The Strange Case of Nadia

[Laurels]

The girl coming into the room said her name was Jasmine. Nadia mulled it over in her head, but found nothing. She didn't know any Jasmines in her class, so this girl's intro meant almost nothing.

"Sorry, don't know any Jasmines," Nadia said. "And we don't want trouble either, but considering all the trouble we heard outside a few moments ago, we have good reason to be cautious."

Nadia clutched her bag closer to her chest. She still couldn't tell if Jasmine was armed or now, so she at least needed something to put a cushion between herself and Jasmine. At least until she knew Jasmine wasn't trouble.

[Rorick Skyve†]

Jasmine, that name did ring a bell. No one he was too familiar with, or even familiar at all, but he had a face to associate with that name, granted he couldn't see much of her face in that moment.

He audibly breathed out, had been holding his breath for far too long now. She probably meant no trouble, not from what she seemed like, on first glance. Still, looks were deceiving, especially when the person in question was half covered in shadows. No reason to let his guard down yet. Maybe there were more with her, others that were staying behind, hiding or something like that. He had to consider every possibility.

Maxim moved forward, now standing next to Nadia, his bag in one hand. He thought about pretending to be armed, drive her away, maybe scare her. But that would have been more counterproductive than anything, make Jasmine run away and tell others about the 'dangerous, armed, tall German'. Yikes, now there was a cliché.

No, he'd instead ask the only logical thing that was important at the moment. Maybe it would clear things up, maybe not. Maybe it would produce more questions. Either way, it had to be asked. There was enough time for introductions later.

"You heard that loud noise from not too long ago too, right? Do you maybe know what caused it?" He was panting a bit, much to his chagrin. All that stress, it was starting to get to him. Not the best of times for that.

He exhaled again, then tilted his head to the side. "Did you cause it?"

[Yugikun]

...The girl didn’t know who she was?

Well, okay then. Whatever. That was far from what mattered right now. Maybe if this whole situation blew over and they got to go home she could take the time to reevaluate her image but focusing on what was happening now was what mattered the most, Jasmine felt. And, considering what was happening now, she definitely needed to focus. The girl didn’t seem to quite believe her. Nothing through what she said directly, but… it was something. She didn’t know. She wanted to get details all in her mind about why she could tell but nothing was coming up. The girl hadn’t told Jasmine her name yet. There. That was going to be her reason, to at least compromise for her brain suddenly not working correctly.

Then another voice called out to her.

She almost froze again.

At least this voice was more recognisable. It was an accent. German or European if she had to guess. She knew that one of the upperclassmen had an accent but he wasn’t someone she really interacted with that much. Maxim, his name was. Gamer. Loner. Not really interesting to her. She remembered a story about how he got kicked out of one of Ben’s parties, but she couldn’t remember why. He didn’t have anything else to offer so the one thing he had wasn’t very much something that tended to weigh on Jasmine’s mind.

She wished she was at home right now. Then she could just look him up on her computer and find out why he got kicked out. Of course, she obviously didn’t want to be here for several other more major reasons but small things like that she knew would get to her at some point. As much as she knew she didn’t want that.

Anyway, though, Maxim had asked her a question. There was a loud noise earlier, apparently. Did she hear it? Was she the one who caused it?

...Oh god, she was, wasn’t she. Of course her freakout would end up having consequences for her. She was on the verge of freezing about five seconds after she was previously on the verge of freezing. She needed to say something, reply. Acknowledge it but lie about doing it.

Um…

“I did. I heard it. That’s the reason I came here.”

[Laurels]

So the girl didn't know about the noise? Nadia wasn't sure she could believe that. The noise sounded close by, and then this girl comes prancing up worried about it as well? It was suspicious. Nadia still wasn't even sure if she could buy that the German guy in the room was trustworthy either.

God, was this what it was going to be like? Immediately distrusting every person she came across? Nadia felt like shaking her head. Sure, she had a low opinion of Kingman and most of its residents, but even she had to wonder if they would turn against one another in such a situation. Nadia decided to not worry about it right now. Jasmine needed to be dealt with.

"Well, if you're here because of the noise, did you see who or what might have caused it?" she asked. "Should we already be fearing for our lives this soon into this mess?"

[Rorick Skyve†]

Maxim licked his lips. If what Jasime said was true, there was at least one other person nearby, the possibility of a fight having taken place was not out of question yet. Damn.

Unless of course, she had just lied to them. Did she have a reason to, though? Not unless she had caused somebody harm herself and was trying to cover it up now. Again, only an eventuality. He wasn't even sure if he preferred that to be the truth or the former possibility. Either way, he had to remain cautious. It was getting tedious, he wished he could have simply slipped away into a secure corner somewhere, stay there and wait by himself. This was much more stressful He wouldn't have minded both of the girls leaving him to himself, though his common sense told him it was still better to move in a group.

One way or another, he couldn't completely trust the new arrival yet. Nadia on the other hand, she didn't seem like trouble. Now granted his insight into human nature wasn't the best one, but still, he had a hunch. He'd focus his suspicion on Jasmine for now. Hopefully he wasn't going to regret this.

"Also, are you armed? With a weapon you know how to use?"

He wasn't going to tell her that both he and Nadia were lacking such a weapon, too early to lift the lid on that. Jasmine was free to think of them as potential threats. Maybe that would even prove to be useful.

[Yugikun]

Jasmine had to resist the urge to grimace.

The other girl didn’t seem to be believing her. Jasmine didn’t know why. Her lie was good enough in content, she thought she pulled it off pretty well (oh, how much her acting skills were going to help now that she was here), so why didn’t she seem to be believing it? Was she an idiot, or something? Wait, no, that might actually be the answer. Not that the girl was an idiot but more that there might be something wrong with her. Fear, she would guess. Paranoia. Something that would inhibit her thoughts and make rational thinking less of a commodity. That made sense. As to why the girl didn’t quite seem to believe her, at least. Maybe it was best if she rectified that.

“I didn’t see anyone when I came in here. I walked into the corridor and I entered this door.”

Maxim seemed to have a lot more sense to him, at the very least. She wasn’t sure as to whether he quite believed her or not but his tone seemed to be a lot more relaxed. He had asked her a question about what weapon she had been given. That was an easy one to answer. The knuckles. It didn’t seem to harmful for her to reveal the truth in this scenario and lying to them felt unnecessary so maybe telling the truth her would be the best option. For now, at least. There was the possibility that she might need to make a bluff later.

“They gave me these… knuckle things,” she said, replying to Maxim. “They’re in my bag. I don’t have them.”

Hopefully this would go to rectify their paranoia.

[Laurels]

Nadia waited patiently as the girl explained that she didn't see anyone. The girl also claimed to have "knuckle things," which sounded like brass knuckles. Nadia had to think for a moment about that. Obviously, the terrorists would assign weird things like walkie talkies, but would they assign brass knuckles? Jasmine could be lying, but brass knuckles would be a weird choice for a fake weapon.

Nadia shook her head. If the girl was going to come in guns a blazin', she probably would have done so by now. It's not like Nadia or the German kid had anywhere to go. She decided that this situation wasn't worth it. She could stay in the dark with two kids she didn't know, or she could get out and try to make sense of this situation.

Nadia stepped closer to Jasmine, keeping her bag close to her chest.

"Alright," Nadia said, her voice low and firm, "I guess you don't know what's going on. I'd like to move on, so could you please get out of the way?"

[Rorick Skyve†]

Knuckle things. Did she mean gloves? No, probably not, that description was far too inconvenient to describe gloves. What else was there? Knuckles, knuckles - brass knuckles, right. Something to fortify punches with. Certainly nothing he needed to be afraid of. Granted Jasmine was telling the truth, he was safe, at least for now. She didn't sound like she was lying. So maybe his fears had been unfounded after all. Giving her the benefit of the doubt was a luxury, but one he was willing to afford. For now.

He opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by Nadia. If he read her statement right, she was intending to leave. All by herself too, judging from the way she put it.

Maxim furrowed his brow, even more so than usual. He had to think this one through. One the one hand, these girls seemed friendly, or at least harmless. Sticking with both or either of them was an option. But really, simply because they weren't his enemies didn't mean they were his allies. So maybe staying by himself for now was the best solution after all?

Nadia certainly seemed to think so. If she was going to leave, he wasn't going to stop her. He certainly wasn't going to be the one to propose they all team up either. If they were willing to, they'd have to say so themselves. If not, tough luck.

He decided to keep quiet, save his breath for now. So he just continued standing there, watching the other two. A thought went through his head, almost in passing. If all of this was as their kidnappers had said, if there was no escape for them, then the only scenario in which he'd live was one where these two were dead. He wouldn't share this thought with them though, of course not. It alone was enough to send a shiver down his spine.

[Yugikun]

The other girl tried to move past her. The surprise pushed the relief that she seemed to believe her out of her mind.

Because really, the other girl had to be an idiot, right? No, really. Who would do that? Well, the other girl, apparently, since she was trying to get past Jasmine. But no, that was a dumb thing to do. Who would go off on their own and go gallivanting off on adventures in a situation such as this? Nobody. Well at least, nobody who didn’t have a deathwish, and the person with a deathwish seemed to be the other girl. They had a group here, the other two seemed to believe her, and Jasmine wasn’t going to let that go by her. Maybe it was best to convince her that doing it as a group was the best idea.

She almost smiled. She was good at this. All those years spending time collecting gossip would finally pay off for something.

“Wait, wouldn’t it be best if we stick together? There’s safety in numbers, after all.”

[Laurels]

"Perhaps," Nadia said in response to Jasmine's question, "but being in pinned in a dark room when some troublemaker is potentially outside is less comforting."

Nadia clutched her bag closer to her chest. She really just wanted to get past Jasmine and into somewhere more open. She barely had any idea where she was as it is. For all Nadia knew, the entire location for this game was two rooms and a cramped hallway. There had to be some way out of this prison, or police station, or whatever this place was.

"Besides, I still haven't decided if I want to ally with you. For all I know, you're still the boogeyman and you've got something much worse than 'knuckle things'."

Nadia stepped slightly closer towards Jasmine.

"So please, let me out of here. I'm fine taking my chances out there."

[Rorick Skyve†]

They both made valid points, basically summing up exactly what had gone through his head seconds earlier. Safety in numbers, did that really apply here? Especially considering none of them had a suitable weapon to defend themselves with, or at least claimed that to be the case.

Given the choice between acquiring a weapon for himself - be it a gun, a knife or even a club - and teaming up with those two girls he barely knew, he'd have chosen the former any day, no doubt about it. Wouldn't that have been convenient, him seeking refuge in here and having found a firearm of some sort. Sure, he had never used one of those before, but they were a tool of deterrence at least, provided their owner with security. Even the mere thought of him having a gun in his bag would have made him feel somewhat at ease. A sure way to make sure nobody would try to bother him.

Of course, all that was mere fantasy. A welcome escape from the reality of the current situation, but a fantasy nonetheless. Again, he felt no urge whatsoever to try and convince Nadia that Jasmine was right. Ah, there it was, he had remembered her name. Nadia, of course. Had taken him a while to realize it, remember what little he knew of her.

Even so, this didn't change anything. She seemed to have made up her mind. Stubborn or savvy, whatever she was, she had made up her mind. He didn't need to convince her to stay, he didn't even want to. No, she was free to do her own thing, just as he was. Even if she'd wind up dead or worse, whatever that was. Maimed, maybe.

He winced a little, deciding to suppress those less than pleasant thoughts. Softly chewing on his lip, he continued watching. And he had to be honest with himself: Part of him was hoping that Jasmine would follow Nadia's example and leave him be as well. No, not only part of him. He was certain now, certain that he had made up his mind as well.

[Yugikun]

Okay, that was official confirmation right there. The other girl was an idiot.

Seriously, how was that an actual response to what Jasmine had just said? “Hey there’s something out there which might be a threat, I’d rather go out there rather than stay here where it’s safe.” And she still didn’t believe Jasmine, which was just totally bullshit. What did Jasmine do to warrant her suspicion? Nothing, that was what. The other girl was being an idiot, and it was taking almost all of Jasmine’s willpower not to say something about it. God, she was honestly kinda happy that she couldn’t tell whose voice it was, because she could sure as hell tell that it wasn’t anyone from her group, which was good. Anyone in her group who tried to pull this shit would be ejected immediately, she could tell you that much.

But now she needed to think of something to say. Something that would convince her to stay around. The obvious fact that came up in her mind was that she had to be nice about it, which was something that was becoming harder and harder to do every word that she had to hear from this person, but she disgressed. Anyway, she needed words. In her head and out of her mouth. They weren’t coming though, because as much as that annoyed her even more all she could think of was how much this girl was annoying her right now. Would she even be worth it? She didn't mention having a weapon, she didn’t seem to be very smart, so why did Jasmine want to keep her around?

Fuck it.

“Fine, I’ll let you pass,” she said, moving to the side, slightly. She was annoyed. The other girl had angered her and her own inability to think up of just a couple words angered her even more.

She needed to release her claws.

“But when the troublemaker out there sees you and decides to make you his target don’t come crying back to me.”

[Laurels]

"Thank you, kindly," Nadia said when the other girl finally stepped aside to let Nadia out of the room.

Nadia was ready to get out. She needed to see where she was and to figure out what to do. Being in a dark, cramped room with two people she didn't know wasn't going to help, especially since she thought one of them might be dangerous.

Before she could, Jasmine had some smart remarks for her. Nadia raised her eyebrow at Jasmine's statement.

"Don't worry," Nadia said, "I will definitely not regret leaving you. I don't plan on having any regrets from now on. Sayonara."

Nadia stepped past Jasmine into the hall. She took an immediate left, then walked away. Once she turned a corner and was sure she was clear of sight, she immediately booked it further down the hall. For all she knew, Jasmine would come after her and gun her down, if Jasmine was the troublemaker she heard earlier. Even if Jasmine was just an idiot and was right that leaving was a stupid idea, Nadia sure as hell wasn't staying around. All she had was a duffle bag and walkie talkies. That wasn't going to help her survive. Strategy would.

And it wasn't like she'd find strategy in a dark room with strangers. That would be found in the heat of it all. Out there, on the island.

((Nadia Riva continued elsewhere))

[Rorick Skyve†]

Maxim almost let out a heavy sigh. Really, he definitely didn't regret letting Nadia leave now. Even in a situation such as this, where their lives were on the line, even now those two still found time to throw snarky comments at each other. Immature. Only further proving his point, he didn't need either of them or rather, he didn't need them and he didn't want to either.

He still didn't say a word even as Nadia left, instead looking down at his bag and fondling with the zipper. Had started to get somewhat thirsty. Then again, was it smart to drink in the presence of another person? Maybe they'd ask him to have some of it as well. Maybe they had already finished theirs, had it stolen or anything. Resources were always something that would only cause conflicts in a situation such as this. He had to wait.

He retracted his hand from the zipper, now staring at Jasmine. She looked angry, somewhat. Visible even in the darkness. He couldn't use that. If this was already enough to rile her up, then there was no way she'd keep her cool in more serious situations. In other words, she was useless to him. Harsh as that sounded, but it was the truth. Now, the only question remaining was whether or not she was going to leave first or if he had to do it.

Maybe he could just...scare her away? Not scare, creep her out or something like that. He had been told before he was a creep. Just standing around, being by himself. People thought so. Maybe they were morons, maybe they had a point. Either way, it could come in handy now.

Maxim simply stood there, keeping his mouth shut. All he did was stare at Jasmine with a neutral look on his face. Neutral except for that perpetual frown engraved on his brow.

[Yugikun]

The girl spoke back as she left. Whatever, Jasmine didn’t give a shit. It wasn’t like they’d likely recognise each other after this.

She looked around. It was still dark. Not as much as before, though. Her pupils had likely dilated, as she could see a little bit more clearly. She could see Maxim’s silhouette. Oh yeah, he was here too. Way to be a presence in the conversation, just standing there while both she and the other girl were arguing. It was weird. Slightly creepy. No wonder he got kicked out of Ben’s party all those years back. Didn’t really matter though. She was not in the mood for trying to talk or really just be around people right now. The other girl was an idiot and that was the only thing she could really think about.

Still, though, something in her said that she should at least try with Maxim. She wanted to be alone, but she didn’t want to give up her chances of winning just for that.

She turned around, in the direction where she came from.

“If you want to follow me feel free to do so. I don’t really care.”

And with that, she walked to the door and exited the room.

((Jasmine King, continued elsewhere))