogginess. She twisted and pulled her wrists to and fro and apart as much as the binding would allow in an effort to loosen them, or break them.

“Kinky, even,” she continued. The soles of the boots she was wearing found the ground among the chair’s feet, a hard surface but she couldn’t tell whether it was concrete, wood or stone.

“Bloody hell, it’s practically got me wet! Uff! C’mon!” She bit her lip with the effort of wriggling, in the chair, along the floor, the piece of furniture’s feet scuffing and then thudding some with her movement. Her arms strained against the bindings around her wrists, what muscle she had burning with the effort.

“’HELLO?! Oh, you know what’s a great idea?’” Her voice was rising, louder with her irritation and her feet found the floor more firmly, leaning over to get the chair out from under her. Her shoulders throbbed in protest to the angle and the edge of the chair’s seat pressed painfully against her lower buttocks. She was shouting now, eyes looking around to find the nearest wall, “Let’s us tie up the limey broad and we’ll have a good ol’ time!”

She turned her back to the wall and staggered slightly, thrown off balance by the chair pinned against her; she couldn’t get her shoulders up over it enough to get free of the thing, but she had an alternative option. The question was: could she actually do it? Her green eyes narrowed, then closed; she’d been through worse. Charlotte tossed her hair out of her face and took in a deep breath, then, as she let it out, she rushed herself backward with a violent force and smashed against the wall, arms, chair, body. She’d angled herself so the highest point of the chair struck first, but her arms still got the brunt of the blow and the pain against her upper rear thighs was bright white; it did what it was intended, however – the chair splintered and broke under her, granting her a step toward freedom. Lottie cried out with the pain that burned up her arms from the self-inflicted and reluctant but necessary and violent strike, so loud that the crash and cry itself might have rung out through whatever building she was confined to.

“Ah-ha! Aah! Buggering…” She leaned against the wall she’d used, shattered splinters and parts of the chair around her feet and below her, panting with the effort she’d put out and sleep tugging at her eyelids. Lottie must have hit her head during her attempt because it was throbbing with pain.

“Well,” Charlotte said, looking down at herself and the mess of the chair she’d made. Her arms were still bound behind her and would probably bruise black and blue, but at least she wasn’t bound in one place to a damn chair. “At least… Well, at least what?”

Screwing up her face some, Lottie tried to peer across the room but her vision blurred and her head decided it was a convenient time to split open.

[Merry]

"Hey, what 'bout we do the smart thing and take shelter over here?" she heard, and she couldn't help but nod in agreement. A sheepish grin crossed her features quickly, and then faded to just a simple smile. No one can see your nodding, silly, she thought to herself.

"Yeah, I like that idea. I'm with you. Shelter" she replied with smile in the other girl's direction, stepping a bit closer. Her fingers absently reaching up to rub her temples, "My head is splitting too" she muttered noticing that the guy that had started the conversation was also rubbing his head as well.

"I'd rather not be zapped by whatever is causing that lighting show" she lifted her chin in the direction. Thinking that it looked just a looked a little too odd, the colors weren't quite right for lighting. Since she still wasn't sure exactly where she was? she decided to let it go for now. Something to be figured out later, when she could think.

"I'm going... anyone else?" she said and started heading that way.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Reaching the others, Erick tried to find the words to speak, but gave up after a few seconds and just nodded them a greeting. He didn't know what he was supposed to say in a situation like this. They were all shipwrecked together. They needed to survive somehow. That was pretty blatant to him, and it was nothing he really needed to comment on.

Instead, he directed his attention to the sky, and all the commotion it was carrying. He had no idea whether this sort of weather was common or not, but either way, it spelled out bad news for them if they were hoping to live through this experience. Biting his lip, he scanned the terrain once more before turning to the lighthouse. It looked good enough to him. Who knew what would be waiting for them in the dense forest if they took up shelter there? Besides, the waves were bound to rise up pretty high in a storm like this, and there was no way to tell how far inland they should go until they were safe. Lighthouses were supposed to be built for this sort of weather right? Right.

"There don't seem to be any better options," he agreed with the two women who had come to the same conclusion. So he followed in suit.

[Thrushwing]

The man who spoke had a strange accent to his voice, along with the lady who spoke with a southern? accent. She spoke with a drawl. The lightning flashed around them and Nathaniel let out a low whistle; a sense of foreboding filled him.


"I will" Nathaniel's reply came quickly and he followed after the girl. His pace eventually overtook hers, and he reached the lighthouse a little faster than the others. Its chilly out here, he thought, as the wind blowing on his damp skin was not helping with his temperature. He waited at the entrance of the lighthouse as he glanced up and shuddered. Lighthouses always creep me out.. at least this one does "It looks old" he said to no one in particular, and tried his best to peer inside through the door. "Like rapunzel's tower or something..." The door creaked as he opened it slowly, but did not enter the lighthouse. It would be rude of him to enter first. "Wonder if anyone lives here...." he muttered to himself, as he glanced around the room.

[Dire Hoef]

╠═══════════════════════════════════════╣
☆

≪Party≫


You all depart for the lighthouse, the faint sound of rumbling growing louder and louder as you creep upon the front door. There, at the front door, (if one would be paying any attention) something was etched onto the door's wooden surface. The etching was incomprehensible, but you could feel that it meant something rather dangerous and unsettling. That aside, you enter the lighthouse with all of you packing into the first floor.

The first floor is relatively large, completing to that of your normal living room of a two story house. The first floor was riddled with dead leaves, which to some of you may be alarming as that could mean the door was previously open and had allowed leaves from the trees a few dozen yards back in. However, that was not even the height of your venture into the first floor. Upon seeing the first floor, after noticing the dead leaves riddled about the concrete floor, you notice that there sat a desk with some items laid carefully upon its top. These items include: a portrait of Nathaniel and Charles holding a large bass, some crusty lipstick, and a proposal ring.

These three items correlated with three of the members of this party, but some of you aren't sure what the latter two items mean in essence with the rest of you. You assume, just by observing the photo (if you decide to) Nathaniel would have no recollection of this photo being taken. Preferably none of you even remember meeting each other. Some of you may have assumed you were all going to same place, thus you connected the boat with them. But other than that assumption you really can't make heads or tails of these items.

With those items aside, there are a few other objects pushed up against the concrete walls of the lighthouse. A small bed was tucked under the staircase to your right. The bed seemed to have some wear and tear to it, but it was relatively usable nonetheless. A stained, burned, and torn map of the island is pinned to a billboard that's just off to your right. Only a corner of the map is visible from what you can gather. And, if you decide to look closer, you can see that the piece of the map is displaying the lighthouse and about five hundred to a thousand yards in all directions. Groups of trees were drawn onto it, and then the ocean could be seen as well. But, that's all you can get from the map. The rest of the map seems to have been ripped from the billboard.

You have been gifted with more choices:


❖ You can ascend the staircase to Floor 2
❖ You can examine the bed closer

Optional choice: Lay down upon bed (1 person bed)
❖ You can examine the piece of the map that displays the lighthouse and the area around it.
❖ You can examine the items on the desk.
❖ You can examine the floor a little more to find additional objects or items.


╠═══════════════════════════════════════╣
★

≪Charlotte Martyn≫


With all your struggling, and ramblings, you break free from your bindings. However, the noise you had made had caused a great echo to reverberate throughout the entire "structure". With that apparent, you come to realize that you are, in fact, in a building. The building, using your deductive reasoning, is some sort of hospital containing abandoned rooms with dark markings upon its walls. You can't see the markings, under the low-light conditions, but you can assume that those markings were not of the pleasant kind. Thus, you make it a mental note to get out of this place as soon as physically possible. But a sound gives off a rolling grumble as though the skies above were mumbling to you.

There, in the distance, strange lightning flashed just beyond the horizon (with winds picking up greatly). Trees, being lit up by the lightning, would reveal a forest and then a long stretch of forest. The windows, of which there were none, revealed several floors of the decayed building. You can see, through the flashes of lightning that are giving off quite a light show, that some of the parts of the building have fallen from their origin. This could mean that you could be subject to architectural failure, and thus you make this a mental note as well.

You begin to move, knowing you don't want to be here any longer, but as you begin to move towards the nearest exit something scratches at your subconscious. An innate urge to run. You aren't sure what you could be hearing, as you were hearing something dripping to the floor from above. A fear, unlike anything you've known before, creeps upon you as you slowly inch your way towards the exit. You want to run─no you NEED to run. However, the feeling of being catatonic slowly creeps up on you as the fear begins to overwhelm you.

You have been cursed with more choices:


☩ Go catatonic because of the immense fear hanging over you
☩ Look behind you (Will be hindered due to low-light conditions and the flashing of the lightning)
☩ Run (No looking back, just run)

[Kicks]

There was small conversation, and one of the women even said that her head hurt too. He wanted to make a comment, but others had hopped in with their opinions and so he stood silent for another second or two. It looked like they were going to head in.

The choice had been made to enter into the lighthouse for safe keeping. Azriel preferred this over anything else because it meant he got to be warm.

Naturally, being from a warm place, he didn't like the cold. He had experienced a fair share of storms, but that did not make him any more susceptible to liking those conditions. He hardly had time to pay attention to the enscription on the door before he pushed his way in. It wasn't much warmer, he realized. But at least he wasn't getting wet. And aside from that, there were odd things inside of the lighthouse.

Though he could not make it out where he stood, he could see the bed and he could see items on some surface. But he didn't let his eyes linger on that for too long.

He had noticed that there was a way to continue up the lighthouse. This made sense in his head because after all, someone had to change that big bulb somehow... At least he thought that's how lighthouses worked.

And that almost gave him hope for a second. Yea people had to change those bulbs! Lighthouses were meant to help boats! So if the light was working, maybe that meant someone would be back to check on the lighthouse! And then they wouldn't be lost! But he certainly couldn't get his hopes up. Nor could he let himself be tempted by resting on the floor or the bed when there was still so much of this place left. What if there were somebody here? Or what if there was something useful here? Like a radio? Or... or... a raft? Azriel felt another frown cross his face. Goodness him, this day was certainly odd. But that didn't mean tomorrow would be bad!

He just had to get through this day first! And to see what else the lighthouse had. So with a nod of his head and a silent decision on his part, Azriel decided to explore the second level of the lighthouse.

[Damacyn]

"Helloooooo... Anybody home? We're in dire need of a phone... Mister?... Miss?..." It seemed as if the lighthouse was empty until she and her fellow cast aways put foot there.

Yet some furniture was there, suggesting that either someone lived here or whoever live here is in dire need of a maid. There were some random stuff on the desk, nothing that would ring a bell to her except for a photo of Charles and one of her fellow cast aways.

She looked at it then at Nathaniel "Hey you, uhh... what's-your-face, Do you know some dude called Charles Blake, from Georgia?" She asked to Nathan while showing him a photo, why it was in this godforsaken place was beyond her, but it seemed very Very Hominous to her.

But then again the world was very small, right?

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Once they approaching the lighthouse, Erick caught a glimpse of something on the door before the first person entered, and stepped to the side, holding it open while the others went in so he could take a closer look. He could tell it was an inscription, but whatever the message was supposed to be wasn't legible. Did that make this place old? For some reason, the longer he looked at it, the more uneasy he began to feel, and he suddenly wasn't too sure about how lucky they were to stumble across the structure... but it was better than getting caught in a storm where he knew chances of surviving were slim, so he walked in, deciding to just stay cautious for the moment.

Once he was actually inside, it surprised him how "house-like" the place was. There were leaves scattered across the floor and a bed, which meant someone must have been living in here, but it was all so worn that just how long ago that was could be anybody's guess.

One of the others heading upstairs tore his attention away from his observations, and he paused, glancing at the others in the room for a moment, before trailing up after them. No one had any idea what was in this place. Sure, he wanted to get a better look at the things on the first floor, but letting someone go off on their own would just be stupid. He'd let the others in the group look around down here and then ask them about it once he and the other guy got back. It would be awful to lose any more people after being shipwrecked.

[Merry]

Becky followed the others into the room, grateful to be out of the impending storm, for the time being. Running her fingers through her hair, she pulled out as many of the knots as possible with her fingers, and pulled her long locks into a quick knot at the nape of her neck, out of the way. She slipped out of her small jacket in an attempt to dry off a bit. Shaking it as much as she could in an attempt to get some of the excess water out of it. She wasn't too hopeful that it would be even worth the effort. Her t-shirt clung to her frame, plastered against her skin, the air instantly cooler now that she had removed the jacket. Looking around she didn't see anything to do with the jacket, other than to toss it on the bed, so she just hung onto it for now. Maybe it would dry.

Inspecting their surrounds a bit more, her nose instantly crinkled at the dusty dry smell in the room. "phew!" she exclaimed "this place reeks. It's like no one's been here for awhile, huh" she said towards the others. Watching as one of their members moved to head upstairs, hopeful that maybe there was a phone or something up there, to help them out. Kicking her feet through the leaves on the floor, she doubted he would find a person in this place, if that's what he was thinking. It was obvious to her at the amount of debris hanging about, that no one had been here in this place, for awhile. At least in this room and since this seemed to be the only entrance? It was probably certain that they were the only people here.

Never one to sit still, she moved about, kicking leaves as she went. This place certainly could use to be cleaned up, that was for sure. With her sneakers still squishy with water, she watched the leaves rustling along as he kicked them. The dust cloud that rose, instantly caused her to sneeze into the open air "ACHOOO"

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Charlotte’s head turned toward the rumbling noises beyond the windowless walls of the building she was in and her brow furrowed – it sounded like a storm? That wasn’t good. She looked around and in the darkness was unable to find a door, so instead she inched along the wall she had found and smashed the chair against, and with her hands still behind her back, used them to feel her way around.

The task and the rumbling, the darkness and the malevolent aura this place had were all making knots in her stomach, over and over themselves. She didn’t like it at all and she wanted to get out. Her teeth found her lower lip as she focused, gnawing, finally her shoulder bumped over something that proved to be a door frame when she grasped the door’s cold handle.

“Finally,” she gasped and pulled it open, stumbling forward over her own feet some as she moved. Charlotte moved through the doorway and out into the hall, peering left and then right and glowering; the light conditions weren’t much improved and she could still hardly see. Charlotte’s heart hammered in her chest, the sound resonating in her ears and mixing with the rumbling of the storm to make everything even worse. There was a dripping that nagged at the corner of her attention, but she pressed back to one of the sides of the hallway and moved along the wall just as fast as she could manage.

The fear was making acid and bubbles in her stomach, making her feel sick – if she had had anything to throw up, she very well might have, especially when the wall she was moving along crumbled and came to an end under her fingers. Charlotte recoiled away from the gaping maw of lack-of-hallway-and-floor very quickly, so much so that she threw herself to the ground in the process.

“Crap… that was close!” She panted softly, then climbed to her feet and carefully peered toward the hole in the building, the strange storm’s lightening from some other structural failure giving her a view, making her groan inwardly. One of those bubbles from her stomach made her hiccup and she shut her eyes tight, pushing herself back against the wall again and heading in the other direction than she had been going before, faster.

This direction proved to be more fruitful and after a few failed attempts, one of the doors she found and tried proved to be a staircase, which she descended carefully, one step at a time. Her balance was impaired with her arms bound behind her back, which paired with the darkness was why she didn’t move faster, like she wanted to, but she didn’t bother to look back and kept moving.

[Thrushwing]

Nathaniel watched as everyone entered, and he entered last shutting the door behind him. Guess I might as well explore, his eyes flicked upwards, and in the dim lighting he noticed how much dust had accrued in the cracks and on the surfaces of the furniture; dust bunnies lay everywhere. The creak of the floorboards above him caught his attention and he saw two of the men go upstairs. He stood for a second unsure of the course of action to take: on one hand he wanted to investigate this mysterious building (which, he noted, had a strange inscription on the door), on the other he also felt that the group downstairs was now more of his responsibility. After mulling and thinking about the situation for a few seconds, his blue eyes glanced around at the group downstairs. They'll be fine. he thought, and quietly made his way toward the steps of the stairs and trailed after the other two quietly.

[Dire Hoef]

╠═══════════════════════════════════════╣
☆

≪Party≫

LEVEL 2


Those that had taken the reigns of the frontier are delighted to see that presence of persons were here, at one point.

Upon seeing the second floor, you're greeted to a familiar sight, a desk, another bed (two-person), and some other furniture that doesn't really belong in a lighthouse. Though, that is not the most interesting feature of the second floor. Due to previous happenings, there seems to be carvings on the concrete wall just above the two-person bed. These carvings, due to dim lighting, you can't make out entirely. Some of those carvings suggest, to those of the religious, that it might be satanic but you aren't sure if that's the case. Some of you might discern it as carvings to some ancient deity who no longer is worshiped. Other ideas might spring into your head, but again you can't really make out what most of the carvings profess. All you can judge from the carvings is that its some sort of religious scripture or worship to some false deity that isn't God─or maybe it is.

Other than that, there seems to be more garbage than normal up here─suggesting that someone must'v lived here. There's also a heavy stench of dead carcass and oil emanating from somewhere on the floor. To those downstairs, this might be the origin of the stench that has cascaded throughout the inner workings of the lighthouse.

On the bed, the covers and blankets seem to be worn but not unusable. Should someone choose to sleep on this bed, they'd be in for a quaint surprise.

The desk had nothing special. It was just an ordinary desk.

The other furniture, a couch and a television stand, held nothing special either─other than a cordless phone.

LEVEL 1


For everyone still on the first floor the storm would be raging outside. The thunder cracking the sky, the lightning splitting it with its unusually bright light. There are windows on the first floor, and to see this unusual sight would give anyone the jitters. However, that was not the height of this venture.

In one of the two windows on the first floor, something lurched pass. An unyielding shadow, amongst the hammering rain and bright lightning, could be seen stretched across the lighthouse's concrete floor. [To anyone who witnessed this, they'll immediately feel scared, threatened, uneasy, or all three depending on the personality]

For the one who examined the photo you could see that the photo itself slowly began to blacken. The photo, around the two minute mark, would become completely black revealing nothing but empty darkness. You swore you saw something on this photo. You swore you saw Nathaniel and Charles standing together as though they were friends from childhood. But now all you can see is a blank (black) photo. This, to you, is completely unsettling as you've never seen this before.

Level 2


You have been granted more choices:


❖ Investigate the smell
❖ Ascend to the Roof
❖ Examine the Second Floor for other Materials or Furniture
❖ Examine Carvings above the Two-person Bed

Optional Choice: Lay down in Two-Person Bed

Level 1



You have been granted more choices:


❖ Investigate the Blacken Photo (Taking it out of its frame and examining it)
❖ Ascend to the Second Floor (Where the others are)
❖ Move towards the window to see what passed the window outside in the storm
❖ Examine the other items on the desk
❖ Lock the door


╠═══════════════════════════════════════╣
★

≪Charlotte Martyn≫


You, somehow, evade danger for the time being─finding solace within a staircase. But, by this time, the storm is already within earshot and rain is slowly beginning to hammer down upon the hospital. You aren't sure whether it's a good idea leaving the place, due to the storm, or staying here overnight and hope that the storm passes over before the night's over. But, what you encountered earlier made your mind certain that you do NOT want to be here any longer than you have to. So you ease your way all the way down to the first floor where you come a lobby-like area where the lightning, strangely, lit up the entire lobby.

The wind, that was only a whistling noise before, has become a torrent of rain and hail. Blowing at hurricane force speeds, you shield your eyes from the rain and hail that's finding its way into the hospital lobby. And, as you do this lightning flashes lighting up the entire lobby once more. However, as the lobby lights up you notice a long shadow stretch across the left side of the lobby. It seems as though the shadow was looking towards you─staring, watching, and possibly waiting. You aren't sure what's there or why it's there, but it's there and its possibly watching your every move.

Thus, you stand there in the lobby before the rain and hail force you back into the first floor of the hospital where you're greeted to a four-way intersection.

You have four choices:


Ⅰ. Go back the way you came and see if you can brace the storm and find anything else other than this hospital.
Ⅱ. Go left
Ⅲ. Go right
Ⅳ. Go forward

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Upon reaching the second floor, Erick slowed his pace. It looked almost exactly the same as the first floor. Did more than one person live here? Biting his lip, he decided to be cautious as he went further in the room, "Something stinks."
The other two had probably noticed this already, but it seemed important to call attention to despite that. This sort of smell only came after something had died. Trying to find it could give them further evidence that someone had been here... and he wasn't too sure he wanted to know because of that. To make matters worse, the carvings on the wall made him wonder if the two weren't connected in some way. Whoever had been here before them... they didn't seem like someone he was willing to trust at first glance. Then again, his imagination was most likely just running wild with all this excitement.

So, in an effort to get some idea of what was going on here, he decided that finding whatever was stinking up the place might be a good idea. Thus, he tried to see if the smell would get stronger in certain areas of the room than in others. The light made it hard to see, so he couldn't just look around from one spot. Navigating his way around wasn't that simple either, but he could at least make out the bigger things so that he wasn't needlessly stumbling around. Probably, his most difficult task was keeping his heart rate and breathing under control. In the line of work, he'd gone into places like this where you really didn't know what you'd find. In all those cases, being too extremely nervous was never a good thing because there was a job to do, and it involved a certain amount of alertness just in case there happened to be someone or something dangerous still hanging around. The fact that they were stranded on a deserted island put a slight twist on things, but that just made staying alert all the more crucial.

By this point, he was no longer paying as much attention to the other two, though he did glance at them occasionally to see what they were doing before going back to his own investigation. It was possible that whatever he found would tell him nothing, but if it did happen to be a person's body, maybe they'd figure out where the owner of this place had gone... and if that was the case, then they really shouldn't count on finding living help for them here. Aside from that, there was the smell of oil. That could be important too, but he didn't know whether finding it's source would be easier or more difficult than locating a dead body.

[Merry]

Becky kept shuffling along the floor, kicking leaves as she went. She noticed a cryptic pattern on the floor and took it to be scribbling of some kind. Bending down she brushed some of the leaves away to notice that it was in fact some sort of markings in the floor.

"Hhhmh" she murmurred. Tracing her finger along the patterns she couldn't make any sense out of them They had to have some significance but what they could be? She wasn't sure. Wondering if they had been here long, she continued to trace them trying to decipher letter or symbols that she recognized. If she hadn't been shuffling through the leaves, she wouldn't have even realized they were there.

She remembered when she had first moved in with her relatives. Her uncle had been doing some research for a colleague at his college. He was a professor at the local community college and had been there for years. She remembered coming in and there were at least 15 books on the dining room table all open to various scriptures and pictures. Some depicting very graphic images and some with just lots of text. Images from the holy lands and some books had peoples photo's of their own personal pilgrimages. Some of these markings reminded her of those images. So they must have held some sort of religious significance.

She turned her head about to call one of the others over to see, get someone else's opinion on the markings. Before she could call out to anyone, her eyes caught site of something that froze the sounds on her lips and sent a cold chill down her spine. Something had just passed by the window in her view.

In the quickest flash of lighting, with just the right angle she had seen a flash of something. Something dark and menacing had lurched past one of the windows, it had blocked all the light on it's way past. What that something was, she didn't want to even guess at. One thing that was certain, she was instantly terrified of whatever that was. Terrified to the point that she didn't want to move and draw it's attention if it happened to come back to the window as it would see her. Realize she was there.

Still crouched on the floor, her gut clenched with the certain knowledge that whatever that was, if it got in here, with them, it would be disastrous.