First Night [Open to Multiple]

[heysoulsister]

Jodie Holmes, age six, sits in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. One wall is lined with a mirror that is not really a mirror. There are cameras mounted in the corners, their power lights like unblinking red eyes in the dimness (not darkness; they left the light in the hall on for her). She surveys the sparsely furnished room with her back against the headboard and her chin atop her teddy bear. There is a flashlight on her bedside table, and she knows Cole is just outside. They should be safe here, and she tries to be brave - brave for Aiden, whose fear shivers the tether that binds them.

"Don't be scared, Aiden," she says, hugging her teddy closer. "We're gonna go to sleep, and nothing bad is gonna happen." The phrase has a practiced cadence to it, like a prayer, or a magic spell. But God hasn't stopped the monsters, and she doesn't know if she believes in the good kind of magic anymore.

She pushes her legs beneath the covers, but she doesn't lie down. Something is coming. She can feel it.

Comments

[johnny_truant]

The first thing Johnny notices is his clothes are all wrong. He looks like he's all set to partake in a LARP event, off to the Wild Hunt in the woods. He's got leather boots and a fur cloak and a helmet and a fucking sword. He takes off the helm and discovers it has been adorned with antlers. What the fuck?

He looks at the sword (which actually isn't a sword but a kukri, but Johnny knows fuck-all about swords). What is he supposed to do with this?

A noise startles him from his confusion and he looks up and for the first time really notices his surroundings. He's in a strange room that looks like a cross between a waiting room and a living room. A really spartan one. There's a TV and some modern lamps and a stiff looking sofa. And toys. A child lives here. But there's also cameras in every corner and a really big mirror on the wall beside a door. The door has a security keypad. Johnny checks it, but it's locked. Naturally.

He taps the window with a finger, which seems to touch its reflection directly. There's no gap. Real mirrors always leave a gap between object and reflection. This is a window.

Johnny frowns and steps back. He doesn't like the idea of being under surveillance, but somehow, he senses he's not the one being watched.

The noise happens again. It's a voice, a child's voice. Johnny moves toward it slowly, trying to hold the kukri at a low angle, so as not to appear threatening. Fat chance, in this getup.

It's coming from the connecting room, which is obviously a bedroom. Due to the bed.

He stops short on the threshold, because although he sees the little girl in her bed, he's more concerned about the angry-looking inky blot that's hovering just nearby her. It jerks toward him as he gets within visual range, shuddering unpleasantly. Johnny backs up, hitting the wall, gripping his weapon more tightly. Shit, what is that?

Wait. Wait. It's familiar, now that he thinks about it. He's seen this before. He glances quickly at the girl, who's staring at him in surprise and probable terror; and yeah, her face is familiar too. In a really, really weird way.

Slowly, stunned, he turns back to the spectre.

"...Aiden?" he whispers.

[heysoulsister]

Jodie stares at the thing in the doorway, too frightened to even scream. What new kind of monster is this? It has a sword, and horns, and Aiden can't protect her. He doesn't know what it is, either - doesn't know how to make it go away and leave them alone.

Could Cole make it go away? How can he if he can't even see it? Maybe he doesn't need to. The monsters always leave by the time her parents show up.

Her mouth is open, ready to yell for help, and then the monster says Aiden's name. A bolt of shock hits her just below the chest, and the scream dies in her throat. How can it know that? The other monsters know Aiden's there, but they don't know his name. They don't talk.

She hugs her stuffed animal tighter and trembles. Would it understand her, if she spoke to it? Would it listen? She doubts it, but she has to try. "Please..." she says unsteadily, "please don't hurt me."

[johnny_truant]

"I..." Johnny is so fucking confused right now. Why is Jodie six? Why doesn't she know him? Wait, how did he GET here, and why dressed like this, and why doesn't he remember--

Oh, wait.

Is he dreaming?

Shit, he's dreaming.

No... she's dreaming.

Okay.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," he says awkwardly, as gently as he knows how. He's never been good with kids, but he knows how dangerous Aiden can be, and he's not about to push his luck. He steps forward a little, but Aiden doesn't seem to like that, and he realizes it's too dark for Jodie to see him properly -- she's partially illuminated by the low lamplight from behind him, but to her, he must be one creepy silhouette. He removes the helm again hastily, setting it on the floor to show he has a normal-shaped head, then crouches down and extends a hand like he's trying to interact with a cat. "It's okay. My name's Johnny."

[heysoulsister]

There's a clatter from the beside table as Aiden picks up the flashlight and flicks it on. The beam swings crazily for a second or two before it lands on Johnny's face, revealing him to be not a monster, but a grown-up.

Jodie frowns. He doesn't look like any of the people who work here. And despite what he's said about not hurting her, he's still holding that sword.

"How'd you get in here?" she asks. She didn't hear him come in. "Why are you in here?"

[johnny_truant]

Johnny barely avoids cursing aloud when Aiden shines the light in his face, throwing up a hand to shield himself. Then he forces himself to blink into it, letting them see him.

"I, uh..." Shit, how can he answer these questions? If she doesn't realize she's dreaming... if she really thinks she's six right now... how can he possibly explain in a way that isn't going to freak her out further? One would think that the whole "dream" part of the scenario would sort of ensure that there were no real consequences, but Johnny knows better now.

Well, for fuck's sake, if it's a dream, and he looks like something out of a dream, he's going to act like something from out of a dream.

"I came because I thought you might need some company," he says, desperately winging it. The Jodie he knows has no desire for company, but this one? Kids like company, right? "And..." Okay but why the sword though. "...And to check for monsters."

[heysoulsister]

Jodie eyes him dubiously until he mentions the monsters, and then her eyes widen. She's not used to grown-ups who believe in monsters. Even Nathan and Cole seem more interested in Aiden - or in her, like she's the problem - than anything else. "You…" She uncurls a little, loosening her grip on her teddy and straightening her back. "You know about the monsters?" Her voice lowers in a manner that might be conspiratorial if she wasn't so deadly serious. "Can you see them?"

[johnny_truant]

Okay, so there's monsters. And something tells Johnny that she really, really means it, not just the monsters that all six year olds have.

Does she mean Aiden?

"Yes," he says, because even if they're not talking about the same things, he's been able to see his own brand of monsters for a long time. He hesitates, then gestures as nonthreateningly as possible at Aiden. "And I know about your buddy, here." He hesitates again. She seems really scared. He wonders how much of this is a real memory -- how much of it really happened. "Doesn't Aiden protect you?"

[has_a_horn]

Gabriel arrives in Jodie's dream dressed in a white Doctor's coat that he hadn't supplied himself. He looks down at it with curiosity, then around at his surroundings. He usually likes when people's dreams suggest things, but in this case he's not entirely sure that it's a good suggestion.

Whoever the mind running the show here is, they seem scared. From the hallway, he finds the right door and knocks before opening it a crack so that he can poke his head in. "Hello?"

[heysoulsister]

Uh oh. This is what she gets for sitting up: now some doctor's coming in to ask her what's wrong.

She's not eager to go to sleep (or to try, anyway), and she doesn't object when Aiden flicks on the bedside lamp. Instead, she eyes the newcomer warily. He's not Nathan or Cole, but he does look like he must work here. "Hi," she says quietly, resting her chin on her teddy bear.

[has_a_horn]

Oh. Not one mind, but two. When the light flicks on, his eyes find first the girl, but then a spot near the girl where the second person should be. "Heya, can I come in? It's kinda boring out in the hall and it looks like a party in here."

[heysoulsister]

Aiden shrinks in on himself a little as the doctor seems to look at him… but that can't be right. No one can see him. Even so, he drifts closer to Jodie, feeling self-conscious. It's not a good feeling.

Jodie shrugs in response to the question. He's being silly. This place is nothing like a party; it's bare and boring, and she and Aiden are the only ones in here. But this doctor seems friendly, and she amends her response to a nod.

[has_a_horn]

"Awesome." He makes his way in, closing the door behind himself. It really isn't that exciting of a room, all in all, but a slightly strange one. The giant mirror and what's behind it are particularly concerning.

He plops himself down in the desk chair and brings up his legs to sit cross-legged. "I'm Gabriel, by the way. What's your name?"

[heysoulsister]

She's pretty sure he already knows her name - he can't have just wandered in by accident - and the look she gives him isn't very impressed. But maybe he's just trying to be nice, and now that he's here, she doesn't want him to leave. The monsters only come for her when she and Aiden are alone.

"Jodie," she says. The safety in numbers isn't lost on Aiden, either, and he gives her a little nudge. In an automatic rush, she adds, "Nicetomeetyou."

[antitimelord]

Here's a thing. No, scratch that, here's Zagreus. This is not where he'd meant to be, but that's all right. The ambiance is...something he can't put a finger on. Familiar? Or the other one, unfamiliar. When there's only two options he can never keep them straight. Why is he wearing a mask?

Normally he quite resists any changes in attire in dreams, there's something offensive about the prospect, yet here it is, pale to the point of nearly glowing, picking up light in the dim. He shrugs, in a rare moment of compliance, with himself or with a dream. Oh well, mask it is, maybe he doesn't object because it's so generic. Or maybe that's why he should.

[heysoulsister]

There is a man in a mask out in the living room, and Aiden doesn't like it. What is he doing out here? And why a mask? He hovers around the stranger - not Nathan, not Cole - and wonders what to do, or if he should do anything. Cole can see him, right? Cole can see everything except for Aiden - there are cameras in the corners and windows in the mirrors (but not the bathroom mirror; he checked).

Maybe he's supposed to be here.

Aiden's bafflement draws Jodie out of bed, and she appears at the front of the hallway, her teddy bear clutched in one arm and a confused look on her face. "Hello?"

[antitimelord]

Well, that's just about archetypal enough to work. Nursery rhyme monster and small, toy-hugging child. But there's an element that doesn't really fit, and it's been hanging about his head, quite literally, in fact. He can just spot it if he stares, probably the same unsettling way cats can. What is this?

"Hello. Are you having a bad dream about ghosts?" Zagreus has that in common with small children, that he doesn't care about social niceties and introductions.

[heysoulsister]

Can he see him? Aiden retreats, unsettled, to hover above Jodie. This is bad. He doesn't know exactly why, but it's bad.

Jodie blinks, nonplussed. She's been asked some strange questions since she got here, but none as weird as this. "I'm not asleep."

[antitimelord]

Of course he can, though not very distinctly. Hang on, did Zagreus just scare a ghost? That's gotta be backwards on some level, possibly several.

"Ah. Right." Briefly he considers arguing, but arguing with a child would probably get unbecoming fast, regardless of the fact that he's in the right. "You don't have to be asleep to dream, you know."

[heysoulsister]

This guy, Jodie decides, is weird. She can tell Aiden doesn't like him, and she shifts her grip on the teddy bear, clutching it to her chest like a shield. "Why are you wearing a mask?"

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew finds himself in a darkened room, a pane of glass before him. On the other side is a bedroom, and in the bedroom is a little girl. He's seen enough setups like this one to guess immediately that she can't see him in return, but he takes a few moments to take stock of the situation before acting. She's awake in the dim light, seemingly...waiting? And talking to her teddy, which tugs a wistful smile out of Andrew despite the worrying fact of her obvious fear. This could all be something innocuous, he thinks, a hospital or a sleep clinic. Of course, it could also be something terrible and genuinely dangerous to her, and either explanation doesn't tell him why no one is in here with him to observe when her entire environment has been optimized for observation.

Right. Well, no time like the present to seek answers. He finds an intercom (whether it was already there or if he dreamed it should be is debatable) and clicks it on. "Alright in there?" he asks.

[heysoulsister]

"Yes," she lies automatically, not wanting to sound like a baby for being scared when nothing bad has happened yet. It takes a moment for her to realize that it wasn't Cole's voice over the intercom, and then she frowns. Who was that?

Aiden drifts through the mirror and into the observation room, surprised to see a thin stranger instead of Cole or Nathan. He hovers around the man for a few moments, but he doesn't seem like he's snuck in (how could he?). Still, it should be Cole in here, not some other scientist they haven't met, and Aiden feels a flash of irritation at the unannounced switch. A mug of writing utensils falls over with a clatter, spilling pens and highlighters across the desktop.

[bluesuit_handy]

V. convincing, little girl. Andrew's smile grows just a little as he looks around for any notes or files left behind by whoever set this all up. Nothing's striking him as an immediate danger, but he needs to get the full story. He startles at the loud clatter beside him, turning to look quickly about in search of whoever did that, expecting the owner of the control room to have materialized beside him.

Nothing. No one there. Andrew chews his lip and touches a few of the spilled pencils, then looks up again in search of -- what?

"Who's there?" he asks the empty air, not pressing the intercom this time.

[heysoulsister]

He should know who's there. He shouldn't be asking. He should know. There's a faint sound like wind blowing over a pipe, and the computer screen flickers.

On the bed, Jodie frowns. She can feel Aiden's irritation, but she doesn't know what's causing it. Is it the person in the other room? "Who are you?" she asks, shifting uneasily. "Where's Cole?"

[bluesuit_handy]

She's getting more upset now...and Andrew is starting to feel just a little concerned about what's going on in the booth. Not for the first time, Andrew wishes he had better telepathic capabilities so he could sense whether she's using some kind of telekinesis through the glass. He presses the intercom again. "My name's Andrew," he says in his best reassuring tone. "Cole's not in here right now; it's just me, just for now. Would it make you feel better if I came out from behind the glass?"

[heysoulsister]

She doesn't want to be a baby. She really doesn't. But then the lights in the hall start to flicker, and her breath quickens, ghosting in front of her in the suddenly chilled air of this impersonal bedroom.

"Stop it, Aiden!" she cries, voice quavering. Is it Aiden? What if it's not?

Abandoning the stranger in the observation room, Aiden darts back to the bed and huddles close to Jodie. This isn't him. It's them. They're coming for Jodie, for his Jodie, and he can't stop them.

The lights go out, plunging the little apartment into darkness. A beat later, Jodie shrieks. When the lights flicker back on, she's no longer on the bed - she's on the floor, her hands clawing at the carpet as an invisible force drags her into the hallway.