entrancelogs | It may very well be the worst thing that's ever happened to you!

Entry tags:

It may very well be the worst thing that's ever happened to you! | OPEN MINGLE

Who: EVERYONE!
Where: EVERYWHERE!
When: Friday October 27th - Tuesday October 31st
Rating: PG-13, warn if you're gonna go higher!
Summary: A catch all for the Horrible Memory Truth Event!
The Story:

For the duration of this event, everyone's entire room will be replaced with a memory playing on loop. They will likely recognize the moment as soon as they see it – it is a moment they remember as the worst moment of their entire lives. It could be a memory from home or something that happened in Wonderland. Lengths of the memories will vary, but they will find that these are not memories they can merely watch – they can step into these memories and attempt to make changes to them, and the memories will be long enough that they have time to make changes (though no more than 24 hours). However, anyone who tries will find that it is futile. No matter what you do or how hard you try, the outcome is always exactly the same somehow. No changes you make will prevent that horrible outcome. It just happens over and over and over again no matter what you do.

On top of that, perhaps complicating any attempts to make changes, everyone will be forced to be honest for the duration of the event. No lies or half-truths are allowed, and filters will be gone for the entire five days. If something bothers someone then they will blurt it out, regardless of whether or not it hurts someone's feelings, and no one will be able to simply keep quiet when they have something to say. They must be truthful and honest with every word they say.

This is a catch-all log for all of your Worst Memory needs! Please mark your threads clearly in the subject line with your character's name and Room Number + Floor for character rooms, or just location if you're making a top level for a public place in the mansion (like the tea rooms or the kitchen) so people can see if there's already a thread available. And here's the plot post if you need it!

Have fun!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The tunnels are narrow even for someone Shepard's height; beside her, Jay is nearly bent double. Maintenance lights hang down from the ceiling, easy to knock into if you're not paying attention, and old metal pipes line the walls. The floor is coated in a thick layer of dust, billowing up in clouds with every step.]

[Jay fidgets with his flashlight for a moment before turning it on. It flickers for a moment, but stays lit. He nearly speaks, nearly warns her they can't stay long, but he cuts himself off, instead pointing to the ceiling of the tunnel.]

[If Shepard listens closely, she can hear footsteps above them.]

[A few steps, a pause. The creak of a door. A few more steps, and a very familiar voice:]

["Come on out, Jay. I know you can hear me." Muffled by layers of concrete and dirt, Alex's usual drawl is held even. Controlled. There's a faint hint of annoyance, but beyond that, nothing. "I told you not to get anyone else involved."]

[She stays perfectly still, trying to run through her options. She never fought Alex, but- he's a scrawny kid. How hard could it be?

Well, judging by the fact that she lost a wrestling match to a child earlier, maybe a lot. Probably shouldn't be her plan A, at least.

She looks towards Jay, raising her eyebrows, expectant that he's got some sort of plan.]

[Jay...doesn't. He doesn't have some sort of plan.]

[But maybe he can think of one. They can hear Alex, which means they know his position. And that position isn't at the end of the maintenance tunnels.]

[He brings a finger up to his lips, and then points upward. If they talk, Alex can hear them. Then, he motions for her to follow.]

[Quietly, gingerly, he shuffles back toward the entrance to the tunnel system, flashlight casting long shadows against the concrete walls.]

[It's blocked.]

[Where the exit should be--and it should be here, right?--there's a knot of pipes, backed by a concrete wall. New hallways extend to either side. Jay can feel his breathing picking up, feels the dust pricking against his throat. He stifles a cough.]

[The urge to clear his lungs gets stronger, more insistent. He doubles over, wheezing pathetically. He just has to keep quiet. He has to keep quiet.]

[A spike of static burrows into his skull. He loses his footing, shoulder landing hard against a cluster of pipes. The sound echoes.]

[Down the rightmost corridor, through the haze of dust, a pale white oval hangs in the air.]

[Shepard nods, mouth squared shut. She has to trust him, now. She has no choice but to follow.

She sees him double forward, grabbing at him to cover his mouth, but it's too late. They're boned, and when he feels the pain, so does she, a hiss escaping her lips as it shoots down her spine, through the electronics in her nerves. Fuck. Fuck, it's found them, why doesn't she have her fucking guns--

She gets one more glimpse of it, and tears her vision away as her head swims, pushing Jay down the left side with a whisper.]

Go, go now--

[Jay only hesitates a moment before he bolts, only making it a few feet before he stumbles sideways against the wall. He can't stop. He's done this before. He's done this before, and he's made it out fine, and she'll--]

[He doesn't think about her.]

[Jay rounds a corner, flashlight swinging toward the darkness.]

[The figure with the blank face flickers closer. Closer.]

[It looks down at the creature tangled up, envenomated, and immobilized, follows the way it twitches, traces the way the metal wound around its bones sparks and hisses.]

[It should not be here.]

[He left her. He left her. He's a coward, a fucking coward, and he knows it because he knows he won't turn back. Instead, he stumbles onward as the tunnels twist and split in foreign configurations, running farther in each direction than Jay knows the property will allow. He strangles another coughing fit.]

[There are footsteps down the hall.]

[Jay turns the opposite direction and runs.]

[Shepard finds her footing and bolts after him, but everything's scattered. She's barely able to see through It's influence, the way it fries the hidden wiring and bolts under grown flesh when it's not even trying. This would be so much easier if she wasn't half fucking robot. She's trying to keep track, trying to find and follow, but her vision is tunneled and eventually she has to stop, press her hands into her eyes with her head back against the nearest wall. She doesn't know where she is, she can't help, fuck, this is terrible, this is--]

Jay-- fuck, Jay, where are you, we can-- come back! We can still get out of here!

[She'd like to think she's inspiring. But right now, she just feels like a terrible, terrible liar.]

[It flickers away, and the pain eases slightly. Just slightly. It's still watching.]

[Jay freezes when he hears the voice, jaw clenched tight enough that it might as well be wired shut.]

[The footsteps behind him stop, shuffle in place.]

[Jay presses himself into the shadows and tries to quiet his breathing. That woman, whoever she is, whatever she knows, is still alive. And she's close.]

[But now, Alex--because those footsteps are almost certainly Alex--knows she's close.]

[He can't let Alex hurt her.]

[He can't let Alex hurt him, either.]

[Fuck.]

[He steps carefully, head stooped and one hand running along the wall below the pipes. He just has to get far enough. He just has to get away from Alex, and then he'll find her, and then they'll both get out, and they'll be fine. Everything will be fi--]

[Jay's foot knocks against a glass beer bottle, invisible in the darkness. The sound echoes down the hall.]

[The footsteps--Alex's footsteps--freeze for a moment before breaking into a run. In the same instant, Jay bolts.]

[There's a deafening gunshot, but the bullet lands yards from its target, accomplishing little more than sending more cracks through the concrete.]

[Alex knows where he is. No use keeping quiet anymore.]

Get out! Get out now! [It's wheezed out between breaths, but maybe it's loud enough for her to hear.]

[She has no idea where she is. She's turned around in the tunnel system, but she needs to find him, and it's the gunshot that brings her out of it, slides her mind back into place. They're on the field. They're on the field and she needs to get her act together, effective immediately. Shepard grinds a foot into the dirt, feels the strain in her muscles, and takes off into a dead sprint towards the sound of his voice.

She doesn't have any kind of spectacular vision in the dark, and the glowing scars of her cybernetics have long since healed, but she still has a few limited moments of invisibility if she needs it. She can't extend that to him, but if she has to carry him out of here, so be it. Her lungs feel like fire, her body aches, but she can rest when the job is done.

Shepard skids into his view, grabbing at his wrist to move, fast.]

Tell me now if you can't run!

[He jerks his hand away for a split second before realizing who it is. She's here. She's here with him, still breathing, ~~not lying next to the road, not splayed out on the concrete with her head caved in~~. Maybe they'll get out of this okay.]

I can run, I can--

[Another gunshot ricochets off the steel pipes lining the walls. Too close.]

[Jay tries to pick up speed, squinting through the pain in his head. He switches the flashlight back on and holds it out in one shaking hand. They're too loud; no use hiding anymore. More important to see.]

[She grabs him again, out of instinct- she'll carry his ass wherever they need to go if it comes to it. And now that they have a clear adversary, a direct path, there's more she can work with to maybe get out of here.

Her voice isn't hushed, but she hopes it's low enough to keep it from Alex.]

You got another one of those? Maybe we can blind him for a sec and I can get that gun out of his hands.

[She should know, by now, that these situations cannot be changed. That this is a fight she will not win.

But Shepard has never really cared about the odds.]

[Jay turns a corner (a corner that shouldn't be here, it shouldn't be here) before finally speaking.]

No, just the one. Here--here, take it.

[He clumsily passes the flashlight. Either she knows what she's doing, or she's good at sounding like she does. Either way, she's got more reason to have the flashlight. He can just switch on nightvision.]

Who are--?

[Another gunshot, and Jay bolts, yanking at her sleeve as he pulls away.]

[A voice echoes down the hallway, familiar Southern drawl turned blunt and flat and emotionless.]

"There's no use running. Just come on out, and we can finish this."

[She takes it, intending on finishing this fight. This has gotten endlessly out of hand by this point, and they need another closer, they need something. So she's the one who responds, ducking between him and Jay.]

Give it up, Alex! Leave, or I'm coming to kick your ass!

[This needs to end. She's getting him out of here.]

[That's enough to throw Alex off-guard. She knows him, whoever she is. After a moment to collect himself, he shouts back:]

"You know I can't do that."

[From the footsteps, it sounds like he's getting closer.]

[Jay hangs close behind her, waiting for her next move.]

[She's shifting her grip on the flashlight, from underhand to over, getting ready. It's a weapon now, but mostly she's just gonna throw herself at him. This has to work. She has to get Jay out of here.]

Yeah, you can. Last chance, buddy.

[Her eyes glance once back towards Jay, other hand in front of him to keep him back.]

[Jay inches back, still close enough to see. (He has to get the footage, because otherwise ~~how will he remember~~ how will people know what happened?)]

[Last chance.]

[Alex rounds the corner, gun in hand. In the light of the flashlight, it can be observed that his glasses are gone, and so is his usual wardrobe, replaced with a ratty hoodie over a stained shirt over torn jeans. He's grown the beginnings of a patchy beard.]

[His eyes are dead.]

[He raises the gun toward Shepard.]

[As soon as he's revealing himself, she's moving.

Shepard keeps the flashlight high, aimed at his eyes for as much as she can disorient, and leaves her tac cloak off- she wants him shooting at her. She can take him if she just gets there.

As soon as she's within arm's reach, she's grabbing at the gun with one hand, and delivering a punch right to his jaw with the other. This has to take him down, and it has to be quick. But first priority is Jay not getting fucking shot.]

[Alex sees her coming too late.]

[He panics, firing blindly, one shot, two, before her fist connects.]

[And it connects, landing with a loud crack. Alex stumbles backwards, grabbing at the pipes lining the wall for support as the hand holding the gun goes slack, just long enough to make a difference. A thick strand of bloody saliva drips from his mouth.]

[There's a sound from behind them, a ragged breath.]

[In the low light, Shepard might be able to make out the shape of Jay, slumped against the wall, one hand gripping the outer edge of his thigh. Blood seeps through his fingers--seeps, not gushes. Wherever Alex's accidental bullet landed, it didn't hit the femoral artery. Still hurts a hell of a lot, though, if the frozen agony on Jay's face is any indication.]

[She grabs for the gun as soon as he's down, grappling with it until she's got it away from him. Only once it's in hand does she look behind her to Jay, grimacing at the scene. Fuck. Damn, he's still hurt. He still got hurt. But she can get him out of here, still. She doesn't know where the edge of this world is, the door she came in long gone, but she can do-- something, right? Something.]

Keep putting pressure on that- as much as you can. We're gonna get out of here.

[Shepard keeps her grip on the handgun tight, eyes flicking back towards Alex to make sure he's still incapacitated.]

[Jay nods, an odd, sideways jerk of the head. He adjusts his grip, blood seeping out through the cracks, until he's got both hands pressing harder on the wound. They're gonna get out of here. They're gonna get out of here. They're gonna--]

---

[Alex knows he's outnumbered. Whoever this woman is, she hits like she's wearing brass knuckles, and she's got the gun. Even with Jay out of the picture (not yet), she's enough of a threat on her own. He's lost, and they both know it.]

[The pain in his jaw is fading already. It's someone else's problem.]

[But here's the thing about being Alex Kralie. You can't just lose.]

[That's ǹot̛ how ̴t͜his n̵̪͉̜̤ar̨̦r̭͉a͍̮t͎̘̬͖̼̙i͓v͙͖̹ę ͔͔̤̗w̟o̶͖̭͉̜r͎͞ḳ̭̤͙͈̪͟ͅs̤͔͕.̧̙̙̰͇͓̦]

---

[The air splits open.]

[There's a blinding flicker of light, like the film caught fire, and then the walls coalesce into a new configuration--rough, and dark, and it's only there for a moment before it's gone again.]

[There's only a second to catch your breath before you're drowning.]

[If you look up at just the right time, you might see a pale face peering down through the surface of the water. It's strange, though. The surface must be farther away than it looks.]

[She should have known this was going too well.

As soon as she's straightened up, turned her back on Alex for even a moment, the world shifts again in a sickening motion. All she can think is of course it would never be that easy before she's under again, the wiring under her skin lighting up like fire, holding her breath for as long as she can as she struggles to the surface. Just keep going. She can make it this time. Shepard doesn't know where Jay is, but he has to be-- last time, Tim was right here, but she can barely figure out which way is up right now. She just has to trust he's around. She has to trust she can get to him.]

[The surface doesn't seem to get any closer. It's as if you're tethered in place, swimming unheeded but not making any progress.]

[Until suddenly it does, all at once, and your head emerges. The air stings, cold and damp and smelling like ozone.]

[Alex Kralie is on his knees, half-soaked and breathing heavily.]

[His hands are around Jay's throat.]

[Jay struggles, red-faced and clawing at Alex's grip, but his movements are growing more uncoordinated. Not much longer.]

[She coughs, wet and rough, as she finally emerges. Everything aches like she's been on the field for hours, a practiced pain of loss and fulfillment. And even now, soaking hair in her eyes and plastered to her face, whole body screaming, she wants to move.

Feels like the battlefield. Just a little bit longer. Just a little bit longer and you can fall apart.

Everything feels slick, but she's trying, yelling out as she tries to get to her feet, to get over there.]

Let him go!

[If she makes it, Alex is getting punched in the face again.]

[Alex Kralie will not let go. He worked too goddamn hard for this moment. Years of tracking him through videos and tweets and hotel reservations and broken branches and empty houses, all leading here.]

[He'll finish the job this time. He has to.]

[His fingers wrap tighter. The scrapes across his hands doesn't matter. The struggling flesh under his hands doesn't matter. All that matters is--]

---

[Electricity screams through the air, through the circuits woven across Shepard's skeleton. There's an awful static whine, and the air splits in impossible configurations, bands of light and color bright enough to hurt.]

[EYES OPEN]

[The muscles constrict. Every blink is agony.]

[It wants her to watch.]

---

[All that matters is the way the stick-thin body stops convulsing, hands falling limp at its sides. The camera lies a few feet away, its screen cracked and half-disconnected, bare wires straining to hold it together.]

[Maybe, years ago, Alex Kralie would have taken it as a memento. Maybe, years ago, Alex Kralie would have kicked it, sending new cracks spiderwebbing across the screen, or pulled it apart the rest of the way. Maybe he would have turned the lens on himself. Maybe he would have taken the tape.]

[Today, Alex Kralie does not acknowledge it.]

[Instead, he steps away from the unconscious body, its chest barely rising as it draws thin breaths through a crushed windpipe.]

[He reaches into the underbrush and withdraws a cracked block of cement, the remnants of some long-gone construction project.]

---

[EYES]

[OPEN]

---

[Alex Kralie brings the rock down on the body's head four separate times.]

Edited 2018-02-05 05:55 (UTC)

[When she has enough time to think about it later- if she ever thinks about it later- Shepard would realize this is the sort of thing her nightmares are made of. She is strong, and not by accident- she got this through fire and blood, to protect people. To make sure that if she could possibly stand it, she can stop death, destruction, the severing of lives. She is alive, so she can fight.

But here she is. A few feet away, two running steps, and she's motionless.

She does not stop struggling. It hurts, slamming herself against the barrier of her own body as if caged inside her head, but she does. Let her over there. Let her end this. But before long, he's undoubtably dead.

If this thing will let her scream, she will. If not, it dies in her throat.

Still, she presses against her bonds, even if every muscle feels like it's about to snap, even if the strain frays the wires in her neck. There has to be something, and she cannot stop when there's still an unchecked threat.

C'mon, Operator, I'm sure you want to watch Alex Kralie get punched again, don't we all? Even if by now, she likely couldn't hold herself up from the strain. Ah, consequences.]

[It lets her scream.]

[But only once Alex Kralie pauses, the stained cement block held between steady hands. He is permitted to rest a moment, to truly see the reward for his hard work.]

[It is there, visible for an instant, and gone again. The only thing that remains of Jay Merrick is a dark, uneven stain across the leaves.]

[Only now, it lets her scream.]

[As feeling returns to her limbs, as she can finally blink and breathe and produce sound, the noise catches Kralie's attention. He turns, cement block still in hand, and approaches.]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

cw: death, alex kralie doing horrible things

christ all fucking mighty

no subject