The Witching Hour

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Xindaris

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The Witching Hour​

Gerald wasn't happy about the move, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He knew his mother's job was moving, and not likely to move back any time soon. He knew it wasn't her fault. But he was still angry about it. To come down all the way from New York to some southern city he was sure he hadn't heard of before now, a good six or seven hours driving from their old place and all his old friends.

His first day of school sucked. It was a Friday, and that was all that was good about it. At least the city had a park, at least she was too exhausted to stay up and make sure he got home by midnight. This dark little patch of grass and trees may as well have been custom-built for his sulking needs. He sat on the bench, watching the few other people in the park go around, or sit around.

He was an average nobody, and looked the part. Not talented or strong, not a genius, not tall or short or thin or fat. Boring brown eyes and hair in a short, boring style. Gerald didn't mind blending in most of the time; it got the new-kid scent off of him whenever he had to move around. But today..today he was just sick of it.

Gerald sighed and looked up from the ground, and was mildly surprised to find everyone had apparently left. What, was there a legal curfew or something? He was sure he would have heard them, if they'd been running off to get home or anything. But..for whatever reason, everyone was definitely gone. He stood up and took a closer look around, yep, definitely nobody here. He looked up, for no real reason, and then it occurred to him that tonight wasn't supposed to be the full moon, and futhermore, not even the full moon looked that big.

"Hmm.."

After a little bit of self-debate, he decided he'd better head home, and avoid any cops he might see. After all, if there was some sort of curfew, he didn't want that on his mother's mind, too. He left the park and set off on the street, beginning to get a little creeped out at how..empty everything was, how he still hadn't seen a soul a couple of minutes out.


((Okay, here's what this is about: Certain people in this setting experience an extra period of time between 11:59 and 12:00 midnight, during which magic is possible; the people who don't experience this time seem to vanish entirely during it. Other than that, it's a normal modern Earth. The player characters should be high school students finding themselves in this time for the first time so nobody's using magic just yet. Please introduce your character with their appearance and some idea of their background in your first post.))
 
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Amanda Jeraldsfit was walking down the street, when she noticed no one was around. Like she wasn't in this situation before. She sighed, looking back down at the ground and continuing her walk. She hated this freaking town. She hated these freaking people, she hated this freaking life. She was sick and tired of this same-old-same-old rut she was shoved into. School, homework, dinner, bed. Rinse and repeat. She occasionally had the time to take walks like these, on the weekends. But, for a Friday night, the town was surprisingly empty. This didn't bother her too much as she didn't like the people here anyway. They were all just a little too friendly.

They got a new kid in school today. She caught a glimpse of him in the hall, but didn't bother talking to him. She didn't bother talking to anyone, really. Except the goddamn voice in her head. It wasn't the stereotypical 'kill your family and burn the house' voice, just a voice that made smartass remarks and held a conversation occasionally. She's seen psychiatrists, but they couldn't help her. If anything, they made it worse.

She brushed her shoulder length, night black hair behind her ear, and adjusted her black dress. She looked up at the darkened silence, the dim light from the streetlamps making her dark green eyes shine like emeralds. She looked up at the moon. She loved the moon, but tonight it seemed... weird. There wasn't supposed to be a full moon for another two weeks, and even then it wouldn't look as big as it did now. Odd.

She walked on without a word, when she thought she heard footsteps in the distance a little way down the street. If she ran into them, ok, in not, even better.
 
"And Iiiiiiiii-eeee-iiiiiii will alwaaaays love yoooooou~"

Luke would often find himself on his way home from his part time job late at night like this. School, work, home. His parents appreciated the fact that he had stepped up and gotten himself a job. Of course, he did it so he wouldn't have to listen to them gripe about how he never told them how his day was, and how they never sat down and ate dinner like a family anymore. That wasn't his fault. It really wasn't.

So he got a job at a coffee shop, serving iced lattes and coffee cake to the fine people of this city, and he didn't have to deal with anything. And the walks home were generally nice, quiet. People generally left him be as he walked, probably because he was either talking to himself or singing, much like he was now. Dimly, Luke decided that they probably thought it was very strange and uncharacteristic of a regular person, and he didn't care.

As he walked, he pushed his short brown hair off of his forehead, out of his eyes, and continued belting at the top of his lungs. His gray eyes sparkled in amusement, when he looked around, but then he stopped short, blinking as he realized that no one else was around. Literally no one else was walking down the street, or driving, or anything. It was kind of freaky. He straightened his backpack on his shoulders, frowning as the fabric of his yellow shirt bunched under the straps. He suddenly became very aware of the sound of his gray pants scuffing against the sidewalk, caught under his red sneakers. It was painfully loud in his ears, but he stopped paying attention to that.

He spun in a slow circle as he walked down the sidewalk, looking around. There weren't even any night birds about, no crickets making noise. The dark sky seemed oppressive, and that moon looked like something out of a video game, all huge and full. Full? Yeah, that'd be a full moon up there. He was sure he'd seen a full moon a few weeks ago, one so soon now would be... well... impossible. He stared at it for a moment longer, whistling lowly as he walked backwards.

"And that's not strange at all..." He mumbled, then turned back around to continue his walk home. His singing was definitely more reserved, turning into quiet hums and occasional breaks in lyrics.
 
Gerald was uncomfortable walking down the street, and not quite sure why at first. He knew his way, and he didn't quite feel like he was in danger here, but there was something distinctly wrong. It didn't occur to him that it was, in fact, a lack of noise that was so off-putting until he picked up a singular sound of someone else's footsteps on the sidewalk. They were getting closer, he figured, and when he came to the next intersection and paused to check for cars--which seemed more absent than usual, as well--he saw their owner. A girl he didn't know, like everyone else around here. But by the look on her face, perhaps a kindred spirit at least. No stranger to sulking.

He preempted an otherwise inevitable awkward silence with a greeting. "..Hey. Weird night, isn't it?" He was trying to mute a northern accent that screamed "not from around here" as much as possible, but there was still a little bit there.
 
A tall, slender figure jogs down the street.

Emilie's Nike shoes beat against the ground at a rhythmic pace. Locks of wavy blond hair brushing against her cheek, fell near her broad shoulders. Breathing steadily, she stared straight ahead, going home from her friend's house. Luckily, her mom was working this week so she wouldn't have to face any consequences for getting home so late. Her house was not far off being only a mile away and as the top cross country runner in her high school, she would have no trouble getting home.

Emilie Rivers has lived in this town her whole life, growing up with the same faces. She didn't mind this though as she knew mostly everyone in high school and was pretty sociable with a large group of friends.

She noticed as she progressed through the street that it was quiet which was not out of the ordinary during this time of day, but there was an eerie feeling in the air; this made her slow to a stop. The air was still. Not even a single sound of faint leaves rustling or birds flapping about were present. No cars passed by. Actually, not even one car has passed for a long time. The whole situation creeped her out. Suddenly wanting to get home as fast as possible, she began to jog again with a quicker pace.

She then spotted a couple of people close ahead. Thank God, she thought, feeling like she was in the Twilight Zone.
 
Anna bell age 9 was in the park playing but once she was fini she looked at the time11:59 did she just play for a long time moms go to be so mad at her her mother home befor the suns down she was geting a little scared but then she looked up to the sky and a book if no ones around. she lookes aroud to see no one nota singe soul. the moon is full and is notsapost to be.. moons full and big. then it whitch hour. she gets up and start to run and sceraming. her bussed cutt Raven hair couldnt blowing in the wind her night sky eyes wide and ready to pop out. she hears her black rain boots clicking every time her feet toched the ground her black jeans and a shirt that say "i belive in anying even stupid people". but then bummping to someone and falling butt backwards on her butt. when she looked up to him he was tall to her anyways had brown short hair and his eyes where gray
 
Elvira Summers padded along the pavement, hands in her jean pockets and the hood of her grey hoodie pulled up over her head, concealing any sign that she was a girl. To anyone passing, she would just seem like a young male walking home, and that was the way she wanted it. Elvira hated people treating her differently because of her gender, even though she was about as ungirly as you could get. She sometimes wished she was a boy just because it would be so much easier.

Her grey eyes flickered up and down the almost deserted street, and she smiled slightly . It was like a minute to midnight, so nobody else was here. Perfect for El, because then she could go to the nearby skate park, and skateboard up and down the ramps, practicing all her tricks to her heart's content without any disturbances.

However, this night felt different for some reason, so she hastened her pace a little, pulling her hood further over her head. Not looking where she was going, she walked straight into a tall boy's back. She swore under her breath at herself as she got to her feet again, and brushed the dust off her jeans. Thankfully her hood was still up, concealing most of her features.
 
Luke had heard the running footsteps, and had felt something considerably shorter than him collide with his back. He grunted, his humming cut off short, and looked behind him. A little girl. He frowned slightly, wondering what a little girl was doing out here this late anyway.
"You alright, kid?" He asked, holding his hand out to help her up. How old was she, anyway? Looked like an elementary kid. "Shouldn't you be at home already? It's like, surely past your bed time..."

And as he was helping the little girl up, he felt another person bump into him. Gosh, don't people watch where they're going? He almost fell over with that one, but caught himself before he fell on the little girl. With a sigh, he looked at the other person and found that he wasn't able to discern features. Their face was hidden beneath a hood, and he shrugged mentally. Didn't matter.
"Are you alright? What's up with people bumping into people tonight? Just cuz there's no cars doesn't mean you can just not watch where you're going..." He grumbled, though amusement was obvious in his tone. He smiled. "Though it's weird, right? No cars? There's always cars, no matter what time!"

He pat the little girl on the head and stuck his hand out to the hooded person. "I'm Luke Manning. Nice to meet you two, the only other souls in town that I've seen so far tonight!"
 
"one i know its late its 11:59 now 2 i was going home but i cant go home well the reson for that is becuse right now is Whichs hour and i read that in a book its when whict and what nots come out and have fun or fight and i hope its not a fight" she pouts when she said that. "Oh and Im Anna-Belle but you can call me Key" she lookes around and hopes not to see a ghost. she sighes

her past is not a prittey one she all ways been in the hopsitle becuaes of her heart desses and every thing. its was very sad and her paersnts where going crazy when they found out. she stay in the hospitle for half of her life this month is going to be her last so they let her out. she knew she was going to die and no one need to tell her that. her parnets got divorst when she was in the hospitle but she see dad once in awhile. btu every time she does momy and dad have fights but she knows both of tham are just scared that why.

she notice the person in the hoody "hello" she smiles
 
((Sorry, got into a spot of trouble and couldn't get on.))

Amanda looks at the boy who came up to her. It was the new kid. She nodded her head at him. "Yes, It is. Aside from you, I haven't seen a single person out tonight. Which is weird for a Friday." She looked back up at the moon. "And the moon is... unusually large. And full, for that matter. We had a full moon not too long ago, didn't we? Something is very odd about all this." She looks over at the young boy. "I'm Amanda." She outstretches her hand to shake the new kid's. She might as well be at least a little friendly to the new guy, him not knowing about the place and all.
 
He watched the girl's eyes, thinking about the moon. It was usually the same phase everywhere, right? He was going to have to look that up some time later. There was a slight, inexplicable temptation to think about how his friends must be under roughly the same moon as him, but he reminded himself it was just a space object. That was like fretting about the fact that Saturn had rings no matter which part of the Earth you were on: Silly.

"Gerald," he said, taking the hand and briefly shaking it. When his appendages were back in their usual place at his sides, he said, "Um..I guess you already know I'm new around here. So there's not some kind of legal curfew or anything, huh? I'd hate to get picked up by the cops tonight..assuming they even exist with all the other cars missing."

((It's fine, I just didn't want everyone to go barreling ahead without us. So yeah, everyone can start posting again.

Heads up: In a post or two of mine, something will happen and everyone will be in danger. Don't want to do it just yet so each of the two(?) groups knows everyone else in them. For now let's assume that Gerald and Amanda are too far away from the other group to hear each other; they'll meet up a bit later.))
 
She looked at Gerald reassuringly. "No, no, no curfew. Too small of a town for people to give half a damn about a curfew. You have nothing to fear, as long as you don't break the law or piss off the Sheriff. Then you're in deep." She looked in the direction of the school, and then back at him. "Say, how would you like me to give you a tour of the school on Monday? I don't talk to too many people, I avoid them, rather, so I have a good understanding of the schools shortcuts, hot spots, and places no one goes." She looked around for a moment with a quizzical expression on her face. "Any Idea what the hell is going on? With the moon, and the time, and the sudden disappearance of all the annoying Townsfolk?" She shrugged as she looked back at him. "I'm friggin' clueless."
 
Though she was glad to see others around, she was not intending on saying anything to them, but as she neared closer, she noticed one of them was the new kid from school. As for the other person, Emilie hardly knew her, but has seen her around the hallways here and there. Being the type who always liked meeting new people, she decided to introduce herself, since she didn't have the chance to today so she might as well do it now. Slowing her pace, she strolled towards the two figures with her white shirt and athletic shorts. Not wanting to seem paranoid or weird for the first impressions, she decided not to mention the strange stillness of tonight. Instead she just smiled casually saying, "Hey. What are you guys doing out here?"
 
Viorica happened upon the night. She had been working at a restaurant much later than usual in the town-square and found herself without a ride from her parents. She decided that she would take a long walk home through the park. Her job wasn't the best. Washing plates and cleaning in a restaurant were monotonous tasks, but at least it brought her family some peace of mind.

She stopped to sit at a bench in the park and text her Mom that she was okay, and that she would be home soon. After she sent the message, she looked up from her bench, only to notice that the few people that had been walking about were now gone. Confusion soon progressed to fear, as her dark blue eyes frantically looked around for someone. Her gaze fell upon the moon, sublimely grand. The moon's light bestowed her sable locks with an eerie blue hue and revealed her olive skin.

She broke into a fast walk. The silence was deafening. She wanted a familiar noise: a cricket chirping, a nocturnal hoot, a hushed voice, a gentle breeze, anything to remind her that she wasn't trapped in some sick nightmare. She soon turned onto a street near the park. The sound of voices and footsteps brought her mixed feelings. While they were noises that confirmed that she hadn't gone mad or fallen asleep on some park bench, the voices sounded . . . quite like people from her high school. She really wasn't that fond of some of the people at her high school, who occasionally teased her for her foreign origin and made fun of her parents' Romanian accents. A lot of them seemed close-minded and ignorant to her, and part of her just wanted to move to a city where she could work and send money home to her parents without having to deal with small town folk.

Viorica turned another corner, coming upon the new kid, a girl from her high school, and another girl approaching them. She had a class with the new kid, but he didn't stick out to her at all. She didn't have much interest in seeing them. In fact, she really didn't want to see them, especially in this outfit she'd thrown together right before going to work where she didn't care if what she was wearing got dirty. Her short-sleeve t-shirt had a couple of grease stains and her capri shorts were somewhat worn. Flip-flops that she'd thrown on after work and a curly head of hair freed from the confines of a ponytail completed her messy look. Waiting for the blonde to introduce herself, she took to checking her phone. Her mother hadn't returned her text. She texted a message asking if her mother had received her first text, only for it to not send. Odd.
 
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Tick-Tock
That was the only sound in the small cramped two bedroom and one bath apartment besides the soft snores and happy purrs. They had nothing on the clock. Juan Savanti Preze felt that he was going to go crazy. Usually he would fall asleep with his three brothers and one sister all piled on top of him but something felt off. His skin crawled with an uneasy feeling to the point he had to escape the nest of tangled sibling and run to the bathroom. He tried cooling himself down with water but it didn't help at all. Juan had then looked in the mirror and studied his complexion. Round checks and nose, black eyes with shaggy black hair (he hadn't gotten a hair cut in forever). There were freckles from one cheek to the other with his dark mocha skin you could hardly tell her had them unless you looked closely for them.

He quietly tip toed back into the shared room and grabbed a pair of jeans, a ratty green t-shit and his nice blue jean jacket with the silk pockets. He threw his clothes on and slipped his off brand sneakers on. He crouched down pretending he was a ghost hoping his mother wouldn't wake from her sleep. She worked three part time jobs and he knew she needed her sleep. Juan loved his mom she would always come home tired and eyes full of worry and regret but would always have the sweetest smile on her face. He just wished she would let some of the burden fall on him. He was almost 16. In a few years he could go to college. Hopefully.

Juan grabbed the spare key and ran into the open cool air. He breathed in the sweet air and sighed. This felt better. Maybe he was tense cause he wasn't doing good in his classes. He walked under the street lamps not knowing wear his feet were taking him. Ahead he noticed a few of the kids that he went to school with. He felt hesitation in his body wondering what to do. He had been at the school for a while and seen a lot of the new kids come in but he never talked to them. He didn't really talk to anyone at school. Not that he was outcasted or anything he just wasn't sure how to go about 'hanging out'. Plus he was always embarrassed by his appearance. Old clothes and scruffy hair he didn't think he would make a good impression. So he usually kept his distance. He did wonder what they were doing though especially this late at night. He looked down at his watch. It was almost 12.

Tick-Tock
 
At first there were no people; now it seemed like they were coming out of the woodwork. Gerald couldn't answer Amanda's question before someone else came to ask them both something, and then he caught sight of another girl walking up to them and briefly wondered if he'd blundered into the universe of an unwanted-harem anime. Brushing that thought aside, he decided to answer the second question he'd been posed first. "Well," he said, "I was out sulking. And then I was headed home. This is Amanda if you don't know her, I'm Gerald, and we were talkin' about the weird moon out tonight."

He looked at Amanda. "If you want to show me around Monday, I'd like that. Thank you. I think it might be a good idea for me to move on soon though, I don't want my mom to worry too much.." He was going to say more, but trailed off at a slight soreness in his temples. Gerald wasn't very familiar with headaches, so he didn't expect to have one now; he wasn't sure why it was hurting now, but he was pretty sure it would go away if he ignored it.
 
They were gone. They all disappeared into the wind, but the blood was still there, dripping off his knife onto his shirt. It was dripping to a haunting rhythm; a reminder of what he just did minutes ago.

"What the hell just happened?"

It was as though time stopped, and an invisible force swept them away like they were nothing. Empty, he thought, like my pocket everyday.

"Okay, calm down, Cale," he muttered to himself, still lying on the ground with the knife, "Calm down, that didn't happen at all,"

It was suppose to be an awesome day. He planned it out so carefully, endured the hell he went through every bloody day; it was suppose to work. Just go to school, bring the knife, and meet them here after school. But then this happened, this...

"I didn't mean to," he rolled to the side and curled himself into a ball. The bloody knife was still tightly gripped in his hand, "I just wanted to scare them, make them leave me alone,"

He felt a cool sensation touch the side of his face; a dirty puddle of water, maybe mixed with blood too. From where he laid, he saw a reflection of himself in the water.

There was little light for him to make out every detail of it, but he did notice his wide-eye stare, blue-on-blue. His brown hair was a mess of mud and water. He was never really outstanding, in terms of appearance. Rather, he was quite ordinary; often invisible to others in school. But clearly that invisible part of him did not help him in the least bit when those people started charging him "toll money".

Cale sat up from his position, wiping the mud and dirt off his face and uniform. As he was cleaning off the rest of the mud on his sleeves, he noticed the knife that was still in his hand; the blood is still on it, dried, but clearly evident. Thoughts ran across his mind in a flash; what would his friends think of him? His mother? His teachers? Himself? And let's not forget the cops. They would find him, his knife, and his fingerprints all over this site.

"I...I have to go," he thought aloud as he nervously shoved the bloodied knife into his pocket.

The path to the park seemed to be the fastest way home from where he was. As he took a step forward to leave the alley, he turned back and gave one final look. He took a deep breath, not knowing whether it was out of relief or simply nervous, and quickly turned away to head for the park.
 
Amanda turned to the girl that had walked over. She recognized this girl. Amanda sometimes saw her in the hallways as she dashed through the network of passageways not many students took. She flipped open a small gold pocket watch she hid in the sleeve of her dress. It had been several minutes, but the clock had not moved but a few seconds. Strange... She brushed the thought aside and put the watch away. Looking back up at the enormous moon, she realized the night air felt odd. Her mother had told her tales of a time known as The Witching Hour, and how it would be, but she never believed it. Now that she had experienced it for herself, her thoughts were changing.
 
Viorica messed around with her phone some more, trying to get it to connect to something. Why is there no signal around here? The tower's not THAT far away. Unsuccessful, she closed it and turned her attention to the group. Another young man snuck out of the night and in her view. It was too late, now. She couldn't just flee, for not only were these the only people she knew to be present, but a couple of them already began to notice her. If she was gonna' talk to them, she may as well get to the bottom of what the heck was causing her to lose a signal on her cell. As she advanced toward Amanda, Emilie, and Gerald, she noticed a golden, immobile pocket watch flash on Amanda. Even odder.

"So I see I'm not the only one seeing this stuff." Viorica pointed at Amanda's sleeve. "Tell me, do any of you have a signal on your phones?" She was never one for formalities. "Oh, the name's Viorica, if you don't already know," She took a glance at Gerald.
 
If the stories about the moon causing mental instability among people were true, then he was probably one of them.

Beads of sweat formed around his temples as he quickened his pace to the park; he was anxious, and then there was this bloody headache that hit him out of nowhere. Many times he checked his pocket; many times, he felt the shape of the knife in it. He wondered if the blood would go away with a single wash.

As he approached the park, his eyes caught several figures standing about in the vicinity.

He stopped in his steps; Cops?

Cale moved a little closer, and found that the figures were students, just like him. Maybe. Or at least, he hoped they were.

Just move, keep moving. You're invisible. They won't suspect a thing. They won't--

That headache came back, tearing at his head. He caught himself just in time, but stumbled a bit before falling on his knees.

Where the hell is this coming from?
 
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