londoncallingrpg | Haunted House GP

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Haunted House GP

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.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I'm still not sure you have," Jag told her softly. However she had actually done it; he wasn't sure asking her about it right now was a good move. "All of this can't be real, can it?"

The tarot had shown her Stryfe, and these kinds of mind games would be just its style. But it felt real, and she wasn't sure they could treat it as though it wasn't. Something was obviously going on. But it wasn't all real either.

She picked at the upholstery trim with her free hand, memories coming back, and... "The fire, is it... What happened?"

"I put it out, I can manipulate it again," Jag explained, relieved beyond words for that turn of events. He felt more like himself, now.

"Then he isn't here," Em said softly, relief mixed with sadness. If Pyro were here, she didn't know if Jag would have been able to 'take' his fire, but either way, Pyro wouldn't have sat still or quiet about it. The alternative, that he'd been here and burned out as a result of Cortez's powers, she couldn't let herself consider.

But Jag being able to control fire again was a good thing, and she looked up at him finally, tears threatening in the corners of her eyes. "I told you to stay away from Cortez. You could've-" her breath caught in her throat, and she shoved at Jag's shoulder. "Don't scare me like that."

"He was going to grab you!" Jag protested, letting her shove push him back a little, then straightening. "It's not like you left me much choice."

She shuddered, remembering those weeks of Sabine in a fugue state because of Cortez, and the stories she'd heard of what he did to Nina, and the realization of what he could have done to her. But if he'd touched Jag...

"If it happens again," because who knew with this place, it might. "Tackle me, not Cortez. Promise me." As much as she feared the madness that probably lay in her future, and that Cortez could trigger with a touch, she feared Jag's fire burning out of control, especially if he had to live with what it did to her just as much.

"If I'd tackled you, he could've grabbed both of us," Jag pointed out. "I'm not promising anything." Especially not if she wasn't going to promise to run the other way with him.

Stubborn fucking... jerk. She should've known. "I thought... I thought he'd gotten to Pyro, I couldn't handle it if he got you too." She wanted to add that her powers out of control wouldn't kill Jag the way his could her, but with what she'd just done to Cortez - she glanced at the body lying nearby - she couldn't say that, could she?

"Can we go? I can't look at him, in my home like this."

Her home. This made a lot of sense, now. "Let's go," Jag agreed, standing up and keeping her hand in his as they walked out of the room. "And let's not trust stars anymore, all right?"

Em gave his hand a gentle squeeze as they left, and she bit her lip to keep from looking back before she closed the door behind them. "If you have a better idea, I'm listening." It wasn't a challenge, though, the way it might have been from someone else. The cards weren't giving her the guidance she needed for them to get out safely, and she didn't know what else to do.

"I don't have anything, no, but your star guided us straight to him," Jag pointed out with a grimace.

"The Star does not promise immediate success," she recited, "But a light in the darkness for a better future. And I knew he'd find me. Now that part's done. So maybe it was better to get it over with."

"You're the fortune teller," Jag stated with a shrug. He was just the bloke who didn't feel like they'd found much of a guiding light at all.

Though he was glad to have his fire back.

"I'm the Fool, wandering in the unknown." But what was she meant to learn in the journey? What cliff would she fall over next, and would she drag Jag down with her? "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have dragged you in there with me."

"Dragged me?" Jag asked with a frown. "I don't remember you doing any dragging."

"We only chose that door because I saw the star and suggested it. Wouldn't have gone in if I hadn't provided the light to see where we were. And you never would've gotten close to Cortez if I hadn't rushed in anyway so you had to save me. That's close enough to dragging." More than close enough for Em to feel like it was her fault.

Jag stopped walking so he could talk to her, brushing his thumb over the back of the hand in emphasis. "Hey. We're in this together, all right? No dragging involved. And I'm safe because of you."

He was wrong, but the last thing they needed to do was argue about blame, when who or whatever had trapped them here was the real problem. After a couple of breaths, she nodded, smiling sadly. "We stick together. I feel like we need some breadcrumbs, though."

"So the beasts of the crazy house can eat them up?" Jag pointed out, and shook his head with a smirk. "I can do better than that."

He let go of her hand and stepped closer to the wall, calling forth a small, concentrated flame in his palm, and scorched an X on the wallpaper.

"Metaphorical breadcrumbs, to go with the metaphorical forest we're lost in," Em told him, feeling better seeing the control he'd regained over his fire. "Who knows. There could be a hungry witch or big bad wolf around the next corner."

After a second's thought, Jag scorched a pentagram over the X, instead. "A star for the star door," he explained, as he turned back to Emma. "And I'm hoping for the hungry witch."

Given who the big bad wolf might be.

Em didn't say anything at first, but held out her hand for his again. It helped, having that kind of contact, when her mind kept reaching for the future.

Studying him out of the corner of her eye as they walked, she decided it was only fair to tell him, "I met Val the other day," because why else would he choose the witch over the wolf.

Jag stopped walking, his hand a little tight around hers, and turned to look at her with a frown. "What?"

"I met Val. It wasn't intentional or anything. He was walking past where I'd set up for the day, and I offered to read for him." Realizing that might not be something Jag would want to hear, she quickly added, "I didn't, though. Not once I knew he knew you."

Jag wasn't sure what he was supposed to say to any of this, so he went with a neutral, "All right."

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