"Map that leads to you" #event 3

[Christopher Kresh]

With a shaky sigh chris walked through the hallways as he after some steps started to walk in a faster pace. He needed air. He really had to go outside and just breathe. It all became too much for him. Even if he would have wanted to comfort naya he had to think about his own health. Nobody would benefit from it if he would faint.

Quickly and lost in his thoughts Chris opened the door and stumbled through expecting fresh air to surround him. However this was not the case.

“what the..!?”

Chris was confused. This.. seemed like art class.. how did he get here.
He held his head as his head started to hurt. Chris was shaking. Quickly he grabbed one of the tables with his free hand. “Hn..!” the white noise was pretty painful. He.. he couldn't imagine his panic attack was that bad. He had to breathe but whatever he did.. Ellie, kairi and in particular Amanda and Andrei didn't leave his thoughts.

He leaned on the table as he tried to control his panicky breathing

[Nancy Holmes]

Nancy was the first to step out of the lab, stopping right after she went through the door. Wait - This... wasn't the hallway. She looked around with a few quick headmovements which made her dark curls jump. This... Was this ... the art-classroom? She squinted her eyes in confusion. There was a person... "Chris??", she asked in disbelieve when she recognized him, even when he had his back turned towards her. What a blessing, he seemed to be alright!! Though... They had checked every single corner in the cafeteria and the classroom, how did he get here? She shook her head. Or, how did SHE get here?

"Phillip, Thalia, look who's-", she turned around to her friends, ".......there....." There was nobody behind her. Just an empty corridor. A cold shiver ran over her back. Did she have some kind of blackout?? But all the ways out had been blocked... She turned to Chris again. At least he was still there. She went over to him, not being able to hide her confusion. "How....where are we...? Art class...? But..." She looked around again. This looked like art class, definitely. But... How did she get to the other floor? She put a hand against her forehead and suddenly felt dizzy. Just now the white sound was ringing in her ears. She moaned in pain and got a hold of a table, pushing some art supplies on the floor accidentally. After a few moments it was gone. "Uhhhh.....Oh.... I'm sorry...!", she mumbled and kneeled down to tidy up the mess she had caused.

[Christopher Kresh]

Chris suddenly heard a female voice. It sounded familiar. Shocked he moved his head up to look at the black haired girl who walked into the room. “nancy..?” he asked. His voice was shaking. “thank god..! Nancy you're okay..!” he said softly in great relief.

"Phillip, Thalia, look who's-" the girl turned. What..!? Were phillip and thalia there as well..? He tried to look for them but didn't see them. Nancy looked confused. “w-were they with you..?” chris asked with a slight stutter in his voice.

It was till that point that he suddenly saw how nancy began to feel worse.

”How....where are we...? Art class...? But..." she looked extremely confused. He felt the same only was his freakout inside of him instead of spoken out loud. “yeah.. i.. i don't know what happened either..” he admitted as he bit his lip. This was bad. Really bad. Had he been hallucinating?

He jumped when nancy grabbed a table and let stuff fall on the ground. He didn't really listen to her apologies as he rushed to her side to check on her. “it's okay.. do you need to sit down?” in all honesty. He himself wouldn't mind that either. It felt as if he didn’t sleep and had stayed up all night doing hard work. He was exhausted and hungry.

[Nancy Holmes]

She heard Chris saying something in what was feeling like the distance. She nodded. Yes, they had been with her.......right? Suddenly, she wasn't so sure anymore. She had just been in the lab, hadn't she? Together with her friends...she wanted to go back to check on Ari, Veronica, Sig and Elizabeth... She shook her head slightly. That was just a second ago, so...how...?

“it's okay.. do you need to sit down?”
She nodded again and just sat down on the floor, she had been kneeling down anyways. "It's....I'm just so confused...." She breathed a few times in and out to clear her head and calm down. She needed to focus again. What would Phillip do, what would Phillip do, what would Phillip do.... "So.... you don't know how you got here either? What happened? That... eearthquake was real, right? Where have you been? And with who?", she asked many questions at once. They, she quickly answered her own questions to inform him about what had happened to her. "For me, I woke up in the cafeteria, so right under the auditorium. It was weir though that there were only Arielle, Veronica, Phillip, Thalia, Sigvard and Elizabeth... Noone else. We checked the classroom next to it and the lab, but we didn't find anyone else. Though we got some weird text messages, so I turned off my phone...", she babbled and hoped that Chris was able to understand her fast-paced speech. "I...I'm so relieved to meet you. That means the others are all okay too, right?", she asked full of hope. Nobody besides Ellie had died, right...? They were all fine and would make it out of here.

[Christopher Kresh]

Chris gently helped her down as both of them sat on the ground. He was actually.. kind of glad to give his tired legs some rest. He only now had noticed how weak they were getting. They needed a moment.
Nancy was breathing heavily as if she was trying to keep herself together. He could totally imagine still longing for fresh air himself.

"It's....I'm just so confused...."
Nancy said as she took a moment to recollect herself.
"So.... you don't know how you got here either? What happened? That... earthquake was real, right? Where have you been? And with who?"
Nancy began. Chris blinked a few times taken back by the sudden waterfall of questions. He swallowed. Should.. he tell her..? He looked at nancy who was rambling on. He .. didn't know if he was able to.

"For me, I woke up in the cafeteria, so right under the auditorium. It was weird though that there were only Arielle, Veronica, Phillip, Thalia, Sigvard and Elizabeth... Noone else. We checked the classroom next to it and the lab, but we didn't find anyone else. Though we got some weird text messages, so I turned off my phone..."

Chris could feel how he turned pale. Shit. So she had gotten those too. “nancy.. i think it's not smart to keep your phone off..” He said softly. However nancy wasn't done yet with her sea of questions.

"I...I'm so relieved to meet you. That means the others are all okay too, right?”
And with that Chris decided he couldn't keep it silent it was hard but the girl had the right to know.

“I blacked out in the entrance hall. I was not feeling well and tara came after me to check on me. I saw phillip and tristan later.. and.. “
He sighed his hands slightly shaking.
“we.. uhm” he began. He was glad he was already sitting down. Nancy too. “.. we saw amanda.. .. falling.. she committed suicide..”
He said. His voice was hoarse and he could feel his face getting warmer. The image of amanda hitting the ground would forever be imprinted in his mind. “.. thats when the earthquake happened..” he continued trying to get a hold of his voice. It sounded small and fragile. “.. kairi didn't make the fall..” he piped up feeling the tears burn in his eyes again. He was exhausted and did not possess the energy to keep track of his emotions. “I was with t-tara , naya, peyton, misha, naveen, kairi, some blonde girl and andrei..” he said as he tried to wipe his tears away. He was telling her the whole story in one go. Better to tell everything and get it off his chest then to leave nancy in the dark only to find out later. “ all of us have been getting those texts.. those texts are dangerous..! They..! S-Something possessed andrei after peyton didn't obey..!” he said. “.. andrei is dead too.. he fell in one of those holes.. threw himself in to safe peyton from whatever send that text..”
He didn't dare to look at nancy. He had no idea how close she was to those who had died. But she HAD to know..

[Nancy Holmes]

“Nancy.. i think it's not smart to keep your phone off..”
Nancy bit her lower lip. Maybe it wasn't, but... she couldn't stand the thought of being able to get more messages, they might get worse by the time... So far she had probably been spared. She nodded, when Chris told her his story. So he hadn't been in the auditorium that time...Right, a few had left it before that happened, Nancy remembered now. Phillip too... How did he get into the cafeteria then...?

“.. we saw amanda.. .. falling.." Oh, Amanda... she hoped she was alright. So everyone had fallen. Strange though to be on the first floor again now. "she committed suicide..”

Nancy froze. What..? "Su-....?", she began, but couldn't finish the word. Her mind raced. Was Chris sure it had been suicide?? Maybe she just fell to her death or it was an accident like with Ellie....! But, Chris wasn't dumb, he probably knew what he had seen.... Oh, the earthquake happened afterwards? "But...how...", she mumbled, not really expecting any details. She wanted to know how this was possible, but she didn't want Chris to think more about this than necessary. That must've been a horrible view, whatever it had looked like. Maybe she should be glad she had no idea, because now she couldn't even imagine what it must've looked like...

Shocked, she kept listening to the boy. “.. kairi didn't make the fall..” It wasn't getting better. So many people had died already...! To be honest, she hadn't really know Kairi, but a life was a life. She pressed a hand on her lips. Not being able to say anything, she watched small tears appearing in his eyes.

“I was with t-tara , naya, peyton, misha, naveen, kairi, some blonde girl and andrei..”
So Naya and Misha were okay... And they were together. Thank god. And Tara, and Peyton and Naveen... She wondered who the blonde girl might be. Weird...there wasn't any blonde in the theater group that was blonde...?

“ all of us have been getting those texts.. those texts are dangerous..! They..!"
"S-so you have gotten them too?? What did they say?", to speak, she let her hand sink a few centimeters. Had they gotten crazy love-messages too? The ones she and Phillip had gotten had not been dangerous...But they both just did what they had said without thinking about it.....

"S-Something possessed andrei after peyton didn't obey..!.. andrei is dead too.. he fell in one of those holes.. threw himself in to safe peyton from whatever send that text..”
She gasped. Another death. "So you say that..... this..... something wanted to kill Peyton for not following his orders?", she asked horrified. How could this thing be at so many places at the same time? Or was it.... swiching positions to get a look on all of them...? She moved her hands to her upper arms, tightly hugging herself, her eyes still wide open in shock. Until now, Nancy had had no idea this was so serious. Her mind was blank. She tried to think, but somehow just couldn't form one clear thought.

After a long while, she looked from the floor up to Chris. "That's.....gruesome.... Chris.. Thank you for telling me. I'm sorry you had to remember because of me.", she said and slided a bit closer to give him a hug. Human warmth was what they needed right now more than anything. She hugged him for some moments while trying to collect her thoughts. It was somehow reassuring to being hugged. It calmed her down.

Finally, she pulled away and looked at him. "We have to get out of here...somehow...", she said with a much stronger voice and looked around. There wasn't much to see from the floor though, so she got up and started to search through the room.

[Nancy made a perception check]

[Administrator]

Dice result: 1D10 => 5
Failure; you didn't find anything useful.

[Nancy Holmes]

"Hmmmm..... Nothing seems to be here....Did you find anything?", Nancy asked as she turned to Chris. She hadn't found anything, even after looking closely into every corner of the room. Last time she and Phillip had found a note at least - The note! Quickly, she pushed a hand into the pocket of her skirt. Relieved, she closed her eyes for a moment when her hand touched the piece of paper. She even tried a smile towards Chris. "Let's check if we can go somewhere else or even find a way out?" She nodded to corroborate what she had just said.

[Christopher Kresh]

Chris could only nod when nancy asked about the texts. he was still terrified for his phone. He really didn't want to go in depth about that. if anything he wanted to throw his phone in one of those pits to never see it again. If any bad spirits were attached to it he wanted to get rid of it asap.

"So you say that..... this..... something wanted to kill Peyton for not following his orders?" Nancy started to fully understand what was going on. He felt bad for telling her but he had to. she had the right to know what happened to her friends or.. atleast club members.
“ .. yes.. that's why i said you shouldn't turn off your phone.. i.. wouldn't want anything to hurt you” he admitted.

After a while of silence nancy began to speak again. "That's.....gruesome.... Chris.. Thank you for telling me. I'm sorry you had to remember because of me." Chris shrugged, “ Its.. Okay..” he mumbled as he looked away. “ you had the right to know.. just.. i am sorry to bring such horrible news..” he said. he looked up when nancy got closer to him. he was a bit confused at first to why she did so but then felt how she hugged him. He gently hugged her back hoping she wouldn't find it weird and that he could comfort her.

After the hug she let go looking at him, chris looked back at her as she spoke. "We have to get out of here...somehow..." she said. Chris nodded. “ we should.. i mean.. i tried before.. but i .. i honestly don't even remember how i got here.” he admitted.
when nancy got up he took a deep breath and followed her example.
"Hmmmm..... Nothing seems to be here....Did you find anything?" Nancy asked him.
chris looked around the room. nothing but art supplies. those weren't going to help them.. “ no.. I didnt..” he said. he still felt a little off. this was weird. super weird. "Let's check if we can go somewhere else or even find a way out?" Nancy asked him with a smile. Chris nodded. He didn't really know what to say or how to act towards nancy. she was nice but.. he really didn't want to make a fool out of himself by doing something dumb. “ yeah..! uh thats a good idea..!” he agreed.

[Nancy Holmes]

“ .. yes.. that's why i said you shouldn't turn off your phone.. i.. wouldn't want anything to hurt you”
Digging her nails into her own skin, Nancy stared on the floor. That made perfectly sense. But...If her phone was turned off, she couldn't get any messages that she could not follow, right...? Slowly, she loosened her grip on her arm and moved her hand into her pocket where her phone was. She pulled it out and looked down on it. It was still off. "..........Thanks for your concern, Chris...", she murmured and looked up to him for a moment, before lowering her gaze on the phonescreen again. She moved her finger to the on-off-button, thought for a moment - but then decided to leve it turned off. That thing couldn't punish her for something she didn't even know she needed to do.

“ you had the right to know.. just.. i am sorry to bring such horrible news..”
She shooke her head about this. "No, it's not your fault these things happened....", she assured him. He was right, it was better to know about all these horrible things than to be in the dark. Nancy didn't like things she couldn't understand or influence even a little bit. It felt consoling when he hugged her back.

“ we should.. i mean.. i tried before.. but i .. i honestly don't even remember how i got here.”

"Me neither... We tried to break the windows, they didn't even get a scratch, whatever we did to them. And the corridors were all blocked. We could only go from the cafeteria to a classroom and the lab.", she reported and shrugged in a helpless gesture.

She nodded when Chris told her he hadn't found anything either. Too bad... She nodded again when he agreed to leave the room. They both walked through the door. That was when Nancy spotted the sign for the girl's toilets down the corridor. "Oh! The toilets....! Would you mind if I went in there for a moment? I really need some refreshing after all this... I'll hurry." She was really thirsty and needed to visit the toilets too...

[Christopher Kresh]

Chris walked with her as he listened to her talking about what happened before. He nodded. " Yeah.. Peyton misha and naya also tried to get out but nothing would budge.. I just.. hope nobody got stuck under some debris.. you know from the earthquake and all". He looked down as he walked on careful to not hurt himself, and also because he didn't really wanted Nancy to see how worried and stressed he was. She had her own worries and didn't need his as well.

They eventually reached the toilets. The redhead jumped a bit when he heard Nancy" Oh! The toilets....! Would you mind if I went in there for a moment? I really need some refreshing after all this... I'll hurry." Chris looked at her. " Uh sure yeah thats fine..!" he said as he nodded. " Uhm! I'll be right outside! if something is wrong just yell really hard and I'll be there allright?" He told her as he was still kind of worried about the whole splitting up thing. especially since it was just the two of them.