The theme of the day seemed to be black. The floor was polished black, the walls were dull black, and the air was foggy black.

Not that Katrina minded the black, but after a while it became a bit boring.

Finally the tunnel-like corridor ended, and Katrina found herself in a huge hall.

Unsurprisingly, it was entirely black.

At the center of the black hall, sitting on a black throne, there was a black woman.

Not "black" in the "african-american woman" sense, more as in a "white girl fallen in a vat of black paint" one.

She was completely naked - or maybe she was actually wearing a thin layer of black paint... It was impossible to tell, really.

The black woman looked at Katrina. Her eyes, of course, were black -- well, not solid black, but the iris was so dark it was impossible to distinguish the pupil.

"You are not going to stop Him, you know." The woman smiled, and her teeth shone impossibly white between her solid black lips.

"Join Him. He asks nothing but your love."

An instant later, impossibly, the Black Lady was just at Katrina's side: "Join Him now, before it's too late!"

---

Katrina woke up with a start. That was probably the most bizarre dream of her whole life, and that was saying something...
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:21, Mon 22 Sept 2008.

Lashowe followed the steps forward, keeping with each of the steps of the dream, following each of the little markers that she knew would occur. Black was the dominant color, a color she loved, of course, but what else was there more pure then black? It was the absence of all light, allowing a pure base.

This was not pure.

The girl bit down on her right lip peircing, makig half of the panda kisses that were upon her black lipsticked lips, though here she could feel no pain, only fear.

The fear was not pure.

But, then there was the black lady, speaking of Him. She could only mean the Lord, right? But the way she spoke! It was all quite disturbing. Then she awoke with a start.

------

Her black hair was a mess, dangling into her face. She noticed the day old clothes still on her body as the first thing, then she gave herself a quick shake, making sure that everything was okay. "What was that...?" she stood up and rubbing her shoulders as she gave a bit of a shiver again.

"I...I gotta shower..." the goth chick added, moving toward the bathroom and looking into the mirror as she stripped her makeup from the night before.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:45, Mon 22 Sept 2008.

The hot water washed away the last remains of the disturbing dream.

Katrina was almost ready to close it and go back to the world of the living, when she saw a shadow through the shower curtains...
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:50, Mon 22 Sept 2008.

It was a routine shower, filled with the fresh smell of pomegranete and a bit of honey as she tussled out the knots that had formed in her hair. She made sure to get the razor out and even shave her legs on this day. It was all another time for her to do her best in the world. Kat finished with her legs when she saw the shadow.

"Who the..." the girl was akwardly stunned. A shadow was awlays around her, but this one was moving almost with the speed of a dark entity that was about to haunt her. She did beleive in demons, the Bible told her so. Thus, she closed her eyes and uttered a quick prayer before ripping the curtain open and gazing out at the bathroom, her black hair matted agianst her face. "Who's there!? Come out! she demanded, looking from side to side.

There was nobody else in the room. Nothing out of the ordinary, either.

But if everything was perfectly normal, why was Katrina suddenly feeling chilled to the bone?
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:22, Mon 22 Sept 2008.

Kat didn't look in the mirror, nor did she even stop for a moment in the bathroom. Instead, she moved out of the steamy tiled room and right into her bedroom, a towel wrapped around her waist. She knew her room-mate worked graveyards and said she was heading out of town, so the apartment should be empty.

Kat gave a shake of her head as she got the last of the image out of her head and moved toward her clothes, drying off in the process.

"It's just a test... the girl said to herself. She repeated that same line thousands of times before. It was just a test to get her pure. To get to black, one needed to purge all the impurities out.

Katrina got her work uniform ready while simultaneously packing her backpack with her cell-phone, bible and a change of clothes. She was headed to a party tonight and may not have a chance to hit home.

Best to be prepared.

---

Kat climbed onto the number 5 bus, her work uniform on as she leant up against the glass, leaning back agianst it with her eyes closed and a bit of music ringing in her ears from the radio. All it was was rain outside.

Kat loved it when it rained, everything was smoother. The gothic girl knew that the town was always better in the rain, smooth, fresh, smelling amazing from tip to bottom like it always did.

Wal-mart was waiting for her. The rain was waiting for her.

Her life was waiting.

And He would walk besider her as her strength and guardian.

"Lord, please bless me, that I may become stronger, wiser, better in my day."
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:10, Tue 23 Sept 2008.

As she left the bus, a strong stench of boiled cabbage assaulted Katrina's sense of smell.

The rain was gone, but the sky was overcast with dark clouds... Kinda purple, actually. Not a good color...

Thankfully, inside the Wal-mart the air was clean, and the neon lights gave the place an aseptic, reassuring aura.

Jeremy from the sports department was waiting for Kat with puppy-dog eyes, an awkward smile, and a cup of fresh coffee.

"H-hi Kat-Katrina. How are you?" He pushed the cup toward her, almost spilling the coffee in the process.

Kat moved out from the bus at her stop and let the rain was over her and sniffed in that disgusting stench of cabbage. While the girl didn't mind cabbage, she did mind the horrid stench that was coming over her nose and ripping her face open, practically.

She hurried inside and shook the water off, making sure none stayed near her peircings, and she looked up to the hand that held out the cup of coffee. It was decaf, no sugar but still creamer. Just the way she liked it.

Jeremy was the only option.

"Hi, Jeremy! Thanks for the coffee!" she said, smiling a bit as her hand clutched the corner of the mug and inhaled the scent. "Gooooood..." she said, laughing softly as she patted Jeremy's hand. "Bless you, Jeremy," she said, nodding a bit as she advanced forward toward the breakroom to drop off her bag with her clothes.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:10, Tue 23 Sept 2008.

"S-so, I h-have these t-t-t-tickets..." Jeremy didn't normally stutter when talking to customers, but with Katrina was different - unfotunately.

After months of watching her from afar, apparently he'd finally found the courage to ask her out - well, try, anyway.

"Tickets?" the girl asked, raising an eyebrow as she walked alongside her somewhat of a friend. She'd known Jeremy long enough, and she knew he had a bit of a crush on her. The Lord must have been smiling on Jeremy that day as Katrina smiled and nodded a bit. "...and you want me to go with you somewhere?" she brushed some hair from her eyes and sucked on her peircings for a moment.

"Th-that w-would be g-great, if y-you c-could c-c-c-come!" He pulled the tickets out of his pocket and showed them to her: sure enough, he'd done his homework.

"You got tickets for Reliant K?" Kat asked, laughing a bit as she looked to the pair of tickets that sat before her in Jeremy's outstretched hand. She loved the Christian Rock scene, as there really wasn't a Christian Metal scene to speak of way out here. It really didn't matter anyway as she squaled a bit and gave Jeremy a tight hug. "You have NO idea how much I love these guys..."

Katrina shook her head as she plucked them out and looked at the seats. They weren't front row, but they were close. Those had to have run Jeremy a whole bunch of cash.

"Jeremy...you didn't have to do this..." she said, shaking her head as she patted him a bit, but she smiled anyway and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "I'd love to go with you!"

Jerry went through the whole Pantone palette of reds as Katrina hugged him.

In truth, Jeremy did have an idea how much she loved them, and a pretty good one too: he'd worked for weeks on the perfect way to invite her out, and saved the money even longer.

He smiled awkwardly and replied: "My d-dad always s-said..." He took a deep breath: "If it matters, go for it."

His eyes veiled for a moment as he added: "He w-was a wise g-guy, m-my old m-man. Wish you c-could've m-met'im."

Jerry's father, an experienced construction worker, had died in a site accident a couple of years earlier.

He had been a good man: a man of his word, who knew the value of hard work and knowledge. He'd never been able to study, and he'd worked the most horrible hours to allow his kids, Jerry and his younger sister Ada, that luxury.

Those who knew him would say that he'd had but one fault: his early work experiences had left him with a strong prejudice against South American immigrants. Sure enough, Jerry remembered, the accident that had killed him - and forced his son to drop out of school to help the family - had been the fault of an illegal Mexican worker.

Shaking himself out of those reflections, Jeremy added brightly: "N-next week then. W-when should I p-pick you up?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:52, Fri 26 Sept 2008.