Young Writers Society

When you awake, you are not where remember being last. Maybe you are in an abandoned house, or maybe you are in the forest that surrounds it. Wherever you are, you know it is not where you originally were. You are meant to be somewhere else - miles, realities or even times away from this place. It quickly becomes evident that you are not the only one here. There are others; each wonders why they were brought here. Was it do it to an irresponsible, clumsy being of magical proportions? Was it a vengeful monster? An irritating god, or maybe even multiple ones?

You will not find your answers in the forest. You must enter the building, and search it for clues. But even then your journey is not over. For this house is merely one landmark of many on the ley lines that circle this world, and ley lines do have the nasty habit of whisking off those who have become ingrained in their systems to random locations.

When Diane awoke, she was laying on the unfamiliar rotting steps of an equally unfamiliar rotting house. Her head pounded - she vaguely remembered being chucked into a wall by the poltergeist - and her limbs ached. She pushed herself up and took in the scenery around her. A forest? That was odd. She had been in the middle of the suburbs, though most of the people in said suburbs were attending a town fair. She massaged her forehead in a poor attempt to banish the headache. When it failed to achieve anything, she unsteadily got to her feet.

"Lucy?" she called out.

A moment later, she saw a messy head of auburn hair pop up from one of the bushes near the steps. "Di?" Lucy asked, sounding just as groggy and sore as Diane felt. It didn't matter that she wasn't normal anymore. A beating from a poltergeist - or anything, for that matter - was going to leave a very painful mark.

Her best friend looked around for a moment, staring up at the house Diane was standing on the steps of.

"Toto," Lucy slowly said, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

"I was kind of guessing that," Diane replied, failing to hold back the smile that graced her lips when Lucy hopped out of the bush and joined her on the steps. It was cliche and she had been making that joke ever since they arrived in the Kansas town, but it was hard not to smile.

"Excuse me?" Wielde said, making his way around a pale and withered tree. "Could anyone do tell me where I am?"

He frowned as the forest swallowed up his words. It was strange - there wasn't supposed to be a forest here. Wielde swore he'd been wandering around a well-kept garden, not this aged and weathered mess. The fountains had vanished, as had the flowers, the trimmed hedges, the umbrellas and gazebos, and the watchful eyes of his bishops. Well, at least the bishops were gone.

Still, he didn't like this aesthetic. The trees loomed over him, as though his voice wasn't the only thing they wanted to eat. Between that and the grass that reached up to his ankles, he almost screamed as his cape caught against one tree's roots. A couple quick tugs led to him holding the torn fabric in his hands. He sighed, shook his head, and walked forward. This place was getting to him; he hadn't to find somewhere less eerie.

Fortunately enough, he walked around another tree and spotted a house. Unfortunately enough, it wasn't any more pleasant. The boarded up windows, charred walls, and ruined facade screamed abandoned. Yet the trees seemed to grow bigger and greener around it, and he swore he could hear people talking on the other side of the house.

Taking a deep breath, Wielde walked up to the back entrance, wincing as the steps below him creaked and threatened to fall apart. Safely on the porch, he knocked on the door. "Hello?" he said. "Is there anyone here?"

Lucy straightened and listened as she heard someone approach from the other side of the house. Her senses had been heightened ever since the incident; it was easy to pick up on what was being said. A glance over at Diane showed that she had heard someone talking, too, but it was impossible to tell the difference between normal human senses and hers after being like this for so long.

She grabbed onto Diane's hand and quickly led her around the house. Diane followed, seeming to study Lucy's face from the brief glimpses Lucy caught while glancing back in her direction.

They came to a stop on the other side of the decrepit, abandoned house.

First things first: he was dressed up like he was some form of royalty. It reminded her vaguely of the pirate costume she had gotten so used to wearing after she got back, although the detail here was incredible. If Lucy hadn't known any better, she would have thought it was the real deal.

Second things: the crown and scepter were made of some sort of metal. It looked authentic, whatever it was - it definitely wasn't plastic. Now she had to figure out if it was iron or something else. She hoped it was the something else. Or, at the very least, she hoped he refrained from whacking her with it.

"Hello," Lucy said, giving a wide wave.

"Hi," Diane said, giving a somewhat smaller and more awkward wave. "I know this might sound a little strange, but did you suddenly end up here, too?"

Wielde waved back. His bishops would be furious at him for making such a commoner's gesture, but he thought it was more appropriate.

"Not strange at all - I did!" he said, looking at the others. The taller lady scared him ever so slightly, with those muscles and the way she held that expression. It was the expression of someone who was very in-tune with their surroundings. Not something to underestimate. "Do either of you ladies know if there is an exit in the area?"

"Low-key it's probably a God's fault. I blame Kartwheel."
Another lady, wearing what appeared to be a plain jeans and a blue hoodie walked out from behind a tree, yawning. Her hair was long, black and wild. Her eyes, once she opened them, were a vivid blue, sparkling as she looked around at everyone with a welcoming, laid-back gaze. And she was kind of a 10/10, if you know what i mean

"Nice to meet y'all, my name's Raiden."

Lucy and Diane both spun around when they heard someone else approach, but then simultaneously relaxed when they realized the newcomer wasn't a major threat. "We don't know," Diane admitted, briefly turning back to the man dressed in royal attire. "We just woke up, and neither one of us has been here before. At least, I don't think we have..."

She sent an imploring glance in Lucy's direction.

"Nope!" Lucy replied, popping the "p". "This is my first time here, too."

They both turned back to Raiden and gave her waves.

"I'm Lucy Mauseth," Lucy introduced herself. She easily slung her arm around Diane's shoulder. "This is Diane Hunter - she's my best friend."

Diane winced. "Lucy, that's where I got thrown into the wall," she quietly said, hesitantly pulling away from her best friend's grip. Lucy quickly removed her hands - it was so easy to forget how fragile Diane's body was in comparison to this one.

Casey's consciousness came into focus at the sound of voices. His eyes blinked open after a few moments of indecision, and he stretched his aching muscles slowly. Almost immediately, his head smacked into some rotting planks above him.

"Ow, dammit, what's that doing..." he trailed off, and got a good look at his surroundings.

He was crammed haphazardly behind some shrubbery, under the unkempt trimmings of a porch of some sort. With difficulty, he pulled himself up into a standing position and struggled to climb out of the bushes.

After climbing onto the porch above him, destroying some of the railing as he did so, he was able to address the people gathered.


"I suppose we're all in the same boat here, then." He offered a friendly smile, and his hair settled on a dark navy color. "You'll have to do introductions again, sorry- I wasn't paying attention. I'm Oslowe- er, rather, Casey Oslowe. Anything along those lines is fine."

He offered a hand to the person he stood closest to- the one with a cape and a crown. Off-handedly, he wondered if the get-up was a costume or if this was just a fantastical character in another strange dream of his. He figured that he shouldn't worry too much about it. There were much more pressing matters to solve than wardrobe choices.

"Raiden," the lady in the blue hoodie spoke.
"I feel like I know you from somewhere though," she said, tilting her head.

Faoilteach scrambled up and took in her surroundings. She was standing on an old porch in front of an old house. There were others around. She quickly checked herself over. She still had her knives and her bag, which she put over her head. She looked at her fingers. Her Emerald and Sapphire ring was still on her finger, and her circlet remained on her head.
"How in the hell did I get here?" She wondered.

As more people began to emerge from the woods, or seem to spontaneously appear from hidden areas on the abandoned house's back porch, Diane grew increasingly more confused. This was nothing like what she had experienced in the past. Though there had been the occasional incident where she was brought to one place to another, there was always a moment where she could remember being rendered unconscious. That hadn't been the case here.

Also, one newcomer had pointed ears.

"Lucy," she hissed, raising a hand and subtly pointing it in said newcomer's direction. She didn’t think she was involved in bringing them here, but she was something not human - not much was clear.

Wielde hesitated. The number of strangers (literally) coming out of the woodwork was troubling, and Casey's hand was coated in dirt. Still, he didn't have much else to lose, and he liked the freedom of doing whatever he wanted, so he shook Casey's hand. "Wielde," he said. "The King of Wyandanch. Or, I used to be."

Casey nodded slowly at this information and shook Wielde's hand a few times before dropping it.

"Huh. Well, you don't meet a former king every day." He commented lightly. "How did that happen?"

With another thought, he looked past Wielde to study the woman who had spoken, Raiden. He frowned and tilted his head slightly, his hair growing a subtle shade lighter.

"I've never seen you before, sorry. I would have known if I had." He murmured, unintentionally commenting on her appearance in the process.