I See You - IC

[Dawn]

This is a private roleplay. The OOC thread can be found here.

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"Tim?"

The waning voice in the dark belonged to a young woman named Sarah. Dust was thick in the air. Seeing more than a few feet ahead was impossible. Moving forward on trembling legs that shamefully still smelled strongly of her own urine, the earthy floor under bare feet was cold and damp and with each step Sarah expected to feel hot liquid squishing between her toes and a waft of pungent metallic air assaulting her nostrils. And though she expected it, it never manifested.

Still, they were dead. All of them were dead except Tim.

"Tim? Is that you?" she whispered and her voice cracked; her throat was so dry from screaming and crying. Tha-thump, tha-thump sang her heart, beating quickly in her chest and filling her ears with its nervous tune. She paused, staring ahead at the vague shadow of grey in the otherwise pitch black darkness, trying to get herself to calm down a little. Slowly the thumping in her chest quieted and she became aware of a slow dripping sound echoing far off in the distance.

She also became aware that the shadow ahead of her was taking in ragged breaths. Tim had been hurt right before they'd been separated.

"Tim?" she called again, tears filling her eyes. A sense of relief washed over her, believing whole-heartedly that it was him, that he'd escaped just as she had. She started moving again, her footsteps faster, more sure. But the shadow was moving ahead of her, walking away. Couldn't he hear her?

"Tim! Wait for me!" she called, her voice now just above a whisper. Her pace quickened. So did his. She started to run. The tunnel took a sharp left and the shadow vanished from sight. But as she came around the corner, bare feet slapping dirt, footsteps echoing down the seemingly never-ending corrid--

The echoes died out and silence fell like a heavy blanket...

And then there came the tiniest whimper and still it echoed off the walls until it sounded more like a chuckle than a sound of terror and the tunnel fell still again.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.
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~*~​

 

[Dawn]

_______Night 1: Petrauskaimas, Lithuania

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The strong hand of Sam Bergeron reached out to dial down the volume a little while his blue eyes flicked up to the rear view mirror. There was a cigarette between his lips, lit, and his window was open less than halfway, both to keep him awake and to keep the foul cigarette smoke away from his passengers.

​

It was misty and cold weather that they were driving through and the old road they were traveling down was poorly paved and muddy. On either side of the narrow road was thin forest, broken ever so often by patches of farmland. The sun was setting and already the blinding ball of fire had settled down below the horizon, leaving the sky a tie-dye of blues, pinks, and reds. Sam suspected that a storm had just recently passed, or was approaching because the air felt electric and the cows and sheep on the farms were all grouped together in ravines and ditches.

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"Not much longer to the village now. And look. Not even a quarter of a tank wasted getting here. I told you guys this truck was worth it." Again his blue eyes flicked up to the mirror and he caught Jen's gaze. He smiled, not sure if she could even see the lower half of his face in the mirror's reflection. From his sister, his gaze moved first to the guy sitting next to her in the back seat, then to the passenger at his side. Eyes back on the road, Sam lifted a hand and ran his fingers through his short, wavy black hair and sighed. A thick trail of smoke snaked out from between his lips and out of nostrils, arching sideways only to be sucked out the window.

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This roadtrip had all started when one of them mentioned meeting up in real life. It'd taken over three years to finally put the plan into action but now here they were, all in the same vehicle, exploring Europe. Sam and his sister Jen were from Canada and they'd lived in Toronto ever since they were really young. Places like Rome, Paris, and the like were beautiful and amazing to visit, but maybe a little selfishly Sam had added a few lesser visited countries to the agenda, just so that him and his sister could experience forests and plains and farming villages, all of which were so very different than the hustle and bustle of downtown Toronto.

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"I figured after all the running around we did in Rome and Venice, we'd want to rest somewhere nice and quiet and homely for a day or two. Besides, I didn't put Lithuania on the agenda just for its beautiful scenery." There was a smile on Sam's lips and for those who caught his reflection in the mirror, they might even notice the glint of mischief in his eye. "Anyway, this village we're coming to is small but there's a few families that own trucks, so it's not 100% in the dark ages. There's even a gas station slash restaurant, since this road goes right through town. Do we want to eat there or wait til' we get to the inn?" And with a feigned haughty expression and serious tone, he said, "All in favor of the inn say aye. All those opposed say nay."

 

[Nightstealer]

Peter sat in the passenger seat of the vehicle, eyes tracking the rolling countryside and making him feel a little homesick. It was so different to the scrub of Australia. Cows and sheep were the inhabitants of this place. Not kangaroos or emus. There were no echidnas to worry about running over and puncturing a tire, no koalas slowly crossing the road like retired old gentlemen on walking frames. 'You sure you don't want me to drive?' He offered to Sam, feeling certain he'd be getting tired by now. It had been a long and tiring drive so far, they were all exhausted. Well Peter couldn't say for certain if the others were but he sure was.

His blue eyes watched the fields, admiring the soft glow that the setting sun cast, tinging the crops with a beautiful red sheen. These were the sights he loved the most. He'd love to spend a day on one of those farms. He was a farm kid by nature, a country boy at heart and proud of it. Naturally a love for working the soil was something he'd been raised with, and now he really wanted to try his hand on a foreign farm. Of course, he doubted the others would be down for toiling away on a random farm. It wasn't what most people would call entertainment. Generally it wasn't how people liked to spend their holidays, unless they really needed the cash or board. So he'd decided to keep his desire to himself, for the time being. When they'd finished their road trip he'd stay behind a little longer in one of the towns, work on one of the farms. It'd be a unique experience for him.

Sam started to talk about the truck and the fuel useage, and Peter found himself nodding in agreement. Yeah it was great mileage right there. He'd been a little worried that they wouldn't have enough gas. That was just what they needed, to be stuck in the middle of a foreign country without gas. Luckily, that hadn't been the case. 'It's still pretty damn amazing. Not much like what I'm used to of course. There aren't a whole lot of rolling green fields and crystal blue lakes out my way. More yellow and brown scrub, deadly snakes and muddy dams.' He glanced back at the two in the back, smiling at little.

Two years ago he'd have never thought this possible. Then again, two years ago he was finishing school and had his sites set on agricultural college. Travelling wasn't high on his agenda, let alone meeting up with online friends. It had started as a joke, one of those 'dude we should totally meet up' moments. But then someone had suggested they actually do it and there they were, in the northern hemisphere's equivalent of a dual cab ute, listening to the local radio station and wondering where they would head after this. They'd already been to Rome and Venice, had seen the famous sites there, and were now touring some of the smaller parts of Europe. So far it had been a life changing experience.

As sam suggested a stop in the village to eat there he shrugged. 'I'm okay with whatever.' Pete said, rubbing his eyes a little. 'Personally, I'll be more exhausted once we stop and eat so it might be better that we reach the inn first. We don't want it to be too late when driving in this place. After all, we don't know the terrain.' He reasoned easily, his accent sounding stranger to him than he thought it would after spending so much time with his companions. 'But whatever you guys decide I'm cool with.' A light, teasing smile formed on his youthful features. 'After all, I'm not about to jump out of the car and walk the rest of the way.'

 

[Maggie]

During the fun road trip, Jennifer had plenty of time to snuggle the hell out of her boyfriend, Eric. She'd eagerly agreed to go on the trip, mostly to spend time with her brother Sam, who she hardly ever saw in person now that he was well on his way to becoming a great architecture. He'd always done his best to include her in everything; which she greatly appreciated. But now that all four friends were on the road, she felt more at ease for some reason, and really admired the scenery.

In the back seat, she was comfortable, but the ride had already been semi- long, so she was certainly ready for a break at an inn, with a hot shower, a good meal, and a bed... but maybe she'd play on her cell phone all night, with the volume off, since her brother knew what an insomniac she'd had to turn into. The trips to the psychiatrist hadn't been making anything better either, she just pretended they were helping, so that they would all stop freaking out. Sometimes she felt bad, lying about her 'recovery'. But she was pretty sure no one else would want to have to go to their shrink for the rest of their life would they?

For as long as Jennifer could remember, she had always wanted to feel normal, and accepted. During the entire road trip, she actually found that feeling, and it was wonderful. She got along well with everyone, and hoped the rest of the trip would be this awesome. "I vote aye, bro. You know us females love those showers."

 

[Shiny]

Erik had been enjoying the trip immensely, the time spent working and saving up money was well worth it. Well, that wasn't all he'd saved up for. He'd purchased himself a new camera, and had been taking photos every step of the way, saving collections onto his laptop whenever they stopped.

But now, he was relaxed in the backseat, glancing between the passing scenery and a novel in hand. With sunlight fading fast, he probably only had a few more minutes of decent reading light, so he planned to enjoy what he could until then. For an unknown amount of time, his focus remained on the page until his friend's voices brought him out of his little world. "Ah... hm. I agree, we can wait and eat at the inn." A bath right after dinner sound pretty good, now that Jen had put the idea in his head. "So... aye," he answered, closing his book now that he was in danger of seriously straining his eyes.

 

[Dawn]

Sure, he'd been doing a lot of the driving for this trip but it wasn't like Sam minded at all. He rather liked it, because he was confident in his driving skill and that meant his sister would be safe. And yeah, maybe he was a little over protective of Jen but with a sister who had a tendency to attract trouble, who could blame him for being such a worrywart?

The sun finally settled down and the soft orange glow that had everything looking like it was gilded was suddenly snuffed out and darkness fell. The trees gave way to more and more farmland and houses started popping up here and there. Old, rustic, full of history and character. Sam's eyes sparkled with interest and it was with great will power than he turned his attention back to the road. Still, the itch was there - to explore every old farmhouse and manor, to see their insides and all the beautiful craftwork put into building it.

Again, deep blues glanced up to the mirror to check on Jen and Erik, then shifted sideways to Peter. Admittedly, Sam's gaze lingered on that smile a little longer than it should have and he was once again reminded that he was really glad they'd actually gone through with this roadtrip idea. Talking over Skype was one thing, but all of them being here together was completely different. Being near Peter was far more satisfying than he'd been expecting.

"Ah..." Sam muttered, turning his attention back to the road and trying his best to ignore the nervous fluttering in his chest. "You ever see a movie called Wrong Turn?" he teased, grinning into the rearview mirror at his sister specifically, considering there was a fond memory of the two of them both being scared senseless while watching that very movie. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Look, there's the village."

A soft glow was rising on the horizon. The village didn't have sidewalks or streetlights but the houses had electricity nonetheless and each window was lit with an inviting warmth. Soon enough Sam was pulling into the tiny gravel parkinglot for the inn, reaching out to unplug his iPod from the stereo, and turning off the ignition. "Alright. Everybody out. Don't leave anything in the truck, okay?" he sighed as he stepped out into the ridiculously rejuvenating fresh air and stretched with audible happiness. Then he moved to the back of the truck to open the hatch and started tossing luggage at people. With the back emptied, he hit the lock on the truck and tucked the keys into his jeans pocket, grabbed his suitcase and started for the inn.

_______Night 1: Tallshadow Inn

Two floors tall stood the inn, long and rectangular enough that one could almost swear it used to be a barn at one point or another. The outside looked weathered but sturdy, stained grey with age and years upon years of being battered by rain and snow. All windows on the bottom level harbored the same warm light as the rest of the village and every so often a silhouette could be seen passing before it.

The front door to the inn was heavy and solid, as if built to keep a danger out...or maybe just the cold come the winter months. The windows all had shutters, oddly on the inside though, which Sam noticed as the group of four stepped on through the doorway and into the little lobby. Above them hung a stained with age chandelier and as Sam tilted his head upward to peer closer at the decoration, he noticed that the glass ornaments were shaped like little orbs with dainty wings. Fireflies. "Weird," he muttered to himself before turning his attention to the rest of the lobby. The floor inside the inn was polished hardwood and surprisingly the area looked very clean and crisp, even if the decorating was incredibly outdated.

Vintage was the word that came to mind as eyes swept over a three-legged wooden table with a lace table cloth and a crystal bowl filled with potpourri. Old photographs hung on the wall in numerous locations, continuing on out of the lobby and up the staircase to the left and even into the brightly lit livingroom to the right. Straight ahead was the kitchen where wafts of blissful aromas kept escaping from. Supper was cooking.

"Hello?" called Sam after a few seconds and at once the laughter and conversation ceased in the living room. There were several people seated on the old sofas and armchairs and although the fireplace was grand, it was summer so it stood dark and empty, waiting for the Fall to be lit.

"Well hello there, lads and miss!" said one particularly aged gentleman from his armchair. "You must be the visitors, I'll bet? Leva's in the kitchen cooking you youngsters up a good meal. Let's get you to your rooms then?"

It took quite a bit of effort, for the friendly old man was indeed very old, but he managed to get out of his chair while his friends all chuckled. Jonas was his name, and he seemed particularly amused by the very French way Sam pronounced the "J". Altogether, Jonas was a friendly fellow, chattering away as he hobbled up the staircase to the second floor. Finally he pulled a ring of keys out of his pocket and detached two of them, placing them in Sam's hand. "Don't take too long now. Dinner is about to start and we'd love to have you join us." He hobbled off then and after the slow creaking of the stairs ceased, Sam turned his attention to the other three.

"....Well at least they're not grumpy?" he said with a snicker and turned the keys over in his hand. "Alright, who is shacking with whom?" Really, he didn't know why he was asking. The answered seemed obvious, as much as it irked him. Erik and him were friends because of Jen but still...that's his baby sis. He couldn't help but shoot a clear 'no funny business' look at Erik.

 

[Nightstealer]

Peter was glad that the inn wasn't too far away. Exhaustion was slowly creeping into his bones, and his eyelids felt heavy. He dozed off a little as the trip wore on, and then Sam was stopping the car, telling them to clear out their stuff. He shook his head, opening his eyes. 'That was quick.' He mumbled, rubbing his eyes and blinking in surprise at the foreboding appearance of the inn. 'Spooky.' He commented with a slight smile, a playful gleam in his eyes, still quite drowsy as he climbed out of the car, dragging his bags out of the back of the truck and stretching, arching his back to stretch out his spine again. He let out a soft moan of satisfaction as he did so. God that felt good. 'Glad we got here safe enough. Though I insist on driving tomorrow. You need to rest too you know.' He scolded Sam a little, nudging him with his elbow lightly. The playful smile never left his face.

Once he'd finished stretching, he picked up his bags and followed the rest of the group into the inn. While it gave off a friendly enough atmosphere, there was some kind of underlying atmosphere beneath the first layer that made Peter's hair stand on end. 'We're only staying here for the night right? This place gives me the creeps.' Maybe he just wasn't used to it, the fireplaces, and the shutters. But it seemed to him to be an awful lot of protection to be just for the elements. He may have been used to dry summer gales that buffeted glass and cracked skin easily, that left dry red dirt on the windows, droughts that left the land parched and cracked, dehydrating the crops and the heat that brought out the snakes, but he was fairly sure that the snow and the cold would not need so much barricading.

Everything about the place screamed 'weird factor 10' to him, and he felt uncomfortable. Especially as the laughter died down when Sam spoke. Peter gripped his bags a little tighter, shifting one to his shoulder as he listened to the conversation. Thanking the man who was clearly the one in charge, he turned his attention to the group again. Food sounded like a great plan, but first he really wanted to have a brief shower, or at least wash his face to wake up. The question of rooms came up, and Peter mulled over it for a while. The whole trip they'd mostly all shared a room, or had their own in the cheaper places. Most of the time he hadn't even slept in the buildings, he'd used the travel time to catch up on that. 'I'll go with whoever gets left out of the pairings.' He volunteered, assuming that Jen and Erik would probably end up sharing. Either that or Sam and Jen. There was no way he was going to cause issues between the others by suggesting he crash in the room with a girl who was more than three years younger, and the younger sister of one of his travel companions. Not to mention she was the other's girlfriend. Nope, he had no desire to cause controversy. Let them sort it out. 'Whoever decides on what and is crashing with me,' He paused, taking one of the keys from Sam's palm and glancing at the number. 'I'll be in room 27. I want to shower. See you guys in twenty minutes.' He wasn't bothering waiting around to see the verdict.

Climbing the stairs, Peter found the room quite easily, and unlocked the door. The furnishings of the room, like the rest of the place, were odd, but he shrugged off the strange feeling of anxiety he found himself suffering from, and dumped his bags on the bed closest to the window. He liked to be able to look out when he couldn't sleep. He sorted through his clothes and found a fresh pair of jeans and a t-shirt, grabbed his towel and toiletries and headed for the bathroom. He sincerely hopes a shower wasn't out of the question. Relief was eminent when he found the sturdy old tub did in fact have a showerhead attached. Locking the door behind him, he undressed and stepped beneath the warm water, sighing in ecstasy. He'd never known a shower to be so fantastic.

Within ten minutes he was refreshed, dry and dressed and repacking his toiletries and clothes to wash when they got the chance. He had to be careful not to lay down on the bed, or else he'd pass out instantly. His stomach growled loudly. Food. Yes, that was a good idea indeed.

 

[Maggie]

Undaunted by Sam's mock glare, directed at Erik, she simply grinned at her bro, shook her head at him, and dragged Erik to the other unused room. She put her belongings on her own bed, then jumped in the shower first, ridding herself of all the travel grime. The innkeeper seemed nice, the place looked... interesting, to say the least; and she was looking forward to a hot meal. Sam was such a great brother; he looked out for everyone all the time- he'd always been that way. But with her, he was extra attentive, knowing how much the dreams bothered her, he was nice enough to never even ask what they were.

And who wouldn't want their brother to be like that? Protective without being overbearing? It had been hard when he left, she wouldn't deny that. Throwing herself into her own life hadn't exactly helped that much, but it had provided enough distractions to where she could pull all nighters and at least exhaust herself to where she slept without dreams sometimes. Now, alone with Erik, she wondered how he felt. She knew he was a quiet guy, unless the conversation was engaging enough. Maybe this trip would draw both of them out of their shells... She'd seen him periodically be spontaneous, and she knew she was lucky that he liked her enough to date her -and- hold discussions with her. She didn't go for aggressive guys though. They were nothing but trouble... She liked all the people she was traveling with. They were the group she felt most comfortable in, and could just be herself with. After showering and changing clothes, she went out to tell Erik he could use the shower now, and wondered what to do next. Dinner ? Or explore? Hm.