recolle | [OPEN] The Days of the Spook

[OPEN] The Days of the Spook

WHO: Elda Marker and YOU
WHERE: Various locations around town (the Fog, Elegant Mode, Towers, elsehwere)
WHEN: The later end of October
WHAT: Elda Marker's whacky adventures in the rest o the month (Fog, Birthday, Exhaustion, etc)
WARNINGS: Church themed violence, fires, general unpleasantness

I. The Fog
a. When the Flames Build
[ The first thing you will see is flames. Flames as far as the eye can see, burning the trees, burning the houses, and - at the foot of these flames you might hear - hymns? Certainly the chants of some sort of religious organization is going on here.

As for Elda? Well, she's... looking confused - confused but she's also trembling, as if something is just threatening to come back to her as she watches the scene start to play out. ]

b. Attack of the Vampires
[ Bats. That's the first thing you notice when you step into the fog, that there are bats everywhere. A storm of bats, an ocean of bats? They seem to be blocking out the moonlight, and they are all over the place. Elda Marker stands confused here in the center of the tornado, as if expecting something to show. She has her predatory red eyes exposed, and she's gritting her teeth.

These are...

Things she's not sure how to handle quite yet. Most of them have been so friendly in her memories, but nothing here has been good. Tch. ]

Stay sharp, [ she comments as you're noticed ] They might want your blood.

c. Bring Your Own
[ Want to bring your own fog stuff into this?! I know I sure want you to! Let's see it. I'm game for pretty much anything or a mash up, as Elda does have a fair few memories to draw on between canon things and stuff from August. Maybe you want to be a warped version of cyborg morgan freeman? ]

II. Elegant Mode (Job Life)
[ So Elda has a new part time job this month, manning the floor at this tailoring place. You need formal-wear for some party? ... Probably not, this time of year, given that costumes are more the rage, but she's doing her best here. Her best while being very tired from everything else that's been going on, but fortunately that's... hidden by the sunglasses she always wears. Still, need to pick up something? Happen to see the woman in a nice dress here, maybe you see her nodding off at the cash register? But anyway, if you come to the Enprise location, she's... there as a sales assistant a few times a week.

... It's better than being home right now. Toushirou... well. He's doing better than her right now, right? ]

Oh, come to think of it, I need to pick up more candy...

[ she mutters that more to herself than anything. But if you seem like a customer, she'll do her best to snap to attention. ]

III. Towers (shopping on her birthday)
[ October 27th is Elda Marker's birthday. She's turned 41 today and she's... not sure how to feel about it? Earlier in the month, she was all gung ho about doing some sort of party even if she hasn't in years, but between the fog making it dangerous to invite people even to her house, the nightmares making it difficult to expect people to be awake and aware, and the coming mood just being all over the place, she resolves to manage this birthday like she does every year.

... No, perhaps a little more lonely than most other years. A lot of her better "friends" are not on Retrospec, after all.

So she's in Towers, looking to get some nice wine, some nice cheese, and you might find her lingering by the cakes, as if trying to decide if that's... something she wants? Or you might find her staring at a dress in some clothing store. It's... calling to her for some reason. She's not really sure why? ]

IV. Wildcard
[ If you want to hit me up for Nightmares (using some new custom prompt or any of the things on my last top level) that's cool! Or if you want to do some prompt which isn't listed here, that's also okay. I know this is late in the month and all but I'm open for anything hit me up with a PM or

bigdamnhero ]

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[Well, he can't say that he doesn't have any idea of what's happening here - the fog has been nigh-on impossible to ignore, he's had some encounters with it himself - but just the same, Wesker isn't...altogether certain what to make of what's happening here. The flames, the chanting, the- ]

...Elda.

[Of all people he hadn't expected to find here... He doesn't try to reach for her, though he does move closer; come on, do you really want to stay here- ]

We ought to move. Come on.

Move? ... yes, I - of course, Albert.

[ And to her credit, she does stand. But when she stands, she doesn't immediately turn to go. She instead looks into the flames, as if expecting to see something else there. And then it happens - the building burning in there takes on a new appearance, going from whatever house it was before to clarify itself as some stately French manor.

That's...

She takes a step towards it, unbidden. ]

[...That was not at all the direction he meant, but he knows well enough to assume that it's somewhere meant for Elda to recognize - he certainly doesn't, after all, and if the run-in with Sergei was any indication, this is going to be tailored to suit one of them and Elda's already seeming transfixed.]

Do you recognize this place...?

I... no? No, I don't think - so.

[ but it's familiar, familiar on the edge of her mind in a way she can't... she takes another step forward, and the hymns, the sounds grow louder. Some of the chants come in the distance, and there's the sound of brandished steel. Lesser knights, lead by priests, are marching in force into the grove. They don't seem to have noticed them. Some of them are throwing more torches into the mix. ]

...Something you want to see out, then, in one way or another.

[He doesn't sound bothered by this, just a bit uneasy because of everything that's going on - fire and steel has a way of doing that to a person. But just the same... It's likely familiar in the same way Sergei was familiar, he imagines, and he'd wanted to see that through despite it being...more or less everything it was.]

[ No... yes?

No...?

No, yes. She nods to herself, and that's apparently an answer for Albert too. Elda, having decided this, stops looking blankly at the flames, and rushes towards them. However, as if to make her choice even more foolhardy, there's a call in the distance with the distinct tone of someone sermonizing to rev up a crowd ]

"The demons rest within! They sit here comfortably, and take our lives with impunity! Shall we show them, men, what God has willed for them?!"

[He's all right with that answer until Elda darts forward; he'll follow her, but it's the tone of the words (with all the authority of one that's used to leading the lambs wherever the goddamn fuck they want, knowing that humans are stupid animals that will stand up and follow if you stand on a chair and announce that you're going to hell and demand to know who's coming with you) that gets him to reach for her shoulder, to try to get her to draw up - ]

That sounds distinctly like a lynch mob, don't-

[Don't...something, don't run headlong into them, don't get yourself set on fucking fire, something inbetween both of those things, maybe.]

Something's in there-! Some... one?

[ It's coming back to her, something... something terrible? Someone- someone important? A buzzing sound is filling Elda's mind now as she tries to get a better grasp on what's inside. But really, the minute she says that, one of the other torches blows into a rose garden near to both of them, setting the thing ablaze. There's -

The relief of the fire attracts the attention of someone else in the group, a couple of the sheep call out and point to them with torches and- some draw blades. Others brandish crosses: ]

"There! Father, I see some of the vampires seeking to escape!"

[...Oh, that - all right, that's just getting him to grab Elda more firmly because there's approximately one way that this is going to end and it's likely going to be with everybody dying.]

I know. I know.

How willing are you to die for it?

[ Die... ]

... Not at all.

[ Right? She... isn't? Right? Her legs are still refusing to turn, but more to fix herself than anything she slaps them both. The lesser knights and some hooded and robed men who are probably some church spooks given the crosses they hold are coming towards them. She breathes hard and- ]

Guess we ought to run.

[ Away from the flames, if they can. ]

...Of course. I do have a weapon, if they get too close, but for the time being, let's.

[Come on, Elda. This is probably not going to be terribly fun, but at the very least it's...possibly not getting killed by knights. He'll question the presence of the knights later.]

You walk around armed these days?

[ But okay, let's run-

There's a loud sound. Surprise? While this might be an anachronistic 1790ish where the Inquisition and petty knights still exist, there are still people out here with subpar revolutionary era muskets. And The shot rings out behind them, though the shot gets nowhere near them- instead crashing into a streetlamp (oh, I guess there is some reality here?) to the right. ]

Can you really say you fault me at this point?

[...And you know what, he may have lobbied for gun control before all of this, but that absolutely is not stopping him from turning around and firing a shot off from his goddamn Baretta - not enough to hit anyone, he's aiming high, but more as an attempt to serve as a deterrent.]

It still rubs me a little strangely, but I guess I am the weapon, in my case.

[ Wow, that's loud- ...

That's sure a falling fire tree in front of them. Hold on, Wesker, she's going to pick you up to put you over her small shoulders as best she can to jump it. ]

[...WHY.

I MEAN, he'll let you do it but holy shit why - ]

[ Because this is is totally safe and reasonable!

To her credit, she does manage to vault them over the fire with only the bottom of it licking them at all, but while she does stick the landing for herself, she over-balances Wesker a little, causing him to be lurched forward before she catchs him to set him down.

... And bam! ]

Now, we have a tree in the way!

[ It hasn't escaped Marcell's notice that Elda seems tired -- he's a fussy sort of person, of course he would notice this sooner or later. ]

Are you feeling alright?

Oh, no worse than everyone else. [ she waves a hand dismissively, but then... no, she should be less flippant with her technical boss. She doesn't think she's damaged sales or anything, but... ] Between the nightmares all the time and the fog going home, it's all fairly stressful, isn't it?

It has been.

[ Marcell sighs. He's not sure what's worse: the fog or the fact that you can't even really feel safe in your sleep. ]

...If you need to take 15, it's alright. [ Read: It's okay to get some rest here considering everything that's been happening. ]

No, no, I'll be fine. [ She waves a hand dismissively, but then gives a little nod of appreciation. ]

I didn't think I looked that out of it, sorry.

...Well, if you insist. [ Elda's a grown adult, so at the end of the day she gets to decide how she wants to handle this, even if Marcell personally thinks it's okay for her to get some rest. ]

Are you getting candy for the trick-or-treaters?

Oh, of course! If I'm honest, I'm worried about 'em what with this fog, but if anyone's braving it, gotta give them something, right?

[ She beams at this, not even saying ironically ]

Haha, that's true. They should at least get something good out of all this.

I'm not clear still if people who aren't on the app are suffering from the fog or not.

[ She hopes not. Like seriously. ]

I've heard some customers complain about the fog, but none of them have mentioned anything...dangerous or strange, so far.

[ Just the good old, 'man why has it been so foggy lately?' inconveniences. ]

So those kids won't be getting caught up in monsters and memories and the like? Good, good.

[ she stretches, fixing herself to try to be more on the ball and awake here. ]

I've talked to some people about it, but given everyone shrunk a few months ago, I couldn't help but fret.

[ Emil looks around and then spots Elda, running over to get her hand ]

You can't just stand there!

What even is here?

[ She asks, clearly expecting this to be the man's doing rather than her own. This looks so unfamiliar but at the same time- She looks, and then as she looks around, though the misty fog there's a forest. Was that forest always there? That forest...

It's not touched by the flames, but there is the sound of boots and hymns from inside it.

She - ]

Right, the woods!

You want to go in the woods, are you crazy? It's made of wood! The fire's going to spread there and burn the whole thing down!

Hasn't anyone called the fire department? Also what's that noise, are all those people in there?

The woods are safe! They escaped to the woods!

[ Who is they? What is this? memories are floating at the back of her he mind, and she's making to tug (with her super strength) on the young man's wrist to get him to go along with this "plan" ]

Who's they?

Wh--

Hey, I'm not sure about that, Elda are you alright??

Yes!

[ No she's not.

But it is true, the woods are not touched by flames (yet) but running into them does bring it closer to the sounds of men marching and... singing? That's sure singing there, old church songs and psalms. ]

--Um, I think they're practicing something in there and I don't think we should disturb them!

Just come along if you don't want to die!

Okay fine, but only because I really don't wanna die!!

Good, you shouldn't!

[ TO THE WOODS.

... Which is, at least, away from the immediate flames, and Elda's muttering to herself about how they should be here. ]

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[OPEN] The Days of the Spook

1a.

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II

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IA

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