Young Writers Society

The location of this story doesn't matter. What does matter is this: once upon a time, there was a school in the middle of the most beautiful countryside. The wealthiest, most powerful students would flock to its halls at the start of every semester. They would study everything they could possibly think of - math, science, literature, languages and any other subject that could be taught.

But then the school fell into ruin.

The atmosphere shifted. Less students started trickling in every year. In less than a decade, the school went from being a second home to a place that everyone avoided. When the school opened its door for the last time, it had barely enough students to fit a class.

You've arrived long after that. You don't know how you've gotten to this abandoned building, or even what this abandoned building is. You just know you need to get to wherever you were before.

And your best shot at getting there is with the support of the other people who have been brought to this forgotten place.

1. Please include a description of your character in your first post - you can throw it into a spoiler using the code down below and put it at the top of your post.

Code: Select all

[spoiler]Put your description here![/spoiler]

2. Feel free to pick characters from whatever you want. They can be from another roleplay, a storybook, a novel or even a fanfiction of yours. The world, time and plot they're from ultimately just impacts how they interact with this roleplay, so it's really up to you.

3. You can have as many characters as you want, but there'll come a point where you can no longer add new ones because it would alter the plot too much. I'll make sure to say something when that happens, so don't worry about it for now.

4. Please don't write for anyone else's characters. It's hard to predict what someone else might have their characters do, and it takes away some of the fun for the other writers.

5. You're free to have your character guess what the plot is, but don't make any plot-altering decisions with talking about with me first. You can PM me or chat in the spoilers of our posts if you have an idea - I love scheming! I just want to make sure your schemes can be incorporated into what I'm already scheming.

(I also have a discord server for roleplay scheming! If you don't use discord or don't want to join, don't worry about it. But if you want to join in on the shenanigans, here's the invite link.)

6. Don't post multiple times in a row, and make sure everyone has a chance to get a response in. There's going to be times where it makes more sense to post back-and-forth between two people, but try avoiding it unless you absolutely have to - it prevents the other writers from getting too behind and feeling like they aren't involved with the story.

7. Have fun!

When he woke up, he was laying on an unfamiliar, dusty floor. The air was heavy with the smell of rot and mold - if he wasn't already wearing his helmet, he would have covered his somewhat existent nose with his arm.

Raptor pushed himself up with a groan and a cough.

He wasn't sure who he was supposed to blame - both Dresden and Bartimaeus seemed like likely culprits. So, instead, Raptor relented to just glaring at an inconspicuous, graffiti-covered spot on the wall in front of him.

He tried not to think about the splash of red that looked almost too realistic to just be paint or redstone dust.

And then he heard the giggle.

Said giggle was coming from somewhere deeper in the building. A nervous feeling settling in his chest, Raptor got to his feet. His bag bounced against the side of his armor as he went to walk out of the room he was in - bouncing a little harder when he walked right into the low-hanging doorway.

After a second, more successful attempt, Raptor was out in the hallway. A few series of windows lined the walls, looking down onto a weed-infested lawn that seemed to stretch on for miles. There might have been a road there, once, but even that was overgrown.

"Bartimaeus?" Raptor called out. There was another giggle - just a little closer than the last one. "Dresden? Whatever this is supposed to be, it's not funny."

There was no response.

Just another series of giggles.

Raptor looked around the hallway, glad for once that he couldn't gulp.

This seemed like something straight out of a horror movie.

As if to confirm his worst suspicions, the sun began to set over the distant horizon outside - rays of twilight filtering in through the broken windows.

"Mmm." Julia groaned, rolling over in the bed of leaves. Something had gotten at her back, given her a feeling as if someone had stabbed her. Slowly, she opened her eyes. "What the heck?"

She bolted upright. "Mum, this isn't funny!" she exclaimed hysterically. She was peacefully sleeping on the couch after she had pranked her mother - Anthea - with a rubber spider. When she realized after a couple of minutes that she was nothing close to her mother, she started getting frantic.

Julia got up, and brushed her rear end, to get rid of dirt. "Hello?" she called out as her eyes grazed the horizon. Oh! A building! She squinted, and saw movement from one of the windows. It may have been her eyes playing tricks on her, or the sun's reflection, but she didn't care. Might as well get shelter.

She raced into the building, and when she did, she regreted it instantly. She heard giggling. Giggling. The sun started setting and Julia ran right down the hall. It started looking somewhat like a school. Huh. Then, she turned a corner, and ran right into a man. A very intimidating one, mind you.

Briar awoke at a desk, her head in her folded arms. Immediately, she sat up, her eyes taking a frustratingly long time to adust well enough to take in her surroundings. She'd never been here specifically before, but it was clear the place had been a classroom much like some of those in a few of the private schools she'd attended. The desks, which were now scattered with the majority of them being shoved against the wall of windows that no-doubt didn't open anymore, if they ever had at all, were likely once in neat rows facing the chalkboard. Now, the only desk that was even sort of where it should be was the one in which Briar sat.

She got up and picked her backpack off the floor in one fluid motion, heading for the doors. She'd been kidnapped before, of course - for real and for training - but this wasn't like the other times. No one there to watch her, no lock on the door - as she discovered when she made her way easily into the hall - and no other security as far as she could tell. Her backpack wasn't even missing anything judging by the weight. That had to be the strangest part.

Bang!

She stopped in her tracks.

Bangbangbang!

It sounded like someone pounding on a door or hollow wall. Most likely the former considering the construction quality of this place. It wouldn't be an easy place to break through a wall.

She moved further down the hall in the direction of the sound and began to distinguish muffled yells for help mixed in with the banging.

Reaching the source of the sound, she stopped. It was a well-constructed door that barely shook under the blows of whoever was inside. The lack of windows into what was almost definitely another classroom prevented her from being able to tell who was inside. She tried the knob, guessing it to be locked. As usual, she wasn't proven wrong.

The banging stopped, though, when the one trapped inside seemed to notice that they'd gained the attention of someone outside.

The voice, which she could now tell was deep enough to be male and vaguely familiar, yelled something she couldn't quite distinguish through the thick oak door.

That was inconvenient.

Slipping her lockpicking set out of her pocket, she knelt down before the door and examined the lock, then carefully selected her picks.

A few minutes later, the lock clicked open and she put her lockpicks away. She tried the handle again. This time, it turned and the door opened to reveal the one who had been making the racket.

And she realized why the voice was familiar.

Jackson blushed, rubbing the back of his neck, "So it was just, uh, jammed then?"

Seeing no reason to tell him otherwise, she left his assumption as it was, "Do you know where we are, Jackson?" she asked, her tone as flat and lifeless as usual.

He blinked a moment, "Oh, I, uh, I thought maybe you could tell me?"

She turned away at that, listening as his clumsy footsteps followed her nearly inaudible ones down the hall.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

She didn't answer him.

"Have you, uh, been here before?"

"No."

There was a long pause, during which Jackson managed to fall into step beside her. He fiddled with the strap of his satchel uncomfortably.

"So, um, have you made any progress on the project for Mr. Hettley's class?"

She glanced at him, "No."

"Oh."

More silence.

They turned a corner and there was a sound like giggling. The voice of a small child.

When Briar looked at Jackson again, he was frozen, looking like a frightened deer about to bolt for cover.

Her expressionless face only changed slightly when the edges of her lips curved down in a small frown. "It's only a child."

He jumped when she spoke. The tips of his ears went bright red. "Right," he said, "Just a kid."

Briar kept walking. Maybe the child could explain what was going on, or lead her to someone who could. Jackson was walking a couple of feet behind her now.

To say June was scared would be an understatement. The last thing she remembered was walking home from the park, she let her mind wander, knowing her feet knew the way. However, apparently they had betrayed her this time.

She was standing inside a large, seemingly abandoned school, in front of the admission's office. She gulped and looked around. June had never heard of an abandoned building within walking distance of the park nearest her home, let alone a school. She didn't know how to get home and she had left her phone in her bedroom, so she couldn't text anyone or use a GPS.

June decided it was a good idea to explore, maybe she could find someone and ask them for help. So she began walking through the abandoned halls and searching the empty classrooms, finding nothing more than discarded pencils and other similar utensils, which she gratefully stored in her bag.

She whipped around rather fast when she heard the sound of a clash behind her, finding a desk turned over that hadn't been previously. She stepped back out the door, then turned and ran down the hall back towards where she had entered.



Reggie is startled awake by Mykel quite suddenly sitting up beside him, and he whines softly. Rolling over quite dramatically, he figures out that he is, 1, not in his bed, and that 2, there is a rather sharp rock between his shoulder blades.

He begrudgingly opens his eyes, looking around, processing the fact that they were in what appears to be a college lecture hall. Reggie let out an audible groan.

"What kind of stupid spell did you deem a good idea to try this time!" He shouted, mostly at the wall, since he had now sat up to rub the sharp pain out of his back where the rock had stabbed him.

"You think this is my fault?" Mykel questioned him irritably, though he usually sounded that way.

"Whos else would it be?" Reggie said, scoffing at the dismal of his former question, even though it had more been a statement. Mykel glared at him from underneath his greasy bed hair. "You should've taken a shower before you went to bed." He wanted to change the subject.

"You're the one who wouldn't let me, wanting cuddles and all that bull," It was Reggie's turn to glare. Mykel sighed, admitting defeat. "Fine. You're right. I should've showered." Reggie would've felt smug about his victory if it weren't for the young girl they both saw running past the open door.

Someone had bumped into him.

The armor made it difficult to feel. For a moment, Raptor didn't even notice the girl who had gone barrelling into him. He was too focused on the dying daylight and ominous giggles. Then the feeling finally clicked, and it took all of Raptor's will not to scoot back in surprise.

The giggle had to have come from someone younger. It wasn't the giggle of a teenager; it was a giggle of a little girl. A creepy little girl.

And, besides. Raptor was a magician. He couldn't let him get freaked out about seemingly normal girls, right?

"Hi," he managed to get out. A second later, he cleared his nonexistent throat and offered a more dignified, louder response. "Hello."


Mary was a little scared.

The building was big and strange. It reminded a little of the attic in her house - it was really old. That's what Sabrina had said, anyways. Sabrina knew everything. So if Sabrina said this building was old like the attic, then it was old like the attic.

Sabrina also said she shouldn't worry. She'd protect her from all of the evil ghosts and demons. She had said it very bravely, too, with the same kind of tone Jack used when he promised to fight the monsters under her bed.

And Sabrina was telling her funny jokes, too, so it was getting hard to actually feel scared.

"Knock knock," Sabrina said.

"Who's there?" Mary asked.

"Banana."

Mary frowned. She was so busy trying to guess the joke that the room she was in - filled with broken desks and red on the walls - didn't even really come to her attention. "Banana who?"

"Knock knock," Sabrina said.

"You never told me the ending of the last joke!" Mary pointed out, pouting.

"Just wait," Sabrina promised.

Mary didn't really get why she had to wait, but she'd go along with it. "Who's there?"

"Banana."

"...Banana who?"

"Knock knock."

Mary crossed her arms. "You're being really mean," she informed her best friend. "I just want to know the joke!"

When Sabrina didn't say anything, Mary realized she'd still have to go along with it.

"Who's there?"

"Orange."

Mary's frown deepened. That wasn't what Sabrina had said last time. "Orange who?"

"Orange-n't you glad I didn't say banana?"

She blinked.

And then she giggled even harder than she had at the last joke. That was really, really funny! It was the kind of joke Kody would tell her. Maybe she could surprise him with it.

Mary didn't know it, but her giggling echoed through the halls outside of the classroom.

Briar turned another corner to see an odd sight. A man in armor and a little girl, likely the one who had been giggling earlier, facing each other. As she'd rounded the corner, she heard the man say hello.

She considered the idea that her mind had been tampered with. There were a few things in her collection that could make her see knights in armor and young girls. And Jackson, she supposed.

The boy behind her stepped out as if on cue and gave the knight an awkward wave, "Uh, hi," he said. His voice was tremoring. "Do you, um, know where we are?" He was blushing again.

Briar said nothing. He'd asked the most prominent question. Real or not, the answer he gave would give her some insight on the situation.

Two more people appeared in the hallway.

"Hello," Raptor said. He didn't wave. Waving felt wrong when he was this big, and he had never been a fan of it before everything. "I don't know, either. I'm assuming you just woke up here, too?"

Maybe this wasn't a prank on Bartimaeus and/or Dresden's parts. Neither one had any reason to mess with the people present. Which meant that giggling couldn't be from one of them...

The little pinpricks of light in his helmet grew smaller in horror.

Two things quickly followed. The first thing was him noticing the girl with the emotionless expression - while her companion was nervous, she didn't seem even remotely disturbed by the situation.

And the second was the loudest giggle yet.

Raptor turned to the source.


Mary's giggles were cut short by Sabrina suddenly shushing her.

"We're not alone," Sabrina whispered. She sounded a little scared, but that couldn't be right! Sabrina was never scared.

"That's good, then," Mary decided. She shifted so she was sitting more comfortably on the floor. "They can help me find Mommy and Daddy! And maybe Kody and Jack."

Sabrina went stiff in her arms. "We need to go, Mary. Stranger danger."

Mary frowned, but she did as requested.

She got to her feet, brushed off the front of her very pretty sundress she had been wearing to the family picnic, and started to head for the door. Then she realized that people were near the door, so she turned and looked for another place to go.

"Right there," Sabrina said. "I think that door leads out into another hallway."

Mary gave a little nod. She held Sabrina close as she went over to the door, leaving a trail of bare little footprints in the dust. Then she went down the very big and creaky staircase with Sabrina in tow.

When she finally reached the next floor, she burst out and made a beeline for the first room she saw. Sabrina didn't tell her to, but she knew her best friend approved.

But there were other people in the room, standing near another doorway.

"Sabrina, I think made a mistake," Mary whispered. "There's people here."

Julia suddenly felt overwhelmed. This wasn't right. Something was off and she knew it. A fit young woman, a nerdy young man, a huge dude in a costume, a little girl... This was too weird.

She tried speaking, but her voice was stuck in her throat. She pinched herself on the arm to make sure none of this was real, but she winced in pain.

Unforunate.

When no one spoke, she decided she would. This really was not the way she wanted to spend her time on the first day (night, actually) of summer vacation. She gulped. It was now or never. It really wasn't but she forced herself to croak out a few words anyway: "Where are we?" Julia said in her soft voice.

Raptor look around the hallways again. The giggling had gone silent. He couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing - he had never been a big fan of horror, and had barely watched any movies.

Trying to shake off his fear, he turned to the girl who had spoken.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I know I was in the Black Dragon Inn in Swangrir last, but there isn't a building like this near there. We could be in some other region of Minecraftia, but I don't know them that well."

He didn't, in fact, know them at all. But these people didn't seem like players trapped as their skins, so he suspected he was dealing with the people who actually lived there.

There were two clear options. First, her theory from before was correct and at least some of this was just a hallucination. Second, this man was insane.

Jackson shifted uncomfortably beside her - or, he appeared to, it was still unclear if he was actually there - and fiddled with a strap of his bag. "I...Sorry, I don't know what any of that means?" It sounded a great deal like a question. Briar had no idea what he expected to get for an answer, though.

She continued to say nothing, though. It would become clear soon enough which of her theories were true.

June's tennis shoes padded against the floor as she ran towards the entrance, and she was breathing hard and fast. She was no doubt even paler than usual and she had felt her notepad fall when she was running but was too scared to stop and pick it up. She ran into the main entrance area and stopped in her tracks, seeing several people of varying levels of intimidating. She stepped back and fell on her behind, letting out a gasp at the pain that shot up her back at the impact.

She felt weak and helpless, and she hated it.



Reggie gently reached out a hand to the young girl that had run in the doorway, smiling the kindest smile he could muster. It really looked more like a grimace, but it was clear he was trying to seem welcoming. Mykel looked at him with a cocked eyebrow as the redhead spoke.

"H-hi," He started, attempting to sound soft. "What's your name? Mines Reggie," He glanced behind him. "and this is Mykel." At the mention of his name, Mykel smiled, much easier then Reggie, offering up a small wave. He went to the wall nearby and picked up his backpack which had somehow been transported with him. He didn't have much in it, just a notebook, a couple of granola bars, and some skittles, but it was nice none-the-less. He dug through it and offered one of the small packets of candy to the girl, trying to show that he wasn't scary or mean.

He stared.

"...You don't know what I'm talking about?" Raptor slowly asked. He looked between the boy and his companion, hoping that something on their faces would reveal the truth. But the boy just looked awkward, and the girl just looked as emotionless as some of his classmates.

He looked them over again.

"Wait," he said, "are you from Earth?"

He glanced back at the windows and stared at the night sky beyond.

"...Am I on Earth again?" he whispered - thought the last question was more for him than anyone else.


Mary scooted back from the two.

They both seemed like nice people, but she was pretty sure nice people were the ones she was supposed to avoid. That's what the others said - they always wanted to make sure she was nice and safe. But her other friends weren't here right now, and she just had Sabrina to help her make the right decision.

"Sabrina," Mary whispered, "what am I supposed to do?"

Sabrina was silent for a moment.

"Don't get too close to them, okay?" she said. "We don't know who they are."

Mary gave a little nod and held her doll closer to her chest.

"Sabrina says I'm supposed to stay away from you," Mary informed the two, taking a step back. "I don't know you."

"Don't be afraid," Sabrina comforted her. "The others aren't here right now, but I am. And we'd never let anything happen to our princess."

Mary gave a little nod again.

Briar's slight frown returned, and her head tilted. If this were the effect of any common hallucinogenic powerful enough to be this complete, she'd either be feeling other effects by now or they would be wearing off. The chances that someone had managed to create something capable of a sustained, vivid effect like this while also removing any sense of euphoria or loss of inhibitions were slim.

Perhaps she could start work on such a thing when she was returned home. Though, that might be complicated. This didn't seem to be a kidnapping, and if it was, it wasn't a very good one.

"This is Earth," she confirmed.

Jackson looked almost surprised when she spoke, "Aren't you, you know, freaked out or something?" he said, voice still tremoring. "I mean, we just woke up in this-" he shook his head, "this freaky place, that's probably, you know, haunted or something, and we don't who brought us here or what or anything. How are you so calm?!"

She looked him up and down. "I'm not." It was a simple lie, hopefully enough to stop the pointless questions. She turned her attention back to the group at large, specifically, the man in armor, who she had concluded was some manner of insane. The question was whether or not he was dangerous, either to the others or himself. The bigger questions could wait a minute more, the mental status of one member of what she decided was the closest thing to a team she was getting could not.

"Why are you dressed in armor?" she asked.