sinking down, down

[facultwist]

Death is a drop into a blackness that swallows you. You feel the movement of not air but shadow across your face as you plummet, and there is no bottom. No crash.

If there is another side, you do not reach it.

It is neither the light of heaven or the fires of hell that greets you when you wake. And wake you do, to the buzz and flicker of old fluorescent lights.

You are laid out beside a full-size competitive swimming pool, half-filled with stagnant water. The doors out are blocked off by locked doors covered in caution tape. The locker rooms are long since emptied, paint peeling from the humidity. The only signs of habitation are a few pieces of scattered graffiti.

Welcome to your new home. There's no sunlight, no indication of time passing. Just you and each other and your thoughts. the stagnant water bubbles a little occasionally, but there's nothing in it.

Before long you'll realize that you no longer need to eat or drink. You might notice your hand go through something if you don't focus. You're a ghost now. What's that they say about unfinished business?

Comments

cw suicidal ideation in the linked tag

[protomartyr]

[ That's a nice piece of comfort, Chris. Unfortunately, Doloris has gone and said something very frightening.

Lottie kneels behind Doloris and howls. It resolves into something like a word. ]

No!!!

[ Over and over again, begging and pleading: ]

I need you to hear me. Listen. Can you hear me? I need you to hear me.

[trustheart]

Holy fuck no!!!??? We’ve gotta do something?!

[ Chris’s eyes are wide with horror. ]

Lottie, you tossed Hawke’s hair, didn’t you? You affected her somehow! Maybe we can…we can send her a message! Convince her not to, somehow!

[thatsplato]

Maybe—- the pens? I could try—- [She’s going for one of the nearest pens, to try and move it. She’s been practicing.]

[protomartyr]

It's not enough. It's not going to be enough if they don't [ an inhale - another shout - ] listen!

[ Quieter: ]

I can't do this again. I can't.

[trustheart]

Then we make them listen! Then if they don’t hear, then we find a way to shout loud enough! If…if that’s not gonna happen, then…then we might as well just fade away!!!

But I’m not going to give up until the final verse is sung, Lottie! The song of my heart…my life may have ended, but that hasn’t come to an end, yet! I won’t let it be the end for Doloris until I know for sure that I’ve failed!

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

[ In a choked and hoarse voice, Rinne says in defeat: ]

They can't. No one can anymore.

[ Is all this even any different for you? ]

[protomartyr]

[ After her scream, Lottie's voice nearly matches. ]

No - no I taught them, both of them, I taught them how to listen -

[thatsplato]

They couldn’t understand.

[protomartyr]

They did.

[ They had to. Lottie insists it, in the same way she insists that the wilderness was real. ]

I told Hatsune where I was last summer.

[ That's who Lottie told. Right? ]

[thatsplato]

What?! Why would you do that? None of them were there!

[protomartyr]

I trust her. [ Not trusted. Hatsune is still alive, even if she may not feel like it. ] I knew she'd understand.

[thatsplato]

[Misty’s chest twists, her voice raising. It’s happening again. This always happens.]

I was there!

[protomartyr]

[ It's like the light goes out in Lottie's eyes. When she next speaks up, her voice is quiet and flat. ]

Did you put mushrooms in the soup?

[thatsplato]

W-what? [Misty freezes, suddenly.

No. This can’t be happening. This is somehow even worse than—]

[protomartyr]

That's what Vanity thinks. I'm asking you.

[thatsplato]

[Misty whirls on Vanity, staring at her like a crazed animal. A girl on the edge.]

You! You weren’t there! You can’t know anything!

cw: ableism

[protomartyr]

[ So Vanity was right. So Lottie was as sick as they've always said. No wonder she can't make Hatsune hear her. They were never listening to anything anyway.

Lottie tilts her head towards the ceiling. ]

Hey, Misty. Wanna hear a secret?

[thatsplato]

[She knows it’s a trap. She does. She’s not a complete idiot. But knowing others secrets has always been a siren call.]

What?

cw: implied fictional one sided student teacher relationship

[protomartyr]

[ Lottie doesn't look down. You're not supposed to, when you're standing on the edge of a cliff. ]

Coach Ben is gay.

[sweetsynergy]

I can make an educated guess. You gonna answer her?

[thatsplato]

[Well, she was going to try and kill Vanity again, but—- secret time in the thread above.]

[sweetsynergy]

[Oh that's definitely not gonna end well.]

[Just. Taking a step back here.]

[trustheart]

Rinne, I’m not giving up. No matter what you say.

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

You don't have to.

But I...

[ Is it finally setting in? That this is what existence will be forever? No, she doesn't want that. Oh, god, she doesn't want that. ]

[trustheart]

[ She takes Rinne’s hand again. ]

I won’t push you. But this IS our reality. I owe it to them to not make it theirs.