InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I'm not capable of cheesecake."

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

Entry tags:

dracula, wicked witch

Group K: Rose Red, Dracula, Prince Charming, Witch of the West

The plaque on the wall says:

The Count must keep his mouth closed tight,
As he has done quite enough biting, if I'm right,
While the Prince must put his charm to sticky-fingered work
and find the suits hidden in the suits.

Gentle maidens, some attention paid:
'Ware your moves and steps staid,
for if you ring a bell or touch a spade,
you all must start again, and there are fifty-two yet to raid.

Here's a hint, because I'm kind:
the suits with blood are the ones to find.

This room is circular, with a radius of about fifty yards, and lit with tubes of electric light. It is filled from wall to wall with dress manikins, some standing on plaster legs, others on wire strings, and still more on metal poles held steady on platforms of wood. The press of manikins makes it difficult to move. Each faceless manikin wears a man's suit, of different cuts, colors, and makes, and each suit is strung over with tiny silver bells. It will take a master to inspect a suit by touch without ringing the bells.

Hidden in fifty-two of the suits is a playing card, in varying pockets. Some suits will take more than one person to raid. The suits with cards are also marked with several drops of blood, all from the same person and of the same amount and time of exposure. True to the rhyme, if any bell rings or Vlad's voice sounds aloud, all the cards captured from the suits disappear, and are redistributed to different suits--which are magically re-marked by blood, while the formerly marked suits bear none at all.

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raver_red
2010-05-18 07:36 pm UTC (link)

Sasha fiddled with her pen, tapping it against her desk. She was working from home, late into the night, trying to figure out how she could get her client a lesser sentence when the world went to hell. Her chair vanished, her desk poofed, and she fell on her ass in the middle of a room filled with mannequins dressed in suits. She screamed. It was girlish and stupid, but she couldn’t help it. She hated mannequins. As a kid, she’d had nightmares about them coming alive and going after her.

She stood slowly, noticing three other people around her, her fingers gripping her phone hard enough that her knuckles were white. Thank God she had her phone. Thank God she was wearing comfy pajamas instead of what she normally wore. Which was nothing. Still, she felt vulnerable, and she hated feeling vulnerable. “Hey, are you guys alright?” she asked, stepping toward the other young woman. “I’ve got my phone, I can try to ca—” She broke off, staring at the screen, and then swore.

Her phone wasn’t getting service. Regardless, Sasha hit the phone app and dialed 911. She hit the call button, and held it to her ear. There was white noise for about a second before the call went dead. She didn’t even get a dial tone. “…phone’s dead,” she said, tone bland, staring at the screen with distaste. Her panic at everything going wrong had subsided. Her phone wasn’t going to help her, she was in a room full of mannequins with people she didn’t know, and there was one conclusion she was sure was right: panicking wouldn’t help.

She glanced around and shuddered. “Anyone know what the hell is going on?”

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nobleblood
2010-05-18 07:46 pm UTC (link)

One minute Vlad was sitting up in bed, trying to stop his mind racing long enough to get some sleep, and the next he was sitting on the hard floor of an unfamiliar room filled with... mannequins? He frowned, getting to his feet warily as he studied his surroundings. No doors, no windows - no apparent way out. Perfect. To make things even better, he was wearing sweatpants and a wifebeater, certainly not his usual preferred attire when in the company of others.

He didn't recognize any of the others in the room, but frankly he didn't care. They probably wouldn't be of much help anyway. "No," he said in response to the woman's question. "I have no idea what--" He paused, noticing the plaque and moving closer to investigate. The first two lines made him frown - what was that supposed to mean? Obviously he wouldn't bite anyone, but did it mean he literally couldn't talk? This was ridiculous.