Event #2: "Fight or Flight" [Tag: Phillip and Nancy]

[Thalia Turner]

Thalia's heels of her thick leather shoes clunked against the flooring as she swept down the corridors, blindly running, her vision blurred and her headache spiking against her skull. The sound was like a hollow heartbeat, keeping in tune with the vast emptiness of the school.

    ‘Coward, coward, coward…’ echoed like a chant in her head, sounding in time with each clumsy footstep.

    She didn’t know why she was running. The prickling sensation of fear reverberated like a whisper up her spinal cord. She shuddered, clenching her fists around the sleeves of Phillip’s jacket. It smelled comfortable; smelled familiar. His cologne flooding her nostrils and memories of their passion flashed before her eyes. It should have been comforting but the hollowness in her stomach could not be satiated. Her lip quivered as she reached the end of the corridor, to where the science rooms were situated.

    She leaned against the wall, her chest rising and falling in rapid succession. She had never liked the science rooms. They had never felt organic; never a nice place to be. They felt as fake as this whole nightmare had been playing in the redhead’s brain. She entered cautiously, glancing each way with her quivering gaze. Thalia realised suddenly that she had passed all the other classrooms without checking to see if Phillip or Nancy were there.

    Approaching one of the sinks in the corner used for washing the scientific equipment, which held the distilled water tank, Thalia turned the faucet. She needed to wash the filth off her; needed some form of relief. To her surprise the cool liquid began dribbling from the iron tap, then gushing out. Sobbing a sigh of relief, Thalia plunged her hands under the tap and washed her face of the makeup and dirt accumulating on her skin. She then – to the best of her ability – began scrubbing her arms and knees from the crimson blood which was drying and crusting away. It wasn’t perfect, but it’d have to do…

    After a moment, Thalia turned off the tap, the deafening silence filling her eardrums again. She eased herself to the floor, her back against the wall, before tucking her knees up into her chest. Like a child, she rubbed at her eyes, the exhaustion of the past few hours hitting her hard. But it was not peaceful. Far from it.

    There was an overwhelming sensation that something wasn’t right here; that something in particular was watching their every move. But in that moment, she didn’t care. The pain hadn’t subsided and the hollowness in her chest ached from the overwhelming sense that Thalia Turner was very much alone.

[Phillip Pendragon]

Phillip was more than relieved to get moving again. The sooner they finished checking out the rooms, the quicker they could go back to the others and come up with a way out. Not to mention the more people around him the less he was likely to think about a certain someone. So when Nancy asked if there had been something else happening he was sure to just brush the question off or ignore it completely. However it was Nancy, his good friend and not some casual classmate or stranger. Sooner or later she would figure out how off he actually was so in the end he decided to give her at least a hint of an explanation now than having her worry or asking more questions. "Yes there was something else but I rather not talk about it or at least not right now. You know I fully trust you Nancy and don´t have a single problem sharing any kind of information with you but at the current moment it would be better for me not to. I´m sorry."

Trying to simply proceed with the original plan of action, Phillip went right on to open the door to the science room just to freeze right in the doorframe when he was what was inside. Thalia, Thalia Turner or in other words his kind of first lady. But what was she doing here? Or rather since when was she up and walking again? Then, as his feet finally decided to let him move again and brought him closer to her, he got to notice the hint of blood stains on her clothes. With eyes widened in horror he quickly ran to her and pulled her into his arms for a hug. "Thalia are you alright? What happened? What about the others?"

[Nancy Holmes]

"Yes there was something else but I rather not talk about it or at least not right now. You know I fully trust you Nancy and don´t have a single problem sharing any kind of information with you but at the current moment it would be better for me not to. I´m sorry."
In other words, he didn't want to talk about it right now. Urgh, did another person die?? Nancy swallowed, but nodded understanding. "That's okay. Just know that I'm here if you wanna talk, okay?", she assured him. If he had seen someone else dying, she could completely understand that he didn't want to talk about it. On the other hand, she was super curious and afraif who that person could be. At least it wasn't someone of her closest friends, those were all in the cafeteria, alive. ........Or not? When Phillip and her reached the lab, they saw a person standing there. The SMS-guy??!!! Frightened, she burried her hand deeply into Phillips arm, but after the split of a second she saw who it really was. Thalia.

"Oh my god, Thalia!!!", Nancy exclaimed and let go of Phil's arm. The girl seemed to be paralyzed! "What are you doing here? Is everything alright?", she asked and stormed towards her as well as Phillip. He hugged her and she put a hand on Thalia's back to stroke over it. So she HAD been hearing footsteps on the corridor, she had brushed it off as imagination when Phillip didn't seem to notice anything. But it had been Thalia passing the classroom!

"Thalia are you alright? What happened? What about the others?"
Nancy looked her up and down, she was wet and she could spot some stains of blood on her. "Are you hurt?? You're full of blood...!", she continued worried. Moving from Thalia to the sink, she saw that there was also a bit blood left. Had she tried to wash it off?

[Thalia Turner]

It was like a fly was buzzing around in her head. A scrape of chalk against the back of her brain; only she could not swat the fly away. Pulsing, the room swam with dangerous possibilities. Anyone, anything could walk through the door and she’d be too crippled to be able to react. Would she even react? It was a good question. And – Thalia supposed – the question was answered, as someone did enter the science labs, and Thalia was as silent as a mouse.

    She didn’t react to Phillip’s embrace until she knew for certain it was him. It was his smell. Clouded with sweat and fear but it was still him. She slid her arms down and laced her fingers into his hands, burying her head into his shoulder. So very, very still.

    “Your jacket, Phillip,” she whimpered, the sadness creeping into the tones of her voice. “I’m so sorry, I-I ruined it. I fell in the blood and it got everywhere. I tried to clean it, I promise… I’m so sorry.” She didn’t answer his questions because she didn’t quite know how. Were the others alright, or were they all slaughtered and in a heap? She was such a coward she couldn’t even lie to him.

    Then Nancy came into focus.

    "What are you doing here? Is everything alright?" she exclaimed, letting go of Phillip’s arm and rushing to her side also. Were they holding hands? It all seemed like such of a blur. "Are you hurt?? You're full of blood...!" Their concern for her was charming and Thalia’s cool blue eyes fluttered as she blinked rapidly. Blood? She almost choked at the thought of that poor, poor girl again, split open and left there, bleeding out into the school, trapped forever.

    Her face hardened, and she pulled away from Phillip, getting to her feet again. She looked at the two of them with a still expression, the hollowness in her chest pounding against her heart. Why was she being so silly? She’s fine. Other people are dead and she’s fine; what more could she ask for?

    So Thalia coughed, pushed her reddish hair from her eyes and spoke gently: “I’m fine; just a little shaken from all… this,” she indicated to the room, though she was implying their current situation. “A girl… C. Mercier. I was stupid and didn’t look and fell… on her.” Her forehead creased, subconsciously grabbing at her skirt. “Did you find anything? You’ve been gone a while… What were you doing?”

[Phillip Pendragon]

His jacket? Thalia couldn´t seriously be worried about something unimportant as his jacket right? People mattered, then what kept the people alive, and his jacket was neither at the current status. It wasn´t like they were on the top of a snowy mountain or completely naked after all. "There is no need to be sorry Thalia. YOU are what matters to me. Not my replacable jacket."

Just then however Thalia got to escape his comforting hold and turned her attention to Nancy while Phillip stood up and gave both of the females a very worried look. Seeing as eventually the redhead got back on her feets as well he lightened up for a second, just to get even more worried as she seemingly suddenly turned back to her casual coldness within seconds. Possibly though her expressions were even harder than normally. Not good. He was just about to hug her once again but at this point he wasn´t sure if that would help or rather anger her.

Then however they got at least some sort of explanation. "Mercier? Is she ... is she alright or ... I mean it looks like you had a damn lot of blood on you ..." Before that question as even close to get answered however, Thalia herself brought up more herself. "Nancy found some sort of matchmaking sheet if I saw correct. Other that finding that we have been looking for a way out and checked out the only not blocked classroom we were able to come across."

[Nancy Holmes]

“Your jacket, Phillip. I’m so sorry, I-I ruined it. I fell in the blood and it got everywhere. I tried to clean it, I promise… I’m so sorry.”
"There is no need to be sorry Thalia. YOU are what matters to me." - "To US", Nancy interrupted him rudely. How could he forget she was here too? - "Not my replacable jacket."

When Thalia wiggled away from Phillip, Nancy took her chance, ignoring her stone-hard expression, and pressed the other girl against her chest, putting one hand on the back of her head like a mother would hug her child. "Thay, dear, stop talking such nonsense. We're just glad you're alright." Phillip had helped her to calm down again, clear her head and focus and now Nancy was determined to do the same for Thalia. She was such an important friend, she couldn't bare seeing her so agitated.

“I’m fine; just a little shaken from all… this,”
Slowly, Nancy let go of her, but made sure to take one of her hands and squeezed it slightly. There was no need to act so cold... it was okay to freak out in a situation like this.

“A girl… C. Mercier. I was stupid and didn’t look and fell… on her.”
"Mercier? Is she ... is she alright or ... I mean it looks like you had a damn lot of blood on you ..."
She gasped at the thought of another dead person. "Oh, Thay...", she said with a horrified look. "That must've been horrible....! I could help you with cleaning your clothes if you want...?", she suggested and took both her hands in her own for a moment. If she could manage to clean her clothes, Thalia wouldn't be reminded of that....incident.. so easily, was what Nancy hoped. At least it hadn't been Thalia's bloss and she wasn't hurt.... The accident with Ellie flashed through her head. Quickly, Nancy tried to shake it off. Focus. Your friends need you.

“Did you find anything? You’ve been gone a while… What were you doing?”
Now Nancy felt bad about leaving the others for such a detailed expedition... But it had to be done.

"Nancy found some sort of matchmaking sheet if I saw correct. Other than finding that we have been looking for a way out and checked out the only not blocked classroom we were able to come across."
Phillip was quick to reply. "Yeah, Philly summed it up well. We came here to find something with what we might explode our way out here.... Maybe we can mix anything up or find something with which we can break the windows, an axe or something...." Though the thought of an axe somewhere here with that crazy person around too sent shivers down the singer's spine.

[Thalia Turner]

Phillip seemed incredulous to the brief mention of his jacket; why didn’t he understand how awful she felt. It must have been so expensive… "There is no need to be sorry Thalia. YOU are what matters to me. Not my replaceable jacket."

“To US,” Nancy keenly added. Thalia glanced between the two of them, looking so weary and so sad. Heat suddenly met her cheeks and she flushed a delicate red, forcing her to break eye contact and look away. Her personality seemed all over the place, as though she was unable to retain some form of façade. Perhaps it was just stress, but she knew different…

    It was hard keeping up with the friend group. Thalia often had to disassociate from herself often to keep up with their antics; she knew she was never as social as them, though never wanting to let them down, she often forced a change on herself. Many times, she questioned herself but seeing Phillip so concerned… Thalia knew she had to be /his/ Thalia… she had to be cold and strong and feisty. Even if all she wanted to do was curl up and cry.

    "Mercier? Is she ... is she alright or ... I mean it looks like you had a damn lot of blood on you ..." Thalia shot him a lot that read ‘no, she’s not alright’. The words couldn’t quite formulate on her tongue, so she chewed at her lip in response. It was then Nancy gripped her into a hug. Momentarily she stiffened, afraid of the sudden intimate contact, however her body relented, and she wrapped her long arms around her friend.

    "Thay, dear, stop talking such nonsense. We're just glad you're alright." Thalia almost chuckled at the nickname, though it was endearing so she didn’t, yet her words suddenly caught in Thalia’s throat. A rush of emotional pain seared through her chest again. She laughed shakily to try and cover it up.

    “Shush, I’m alright. Don’t worry about me, okay?” Once again, she slid out of Nancy’s embrace and gave a strained smile, crossing her arms over her chest shyly. “My clothes? No, there’s no hope for them now,” she sighed, glancing down at the blazer and skirt. They needed to be soaked in vinegar and burned; that’s what she concluded. After a moment of thought Thalia unbuttoned her blazer and shrugged it off her shoulders, allowing it to fall to the ground. ‘It was so expensive…’ she thought forlornly, before tugging at her shirt to roll up the sleeves. At least then only the skirt was in bad shape… and Phillip’s jacket. She winced.

    "Nancy found some sort of matchmaking sheet if I saw correct. Other than finding that we have been looking for a way out and checked out the only not blocked classroom we were able to come across,” Phillip concluded and Thalia bit at her nail in thought.

    "Yeah, Philly summed it up well. We came here to find something with what we might explode our way out here.... Maybe we can mix anything up or find something with which we can break the windows, an axe or something...."

    “So, it wasn’t a natural disaster…” Thalia murmured, her brows furrowing in thought. It all seemed too suspicious. Was there a chance they all were drugged, and she was just dreaming now? It all just seemed too suspect. And with Arielle’s state of mind when they left…
“No chance with the windows… they just don’t budge, somehow… And it just feels odd. Do none of you get the sense that something is watching you? I keep getting goose bumps; a chill; a shudder. Like…” She frowned. “Like someone is walking over my grave.”

[Something]

Thalia felt her phone vibrating deep down into her skirt pocket. The incoming message said:

Slap Phillip in the face.

[Phillip Pendragon]

At his question about Mercier, the look Thalia gave him was enough to answer than thousands of words could have. Just how many people had died today already? But ... did he actually want to find out in the first place? Trying his best to shake the thought out of his mind and not get to fall back in memories he focused on the task ahead.

Much to his disappointment however, another possibility of an escape route was canceled. So they couldn´t get out through the hallway and neither through the windows. Now that surely would cause some more hard thinking. Most likely they either had to somehow manage a way through the hallways or try their luck somewhere in the cafeteria maybe.

Thalias last words however gave him goosebumps all over as he got reminded of the messages Nancy and him have been reieving not too long ago and either something was a good guesser or indeed they were watched. As much as he wanted to know how that would even be possible, at the same time he didn´t as there surely wouldn´t be an answer to satisfy him. "It is odd indeed. Let´s better be quick to check the room and get back to the others. Maybe they got to find something usefull or even a way out in the meantime?"

[Thalia Turner]

Suddenly, without warning, a rush of chills reverberated like a bolt of lightning down Thalia’s spine. She shuddered, wrapping her arms around her chest, feeling rather exposed in the perpetual darkness. Her eyes had adjusted to the gloom and each shape was visible, even without the aid of her phone. She just had to trust her senses, even though the crippling fear of a threat was so evidently prominent.

    Thinking about that wouldn’t help; thinking about their potential doom would only make matters worse. Why could they hear the rain if it seemed like they’d fallen down somewhere? Why was the school so familiar and yet so disgustingly foreign to her? Why did it feel like they were sinking into some decrepit hole that no one could emerge from? Panic struck at her chest and forced her to fiddle around with her glasses, trying to ease the fear by tugging them on and off her face. Cleaning, wiping, on face, off face, etc. This, until she felt the sudden vibrations against her leg, from within the depths of her skirt, of her phone.

    The sensation had never felt so terrifying. With unsure fingers she plucked the device out and tested the home button to see if she was imagining things.
And oh, Thalia wasn’t imagining.
                                                                      SLAP PHILLIP IN THE FACE.
The words sprung out at her and almost sent her to her knees. She locked them and didn’t allow herself to buckle, despite the drumming of her heartbeat against her ribcage, desperate to almost burst free.

    "It is odd indeed. Let´s better be quick to check the room and get back to the others. Maybe they got to find something usefull or even a way out in the meantime?" Phillip began but Thalia couldn’t take it in, couldn’t process it. She stared at her phone with the look of someone who had just been foretold her own death. Her pale face, almost greyish in colour.

    Thalia knew, deep down, that if she complied with it, she’d be okay. That this… thing would leave her alone. The pricking on the back of her neck; the feeling of being watched. Perhaps they’d dissipate. Because deep down Thalia knew this wasn’t natural. She had always been a skeptic however something about the text… Arielle’s fit… the deaths, or… murders, everything. It seemed like some monstrous conspiracy with the destiny to split itself open from the hot core and cause as much pain and suffering as entirely possible. And doing what this Something said to her… it would be a good thing.

    So, the girl turned to her lover; turned to Phillip and met his warm gaze with her frozen one. She lingered for a moment, the pain in her eyes, before her fingers twitched and she raised her hand…

    … Thalia brushed a smudge of dirt from Phillip’s cheek and she smiled tenderly, clicking the lock button of her phone and letting it slip into her skirt pocket. She leaned upwards, still shaking, wrapping her arms around his neck gently and letting her lips brush his. She wouldn't do it. Never. Whatever it was could go fuck itself. It wouldn't break her... it couldn't.

“I’m going to have a look around just now, okay? We haven’t checked in here thoroughly enough and I’d love to find something useful…" she lingered a moment before saying again. "I… I missed you,” she whispered, so only he could hear her.

    Thalia pulled away and turned, facing the darkness of the Science room once more.


                                                                          [Thalia made a perception check]

[Administrator]

Dice result: 1D10 => 2
Failure; you didn't find anything useful.

[Something]

Looking around for any useful items in this dark dark room, Thalia felt another buzz coming from her skirt-pocket.
Distracted, she didn't watch her step and her foot landed on a pile of wide, sharp glass shreds, one of them cut through the base of the shoe and sunk into her flesh, causing pain and bleeding.

The message that Thalia has received said:

Stop ruining my plans! He doesn't need you.

Thalia lost 1 health point

[Phillip Pendragon]

Meeting the frozen look of pain coming from Thalia, Phillip felt his heart crack a little just to get filled up with all kinds of worries. Was she hiding something? Was she angry? Was she sad? What happened? Did he overlook or ignore something? Could he help her? Had he only make things worse? As she was just in front of him again, he was already about to raise his arms again to just drag her into another hug and carry her around for however long they may be trapped.

Focused on her gaze, the male was completely oblivious to her own raising hand until their skins met and soon after, their lips in a sweet subtle kiss. Holding her tight to his heart for a moment, he looked at her caring, almost like a lover instead of a good friend or whatever they were. He had no idea what these feelings exactly were that he was having for redhead, but one thing he was absolutely certain about. His feelings for her were surprisingly strong ... and rising.

So with that, this woman first melted his heart with her words just to crush it the moment she attempted to walk away just to injure herself. Immediately he rushed to her side and grabbed the next best piece of clothes he could find and handed it over to Nancy. "Nancy can you wash that quickly please?" Meanwhile he tended Thalia, lifting her up from the ground and placing her on the teachers desk nearby so she could stretch out her leg. Once seated he took off her shoe and carefully pulled out the bigger pieces of glass while Nancy was busy washing the clothes so they could wrap it around Thalias foot to bandage it and thus stopping greater harm by too much bloodloss or worse.

[Nancy Holmes]

“No chance with the windows… they just don’t budge, somehow… And it just feels odd. Do none of you get the sense that something is watching you? I keep getting goose bumps; a chill; a shudder. Like…” She frowned. “Like someone is walking over my grave.”

Actually, Nancy did feel watched too. Especially after the messages she had gotten before. And Phillip aswell. There HAD to be someone watching them, there was no other explanation... But she thought of it more like a cruel prank than something serious.

"It is odd indeed. Let´s better be quick to check the room and get back to the others. Maybe they got to find something usefull or even a way out in the meantime?"
"I agree...I really need to get back to check on Ari and aunt Roni...Maybe Sig woke up too by now." Having that said, Nancy started looking around the room. Opening cupboards, vitrines, looked under tables and out of the windows and therefore didn't witness the intimate scene between her two friends. She sighed. It was still just black outside. She looked around and saw a bunsen burner on the worktable next to her. Something metal, good.... She hit the window with it a couple of times, but there wasn't even a scratch. Something was fishy here, that was abnormal. Frustrated, she threw it against the window, but it was like water on a duck's back to it. Just then, she heard a noise behind her and turned around. It looked like Thalia had looked around the room too and now hurt herself. "Thay!", she called and ran back to her and Phillip who was lifting her up and put her on a table. "Oh no! What happened?"

"Nancy can you wash that quickly please?"
Just when she arrived, Phil handed her some fabric. "Immediately!!", she said and jumped over to the sink, doing her best to wash this piece of fabric. She even found some germicid and dipped it into it. The she ran back to the two - almost slipping - and gave Phillip the cloth so he could wrap it around her foot. "Oh damn..." , she mumbled. That looked like it hurted!! "I hope you didn't forget any pieces...! I put some germicid on the cloth so it should prevent an inflammation..."