Merlini Magia

[AurianaValoria1]

***This is the RP thread for Merlini Magia. For the discussion thread, please see here.***

 

Dr. Katherine Breckenridge sat in her booth at the far corner of the local diner, watching the rain as it pelted the huge glass windows of the building. She sipped her black coffee from a small mug and sighed. At some point she would have the brave the rain to get to her car. Her brow furrowed at the thought, though...why was she in such a hurry? She didn't have a job anymore, so there was no reason to rush around. She cold stay until closing if she so desired...

 

"Anything else I can get you?"

 

The waitress's voice broke her out of her reverie, and she smiled warmly as she stacked Kat's empty plate and side saucers on her forearm. The professor herself gave a weak smile back and shook her head, "No, thank you." She then took a few moments to finish her coffee after the waitress slipped away, paid for her meal, and prepared to leave.

 

The storm itself seemed to have come out of nowhere. It had been a bright spring day just moments before she'd entered the diner, but once she sat down to eat, an ominous grey cloud had gathered overhead and dumped on the town with a torrential downpour that turned the air grey with water. It still had not ceased, nearly an hour later, and thunder rumbled ominously, rattling the windows every once in a while. Kat stood in the doorway, watching the rain a bit more and wishing she had brought a spare umbrella or a jacket. Her peasant blouse and sandals were going to get soaked, and her jeans wouldn't fare much better.

 

Heaving another heavy sigh, she held her clutch and keys tight to her body and decided to make a break for it. She ducked out of the doorway and moved as quickly as she could without slipping down and landing flat on her face. The water smacked and slapped the pavement loudly, the thunder rumbling again overhead as she headed straight for her car. It was just a few more feet...

 

Suddenly, before she could even lift her keys to unlock the door, a bright flash of lightning sizzled right in front of her, blinding her and knocking her to the ground. Her ears roared, her skin burned, and she could feel herself shout in surprise, but she did not hear it. Her back hit the pavement painfully, her clutch and keys dancing right out of her hands as she fell.

 

And then all went black.

 

===============================================

 

Ow. Ow. Ow.

 

Kat could feel the pavement under her, hard and cold. She had landed at an odd angle, her hip turned sideways with her back flat to the ground. Rolling to her side, she opened her eyes...

 

...only to see that she was no longer in the parking lot of Sue's Diner.

 

Not knowing where she was, Kat could feel her heart pounding in her chest and throbbing in her ears. She seemed to be in a dark corridor, flame-lit sconces lighting the edges and casting small halos of warm firelight on the stone walls and floor. The flames themselves crackled merrily; otherwise, there was no sound. Merely deafening silence.

 

Where am I?

 

Her panic growing, Kat slowly rose to her feet, eyes wide in the dim lighting. Glancing around, she noticed that both her clutch and her car keys were gone. She only had the clothes on her person. Unsure of what to do, she peered as far as she could see into the corridor ahead, where it disappeared into blackness around a corner.

 

"Hello?"

 

Her trembling voice echoed frighteningly loud, and she at once wished she had not said a word. She clung to the wall and froze in place, all the while thinking to herself, Oh God, where am I? What happened? Oh God, did someone kidnap me?

 

She swallowed hard as she forced herself to calm down, taking note of her surroundings. As soon as she realized that the room she was in was an empty dead-end of a narrow stone hall, torches lighting the way, something felt very amiss.

 

No one lives like this.

[FreemasonGamer]

Sweat drenched Benjamin's backside as he carried a new car battery from the shop's storage room to the garage on the opposite side of the shop, where the the customers' vehicles were ready to be taken care of as soon as possible. Even in the dusty, poorly air conditioned shade of the mechanic shop, the blistering heat of the summer afternoon made the young man's work more difficult and tiresome, but he knew better than to voice his discomfort as he went about the tasks he had promised to his grandfather would be finished before his shift ended. Soon approaching the gutted automobile which needed its new battery—it was a majestic, sleek sports car with a glossy black paint job—Benjamin began the familiar process of installing the battery, absentmindedly noting how such an expensive car seemed so out of place in his rural community.

 

Before he finished equipping the sports car with its battery, Benjamin was surprised and relieved to hear the sound of rain suddenly erupt outside. Hopefully that aught to cool things down, he thought to himself, taking a moment's break to quickly grab his chilled Gatorade from the refrigerator in the break room.

 

Refreshed after drinking nearly half of the bottle's cherry-flavored contents, he ran a hand across his forehead to wipe away the many beads of sweat resting upon his brow. As he swiftly returned to the garage with his drink in hand, Benjamin noticed how intensely the downpour outside became over the course of mere minutes. The prospect didn't exactly surprise him since such summer storms often came and went quite frequently where he lived, so the young man did not hesitate before returning to his work.

 

Soon tossing his empty Gatorade bottle at the nearest trash can, Benjamin deftly wired the battery to the rest of the sports car's inner workings. However, his rhythmic working was soon interrupted when a rumble of thunder overhead shook the mechanic shop in its entirety. Narrowing his eyes, Benjamin paused for a moment until another thunderclap rattled the building like a birdcage, this time much more violently. With the slightest hesitation, he strode over to the nearest exterior door to the outside and opened it to see what might have been going on out there, and he was shocked to see everything shrouded behind a nearly penetrable veil of water. The weighty, powerful drum of rain cascading down upon the roof of the shop, the parked cars in the lot, and the asphalt of the lot itself resonated loudly in Benjamin's ears, and he felt a pit soon form in his stomach. Something was wrong, or at the very least not normal.

 

Before he had a chance to turn around and head back inside, Benjamin saw the terrifying sight of lightning descending from the darkened clouds above, and the shaft of blistering light crashed into the ground at his feet with immeasurable power and ferocity. It was almost like an explosion how the blinding light, deafening blast, and violent shock wave overwhelmed Benjamin's senses and threw him backward with the force of what felt like a small bomb. A silent cry of pain and fear left Benjamin's lips yet never reached his ears as he was tossed back like a ragdoll, and his consciousness quickly faded into complete darkness after his body crashed painfully into what felt like a wall.

 

~

When Benjamin later awoke sitting on a cold stone floor with his back resting against an equally cold wall of stone, he was immediately overcome with the residual soreness felt throughout his stiff form. I better not be dead, was his first tangible thought before he managed to release a weak, sputtering cough.

 

Glancing around his surroundings, Benjamin slowly furrowed his brows at the odd scene he found himself in; he sat in an ominously dim stone hall illuminated only by wall-mounted sconces garnished with lively flames. For all he knew, he might have been on a medieval movie set or in a psychopath's personal dungeon, but the only thing Benjamin knew for a fact was that he was no longer at his grandfather's mechanic shop. Pressing his shoulders against the wall for support as he struggled to his feet, Benjamin coughed again before checking himself for any injuries or burns from the lightning strike; still in his usual work clothes of his faded white tee shirt and dingy tan cargo shorts, Benjamin was remarkably unscathed from the previous event.

 

"Where am I..." Benjamin groaned quietly as he rubbed his eyes, the details of his surroundings only confusing him even more than he already was.

 

Eventually coming to his senses, Benjamin delved his trembling hand into his front right pocket and retrieved his phone in hopes of finding out where he was or possibly calling for help. Sadly, he soon discovered there was no signal whatsoever that his phone could find, and most of its uses are completely nullified as a result. Sighing, Benjamin stored away his phone and checked the rest of his pockets, finding only his empty wallet. Glancing down the gloomy hall ahead of him, Benjamin felt lost and helpless, which were sensations he did not like at all. Then, the overbearing silence was disturbed when the echoes of a woman's voice reached his still-numb ears.

 

God, this better not be some horror flick, Benjamin thought to himself bleakly as the echoes subsided, and he soon gathered the courage to call out in return as he slowly ventured further into the shadowy hall, "Hello? Who's there?"

[Lisnpuppy]

Rose stuffed the last bit of Snicker's Bar into her mouth and washed it down with a Coke with real sugar, no less. Wiping her mouth with the back of one hand she continued to steer with the other. She looked out the window of her rental vehicle. She had splurged a bit of money and had rented a new Corvette. Silly of her really but what the heck, she thought. The roads at home were unkind to such a low profile vehicle while the roads here in New Mexico were flat, desolate and at times and so uninteresting not even the joy of driving the responsive Vette could keep her focused. Such boring scenery. She missed the mountains of Appalachia.

 

Rose had left Albuquerque a few hours before, taking her time to drive toward the North-West part of New Mexico where the Navajo Territory began. Despite her looks, she had never visited or even met the relatives of her Father's side. Hard to do that when dear, old Dad was too busy shooting up to tell any family history. The best thing her parents had done was leave her with her grandmother. What she lacked in genealogical history on her Dad's side she more than made up for on her Mother's. Nanna had told her stories about her Irish ancestors at the beginning to engage a ""tweens" interest and to distract some of the anger and hostility that Rose had felt when her parents left to parts unknown. By the time Rose was in high school she didn't even think about her parents, much less her Dad's Navajo relations. It was however a rarity to find a full-blood Navajo off the Reservations. Rose supposed that the call of opiates was stronger than the call of the shaman.

 

Rose glanced down at her open bag and saw the unopened letter under various Snicker's wrappers. She ran a hand through her short black hair, causing it to be even more of a mess than usual. She knew what the letter from her Nanna enclosed said...what she didn't know is what the letter from her Grandfather said. Until recently he had not known of her existence. Now that he did...and that her Father was dead, he wanted to meet her. Chooli was his name, which Rose had googled and found out that meant mountain, ironic she thought as she was just thinking of the ancient range that she called home. Chooli, known to the outside as Charles, Chooli was ancient and highly devoted to his tribe. He also was devoted to the military of the United States and had enlisted to help use a code to foil the Germans and Japanese that was part of the Navajo language. Endlessly complicated in both words and grammar, the Navajo code was never broken and played a critical if small place in the Second World War. Known as the "Wind Talkers", her Grandfather was apparently very proud of his service to a country that treated his people..Rose's people, so unkind even today. Now her Grandmother told her, he was an elder and shaman to the Navajo. Rose's grandmother who wanted her to explore the world a bit before returning to work on her doctorate, found the sudden letter from her Father's Father a perfect opportunity for Rose to do so...and to know her other relatives.

 

"Now Rosey Girl...just because your parents were a poor fit doesn't mean all your relatives are." Nanna had told her after the letter had arrived. Rose has stared at the name and return address, envelope still unopened. Her grandfather, had sent a letter to her Nanna, introducing himself and had another letter sent for Rose directly. Her Nanna had stayed closed mouth about the contents of her letter, for the most part. Just explaining some background information and the invitation to visit. Grandfather was old and wanted to meet her. And he had seen a vision of her that needed to be communicated in person.

 

Rose had laughed off the remark and the unread letter. Nanna had looked at her with some sorrow, saying only, "Rosey there is more in this world than you can ken from those musty books of yours." After that it had been books on Navajo history left conveniently in the drawer with the Snicker's bars. Web addresses taped to her Coke bottles...and conversations that always seem to steer toward the Navajo world. Finally, Rose had relented just because she couldn't stand to disappoint her Nanna.

 

So here she was...now just miles away from the Navajo Territory. As her grandmother had instructed, Rose pulled over at a convenient place and pulled out the letters. Rose read her Grandmother's first.

 

Rosey Girl on your great adventure. I hope that you will find joy and closure and peace in your journey. Learn as much as you can from this. And remember...there is more in this world than in your philosophy.

 

Rose smirked at the Hamlet reference knowing her Nanna loved the Bard as much as she did Joyce and her ever present Finnegan's Wake. Lips turning into a small frown, Rose picked up the other letter and began to read.

 

Rose,

 

I know this is all very confusing to you..it was a surprise to me when I found out about you. I am sorry we did not know each other sooner in this life. Sometimes Coyote plays awful tricks, but there is always reason behind it.

 

I wish for you to come and visit me. I wish to look upon you in more than my dreams. I am old. I am dying. I have much to tell you. It is very important you get here by when Coyote's star crosses the sky and this is soon. I would tell you it is important for I have seen you in my dream smoke. If you do not believe this then simply humor and old man who wants to meet his beautiful granddaughter.

 

Rose wiped away a tear she had not realized, fell slowly down her cheek. She took another deep breath and pulled the Corvette back onto the road. The Coyote star was beginning its cross in the sky tomorrow. She would get there in time.

 

Continuing on Rose found herself turning onto a dirt road. Having entered the Navajo lands some time before and having to hand over a paper with her grandfather's heavy script, Rose was ushered on. She stared at small houses and communal areas. She noted children, brown from ancestry or sun, running shoe-less around the houses but stopping to stare. Finally she came to a larger house, built much like all the rest. A middle-aged woman stood on the porch and waved to Rose. Putting down her window, the woman smiled at Rose, patting blonde hair into place.

 

"Well here you are then, this is Chooli's place. We are glad you could come! Oh! My name is Greta, by the way." Rose smiled back, she knew that was the right response-but she didn't feel it. All the stares driving since she went over the boarder had caused her introvert self to come out full on. She hoped these people were not "touchy."

 

Getting out of the Vette, she murmured a greeting and waving off an offer to help with her bags. "It isn't a problem I packed light, " Rose said to Greta, noting the woman's German accent. "I'm sorry," Rose began..

 

"Oh! I am a friend of the family and I help your Grandfather take care of things. I wash up, cook some, whatever needs doing." She smiled again at Rose as she shuffled through a door. "Here we are, just set your bags and we can get them later." Rose nodded, laying down her rough suitcase.

 

Wiping her clammy hands on her jeans and glaring at a chocolate mark, she wished she had not wore such a casual outfit. Everything in the house screamed at her, tradition and respectability, despite it's humble size. She looked back at the door wondering if it was not too late to escape when she heard a shuffling. Looking up she saw a very old man, wrinkled from sun, time and laughter. Rose saw grey eyes like her own in a face nothing like her Father's. Yet a face she knew from countless dreams. Reeling a bit, Chooli reached out toward her.

 

"I have seen you in my dreams, Dinilchíí’ ..." My grandfather's voice was soft and smooth. Rose's head still spun a she stared at a man she had seen in a thousand dreams. "I don't..understand..." Rose teetered. Chooli began to swear in several languages and shook a feeble fist in the air, "Coyote! Why do you do this?" Rose looked at the fist and as she crumbled to the ground. It and large, grey eyes were the the last things she saw.

 

Time Passes~

 

 

Rose woke, rubbing her head that had been up against cold stone. Sitting up slowly she blinked, all around her was stone..a hallway for sorts and toward the end a flickering light...from a torch?

 

"What the hades is this?" Rose whispered suddenly cold. Had she gotten sick and they had taken her to some weird place to play shaman? Surely they would take her to a hospital...with real medicine. She thought Navajo preferred the out of doors...which this place definitely was not. Rose's head whipped around at suddenly muttering from a distance. She could not make out the words as the walls seemed to both bounce and muffle the noise. Then, more clearly and perhaps more closely...another voice this time one she could understand.

 

"Hello? Who's there?" Rose took in the voice and looked toward the torch some way up the stone hall.

[AurianaValoria1]

When Kat heard other voices echoing down the hall, she was flooded with relief, even though she had no idea if they belonged to friendly or hostile people. Judging from the way they sounded, though, she had a hunch they were in a situation similar to her own. Swallowing hard, she gathered her courage and proceeded to walk at a quick pace down the hall, hugging the wall as she went. Her eyes struggled to see between the light of the sconces, and she wiped her chestnut blonde hair out of her face every few steps; this was the one day this week she did not wear her hair in a ponytail, and she certainly regretted it now. Her blouse was still a little damp and so were her sandals, the latter squelching slightly with her feet as she walked. Her mind whirled as she tried to make sense of the situation but couldn't...one minute she was at a diner, the next she'd been struck by lightning and somehow ended up here...

 

She rounded the corner and called again tentatively, slowing down a bit in case someone decided to come out of the shadows, "Hello? Hello...is anyone there?"

[Macman253]

Andre stood next to Dieter and Nicole, the sound of chisels and hammers came from the roof above them as the team excavated the cloister. The rooms in which the monks of Saint Crispinian's Monastery slept. Atleast, Andre suspected it was the cloister. They looked down at the map retrieved from a library in the Vatican which lead the team to this location in the south of France.

 

"Have you checked the south wall?" Said Dieter, Dieter was a tall man, of strong build and could easily be mistaken for a bouncer at a nightclub or a bodyguard but he was the foremost architectural archaeologist in Europe, and he happened to be Andre's boss. Andre was the resident historian with the team, Nicole, a short woman of a curvy figure that wore khaki shorts and hiking boots with a ratty cowboy hat and plain grey t-shirt stood with her arms folded across her ample chest. She was the team's only anthropologist.

 

"No, but I did find some pottery shards buried under the floor stones." Andre replied, Nicole chuckled in her usual snorting manner. "Probably the Abbot's personal stash of booze." She said in her west Texas accent. Andre smiled. Dieter did not. The stern German stood unamused as he often did. Andre coughed and looked away. "I am going for a run... let me know when you find out more." He said with a lopsided smile and left the hollowed out ruin that was either the cloister or the larder.

 

Andre took off at a run across the worksite, the monastery was sprawled out over 30 acres of land and surrounded on all sides by a dense forest which gave the young historian ample places to Freerun. An activity he used to clear his mind and keep in shape while stuck out in the middle of nowhere France. He paced himself at a steady run, not pushing himself. He leaped over a ditch where two men were digging with a side flip and a inversed landing, spun around and kept going without losing his pace. He vaulted a low stone wall and slid down the muddy hill behind it with a wide smile, he flipped off before he came to the bottom and landed at a run.

 

When he hopped over a downed log a bright light erupted from the sky and a lightning bolt hit the ground in front of him, sending him flying back into the rotten moss covered tree with a loud *whump* Andre's head smacked against the log and all went black.

 

He woke with what felt like a split skull, but after a quick check to find no blood, just a large lump he stirred. He felt the floor, it was cold and hard. He figured he was brought back to the main hall which is where most of the other historians and archaeology students often met up. He rolled over to find that he was splayed out on the floor itself and sat up. The room turned out to be a hallway, a voice echoed down through it.

 

"Hello?" He said as he held his head and stood, fighting back a headache that felt like an axe buried in his skull. "...Anyone there?" He asked to the voice in the darkness as he started walking towards it.

Edited October 24, 2015 by Macman253

[FreemasonGamer]

Continuing his cautious exploration through the labyrinthine corridors of stone, Benjamin was soon overwhelmed by the fading echoes of what sounded like several others who seemed just as lost as he was. With the heavy notes of his steel-toed work boots treading upon the smoothed stone floor betraying his every step, the young man remained close to the wall near his right until he happened across an arched junction joining several other sconce-lit halls identical to the one in which he had found himself. For a moment, Benjamin listened to the others as their voices glanced off the dusky stone of the corridors' walls, and he eventually stepped towards the center of the undefined chamber connecting the maze-like assortment of passages.

 

"I'm here, but where is here?" Benjamin called out brazenly, crossing his arms before releasing a sigh. "Also, I hope all of y'all can find where I'm at? All this fumbling around isn't going to help anyone."

 

With that, the young man took a seat on the floor exactly where he stood, crossing his legs as he waited for the other lost individuals to hopefully appear. "I guess I'll keep talking so that you folks don't have to wander aimlessly." He mused loudly with a hint of caution still lingering in his otherwise heavily Southern-accented words. While he was still notably fearful of his unknown surroundings, Benjamin didn't perceive any immediate threat from the other men and women who seemed just as lost and helpless as he felt at that moment. Also, he assumed that the help of the others might better his own odds of finding out where he was. After all, they were all equally clueless—presumably, that is—as to where they were and how they got there.

 

"The sooner we gather up, the sooner I can stop rambling like a dolt." His fearful and borderline paranoid impatience soon drove him to remark after a few minutes of sitting alone at the shadowy crossroads of corridors. "And this place is a more than a little spooky, so I'm sure everyone would appreciate a little bit of haste..."

Edited October 25, 2015 by FreemasonGamer

[Lisnpuppy]

Rose listened to the voices, clear but some seemingly from further away than the others. Then those far-away voices seeming to come closer before fading again. Rose sighed...none of them sounded like the reservation Navajo or to anyone she new. Well Nanna did want her to have an adventure. She just hoped this one she didn't end up the evening meal or whatever.

 

"I am going to strangle that old man when I find him." Rose hissed in the darkness.

 

She stood slowly, wiped the dust and dirt of the rear off her pants and adjusted her bag that was strapped around her. Opening it Rose tunneled through the miscellaneous items. "Bingo" she said in a low voice as she snatched out a discarded Snicker's wrapper. Pulling it slowly apart she noted some left over chocolate and a piece of chewed gum which she shoved into the wrapper earlier when she had parked at her Grandfather's house. She took the gum off the wrapper and pushed it onto the lower portion of the wall, scraping a bit of chocolate for good measure. Rose tried to place it up higher than any rodents could reach to run off with it easily.

 

"Well, hopefully this will tell me if I am going in circles." Rose listened again for the other voices. She thought she heard three or four others. She wasn't sure as the stone seemed to play with sound, like a small child bouncing a ball in an empty gym. Rose considered again if she should stay put. Shaking her head and running her hand in her hair, Rose decided to move onward toward the other voices. As she began going toward voice and light, she reached out with her right hand to touch the wall as she walked. Always keeping it on the wall could help her. This was a trick used in hedge-mazes to get out. Moving slowly trying to take anything in, she called out.

 

"Yes...I am here, wherever here is...hello?" Rose waited for an answer as she moved slowly, carefully, onward. Her hand already cold from the stone, her hand also left a trail of dust and dirt in its wake.

[AurianaValoria1]

Kat's frustration began to grow as she heard more voices calling out, but was unable to pinpoint which direction they were coming from; she was faced with side corridors at almost every turn, and she had no idea which one to take...

 

...until she quite literally stumbled into a man sitting cross-legged in the floor.

 

"Oh!" she exclaimed as she tripped right into his back and nearly flipped over his shoulder, "Christ....what in the Hell...?" Recovering her balance, she stepped back and stared at him cautiously, "Hey...you stuck here, too?"

[tokyobiohazard]

Emilie waved goodbye to Adam, the poor guy running the register for the evening shift with an "I would rescue you if I could" grimace and headed out of the mall, bidding farewell to Hot Topic and its army of edgy teenage customers for yet another day, clutching her "hot mess clearance" employee discount spoils for the day: a case for her smartphone with a simple red anarchy symbol printed over a black background. She clipped the case into place, pleased that it actually fit. It was a bit cheap, but it'd have to do after her previous case was chewed up by Adam's dog. Maybe he did deserve the late shift.

She grabbed herself something from the food court for dinner, and slipped her $10 bill into one worker's hand as she was handed a plastic bag laden with two warm burritos by another employee. She collected her change and smiled awkwardly as she slid her backpack onto her shoulder, tying up her plastic bag and stuffing it inside. She could taste the overstuffed burritos, each with a generous dollop of sour cream, already as she walked outside the mall and hurriedly made her way toward the nearest bus stop, stomach growling all the while. To her chagrin, a downpour started just as she contemplated munching on a burrito while she waited for the next bus.

Emilie was brought out of her hungry ponderings when a man sat next to her at the bus stop, and she held her backpack close to her body out of paranoia. The man next to her didn't look like the type to be using public transportation, or to snatch her bag, which set off alarms in her head. He wore an expensive suit and tie that probably costed more than Emilie's rent, looking as if he belonged in a chauferred Mercades rather than a city bus stop. Maybe he was taking shelter from the rain. Emilie's eyes cut toward him for a moment too long, and he began to try and speak with her.

"So, how much?" the man asked, his tone less than friendly and his expensive suit drenched with rain, though it looked like he could afford to throw this one away and replace it with another without a second thought.

"I'm sorry? I don't understand." Emilie replied, although she very much did understand what he was asking, scooting away from the man as far as she could without leaving the shelter of the bus stop and getting drenched. At this point, her adrenaline started pumping, and she prepared herself to run as fast as she could down the sidewalk.

"Never mind. I can give you a ride home, if you like. My car's parked down the street. This rain's awful heavy, isn't it?" Emilie stared at him open-mouthed, and the man slid his hand across the bench, reaching for her leg. At this point, Emilie didn't stick around to hear another word and bolted toward the nearest open business, clutching her backpack to her chest. Finally, she saw the McDonald's after running nearly two blocks, and slowed down, relieved. She never reached the door, however, as she was knocked into the street on her back by a bright flash of light which blinded her and set her ears ringing, before her vision faded to black.

---------------------------

When Emilie awoke, she was surprised to be unscathed by her fall into the street, let alone alive. She was mostly dizzy, and a bit disoriented, but she didn't have any outward injuries and was thankful for that. As far as she could tell, she was in was what seemed to be a concrete basement illuminated by torch-lit sconces, her back to a corner, and her hoodie and backpack lay several feet away, the pack's contents scattered on the floor. She crawled over to her pack, shoving her wallet, keys, makeup bag, and now cold dinner inside and snatching out her smartphone, which was miraculously intact.

As she shrugged on her hoodie to ward off the chilly air on her back she assumed the worst, Oh my god... I'm in that guy's basement and he's going to torture me in here! Oh god, what if he does worse than that? With a feeling of dread that left her racing heart in the pit of her stomach, she realized her phone had no signal. Figures he wouldn't let me keep that unless it wouldn't work in here. Wait... Did he take my knife?

Rifling through her scant possesions, Emilie snatched out something that could be her ticket out of here, her sleek black pocket knife. She was confused as to why he would allow her to keep something like her knife, but pushed the thought out of her mind as she opened the knife and snatched up her bag.

She'd trekked through the labyrinthine basement for what seemed like hours in confusion as her path twisted and took many turns, knife in hand, before she started hearing voices echo toward her at the end of a T-shaped hallway. Highly distressed, with tears welling up in her eyes upon hearing other people for the first time in ages, she called out, "Hello? Are you guys okay? I just woke up, and I think he hasn't hurt me yet. I... I have a knife. Maybe we can ambush him. And I have some food too."

As she rounded the corner, someone came into view and Emilie cautiously made her way toward the figure at the far end of the hallway. Emilie was able to see that it was a young girl, possibly a little older than herself but a few inches shorter. The girl's black hair was carelessly tousled, she was wearing an outfit not unlike Emilie's, but a lot more conservative, and she seemed to be feeling her way through the corridors. Emilie lowered her knife, but didn't stow it away just yet. "Hi? I'm Emilie... I-I'm so glad I found you. A man tried to take me and I blacked out at the end of the street, and now I'm in here. I think he kidnapped me."

[Macman253]

Andre listened to the others, he heard someone run into someone else, another two, sounded like teenagers found one another. He felt along the stonewall and looked closely at it. The mortar that held it together wasn't fresh so it wasn't recently built. The stones were worn but smooth, "A great deal of foot traffic." He thought, "Been here awhile."

 

Andre walked towards the loud crashing sound and the exclamation of a woman. He had no lighter nor a phone, never was any service at the digsite, they had to use satellite phones to contact anyone and he left his back in his tent. He sighed at his frustration, "When I agreed to explore old castles and discover history firsthand... this is not what I meant." He said to himself as he blindly walked along the corridors, turning left each time he came to a junction, it was a few minutes and a few bumps into walls and then he felt a human presence.

 

"Hello?" He said as he toed something laying on the ground. "You alive?" He asked and toed it again gently.