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Dream of the Stars



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Fri Jan 02, 2015 5:47 pm
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SpiritedWolfe says...



Dreaming is a natural part of life. They come bundled in the package with sleep, which is sort of required to function properly. Some people can convince themselves that they never dream, but it's more a matter of whether they want to remember them or not. Some people even say that dreams are your mind's way of letting you know that something is wrong and action needs to be taken. Well, then what's wrong with yours?

THE STORY

Ever since you could remember, you always had lucid dreams and they were easy to remember the next morning. It would only take seconds for you to realize it's all in your head and start conjuring up radical scenes to act out, more adventures to partake it or explore the edges of your imagination. But it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt.

As of late, those fantastic lucid dreams are mere fragments of the past and with each passing day, it becomes more difficult for you to conjure up your thoughts like you used to. It all leads up to a series of three dreams that change your life.

- First: You know you're dreaming, but you've lost all control. It's a tougher dream, where you fight to survive, and when you wake up, you're still bruised and sore all over.

- Second: It's much more peaceful, visiting a mystic land, though its completely barren.

- Third: Through the entire thing, you never realize it's a dream, but you go through a life threatening situation, earning many cuts and wounds. You also seem to have a guide, leading you through the trials. You wake up in the middle of the night after you are killed in the dream, blood coating your skin.

After that ordeal, that same day, you are sent a letter, congratulating you being accepted to a program at a high school across the country for people with 'special talents'. Your parents are completely on board, ready to ship you off. Though, you don't recall ever signing up for such a program.

WHO'S IN?

Spots:
Head Professor ~ Prof. Merkel (NPC)
Current Member 1 ~ Joseph Patel (Wolfare1)
Current Member 2 ~ Eliezer Aleshire (Craz)
Current Member 3 ~ Icarus Alzora (KatyaElefant)
Current Member 4 ~ Ame Cannvaugh (Flite)
New Member 1 ~ Avarielle Black (Cookieyahoo)
New Member 2 ~ Zyra Coleman (Noelle)
New Member 3 ~ Lenox Fox (jayflames1)
New Member 4 ~ Vassa Herculies (pretzelsing)

Template - Please remove parenthesis when making your character:
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[b]Name:[/b]

[b]Gender:[/b]

[b]Age/Grade:[/b] (13-19/Grades are 9th - Freshman, 10th - Sophomore, 11th - Junior, and 12th - Senior, they should correspond with age)

[b]Description/Appearance:[/b] (Picture advised, but not required. Please be detailed)

[b]Personality:[/b] (Include both strengths and weaknesses)

[b]History/Childhood:[/b]

[b]Interests/Preferred Activities:[/b]

[b]Others:[/b]


(Please keep OOC in DT. Ask any questions there. Certain topics will be further explained at the start.)
Last edited by SpiritedWolfe on Mon Feb 16, 2015 2:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Thu Feb 05, 2015 5:02 am
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SpiritedWolfe says...



- Joseph Patel -
Late morning ~ Andrassy High


In an instant, I'm thrown into darkness again. Only this time, the panic subsides with a long sigh of relief. Adrenaline still pulses through my veins, but that'll fade as my racing heart slowly returns to normal. My eyes soon adjust to the dim lighting of my room, the only source very weak sunlight coming from under the black curtains.

It takes a moment for me to register the fact that the sun isn't strong enough to penetrate black curtains in the early morning. A quick glance at the beside clock tells me it's a little past eleven. Despite having slept two extra hours than usual, I'm still completely drained, that feeling accompanied with the grogginess of just waking up.

Eventually, a warm and sticky feeling registers on my right arm. Then comes the sharp pain of a sheet shoved in the large gash. Though it does well collecting the blood, I pry the sheet off the wound in order to reach it and survey the damage. But I don't have to run my hand against it to know it stretches from the shoulder blade all the way down to the elbow.

It only gets better when I realize that today everyone else flies back here for the school year. What a wonderful first impression of this program to all the newbies this year, assuring them they'll be safe with a giant slash down my arm. Sandra's going to kill me.

Maybe only a couple minutes after waking, urgency finally kicks my mind into gear. The dream may not have killed me this time, but if I just lay here, allowing quarts of blood to ooze through my fingers, there's a high possibility of passing out a returning to that hell. As I push myself out of bed, the room seems to start spinning around me, making it so much more difficult to get my footing and not collapse on the ground.

Finally, I'm able to kneel down and balance myself, so I can pull out the bottoms draw of the nightstand, which normally stores all kinds of first-aid items. Except yesterday I decided that restocking supplies wasn't a priority until after orientation. Then begins my long trek to the door.

After a couple of seconds of turning around in circles, I eventually find the correct way to the door, then fumbling with the knob to get it open. Once my attempt is successful, a wave of crisp air and bright light rushes to greet me, temporarily blinding me. Further down, I can hear the loud clacking of keys, which means Sandra's already up and hard at work.

The hall is a white tunnel which leads me across dimension, going from the edge of the bedrooms to research in only a matter of several doors. At the very end, the tunnel leads to yet another white room, but the stillness of the rest of the building is shattered here. Machines whirl, buttons flash, and other gadgets of research serve their purpose. In the middle of all the chaos sits Professor Merkel, as everyone else calls her, at the main controls, which is situated in front of a large window looking down upon a black room with a row of four tables, long enough to sleep on.

At my entrance, Sandra calmly greets me without even turning around. "It's about time you woke up, Joseph. I was starting to get worried you wouldn't."

"Yeah, yeah," I mutter. "Where are the bandages? I seem to have a little... problem."

With a short glance over her shoulder, she gestures to the counters at the far right of the room. "What happened this time?" She has a rather bored tone, barely making enough effort to question what happened. Obviously, she didn't actually look, since maybe the trail of blood I'm leaving may give her a slight hint.

“Ambush,” I respond. “Three attacked me at once, but I’m still here.”

Her head snaps around. “Wait- you what?”

“It was just an ambush,” I shrug. “Nothing I could do anything about.” Turning my wounded shoulder away, I rush over to the counters. Her glare burns into the back of my neck, almost enough to make me squirm.

“And I bet by an ambush, you mean one of the attackers was provoked and the other two ‘appeared out of nowhere’?”

“Well, that’s one way you can look at it…”

As I’m starting to fiddle around with a roll of bandages, Merkel barks at me, “Wait a second, you idiot. You’re not going to do any good with that on our own.”

Muttering swears under my breath, my grip tightens on my shoulder, and more pain flares up in my arm. Painful method, yes, but it seems to be effective in somewhat stopping the gushing blood.

"Any day now," I say, impatiently. "I'm not really looking to bleed to death this fine morning."

After grabbing a wet washcloth, she commands me to sit and leans me against the cabinet. With a disapproving shake of her head, she removes my hand and starts dabbing the cloth against my shoulder.

I grit my teeth to keep from wincing at another wave of pain. "Could you not make me feel like I'm being stabbed again?"

"Well, if you stopped squirming, I wouldn't have to work so hard to pin you down," she retorts. "Plus it seems pretty bad. You might even need stitches."

A shiver runs down my spine. There's nothing I've despised more than a tiny needle poking in and out of my skin. Large dagger cuts, I can handle, maybe even a bullet wound or two, but I draw the line at microscopic piercing tools.

"I'll take the option of bleeding to death, then."

"Stop whining, it has to be done. Maybe if you stopped being an idiot at moments I need you most, things like this won't happen to you."

"It wasn't that dumb of a move," I counter. "The assassin was alone and I had a short sword. I could've taken him too, if the other two didn't show up."

"Joseph, how many times do I have to beat into your head that they are never alone. Ever. And plus, weapons conjured up in the dream aren't really successful against them either. Usually, they proceed to turn the damage against you."

With a loud huff, I bite back a yelp of pain as she presses a but too hard. "Could you please be more gentle. I'm not a brick."

The scowl on her face deepens. "Take this as a punishment, then. I'm really dissapointed in you, Joseph. You're supposed to be representing DCI, and getting a big scar on your shoulder isn't showing how much safer it is and how well the training works. Well, if you listen to it."

"Yeah, well, we're never safe," I spit. "Those damn dreams always follow us and we could get attacked wherever we go. So, I am representing the program. Yeah, I screwed up, but it'll be a lesson to them through me."

She lets out a long sigh, "I hope they don't instantly lose faith in this because of you. The research only works if everyone cooperates."

A long pause follows soon after, Sandra standing to replace the washcloth and retrieve a roll of bandages. My thoughts drift to all over, wondering what it'll be like to see the old faces again, but with some of them missing, due to graduated seniors, and then meet all the new fresh meat. After she begins to doctor me enough, I realize suffering in silence only makes it worse.

Finally, I break the tension. "Alright then, what were you working on when I first walked in? Research is always on hold in the summer."

"Ah, I was waiting for you to ask that," she smiles, slyly. "It's a this year's mentoring list. Everyone turns out to get a partner, this year."

"Mentoring? You mean you're going to let me teach someone again after what happened?"

"Well, of course. Having lots of experience, I'm sure you can fix your previous errors and turn out on top. Besides, the other senior members will have their own trainees to deal with."

"And how in the world are you going to know which pairs will work and which will crash and burn?"

"Well, I've been able to retract some data and patterns from each person, specifically the dreams and past experiences, and then shoved people together from there. I know you're with a shy girl called Vassa. She's also where I got the idea, since I know her sister is tagging along. But you have to go easy on her, since she's a little fragile."

"Obviously, I'm going to just try even harder to break her, won't I? She won't survive being 'fragile'. Oh, and I wonder, who got stuck with Eli?"

She chuckles. "I thought you'd ask that, too. Well, it took a while of deciding, going back and forth between these two girls, but I finally decided on Averi."

"Who...?"

"If I had to explain every one of them, this would take all day. Let's just leave it at names, saying Zyra's with Ame and Icarus with Lenox."

"Okay... So how are you planning on introducing these pairs?"

"Well, as a part of the first test, everyone goes into the dream, and the first person you encounter is your partner. Interesting way to make it reassure that each one is perfect match over an arbitrary partner."

So many other question run through my mind. Even the simulated dreams are still under the control of the dreamers, there's no way she could change it to meet up with someone assigned. Then it must only be a prediction. Even so, how can she have such confidence?

I open my mouth to press for more answers, but instantly snap my mouth shut as Sandra presses the cloth against my wound, stretching it all the way around the top of the shoulder muscle. The cloth seems damp, and more than just water since it actually stings the raw flesh surround the cut. Pressure is soon placed on the wound when Merkel begins to wrap my arm in bandages.

A couple minutes later, which seems to be agonizing hours to me, and she rubs her hands together. "It's a temporary fix, but it will work for today."

With a roll of my eyes, I mutter, "Gee, thanks. I always wanted a balloon arm."

~*~

Several hours later, and I stand awaiting the arrival of the four newest recruits, surrounded by the other three members and Professor Merkel. The other three trickled in within the past hour, not saying too much. I can imagine how thrilled they must be to go from a two month break with minimal issues with the dream and coming back here to continue the daily training.

Icarus overall seemed more distant than usual, though she's never talkative anyways, probably drained from long trip. And Ame's never friendly in any conditions, though she seemed more tolerant of me today. Then there's Eli. First time I saw him today was about fifteen minutes ago, passing by in the hall. He didn't bother to hide his amusement in seeing a large red slash coming from under the makeshift bandaging. It's moments like that I wish I could see how easy it'd be to give him a black-eye.

An uneasy stillness drifts between the five of us, each of us lost in our own thoughts of the upcoming events of the year. The entrance room is a large, colored like shining black opal. On the floor, the tiles are laid out in checkers pattern, alternating from light gray to black. The ceiling arches up, with the center almost fifteen feet tall. Devoid of furniture, the room is just a gathering place, and it's emptiness causes even the slightest noise to echo.

Eventually, Merkel spins around and walks off, her heels clanking against the marble tile. All the others exchange confused glances, since usually she's present when first meeting the new group. But this time she decided to wait until after the first test.

Voices begin to drift into the entrance from from the hall and a group of footsteps chase away the silence. Genuine laughter rises into the air, almost lifting the somber mood. I've never realized how long it's been since anything so light hearted has been anywhere near this place. Usually, this lab isn't much of a place for 'enjoying yourself'.

Several faces pop around the corner, two being other scientists I recognize as those who work with Merkel, then the others must be the new recruits. At first, most gaze around the room in awe. One seems to notice us four just standing here. Shoving my hands into my pockets, I clear my throat.

"Welcome, all of you." I grin. "Your first adventure begins today." Their eyes all turn towards me, and I could bet all four of them immediately notice the bulging bandage on my shoulder.

"Seeing as all of you now know about that 'special talent' that each of us here possesses," I continue, "now that you've joined us, be ready to exploit that talent to your absolute limits.

"And I get, you're all in the dark about a lot of things. What's up with them? Why are we, of all people, stuck dealing with this shit? You probably deserve those answers, but that's all in due time. For now, there's a little test prepared, just to see what you know, what you can do, the basics."

Gesturing the group gathered before us to follow, I turn and set of gray, iron doors to the immediate left. The three returning members have yet to say anything, though I can imagine the pity for the new ones they all feel. Maybe their first test is still burned into their heads as fiercely as it is in mine.

Another hallway is exposed, designed in the same pattern as the entrance room, though much less extravagant in architectural build. The ceiling specifically is much lower and the walls close enough together that I could stretch my arms out and run my hands on both walls at the same time.

While leading them through the hall, I can hear nervous murmurs in the very back.

They have absolutely no idea what to expect.

At the very end, there's another set of iron doors, yet pitch black this time. If I hadn't traveled down this hall thousands of time, I might've slammed right into them. Pushing them open, I lead the herd into yet another black room, yet it has four white lights on the walls, two each on the front and back. In the very center is a row of four shiny tables, complete with two ominous machines between a pair of them.

I can almost hear their hearts drop. "It's fairly simple. You four will lay down here and fall asleep. The rest is up to your subconscious." Looking back at the group, I can see one blonde haired girl almost in tears. Guilt presses against my chest and I want to break, walk them through the process of the test, but I bite my tongue and allow the other scientists to explain the rest. How they'll have a strap around their wrist which will connect to the machines and proceed to 'artificial dream', as Merkel calls it.

The others continue through yet another set of black doors into a white room with the similar design of four steel tables, but now they're scattered around, since this is less of a presentation.

"Alright, so who's head are we going into?" Icarus says. First thing she's said since she first walked in an hour ago.

"If we're going with the same plan as last year, I think it's all of them," Ame replies. "Interesting method to test them in, seeing as it could easily clump any data collected."

I snicker, "Well, we don't want to keep them waiting too long, do we?"

~*~

The one advantage of being a returning member means I don't have to go through the process of 'gaining awareness', since this test isn't for me. My eyes open to find myself lying on my back in a large meadow, with grass tall enough to cover my head. Rolling to my feet, I push myself up. What surprises me is the lack of pain due to exerting my wounded arm. When I look at it, the bandage is still there, yet the actually wound is not. That has to be the best part about artificial dreams: any and all wounds are removed upon entry and don't affect the real body.

As I take a longer looks around, I see the grassland stretches in each direction for miles. Seems like I have some walking to do. But at least this terrain makes it easy to spot others.

Mere moments after I begin my wandering, I feel a tap on my shoulder. "Who are you?"

Spinning around, I notice that it's the blonde haired girl again. Didn't Sandra say her name was Vassa?

"Don't you remember me, Vassa?" I say, cheerily. "I'm Joseph. You invited me here for a picnic." Placing my hand behind my back, I will a tiny basket with a blanket popping out into it. Then I present it to her, watching her eyes light up.

Though she stares right at me, there's a cloudy or faraway look to them, like she thinks one thing, but her mind tells her another. Unsurprisingly, she's been drawn into the dream, still unaware of the unusual scenario. But I'm not supposed to make it any easier, since Merkel specifically said to allow them to come to on their own.

"Well then, Vassa," I smile, warmly, "let's go see if we can find our other friends." She nods absent-mindedly and allows me to take her hand, almost drifting after me like she were in a dream.
Last edited by SpiritedWolfe on Mon Feb 16, 2015 1:15 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Wed Feb 11, 2015 9:23 pm
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Pretzelstick says...



-Vassa Herculies-

Early Afternoon-in a dream

Joseph was tugging on my hand and pulling me into a nature-green meadow, surrounded by tall grasses on one side and woods on the other side. I stared down at my feet. Barefoot. My legs were flying as we sprinted along, at a faster pace then I would like to have. I glanced over at Joseph to see what he was doing.He intensely looked deep in thought and I noticed that he was running behind me, not in front of me.
"Where are we going?" I asked him,hopefully loud enough that he could understand me, against the background of the chirping chickadees.
He looked back my way with a knowing,secretive look and a twinkle in his eyes.Silence filled the air .He wasn't going to tell me.
"He should be the one leading me, because right now I have no idea where I am going. This seems like an unending trail and I am traveling to an unknown destination with a stranger. Even though Joseph won't tell me where I am going, I am so curious, but I will try hard not to let curiosity get the best of me.I will just follow Joseph and we will surely end up at the surprise ending.

Now setting all of my thoughts away, I just concentrated on what I was seeing in front of me, everything was so live and green.The scent of summer tickled my nostrils. Like drops of golden sunlight, the pale buttercups danced in the brisk breeze.Gusts of dandelion dust were flying everywhere, to the beat of the wind.Lush,natural green trees were a big blur in front of my very own eyes. I could hear the soft buzzing of the bees,wasps, and other insects as they diligently worked at collecting pollen and nectar from the untouched buttercups.
It was lovely, just a lovely sight for my eyes to gaze at and take in.The clouds looked like a picture in a storybook, puffy white, and just perfect.My head was tilted up and I wasn't concentrating on the ground below my feet.
"Aaahhh!" I fell down on the hard ground with a loud thump. Joseph's legs were tangled in mine, and then I realized that he tripped accidentally...or what is accidentally? Maybe he was just trying to test me, see how tough I am. I quickly jumped back up and immediately looked down and was greeted by the sight of thousands of tiny caterpillars. I.I was very careful not to step on them because I knew that they would transform into delicate butterflies in the future.
I will show him,how tough I am, and how tough I can be.
The sound of galloping hooves startled me and in front of me, were these two impending horses that bumped into me and almost knocked me down.Gazing up at them, I chose a horse that was the color of midnight black, and had glossy hair and a wild mane. Brushing off the dirt from my pants, I carefully but quickly saddled Blackie and took hold of the reigns. The wind blew my hair and cooled me down from the summer temperature.The horse's body was in rhythm, one leg forward,next leg forward... Finally and swiftly we got to to the end of the clearing and I unsaddled the horse. Joseph put out his hand, and I took it,following him to the adventure of my life...wherever that would lead me.
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Wed Feb 25, 2015 12:11 am
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Noelle says...



-Zrya Coleman-
Afternoon - Andrassy High

The first impression I get of the school is a short boy with a rather large shoulder. There are sets of bandages wrapped around it many times making it look a lot larger than should really be possible. Hope he doesn't topple over first step he takes.

He's surrounded by his posse, three other kids who all look the same age. I could really care less about them. The kid with the shoulder tumor is the one talking. Seems like the leader to me.

"Seeing as all of you now know about that 'special talent' that each of us here possesses," he says. "Now that you've joined us, be ready to exploit that talent to your absolute limits."

I blink. Did I hear him right? To your absolute limit. I don't like the sound of that. This school is supposed to help me learn to control my ability. I don't think I'm ready to do anything crazy with it yet. Especially not after that last dream I had. My side still hurts from time to time, probably more out of paranoia than actually still being injured.

No one gives me a chance to argue my case. We set off right away. We're being led down a hallway that seems to go on forever. I look around, expecting to see other kids running about or a couple making out in the corner like at my old school, but there's no one. It's just us. What kind of fun is this?

The boy with the shoulder tumor, I think someone said his name is Joseph, pushes the wall in front of him out of the way. No, I realize now that there are actually doors there. They are hidden very well. The room we walk into is illuminated.

My eyes immediately train on the two machines in the middle of the room. I don't like the look of them. The more I stare at them, the more I realize that I have no idea what they are, or what they could possibly be. Ha, that fits right in with how this day is going so far.

Am I having doubts? Second guesses? This is what I wanted, a place where I could escape my parents and be on my own. I wanted to be somewhere that could help me figure out why my dreams are so crazy. Yet now that I'm here, I'm not all too fond of being here. They're forcing us to take a test already. There aren't even pencils and paper, just two creepy machines.

Oh yeah, I'm living the dream.

"It's fairly simple," shoulder tumor boy explains. "You four will lay down here and fall asleep. The rest is up to your subconscious."

Great, more dreams. There's no way that I'm going to sleep and not dream and since I'm already nervous it'll probably be a nightmare. This is going to be terrible. I'm going to fail, I know it.

I notice everyone lying down, settling into any comfortable position they can get into. My heart races. "What are we doing?"

"You should've been paying attention," snaps one of the girls. I don't know her name, but it'll be hard for me to forget that purple streak in her hair. "Just lay down. They'll give you your strap soon."

"My strap?" I ask. Soon someone is touching my wrist. I yank it out of their grasp, eyes wide. They're not sticking anything on me.

"Just do it," the girl says lazily, as if she's annoyed by me. I consider arguing with her, but I don't have the energy right now. I hadn't noticed it before, but I am rather tired. So much so that I give up and let the strap be secured around my wrist.

I pick a spot far away from everyone. No part of me wants to be around anyone right now. I just hope that I can do well in this test and have some time to myself.

* * *


When I open my eyes I immediately sit up. I'm not anywhere I recognize. There are trees and a giant meadow and more bugs than I'd ever want to be around. The gnats are converging on me already. I desperately swat them away, not wanting the annoying creatures around me any longer, but of course, they won't go away. I don't like this place, whatever it is.

I want to sit and wonder what's going on, but I have this nagging feeling that I need to be doing something. My eyes graze the area around me, but I don't see anything. Not until I look back, that is. A girl is standing directly above me. I'm so startled that I stumble backward on my hands and feet. I don't make it far, running into a tree. My head hits first and then the rest of my body. The pain doesn't really register.

"Who are you?" I demand. She's a bit scary looking, although I'm sure anywhere else she wouldn't be. Anywhere else. Where had that come from? Her blue eyes seem to bore into me, almost expectantly.

"Does it matter?"

"It might."

She shrugs. "I'm Ame. Hopefully you'l remember me soon."

"Remember you?" I think I liked it more when she wasn't talking. Now I'm more confused than I was before.

"Yes, you should remember me. If not now, you will later. Come on," she says, motioning for me to follow her. "We should get moving." I watch her walk away, not sure if I should follow. Something isn't right and I don't want to do anything until I figure it out.

When I don't find a good reason to stay, I get up and follow Ame. Maybe she'll lead me to the answer.
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Craz says...



|Eliezer Aleshire|


Eli slumped in his chair, scowling.

"Alright, so who's head are we going into?" Icarus said.

Eli's left brow twitched.

"If we're going with the same plan as last year, I think it's all of them," Ame replies. "Interesting method to test them in, seeing as it could easily clump any data collected."

His lips tightened in disapproval.

Joseph snickered. "Well, we don't want to keep them waiting too long, do we?"

Eli almost sneered, but he was in the back, in the dark, and there was no one to see him to. There was no point in complaining if he was not going to be heard. The arrival of the newcomers had him in a sour mood, and he knew himself well enough to avoid speaking. At least, until he was out of this god-forbidden Cage. The Cage took the satisfaction out of everything.

Let's not keep them waiting, he mocked. Let us procrastinate the inevitability of the ruining of their lives.

~*****~


He inhaled.

He exhaled.

The feeling of pine needles against the back of his arms pricked his attention. He turned his head to look down at his arm, and the same sensation itched at the back of his neck. His pale eyelashes caught the light glittering through the trees, as did his flashing eyes. They were not narrowed in scorn, as they usually were, but were indifferent and curious, like a sleepy child. His hair was the flame of some otherworldly creature, like a son born of autumn and righteousness, something perfectly in tune and perfectly striking against the forest. He appeared as if a different character for a moment, for one spare moment, before his body resumed the possession of his harsh, shivering soul. His forehead regained its slight perpetual scowl, and his cheekbones resumed their sharp angry look. The spell was broken.

He sat up, dead leaves and pine needles raining from where they had plastered to his back. He was wearing what he was really, physically wearing: a medium sized black trench coat with thick buttons and an oversized collar, deep blue jeans, and a red plaid scarf. It was all the tribal wear of the Eliezer that lived in the Big City, the one who knew every corner of his own speck of New York and that knew who he was and what he was going to do the next day. The Eliezer in California perspired softly in the ever present heat.

Even in dream simulations, it's still too fucking hot.

He finally stood, dusting off the forest debris, and surveyed his surroundings acutely. He assumed he had to find one of the newcomers in this expanse of a world. His lip curled in distaste, a bit from the act itself but more from being reminded of the system he was forced to wander in - hoping that it would save him, hoping that it would save him from himself.

He yearned for a cigarette. He invented one. It didn't help as much as he wanted it to.

He trudged through the forest, brambles shrinking away from him. He was told to not mess with the dream simulation in any major way, or to overly influence it, so as to let the newcomers find everything out themselves. He understood the importance of the test, but he was not one for tediousness or nice words. Whoever he was to run into, he was going to test in his own way.

His teeth flashed as he bit into the bud of his cigarette. It bent unsatisfactorily, and he let it fall from his lips. It sank into the ground, dead plant things mutely devouring it until it was well below the surface. He continued to walk, a newer and whiter one, already lit, whisking in between his fingers. He took a drag.

Eli finally paused just before a clearing, watching as an unfamiliar girl stood from lying on the ground. She looked about her without the tack that is accustomed of those who do not know what they're in; the neutral stare of the dreamer. Eli sighed, but quietly. He let a puff of smoke careen into the sky as he thought.

There was a violent gust of wind against his back, and his cigarette nearly tumbled from his fingers. He scowled, looking towards the sky with a withering look. Don't rush me, you damn scientist. He put the cigarette back to his lips and surveyed the younger girl coolly. She seemed confused, if not a little bit bored. He took a decided step forward.

She didn't notice him as his boots crunched in the leaves, or as his coat flapped from another gust. Nor did she notice as he stopped behind her, or as his eyes criticized her lightly. Eli's brow knitted together in an exasperated expression. Finally, he cleared his throat rather loudly.

She swiveled around, tumbling a bit from the sudden movement. Another gust of wind sent her ridiculously long hair flying into her face, and Eli waited with the same irritated expression as she spat the hairs out of her mouth. She stared at him, and for a moment he saw a clarity in her eyes, but it was fleeting. Her expression resumed the airlessness of the dreamer once she had denounced him as a threat.

She chuckled humorlessly, looking at him sideways. His expression still did not change. "Weren't you one of those kids with that really tan guy? Huh. I guess stress does that to a person."

She talked as if she didn't expect an answer, turning away to survey the surrounding trees once again. Eli remained in the same spot, his hands in his pocket, his cigarette off his lips. Finally, she turned back around with a slightly disgusted look. "Put that cancer stick out. It's gross."

He didn't. When she realized this, she turned back to him, repeating what she said. He still didn't comply.

"I said-"

"I know what you said."

She, finally, did shut up. "Ah, so the dream animation can talk?" He mimicked in an inflated voice. "I didn't expect this. I wonder what else it can do. If I give it a cracker will it do a trick for me?"

Eli was aware that he was being terribly and unreasonably cynical. Her expression reflected as much. He shrugged, sighing out a breath of smoke. He liked reason. Unreasonable things would be something that Josie would do, not him. This train of thought sat unpleasantly with him. He changed tactics.

With a sigh of the wind's breath the weeds swayed, folding over one another in the particular pattern that would only seem natural in any other sense, besides the fact that Eli knew that nothing about this was natural. When the wind wisked away to brush against some other dreamers, a small picnic setup on the ground awaited the two. Merkel was always watching.

The girl was in the middle of a particularly scathing remark. Eli wasn't listening, and spread himself across the checkered tablecloth, stretching his long legs before him and propping himself up with his arm. With his other hand, he plucked the cigarette from his mouth and rested it in the grass. It smoldered, but didn't catch.

She stopped babbling for a moment to look down at him incredulously. He raised his eyebrows at her. She scoffed.

"Are you serious right now?"

"Am I?" He replied.

She fumed for a moment. Eli tipped his head back and played shapes into the clouds. She didn't notice. She finally did sit down, huffing as she did so and pulling her knees to her chest. She watched him warily.

"I'm imagining things." She stated.

"Are you?" He replied.

"Yes." She stated.

"What, then, are you so cleverly imagining?"

There was a pause. Then, "You. You aren't real. You're some sick part of my brain that just took the first face it could find."

Eli laughed. He couldn't deny that he liked the idea that he was 'some sick part' of someone's brain. It almost felt like a compliment to his ego.

"Clever girl."

"Don't call me girl."

"What should I call you, then?"

"My name's Avari. You should already know that."

"Should I?"

"Stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

"Answering questions with a question."

"No." He could see that Avari had already happily signed the petition of People Who Hated Eliezer Grant Aleshire. Eli was its best spokesperson.

"So, these dreams you've been having." This was the part that he hated the most. Memories insulted him, memories of things that were supposed to be his own. Fragile things that belonged solely to him. Things that were now in a filing cabinet somewhere, somewhere that he would need permission to see. "Tell me about them."

Surprisingly, she did. Avari must have still thought that he was some part of her consciousness, not a living, breathing creature. He didn't like this. This was wrong. He was becoming them, part of them, assisting them to pry open another victim's head-

The direction of the wind changed. He smelt the implication on the wind. His face shifted, became a different kind of harshness. Avari paused, noticing the change in his features. The wind became cold, the weeds thrashing against the corners of the tablecloth that they sought shelter on. Eli stood, stepping away from her.

He put the cigarette back to his mouth. It had kept its freshness even as it had rested in the dirt, and it let out a stem of white smoke that streaked away in the wind. He looked down on her, still sitting, with a cold indifference.

"Wha-" She started, beginning to stand, and then she fell back down and screamed.

The weeds grew, thickened, sprouted thorns and thistles. They overtook her rather quickly, wrapping around her limbs and pulling her down. She thrashed, her eyes wild. The picnic was no longer there, only shreds of the cheery fabric clinging to the brambles' spikes. Eli looked down upon her, his other arm crossed to prop up the hand that held his cigarette.

"Do something!" She screamed. He could not. He was not allowed to. Instead, he took a drag of his cigarette until a sizable amount of smoke filled his lungs, something only a seasoned smoker could handle. He made the wind still enough around him to not disturb the cloud of white that billowed out of his mouth. It elevated towards the sky, twirling softly, and the outline of a large bird formed. It was wispy, only taking form within the smoke, and it flew softly around in circles, the movement of a predator. A second, much smaller bird formed, fluttering beneath it. In a sudden movement the larger bird shot downwards, its talons raised, and as the two collided the puff of smoke blew away in the wind.

"Make the weeds go away," he said, his voice somehow carrying through the howling wind. "What is what is not, and what is not is what you think is. Everything is in you're head."

Avari stared at him. The weeds had paused, as if to let him speak, but now they resumed to drag her into the ground. The dirt parted at her feet. She screamed.

"Control them," he said forcefully. "Think that you want them to stop."

She desparately tried to do as he said, but her mind was scattered, her thoughts strangled by panic and her body acting out in hysteria. She continued to struggle, and she continued to sink lower.

"Stop freaking out. Just calm down-"

"How am I supposed to calm down?"

Irritation flashed across his face. "Do you want my help or are you just going to bitch?"

"Help me!" The dirt was rising to her chin, and the weeds tangled greedily above her.

"Then think that you want them to stop!" he yelled.

Dirt sprinkled over the crown of her head, and she could no longer hear the wind. She opened her mouth to scream, but instead dirt filled her mouth and tumbled down her throat. She could not breathe. Spots danced across her already black vision. Pain flashed across her body, her lungs burned, and-

She awoke with a gasp, her fingers tangled desperately in the hospital bed sheets that were crumpled in a miserable disarray beneath her.
"we'll fasten it with some safety pins and tape and a dream, and you're good to go, honey."





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Cookieyahoo says...



The cool metal of the table faded away as she continued her ever slowing, and deepening breathing.

Gentle sunlight rained down from far above, peeking between the green branches. The heady scent of pine, and sap seeped into her skin, leaving a creeping sensation. Nothing like the room she had just been in. Was she… no, that couldn't be. But it was the only probable solution seeing that teleportation didn't exist. She was dreaming.
The ground was hard, and beneath her back, and prickly needles dug into her spine. Despite how friendly, and friendly the scenery was, it was alien, and foreign, thereby a threat.

She was lying in a clearing, only a few meters in a diameter, leading to massive pine trees that trailed as far as she could see in any direction. If she tried to wander she would easily get lost in the unfamiliar territory. Lucky for her, she could see faint, yet distinct trails. So, that gave her two choices, follow the trails, or wait there and risk someone, possibly a hostile someone, to find her.

She preferred the first option.

Avari quickly get to her as the faint scent of cigar smoke touched her nose. She recognized the scent in a heartbeat. Her father smoked all the time.
The person finally paused at the edge of the clearing; she could feel his calculating gaze on his back. She didn’t have to look at them for the person to set her on edge. Avari continued to look about her with a slightly dazed expression, praying the person would go away.

A gust of wind whistled in her ears, the force dying as it hit her, almost as if it wasn’t supposed to at all.

Avari fought the urge to turn as their boots crunched in the leaves, or as his coat flapped from another gust. The urge became stronger when they stopped behind her. Finally, they cleared their throat rather loudly.

Avari slowly turned around, an eyebrow raised. Another gust of wind sent her ridiculously long hair flying into her face, and the boy waited with the same irritated expression as she spat the hairs out of her mouth. She stared at him, trying to remember his face. Recognition hit her. He was one of the people from earlier. But she didn’t look at them long enough to tell what they were wearing much less what their distinctive features were.

This guy was a red head. Although, red wasn’t the right description, and calling it orange didn’t either. It reminded her of living fire. He was wearing what he was ealier: a medium sized black trench coat with thick buttons and an oversized collar, deep blue jeans, and a red plaid scarf.

She chuckled humorlessly, looking at him sideways. His expression still did not change. "Weren't you one of those kids with that really tan guy? Huh. I guess stress does that to a person." Stress didn’t do that to a person, she was just delaying the inevitable. He was here to hurt her; there was not a doubt in her mind about that. Others would come too, but they usually came after the first blow.

She didn’t really expect an answer, so she turned to survey the trees once more, looking for the others that often haunted her dreams. He remained in the same spot, his hands in his pocket, his cigarette off his lips. Finally, she turned back around with a slightly disgusted look. "Put that cancer stick out. It's a disgusting habit."
He didn't. When she realized this, she turned back to him, repeating what she said. He still didn't comply.

"I said-"

"I know what you said."

She, finally, did shut up. "Ah, so the dream animation can talk?" He mimicked in an inflated voice. "I didn't expect this. I wonder what else it can do. If I give it a cracker will it do a trick for me?"
He was seemingly aware that he was being terribly and unreasonably cynical. Her expression should have reflected as such. He shrugged, sighing out a breath of smoke.
In truth, she was surprised. The people in her dreams didn’t usually talk, instead they just stared at her. Something was different about this dream, she just didn’t know what yet.

With a sigh of the wind's breath the weeds swayed, folding over one another in the particular pattern that would only seem natural in any other sense, but Avari had spent enough time studying grass in the wind to know the difference. This was artificial, made up, now the question was how, and why. The wind whisked away to bother someone else, a small picnic took its place, splayed across the ground in a neat, friendly manner. Something was definitely off about this place. Her internal instincts were begging her to turn tail, and flee, warning her off a coming danger. A familiar wariness settled upon her, her heart hardening. You couldn’t trust anyone, she learned that long ago.

The boy wasn't listening to her particularly scathing remark, and watched as he spread himself across the checkered tablecloth, stretching his long legs before him and propping himself up with his arm. With his other hand, he plucked the cigarette from his mouth and rested it in the grass. It smoldered, but didn't catch.

She stared down at him incredulously. He raised his eyebrows at her. Avari scoffed. He was insufferable.

"Are you being serious right now?" How was he not wary of this place? She trusted her instincts, and they hadn’t failed her yet. How could he possible relax, or even think about it?
"Am I?" He replied.
Yep, this guy definitely infuriated her; everything about him set her on edge.
She silently fumed for a moment, spearing him with an especially fierce glare. He tipped his head back and watched the clouds. She, on the other hand, was too busy glaring at him to do much else. Avari finally did sit down, huffing as she did so and pulling her knees to her chest. She watched him warily.

"I'm imagining things." Avari hoped to high heavens that she was, this guy wasn’t going to hurt her, at least not yet. You could never be sure, people changed.

"Are you?" He replied.

"Yes." She stated. Definitely imagining things.

"What, then, are you so cleverly imagining?"

There was a pause. Then, "You. You aren't real. You're most likely another sick part of my brain that just took the first face it could find. Then again, considering all the weirdness that has been my life of late, you could be real. There's also considering the fact that I only glanced at you for a moment earlier, which is not nearly enough time to get such a seemingly accurate portrayal, hence adding evidence to the conclusion that you're real." He couldn’t be real, it was simply too good to be true, a person, a living, breathing person was holding a semi-conversation with her, and was actually acknowledging Avari’s presence.
The guy laughed, he actually laughed. He seemed to like being some “sick part” of her brain.

"Clever girl."

"Don't call me girl."

"What should I call you, then?"

"My name's Avari. But you should already know that."

"Should I?"

"Stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

"Answering questions with a question."

"No."
Avari would not be surprised if this guy had a hate club. He irked her, which he probably did to others. She wouldn’t join of course, he annoyed her yes, but Avari didn’t hate him, she couldn’t seem to hate anybody. She didn’t know him well enough to judge, or hate him either.

"So, these dreams you've been having." He seemed to loathe this particular part. The memories of her own briefly across her memories, her brain unwilling to linger on them for too long. "Tell me about them."

Surprisingly, she did. Avari must have gone mad, she shouldn’t be telling him anything much less something so personal, so instead she summarized, and downplayed the whole ordeal, not showing nearly how much damage the dream did to her self-esteem, and emotional well-being.

The direction of the wind changed, and her fight of flight instinct grew stronger. Avari paused, noticing the change in his features; they were now harder, colder. The wind became cold, the weeds thrashing against the corners of the tablecloth that they sought shelter on.

The guy stood up, stepping away from her. He put the cigarette back to his mouth. It had surprisingly kept its freshness even as it had rested in the dirt, and it let out a stem of white smoke that streaked away in the wind. Yep, this proved once and for all that she was definitely dreaming. He looked down on her, still sitting, with a cold indifference.

"Wha-" She started, beginning to stand, and then she fell back down with a startled scream.

The weeds had grown thickened, sprouted thorns and thistles. They overtook her rather quickly, wrapping around her limbs and pulling her down. She thrashed, her eyes wild. The picnic was no longer there, only shreds of the cheery fabric clinging to the brambles' spikes. The guy looked down at her with cold indifference, his other arm crossed to prop up the hand that held his cigarette.

"Do something!" She screamed. He didn’t even twitch a finger, figures. Instead, he took a drag of his cigarette. How typical, instead of him hurting her, the land would do it for him. The wind stilled enough around him to not disturb the cloud of white that billowed out of his mouth.

"Make the weeds go away," he ordered briskly, his voice somehow carrying through the howling wind. "What is what is not, and what is not is what you think is. Everything is in your head."

He’s right you know. Everything is in your head. Just like you, a silly little girl so far from home. That voice wasn’t either of hers, and filled her with dread.

“How?” she longed to snap, instead Avari stared at him, knowing full well he wouldn’t help her, confused at the sharp sting of betray, and hurt. The weeds had paused, as if to let him speak, but now they had resumed to drag her into the ground. The dirt parted at her feet. She bit her lip, trying to hold back another scream.

Who would bother helping you? You’re just a worthless little girl no one wants. You’re just a waste of space, worth about as much as dung, or gum stuck on the bottom of someone’s shoe.

"Control them," he gritted forcefully. "Think that you want them to stop."

She desperately tried to do as he said, but her mind was scattered, her thoughts strangled by panic and her body acting out in hysteria. She continued to struggle, and she continued to sink lower.

Just relax; it’ll all be over soon. The pain can all end; all you have to do is give up. What’s the point anyway? You’ve got nothing going on for you, no family, and no life. You have nothing, you are nothing.

"Stop freaking out. Just calm down-"

"How am I supposed to calm down?" Can he not hear the voices? She tried to relax, resisting her urges to fight. Fighting kept the voices away….

Irritation flashed across his face. "Do you want my help or are you just going to bitch?"

She’s the one bitching? He should record himself, listen to it, and then come back to her on that.

Him? Come back to you? Why in the world would anyone ever want to do that? You’re nothing more to him than another silly little pest, like always. Can’t you see he doesn't want to help; he wants you to give up. You’re not worth the time of day.

"Help me!" The dirt was rising to her chin, and the weeds tangled greedily above her. Please, just make the voices stop.

"Then think that you want them to stop!" he yelled.

Just let go. Some part of you wants to die, give in to that urge. No one wants you here anyway. Just give up already. JUST DIE!

It was too late for Avari to do much else, dirt sprinkled over the crown of her head, and she could no longer hear the wind. She opened her mouth to scream, but instead dirt filled her mouth and tumbled down her throat. She could not breathe. Spots danced across her already black vision. She instantly relaxed, giving in to the pain, maybe this could forever end her suffering. Pain flashed across her body, her lungs burned, and-

She awoke with a gasp, her fingers tangled desperately in the hospital bed sheets that were crumpled in a miserable disarray beneath her. Tears stained her cheeks as she let out a strangled sob; and hugged her knees to her chest, willing the empty worthless feeling in her chest. She had this inexplicable feeling that she had just failed something, and that something could mean life or death later on.





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Sat Mar 07, 2015 10:39 pm
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jayflames1 says...



Lenox Fox
Afternoon ~ Dream

It was sunny, bright, euphoric feeling day. I wore my mackinaw anyway. I just unbuttoned it. I was not wearing a life jacket (or Personal Flotation Device if you want their real name) as I paddled down the river because I thought, and still think, they are stupid. Also, at the time, there was no wind or otherwise worrying weather. I stood up in my canoe to watch for rocks as I paddled. I saw one and easily avoided it.

Soon, I see some weird in a strange skirt and hair to match, yelling at me. I incorrectly presume they are a hobo or something similar and don't acknowledge them. This turns out to be a bad idea, as they were trying to warn me of the rapids that I was about to go into. Going into rapids without knowing it is not safe, contrary to popular belief.

The canoe almost instantly hit a rock and the water, unaffected by my predicament, pushed the back of the canoe forward and broadsided it, pushing the canoe over, and me out of it into freezing cold water. Shocking me, further delaying my thoughts from what to do. Down the creek, without a paddle or life jacket. Somehow, against all odds, I somehow remained uninjured and grabbed hold of a rock and only then realize how lucky I am to be alive still and how I have no idea what to do next.

I decide my only option is to try to find other rocks to grab and try not to die. And somehow, I make it, nearly drowning, to the shore and the weird girl with a weird skirt who had been yelling at me. I flop down on the sand, exhausted.

The weird girl yells "Get up! We got to get out of here!" I, feeling deserving of a moments rest, don't move. The situation escalated quickly. A vine wrapped itself around my leg. Not panicking (because I wasn't putting much thought into the vine moving or growing in sand) I reach to grab my swiss army knife out of my pocket-of-many-items and another vine appears, this time wrapping around my neck. I reach to it instead of my knife (so i would not stab myself) and begin to panic.

Now, I know what to do in most situations. Except for a few, escaping from quicksand is something I can do, but this wasn't quicksand. This was vines wrapping around me as if pulling my into a cold, dark, cramped grave. More vines appear and pull me down into the wet sand where I suffocate... and then I wake up.
Stupid... Writing... mumblemumble... dramatic... stupid.... danget.





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AdmiralKat says...



~Icarus Alzora~
Afternoon ~ Dream

The warm, gritty sand dug into my face. As I strained to pull myself up, I took note of my surroundings. In front of me was a surreal, damp and calming forest. As I turned around, I took a glimpse at the river that rushed with rapid bulges of water. I took a second and laid my head on the sand as I drifted off into my thoughts.

I bolted up after my short lived daydream and looked up to see a freshman, the freshman that I was supposed to be taking care of, drifting off into rapids. He was wearing some sort of red plaid jacket instead of the life jacket that happened to be right next to him. Oh, great. Automatically, I knew that freshman was a fool.

As I ran to an area near the water, I waved my hands from side to side hoping to get his attention. I yelled to him to not go into the rapids and to put on his life jacket to save him from the rapids but he was too arrogant to listen. Instead, he rode right into the streams of driving water and the canoe flipped.

Well, there goes the person that I was supposed to look after, I thought to myself.

Against all odds, the foolhardy freshman, grabbed hold to a rock and made it to shore. I didn't know if I felt relief or anguish that he had survived. I knew that Joseph would kill me if I let a rookie die so easily but then again, I would have gotten some extra time to daydream.

I sighed and turned around to the coughing boy who had just seemingly drowned in the rapids. I raised my head and gasped at the sudden change in the forest. The forest had changed from a tranquil and peaceful are to a crowded metropolis of vines that were growing rapidly in our direction.

"Get up," I yelled to the stunned boy. "We got to get out of here!" It was no use, he was too weary and weak to move. As I turned away from the scene of the vines suffocating the poor, screaming boy, I closed my eyes and run towards to tree that had fallen across the river. Quickly, I balanced my swaying arms and put one foot in front of the other to get to the aloof meadows that were yet to be invaded by the vines.

Turning around one last time, I looked at what once was the shore and what was now consumed by great masses of vines. The shrieks of the boy had dissolved into a peaceful stillness of the river rushing down the valley.

After ages of running, I noticed two flashing figures out of the corner of my eye. I slowed down and turned to see that it was Ame and her designated noobie. I promptly checked my surroundings and saw that there was not a single stalk of vine in sight. Assuming it was safe for the time being, I stopped in my tracks.

As I caught my breath, I noticed that two more figures had suddenly ran up to the group. One of which, I instantly recognized as Joseph and his wannabe rookie. When I saw my old friend, I sighed in relief and dropped down to lay on the lush, green grass.

As I was making myself at home on the grass, the others were pacing around not knowing what or how to do anything about the vine problem. A coarse voice calling my name caused me to rise up suddenly.

"Icarus," Joseph barked. "Where is Lenox? You were supposed to take care of him!"

"Uhhh," I stammered, trying to craft some sort of excuse for the felony that I committed. "It wasn't my fault! I mean he practically jumped into those vines himself!"

"Uh huh," muttered Joseph in his agitated voice. "I am sure that is what happened. You can tell me all about it.." His voice was interrupted by a rumbling in the background. Massive columns of vines erupted from all sides. In return, the pathetic rookies shrieked out in surprise.

Enormous vines surrounded us with a massive swish. Two atrocious cries rang out and then all was silent. A stillness spread through out vine infested meadow and then all went black.

Darkness. Darkness surrounded me as a warm but yet cold blanket. Was I dead? No. I had gone through this too many times to count to know that I really wasn't dead. As I fell deeper and deeper into the darkness, I saw a sudden light in the midst of all of this blackness.

It was time to wake up.
Whale. Whale. Whale. What do we have here?
Some scurvy dog looking at my post, eh?





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SpiritedWolfe says...



- Joseph Patel -
Afternoon ~ Simulated Dreaming Room


I experienced a sort of déjà vu as I pulled out of the dream, going through the process of slowly watching the blur around me clear up. For once, I didn’t feel like I wanted to collapse again. Sure, this morning I’d woken in a panic, but these - what, fifteen minutes? - of being basically unconscious felt far more reinvigorating than the ten hours of sleep before. I take it that when I don’t have to worry about dying, my mind can refresh a lot easier.

As the others began to stir, I ripped the light, velcro strip from my wrist and sat up on the table. Even with the faint rustling of clothes from others regaining consciousness, the overall stillness and silence of the room, the building, feeds the fear constantly haunting me. What if the simulation failed? What if it wasn’t fake and everyone actually died?

My absurd fear was soon put to rest when the next person started moving around. Gah, but it was Eli. The one irrational half of me, driven by emotion, sometimes wished he wouldn’t wake up. Then the other half wouldn’t mind seeing him without an arm or something. Though, I kept my mouth shut for now.

Icarus was the next to rise, followed lastly by Ame. Strangely, seeing them wake up vaguely reminded me of watching the dead rise, like in those zombie movies. In a way, we were all just walking dead, waiting for the right dream to come and strike us down. Someone beating them was witchcraft in its own way. Even Sandra was baffled by how the ‘grads’ made it, since they were either too scarred or insane to share. But that was a thought for another time.

I pushed myself up and off the table, the gash on my arm rudely making its presence known when I put pressure on it. Damn, this is going to make first day training tougher than it needs to be. While I rubbed my arm for another moment, the other three soon rose to their feet, the silence only thickening. You would think after three months of being apart, there’d be plenty of stories to share, but Icarus hardly ever spoke on her own, Eli was just... Eli, and Ame was still fairly new.

Speaking of which, on her feet, Ame swayed slightly with one step and almost lost her footing even there. Normally, I wouldn’t take much notice, because it’s not easy to suddenly get thrown into the action again, but this was different. This time, she wasn’t getting tested or pushed, even if it may take a couple of days to get back into the routine.

I motioned towards her, but her response to my silent offer for help is a steely glare. Each passing second of silence continued to layer the walls building between all of us. I had never wanted more than now the time when someone will finally break the ice a slightly less awkward atmosphere will creep in. Until then, I decided to enter the SDR, assuming the others would join me eventually.

In the other room, the four dimmed lamps which struggled to illuminate the room before were much brighter now, also capturing the shocked expressions on each of the new recruits’ faces. Most mumbled to one another, perhaps only ‘half there’ in their responses as they wrap their heads around what they just went through. The memory of my own first test claws at my mind and begs to resurface now. Then there was one other girl appeared to have recovered more than the rest, either from the fact that she somehow expected it or hit the luckiest of the draw and died first.

Compared to the relative stillness of the room, the metal door opening and closing sounded like someone struck one of the walls with a mallet twice. The faint whispers ceased in an instant and all eyes fell upon me again. Sandra couldn’t get here soon enough, could she? Even the other scientists from before had vanished. Thus, she left me the task of explaining what that all was.

I gave a wide smile in an attempt to seem more sympathetic than I was feeling. “Great that everyone’s made it through the first test alive.”

My harmless joke probably didn’t get across, tipped off by the looks of horror spreading through some of their faces. Right. They don’t know about the simulation yet. They also don’t know about how dying in actual dreams work.

While I gave that pitiful attempt to lighten the mood, the door clanged open and closed once more. Eli emerged, followed by Icarus. Incoming obnoxious.

“Yes, because Merkel would just let her precious test subjects be picked off so soon.” The sarcasm further poisoned his words as they struck. This wasn't the kind of ice breaking I was hoping for.

"There's at least one of us here I'm sure she'd gladly drop off a cliff," I said, struggling to keep my voice from shaking.

"Then record it as a point of data for a purpose going nowhere. I feel so honored."

"Research takes time-"

"And as time ticks on, more and more prisoners die. Surely even you could've connected the three deaths last year?"

"Hey!" Icarus snapped. Nothing else had to be said, because Icarus speaking ever was surprising on her own. Then her other methods of peacekeeping usually didn't involve yelling, so two shocks rolled into one. Then, she gave me an unnerving stare with her large, pale eyes. Great job, Joseph. Now the newbs are all curious, concerned or scared out of their minds.

A woman clears her throat. "Now then, having settled that..." Of course Sandra was there to see that. I turn around to see her glaring at me through her glasses perched on the edge of her nose. Strike three, and she's going to kill me.

"... Ame," she continued, "while you've been awful quiet today, why don't you and Eli take our new commers around the first floor and meet us in the common room upstairs."

With all that going on, I hadn't noticed Ame even enter the room, so I was a bit startled when Sandra addressed her. But she just nodded in response while Eli scowled at the thought of having to spend more time with them. It then took a couple minutes for all the rest to scramble to their feet and finally follow the two out the third door.

The moment the iron door swung shut with a boom, Sandra turns towards us and sighs. "What a tragic way to introduce these vulnerable souls."

"It was going fine until Eli came up and started-"

"I don't care who started it!" she roared, a fire burning in her eyes. "They're supposed to feel safe here and trust what we're doing. That can't happen if they think they'll die the next day. And you're better than this, Joseph."

As she began to pace back and forth, her heels clicked against the tile and echoed around the empty room. "You two are my seniors," she continued. "You're the role models, like it or not. And you both need to step up to the position."

I turned towards Icarus, but her gaze had drifted away and I wondered if she even heard what Sandra was saying. Then there was Sandra, who was too furious to even look at us. It seems like today just keeps getting better and better.

After another moment, she stopped her pacing and shot one more angry glance. "Now, we should head upstairs to introduce everyone like normal human beings and get everyone situated. I'm sure it's not too much to ask to abstain from any more hostile behavior?"
[insert really cool and fun quote here]
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Craz says...



|Eliezer Aleshire|


Eli thrusted the heavy metal doors open so they banged against the walls, and, returning his hands to his deep wool pockets, strode forward into the entrance hall with a confident swagger customary of him. Ame slunk behind him, her hair shifting over her face. Behind her the doors threatened to slam into the bewildered crowd of newcomers, but two of them managed to catch the doors before it happened. Once Eli was assured that everyone that was to follow him was in the entrance hall, he stopped on his heel and swung around, his foot cocked outwards in a flippant manner. He waited as they shifted in front of their... tour guides. Fun.

Ame stood slightly behind him, peering through her unbrushed locks with the narrowed eyes of a wary house cat. Eli pondered upon the sensation that she looked exactly the same, in clothing and in posture, as she did when he returned to New York for the summer. Eli turned his attention to the shaken crowd before him.

His mouth opened as if to say something, but he was sourly interrupted.

"You were in my dream." The Purple-Striped-Hair-Girl piped up from his right. There was a fierce, accusatory look in her eyes. Eli turned to her with annoyance.

"Yes, Me, congratulations. Anything else?" He whipped back.

"How did that happen?" A scrawny guy, whose facial expression was stressed in an earnest look of perplexity and oblivion, said from the back. "How did you get in our dreams?"

They were like chickens. Farm chickens. He had a brief flashback when he had gone on a field trip to a chicken farm as a kid, somewhere in the middle of Satan's crack and south of Allentown. Deep in the accent of an illegible farmer's monologue about the evolution of the chicken farm, Eli and another kid (whom he had forgotten about until then) had shouted into the seemingly millions of ruffled white puffs of meat. They rippled as if they were all one unintelligent mass of feathered skin, and a deafening roar of harried clucks drowned out his teacher's reproach.

The newcomers were like farm chickens. Painfully stupid, quick to jump upon any simplified train of thought. Eli stood with one arm crossed, the other pinching the area between his eyebrows. His eyes were squeezed shut and his countenance was steadily flushing, rising to his surging temper. The group continued to chatter, oblivious to Eli, demanding answers.

"Hey, fuck all of you!" Eli snarled. The entrance hall shuddered with his anger, reverberating his words throughout the large cavernous room of soulless white and marble. The chickens had gone still. "Does it look like I give a damn about any of you and your little problems?"

"You're supposed to help us!" A girl shouted from his left.

"I'm not supposed to do anything. Those spineless bastards playing dress-up in lab coats are your last and only hope. No matter what you hear, no matter how thoroughly you convince your shit little head you're safe, you are on your own for the rest of your tormenting, miserable little life until you're dead. Maybe then you can rest in peace."

His pupils burned. Finally, he scoffed, his temper subsiding to a simmering sarcasm. Now he swept his arm down low, gesturing to the hall that led away from the simulation room.

"Welcome to the Andrassy High School's special program for mentally scarred outcasts. Now, let's begin our tour." He said, his smile all snide teeth and mirth.

He walked down a slightly larger hallway, fit for people to pass through on a regular basis. Ame followed shortly behind him, and after a few mumbles, the chickens did as well.

"The rec room is over there and the cafeteria is ahead of us," Eli said. "There's an elevator in there that leads to all of the floors, but we're not taking it. Those are the stairs, which we will be taking to join the others later."

They turned a corner. The building wasn't graciously large, about the size of a decently built office building, with an arid interior that mirrors one. It was suffocating to Eli, the white walls reminding him of bones, the polished marble reminding him of eyes scratched out of a pale animal's skull, eye sockets brimming and dripping with a blackness that has no reflection. He shifted, dipping his head further into his large collar.

"To your left is a room that has almost every documented piece of your identity ever written - which you need permission to enter to see. The Lab." His voice faked cheeriness. Ame walked by his side, quiet. Quieter than usual. Eli decided not to think much of it.

He waited impatiently as the guy within the newcomers attempted to peer inside the slit-like window on the door, which was, Eli knew, covered by thick black fabric. When he pulled back, confused, Eli perceived a question forming in his mind. He immediately continued with the tour.

"To your right is the library, just a regular one with books and shit, and straight ahead is another entrance to the Simulation Room, which all of you had already went through," he said. He watched with mixed feelings as they shuttered and shifted uneasily. "Now, turn back around. We're going up the stairs."

The stairs were the same lackluster office theme, and their feet echoed as they climbed. When they reached the second floor, Eli swung the door open again to achieve a similar effect of it smashing into the wall. Four figures jumped, appearing as if caught in the middle of a conversation they didn't want to be caught in. Eliezer's eyes narrowed, and his smile grew, becoming sharp. He held his arms out to his side, as if offering the people who filed in behind him as prizes of his effort. When his hands fell loudly to his side, his smile dropped in an instant, replaced by a brooding look.

Merkel looked warily, if not tinged with a little bit of guilt, at Eli, before smiling wide at the entering guinea chickens. The object for which he threw all of his frustration and anger upon cooing over the newcomers like a salivating serpent sent a wave of disgust through him, and his upper lip curled. Well, not she wasn't exactly the only object of hatred he had. There was always Joseph.

"Shame you didn't get cut a bit to the right. The basilic vein would be a hard one to stitch, even for the all-knowing and all-powerful Josie boy."

"Stop calling me that," his lowered voice was strained, an attempt to keep his calm and not be heard by Merkel. Eli's lip twitched - it was never unsatisfying to see Joseph's calm military demeanor crack at the whip of his words.

"What was it this time? Parents, an old teacher, a lost friend -"

"I said shut up, before I..." The lobby had gone silent. Eli, smiling to himself, enjoyed the growing glare on Merkel's face. Returning to this hell had made him more cynical than usual. New members had made him more cynical. The simulation had made him more cynical. He had been this way when he first came (maybe a bit more severe then) and when he had returned the previous year. It was almost an Eliezer tradition.

He didn't need to be asked. "I'm going to my room," he said, dismissing himself before Merkel can. He was grateful to be away from faces he knew wouldn't be all there when he graduated.
"we'll fasten it with some safety pins and tape and a dream, and you're good to go, honey."





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jayflames1 says...



I flipped up the card. "Danget!" I yelled. "Another stupid queen! Why do I even play this game." I got up and shoved the chair into the desk. The other guy wasn't in the room, he was outside smoking, so there was no one to talk to. I walked over to the couch and flopped down on it. And later went back to solitaire from being bored.

Behind me, the door banged open, making yet another mark (I had noticed plenty of them) in the unfortunate wall that bore the burden of being in the way of the doorknob. I turned, and Eli, in his impractical black coat and scarf, strode inside. His cheeks appeared flushed and clammy, no doubt from the Cali weather. Then he paused, as if noticing me for the first time.

I wasn't sure what to expect. Anger. Indignance. Cruelty. But instead, he regarded me with a resigned expression, the fieriness gone from his eyes. Then, he smiled, one side pulling up farther than the other.

"Fuck this fucking fuckery heat," he said, ripping off the buttons of his jacket and tossing it at his closet door, almost as if he expected it to quietly fold itself inside and out of sight. He readjusted his white v-neck, which must've been crumpled under the weight of layers, and I saw the flash of silver leathery skin on his back, almost like scars, before he fulled his shirt back down.

" Dont swear!" I demanded.

Eli paused, turning to him. His expression was blank. Then, he laughed, teeth flashing and eyes crinkling.

"You better get used to it, kid," he said. "because around, I don't know, early morning? I start swearing a lot."

"Well you had better get used to me saying not to swear, oh I dunno, pretty early in the morning." I responded, feeling smart.

Eli crooked an eyebrow, before turning to an impressively large but obviously cheap stereo sitting proudly on his nightstand. I heard the sound of cds clicking and clocking together. His back still turned to me, he said, "What's your name again, kid?"

"Its Lenox, What was your name again?" Said Lenox.

"Eli." He stooped and began fiddling with a mass of wires that seemed to scale all around the room, like an electrical jungle. Suddenly, a cracking sound came from the stereo, and quick paced rap music started pounding out of the speakers at full blast. I jumped, but Eli, even though his ear was practically to the speaker, didn't flinch. He continued to fiddle until his side of the room seemed to come alive, and on the wall a light-up beer sign sputtered a greasy halo on his bed.

Finally, he reached up and gave a large dial on the stereo a turn, and the rap music subsided dramatically. He stood and looked at him, his body still angled towards the nightstand. "Now, rules."

He stepped over some hidden obstacle and collapsed on his bed, his hands knitted behind his head. He regarded me some more, then turned to glare at the ceiling.

"Rule number one: that is your side, this is my side. Your side. My side. I don't go over there, and you don't ever go over here. If I'm screaming in the middle of the night, just ignore me."

"What if you have a knife stabbed through your face?" I said jokingly and semi-questionably.

Eli turned his head sharply to me. His expression was dead serious, a contrast to his languid posture. "One, you can't bring objects back from dreams. Two, get help. But otherwise, don't come over here.

"Anyways, number two-"

"What if i do cross? What happens?" I said, pushing my luck.

"I'll skin you like the sheep you are," he said, but his voice had turned lighter, like before I had mentioned the stabbed-in-the-face thing. I wasn't sure if it was a joke.

"What about objects that cross the line? The wall crosses it and the carpet does do." I was thinking of what I could do to bend the rules menacingly.

His expression turned incrudulous, tinged with annoyance. "Are you slow?"

"No, I'm Lenox" I interrupted.

"Look, kid, do this for me: think - would this be a good idea? Will I be touching any of Eli's things? Would I be skinned if I do that?" He paused, as if to let me muse on the answer.

"Rule number two. If you see an object on the doorknob outside, don't come in until it's gone."

"Why not? its my room too!"

A sly look crossed his face. "You like girls, Lenox?"

Confused, I said, "Well... not any specifically, but I'm not into guys if that's what you mean."

"I like girls, too. Don't open the door till it's gone."

"Oh." I stated simply. Followed by " What the heck man, what if i need to be in here or I accidentally walk in? What the heck!"

He shrugged. "Go to Merkel, Josie, one of the others. They probably got what you need. Otherwise, wait. You're not one of those guys that like to watch, right?"

Not knowing what to say and cursing my luck at having such a terrible roommate I put my head in my hands and sighed.

"Then there shouldn't be a problem." He looked satisfied that he had me flustered.
Stupid... Writing... mumblemumble... dramatic... stupid.... danget.








I have writer's block. I can't write. It is the will of the gods. Now, I must alphabetize my spice rack.
— Neil Gaiman