Haunted House GP

[londoncallingmods]

 The house doesn't exist, that's the first thing anyone who might find themselves inside it would want to know. Now, you might ask how one could find themselves inside something that doesn't exist, but you'd honestly be better off asking yourself how you could leave something that doesn't exist. After all, ideas and concepts can't be burnt or broken, and you can't breakdown a door that's not there- Or was there and then decided to be somewhere else for a while...

 

You wake in a house though, a house that doesn't exist. A house that defies the laws of reality. There are corridors that go on for days, rooms full of nightmares, and millions of doors that lead you anywhere but out. Trapped inside with you are dozens of other people, all searching for an exit, or an explanation.

 

Behind every door you'll find your darkest fears, maybe even memories you've tried to forget, or secrets you never wanted to share... 

 

(OTA! Here is your first of two Halloween gps! This one is, of course, set in the haunted house where your pup can run into anything you can dream up! Deadly traps! Spooky monsters! An existential crises! Top level your pups waking up or running into danger, and then go ahead and tag other players! Since this is all magic-y and spooky don't worry too much about time lines and who bumped into who first. Only rule is that your pup can't escape until November 1st! Have fun! Also, because there are two GPs going up this week, both are open to new top levels for two whole weeks! And, of course, you can keep tagging long after that if you want. :D I'll post reminders daily on slack.)

Comments

[hollow_moon]

"It's faint still, but closer than before," Val nodded, following Jag back out into the hall and doing his best to follow the scent.

"I can smell tea as well. Oolong."

[jageskro]

"The one that's all cinnamon-y?" Jag asked, turning his head as they walked to look at Val.

At least he was distracted from wanting to run his tongue all over him, right now.

[hollow_moon]

"I always associate it more with honey," Val admitted with a small shrug. "Though perhaps that's just because it's how I refer to take it."

The smell of sage grew stronger as they walked, and Val glanced over at Jag, wondering if the other man could smell it now.

[jageskro]

He could, and he was heading for it at a quickened pace, and with apparent enthusiasm. "Come on!" he urged Val. "That's what old Dora drinks. She's burning sage all the time, too. Keep the evil spirits away."

He turned into a new corridor, and smiled as he saw another slightly open door.

[hollow_moon]

"Old Dora? I don't know who this Dora is, but do you really have to call her old? Seems a bit rude," Val replied, even as he picked up the pace to follow after Jag.

[jageskro]

"Old's not a bad thing to be," Jag retorted without missing a beat. "And she'll wash your mouth with soap if you say it is. She's our card reader, and she's fantastic."

The door opened straight into her trailer, but Jag's grin disappeared after a few seconds, as his attention shifted from the familiar, warm, cluttered interior and the many talismans and charms, of all different faiths, disseminated around the small room, and to the old woman sitting at a table, an untouched cup of tea in front of her.

It was Dora, no doubt there. Same wrinkled face, long gray hair falling loose on her shoulders, but her eyes. Her eyes were full white, the way Emma's got when she was doing her thing.

"Dora?" Jag frowned, taking a few steps closer.

"Open doors are easy to walk through," the old woman told them, looking blindly ahead.

[hollow_moon]

Val had seen this sort of thing before, and he kept his distance, not wanting to break her trance.

"Perhaps she can see a way out," he whispered, leaning in so only Jag could hear him.

[jageskro]

"She's not actually -" Jag cut himself off as Dora spoke on.

"To get out, you must go in."

"...a seer or a medium," he finished.

[hollow_moon]

"Go in where, love?" Val tried, glancing at Jag, then shrugging.

Maybe she wasn't a seer- But she seemed to know something.

[jageskro]

"Deeper," came the immediate answer, and finally the old woman seemed to turn her utterly white eyes on them. "Claim your beast. Claim your fire."

[hollow_moon]

Val drew away at that, looking uneasy.

"What does that even mean?" he asked quietly.

[jageskro]

"Open doors are easy to walk through," she started up again. "To get out, you have to go in. Deeper. Claim your beast. Claim your fire."

They pressed her with questions, but her answers were always the same. Eventually, Jag stepped over and kissed her forehead. "Thank you, old Dora," he told her in Romani, then kissed his thumb and pressed it on a small statue of Sara e Kali, in respect and prayer. "Come on," he said quietly, leading the way back out of the trailer.

[hollow_moon]

Val nodded, though he lingered a moment longer, observing the woman before heading outside to catch up with Jag.

"How do you know her?" he asked. "Where did you meet?"

[jageskro]

Jag was waiting impatiently just outside the door, and he closed the door on the disturbing sight of the old woman as soon as Val had joined him. "She's with the circus. Our fortune teller." Drina did it as well, but she'd learned it all from Dora. "But that wasn't her. She's not..."

[hollow_moon]

"Not what?" Val asked gently, aware that Jag was a bit upset and deciding to tread carefully.

[jageskro]

"I don't know," Jag admitted, leaning back against the wall and wiping a hand over his face. "Do you think it meant anything? What she said." What she'd kept saying, over and over, on a loop. Not that it had been her, Dora. But it had worn her face, used her and her trailer.

[hollow_moon]

"I don't know," Val admitted. "I'm not sure I trust anything in this place to be honest or real, Jag."

[jageskro]

"I really don't want to try and use my fire," he stated, meeting Val's gaze. Val. He trusted Val to be honest and real, and if he was another part of this fucked up illusion... no, he wasn't going there.

[hollow_moon]

"I understand," Val assured him, scratching at the stubble on his jaw as he sighed. "I'm not sure I'd want to give too much power to the wolf right now- Even if I did believe I could shift at will."

[jageskro]

"Yeah," Jag nodded in understanding, then chuckled, the sound betraying his unease. "The option of finding a safe room to hole up in and wait this thing out seems more and more tempting."

[hollow_moon]

"I won't disagree with that, though I do worry how long we'd be waiting," Val sighed. "What time is it now? Close to midnight, surely."

[jageskro]

"You think it's a Halloween special event?" Jag asked. He'd phrased it that way to make it sound amusing, but it fell flat to his own ears. He straightened up from the wall enough to reach and stroke his hand down Val's forearm, and take his hand.

[hollow_moon]

"I don't know, I suppose I'm just being hopeful," Val admitted, squeezing Jag's hand as their fingers entwined. "Like some sort of dreadful spin on Cinderella, the clock with strike midnight, and we'll find ourselves in some peaceful field.

[jageskro]

"In a field?" Jag couldn't help but laugh, his thumb stroking the back of Val's hand. "Really?"

[hollow_moon]

"You know what I mean," Val replied, growling playfully.