70. [DREAM/DREAM/DREAM/DREAM]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[So while the rest of Johto alternately panics, cries, or rushes around trying to capture as many of the soulstealing insects as possible, there are dozens of souls floating around in that dream limbo, drifting in and out of each other's slumbering thoughts and visions. Whether it's nightmarish flashbacks or just those dreams where you're at school taking a really hard test, and then Dracula shows up, and then everybody's naked ... anything is possible when it comes to what people see in their sleep.]

[But what appears in the darkness in this particular spot in the spaceless, shifting mass of dreaming souls... is a door.]

[It's old, and covered with boards and bolts, rusted near-through in some places. The lock is broken-- mangled and half-melted and wrenched out of the keyhole. The only thing on it that doesn't look ancient is a scrap of torn notebook-paper that's taped up on it at roughly eye-level. It reads only a single phrase:]</sub>

Fear of blood tends to create fear for the flesh.

<sub>[More importantly, though... the door is ajar. Through the gap come the scents of rust and metal-- and something organic, fleshy-- and a low, deep hum of industrial machinery. It's not a door that anyone in their right mind would want to go through. ... But for anyone who may have stumbled this far into the dreams of their fellow lost souls, either in flight from some other nightmare or just pure, wandering curiosity... there's just no other place to go but through the door.]




[Go on. Open it. After all.... it's only a dream.]</sub>

[ooc: SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG, GUYS. Thanks for being patient! If you commented on that planning post, there's something spooky planned for your character to do here so please feel free to tag or not tag as it pleases you!]

~*~

[ooc: This is the IC post for what was announced over here! Even if you didn't comment there, feel free to participate! I'm still happy to whip up Silent Hill scenarios for folks!]

Comments

dammit LJ i demand you work for me

[philanthrotaku.livejournal.com]

[Otacon knew he'd regret this the second he saw that door. What other choice did he really have? There was nowhere else he could have gone, and surely one of these weird realities would have a way back. He had to wake up--Snake and Liquid must have been worried out of their minds about him, right? If he didn't snap out of this soon, who the hell knew how long it would take them to start fighting?]

[He took a deep breath, sighed, and walked through the door.]

GOD DAMMIT LJ

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Beyond the door... there is a hallway.]

[It's cold and bare-- and dark. Although it looks somewhat lived-in-- there's little note-cards next to the various darkened doors that lead off of it, and even mats in font of a few of them, it's empty. Somehow hollow. A chilly draft is coming from somewhere, whispering down the hall and ruffling the hem of the poor lost scientist's coat.]

[It's an office building-- after-hours, clearly... but the cold breeze and stale scent of disuse in the air suggests that it's not simply a business shut down for the night... there's something very wrong here.]

[Even stranger, that low pulse of machinery and grinding gears that he'd heard before entering the door is gone. Vanished. Maybe it had just been a trick of the ear? Either way... instead, there is quiet... punctuated by the moan of wind outside and strange, faint sounds...]</sub>

LJ D8<!!!!

[forhishappiness.livejournal.com]

[Another door. Ur was getting tired of them, but there was nothing else she could do in this place. She helped Ritsu in his own, so maybe in this door, she could help someone as well.

Without hesitation, she opened the door.]

8( It's being screwy for me too!

[foolishwren]

<sub>[So many doors. Maybe it's just considered polite to knock before stepping into someone's inner psyche or something? Who the hell knows. Either way... the door gives off a great creak as it's opened, along with a patter of rust and old, brittle paint flecks as the movement dislodges them from the frame.]

[On the other side of the door, there's...]

[... Huh. It... looks like a house. Big, old, and wooden. It's dark, lit only faintly by the windows to the outside... it's one of those grey early-morning hours, before the sun's risen.]

[Ur will find herself standing in a dusty entrance hall. There's very little decoration about-- the occasional framed photo of unknown people, and a few bookshelves... there's not even a carpet, save for a dusty old one covering the stairs leading up to the second-floor landing... from which Ur will be able to hear voices. ... Faint voices. They're arguing.]</sub>

OOC

[pokemondolly.livejournal.com]

[[. . . You are so badass it hurts sometimes.]]

Re: OOC

[foolishwren]

[XD; Aw man. Thank you!]

[bakaitoukid]

[This... was a bad idea. But it was the only option he had.

He had already spent the majority of his time in this dream world hopping from nightmare to nightmare to... strange stuffed animal infested playground searching for a way out. So far, his searches had proved fruitless, but he somehow knew that if he kept looking he'd find an exit in a dream world somewhere. So when he somehow stumbled up this creepy door that obviously lead to some place unsavory, he knew he had to push his way forward, no matter how many reservations he had.

With a deep breath to steel himself, he reached out to nudge the door open even more, wide enough for him to enter... well. Whatever this place was supposed to be]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[... Yeah. Yeah, it really was.]

[But in the long run... things had to get darker before they could get lighter, right?]

[The door comes open slowly. It's heavy, and for good reason-- caught under its edge is a small, straggly mess of wwaterlogged junk-- weeds, old garbage, netting... and sewage. It drags across the floor along with the door with a disgusting squelch, leaving a slimy smear behind it. It stinks. ... And so does the world beyond the door.]

[A soft, blue-green light licks up the curving walls of the tunnel that stretches out before Kaito-- reflections from the gurgling water that's flowing through it. Is he-- ... yes. Kaito is in a sewer.]

[... And it smells like one, too. :(]</sub>

[shellderkillder.livejournal.com]

[An old door. He can barely muster the will to be surprised or even mildly curious about this. He doesn't know where he is, how long it has been, or even how real the blood running down his face might be. All he knows is that everywhere he walks there is a big vast plain of nothing and he's left in the middle of it while his vision goes dark and he slowly bleeds to death.

Over and over and over again.

So sure. He'll try the door. He doesn't feel like he has a choice, either way.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Bleeding to death out in the middle of nowhere pretty much sucks. At least if there's something on the other side of this door, he'll be able to bleed to death in the middle of somewhere instead, right?]

[The door is heavy, but it swings open with a low groan, and suddenly what had previously been a dark gap became a small, plain hallway bathed in yellow light-- it's almost homey! Looks like a hotel... or maybe a little apartment complex. It must be late, because the lights are on, the doors are locked if tried, and there's nobody around... but... one door is ajar. Just slightly.]

[On the wall next to that door is something... a flyer? ... No. A dripping painting. It looks like it was made with a stencil... in bright red paint.]</sub>

[digital_bingo]

[Well... she already woke up in some air vent and ended up in some forest... What would a door do?

So Miyako just opened it, trying not to hesitate. She wasn't sure what was going on, and frankly, this entire scene-changing freaky place was starting to give her the heebie-jeebies, but she couldn't turn back now. After all, there was nowhere to go. Nowhere except forward.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[What doors are meant to do, of course. Open.]

[The world on the other side meets Miyako in a rush-- fog, and lots of it. It might even be refreshing after wandering in pure blackness for so long. Cool, white, and so thick it could practically be solid, it coats every inch of the landscape before her-- turning something that could probably be your average suburban neighborhood on a good day into a veritable ghost town.]

[The faded forms of trees and houses loom up out of the mist on either side, but the land directly ahead of her is bare. A broad street.]</sub>

[dead-black-eyes.livejournal.com]

[L's soul is something between a monster and a child, looking like a creature that doesn't quite know what he is. All he knows is that he's free of his chains, and that there's suddenly a door, and anything is better than being in this dark prison of a room for even a moment longer. His glossy black insect-eyes scan over the note without really comprehending it, and he's scrambling through the door to get away from his own nightmare...

...and into someone else's, apparently. And what a nightmare it is. Everything seems to be cast in red light, and the whirring and humming of machinery makes him nervous. Even though he looks like he could fit into a world like this, he feels uneasy, like he needs to find a place to hide rather than continuing to stand out here in the open where any enterprising metaphorical hawk could swoop right down and snatch the wayward little creature.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Regardless of anything else that happens to L beyond the ancient and moldering barrier of that door... at the very least, he will be in good company. Not much that crawls or creeps through the Otherworld knows what it is.]

[The door opens surprisingly easily, even for the spindly little thing-- maybe it's because he's not quite human-- or maybe it's just the wind helping him out. On the other side, buildings. Dark buildings-- uninhabited, it seems-- save for one, whose windows are lit in the face of the darkening scarlet sky. And it is darkening quickly. The smoky sun is already disappearing behind the mostly-obscured horizon. He's right to be hunting for a hiding spot, because little things-- even little monsters-- aren't safe on the streets of the other Silent Hill.]

[The door on the lit building-- which is the only one that even seems to have any definition, as though the others are cardboard cutouts, immaterial-- hangs open loosely. A little invitingly... but in the way that an abandoned carcass might look inviting to scavengers after already being gutted by a bigger carnivore.]

[All the same... it's the only feasible shelter in sight.]</sub>

That picture is so badass *-*

[exeggutorhead]

[Envy has already been having terrible luck with ominous doorways. And this one looks particularly unpleasant. But still, there's nowhere else for him to go.]

Guess it's a good thing I'm not afraid of blood.

[And with that, through the door he goes.]

THANKS BRO

[foolishwren]

<sub>[It's a good thing he's not afraid of blood! Because... that's what greets him when he steps across that threshold-- well, not sprays of it or anything... but the stench will hit him like a brick wall. The coppery smell is almost overwhelmingly strong-- and underneath it, there's something... chemical. Like a vet's office combined with an abandoned pharmacy.]

[Worse still, wherever he is, it's pitch black... well, at first...]

[Once his eyes start adjusting to the darkness, little outlines will start to show up in the darkness... blank monitors and bed rails... trays and bottles... what is this place...?]</sub>

[shiromadoushi]

[[Well this was interesting. Like something out of a horror movie.

So of course, Bakura has to investigate. Though really, that was the first rule of what not to do in that sort of situation, but there was a large difference between being aware of the rules of things like this and using that awareness to avoid the obvious traps being set.

And if Bakura was smart about these things his life would have been very different.]]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Go on, Bakura. Step through that door. It'll be okay. I promise.]

[Beyond the door is a room. On the offhand, it doesn't actually look like there's much wrong with it-- it's a hospital room, that much is clear. It's largely bare. There's a few cots here and there and the tiles on the floor, once probably a shiny ivory but now off-white, are mostly bare. It's well-lit, both by lights overhead as well as a pair of frosted windows, presumably to the outside...]

[In any case, apart from being seemingly abandoned, there's not much in the room that seems to match the tone set by that ominous old door... in fact, only one corner of the room seems to have been occupied at all. The sheets on the cot in the corner are rumpled, and there's bits and pieces of junk all around it-- along with a corkboard which is easily the most colorful thing in the room... thanks to the objects pinned all over it.]

[Investigate?]</sub>

Ahhhh Kit. <3

[usedtherapy.livejournal.com]

[[Where was she now? She wasn't sure. Things shifted a lot within wherever they were, and she barely felt the need to keep track of where she was. However, now she was trapped. Or would be, anyway, if there wasn't a door in front of her to take.

Curiously, she inspects it. She pokes at it, prods at it, before taking the time to read the message.]]

...Fear of blood?

[[Was she afraid of blood? Not really. The door being her only option, and feeling as though she's inspected enough, she carefully pulls it open and peers inside. The smells are an odd mixture of pleasant, yet overwhelming, and the sounds leave her nerves tingling and on edge. Still, though, she has no where else to go.

So she steps through.]]

NOW WE SHALL SEE WHETHER I AM QUALIFIED TO PLAY A CHARACTER FROM A HORROR STORY

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Brave kid! A healthy combination of courage and fear is what will let somebody survive the things on the other side of that door... but maybe Rose will be lucky. If nothing else, her smarts should be able to carry her along just like they carried the owner of this particular dreamspace...]

[What waits on the other side of the door is.... well, surprisingly? Nothing. ... Nothing of particular strikingness, anyway. It's a hallway-- dark and musty. Its walls and floors may once have been clean, but now they're spattered with big dark splotches and peeling paint-- sort of like blood clots. Either this place has been abandoned for a long time, or the janitor really needs to be fired.]

[But a more urgent thing to pay attention to than the decrepit state of the building is what's ahead... There's no brief pause of silence to build up the tension once she steps inside-- immediately cutting in above the thrum of far-off machinery is a long, gurgling bellow-- when Rose steps through the door, it's right in the middle of the cry, which carries on another couple of seconds before petering out into a series of smaller gurgles.]

[It's coming from ahead-- past the end of the hallway, which is lit faintly...]</sub>

[show_my_cannons]

[Ironhide has gotten sick of roaming this weird landscape. It's annoying, and as much as he likes being himself again, he would much rather stop feeling like he's hallucinating every five minutes.]

[The door is new.]

[He could turn around and walk away, but... having neither blood nor flesh at the moment, what does he have to fear?]

Out of my way.

[The five-ton Autobot snorts, and shoves the door aside, stepping through it with cannons powered and ready.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[There's little that a moldering door-- even a heavy one-- can do in the face of just being straight-up smashed.]

[The wood splinters under the force of Ironhide's push and the door even wrenches off of its frame partially, hanging askew as he steps through... and onto a floor of rusty metal grating that strains and groans under his incredible weight like an old man trying to pick up a boulder. It doesn't buckle, though... but it sinks dangerously in spots, enough to indicate that if he doesn't want to put a foot through the clearly-ancient grating and potentially disappear into the blackness below, it would do him well to walk carefully.]

[The landscape before him alternates between buzzing, flickering lights and deep shadows... Is it a town? If it is, the buildings are awfully small, picturesque and decorative... and there are towering, spindly structures barely visible in the distance, which stretches on and on, even to the view of somebody as tall as Ironhide... Whatever this place is, it seems abandoned. There's garbage scattered everywhere, overturned trash bins, and even the attractions that are still lit are empty. It's obvious right from the get-go that any human residents weren't just scared off by the autobot's forceful entrance; they've been gone a long time.]

[... But although there don't appear to be any people around (at least not at first glance), Lakeside Amusement Park is hardly devoid of life...]</sub>

[hintcoinplz.livejournal.com]

[He should've known opening that door was a bad idea. It was better to have stayed in the dreams of others where he was safe, where he didn't have to think about his parents dying or London being reduced to rubble.

But his curiosity had gotten the better of him, and the only thing he could do is keep going forward. So he carefully opens the door.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Curiosity killed the cat, Luke...]

[A gust of cold, wet air is what greets him as he opens the door, which is heavy and stubborn, but not impossible to move. Beyond it, there's an alleyway. The pavement is damp and strewn with puddles and garbage... old bottles, soggy newspaper... there's a few garbage bins around, and the brick walls are coated with graffiti.]

[There's a splash of rain in the atmosphere and wisps of steamy fog hover around the ground-- a streetlight's glow peeps from around the corner, but otherwise, it's fairly dark...]

[Not to mention, that light has a strange quality about it...]</sub>

[useddeathbound.livejournal.com]

[[He doesn't like the look or the smell of the door, but all around him there's simply darkness, now. So where else is there to go? He's no longer carrying his axe. Castor isn't here. His evoker isn't there.

But what does he have to lose?

Shinji opens the door, cautious, and steps in to take a look around.]]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[The first thing that will hit Shinji's eyes is somewhat reminiscent of what one sees when they look straight at the sun with closed eyes. Veins-- or something like veins-- crawling up and down the walls, which are red like flesh.]

[It's not immediately obvious what kind of place he's just stepped into... only that the hallways are somehow organic. Moist, sickeningly warm, and... pulsating. Somehow.]

[Either he's wandering through a giant body, or-- ... well he's wandering around in a symbolic giant body. Something like that.]</sub>

[northerncrosses.livejournal.com]

[ sheryl's always had good intuition when it comes to things that doesn't seem normal. for example, that door she's been staring at for quite some time now.

but having gone through several different dreams -- one, even, where she almost (just almost!) drowned in a sea of stuffed animals -- this one should have been less strange. the stench and the sounds behind it is familiar enough for someone who had lived all her life on galaxy; metal and industry and progress. except for that note written on it, one that is enough to send a cold shiver down her spine.

still, it's a way out, something she'd been searching for a while now since she's entered this place. ]

It's just a door. There's nothing to be afraid of it.

[foolishwren]

<sub>[It's never the door that's the danger. It's whatever's behind it.]

[Which, in Sheryl's case, is drifting fog. The place she'll be stepping into should she choose to open the door, is a town. Or a town center, rather-- it's a quaint, New England-style place. It's a place that should be bustling with tourists, even on a gray, foggy day like it is.]

[But there's not hide nor hair of anybody... just a foggy town center, with all its little cafes and mom-and-pop shops closed, dark-windowed. The pavement of the roads that sprawl out in all directions from the little square is all cracked, and there's old garbage strewn everywhere. A few cars are sitting around, but they're covered in rust... like they've been there for years.]

[But hey, there's streets, and where there's streets, there's paths to take...]</sub>

That picture is so cool

[serpensrex.livejournal.com]

[The Commander glanced at the door again. He knew he wasn’t going to like this. Nothing about the way that door looked made him think this was going to be a good idea.

But he didn’t really have a choice now, did he? Besides, he thought, it couldn’t be as bad as some of the other places he’d been to recently, could it? Mustering up what little courage he had, the Commander made up his mind and stepped through the door.]

Thanks, man!

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Nope. The door's not good news, not at all. But there's just nowhere else to go.]

[When the Commander steps through the door, it's into an old, dark hallway. There's a stale smell about it, like it hasn't been inhabited in a long, long time. Peeling paint and abandoned gurneys litter its edges ... and there's a horrible stench in the air.]

[It's not blood... or even that ransacked-pharmacy smell one might expect from a place that so obviously was a hospital (... or was once a hospital...) ... it's rot.]</sub>

[itsthebutz.livejournal.com]

[After all horrific things Larry has seen throughout his time in the nightmare world, this door is definitely somewhere near the top of the list. That cryptic message doesn't really help.

Everything about this door throws up red flags. There is no way Larry would want to go through it. Especially since he was alone. At least if someone was with him the thought of going through that door wouldn't be as terrifying.

And yet...he feels like he's been pulled in. Like there's something he needs to do beyond that door. He knows he's going to seriously regret it, but he steps inside anyway. He's going to be shaking like a leaf the entire way.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Larry's instincts are right. But... well, where else is he gonna go?]

[On the other side of the door is a lobby. Or a waiting room? ... Both, apparently... right down the chairs, potted plant in the corner, and old magazines lying around. ... Except it all looks like it's been there for a really, really long time. The plant is withered and crackly-looking...]

[At least there's some lights on, though! ... Dim lights, but lights!]

[They glint off of something that's sitting up on the front desk-- looks like one of those little service bells you whack to let someone know you're there!]</sub>

[newhero.livejournal.com]

[Sora was made for doors-- or rather, he's been in the business of locking them ever since he left his home world. still, after examining this one for several moments for a Keyhole of some kind, and after he swallows back a fairly dreadful feeling, he takes a tentative step through.]

[what had he heard in that dream nearly a year ago again? don't be afraid? that's right... whatever it is he's about to see, Sora can handle it.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Unfortunately for Sora... there's this thing about Silent Hill. And that thing is: all locks are broken.]

[But that's the least of his worries...]

[Unlike he might expect from the sight of the door, the place he steps into is... NOT an old wooden building at all. Instead, he'll find himself in a building of semi-immense size... one that was possibly once fancy-looking. Before whatever had happened that left it looking like it had been abandoned for years and years, anyway.]

[WELCOME TO THE MALL, SORA. Never been? That's okay.]

[Might as well get some practice at being a normal modern teenager in. The escalators don't work anymore, but why not check out some stores? There's no one around to yell at you for loitering or moving those mannequins in that clothing store nearby into hilarious inappropriate positions (well, okay, we know you won't do that, Sora. You're a GOOD kid).]

[Or you could run upstairs and try to check out the Food Court...]</sub>

[callmeadam.livejournal.com]

[This doesn't feel right. The air itself tastes like metal and death. He carefully pushes open the door, hand on one of his guns.]

One's a sorrow...

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Nothing about the Otherworld is right.]

[The door comes open easily-- almost too easily.]

[On the other side of it... there's chainlink. Lots and lots of chainlink. It looks rusty-- and torn in several places. Fog lingers over the ground like water, and drifts gently as he steps through it-- if he steps through it.]

[Looks like a playground... but there's no kids here...]</sub>

[usedrage.livejournal.com]

[He never much cared for himself, but Ken Amada should've had enough of a self-preservation instinct to avoid the door.

Should've, would've, could've. He was opening it before the instincts even had a chance to kick in. He just wanted to be away from the awful scene of his mother's death. Anything this door could show him would be better than that.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Well, it stands to reason... suicidal people, or people who once were, are often attracted to this nice little resort town, for some odd reason...]

[Belying its ancient, rusted appearance, the door opens easily for Ken, moving as though on well-oiled hinges. Beyond it, he'll find himself in a long room... it's well-light, though sort of dirty and full of overturned wooden pews and broken stained glass on the floor... Looks like he's in a church. The aisle is lined with paintings, but they've all been defaced-- slashed with some sharp object (maybe even a shard of that glass that's scattered everywhere), or spraypainted on... there's no words to be seen among the vandalism, though... just this symbol, in pure blue:]




[Messier, though-- as though sprayed on in pure anger. Most of the smaller symbols aren't even there. But it achieved its purpose, which was apparently to disfigure the paintings beyond recognition...]

[Completing the room's look of utter disarray, there's some papers scattered up by the pulpit... in a shaft of light from a set of impressive stained-glass windows.]</sub>

THIS IS AMAZING AND ASDFGHJKL;

[used-glare.livejournal.com]

{Nanao barely reached to half the door's height in this form, and she gulped as she gazed up at it. She looked behind herself once, twice, before reaching out a small hand and pushing the door open, walking inside oh so very slowly.}

THANKS BRO <3

[foolishwren]

<sub>[The door is heavy for someone so small. It groans deeply as it comes open... but come open it does. And the room she steps into is-- ... tiny. Like a little matchbox... or a particularly generously-spaced supply closet that was converted into a room as an afterthought.]

[The smells of rust and metal that had been drifting through the doorway previously are gone, replaced by the almost fragrant scents of dust and old wood. It's hot and stuffy-- like one would expect a little, windowless room in an ancient house like this to be on a hot summer day.]

[There's little decoration... a low-set little bed with old sheets on one side, littered with a couple well-loved dolls, and a small bookshelf holds the bizarre combination of charming picture books retelling classic old tales like Wizard of Oz and Mother Goose rhymes, along with thick texts that look religious in nature... The only decorations on the walls are a couple of framed insect collections-- butterflies and moths. They're pinned neatly in lines, each with their scientific names labeled underneath them, the painstaking care they were obviously written with comically juxtaposed with the childish handwriting.]

[It's clearly a child's room, albeit a rather stark, austere one.]

[So where's the child?]

[... Well, surprisingly, the answer to that is obvious ... she's sitting over in the corner, surrounded by crayon drawings and staring, wide-eyed, at Nanao as though she were a boogeyman who'd just stepped out of the closet.]

[Alessa Gillespie, age seven, was very different than the girl she would, twenty-four years later, one day be. For one thing, she never cursed. But if she'd had the mouth of her much-older self, the first words out of it would probably be ".... WHAT THE FUCK?! WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT WERE YOU DOING IN MY CLOSET?!"]</sub>

[restardom.livejournal.com]

[ Rise isn't at all happy that she's come to this point, because Kanzeon is both insisting this is the right path and sending off sharp warning nudges. All the same, she doesn't have much of a choice at this point, and very slowly moves through the door. ]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[For Rise, the door comes open fairly easily, but with a hideous, nails-on-chalkboard screech of rusted metal. One the other side, the first sound she'll hear is a clank as her foot meets the rusty old metal grating that serves as a floor in this place. Above it? ... Lights-- brightly-colored, festive lights that somehow do little to penetrate the pitch-black sky above... or the equally-inky abyss below the grating, for that matter...]

[Ahead of her? A cheerily-lit building that nonetheless doesn't have a single soul inside it. The carnivalesque, decorative sign above the front window reads MAGIC in big, fancy letter-- and below that, ICE CREAM HOUSE. But despite the fact that it-- as well as several similar buildings around it, and what appear to be small kiddie rides off to the side-- are lit, the place appears completely abandoned. There's trash everywhere and no matter how cheery some of the lights are, the signs of wear, tear, and lots of weathering scar everything in sight.]

[There's an abandoned popcorn cart a short distance away-- and next to it, something large, brightly-colored, and vaguely human-shaped lying on the ground.]



[WELCOME TO THE LAKESIDE AMUSEMENT PARK!]</sub>

[usedfeint.livejournal.com]

[Okay, the sign is more than a touch creepier than she's used to, but she's no chicken. She's not scared of ghosts, or even the undead- she's fought them both. She's not exactly cocky, but she is pretty sure she can give anything that comes her way at least a decent fight. She shakes herself a little, catching herself staring at the sign, just staring like an idiot.

Like a sign is going to scare her.]

I'm not scared of blood. I'm a girl, I bleed every month like clockwork. [It's not so creepy when it's put in that perspective! She's bled before- she's not scared of blood. Hasn't she been injured enough fighting? Just because the Judges keep clans that fight monsters safe from death doesn't mean they prevent injuries, and Ritz has been clawed, gored, stabbed, shot, frozen, shocked, set on fire, and half-drowned in the course of learning how to fight in Ivalice.

Ritz is totally going to open that door.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Spunk is a good thing to have in Silent Hill, if Heather's case is anything to go by. But spunk only carried you so far... and what lies on the other side of the door is probably not in the least like anything she's seen before. This town's not friendly to kids... at least, not in Heather's experience, which is the only one that matters in her own head.]

[The door comes open with some difficulty-- and on the other side, there's... rust. Rust, and lots of it. No blood, though... even if the corroding metal of the walls and the pipes that run all along the ceiling, sometimes in odd, bent lines, sort of makes it look like they're splattered with blood. But no, no gore here. Just a dark tunnel and a faint gurgle of running water, accompanies by the sulfurous smell of a sewer.]

[She's underground, that much is clear...]

[But if she tries to open that door again once it's shut behind her, she'll find herself unable to. The lock is broken.]</sub>

[fathersbeloved]

...Hello?

[Quiet steps. The darkness around her is enough to make her hush her feet as much as possible, fearing something might hear her if she walks too loudly.

And the door comes into sight. Beatrice looks around, but she finds only the cold fear she has been walking away from, and when given the choice to go back into the darkness or opening the door, the door seemed the best option.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[When it came to fear, it was always better to take the horror you could see over the one you couldn't... the imagination is almost always more frightening than reality, and that empty black void out there leaves far too much to the imagination...]

[Beyond the door, Beatrice will find ... a stairwell. It's dirty and unkept, with dead leaves littering the steps ... the walls are coated in plastic and paper, the sort often put in buildings still under construction to keep wind and animals out during the night. She's at the bottom of the flight-- which is all lit dimly in red by the soft glow of an exit sign, which sits, flickering faintly, over the door she just entered through.]

[There aren't really any particular sounds of life... mostly just the creaking of foundations shifting, the low moan of the wind outside, and the faint buzz of that light ... Although the wind occasionally sounds almost startlingly like a fluttering breath. If she calls out, there will be no reply ... except for the sounds under the sound.]</sub>

[skillspanner]

[Yosuke's eyes caught those words, and it was instantly enough to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. It's not as if he'd never seen anything strange or disturbing before, but something about this made his stomach turn. More so than any of the other strange things he'd been seeing in this slumber.]

Wh.... what the hell is this?

[He draws in a breath, looking at the door with his head cocked for a minute. It would have been easier to stay there, to not open that door and see what lay beyond it - but he was too curious. Exhaling quietly, he takes a step forward, further pushing the door open to see what waits on the other side.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[It's a door, Yosuke. You know, they open, and like, let you into other places. ... Unfortunately, this one in particular probably does not lead anywhere that he or anybody else wants to go... but it's better than infinite, black nothingness, right?]

[The door slides open, hardly making a whisper of sound when he pushes it. It's practically welcoming.]

[The room beyond, though somewhat dark, is nothing compared to the blackness that he just left. It's tiny, and cylindrical, with nothing of particular interest around its edges, unless he'd rather contemplate the crumbled concrete it's made of than pay attention to the big gaping HOLE in the middle of the floor...]

[There's a narrow metal ladder attached to the ceiling and descending down into the darkness. It's not even worth mentioning that this is the only viable exit to this tiny room apart from the door he just stepped through-- of course it's the only one.]</sub>

[usedfuryswipes.livejournal.com]

[Fear of blood? Ken was still covered in it from his own finally-escaped dreamscape, if he was afraid of the stuff he'd probably be having a bit of a mental breakdown right about now.

As it was, it was just damn annoying. Blood itched when it dried.

So no, he wasn't caught particularly off-guard by the door's message--not that it wasn't damn creepy, but he wasn't afraid. Just curious, worried--what was on the other side of that door? Was it someone who needed help finding the way out?

Nothing really to do for it but open it and find out. He steps closer, hand out to push the door the rest of the way open--the smell and sounds coming from the cracked door are more disturbing by far than any note, that's what finally sets him on-edge.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Ken is correct not to be too put-off by the note. It's close to nonsense, after all... creepy nonsense, but still nonsense. He's right on track with that initial worry too, though... or he will be.]

[The first thing he'll see when he pushes the door open is darkness. At first it'll probably seem not too different from the darkness behind him-- but after a second or two, it should become apparent that there is a difference... it's thicker, somehow-- fuller. More material, and more real than the void he'll be leaving if he steps through the door. There's a heat to it, and bearing a thick musk of copper so heavy that it could practically be cut with a knife.]

[It's not pleasant, whatever's in there... but the only way to find out is to step through.]</sub>