The web site of thedevil

The group all pull into a park. Upon stepping out, they see... nothing out of the ordinary. It's just a normal park, illuminated by both the streetlights and the cars' headlights. Tables, benches, some paths. It's really nothing special. However, there's some paths going into the woods! One of which has a sign in front of it that reads, Deity In Death LARPing Group. The sign is one of those cardboard ones you'd see in someone's lawn. There's a faint light coming from the path.

A man is standing at the entrance to the park, leaning against the walls. He has a beanie on, a loose jacket, jeans. Looks tired. His face is rather long. He gropes around in his pocket for something, looking down. It seems he has been waiting for quite a while, as he looks visibly annoyed by the fact that he's been standing here for so long. He's actually sneering.

“So who’s here again?” Timothy looks around. He's been here for maybe 2 hours because he just NEEDED to be first one there. He walks up to the man at the entrance, “Who are you? I'm Timothy.”

The man's head pans up. "Oh, hello! I'm Greg. It's a pleasure to meet you." He smiles awkwardly. This is not Greg.

A car pulls up, slightly late. Myla steps out and says hi to the people currently there. "Hey, I'm Myla. Wait, holy shit, Greg?" They look at him, really fucking happy for some reason.

A woman with long, braided blonde hair approaches. She's wearing a winter coat and a black skirt with black leggings and dress shoes. Her green eyes watch the area. She's standing with Cupid

"Hi! Hello. Sorry, I was very into the LARP, I'm sure you could tell," he says, a very quaint and almost comforting look about him. Despite the fact that he is... well. There is something that is wrong. Anyone who's interacted with him can see it. Especially Lucille, though. Timothy stares at the man who calls himself Greg.

A women with a gray shirt on and a brown jacket on with blue hair and glasses approaches the park, “This the LARP place? Oh? Hello.”

"Well, uh, before we go in, I gotta be honest, uh..." Myla is interrupted. A fucking loud BRRRRRRRRM is heard as a 1990 cherry red miata pulls up with a wide body kit with a black wing attached to it. Cole fucking Genesone steps out wearing a black shirt with the sleeves torn off as well as black nitrile gloves and loose jeans as he stands at a 6' with pretty decent muscles. Like, you can tell he is working out. He just stares at group.

A black moped gets parked nearby as Ayden hops off it, carrying a huge bag. He walks towards the rapidly forming group. “I got the swords!!”

"Oh! Yeah, uh, speaking of stuff, give me a bit." Myla runs back to their car, grab a couple bags and a backpack, and heads back in.

Willow comes from the woods, running and tired from it, carrying a shallow, lidded container full of cupcakes, "I'm.. I'm here.. eugh. Hullo."

A small black car pulls up not too far away, nothing too impressive. Stepping out there's Jamie, also with a bag grocery bag in hand. Chips! Gore walks up, and waves to all of it.

There's a black Ford F150 parked a fair bit away from the gathering. Cole is just watching, sizing everyone up silently.

Poppy walks up to the group, unrecognized by the group. No one actually knows her. She's never talked in the server, but she was recruited by Lucille a few days prior. She looks over the group but doesn't say anything

"Greg" can't even find it in himself to make eye contact with any of these people. Not that he's particularly interested in being domineering. He glances over at the Ford F150, and a Volkswagen Type 2 where a man sits, staring directly at him. He's dead silent, waiting on Myla (who appears interested in speaking to him) to come back up to him. The only sense of comfort he has.

“Who wants a sword?” Ayden sets the bag down, and inside it is a bunch of foam swords based off of various periods of history.

"Woa! Swords!" Willow seems excited. "Nice. I'd take one.. but.. uh.." She lifts the cupcake container slightly, "My hands are full."

Myla gets near Greg and starts to whisper. "Should we go down there just to make sure everything is alright...?"

"Greg"'s head whips away from the van and toward Myla. "You're uh, yeah. Yeah. Let's go ahead." He nods, even though it's redundant.

Malo exits The Black Ford F150, leaving her bag behind as she takes a good look around with a hum.

She stands at a good, tall height, with a hoodie on but not zipped up. Looks soft but bulky in a sense, especially in the arm and thighs area, and looks amongst the cast of misfits.

Malo looks at Avery with a bit of a cocky grin, "You've seen how these bitches interacted? They're all roaches here. You'll be fineeee. Besides, anyone mess with you? They gotta go through me."

Cupid walked up to the group. "Hello?" He asked, the mask on his face probably not helping the sketchiness of all of this.

“I can hold those for you if you want?” Ayden offers Willow, gesturing to the cupcakes.

“Can I get a cupcake?” Timothy asks. “Also, Willow with the cupcakes I assume?”

"OH, yes! Yours is the one with binary frosted on. You didn't tell me what you wanted for yer special cupcake.. so I just guessed." Willow chuckles slightly.

Myla turns their phones flashlight on, illuminating the path a bit. Both their and totally real Greg go down the path. Cole follows Myla at a distance, not wanting to seem creepy but he has no idea where to go.

He let Elizabeth take his hand as he nodded. "Sure." The two head down the path.

Margaret looks to the person holding all the cupcakes, “So you must be Willow, need any help with that?”

"Yea! I would really appreciate that, actually," Willow says, handing the binary cupcake to Timothy.

“Also, thank you Willow!” Timothy loves this cupcake and eats it. It’s yummy.

"If anyone wants a cupcake you can get it now or a bit later. I don't mind." Willow smiles.

Margaret grabs the container of cupcakes from Willow, “I got it, you made cupcakes so that is all we can ask for”

"I’m just gonna leave the bag of swords here, just take which one you want.” Ayden grabs a gleaming white sword out of the bag, some may recognize this as the legendary sword Caledfwlch and heads on down the path! Poppy follows, still not interacting with anyone. Margaret starts making her way down the path.

Willow grabs a random foam sword, pretending to badly stab at the air, before walking down the path with the rest.

A fairly average heighted person runs to the back of the group. Her hair is split between pink and black, dressed in a fishnet shirt, sweatshirt, and ripped jeans. She has makeup that appears to be going for a crying look, as well as some freckles dotted on. She wears a worm backpack and is holding an excessively bubble wrapped axe.

Back at the Ford F150, "..Fine but because I won't be able to watch otherwise." The Ford F150 turns off and someone steps out of the driver side door, shutting it behind them. A 5'5 lass with pale skin hops out of the truck. Her back-length brown hair is very messy and soft lookin. Some of it obscures her face. Her eyes look tired. She has a somewhat chubby build, bit bottom heavy. She wears an oversized blue sweatshirt and baggy grey sweatpants. Her mannerisms SCREAM "oh fuckk I haven't been outside in months", mostly due to the fact she immediately hides behind Malo. "I hate this already. So we're following them??"

Malo gives Avery a small pat on the head with a smile, before starting to lead the way to The Path. "Yep, might as well, right? I cannnn hold your hand if you'd like." She teases.

Avery pushes Malo gently. "Well go on then!!!" And grabs her hand before walking towards the path herself lol

"Greg" looks back and around at Tim and then away. He whispers to Myla: "...Whoever the guy you were looking for is it's not me. I don't... I get the feeling there's something... fuckin'... wrong here." He grimaces. "He knew. Dear God, he knew." Paranoia sets in quickly.

"Hey, listen, it's fine. Just stick with me." Myla looks at fake Greg [gonna call him freg from here on out for comedic purposes] and smiles.

"Greg" chuckles nervously. "I've never been part of something like this before," he says, trying to sound a little reassuring, although he doesn't know who exactly it's for. He keeps mouthing: "the van. The van. the van. The van." As if wanting to return to it. Perhaps he is the one who owns that van? Or no?

Myla looks at Freg again. "Hey, uh, you alright? You seem worried about... something?"

"Oh god yeah, I'm really on edge." He shivers. It's cold and he looks around. Everyone seems to be at a relative distance to the both of them so he begins to feel a little more comfortable. Looks like we've got yet another agoraphobe. "Damn, it's cold. Is that just me? I'm sure you'll meet... the actual guy before long..." He sniffles.

"The actual guy? I'm sorry, is the real Greg here or?" Myla is really interested now.

"He was in the van. Watching us. God that motherfucker is creepy as Hell. I don't get it." He looks like he's having a whole ass existential crisis.

"Ok, uhm, I'd say we're far away enough from everyone else, you want some water or something, uh..." Myla grabs a bottle of water from one of their grocery bags.

"No. No no no no no no. No it's fine. I'm, uh, it's really... just... he unnerved me." His lips smack as they part to allow him to speak again: "Got under my skin, dude." He almost laughs. "But I'm fine."

"Alright then, uh, if you say so... I say we wait here for a bit until more people come down-" Myla says, "By the way, mind if I get your real name?"

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Uh... I'm Theo. Pleasure to meet you." He sniffles again, feeling for his wallet. Wants to ensure he hasn't been pickpocketed. Around all these people he doesn't even know it's kind of unnerving.

As the group walked through the path, they'd notice it seems to stretch on for a good while. There's the occasional arrow shaped sign, pointing them in the right direction. Though... at some points, anyone with a good eye would notice a dim red blink from within the trees. As they walk, they begin to hear some people talking! That's a good sign, right? Theo is unfortunately not seeing the dim red blink. There is some talking not too far off as well, obviously, but he isn't sure whether this is a good or bad idea to walk toward.

Ross enters the path with the others, and Willow can be seen sticking to the darkest areas of the path.

“Must be getting close!” Ayden continues to walk down the path and closer to the sounds of people.

Cole keeps his head on a swivel making sure no one is sneaking up on him as he keeps walking. Poppy takes a mental note of the blinking. Myla looks at Theo for a bit. Their left leg starts to itch. This isn't Greg. This isn't actually Greg. They don't know this person.

"Hey, Theo, you sure you don't want a bottle of water or anything? We've been walking for a bit..." Myla says, as Timothy can be heard running down the path.

Theo can feel the nervousness in the air about him. "Auh. I'm sorry that- I'm sure. Yeah. It's fine. I just wanted to... make sure you were okay as well." He sniffles for a third time in a rather quick succession. Still unable to make direct eye contact.

Malo takes a good look around the area as they walk down the path with Avery, perking up at the sound of talking "Seems like it's active already?"

Myla grabs a water bottle from their backpack and hands it to Theo. "Here, you can have this one." They look at Theo and smile. They know when it'll hit. They know it'll attract the real Greg. They need him.

Theo, while being rather more clueless, knows that this is a person he just met here very recently and he probably shouldn't trust them enough to take anything of theirs. Not yet. Maybe after a while...

Cupid notices the red, blinking light off in the distance. He pulls out his phone flashlight, walking over to it and shining it at the source of the light. Ellie follows him. There's a small camera looking device. It's maybe 2 inches tall and 2 inches wide. It has a symbol on it that looks like a dream catcher with the pattern of a hazard symbol. The camera appears to be on. Ellie looks at the camera. "Is someone watching us?"

He tilts his head a bit, picking up the camera and shoving it into his pocket before shrugging. "Not anymore. We should keep going." He walked back to the path, still holding Elizabeth's hand.

Myla decides to grab a water bottle from their backpack as well. They just need to be quick. Earn his trust and bury it deep. The real Greg isn't far away. He isn't, they know he isn't. Ayden, while walking down the path, sneezes like a kitten but recoils like a shotgun. He readjusts his glasses and face mask before continuing on.

The clearing appears to have a few chairs, tables, some propane lamps, and a few people! One of the tables has some papers, held in little containers so that they don't blow away. One has a bunch of snacks, including 4 boxes of pizza (2 cheese, one with sauce and one without, and 2 pepperoni, one with sauce and one without). The others seem to be free, and the chairs are placed around them.

At one of the tables, there's three people sitting. There's a young looking girl, long ginger hair with a purple flower crown. She's wearing black sweatpants and a black hoodie with a trans pride pin on it. She's got a laptop in front of her and typing away VIGOROUSLY.

Next to her is a young man with shoulder-length brown hair. He's wearing glasses and a black t-shirt with a brightly colored hawaiian shirt over it. He's got on jeans as well. On his left wrist are two kandi bracelets, one with the trans flag colors and the other with the bi flag colors. He's writing.

Then there's Kiera, sitting with them. Lucy is standing at the table with the papers and smiling, illuminated only by the propane lamps.

Myla takes a seat, and directs Theo to sit next to them. Cole goes to the table farthest from Lucy and sits at it. They also drink the water bottle they got before. Timer starts now.

"Aw sweet, the skittle squad's here," says the girl, looking up from her laptop, "Sup asswipes."

"Jesus christ, Rox," says the man, laughing slightly, but holding himself together.

"Hey there, uh..." Myla looks at the girl. Their vision starts to take a hit. Fuck. Grab the antidote and drink it in a bit.

Theo sits down next to Myla but he's so interested in what he's seeing that he honestly just forgets to take a drink even when he's about to, because he is a little parched, to be completely honest. He sits the bottle at his feet, blissfully unaware of the very real danger he is in.

Malo looks upon the immediate area, amused at the sight of everything. "Oh look. The pizza wasn't a lie at least!" She holds Avery's hand to one of the empty tables. Avery FOLLOWS and looks around at everyone while doing so.

Cupid takes a seat, leading Elizabeth to the table with him. Ellie follows, almost hiding behind him. She realizes shes one of the older people here. Margaret sets down the cupcakes at her table, sitting.

"I wonder how many of them are straight," Roxy rubs her eyes, closing her laptop. Cole is staring at Cupid like a feral fucking animal. Poppy walks in, taking a seat at a table, she just glances around the clearing taking everything in. Myla stares at Theo. Just fucking drink it, just fucking drink it, just FUCKING DRINK IT! Cupid stares back at Cole like a feral fucking animal. Cole locks eyes with Cupid and keeps staring.

Rosella is just watching from the trees, having followed everyone. Slowly Theo picks up the bottle and takes a very tiny sip at it before putting it back down on the floor. All of it is very strange to him, different. This is unlike anything he has ever seen. Myla's scratching their left leg like crazy. A tiny sip. Good enough.

Willow stands near the table and near Margret and the cupcakes, in the shadow of a tree, watching nervously.

Ross sits, pulling out a coke and some gummy worms. “Who asked for these again?”

Myla takes the antidote out and drinks it. They lean in next to Theo. "Go to Hell."

Theo is so nervous he literally just faints anyways before Myla can drop her one-liner. Myla looks at everyone, shit, did they just see that?

Myla blinks. Theo's body is gone. Wait.. who's Theo? They can't remember. No one can.

Para wonders why he's sitting in his fucking van and not in the park but decides it's probably not worth going anyways. Someone's probably going to come out and tell him what's happened anyways. But is he really even interested in whatever is going on in the first place?

Avery lets go of Malo's hand. "I'm gonna go talk with the paper lady." She watches Myla suspiciously while getting up and walking over to Lucille's table. Myla grabs a slice of pizza. The itching stopped. They take a deep breath. Malo watches as Avery does, humming softly as she watches from afar

“Guys..” Timothy has been running for a while and finally catches up to the clearing, breathing heavily from all the running. Cupid tosses a gummy worm at Cole, half expecting him to catch it in his mouth. He does.

Ross looks around and suddenly claps very loudly. “So! What’s everyone’s deal?”

"Well if we all settle down, I believe Lucy would get to that." Raine says. Ross sits down and sulks sulkily.

Avery registers what Raine just said, "..Oh, if you're gonna tell everyone then. Uh...." Avery sighs and seems a bit embarrassed.

Lucille takes the papers from the containers and walks to each person, handing them one each. The papers have a lot of writing on them, talking about game mechanics, combat, cipher-cracking, deaddrops... etc.

"Now, these papers have a basic rundown of everything you'll need to know when playing! You should keep these on you as you play. I'm going to explain everything now so that you can hear it verbally, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask!"

"First section, PLOT and SETTING. This story takes place present day, present time, in this here city. You all are investigating a cult, and infiltrating it. However, this cult has found a way to summon monsters that will sniff you out and try to kill you. The end goal is to bring down the cult and to seal away the monsters for good!"

"Next, GAMEPLAY MECHANICS. As a player, you will have to converse with characters both online and in real life! These characters will be played by myself, Roxy, and Raine. Interacting with characters will often give you clues to uncover the mysteries."

"COMBAT. You will encounter many different monsters! Fighting them will involve turn-based, hand to hand combat. The monsters will be portrayed by myself, Roxy, and Raine, and your hits are determined by dice-rolls."

"PUZZLES. You will come across puzzles such as ciphers and geocaches / deaddrops! Puzzles should be easy, especially when working as a team, but the deaddrops may be a little harder! Deaddrops, for those unaware, are items hidden in the real world that you must seek out and find. These items will often contribute to the investigation."

Kiera shakes its head no. Cole is reading the paper intently and shakes his head no Cupid shook his head no.

"This sounds nerdy as hell." says Ascelli. Myla starts to sweat a bit. Shit, besides binary, they don't know SHIT about cipher breaking. Fuck, will they really need to call her...? Ugh. Myla reluctantly shakes their head no, more worried about the puzzle segment compared to everything else.

Margaret is looking for clues on the paper. Ross starts to raise their hand and then decides their question is stupid and shakes their head no.

"Hah, what's up..." They're clearly really uncomfy here despite everything. Where the fuck did all that cockiness from the server go?

Malo is listening and reading over the paper, before giving a shaking her head. She seems upbeat about the situation however, simply sitting in her seat.

Cupid looks over at Elizabeth, booping her nose. Margaret raises her hand, “Yea, when do we start?”

Ellie giggles and boops Cupid back. He boops Ellie AGAIN, this time lightly pinching her nose.

"We ride at dawn bitches," Cole mutters quietly as he is clearly debating eating the paper. Myla looks at Cole. They weren't sure that was Cole, but this for sure is Cole.

"...want to stand in the dark with me? It's nice. It's.. easier then the table." Willow offers to literally anyone who'll listen.

“Hey Willow. Yeah, I can keep you company I guess.” Timothy smiles and goes towards Willow.

Raine slinks out of his seat and stands next to Willow. He's a measly 5'1 and skinny.

"Thanks. If you want to stand at the table, it's fine." Willow stares at Raine, suddenly interested by the presence of a stranger.

“No. It’s fine, it’s shady here.” Timothy responds. “I’m excited for the ARG and ciphers to be honest. What about you, Willow?”

"..yea. you could say I'm excited as well, actually." Willow stands 5'2, but happy to be taller then somebody.

Ross grabs the coke he bought hours ago and gives it to Myla. Then, he grabs the gummy worms and— “Hey who got into the gummy worms? I bought those for somebody!” they glare at Cupid as suspect numero uno.

"Oh, thank you-" says Myla, taking the coke. It opens the coke and drinks it all in one sitting. What the actual fuck. They have not touched grass in months, clearly. Cupid gently shoves the gummy worms in the direction of Ross.

"I dunno I just feel like I have like 40 voices screaming in my ears at onc-" She stops and suddenly looks into the darkness. ".....Ignore that, anyway!" She sits down next to Malo.

“I have a question! Why so late?” Ayden asks. Ascelli seems to be fairly quiet, and is a few feet away from the rest of the group.

“Like are we going to be given a clue or something? Orrrr is there like a time it starts tonight?” Margaret asks.

"To answer Margaret, yes!" Lucille looks to Ayden, "To better fit the atmosphere of the LARP!"

"Right." Willow goes silent, observing the people and picking at the skin around her fingernails. Raine appears to be drawing in a small notebook. Willow watches Raine draw, trying to make out what it is despite the shadow. It appears to be a door. Just a door.

"Uhm, can I excuse myself for a moment...? I need to call someone." Myla asks. Willow glances at Myla, Giving her a half-smile in a way of trying to quietly say 'I'm here if you need me. Myla smirks back at Willow. They're just waiting to see what anyone who is seemingly working on this says.

Timothy looks back at Willow. “I noticed you were shy. I mean.. I’m not trying to get personal or get mad at you, I just wanted to talk. You’ve been a great friend and no one’s really done anything even as kind as give me a cupcake before, or even think of me.”

“I loved the cupcake. I just.. no one’s done that before. All everyone does is call me a nerd. It proves my point but.. you get it, right?” Timothy looks at Willow.

Lucille claps rhythmically so that everyone listens to her. "There is already a clue hidden here tonight. If you're able to find it, you'll be making great progress!" She stands up on Roxy's table. Roxy looks up at her with a face of pure disgust. Lucille dramatizes every movement she makes as she speaks, "Somewhere, there is something. A directory that will get you and your peers infiltrating the cult in no time! It's somewhere in this clearing...." The clearing is mostly just grass, though there are some stray logs and rocks. Something could be hidden just about anywhere. "But be warned... there could be monsters!"

“Wow. Cool, clues. Searching!” Timothy smiles widely. Margaret walks over to the nearest rock and try’s to lift it, trying to find something

"AH! Oh, right! Right." Willow snaps out if it, walking forward but staying mostly behind the group.

Cole puts his legs up on his table and crosses his arms as he mutters, "I'm not doing the job of a detective, that's fucking stupid."

Myla starts looking, especially near rocks. Fuck. They can't stop thinking about how they basically bullshitted their way here really. They're not good with puzzles nor LARPing. They drink some more of the shroom tea they brought and relax a bit.

"And uh.. Tim? Of course you're a nerd. But this is a larp- it'd be weird not to be one." Willow assures Timothy.

Timothy walks slowly along with Willow. “Yeah. I know a lot. And this is a LARP- but everything outside of that LARP is just people calling me a nerd. It proves my point but still, man, it’s the same thing as calling you poor, dumb, or fat, and I’m trying to make friends with people here. I just don’t like.. do you get it?” Timothy feels bad for spilling his emotions and runs to try and find something to hide his emotions.

Willow runs forward after Tim for a moment, unsure, "Tim? Tim it's ok-" She's left alone, slowly walks forward, nervous again. She then retreats to the tree, where Raine is. Still drawing the door.

"Well, er, I guess you were right. Awh crap I'm bad at this I'm sorry. Awh crap talking is hard. Oh no. Uh. I'm going. This way." Willow slowly walks away.

Malo remains at the tables, watching the others go on as she looks at Avery, "Wanna just sit back and let 'em handle the work?"

Myla starts to look at nearby rocks. Ayden is here looking at the logs. Myla lifts a couple of rocks, moves a couple around, fuck, just find something, god damn it!

“Hey, Ayden, Myla? Should we team up?“ Timothy looks around at more rocks and grass while also trying to be cautious.

Myla looks up, startled. Who the fuck is this, they don't recognize them. "Uh... N-No thanks!"

“I have no clue who you are so maybe not?” Ayden then rolls the log he is looking at over.

Oh. Timothy. He reminds Myla too much of their sister. Stay away. Please. God, please. "A-Again, thank you, but no... I'm personally alright..."

“Wow, okay. Ayden?” Tim looks over at Ayden. “Yeah I guess call me Tim-Tam.”

“Okie Doki!” Ayden goes back to rolling over logs. Myla waits for Timothy to leave and lets out a sigh of relief. They already need to call their sister for help if they do find this shit, they don't want to be near someone to reminds them of her.

"Yeah, its just... I don't really like Tim, I guess. Huge smartass, probably unironically says 'Uhm, actually...', reminds me too much of my sister." Myla keeps grabbing rocks and placing them in different places. They've had enough, clearly there's nothing in the rocks in this section, they're pretty sure they've moved every single fucking rock in this area. "I'll go to another group real quick, nothing here on my end."

Margaret is looking by near by rocks and picking them up to look under them. If nothing found under or near the rocks she starts searching the logs. There's a piece of paper crumpled up in the log. Margaret grabs it and reads it.

Margaret decodes it to “u/batwingsfebruary” as she looks it up on her phone on what they could be, “Yea it decides to ‘u/batwingsfebruary’”

Willow walks up, looking through the treeline and shouting in a whisper, "Hullo again? Myla? Tim?.. literally anyone who I actually know? Please.. eugh."

"OH! Tim, thank God, eugh. I don't know anyone's name here besides you and Mylas." Willow runs up to him!

“I got a skull emoji back from the account.” Timothy smiles. Willow is visibly.. confused.

“Willow, you don’t understand, I was trying to be friends but.. eh. Whatever, disregard it, anyway Willow what’s up?” Tim decides not to push them away but to be friends again. “Yeah, I got a skull emoji back.”

"I- wait what? Sorry, did.. did I upset you-" Willow seems confused."OH, Myla! Hi! I was looking for you too!"

“Yea we found a code that translated to some Reddit account,” Margaret smiles.

“It gave us a Reddit username and I got a skull emoji back when I dm’ed it,” Tim says.

"Hey Willow!" Myla smiles at Willow. Besides Para, they're the only person that they can relate to. They're comfortable here. "Uh, should we take that back to Lucy?"

“Hey, they sent me back a 'You don’t have to do everything' gif.” Tim shows the phone.

"Maybe she'll tell us if we give it back? Like, unless this is all that there is-" Myla says. Myla does not use Reddit. They're normal.

"It's hard to tell, this place is dense." Willow says, "Maybe we loom around for like.. a few more minutes before we head back?"

"Awh, if you want to. Are you sure you'll be ok? I know she makes you and a few others nervous." Willow says.

"Mind if you hand it to me? Gonna see what Lucy has to say about it." Myla says.

"Thanks, uh..." Myla can't seem to remember who this is. They head to the table. They need to handle this on their own.

Willow looks around the clearing, easily scaling a tree, despite being scrawny, and getting a view from above, "This forest is actually quite nice. You all should see this, the view is amazing.."

Willow climbs down the tree, "I'm not sure if I see anything else. Then again I need glasses. OH, is somebody still messaging you, Marg?"

"Seems that this group is having an orientation on December 5th? And all info will be there? And they called me a 'Lost soul'?" Margaret says.

“Orientation same day next month? All info there? Lost soul? Weird.” Tim says. There's a visible shift in Willows demeanor, quickly becoming more calculated and quiet, watching Tim and Margaret.

“Willow, do you mind if I talk to you.. privately for a bit, I just don’t.. want you to be mad.” Tim asks, “Another code? Perhaps meant for you to solve."

“It may be part of a link. It’s probably not a cipher. Or it is and my brain isn’t braining.” Tim says. “Willow, again.. can I talk to you privately, kinda, sorry I guess..”

"Sometimes brains just don't want to brain. I'm useless right now because I'm half blind but this is still fun!" Willow smiles. "OH, and, sure?" She angles towards him, as if ready to follow.

"Ah, right? What was it then?" Willow asks, as they make it to a part of the clearing with few people.

“Is it fine if I spill my emotions a bit?” Tim asks, “I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable or mad or anything.”

"Sure. You're human after all." Willow smiles. "I would never be mad at you for that, remember that, alright?"

“Thanks.” Timothy smiles at the thought of actual kindness. “Even that shocks me. Are you human? Because no human has said anything close to that before, except for my parents who now live thousands of miles away.”

"..yes? Man, everyone acts like they've never been treated well before and it's.. concerning." Willow says, "I'm sorry about your family being so far away. OH, and do understand it's true. I'm not one to really lie. Especially about something like that."

“It’s fine, I visit them fairly. I’m not acting like I haven’t been treated well before. I’ve had my fair share of friends and family. We had fun. And they’re gone again and have been gone for some time. The rest of them now call me a loser and a nerd.”

"Oh. Well being a nerd isn't an insult. I think. Just means you know cool stuff. That's pretty cool. They're wrong anyways. Losers are bullies who have not better to do then call others losers. You don't seem like a loser to me. Just another cool, smart person I have the pleasure of meeting!"

"Good." Avery sighs and leans on Malo. She pets Avery's head, confused. Myla is just, standing there. Fuck, did they take someones credit for something- They feel like this wasn't for them. They drink more mushroom tea. Avery says, "I didn't expect this social function to be this extremely exhausting."

Avery mouths "Fucking Furry" at Raine. Raine silently sobs. Malo starts to eat some of the pizza. Subtly.

"Malo, I have a genuine question of upmost importance." Avery GRABS Malo's face and STARES HER IN THE EYES. "Would you have voluntarily crawled in the springbonnie costume because I think you would've voluntarily crawled in the springbonnie costume."

Malo looks at Avery directly in the eyes. She sounds 100% serious. Deadass. "Yes"

"Nothing, I just have a bitch to fucking murder," Cole's face quickly changes to anger as he clenches fist.

Myla is scared. Shit. Was it something that they said? Probably. Fuck. Their eyes twitch a bit before talking. "U-Uh, who...?"

"Not you, not you," Cole assures them. Myla takes such a deep fucking breath its almost like kirby came by and tried to eat everything at this park. They immediately drink more mushroom tea. Not much left.

"I still don't know what this whole thing really is and... God, if only my sister was here-" Myla sighs, "I kinda regret coming."

Myla sighs a bit. "I'll tell her to replace me next meeting, it would probaby be the safest bet-"

Cupid sits down, a giant smooch mark now on his mask. Ellie is giggling and sits next to Cupid. Ayden is just drinking the liter of root beer he brought.

"..alright. I've got to go, I'll be around if you need me, ok?" Willow hands him a cupcake, and runs back to Tim.

"It's interesting to see everyone's true colors," Cole mutters to himself as he glances around

Margaret rushes in, "I got it!" Margaret pulls out her phone and show them the video.

Willow slowly walks from the forest and once again settles in the treeline, silent.

Raine chuckles to himself softly. Myla looks at Raine. Cole stares at Raine. Roxy smirks at Raine, "Did you do the"

Willow shudders, leaving the group to look around more, having not done so much due to nerves.

Cole nods, "I know." Myla sighs. Even if it's a red herring, they could solve it.

Kiera scoots over to Raine and extends a cool looking rock it found. Raine takes the rock.

Roxy's eating a whole pizza by herself. Willow returns to the treeline, calmer then before, and more observant of everyone's mood and behavior.

Kiera smiles and digs a knife out of their pocket. It's pretty. "Do you like this"

“Lets get decoding then because times a wasting!” Ayden is struggling with it. Kiera smiles and goes back to looking for cool rocks. Myla is watching the video over, and over, and over again. Ellie yawns, leaning on Cupid. Cole is staring at Cupid like a feral animal.

"Wait, uhm..." Myla taps on the shoulder of Margaret. They haven't been introduced to each other yet.

Willow watches Myla and Margaret, listening in while climbing another tree, only to watch from a large limb.

Myla stares at the smiles for a bit. "Send that video in the server real quick."

Myla grabs their phone, copies the video link, and sends it to their sister. "She'll know what to do, I guess...?" The silence is very awkward. Were they supposed to do this? Fuck. Shit. Fuck. SHIT. They just sit down and keep eating. Cole is fiddling with his gloves nervously. Margaret is watching the video over and over to find something. Ayden is still trying to decode the Morse.

Lucille claps, "Alright, everyone, it's getting late! It's time to wrap things up!"

Cole stares at Lucille and mutters, "wrap up some bitches." Elizabeth is resting on Cupids shoulder, half asleep. Myla stands up and looks to the path to leave. They don't say bye or anything, they just walk away somewhat defeated. Malo perks up and looks at Lucille, humming. Cupid shuffled slightly, trying to wake up Ellie. Cole gives Elizabeth another murderous side-eye and stands up and starts walking back down the path.

"Ope- sorry,,, Think I almost fell asleep-" She chuckles, standing up. "I think I'll call an uber to take us back to the casino if thats okay,,, I dont really want to walk"

Avery is half asleep. Raine is wide awake. Willow remains in the tree, continuing to watch people leave.

"That's fine." Cupid stood up. "We can go to my place if you want to. I'll make us snacks and we can fall asleep watching a movie or something."

"That sounds really nice,, let's do that." She takes his hand and heads back down the path. Cupid followed. Kiera is looking at Lucille expectantly. Ayden is outta there! Willow waits silently in the tree, watching Lucy and Kiera, as well as all who leave. She puts the dark hood of jacket up, concealing self more, and ducking behind the leaves.

Once everybody leaves, Lucille, Roxy, and Raine all pack up the food and fold the tables. Roxy takes the food and walks into the woods, disappearing into the darkness. Raine takes the tables and does the same.

If Willow were still watching, she'd notice what appears to be some sort of structure deep into the woods. She can only see the top, but it looks to be a staircase.

Willow's slightly embarrassed about not having a ride home or a place to stay, deciding the structure would make a good shelter for the night.

"Good. Good. Also Willow, can I come? I literally have no where else to go." Margaret smiles.

Willow's realizing she doesn't know Rosella, and still embarrassed at the lack of a place to stay, she tries to sneak off. "Uh. Uhm. I mean it's pretty.. late, shouldn't you.. er.. goo home like i'm definitely doing?"

"Ohhhh..........." Willow whispers, "but uh. Neither do I. Well.. not after.. yesterday. Stuff happened. I can't get home. I was gonna go sleep under that weird staircase thing."

"I saw this weird structure thing. I think it had a staircase? Whatever it is.. I just want something to hide in that isn't a tree." she quickly looks around the field where the whole setup had been before, "...I hope.. eugh." She starts walking towards the structure. Margaret follows. Rosella just kinda leaves. Willow and Margaret walk for a while before reaching the structure. It's... just a staircase. In the middle of the woods. Perfect condition, almost like it was cut and pasted from any normal building. It makes both of them feel really uneasy. "Hm. Weird. Exciting."

Willow's suddenly full of energy, acting how she does in the chatroom, especially now that there's only really Nargaret around. She touches it, lightly, "Maybe not a bad idea."

"Somethings wrong. Very wrong. It's too quiet." Willow says, "Did you hear that?"

"Yes." Willow freezes completely, quietly removing a Long, sharp knife that had been concealed in the large coat pocket. "Hm.." Willow puts a foot onto the staircase, looking around. The noise increases in volume.

"What if this is like a clue? I don't know, it could be? How about this: Ill climb and you watch with your... knife."

"I will," Margaret starts to climb the stairs. Willow stares intensly into the woods. Her hearing is good, though sight is low. Something is walking... crawling? towards them. It appears dark, too dark to make out. She stares in the general direction of it, based off its sound, "What are you." It makes the clicking noises again. From another area of the woods, more noise can be heard. Similar, but more birdlike.

"Margaret? Did you bring a weapon?" Willow asks, "Ideally they don't mean harm. But there's alot. Whatever they are. And uh, they don't like.. something about the staircase?"

Margaret looks out from the direction of Willow as she still climbs the stairs, "Uhhh yea? Like a pocket knife?"

Tired. Looking up, she can see crimson trees hanging from the sky.

The sky for everyone else stays the same as the monsters approach, they can be seen more clearly now. They're large, dark-furred humanoid monsters with large, fluffy manes. Their faces appear to be a birdlike skull covered in rags, stitched together with loose thread. There's maybe three or four of them, and they're large. Maybe 7 or 8 feet tall.

"Y-yea I'm good? Just tired but must be from all these steps," she starts to climb faster.

"Something is seriously up with this staircase. There are crimson trees? In the sky?"

"What???" Willow asks, "That doesn't seem like a clue. Unless this really is something else. The sky looks fine to me, but I believe you."

Margaret, in the distance, can see a large cross being slowly pulled up. Something is hanging from it. The vision flashes to normal as she reaches the top of the staircase and nearly falls before catching herself.

“What the fuck…? Is everyone gone? Fuck, the FBI must have come through here.”

Ross drags a table aside and uses it to get into a tree for a better vantage. He sees two people climbing stairs. The fuck? He can’t see who they are but he tries to get their attention. He breaks a branch and gets out his lighter, and makes a very basic torch, “YOOO! CAN YOU SEE ME? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?”

"Come down! Come down! You're gonna get hurt!" Willow yells to Margaret. The Seed Eaters turn their attention to the fire. They start making the clicks and chirps, before turning back to Willow.

"WOAH!" Margaret looks around, "What the heck?!"

Cole pulls up with the same loud BRRRRRRRM and parks as he sprints back down the path muttering to himself, "fuck fuck fuck"

He sprints back to where the meeting happened with a black hoodie on and looks around for Ross.

Ross sees Cole and extinguishes the torch. “Dude what the fuck is going on?” They climb down the tree.

"Heh? I just remembered that I left you here what do you mean?" Cole looks genuinely confused.

Ross examines Cole for signs of intoxication, “Dude are you blitzed or something?”

Ross grabs cole by the arm. “Some weird shit is going on. Trust me, we have to go help.”

Cole looks down at Ross, grabbing him by the arm and groaning, "Fine, just lead me to them."

Margaret looks around and see if she can see anything before making her way down the stairs.

"C'MON! OH boy. oooh boy. This is fine." Willow says, slightly panicking. Ross runs towards the location of the stairs, brandishing his bear spray. Cole follows as he takes out his switchblade. One of the Seed Eaters cranes its head to see Ross and Cole. The rags on its face slowly begin to strain as they snap, tearing open to reveal a mouth full of jagged, serrated teeth and a long tongue. It stands up, revealing its 10' frame, though still hunched over. It snarls, lunging towards Cole.

Cole's arm gets sliced open slightly, Ross getting most of the damage as he's thrown to the ground and clawed at.

Willow throws a handful of pebbles at the creatures, yelling, "HEY!! STOP!!! I.. IM OVER HERE YOU.. INCREDIBLE BIRD THINGS!"

The Seed Eater screeches, leaning down to Cole. Cole groans and stumbles back from the hit and he screams back at the Seed Eater. Willow finds a larger stone, chucking it, nervous to leave the staircase where Margaret would be alone.

Ross grabs his bear spray and lighter ready to use a makeshift blow torch. “Cole, you alright?”

Out of the woods runs a small person. About 5'5? In the darkness all they can see is a flash of silver as the person wielding a FUCKING SWORD slashes through the arms of the monster and knocks it onto its side, allowing Ross and Cole the ability to run. "GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" They sound... young actually. If you're able to get a good look, they have short brown hair and pale skin.

Ross gets up. “Fucking bears, man!” and runs. Cole turns and starts sprinting in the same direction.

"If something happens, Margaret, I'm so sorry- i- this is my fault. I knew something was wrong with this staircase and- I.."

"There's nowhere to go. Nowhere." Willow sobs. "Crap. What do we do? There's so many. Do we run? Eugh, do we.. hide? Oh my god,God,, I.."

Oleander is barely able to fight off the seed eaters and starts trying to run, grabbing Willows hand and pulling her with them. "RUN OR YOULL FUCKING DIE!"

Willow runs efficiently, having practiced with many types of forest. "Just run. Don't think. Don't think again. It's just like before. Just run.."

Ross, still running, glances back to Cole. “I don’t think this is a LARP anymore, bro!” Cole is farrrr ahead of Ross already. Ross still has his makeshift blowtorch at the ready just in case.

Oleanders sword is at their side and they look behind, noticing the seed eaters. "Keep going, I'll buy you all time." He runs back at the seed eaters, using his sword to fight them off so the others can make it out. Margaret grabs Willow's hand as she runs with her

"Margaret. Margaret? Will he be ok..?" Willow slows down, just slightly, "He saved us. Is he gonna be ok?"

He seems to be holding his own against the seed eaters! More or less stalling so they can get out

"...hmph.. maybe you're right.. I really hope he'll be fine. I feel sick." She speeds back up, Keeping her head down, now pulling Margaret forward instead, "I think we're almost there.. it smells familiar. Like pizza." Margaret and Willow run, sprinting to safely somewhere and where ever they can go.

Myla ignored several red lights and almost got into several crashes. They stop a bit to park and pull their phone out. Cole fucking sprints out of the park with a slightly cut open arm. Myla sees Cole and gets out of their car. "Wh-"

"No clue, just know Willow said something was happening so I sped here." Myla chuckles humorlessly, "Prolly got 30 fines."

Myla helps them get up. "Oh god-" Myla pulls their knapsack out, grabs some mushroom tea and drinks it. They're so scared. They've killed people, but barely did they see blood. Fuck.

"Ehhh my arm is a little cut but other then that I'm fiiine and I can drive myself home," Cole says.

Willow sorta just stands there, confused and still. Ross looks at Willow and Margaret as well. “Where’s that kid with the fuckin sword?”

"I dunno. I dunno. He stayed." Willow says, "He stayed. Is he OK? OH man. This is my fault. What if he.."

"He has a sword, he will be fine. Don't worry. Just worry about you now." Margaret says.

"HE'S the one fighting those.. those beautiful.. wretched.. things.." Willow trails off.

"Some guy in the forest killing killer monsters that appeared after we touched a cursed stair case. You know, the normal," Margaret says.

"I'm fucking wonderful," Cole is no longer putting pressure on his wound and blood has soaked his hoodie.

"It's my fault. If I didn't stay behind and see the staircase.. if I didn't drag Margaret into investigating it.. or.. or.. eugh.." Willow sobs, before running to the treeline and vomiting. Margaret walks over to Willow and pats her back.

"Willow, uhm, you should come with me. Ross and Margaret, yall wanna come too, or?" Myla asks.

"Yea please," Margaret looks to Myla as she still rubs Willow's back. Willow continues to stare at Cole and his injury.

Cole looks at the both of them, "Fuck are you staring at me for? I can drive myself home."

“Well this was an interesting event, see ya.” Rosella just leaves, planning on swinging on the trees some more.

"I don't think you can," Willow chokes out, addressing Cole. Ross looks at Cole and sees the wounds.

“Holy shit, Cole we’ve got to get you fixed up,” Ross looks at his own wounds, “Guys I’m in no position to administer first ai-“ he blacks out and hits his head on his own motorcycle.

"Ross. You have a lighter.. rig-" Willow's cut off by Ross hitting the motorcycle. "OH God. What? Is he OK?" Myla grabs Ross.

"Still breathing, he's fine." Myla says. "Just gonna be blacked out for a bit." Myla grabs the lighter and hands it to Willow.

Willow glances back, "oh my God.. You're ok. Thank you. I think you saved us." Myla is confused as fuck. They're mostly worried about Willow, though.

Willow once the knife is hot enough, presses the metal against Cole wounds, "IM SO SORRY IM SO SORRY IM SO, SO SORRY" Cole's eyes widen as he clenches his fists and just nods.

"IM SORRY I ACTUALLY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IM DOING." Willow stops. Ross, unconscious, dreams of the consequences this days events will have on the trout population. Cole fists unclench as he breathes heavily and stares at the ground. Margaret is just watching in confusion on what in the heck just happened.

Myla sighs. "Ok, uhm, whoever doesn't need immediate first aid can come with me for now. Sword... guy... whoever you are, uhm, handle the rest, I guess...?"

"It's fine. Its not the best way to take care of a wound but. it works I guess." He goes to Ross. "Let me patch this guy up first then I'll get that guy, okay?"

Willow sorta drags the hot knife against the ground, slowly getting lost in thought. Myla looks at Willow, and then at Margaret. "You both seem alright, we should get going for now...?"

"But they're still hurt." Willow says. Oleander begins performing first aid for Ross, cleaning and patching up his injuries.

"Sword guy will take care of them, don't worry." Myla gets back in their car, waiting for both of them.

"I think we should go Willow," Margaret says. Willow turns and stares at Margaret. Margaret holds Willows hand, "Hey.. it's gonna be ok"

Ross opens his eyes a bit and mutters something about protecting their motorcycle and then just says, “Stacey is gonna be pissed,” before blacking out again. Margaret takes Willow by the hand and helps her make her way to Myla's car.

Myla looks at Margaret and Willow, and then sword guy. "I'll be back in a bit. Try to not fucking die I guess-"

Myla looks at Willow and Margaret again. "Buckle up. Don't want blood on my car."

"You'll be fine, don't worry. They didn't get you too bad. " Oleander says, keeping an eye on the woods.

Margaret buckles up as she looks to Willow, who curls up on the seat, holding her knees and leaning against the window. Myla starts to drive back to their home.

Ross begins stirring then sits up, drenched in sweat, “Hey Cole. Hey sword guy.”

“Yeah,” Ross wipes his forehead on his sleeve. “did we go swimming? i’m covered in water.”

Ross looks sad. “My mom is dead, man. Car crash on the way back from the hospital. I was the only survivor.”

"But it's fine he still visits me when I sleep, anyways oranges are a good fruit?"

Ross suddenly remembers something. “Hey, I came straight here from the grocery store. Sword guy, can you go into that bag on the back of my motorcycle and grab the bottle of orange juice and some solo cups?”

Oleander nods and does so, pouring them glasses of orange juice! Ross raises his glass for a toast. “To lost parents.”

Myla pulls up again and gets out of their car. "Y'all really drinking without me?"

“Wait sword guy, what’s your name? Also if it’s not too much trouble could you grab my groceries? I’ll come back for the bike.”

He nods and starts helping lift up Ross first. "Yeah I can do that. And its Oleander."

“Thanks Oleander. Take something from the bag as a payment for saving our asses.” Ross says.

Myla helps Cole. "Come on strong guy, y-you can't handle everything." They're thing to hide it, but deep down, they're scared shitless.

"I dont need anything but thank you. Its not a problem." Once they and the groceries are loaded into the car, they step away from the car. "Have a good night"

"Goin home," He says, picking up his sword and starting to head to the woods. Myla just keeps looking until he's deep in the woods. They proceed to help Cole out and get the fuck out of there. Holy shit. Cole is not wearing a seatbelt. In the back seat, ross is throwing a ball against the window and catching it.

"No. She would've done this to everyone." Myla says. "I think she was just seeing who the fuck is curious enough to stay there."

"Like I said, no." Myla says, "If it was a trap, why only get you guys? She had the chance to strike everyone there during the meetup."

Ross is heavily concussed. “Yeah. Unless she did and now we’re all like, what are those things that caspar the friendly ghost is?”

November 25, 2019