londoncallingrpg | 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

From:

miss_ives

"Yes," Vanessa confirmed, and handed her the cards she had picked up, their backs facing the young woman. She stood back up and smoothed down her long Victorian dress, then made sure her hair was still more or less in place. Composing herself, for what lay ahead.

From:

offthebeatenpath

Sabine would've loved the dress, Em thought out of nowhere. In a way it fit. Em was still the inconsequential one, in her oversized cardigan and jeans. But she nodded and started down the hall, trailing her fingertips along the wall like it would lead her through the labyrinth somehow.

From:

miss_ives

"Keep turning left," Vanessa stated as they reached another intersection. That was the only way to get out of a maze, she had long since learned. Pick one direction, and stick with it.

From:

offthebeatenpath

"Agreed." Em turned left. As plans went, it was the best chance they had of finding a way out, assuming this was a physical maze. Shadows ahead of them moved in strange ways, but with the low light of the corridor, she couldn't tell for sure.

From:

miss_ives

"It feels as if we were being watched," Vanessa stated, after a couple of minutes of silent walking.

From:

offthebeatenpath

"Probably. Someone had to have brought us here," Em said, not liking the idea but growing resigned to it after so long. "Or something."

From:

miss_ives

"Did she feel real to you?" Vanessa asked, seemingly out of the blue. She glanced at the psychic by her side. "Mina, the... the woman who attacked me." Although 'woman' she clearly had not been, right then.

From:

offthebeatenpath

It wasn't as odd a question as it maybe should've been, and Em took her time to think about it before answering. "As real as anything else here. Although I'm not sure how reassuring that is."

From:

miss_ives

"I don't think there is an answer that could have been," Vanessa stated, and fell back into thoughtful silence.

From:

offthebeatenpath

"You knew her." Em wasn't sure it was something Ms. Ives would want to talk about, but the opening was there. "When she wasn't like that."

From:

miss_ives

"I have no reason to believe that she is like that," Vanessa answered, something firm and absolute in her voice, not inviting discussion. "But yes," she confirmed, after a beat. "I know her. We used to be close friends." It felt like a euphemism for what Mina and she had been, before Vanessa had ruined it all.

From:

offthebeatenpath

Em nodded her acceptance. They were obviously close, even without Em being told, and she wouldn't want to believe someone she cared about had turned into a monster either. "I'm sorry. This place seems to know just how to hurt us. But you stopped her somehow."

From:

miss_ives

"Yes," Vanessa agreed, rather laconically. "Somehow."

From:

offthebeatenpath

There wasn't really anything to say to that, so Em didn't. She continued on, taking the next left, onto a corridor so long the other end was hidden in shadows.

From:

miss_ives

There was movement in the shadows, and Vanessa frowned, her hand clamping down on Ms. Colbert's forearm. "Do you see that?"

From:

offthebeatenpath

"Yes," Em answered quietly. "But not as well as I'd like." She reached for a card, wanting something that she'd need, but not trusting herself to look at it yet.

From:

miss_ives

"Then let's get a better view," Vanessa stated, letting go of her arm to step cautiously closer.

From:

offthebeatenpath

"Wait." It was Em's turn to grab at Ms. Ives' arm. "I can help with that."

She looked at the card she'd drawn, her eyes whiting out as a sun, small but light enough to see by, appeared in the shadowed end of the hall.

From:

miss_ives

The thing(s) in the darkness retreated with a hiss as the small sun pushed the shadows back. "Or, at least, keep them at a safe distance," Vanessa stated, freed her arm, and resumed walking.

From:

offthebeatenpath

Em followed along, the hand not holding the Sun clenching and unclenching for want of a weapon. The small sun moved in a slow arc along the hall, like the path it would take through the sky in a day, and for now at least, it kept the shadows from overtaking them.

From:

miss_ives

"You're a woman of unsuspected talents, Ms. Colbert," Vanessa remarked, as they advanced cautiously, one step after the next.

From:

offthebeatenpath

"I don't think I'm the only one," Em answered. Ms. Ives had been very formidable when her friend had attacked, and she was taking Em's mutation in stride. "But yes, my connection to the tarot goes much deeper than entertaining tourists."

From:

miss_ives

"And yet, you're no daywalker," Vanessa replied evenly. What she was doing did not come from a spell, or not any of the sort of spells Vanessa had ever witnessed.