Pay in to Paradise

The girl considered this for a moment, then turned fully to face Ninestone, blinking dismissively as she did so - as if she was mentally pushing aside the frightful surroundings.

"Then you believe we've committed some past wrong, and are being punished? How, then, do we escape?"

~~~

Stumbling, now, back into the main hall, Twocoats - and any who had chosen to follow him - heaved for a moment or so to catch his breath from the dreadful run back through those devilish woods.

"H-hello?" he stammered, jittering from head to toe, for in contrast to the brightness of even such a grim day outside, the unlit hall restricted his vision severely with swaths of billowing darkness.

Threeblade, who'd been hanging back a bit from the group, trembled slightly at the mention of punishment. It would explain the overwhelming depression and unease that pervaded this place like an unpleasant stench... but what had they done?

Whenever she tried to think of her past, much less her name, an all-encompassing smog settled over her mind, effectively halting any further thoughts. With the difficulty to concentrate came headaches, so the two combined halted any further musings on the subject of her past.

"If we're being punished, wouldn't whoever or whatever is doing the punishing want us to the known the reasons behind it all?" she said, just loud enough to be heard.

"It's obvious. We don't, or we die. We'll have to learn to cope here. Just fuckin' lovely, isn't it?"
He giggled a bit, almost finding it humorous that they had been selected, almost at random, for this hellish place. His laugh grew louder, and he placed his hands over his eyes.
"Wonderful. Just great. Isn't it?"

Acknowledging Ninestone's words - yet responding to Threeblade's - the hatted girl wrinkled her brow in concentration.

"I suppose this all depends on who or what is doing the punishing. Do you think those hallucinations the night prior, those demons, were the real thing? Devils, or other things of evil? And for that matter..."

She hesitated. "What did they tell you all to do? I know mine demanded something."

"Mine wanted me to gain someone's trust and kill them. It said that "The Queen" was coming, and that somehow things would be alright when she arrived. Overall, very scary. It seems enticing though, as the first serpent would when tempting..." He paused. "Who was it?"

"Eve?"

The girl glanced, suddenly, and worriedly, to the heavens. Surely, so soon after sunrise, it could not be getting dark once more?

Her suspicions were, thankfully, negated by a slight rumble in the distant grayness, and a brief flash of light.

"Perhaps... We'd do best to retrace our steps to the hall."

A sudden movement from a corner beside the main hall's door moved as fast as a windy breeze, showing up behind Twocoats and placing an arm around the boy's neck.

Twelve's panic was well founded, he'd started moving as soon as Twocoats finished speaking. This reaction was one he'd learned once, although he couldn't place where, it was a reaction to surprise, to get behind someone and try to get answers, or choke them to unconsciousness.

"Where is everyone, kid?"

The portly boy, already unnerved, was initially frozen - only the sudden and complete paralysis of all things Twocoats prevented him from letting loose a shriek.

After rationalizing that the offender was Twelvecig, Twocoats determined to answer the question. He opened his jaws, but all that drafted forth was a pathetic, raspy hiss.

He tried again, and was semi-successful. "I... They... We, they went in the woods, and I said no, an' came back, and... Still there, but... I came back, see, and please don't hurt me!"

"Yes. Eve. And perhaps it would be a good idea to head back to the hall, if you would but lead the way." He stepped to the side of the trail. He honestly didn't trust these people too much. The entire situation seemed treacherous. The world was off-kilter. And that thing said betrayal could set it right again.

At the chubby kid's response, the dirty young man's arms fell from the boy's neck. Twelvecig's first thought was to ask about his knife, but he tried to rationalize where it had gone with this new information. Perhaps the ones in the forest had taken his knife to try and hunt, or cut something. But still, that didn't make sense, because his knife wouldn't be very sharp, or large enough to clear nearby foliage, or anything truly useful except perhaps skinning dead animals. But that would require actually killing an animal. So, he decided to ask.

"Kid, uh, Fourcoats was it? Uh, do you know where my knife is?"

The girl, giving a curt nod, began to retrace her steps with the logical aim of returning to the hall. The forest, however, seemed to have other goals in mind, and steered the small party down an unfamiliar road, packed of gravel which crunched quietly underfoot, and eventually disappeared altogether.

The air here smelled of dead things, and moaning cries echoed throughout the mournfully-lit canopy above.

~~~

The boy curled his lip submissively, relieved to be out of the older boy's grasp. "I... No, sir, I haven't taken it, if that's what you think! And I, I don't think I saw anyone else take it, neither... When did you last have it?"

He blinked, sweating in fright. "Was it before the night? Did it... Did the..." Unable to reign in his imagination, Twocoats succumbed to an awkward and pensive silence.

Nicole looked around fearfully. His eyes were wide, and he pulled his short over his nose to combat the smell. He felt something biting at his arm and swatted it. A mosquito. Most unpleasant. "This is wonderful. Just fucking amazing."