Giant mechanical spiders race up and down the aisles of a toy store, getting baskets of real spiders to the checkout counter which is run by Al Capone as a Wal-Mart cashier in a rather darkened room...

...That you realize is a rather darkened room.  You're sitting in a suburban bedroom, on the floor between the bed and the wall.

Outside the rain pours, and lightning flashes while the shutters shake.  The cheap inside wooden door to this room is closed.

You feel fine.

PT

"How strange.."  I say to myself softly, looking around the room.  Then it hits me, and I grab my neck.  Feeling no wound, I'm shocked and remember the entire scene.

That was such a strange dream, but being alive is even stranger.  Could it be that I survived the death in the Heart and healed over months of time, or perhaps I did die?  I remember getting electricuted at home, but that wouldn't explain all of the strange things occurring.  Maybe the electricity reprogramed my mind to think that my past isn't really normal.

Then, I rise.  "Well, I'm not going to figure anything out just by sitting here."

I search the room, starting with the closet and/or dresser.  After looking what's in those, I look in a nightstand for any drawers in the room, then under the bed.  Finally, I'll look under the pillow and mattress, then out the window.

Your stuff is next to you.

The closet is empty, except for some mothballs in the corner on the floor.  There are some metal hangers, but no clothes on them.

The nightstand sticks, and then it slams outward with a loud ka-chunk.  Inside is a Yellow Pages serving Middledale, Williamtown,and surrounding areas.

Problem is the second "L" in Yellow and Willamtown is a right triangle, and the 't' comes out more as a straight line with three horizontal lines across it.

Outside, in the drenching rain, and the flash of lightning, you see another house about seventy feet away.  Its lit up.  And then a particularly violent flash illuminates a street sign.

"King St."

Problem is, you thought you saw someone hanging by the neck from the street sign.

PT

I look at the phonebook curiously, but I decide to take action.  I go through my backpack and take two granola bars out to put into my pockets.  I also put the box of matches in my jacket pocket, so that they won't get wet.

After that, I go over to the phonebook and look for King Street being listed.  If there's a map and/or a list of addresses on King Street, I will rip them out and put them in the same jacket pocket as the matches.

Then, I'll look outside once more to double-check about someone hanging.

You load up with supplies, and search for King Street.  Its hard and you have to flip back and forth from national zip codes to emergency phone numbers several times before you manage to separate the slippery pages properly, and find the map of the city of Williamtown.

King Street is on the south side of the Tombs River with most of the town to the north of the river.

There is no list of addresses like that, and this does not have a 'reverse phonebook' section to it.

You look outside, and the lightning does not come.  And then out of the corner of your eye, you see a light moving under the edge of the bedroom door like someone was walkng past outside in a hallway.

K-rack-a-k-boom.  The massive thundercracker catches you off guard, and you jump.  Looking back in time, you see the street sign.

No one is hanging from it.

PT

I go to the closet and knock the hangers off.  Then, I take (or break off) the pole to hang clothes on.

Whether or not I get the pole, I go over to see how far the fall is if I jump out the window.  If it's not that far, then I break the window open (either with the pole if I got it, or with the phonebook or nightstand that it was in).  Then, I'll jump off.

However, if the drop is more than easy, I will hold the hanging pole (if I have it) and open the door quickly, ready to hit something.  If I don't have the pole, I'll have my fist ready to hit something.

The bone white pole snaps after you wrench at it.  It looks wickedly sharp at one end, a most dangerous short spear.

Its a good thirty feet drop from the second story window to the bushes below alongside the white clapboard exterior.

You whip the door open.

By the light of the lightning flashes you can see a carpeted hallway, and a couple other doors that are closed.  One is to your right, and the other two are across the hall from you.  The hall dead-ends to your right.

PT

I hold my makeshift spear ready as I approach the door to my right as silently as possible.  I look at the doors for room numbers, specifically my own.  Also, I look to see if there's anything special about the ceiling or any pictures on the walls.

After these observations, I check if the door is locked.  If it is, I move to the one opposite 'my room' that is closest to the door on the right to check if it is locked.  If both are locked, I go to the remaining nearby door and check if it's locked.

Whichever door is unlocked that I get to first, I open it quickly with the makeshift spear at the ready.

There are no door numbers.  The ceiling is white stucco, with a fan above you, and it has a light with you think a pull cord.

There is a picture on the wall nearest you.  Its of a very unhappy looking man.  There are other pictures receding into the darkness of the hallway, but you can't see enough details in them.

The door isn't locked, but it seems stuck.

You try the next door, and it opens. Inside you see a hulking man with broad shoulders.  You can't see his face, or any details about him.  He's standing still.

A gust of wind comes from this room, and your original door slams shut with a bang.

PT

I make a mental note to get back to the stuck door in a little bit, and I gape at the hulking man for a moment.

I quickly try to gain my composure and be brave in this situation, even though a mysterious wind just blew by me.  This isn't good.  If this is some messed up thing, then I just lost my only escape route.

Still, I hold the 'spear' in my right hand at the ready and I take a granola bar out of my jacket pocket.  With the granola bar in hand, I try to hand it to the man.  "My name is Krillis.  Who are you, and do you know how I got here?"

You reach forward, and the additional bit of light from the window with the blowing curtains in this room is just enough.  With a mental click, your view of the 'man' changes.

Its a large, seven foot tall, stand alone mirror on a swivel stand.  Probably an antique.

Its arranged out in the middle of the room which seems odd, until you look about the rest of the room, and see things scattered about like this is the 'storage room' which some people use.  A small pile of cardboard boxes, a large painting leaning against that, a set of weights near the far wall, a jewelry armoire....

PT

I put the granola bars back into my jacket pocket.  "Strange.  I could have sworn that he had broader shoulders than mine.."  I think for a second, but decide against jumping to conclusions.

The thought of the mirror leaves me when I see the amoire.  Well, if they kidnap you, you have a right to break laws in their house too..

I head over to the amoire and open all of the openings in it to see what kind of jewelry that they have.  I also glance over at the weights to see about how large they are and to see what kind they are.  I also take a short look at the paintings, to see if any of them strike me as odd.

Inside the armoire, you find a necklace of amber stones, and one of turquoise, and a very long strand of pearls.  There is also a huge turquoise and silver ring, as well as something that looks like a colored gemstone ring, but its hard to tell.  There is a bunch of earrings, but except for the diamond pair, most don't look that valuable.

The rest of the things seems costume jewelry.

The weights are iron on a bar without a clamp to hold them n place.  You hear a grating noise, look down, and see a thirty pound metal weight tipping over so that its about to land on your left foot.  You jump back, and thump!

That seems to trigger a rattling in the pipes which complain and knock for nearly a minute.

The single large painting at first looks reddish, and sticky, but a second look reveals that its of a woman with strange eyes.

PT

I try to walk casually over to the armoire as if I'm not going to take anything.  After looking again for a moment to make sure I know where everything I'm going to grab is, I go for it.

I try to grab the amber and turquoise stone necklaces, the long strand of pearls, both the turquoise and silver rings, the pair of diamond earrings, and finally the gemstone.  For each one I grab, I put it in my jacket pocket quickly and when I get the earrings and gemstone, I don't bother to put them in my pocket and simply run out of the room quickly with them in my hands.

However, if nothing seems to be going on as I'm running out, I do put them in my jeans pocket.

You run out, and into the dark hallway with what seems to be no problem.  Under the stuck door, you see a glimmer of light that seems to retreat from the door, and then its gone.

Your loot is in your pockets, and you feel a chill breeze from the room you just left hitting your ankles, and ice cold rain being blown through the window to hit the back of your neck.

You're in almost complete blackness as the lightning seems to have paused for now.

PT

I decide that the situation is rather scary at the moment and I try to open the door to the room that I woke up in.  If it opens, then I'll go inside.

However, if it doesn't open, I move over to the stuck door and push/tug (whichever will work by my best judgement) on it as much as it takes to open it.  Something's definately not right now.  First, I wake up in a strange room, I think I see someone hanging, and a breeze knocks the wind out of me.  Something supernatural is happening here...

The original door is stuck, but good.  So you push on the other door, it gives a bit, and then you push harder, and suddenly it yanks inward.  You flail on your feet trying to get your footing, until you nose dive into the carpet.

And then you hear a creaking noise.  And you look up.

A wooden framed bunk bed, that is two twin beds with one mounted above the other, is tilting from the wall, and falling toward you....

PT

Quickly, I make my best judgement of the action to do.  I try to flip over as best I can while rising some and put my hands up to catch the bed falling on me.

If I see that I can't succeed before that happens, I curl up with my hands over my head to protect myself.

You launch yourself to your feet, and catch the bed with both hands, and stagger under its ferocious weight.  For a second it feels like someone is pushing back at you, and then with a gasp, you fling the bed into the wall which rattles loose plaster, and punches a small indented line of ripped drywall where the bed hammered the wall.

Suddenly the door slams open against the wall behind it, and the window rips up letting in an artic blast that chills you to the bone in seconds.  There is a palpable sense of fury in the room.

PT

I can't help but feel the signs of what could be here as I feel something push back at me when I catch the bunk bed.  No, it's impossible.  I reassure myself.  There's no such thing as ghosts.

Then, the door flings open and I feel the presence of fury and the icy feeling.  Although, stranger things have happened the last few days.  At that, I turn tail and run towards the window.  As I get to the window, I shield myself from it just in case and I jump out, trying to stay upright.  C'mon.  I can do this..I can do this..

I focus myself and try to remember the symbol of the water scroll, and I feel the water around me.  As quickly as possible, I fill myself like I would have in the heart and picture the water forming under me to break my fall.  After that, I shout out, "AMEN!!"

You feel a surge pass through you.  Its power like you've tapped into a lightning bolt, and you direct it with your will and words.

But its slippery, and most of the power skitters from your 'fingers' to be wasted uselessly.

A mass of water forms under you, and starts to break apart before you hit it.  And then K-rash, you've fallen into a mound of water and a bush with upward pointing branches chopped off even at its top.

You spin forward, hit the ground, and feel all the air leave your body.  Blinking back black spots, and shaking your dazed head gently, you feel a twinge in your right leg.

A two foot long, straw thick branch is impaled in your right thigh.  But its oozing, you think, since you don't see an arterial spurt.  Looking at it, you then realize your right forearm doesn't feel right.

A little move, and you hiss in pain. and your stomach roils in nausea as the rain comes down, and pours all over your drenched body.

PT

Focus...focus...  I try to collect my concentration again.  I examine my arm to see what exactly is wrong with it.  Then, I look at the branch in my thigh and see if I think that I'll be able to pull it out.

If I judge that I can pull out the branch, then I do while gathering energy into my hands in an attempt to heal my leg wound with the energy I still have.

While doing this, I look about and examine the situation.  I can't believe it.  I actually used that magic outside of the Heart.  Of course, it didn't work, but I can actually do it!  I try to put the emotions of that small success into my healing as well.

You can see the outer bone in your forearm looking like its got a knot in it, or a bump on the bone where its not supposed to be.  Poking lightly at it makes the world retreat for a second as your mouth hangs open, and you ride out the wave of pain.

Definitely broken.

You pull the branch out, and gulp to see the last two inches of it covered with your blood.

And then you start to try to heal, but thats interrupted by the glass of the picture window above you breaking, and shards of it flying outward.  Horrified, you try to roll, but the shards seem to track you...

And there's a line of glass shards going across your stomach, and extending out to your right and left.

"Susie." You hear, and look up to see a man missing part of his face, and in his right hand is a butcher knife.  "Susie. You shouldn't have left me.  You knew what I would do.  Even shooting me won't stop me, Susie."  He's talking to you, and raising the knife for a final stab.  As he does, you see he becomes translucent, but the knife stays quite solid.

PT

I sit there for a moment and I see the man coming at me with a knife.  This can't be happening!  An actual ghost?  Wait..this seems familiar.  Oh well, forget it.  I have to protect myself!

I focus on the image of the water scroll's symbol again, trying to picture it and visualize the water around my jetting the knife away from me.  "AMEN!"  I shout at the top of my lungs, trying to ignore the pain throughout my body.

You jet the water at the knife, missing it, but hitting the 'body'.  This seems to have no effect, but you're hardly caring at the moment as you feel faint...the water you shot came from your own body...you feel yourself shrivelling...

"No, Susie, don't die, I always loved you..."  You hear the shout, but can't see the ghost or anything because your eyeballs are not functioning with half of their water...

PT
OOC: Why yes, thats a botch.

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And on to the next world "Krillis and ahem, um, Something or Other"...