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]

Reaching over, Val gave Jag's shoulder a firm squeeze.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, I'm sorry," he said, letting his hand linger, then turning his attention to a door up ahead that was slightly ajar.

"Should we risk it?" he asked.

[jageskro]

Jag's shoulders hunched under the contact; he was prickly about everything, when talking about something like this, and that included touch. He wanted to answer something to Val's first words, but then he followed his gaze towards the open door, and nodded before creeping forward silently.

He risked a glance through the door, and froze. This was the squat he'd lived in with Victor, and before he'd made any conscious decision to, he'd walked inside, looking around the abandoned room they had claimed as their. Their stuff was still all over it, as if they'd never left. As if he'd never left. Victor's guitar, their respective heaps of clothes, sleeping bags and a camping stove.

[hollow_moon]

Val followed along, his gaze roaming over the space as he took it all in.

"Do you know this place?" he asked.

[jageskro]

Jag snapped out of it at the sound of Val's voice, and turned around to face him. "Yeah, I -" His gaze dropped, and he looked back around the room. "I used to live here for a while. I don't even know if it still exists," he added, more quietly.

[hollow_moon]

"Another ghost from the past then," Val said, sniffing the air curiously as he looked around again. "Was it long ago?"

[jageskro]

"Before the circus," he replied, and grimaced. "There's no way out - and no sage - let's get out of here."

It wasn't that he minded being here, it was that part of him wanted to suggest staying him and waiting things out, which was undoubtedly a terrible idea. They ought to get out of here as quickly as possible.

[hollow_moon]

"We could sit for a moment, we could rest," Val offered. "There's only one way in, so at the very least we know we're safe. ...I'd be lying if I didn't admit I'm still a bit sore from the shift earlier."

[jageskro]

"It's probably what it wants us to do," Jag answered, stepping closer to Val to look into his eyes from up close as he spoke. It wasn't as if he knew what he was talking about; he just had a feeling. "This place. This isn't hell." It wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't hell. "Not like the other rooms. It wouldn't just give us this for nothing, there's gotta be a trick, or...."

[hollow_moon]

"A trap?" Val suggested, silently cursing the way his bones ached and how drained he felt.

"No, you're right. It would be foolish to linger," he sighed, meeting Jag's gaze full on, then growing bold as he leaned in to steal a slow kiss.

[jageskro]

Surprised though he was, Jag recovered immediately, to meet that kiss. He pushed everything else to the back of his mind, everything about where they were, and what this room might be, and allowed to focus on that slow, perfect kiss. He'd never thought he'd be kissing Val again, and his heart felt so tight from being able to do it again. A hand found Val's waist, his other one settled on his shoulder, fingertips brushing his neck as he deepened the kiss.

[hollow_moon]

The wolf had held so much anger in him since their fight, but in that moment it faded and Val found himself cluttered to let the kiss end.

His fingers tangled gently in Jag's hair, and he held on just a while longer before forcing himself to pull back and let go.

"Let's continue on, shall we?" he said, sounding a bit breathless.

[jageskro]

Jag sighed a little shakily, then nodded, and finally seemed to find his voice. "Yeah. Yeah, let's go on." He sucked his lips in, as if he could get one more taste of Val that way, then headed for the door. "Can you still smell the sage?" he asked, and bit on his lower lip. He couldn't smell it, still, and it was beginning to piss him off.

[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?"