the way to dusty death
Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2018 3:15 am
((Hannah Kendrickstone, Olivia Fischer, and Irene Djezari continued from Until all our yesterdays are lighted fools...))
Three girls walked towards it.
It was an unscalable distance remaining. It was brick painted by dust and eternity. It was a titanic shadow cast over the path they walked. Echoes from three distinct pairs of shoes bleated weakly and were swallowed by the asylum's cold vine choked corpse. Ever lurking, following the girls as it stood perfectly still. The path was littered with thorny brambles of light foliage. Scattered leaves from long forgotten autumns.
Ruby orange blood splatters of a sun setting.
One girl smiled at the other two as best she could.
"Come on girls, we gotta keep moving."
Hannah.
"Come on!"
Her watchful eye scanned the other two.
"We don't hurry and those two creeps catch up with us."
In front of her at half a pace was Irene.
"Wouldn't have minded if they were with us though."
Irene's gun gently clattered with each step, in chitters of cold steel.
"Alan and Kait are kinda always like that anyway. Crazy plans on their brains and..."
Irene glanced back at Hannah, over her own lump of neck.
"... stuff."
"Yeah but no excuse for the stupid ideas. Hey Livvie? What do you think about them?"
The third girl half a pace behind startled.
Her feet carried her a bit faster.
"Oh,"
Olivia murmured.
She moved herself close into Hannah's gaze.
"Yeah, they were strange."
Olivia was silent.
Irene was silent.
Hannah was silent.
Silence.
Irene's feet found brief stumble.
Both Hannah and Olivia glanced over at the instinctive yelp, it cracked like whip or gunshot through their skins and brains.
Irene's body contorted madly for a moment. It mutated.
It settled.
"Where's your watch, Olive? Gotta check our ticks and tocks."
The shrill whispers of leaves cackling underfoot.
"Like it looks like it should be late-ish."
Olivia nodded briefly. To herself. She fumbled awkwardly with her bag, attention split.
Against walking on the cusp of hurriedly.
"I... Oh."
A quiet, bloodied mewl of frustration.
"I. Didn't bring one."
Hannah smiled, a smile that was a smile attempted.
"It's no big deal Livvie. The time isn't so important, yeah?"
"Hannah's right. Time is just a property of relating positions in space."
Irene paused to breathe.
"The infinity of space."
Olivia just nodded dumbly, and let her gaze drift into an unfathomable infinity.
Her chest. Her feet.
She took a quiet gulp of breath the other two didn't hear.
"It looks like it's going to be a chilly night though," Irene murmured at nothing in particular.
"Kinda like out in the desert, and all."
"I mean..." Hannah murmured.
Loud yet somehow to herself.
"We are by the ocean."
Hannah observed ocean. It cast a tremendous shadow in the distance, lurking beyond where eyes could see.
"You two girls pack your sweaters?"
Olivia glanced into her bag. Her eyebrows fell sharply, like a guillotine blade.
"No. I didn't think I'd need one."
Irene didn't immediately respond. They were closer now.
The slope of path began to carelessly level into the flatground of school yard or cemetery. The asylum was the horizon. Immediately, and in all distant futures.
A door before them opened, though not willingly. It's handle was a whispered suggestion, wood half eroded away by the chomping of something unseen and unknown to the girls. Time itself, perhaps. An enemy to them as any other element of nature. They passed on, away from the light of the sun. Hallways stretched on past where the eye could see, painted and bleached white as the bones of the dead. Hallways ended in darkness, in shadows that teased and tortured the eye with suggestions unfathomable.
Three girls walked in.
Hannah tisked.
"Earth to Irene, hello?"
"Wha?"
Irene glanced about.
Her eyes mindlessly followed the harsh angle of the ceiling.
Then floor. Thick blocks of ink swarmed the ground in relentless procession.
"Uh, yeah. Asimah insisted I bring a change of clothes..."
"... Because that's a thing she does. Olivia..."
She rummaged.
"... Can have the sweater."
From a thin scattered mess of fabrics a bundle of inert black was produced.
Run into Olivia's face.
"... Isn't that cold is it?"
She carefully watched Irene's reaction.
"But thanks... I'll keep it just in case."
The sweater changed hands. Irene nodded thickly.
Returned to her position erstwhile. Hannah nodded approval in the unfathomable distance.
"So it sucks that Olive doesn't have her watch..."
Olivia's attempts to scurry through her bag faltered. She was silently breathing.
Irene grew louder.
"... but, like, we can easily figure out the time from the way the sun's setting..."
As they walked deeper into the darkness.
Everyone briefly slowed, echoes of their feet vanishing into their own bodies.
"... like it's angle of the sun to the ground and how it casts a shadow and... "
Still speaking.
Brick and metal and paint were all eroded away, time scorching the wall in the polite nibbles and teethings of some force unseen and unknown. Doors on all sides, six doors for all eyes, themselves but a thin sheets of metal. Stoic. Stalwart. Windows did not exist in this world, only the weakest of ambient lights from behind them existed to be snuffed out. Flashlights were produced, and with them the shadows danced in a mad frenzy. Over everything, including the things that maybe weren't actually there.
Three girls walked on.
((All GMing approved))
Three girls walked towards it.
It was an unscalable distance remaining. It was brick painted by dust and eternity. It was a titanic shadow cast over the path they walked. Echoes from three distinct pairs of shoes bleated weakly and were swallowed by the asylum's cold vine choked corpse. Ever lurking, following the girls as it stood perfectly still. The path was littered with thorny brambles of light foliage. Scattered leaves from long forgotten autumns.
Ruby orange blood splatters of a sun setting.
One girl smiled at the other two as best she could.
"Come on girls, we gotta keep moving."
Hannah.
"Come on!"
Her watchful eye scanned the other two.
"We don't hurry and those two creeps catch up with us."
In front of her at half a pace was Irene.
"Wouldn't have minded if they were with us though."
Irene's gun gently clattered with each step, in chitters of cold steel.
"Alan and Kait are kinda always like that anyway. Crazy plans on their brains and..."
Irene glanced back at Hannah, over her own lump of neck.
"... stuff."
"Yeah but no excuse for the stupid ideas. Hey Livvie? What do you think about them?"
The third girl half a pace behind startled.
Her feet carried her a bit faster.
"Oh,"
Olivia murmured.
She moved herself close into Hannah's gaze.
"Yeah, they were strange."
Olivia was silent.
Irene was silent.
Hannah was silent.
Silence.
Irene's feet found brief stumble.
Both Hannah and Olivia glanced over at the instinctive yelp, it cracked like whip or gunshot through their skins and brains.
Irene's body contorted madly for a moment. It mutated.
It settled.
"Where's your watch, Olive? Gotta check our ticks and tocks."
The shrill whispers of leaves cackling underfoot.
"Like it looks like it should be late-ish."
Olivia nodded briefly. To herself. She fumbled awkwardly with her bag, attention split.
Against walking on the cusp of hurriedly.
"I... Oh."
A quiet, bloodied mewl of frustration.
"I. Didn't bring one."
Hannah smiled, a smile that was a smile attempted.
"It's no big deal Livvie. The time isn't so important, yeah?"
"Hannah's right. Time is just a property of relating positions in space."
Irene paused to breathe.
"The infinity of space."
Olivia just nodded dumbly, and let her gaze drift into an unfathomable infinity.
Her chest. Her feet.
She took a quiet gulp of breath the other two didn't hear.
"It looks like it's going to be a chilly night though," Irene murmured at nothing in particular.
"Kinda like out in the desert, and all."
"I mean..." Hannah murmured.
Loud yet somehow to herself.
"We are by the ocean."
Hannah observed ocean. It cast a tremendous shadow in the distance, lurking beyond where eyes could see.
"You two girls pack your sweaters?"
Olivia glanced into her bag. Her eyebrows fell sharply, like a guillotine blade.
"No. I didn't think I'd need one."
Irene didn't immediately respond. They were closer now.
The slope of path began to carelessly level into the flatground of school yard or cemetery. The asylum was the horizon. Immediately, and in all distant futures.
A door before them opened, though not willingly. It's handle was a whispered suggestion, wood half eroded away by the chomping of something unseen and unknown to the girls. Time itself, perhaps. An enemy to them as any other element of nature. They passed on, away from the light of the sun. Hallways stretched on past where the eye could see, painted and bleached white as the bones of the dead. Hallways ended in darkness, in shadows that teased and tortured the eye with suggestions unfathomable.
Three girls walked in.
Hannah tisked.
"Earth to Irene, hello?"
"Wha?"
Irene glanced about.
Her eyes mindlessly followed the harsh angle of the ceiling.
Then floor. Thick blocks of ink swarmed the ground in relentless procession.
"Uh, yeah. Asimah insisted I bring a change of clothes..."
"... Because that's a thing she does. Olivia..."
She rummaged.
"... Can have the sweater."
From a thin scattered mess of fabrics a bundle of inert black was produced.
Run into Olivia's face.
"... Isn't that cold is it?"
She carefully watched Irene's reaction.
"But thanks... I'll keep it just in case."
The sweater changed hands. Irene nodded thickly.
Returned to her position erstwhile. Hannah nodded approval in the unfathomable distance.
"So it sucks that Olive doesn't have her watch..."
Olivia's attempts to scurry through her bag faltered. She was silently breathing.
Irene grew louder.
"... but, like, we can easily figure out the time from the way the sun's setting..."
As they walked deeper into the darkness.
Everyone briefly slowed, echoes of their feet vanishing into their own bodies.
"... like it's angle of the sun to the ground and how it casts a shadow and... "
Still speaking.
Brick and metal and paint were all eroded away, time scorching the wall in the polite nibbles and teethings of some force unseen and unknown. Doors on all sides, six doors for all eyes, themselves but a thin sheets of metal. Stoic. Stalwart. Windows did not exist in this world, only the weakest of ambient lights from behind them existed to be snuffed out. Flashlights were produced, and with them the shadows danced in a mad frenzy. Over everything, including the things that maybe weren't actually there.
Three girls walked on.
((All GMing approved))