Nicole Hollis woke up with a throbbing head. She stood up to dust off her grey trenchcoat and tidy her blood-red hair, only to find she was in a burning building. She stood there, mortified, as she examined her surroundings. "Where is this!" she screamed as Nicole struggled to fight back the building panic inside her. "Hello! Is anyone there?". Oh my god! How the fuck did I end up here? she thought, panicking as she looked around the building. Nicole shivered as she heard the sounds of screams and beastly growls, while she remembered the sight of a burning building and the sound of a crying baby long ago in her youth.

The other characters start in this building.

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edited 23rd May '11 2:52:07 AM by DJMarred

Hot. It was so hot.

With a start, Elanor sat up, gasping at the smoke...it was so hot and she couldn't breathe, she couldn't see- she couldn't see! She pawed at where she knew her eyes were, trying to rub the darkness away, whatever was blocking her vision. There was nothing. She tried to scream, but her vocal chords felt strained, rapsy, as if she had a cold.

Why was it so hot? Why were there screams and howls...howls...she shivered as there was another. They were not human.

"Where is this?"

She froze. She had never heard that voice before; female. Panicking.

"Hello! Is anyone there?"

"Here!" she rasped, but it came out as a whisper. Not her voice as well! She tried to speak, trying harder and harder, slamming her fists into the ground until something gave way-

"HERE!!" she finally screamed, "PLEASE!! Don't leave!!"

edited 23rd May '11 2:31:16 AM by Aralyn

Nicole followed Elanor's voice over to her location. "Hold on! I'm coming!" she shouted as she ran over to the voice.

A demon hyena was prowling around Elanor, forming a circumference around her with its prowling. The hyena gave a high pitched, eerie moan as it examined its potential victim. Soon the other hyenas joined in, preparing to press the attack.

edited 23rd May '11 2:43:40 AM by DJMarred

"Hold on! I'm coming!"

The growls came closer, sinister purrs that made her freeze in fear again, shrinking back. She felt the wall behind her fingers, rough, unfamiliar. There was another growl. No, there were many. They were after her, and she couldn't even see them.

Nicole was running towards Elanor when a scorched rafter collapsed onto her shoulders. She struggled to throw off the rafter, before she rolled onto her knees. Nicole got up and kept running, all the while bringing an arm up to her face to shield her from the thick smoke.

Goodnight.

edited 23rd May '11 2:49:40 AM by DJMarred

The growls suddenly grew and a hand grabbed at her arm and she recoiled.

"Are you going to come with me or not?" the voice said impatiently, "I'll let you burn in this hell-hole if you like."

"No, please-"

With that, the voice pulled her onto her feet and, stumbling after her, they ran.

The building burned vigorously, a self-contained Hell. But to Aleister, it looked like he'd awoken to a world set ablaze. Bright flame singed away at his surroundings, screams echoing throughout the dying structure. Most of them were the wooden support beams. They couldn't hold much longer. He had to get out. Now.

"Shit... shit shit shit shit!" Aleister spat in a panic as sections of the floor above him came down around him. Arms held high above his head, he tried to jump over them and make a break for the staircase. He vaulted, springing on the ball of his foot, but was almost blasted back by the force of the heat. It was like a solid wall.

Gravity did the rest of the work for him and he tumbled down another level on the staircase. He bounced and crashed into the wall, where he lay shuddering. It hurt. It hurt all over.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

This voice... Mustering whatever pittance of strength remained, he cried out, "OVER HERE!"

Nicole arrived to find Elanor surrounded by demonic hyenas. "Are you going to come with me or not?" Nicole asked impatiently, "I'll let you burn in this hell-hole if you like."

"No, please-"

Nicole then dragged Elanor to her feet, and made for the door downstairs, when she heard a voice cry "Help! Over here!"

edited 23rd May '11 12:04:01 PM by DJMarred

Damien Rothgil was not pleased with himself. Obviously, he'd somehow been kidnapped, because there was no way he'd allow himself to have slept in while a building burned around him. He had to admit, whoever had lit the building ablaze had done a good job. He could hear the creaking of the steel mainframe as it heated up, "About an hour left till it collapses." he thought. He took a quick look around, spotting two women a small distance away. Running towards them, he froze as he heard a keening, laughing howl. Hyenas.

No, this was no time to panic. Deep breaths, he told himself. His eyes hardened. He would not let these two women end up like those girls in the Congo!

As he ran, he heard another voice, "OVER HERE!" " Hmm. Male, twenties. Sounds like he's in pain.". Taking a quick detour into the stairwell, he found his intuition correct. There was a young man, cradling his shoulder as he lay.

"Here, hold on a second" Damien assured the man. "Wait, wha-?" "Don't talk, save your strength. This is going to get rough a few times." He hefted the young man into a fireman's carry, quickly running back towards the two women.

edited 23rd May '11 12:19:07 PM by redcynic

Andre lay on the floor in pain, the burning heat was getting closer. He heard voices and some inhuman howls, he needed to get out quickly or else he would probably die in this burning Hell.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" He screamed to no one in particular, hoping someone would come to his aid.

Getting up as best he could, he walked to the door hoping someone would come.

Aleister almost screamed as the stranger helped him up. His breath came in short, hissing grunts.

"Christ. I think I dislocated my shoulder." He applied pressure with his other hand, pushing down. He writhed in pain, bucking and almost throwing them off balance.

"Yup. Definitely my shoulder."

Damien stumbled, thrown off balance by the man's writhing. The man hissed something "—shoulder", damien caught.

"Look, if it's your shoulder, then you can still walk, right?"

With that, Damien set the young man down.

"Look sir, something is seriously wrong here, and there's at least two other people in the same situation we're in. Name's Damien, that'll do for now. Don't use your bad arm unless absolutely necessary. Stick close, and you'll be OK. Anything you wanna say, say it now and make it quick. There's two women in serious trouble right now, and the longer you stand jabbering the less likely they stay alive."

edited 23rd May '11 5:05:59 PM by redcynic

Nicole and Elanor were escaping from the demonic hyenas when they came across Andre walking to the door. "We need to get out of here now! It won't be long until..."

Nicole stared into the eyes of a demon hyena, watching as it bent its knees, while it prepared to attack.

edited 23rd May '11 5:38:18 PM by DJMarred

Damien heard a scream, followed by a keening bark. "The girls! Damn it!" He desperately wished he could do something, his mind replacing the burning building with an african savanna, the girls screams being drowned out by the howling laughter of native rebels as they threw two teenaged girls into a pack of hyenas.

With great control, he forced himself back into reality. "No, that was the past. This is the present. I can still help these two!"

"Come on kid, talking can wait!"

With that, he ran, drawing his emergency .45 as he did. Turning the corner, he spotted the girls just as the hyena jumped. With speed born of adrenaline-fueled desperation he squeezed two shots off...

edited 23rd May '11 5:56:50 PM by redcynic

"Come on, kid, talking can wait!"

Elanor screamed as the two shots rang out, cringing behind the voice, who tsked in response, "Can we please just go..."

Another shot, "God- damn- die- already!!" more bangs, so close that her ears rang with the sound, "What are you waiting for, get the fuck out of here!"

"C'mon, kid, " another voice, accompanied by the scraping drawing of a sword, "This won't take long. Not with me around."

edited 23rd May '11 8:54:10 PM by Aralyn

Damien looked on in shock. He had emptied an entire clip into this hyena, and it still wasn't dead?

"What the fuck is going on here? Is that a sword? Who the fuck carries a sword in this day and age?"

"This won't take long, not with me around." The swordbearer said.

"Cocky little shit, ain't he? A whole damn clip of .45 rounds and he thinks he can kill it in melee? His funeral."

This derision was quickly replaced by shock as the man, no, boy, leapt at the hyena and quickly killed it. It's body fading away before everyone's eyes.

"That is officially the weirdest thing I've ever seen. An illusion? Does that mean...!!"

He checked his watch. Only 5 minutes till the building collapsed... But that was impossible! The mainframe would be soup, and the radiant heat from the rest of the building would've charred them all by now. "Which means the fire is an illusion. But I can still feel heat! What the fuck is going on?!"

"Oi, you, on the ground!" He barked, a bit more roughly than he wanted too. Glassy, unfocused eyes swung in his general direction.

"Damn, she's blind. Crap, we've got one girl about to go hyperventilate, a blind girl, a man with an injured shoulder, and Mr. Swordsman. Plus me. Going by the assumption the fire is an illusion and there's no danger of collapse, plus those hyenas seem to be backing off now that one's dead, whatever they really are...Time for an impromptu briefing."

"Listen up everybody! The fire seems to be some sort of optical trick. The building appears to be in no danger of collapsing. Is anyone hurt, and if so, how bad. There is another man who should be here shortly, he has an injured shoulder. Does anyone have any medical training!"

edited 23rd May '11 10:38:53 PM by redcynic

"I've had some basic first aid training, " said Nicole. "If you'll just give me a sling, and I'll take care of that arm."

Nicole walked over to examine the man's dislocated shoulder. "My name is Nicole. What's yours?"

redcynic and Aralyn, you had roleplayed another player's character.

woops, sorry. This is my first RP, so I'll be more careful from now on.

"Name's Damien, we can discuss more later. As for your request I'm not sure if there are any supplies around here, Ma'am. This isn't the most well-stocked place, as you can see. He mentioned it being dislocated, so maybe you can just pop it back in? We ain't got a lot of time, and he can always get it looked at later."

As he was saying this, Damien was making quick checks of all four directions. He couldn't see any immediate threat, but the heat would be a problem soon...

"Also, it would probably be for the better if we found somewhere that doesn't feel like the inside of a furnace. Illusion or not, this fire isn't getting any smaller. We'll all suffer heat stroke if we don't find somewhere cooler."

With this, he turned to the blind girl, tapping her to get her attention.

"Ma'am, are you going to need assistance? Would you prefer it if someone carried you? We might move faster if you do."

edited 23rd May '11 10:39:49 PM by redcynic

"You can't just "pop" an arm back in, " explained Nicole. "This man needs to see a doctor. If we can find one, that is. And I doubt this fire is an illusion, because I can feel the heat, and I'm weakened by it. I also don't trust those hyenas. They do not appear to be... natural. Just what would bring hyenas to a burning building like this? Why are they so dark and large? And why can't a bullet kill them?"

Nicole looked at her new found allies. "At any rate, we should get out of here. Regardless of if the fire is an illusion or not, those hyenas are real, and there might be more of them around. And I have a feeling something brought them here."

edited 23rd May '11 10:53:53 PM by DJMarred

"Well, I agree we should get out of here. There was a large door that I passed on my way to you, perhaps we should try that? I felt a breeze coming in from under it, so perhaps it leads outside. You four stay here. I'm going to go scope out what's behind that door."

With this, Damien loaded a new clip and headed towards the door, keeping a close eye on all points of his field of vision, routinely spinning in place to check all angles. Having made it to the door, he nudged it open...

...And saw Hell. Red sky, cracked earth, the crumbling remnants of skyscrapers in the distance. A few burned out houses immediately in the vicinity. He thought he heard a vulture's cry, but that might have been his imagination.

Turning back towards his companions, he called out, "Its like a nuclear war happened out there! So, do we stay in here with the hyenas, or do we brave the wasteland outside? Take a look if you want, but I feel our best bet is out there. At least it's not on fire."

edited 23rd May '11 11:08:23 PM by redcynic

The fire (it was a fire?) was an illusion? But then what about the voices? The growls, the screams, the other people...were they all just a figment of her imagination?

"It's like a nuclear war happened out there! So, do we stay in here with the hyenas, or do we brave the wasteland outside? Take a look if you want, but I feel our best bet is out there. At least it's not on fire."

"We're certainly not in Kansas anymore."

Elanor felt herself blanch, suddenly thankful she couldn't see it, thankful that she wasn't alone.

Maybe the Voice wouldn't chase her down here.

I'm a really slow typer :(

edited 23rd May '11 11:49:10 PM by Aralyn

Nicole followed Damien up the stairs to see what he saw. "We're certainly not in Kansas anymore, " she remarked, being too stunned to scream in horror.

The world wasn't quite what I had in mind, but it's close enough. Next time, make sure you discuss in the discussion page where the characters go and what location they are in.

And keep a tab open on the discussion page. That's where I'll make the announcements and discuss ideas.

edited 23rd May '11 11:16:51 PM by DJMarred

"No we're certainly not. My vote is for venturing out. Yours, Nicole? We'll ask the others when they get here."

edited 23rd May '11 11:55:26 PM by redcynic

"What if that's where He wants us to go?" Elanor heard herself ask.

edited 23rd May '11 11:51:44 PM by Aralyn

"Hunh? Oh, its the blind girl. First and foremost, What's your name? Second of all, who's He? Lastly, what's your vote? To give you an idea of what's it like out there, imagine a nuclear wasteland, with a blood-red sky. The ruins of a city stand out. Dead trees pock the cracked earth, and not a soul to be seen for miles. On the other hand, no hyenas and no fire."

edited 23rd May '11 11:54:02 PM by redcynic