InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Do I look like I'm your mother"

Bellum Anon (bellum_anon) wrote in bellumlogs,
@ 2010-05-18 10:00:00

Entry tags:

dorothy, john seward, plot: riddles

Group D: Little Mermaid, Dorothy, Lion, Dr. Seward

The plaque on the wall says:

All hands on deck, the lion and fish
but not one finger for girl with the wish
to simply go home. A seance will make
free men of you all, if you undertake
to summon a spirit that will mean your freedom
you must each spell the name of one passed to death's kingdom.

A Victorian parlor with a table in the center. The furnishings are all in dark red and blue velvet, with the windows covered by curtains that will not move. It is a lush, if musty room, full of the scent of fresh incense. On the table in the center there is a Ouija board.

If Madison touches the pointer on the Ouija board, the windows will rattle and shake and there will be a clanking of chains and a chorus of ghostly voices. All the lights in the room will also go out. Oliver touching the pointer has no effect, but both Avery and Ben must have their hands on it for a successful completion of the riddle.

They must then spell out the name of one person they each have known who has died, four names total. Upon doing this, a spirit will rise from the board and unlock the door.

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syren
2010-05-19 12:23 am UTC (link)

One second of indulging in a bit of internet shopping and the next, a dark, elegant room with a group of people she thought she had seen before in passing. Apart from the obvious, the lack of bright, colorful colors and natural light was something that made Avery uncomfortable and her first move, upon instinct, was to make her way to a curtain to allow a bit of stars and moonlight to enter the room only to find that it wouldn't budge. Of course.

It was while she was sighing while exasperatedly crossing her arms that she caught glimpse of a shiny bit of something on the wall. Moving closer, her eyebrows furrowed as she read the poem, the meaning behind the words completely lost on her. Upon a second readthrough, it slowly dawned on her that she was likely the fish. Eyes fixed on the plaque, however, she failed to take in any of her other surroundings and remained clueless. "I don't really get what this means," she called out to the strangers in the room. "Does anyone want to take a look and guess?"

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metrogingham
2010-05-19 01:02 am UTC (link)

The last thing Madison remembered was laying down on her bed with Rex bouncing around, settling on her legs after her intense studying session for finals. Then, she woke up lying on a dark colored couch that smelled like an antique shop. She blinked to try to adjust her eyes to the rest of the room before realizing it was really dark and not just her imagination. The situation was not improved when she realized that A) other people were in the room and B) she was wearing her yellow bathrobe and big blue penguin pajamas.

Awesome.

Moving over to the girl reading something on the wall, Madison did the same, eyes scanning for something in the rhyme that made sense. "I'm not sure," she frowned. "'girl with the wish to go home,' that might be me since I'm not the lion, but 'hands on deck'? I don't get it," she shrugged.

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lionlike
2010-05-19 12:47 am UTC (link)

This wasn't how Ben had expected to wake up. He was still in the same sweatshorts, t-shirt, and socks that he had gone to bed in, but that was exactly where the similarities between then and now stopped. He didn't know where he was or who the others were, aside from Oliver.

Not quiet shaken from his disoriented state just yet, he struggled his way to the (locked) door, fumbling clumsily with it. After the first tug, it became obvious that the door wasn't going to budge any time soon, but rattling and yanking on the handle at least made him feel a little better.

He only paused after one of the girls spoke, letting go and turning far enough to allow him to rest his weight against the door via his shoulder while squinting across the dimly lit room at the young woman. "What does it say?"

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	metrogingham 2010-05-19 12:49 am UTC (link)
	[ooc: It's actually my turn on the thread, we go in the order listed above. Then it'll be yours!] (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ooc: lionlike 2010-05-19 01:37 am UTC (link)
	LMAO, my bad. we'll do it right this time. (Reply to this) (Parent)

veridicality
2010-05-19 01:32 am UTC (link)

He had been about to get himself a snack to keep him going through the later hours of the night when the world around him shifted suddenly, melding into the sight of a Victorian-style parlor surrounding not only himself, but three others, one of which he knew well. A brow arched in surprise, but for the moment he remained quiet, moving over to where the two women were staring at something on the wall.

"Knowing this place, it could mean anything and everything," Oliver murmured beneath his breath, and then he read the inscription aloud for Ben's benefit in case he didn't feel like joining their merry little party.

"Seems to be a riddle of some sort, and judging by the fact that the door seems firmly locked, a riddle we need to figure out before we get out of here." Folding his arms over his chest, he turned to look at the other three. "Nice pajamas," he noted with half a grin as he looked towards Madison, unable to help himself. "And unless anyone has any immediate guess as to what it all means, because I'm pretty sure I don't, how about we at least introduce ourselves? Since we seem to be stuck in here for the moment."

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syren
2010-05-19 02:10 am UTC (link)

"A seance will make a free man of you all," she murmured, partly to herself and partly for the benefit of the rest of the group. To be completely honest, the idea of a seance was one that scared her half to death while teasing her with the slight possibility that she might be able to see, hear, or feel her late husband again.

With a bright, yet slightly forced smile, Avery turned to face her fellow apparent captives and at the sight of the redhead, she nearly cried from the sheer adorability of it all. "I'm Avery," she introduced, eager at the aspect of meeting new people despite the situation they were in, "And I think I might be the fish. It's nice to meet you!"

Finally taking in the contents of the room, Avery spied a table in the middle of the room. From what she had seen of seances in movies and on the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland, she knew that they took place while seated around a table and wondered if this was what the author of the riddle had in mind. She made her way to the center of the room and traced the edge of the table with a finger as she circled around it. A board with bold, ominous looking letters sat in the middle and Avery recognized it as an Ouija board, though it looked far more genuine than the one she had asked silly questions to in middle school. "Maybe we're supposed to use this?"

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metrogingham
2010-05-19 04:13 am UTC (link)

Madison blushed and grinned embarrassingly when she realized everyone was looking at her silly pajamas. "Well I sure didn't dress like this cause I was expecting company. I'm Madison," she joked to them all, curtseying before toddling over to the Ouija board Avery was looking at.

"I guess it is," she offered, reaching out to touch the board, accidentally brushing her fingers against the pointer which turned out to be her biggest mistake. For a few moments the windows rattled, phantom chains rattled from somewhere she couldn't see and the horrific noises of what she could only suppose were ghosts surrounded them. Scared, she tripped backwards and landed on her butt as the lights went out. Instantly the shaking and noises ceased. "Sorry!" she cried out. "Guess that was the deck then."

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lionlike
2010-05-19 04:27 pm UTC (link)

There was a brief pause after the girls' announcements before he introduced himself, doing so with a simple statement of, "Ben," and a short wave to the group. He watched them gather around the board with a frown, not yet ready to buy in to this seance thing. Everyone knew Ouija boards were nothing but storebought cardboard and plastic, and "spirit communication" was only a cheap thrill for giggly teenagers.

On the other hand, people generally weren't supposed to turn in to lions and fish either, so who knew what rules the universe was following anymore.

While everyone was more or less distracted by the tool they would be using, Ben pushed himself away from the door and limped his way towards an open space at the table, grimacing in the process. With nothing to lean his weight on for support, he was startled enough by the abrupt rattling and phantom howling to topple forward over the last few steps, managing to save himself from a nasty spill by grabbing on to the table.

Just before the lights winked out, he saw he wasn't the only one having issues. "Are you okay, um-- Madison?"

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veridicality
2010-05-19 06:16 pm UTC (link)

"And I'm Oliver," he added in lastly, abandoning the plaque on the wall to move over towards the table in the middle of the room, the Ouija board taking up the focus there. He had nearly gotten to the table when the racket started up, gaze shooting to the windows just before the lights went out. Once they flickered back on, Oliver couldn't help the smile that pulled on his lips. "Well that was interesting. So, I think we're piecing it together."

He groped forward to find one of the chairs that circled the table, pulling one out and plopping himself in it before he made a fool of himself and tripped over something or someone. "Fish. Girl with a wish. We've got two accounted for, and I know I'm not the lion. So that must be you, Ben, wherever you are in the dark."

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syren
2010-05-20 01:27 am UTC (link)

The sudden chorus of disembodied voices reminded Avery of a scene right out of an old horror film and with her mind too numb to actually process anything, all she could do was let out a startled gasp. Hearing a soft thud in the darkness, Avery outstretched her arms and waved them around in an attempt to look for whatever - or whoever - had fallen. The noises stopped as abruptly as they had started just as the room illuminated once again and seeing Madison on the floor, Avery offered the girl a hand to help her to her feet.

"Is everyone okay?" she asked as she eyed the Ouija board warily. No, this definitely wasn't the board game she could manipulate into saying Bobby Singer had a crush on her.

"So, this is what we're supposed to use to spell out the name of someone who's- died?" She ponderdr aloud, suddenly remembering the last line of the poem. Her voice wavered slightly between the last two syllables. Given the display that had occurred when Madison touched the Ouija board, the prospect of making some sort of contact with more ghosts wasn't one that particularly appealed to her.

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metrogingham
2010-05-20 01:54 am UTC (link)

[ooc: omg bobby singer squee]

Gratefully taking Avery's hand and righting herself so she was surely standing, she called out "I'm fine!" to everyone, taking the time to scrunch her eyes shut for thirty seconds, adjusting her eyes to the darkness. It was a trick she learned from her dad when she was accidentally in the barn after dark and had a hard time seeing her way around. Somewhat able to see the other three figures in the room, she made her way over to Ben, offering to help him over to the Ouija board.

Her lips thinned into a tight grimace, realizing exactly what they were going to have to do. So they all lost someone and were stuck in a room together to share that. How great. Maybe next time she could get herself stuck with a room full of orphans and really drive the point home. A lot to put on an eighteen year old's shoulders but she was willing to take it on. "Okay then. If that's what we gotta do then we gotta do it. Who's gonna start?"

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lionlike
2010-05-20 02:48 am UTC (link)

Oliver ended up receiving an icy look in the direction of where his voice originated from; Ben was a little miffed at being outed in a sense. It would have happened regardless, he knew, which was why he didn't bother making a fuss.

Instead, he went about locating chairs for himself and Madison before either of them found something else to trip over. That, and he was in no hurry to actually touch the board. He wasn't superstitious or afraid of it... however, there was something about it that he found unsettling.

"Don't know. I don't think it matters either way." Pause. "I don't remember you being mentioned, doc. You touch it." Would the same thing happen?

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syren
2010-05-20 07:20 pm UTC (link)

Not quite wanting to discover the answer to Ben's question, Avery quickly placed a hand on the pointer, unconsciously sighing in relief when there were no apparent consequences to her act. Now that she was feeling somewhat at ease for the first time since entering the room, her other hand found a chair that she swiveled out and seated herself in.

After a moment of staring blankly at her hand to the best of her ability in the lack of light, she commented, "It's not doing anything. Hey, Ben," her head turned toward the direction she had heard his voice come from while addressing him, "maybe we need to be touching it together?"

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veridicality
2010-05-21 06:21 pm UTC (link)

[ooc: wasn't sure of order, but posting since I haven't in a bit.]

Letting out a sigh, Oliver reached forward and touched his fingers to where the pointer was, though it took a moment to find it in the darkness of the room. Fingers settled for a moment, and the silence continued on in the room. "Looks like I'm safe to touch it. But I think Avery has the right idea. You and her need to be touching it, Ben, and Madison needs to keep her hands off. I have no idea if it needs me in or it not at this point." And then he sat back, folding his arms over his chest. Someone who had passed away, hm? Immediately his thoughts went towards Heather, a memory he really did not want to revisit. The guilt that surrounded it was nearly suffocating, and Oliver had to wonder if he had actually ever gotten over her death.

"So hands on deck, Avery and Ben. I don't mind going first. We'll get outta here sooner if we get on with it, won't we?"

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lionlike
2010-05-22 02:13 am UTC (link)

"I guess so," he murmured, finally reaching out to rest his fingertips against the pointer once Oliver's hands were clear. It didn't seem inclined to do anything special now that both of them were touching it, and he couldn't decide if that was disappointing or not.

He shrugged, looking at Oliver once again. "Try not to give us a pissed off one. I don't know how to deal with vengeful ghosts in my face." If, in fact, they were meant to face them at all. Ben wasn't sure how this was going to unfold, but there was only one way to find out.

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syren
2010-05-22 02:56 pm UTC (link)

At Ben's remark about vengeful ghosts, he received a wide-eyed glare that held both alarm and exasperation. All this talk of ghosts and seances was more than enough to disarm a person and the possibility that they wouldn't be friendly wasn't one Avery quite wanted to dwell on. "I hope they're like Casper," she voiced her thoughts aloud, mostly for her own benefit.

Bracing herself for whatever spirits they were about to release into the world, Avery turned towards Oliver with what she hoped was pleasantly at ease, despite the fact that it would barely be visible. "Give us a name, Oliver."

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veridicality
2010-05-22 10:08 pm UTC (link)

For a long while, Oliver was quiet, arms folded in front of him, fingers pressed into his biceps. "Her name was Heather Adams. She... was a patient of mine," he said quietly, his demeanor growing more solemn as he looked in the direction of the Ouija board, waiting for the pair to spell out the name as directed. He really... really hoped that Heather would not appear. He couldn't deal with that guilt again. Not right now.

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metrogingham
2010-05-24 12:29 am UTC (link)

Madison looked distinctly uncomfortable as she watched Oliver's face as he named someone he lost. She really didn't want to have to share anything, but since one of them started, it was definitely too late to back out now. Plus, she'd hate it if it was her fault none of them could ever leave. That's just not how she was brought up. "Elizabeth Tanner, with two n's. She was my mom," Madison managed to get out before letting any emotion choke off her words. "Your turn," she whispered to the two of them as they finished spelling out the name.

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syren
2010-05-24 02:39 am UTC (link)

To say that Avery felt awkward as she spelled out the names of strangers' lost loved ones was an understatement, to say the least. But she performed the task at hand in spite of her growing discomfort and sympathy for these people she barely knew. With a deep intake of breath, she said "Patrice Desroscher" when Madison prompted as she moved the pointer around the board, voicing his name out of a sense of solidarity. "He was my husband," she explained with an uncharacteristic lack of pep in her voice, as if their identical surnames hadn't been an indication of their familiarity.

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