So... How is that trip?

Sry guise I forgot about this
With Stephanie screaming into your ear and tugging at your arm, you get onto your feet and start running. You feel the air getting hot, the smoke getting thick, and hear the sound of branches falling behind you. Feeling guilty about the man, you look back. The man is finally aware of the fire, but not before the heat licks his shoes, not before the smoke grasps his body. He is scrambling and coughing and half-crawling away from...from....

Your eyes lock onto the thing pursuing him.

You let out a horrified scream and stumble.

The flames. The hellish flames. The malicious flames. The flames flared from the front of the cars, that crawled into the car, that engulfed them. The flames that scared him out, that chased him away from their screams, that made them go limp and tear bits and bits of skin from their bodies. The flames.....

It all comes back to you: the screech of the tires, the impact when the cars collided, your father's head hitting the stirring wheel and went limp, the explosion at the front of the car, the second impact when another car from the street failed to brake and crashed into yours. You remember the car tipping over and landed on its side, remember you trying to kick the window facing the sky many times before it broke, remember crawling out and trying to pull out your sobbing mother, then seeing her bloody and seemingly broken legs. You remember feeling the heat of the flames closing upon you, hearing chase, just leave me here and run, run before you are hurt, and run you did, but only because of the wild ringing in your ears, the screams in your head that urged you to protect yourself first you fool, then you just stood there hopelessly, watching your mother screaming as the flames or upon her, your father waking up to see and suffer in the hellhole of a car he found himself in, watching another figure next to your father's seat, twitching violently then went limp...

"Chase!"

You thrash around, beating the ground screaming at non existent people to get out of there, pulling out your hair as you try to discard that memory, of the crimson tongues of hell that took you away from your life....

"Chase! Calm down! You gotta run!"

I can't mom I can't!, you think savagely, as you roll up on the ground with your face in your hands sobbing...You want them all erased, you don't want to see them again...The horror on your mother's face....the charred face of your father...the twitching body of the third person....

You suddenly feel the heat, the searing heat all over your body, feel it burning every last part of your soul, feel it fill your throat as you try to breath and choke at the same time...You just lay there, being devastated by the flames, paralyzed, trying not to but can't stop gasping bits of flame into your lungs. You turn your head to a side, and see your hand, now only a bunch of hand-shaped bones with bits of black flesh here and there.....

You scream.



You wake up. Everything around you is white. You see a few people, some crying, some looking miserable, talking quietly in the other side of the room. Your mind is blank as paper. Nothing comes to mind except that you recognize a few of these people as your uncle, aunt, and neighbor Stephanie.

Get over yourself Azrael, raitaki can do what he wants. So can you when it's your turn next. Also, you don't get to basically right the next paragraph of the story for your suggested response.

Pretend like you've lost even more of your memory this time, and see if anything they say changes or isn't consistent.

Calm down, bro. It's just a forum game.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Aug 22 2011, 12:36 am by Azrael.Wrath. Reason: Typing on a phone sucks.

Fuuuuu so my dad is making me do (the whole of) his college project and said no compy starting from tomorrow, so.....Azrael, you can take over now ;_;

I've been on for relatively little time, been out-of-state. I'm back now, didn't know it was prematurely switched to me, so I will do this when I wake up.

You look around again and you realize there is someone else walking in circles outside the room. You understand something is going on. You look for an escape route, but don't take any action yet. Wait until everyone calms down, wait until they will least expect it. If you manage to get out, you need to start thinking about ways to get as far as possible.

Adding characters in your next-action-suggestion

Hurry up wrath

Please tell me this didn't die already. The idea of having a rotating author was that someone would always post! :<

Wrath has a knack for killing these.

I'll post the next, start giving next action suggestions.

1) Symmetry's died because of Symmetry and no one else.

2) It did take me a few days to reply here, but each of the two previous authors had a post which took them a similar amount of time. Sometimes things come up.




The light stings your eyes as you struggle to keep them open, and you quickly turn your head away. Disoriented, you find yourself looking out a window at an unfamiliar city that's shrouded in the darkness of nighttime. You can make yourself out in the reflection of the glass, wearing the attire of a hospital patient, with some kind of white cloth wrapped around the top of your head. As you slowly reach up to identify it, your hand brushes the side of your face, and you immediately jerk it back in surprise and confusion. It feels as though you haven't shaved in weeks.

A commotion on the opposite side of the room adds to your bewildered state, and you look back to the crowd that was gathered there before. Apparently your movements had just been noticed by them, with your aunt and uncle already halfway to your bedside, running in a full sprint. A feeling of relief washes over you at the possibility of answers.

"Chase, you're awake! Oh thank God, you're finally awake!"

You're not even sure which of them spoke, the noises of the room mixing together as you try to focus on keeping your thoughts straight. As you become more aware of your surroundings, your somewhat blurred gaze passing over the other people standing nearby, you're suddenly overcome with a terrible sensation. It was someone in the crowd. Those eyes, staring intently at you, pressing down on you with an expression totally lacking of emotion. It was everything you could do to stop yourself from screaming.

You try to focus on the person's face, but there's too much movement as everyone there continues approaching your hospital bed. There must be at least a dozen others that you don't recognize at all. You're still not fully conscious, and you can't remember much, but the fear that's gripping you is compelling you to pretend that you remember even less than you actually do.

"Chase, please say something! Are you alright? Can you talk?"

You recognize the person addressing you as your Aunt Margaret. Taking a deep breath first, you respond to her question.

"Chase? Is that my name? Who are you?!"

A shocked expression crosses her face, but she immediately composes herself, as if she'd already prepared herself for your answer. You find yourself surprised at her quick recovery, and begin to consider what circumstances you could be in that would cause her to expect a response like that.

She interrupts your thoughts with the explanation.

"Yes, your name is Chase. I'm your aunt, my name is Margaret. You might have some trouble remembering things, but it'll be okay. You should be able to remember more in time, and you have a lot of people to help you in the meantime. Don't worry, everything is going to be okay."

Something about that last sentence strikes you as being horribly wrong.

She continues, "Do you remember anything at all?"

Knowing that you were in a coma answers a lot of your questions, although it also adds important new ones, like what could have caused it to happen. However, reminded of the fearful sensation still weighing heavily on you, you decide these questions can remain unanswered for a little longer. For now, it felt as if your life depended on feigning ignorance. Using the feeling of terror to your benefit, you reply to your aunt in an undeniably frightened tone.

"I... I don't... I don't remember anything."

Pushing yourself a little further to make sure it's convincing, you begin crying deeply, and almost everyone nearby draws in a little closer to comfort you. Their voices blend together into one unintelligible sound as your attention is drawn to the exit. There, a shadow crosses the doorway as someone leaves the room.

"Chase!"

Someone screams your name, and you look around hurriedly to find the source.

"Chase!"

The distress in their voice is growing.

"Chase!"

The smell of smoke fills your nostrils.

You look around your bedside, the faces of those in the crowd now frozen. A fire has sprung up from nowhere, yet seemingly everywhere. As the flames quickly engulf those surrounding you, they don't attempt to move away, just stare at you with pleading eyes and horrific expressions. Their gnarled lips, twisted into painful grimaces, begin to look more like grins as they melt away. Their skulls become increasingly exposed as their skin drips off like hot candle wax.

The scent of burning flesh is overpowering.

"Chase!"

You sit straight up, eyes wide open, covered in sweat. The night air is cool against your skin, the quiet park in stark contrast to your dream. No, to your memory. Most of it was exactly what had happened just after the coma, the rest was from just before. You shake your head for a moment, forcing yourself to push the grotesque imagery out of your thoughts.

Looking up, Stephanie is kneeling beside you, her hand on your shoulder and a concerned look on her face. Somehow, her being there makes the vivid experience seem less unfortunate. You give her a smile, and her expression immediately changes to one of relief. She throws her arms around you, and you reciprocate her tight hug.

The friendly gesture seems to become more intimate as it lingers, with neither of you letting go. You consider this for a moment, but then suddenly pull away as something catches your attention.

It's the smell.

The scent of burning flesh.

It isn't gone.

You turn to look back toward the swings, expecting the burning man to have been a hallucination, but see his motionless body is lying in the grass, thick smoke wafting off the embers of his clothing. After the slightest glance to confirm he is real, you turn away, not wanting a relapse of the nightmare you hope to never relive again. Finding the odor especially repulsive, you stand and continue to sprint away from the scene, until you're sure you can't possibly smell it anymore.

As you come to a stop, the visions from the accident and the reality of the situation begin to truly set in on you, and you're unable to stop yourself from vomiting. As you lean over and your abdominal muscles begin to painfully contract, you feel a gentle hand on your back. After a few moments, you're able to stand upright again and turn back to Stephanie, who's expression is once again full of concern.

You look at her, somewhat embarrassed at your current condition, and state simply "We should call the police."

She nods sullenly, replying "I'll call, since you probably want to clean up a bit."

It was true, although right now you found the smell of vomit to be quite pleasant when compared to the alternative. Not wasting anymore time, the two of you begin walking together at a brisk pace, back in the direction of your houses.

BRAVO!

Take out your "memory map" and try and fill in some blank space by observing the neighborhood on your way home.

It will prob be about 72 hours before I have enough time to write one, just moved all my stuff from my previous home to my current home. This includes my computer, which is still boxed up.

At any rate, if you're able to write one before then CAFG, I choose you to take my spot. Otherwise, you can choose someone else. If in 72 hours no one has posted yet, I'll make the time to do it then.

We can wait.

Final edit: Done.

Post has been edited 4 time(s), last time on Sep 1 2011, 8:10 pm by Azrael.Wrath.

Walking back toward your current home with Stephanie, neither of you say a word to the other. You're sure there will be a time to discuss the recent events with her, but probably not until after you've recounted them to the police. For now, you're perfectly content with just the ambient chirping of crickets and the reassuring sound of her footsteps on the asphalt beside you.

You aren't walking long before you reach the first intersection, and reading the street signs indicates that you're at the corner of Valley Spring Drive and Mulberry Avenue. Something seems off about the second name, causing you to lock your gaze on it for a few additional moments to be sure you're not mistaken. You were already sure the name was related to fruit, although you'd thought it was a different one. This new information gives you an uneasy feeling as you question just how reliable your own memories really are.

Continuing north on Mulberry, you glance around to take in the urban scenery. The houses lining either side of the street are built relatively close to one another, almost touching. The area which constitutes a yard in front of each home is mostly taken up by driveways, allowing for very little actual yard space. You notice that most of the properties, if not all of them, have fences of various heights between them, with shrubbery lining where they meet the sidewalk.

The breeze picks up, causing you to feel especially chilled with your clothes still wet from perspiration. You quicken your step a bit as an instinctive response, and although you immediately consider slowing back down, Stephanie has already matched your pace. In some ways you're glad that she's beside you, but you still cannot help wanting this walk to end as soon as possible. As the wind intensifies further, you try clearing your thoughts by focusing on the sounds around you.

You hear the delicate skittering of leaves against the road, elegantly dancing somewhere behind you, their agile bodies gently caressing the pavement. You can only imagine the complexity of their movements as they swirl delightfully about one another. This is perfectly complimented by the rustling of trees, no doubt swaying with each subsequent gust. You also hear the splashing of a nearby stream, its path weaving through the dense forest. The slight buzz of a dragonfly can be heard flitting across the water's surface.

Glancing back over your shoulder, the illusion you're leaving behind is quickly dispelled. An empty pack of cigarettes scrapes heavily against the ground, dragging itself away from a dirty, sludge-caked storm drain by the curbside. A swarm of flies is giving its undivided attention to a piece of rotten food wedged there. Merely out of curiosity, you look for the source of the rustling sound, and see that beside the doorway of the house to your left is a flag writhing in the wind. You almost miss the flash of movement from the darkened window beside it.

Had someone been watching you?

You look for the house number. 609. It isn't familiar, but nothing is. As you pass by, you continue to watch for any signs of activity, but there are none.

Coming to the next intersection, you see your aunt's house on the northwest corner. The signs say that it's High Street intersecting with Mulberry, which gives you a bit of comfort as it's what you were expecting. You approach the familiar house, and Stephanie continues further down High Street, toward her neighboring home. She hasn't taken more than a few steps past you before turning to say, "Make sure you come over when you're ready, there's no telling how soon the police will show up."

You nod silently, and she continues on her way. It gives you a somewhat gratified feeling being invited over voluntarily, despite the circumstances. Walking up to the doorway of your home, you turn the knob and enter.

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Sep 1 2011, 7:39 pm by Azrael.Wrath. Reason: Added quote.

I don't feel too free to make any intelligent actions when I just walked into a black/blank room. The only action I can take that makes sense is "go to bed". Let's try and end it with the character in the middle of something. Also, I was really hoping you were going to edit Kame's map adding more to it.

Go to bed, I guess...

I've gotten some great ideas from all of this for my turn.

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Sep 4 2011, 3:40 am by ClansAreForGays.

Yay!! I think it goes without saying, but I did leave the map that open for a reason.

How is not knowing what room you're entering related to what actions are available? You could have done the obvious "get cleaned up, go over to Stephanie's" considering that was what she told you to do. You could decide to do something else, go investigate somewhere, wake up your aunt and uncle to talk to them, whatever.

There's plenty of things you could have done, I don't know what the point of going to bed is when there's so much stuff going on. I will include "going to bed" but there's likely other things going to happen first to further story progression a little.

And you're more than welcome to edit the map based on what I wrote. I'm not an artist, I didn't sign up to draw pictures.