Finally.[break][break]

Fern has made it to the end. At long last, they can take a break after endless halls with creepy rooms, a banshee lady, an undead party…oh, and the giant mouth made out of hallway parts they’ve only just narrowly escaped. Once they get through the exit, they can reconnect with jayden cross, and solemnly vow never to badger him into participating in another haunted house again unless it’s obviously of the corny variety.[break][break]

Only…it’s not a true exit they find on the other side, is it?[break][break]

Absently, they take the offered bottle of water as they gawk at the attendant in the sterile, brightly lit room. He wasn’t done yet? Why? He’s too tired for an argument, though. So grumbling, Fern trudges to the burnt, daunting door and pushes onward. No rest for the wicked, etc etc yada yada.[break][break]

Oh, but this…was weird. When did he return outside, let alone to a route? He can’t tell which one it is, but this must be some pretty fancy simulation. It has to be. They’re in Mauville. They feel as if they’re wandering the hellscape of a particularly elaborate nightmare as flame and smoke rise around them, but do not crowd them away from the path.[break][break]

The prickle on the back of their neck is a familiar one. They’ve already experienced the sensation of being watched in here, after all.

[break][break]
DDTQ3rKV
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] + fern is open to be interacted with as u please :3c[break]
+ what do you MEAN we aren’t done!![break][break]
+ resolve tally: 50/50

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]unfortunately, the stench of burning flesh isn't exactly unfamiliar.

it reminds her of war, of beasts from worlds beyond, of desolation. and for a moment, she looks caught in two different timelines. the eyes are slightly glossed over, retreating into a memory that's long since rotted.

five minutes seem to pass quickly without a sound before a figure of smoke and mirrors catches the corners of her eyes. they tug, as if loose fabric being pulled by a nail.

her head follows eyesight and fuck, are her eyes burning? is it actual smoke? is it... nothing?

she can't tell.

what she can tell, however, is how this doesn't seem to make sense.

how can something be completely made of smoke? trees, benches, even lights in smoky lampposts. and god, she can't shake the sensation of eyes all over the body.

she takes a few steps forward and bumps into someone. or... is it something?

wide red eyes, already watery and threatening to spill over from smoke, look startled as they peer into fern delaney's eyes.

"shit, sorry."

and she swears she sees a flash of blonde out of the corner of her eye. somehow, she hopes for the walking embodiment of sunshine herself, Eva Morales.

LVzPb8vx
jumpscare.

tl;dr |
- we r in clown city hi ya'll
- just wanderin' around?
- bonus ghoul locked n loaded for future use...

Eva did her best to leave the events of the forest behind her, but they seemed to weigh heavy on her shoulders like an overbearing cloak she couldn’t shake off. She barely registered accepting the water, or being escorted to the next part of their journey.

Wait, next part?

“Wait, I-“ she turned to retreat back into the safety of the lobby but the door had already clicked shut behind her. The attendant was gone, and so was the door. It seemed to disappear before her eyes, fading into the background of another eerie scene.

Dirt cracked beneath her boots with each step she took deeper into the route. In a world made of black, white, and shades of grey, she felt very out of place. Objects swirled in some sort of mystical smoke but still kept their shape. They seemed tangible but ethereal at the same time. She even reached out to touch the pillar of a streetlight. It was hard to explain the feeling. A coldness ran up her arm, settling in her core. She felt something, but nothing, all at once.

She was certainly losing her mind, now.

All sense of reality seemed to drift further and further away with each step until Eva wasn’t even sure she was real anymore. The path curved and bent in irrational ways that surely led to nowhere specific.

Eventually, she found herself quite literally standing at a crossroad. The last bit of her sanity coaxed left, while a darker presence tempted her to go right. She found herself intrigued by the presence. It seemed familiar, like something she knew had been there all along. The mysterious façade plucked at the taught strings of her curiosity, and so she went right, deeper into the abyss.

---

06UMqXuT

open to interaction but she may not see you

Stairs?

Eva pauses at the base of them. She hears whispers, some of a familiar pitch. She swears she can hear John Sullivan shouting on the wind. It prompts er to turn and inspect her surroundings. The shadow play tricks on her, the veil over her eyes somewhat obscuring the vision of others amongst her. The way the shadows move around her is unusual, human-like.

The Professor takes a few short breaths, inhaling the fresh scent of smoke. The rather mundane and dull world around them lights up in red, orange, and yellow hues. Heat flashes against her skin as fire races towards them.

“Shit!” she gasps, not even thinking twice before clamoring up the stairs to escape a horrid fate.

---

But the ground gives way below her. With a gasp, Eva falls through the smoke, screaming as she descends into the hungry flames.

gbEc9jLZ

resolve: 50/50

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]why the hell are there stairs?

she groans inwardly. even on a good day, she can't go up stairs without stumbling over herself. and now, she has to scramble up to avoid death by fire? fuck...

for a very brief, fleeting moment, she contemplates running up on all fours as if it'd be faster.

and perhaps, it might be.

she sticks with her own two legs, though, and tries to scramble her way up as the fire begins to lap at her ankles. on her desperate climb up, she wonders how on earth this is even possible...

sHCWu9Ft
jumpscare.

tl;dr |
- we r in clown city hi ya'll
- fuck these stairs fr!
- we climbin
- bonus ghoul locked n loaded for future use...