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worldofmemeness2016-09-30 05:31 pm
modmachine) wrote in worldofmemeness2016-09-30 05:31 pm
Entry tags:
TEST DRIVE 01
Don't feel limited to the scenarios presented - make up your own prompts as much as you want! Reserves will open on the 7th and Applications on the 15th. In a grassy square in the Central District, wedged in between dorm halls, there is a tree. Far wider than it is tall, its leaves are just beginning to turn from yellow to orange, with a few green stragglers near the top and a growing carpet on the grass beneath it. At one end of the tree's reach, there is a picnic table, the sort with benches built in to either side. Anywhere under the boughs, a distinct ticking, like the sound of a clock, can be heard. Moving about makes it clear that the sound is loudest nearest the trunk. Numerous small gears stick out of twists between branches, though they do not appear to move to the naked eye. Someone has hung a string of orange lights in the branches for Halloween, along with some cotton spiderweb. No matter how closely you look, there doesn't seem to be an end where the lights plug in to anything. Otherwise, there is nothing unusual about the decorations. In the center of the table, half-covered by leaves, there is an iron plaque that has not been particularly well-treated for rust. Some of the writing on it is almost legible. It is chill to the touch. Someone's carved their initials and a date into the end of one bench - Abandoned vehicles are by no means an unusual sight in the Sixth District. Abandoned buses are slightly more unusual. This particular bus has boarded up windows, a black light string hanging over the windshield, and the words HAUNTED HOUSE written along the side, where the old inoffensive public-transit advertisements have been painted over. The front door serves as the entrance; the back leads into the wrecking yard and the haunted "house" proper. A girl in her late teens in slightly unsettling gothic lolita sits in a cheap folding chair around the front of the bus. She doesn't charge admission, though there is a candy bowl labeled for Donations on the card table next to her with a few bills and some change in it, in the center of a group of candles that burn in skull holders. She reminds everyone who passes her to please not touch the actors or props inside. Occasionally, mist from a smoke machine on the other side of the wooden fence billows around her ankles, almost seeming to form caressing fingers running down her legs. Across the street from her, two men sit in a beaten up old pickup truck, the much taller man smoking cigarettes with the windows open. The shorter man fidgets almost uncontrollably, constantly glancing in the direction of the girl and her bus. Their voices aren't loud enough to hear distinctly from the haunted house side of the street, but the woman at the bus entrance shoots them occasional looks none-the-less, alternating between pleased smiles and blank stares. Painted along the sides of the truckbed, in much dirtier letters than those of the haunted house, is the phrase NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH. In a bar downtown, it's not much different from any other night of clubbing, except that everyone is wearing masks. Ranging from the elegant custom work of a nearby boutique (conveniently open even after sundown tonight, if you need to pick one up) to cheap colored paper held on with elastic handed out at the door of the bar, masks are the must-have accessory tonight. Indeed, many of the parties won't let you in if you don't have one. Those paying careful attention might notice little dots of red on the necks of some of the partiers, especially those who seem a bit pale and have called off drinking for the night. Aside from that, though, it doesn't seem like anyone's really getting hurt; it's just a fun time for everyone. Except for the poor guy who made the mistake of wearing an owl mask and yellow contacts, anyway. Just within hearing range of the beating bass of the clubs, a young woman in a red jacket holds a mask in her hands, turning it over and sometimes holding it to her face to look at in a window reflection. The long face of it calls to mind some kind of black dog, perhaps a Doberman or German Shepherd. She isn't dressed at all for an evening at the clubs, and has a canvas bag slung over her shoulder with the shape of heavy books straining the fabric at the bottom. Not everyone seems to be getting into the spirit. A playground near the center of the city has precious few decorations - save for a spiderweb on one of the swingsets that seems to be natural, not man-made. A pumpkin or two have been left near the edges, but they're all smashed, the orange guts running along in a streak that seems to blend into a thin line surrounding the entire perimeter. The see-saw looks like the board's been freshly painted, but otherwise all of the equipment looks almost lonely and old. The rust on the metal stains everything an orange-red, and the slide in particular seems the worst hit. Still, everything is at least standing, and those who attempt to play on it will find it sturdy and warm in the cool night. ... Except for the merry go round. That one seems to be bent, as if someone very heavy sat on the edge. It still turns, but it wobbles dramatically, with horrible squeaking noises. Still, it's usable, for anyone who would like to play. | |
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[He is a persistent cuss if nothing else.]
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...and what are you waiting for 'em to stop for? You planning something?
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[If she rolled her eyes any harder, they'd stay stuck.]
No. They just seem creepy. What are they watching out for? Are they even authorized to be there, or are they just ogling girls in costumes?
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And I dunno, they're with the neighborhood? Probably making sure no one steals any bikes. And they get mad at, like, guys camping out on lawns if they don't live in the house the lawn belongs to.
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[...that's really specific.] You're speaking from experience, aren't you.
[She's being followed by a hobo through a haunted maze house. Geez, she should've just taken her chances with the neighborhood watch.]
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[Look, a guy's got to pitch his tent somewhere.]
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Great. A low-level fugitive is trying to help me. You're going to get me arrested.
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[He is offended at the very idea.]
Try wandering adventurer!
[Which sounds way better, let's be honest.]
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[She picks a door at random and goes through it. Is this a living room? What is going on.]
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[Nitou follows after, bracing himself for any more cheap jump scares.]
You think they got a kitchen in here?
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Why, you have food in your pockets that needs preparing?
[Did the haunted house just. Devour the people from before. Is it going to eat her and this asshole. Are her last moments going to be with a hobo.
Where did she go wrong in life.]
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[He produces a squeeze bottle from somewhere within his coat and triumphantly holds it up in the air.
Continue to look at your life and choices, Rita. You're stuck in a haunted house with a hobo with an unhealthy mayonnaise fixation.]
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[Oh she's questionning them, all right.]
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[Duh.]
Like if they give us candy or something at the end.
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You would put mayo on candy.
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[This is all normal, what's wrong?]
Why wouldn't I?
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I've never been so glad I have no sense of taste.
[She heads for the nearest door. Maybe the next room will be a kitchen. Maybe he'll be so into his mayonnaise and whatever that she can go on without him.]
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[Nope, not lucky enough to lose him, he's still persistently following right along, even if he yells and ducks when a hokey fake ghost swoops out of nowhere and startles him.]
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[If she rolled her eyes back any further, she'd see her brain.
And okay, maybe she jumps when the fake ghost swings out past her, but you know what, hobo, she is not deterred.]
What is it with this place!
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Yelling about things that suddenly pop up! And getting candy after!
[Gosh, she's no fun.]
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[She'll be fun when she's sure she's not being followed by people out to lock her in the company basement.
...which, really, they probably aren't anymore. This place is a maze.]
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[There's a pause.]
I could mark where we've been with globs of mayonnaise...
[But that seems like such a waste, though.]
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...well, we'd be able to find our way by smell alone.
[She actually considers it for a moment.
But, ultimately--] No. That's gross. Let's just keep going.
'Lets's'. He's part of this now, for better or worse.]
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[He's sniffing the air like the weird animal he actually is under that fae Mask of his. What is shame?]
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