Realistic or Modern Allison Is Missing (IC)

[Darrian_Gabriel]

The shrill sound of his cell phone blared on the night stand as Damian jolts awake from a tenuous sleep, nearly knocking his head against the back board. He wipes a few beads of cold sweat from his face as he rubs his temples. After a few more seconds he reaches over to finally answer his phone, which had sat ringing for what seemed like several minutes.

"Yea?" asks Damian, his voice low and groggy.

"Dude, where the hell are you?" asks the voice on the other end.

"What?" asks Damian, still trying to fully wake himself.

"Bro, Manny is flipping his shit man. You better get here quick."

"Josh? Dude what time is it?" asks Damian as he glances over to his wall clock, which registered 8:30 AM "Oh shit, I over slept."

"Bro this is the third time in a week, are you trying to get fired?" asks Josh on the other end.

"Look tell Manny I'll be there as soon as I can." says Damian.

"Alright man, but you better..." Damian abruptly hangs up.

He tosses his phone onto the bed beside him and rubs his eyes in frustration "Goddamit..." He was an hour and a half late for work at the body shop. He looks down and takes note that, save for his shirt, he had fallen asleep in his clothes again. He wasn't quite sure what time he had made it home last night. His shoulders and arms were quite sore from the intense workouts he was putting himself through from the past few days. Damian was in pretty good shape, but he had been hitting the gym extra hard in the the last two or three weeks and it showed. However it was taking a toll on his sleeping habits as of late. He would spend two or three hours pumping it hard at the gym, get home a little past midnight or later and sack out from exhaustion. This was his way of coping with the breakup.

But what had hurt even worse, was the slight glimmer of hope she had given him just a week and a half prior. Yea they were both drunk and it could technically be considered a one night stand, but Damian saw it as an indication that they would be getting back together. But his repeated attempts to hang out with Ali from that point on were just met with flakeyness and her telling him that she "needed time"...whatever the hell that meant. In any case, it was causing him great distress. He checks his phone's recent texts and sees that she still hadn't responded to his request to see a movie, which he sent her two days before.

"How damn hard is it to reply to a simple text?" he mutters to himself.

Damian walks over to his bedroom window and looks outside to the large leaf strewn front yard of the old house he was renting with Ali and a few other friends. He sees Ali's beat up old Sedan that was still sitting in the elongated driveway after her transmission had blown a few days ago. She had been bumming rides to and from work. The day was gloomy overcast and Damian took note of the peculiar feeling that washed over him as if it suddenly felt as if he were being watched. He turns around and is taken aback to see a tall, shadowy figure standing in the hallway, looking directly into his room from the open door. Damian rubs his eyes once more and when he looks again, the figure is gone.

"What the fuck?" he stammers as he bolts over to the door and looks into the hallway. Nothing but the emptiness of the hall greets him "That's it, no more Pabst before bed."

After he quickly showers and brushes his teeth, the young man makes his way out of his room and heads down the hallway. On the way he passes Ali's room and takes note that it was empty. Strange thing was, her bed was unmade. Now one of Ali's habits would be to always make her bed in the morning before heading off to work at a local hair salon in town. He casually pokes his head in and glances around. Out of nowhere, a small radio shutters to life and the song "Last Christmas" by Wham, begins to play. Damian narrows his eyes in bewilderment as he steps into the room. The song continues to blare as another ominous feeling takes hold of Damian. He looks at the radio "Maybe somebody is tryin to fuck with me..." he thinks to himself. He switches off the radio and hesitantly heads downstairs. In the old kitchen he opens the fridge and grabs one of his protein supplements as he shakes it before popping it open. He leans against the counter and starts to drink, a feeling of uneasiness taking hold in the pit of his stomach.

"I wonder where the hell she's at?" he whispers.

mood6 BloodThunder27 Wilder28 BOKEH. trystan

 

[BloodThunder27]

Sleep was not exactly easy to come by for Brianna, especially for the last month or two. Not only was she in the middle of moving out, but she was heavily pregnant with triplets. From insomnia, contractions, and backaches to stomachaches. As much as she wanted to stay with her friends, Brianna started the process of moving into a new apartment, mainly so that she can have a nursery and not burden her friends with childcare. Just as Brianna rolled onto her back, she was awakened by her phone ringing. Groaning, she slowly sat up and grabbed her phone. An unknown number was calling her. Raising an eyebrow, the expectant mother answered the phone and lifted it up against her ear. "Hello? May I ask who's calling?"

There was only silence on the other side. Feeling uncomfortable, she hung up. Slowly, she got out of bed, stretching a little as she yawned. Taking a deep breath, she waddled over to her suitcase, since most of her clothes were now at the new apartment, along with several other things. This was her final week in the house before going to live in her new apartment. Sleeping alone was going to take some time to get used to. She decided to set her phone to vibrate before grabbing a towel and a change of clothes, going to the bathroom so that she could shower, still feeling uneasy about that phone call she just had. As soon as she closed the door, her phone went off again. But she wasn't there to pick it up. As a result, a notification popped up saying that she had a new voicemail. Once she reached the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day. After drying off her hair and straightening it out, she finally slipped on her dress. Getting a side view of her swollen belly, she sighed. Grabbing her dirty clothing, she proceeded to exit the bathroom and went back to her room, throwing it into a plastic bag and setting it by her suitcase. Putting a hand on her back, she saw that there was one new voicemail. As soon as she went to the visual voicemail, she saw that it was from an unknown number. Reluctantly, she pressed play. This ended up being a bad decision as she began hearing some unsettling noises from the other side before the voice mail ended. Taking a deep breath, with her phone in hand, she exited the room. Slowly, Brianna began waddling down the stairs, holding onto the railings so that she wouldn't fall over.

Upon making it downstairs, she made her way to the kitchen, seeing Damian drinking a protein supplement, feeling concerned as her friend looked exhausted and winded. "Any word from Ali?" At the mention of Ali, Brianna's stomach started hurting, prompting her to frown as she placed both hands on her back, taking a deep breath through her nose.
Darrian_Gabriel

 

[Deadly Darkness]

The morning started as it usually did; the repetitive, piercing beeping of an alarm and then the accompanying silence after. Sam laid in bed, staring up at the popcorn ceiling. Sometimes if he stared long enough he could feel each bump and spike along his tongue, mouth as dry as the off-white dry wall. This was his usual routine- wake up, stare at the ceiling, then go to work. After what he deemed an appropriate amount of time, the boy sat up. His raven hair had dried over night, leaving it sticking up and out in all directions. His room was blank. Save for his bed, a small night stand, a dresser, and a desk, there was nothing of personality. The room felt more like an unused hospice room rather than a well lived in bed room. In fact, if someone came to visit it would be hard to guess how long they had lived in that house based on his room. The rest of the house was a different story.

Walls covered in worn, chipped yellow paint were adorned with shelves and picture frames. Like memories of an ancient past, each photo had the same two characters; a young woman with long dark hair and a bright smile, and a man with short brown hair that seemed to swoop back on its own. Each photo was taken in a different place, in front of familiar landmarks, and some more esoteric locations (inside stories he imagined). One thing remained the same, the couple in the photo were always together, smiling. The two aged throughout the pictures as the frames continued down the hall. The last photo was of the usual man and woman, but now they were holding a child. A small, sleeping mass in a blanket with his mother's eyes and his father's nose. There were no other photos past that one.

With long strides, Sam entered the small living room. In an old floral chair, placed directly in front of an old television set, sat a frail woman with long dark hair, streaked with silver strands. Her face seemed sunken in, eyes hazy. "Morning, Mom." Sam gently stepped over and placed a gentle kiss on the woman's cold forehead. "I'm headed to work. I'll see you after." His voice was soft, but the words seemed to linger absently in the air. The woman didn't move. The only sign that she was alive was the occasional blink and the slow, subtle rising and falling of her chest. That was the only response he ever got. So with that, he began the short drive to work and for the first time he was almost eager to get there. Ali was always there before him, and she had a way of making the time tick by a little faster. Though he wouldn't mind if it stayed slow while he was at work. But with only a single step into the salon, it was clear that she wasn't there. Had she called in sick? She seemed fine the last time he saw her. His chest felt heavier than usual, but he did his best to shake it off.

 

[BOKEH.]

KENDALL PEARSE

The sound of an eerie, ambiguous voice pierced the blonde's eardrums startling her from her peaceful slumber. The twenty-two year old sat up too quickly, causing unusual dizziness to wash over her. Her skin felt like ice and her heart drummed against her chest. She instinctively looked down and reached up to press her hands against the sides of her face. "Bri..?" she whispered, but somehow she knew that that voice did not belong to her roommate. When she regained her vision again, she glanced up to confirm that suspicion. Nobody was there. She let out a sigh though she was not necessarily relieved by that as she would have much preferred to see the dark-haired girl instead. "I must have been just hearing things." That is what she told herself, anyways. Even so, it still made her skin crawl a bit.

Kendall did her best to shrug off the occurrence as nothing more than her imagination and proceeded to get her day started. She brushed on some light makeup to cover up some of the lack of sleep that showed under her eyes and pulled up her hair into a messy ponytail, letting a few loose strands to escape. She put on a casual, but trendy outfit for the day before she stepped out of her room and into the corridor. The halls were quiet, or at least were when she entered them. She, however, could hear the faint sound of movement downstairs indicating that there was some activity taking place within the house. Naturally, she headed in the direction of such.

Eventually, Kendall made her way into the kitchen only to find that Damian and Bri (though she expected that latter) had already beat her there. "Morning, babes." she greeted as she crossed the room and perched herself up onto the counter next to Damian. She glanced between the two of them. Something about the two seemed more off than usual. Perhaps, it had something to do with Ali's strange behavior lately like the whole unexplained breakup with Damian. Kendall had been good friends with the girl for quite sometime now but lately Ali did not seem like, well, Ali. "What's up?" she inquired, raising a brow at them.

INTERACTION(S): Damian Darrian_Gabriel | Brianna BloodThunder27

 

[trystan]

Khai S.

“Shit, I can’t be late again.” He’s weaving himself between the bodies standing in the hallway. This state represents his initial year of University. Wishing someone told his 19-year-old self that the hair currently covering his eyes wasn’t as cool as he thought it was.

The soft ding of a bell welcomes him as he makes it into the lecture room. English had always been his favorite subjects, and it had led him to meet one of his close friends. He sits at his seat, taking a moment to catch his breath. Finally, noticing the room isn’t as loud as usual, there’s no noise at all. Classmates are nowhere to be seen. Their belongings remained at their seats as if they had just up and disappeared. The name Allison is written neatly on top of the papers beside him. His chair squeaks as he shoots up out of it. Eyes frantically flickering around in search of something. He walks back to the door he entered from only to see the hallway also vacant. There’s a fuzzy look to the clocks on the wall, rendering them unreadable.

“Is this a prank, did I miss something?” He thinks out loud, turning around back into the room. It’s unsurprisingly just as blank as it was moments ago.

“Yes, you did.” A small voice says simply from the door frame. He immediately turns back, the circles getting a bit dizzying. He’s met by a young girl, black hair coming down to her shoulders. She seemed distantly familiar, but while her face was there, Khai couldn’t quite make out any of her features. There is no sound of footsteps as she walks towards him and the table he stopped in front of. Based on looks, she couldn’t have been any older than 10, so he doesn’t know why her presence is making him feel so... off. With her thin arms, she hauls herself onto the table.

“Who are you?” Even though she’s closer, the details of her looks are still muddled. She doesn’t give him an answer.

“Are you going to tell at least tell me what happened then?” The younger side-eyes him and he feels the need to shut up. “Where is everyone?” He says a bit quieter.

“Who knows?”

“Then, why are you here?”

“I can show you how to get answers.”

Answers? To what?

At the moment, he thinks he can make out a slight smile on her. There’s suddenly a hand on his arm. It’s back to the silence as both of them stare down at it. His eyes squint in confusion, and he looks up. Everything cuts to black.

~~

The sunlight coming from between his curtains is borderline blinding. His comforter was thrown haphazardly off his body. It takes a moment before he’s willing to open his eyes, never being much of the morning person. His mind pays little attention to the dream he had just gotten out of. They always were a bit elaborate. Usually less confusing but, it’s only a dream there’s no need to dwell.

As per usual, when he gets up, he is one of the last ones upstairs. Better hurry, then.

Out of the shower, he follows his morning routine like second nature. His arm hesitates as he reaches up to shave his face, now he feels a bit more aware. The task suddenly feeling a bit more manual than usual. As he finishes, he reaches to put the razor down, but he feels as if something is stopping him. He stares down at it and an uncomfortable feeling runs down the back of the spine. He can’t seem to look away from it, hand rotating it slowly in his view. His phone lighting up with a notification eventually brings him out of his trance. He looks at himself in the mirror and quickly puts the razor down. Whatever had gotten into him, he needs to shake it off before his day really started.

“Morning” he calls to the kitchen before he’s fully down the stairs. When he finally gets to the others, he realizes he’s probably not the only one that feels a bit off today. Looking at their faces, it was obvious something wasn’t right. There’s also been no sign of Allison since he woke up.

“She must’ve already headed to work.” He grabs a banana off the counter, not quite a fan of the weird atmosphere.

mood

uneasy

outfit

X

interactions

//

tags

Darrian_Gabriel BloodThunder27 BOKEH.

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[Wilder28]

"Oh Jesus Christ, what is it this time?"

​

Most people knew Patrick Grace to be a pretty cheery guy. And most of the time, he was. But at this point, even his patience was beginning to thin.

Currently, he was at home, sitting on his bed and practically slumped back on the wall as he tried to work out what the hell this last issue was with his code. His computer was sitting before him, resting on his lap as a laptop does, just as it had been doing for the past couple of hours. Having picked up a new programming job nearly a week ago, he'd since been working almost tirelessly to get it done on time. The deadline was tomorrow, but since he'd managed to get most of it done by now, he figured he had more than enough time to get it finished. All he really had yet to do was fix a few bugs in the program, and he'd be good to go. That seemed easy enough, so he'd figured that he could probably get it knocked out before breakfast.

Breakfast was now in fifteen minutes.

"I swear, this literally makes zero sense," he muttered to himself, searching for the issue while scrolling through the hundreds of lines of code that he'd written up so far. "Everything was looking just fine a minute ago." While he looked, he spared a cursory glance at the time on the bottom right of the screen. 8:30. That meant he'd been sitting here for, what, two and a half hours? Definitely a little longer than he expected. Had things gone more smoothly, he'd have already finished at least an hour ago; but then things went awry when he had decided to make a small edit to the program, and it had just been error after error ever since. Hopefully, this would be the last one he'd have to fix.

"... Ha, found it!" It turned out to be nothing big, just a small oversight he had made. He fixed that in a heartbeat, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally, holy shit. Now let's see if this works." He flexed his fingers and set them on the keyboard, preparing to run it one last time. Time for the moment of truth.

...

The bug was fixed. And fifteen more popped up in its place.

Halfway across the house, while preparing food in the kitchen, Patrick's grandpa would suddenly come to hear the longest groan of frustration he'd heard all week. Nothing unusual there.

"... I give up," Patrick decided after a solid minute or so of just sitting and staring at the ceiling. He sat up and saved the program before closing it out. "I'll just pick it back up tonight. I need a break." With that said, he pulled up Google Chrome and went to check his email. It was decently cluttered, since he really only cleaned it out when he felt like it; but it wasn't hard to pick out a handful of new messages in his inbox. Just looking at them, he could see that a couple were responses sent by friends and colleagues of his, one was sent regarding a previous job he'd had, one was sent by Steam regarding a new game sale, and the last was... well, he actually couldn't tell. The title was unintelligible, made up entirely of some scrambled text, and all it said about the sender was that they were (unknown). Strange.

He made to check it out, but paused for a moment when a little jingling sound reached his ears. Just hearing it brought a smile to his face, and he turned to find a black-and-white Chihuahua padding his way over with his favorite dog toy in his mouth, having slipped in through the crack in Patrick's room door. He approached the bed and got up on his hind legs, propping his front legs up against the side and looking up at his owner expectantly.

"I know, I know. Hold on, buddy, I have to check a few things first and I'll be right with you." He then patted the bed beside him. "You're free to join me, though." Recognizing the gesture, Dasher managed to jump up onto the bed, and took a seat beside him while Patrick went on to start looking through his inbox. Most of it wasn't anything of note; he responded to a couple of messages, added a couple more games to his Steam wishlist, then finally got around to looking into that mystery email he received.

When he opened it, the first thing he noticed was the text. Rather than being neatly-formatted into paragraphs, it was all over the place; and what bit of it wasn't overly obscured by thick black markings was instead composed of everchanging characters. It was barely even legible. "... Yep, this is hella cursed." He was inclined to close it out then and there, but then something else caught his attention. There were still a few words here and there that he could read, just barely. Most of them were fairly normal. Rain. Twilight. Transition. Beyond. But the one that stuck out the most was the one that was most familiar:

Allison.

He furrowed his brows a little, and wondered what was going on here. Was this some sort of joke? Did someone hack his system or something? He'd hoped not, he'd taken every possible precaution to prevent that. That he could afford, anyway.

"... Okay then. That's enough of that." Deciding that now wasn't the time to think about all that, and hoping that this was probably just some weird one-off thing that would never happen again, he decided to go ahead and put this email in the trash. Good riddance.

Once that was done, he shut his laptop and set it aside, stretching a little. Seeing this, Dasher grew excited and hopped right off the mattress, making little circles in anticipation. "Alright, Dash, I'm coming. You know the routine; I'll go play with you after we eat."

He swung his legs over the side of his bed, then reached over and picked his phone up off the window sill. After plucking off the charger, he checked the time. 8:40. Five minutes to spare, still. Nice.

He got up onto his feet, and slipped his phone into his pocket as he headed out the room with Dasher in tow. He could already smell the food from here; he usually had a hand in prepping it, but given that he'd had work to do, his grandpa decided he could do it on his own. With neither of his parents here, at the moment, it was the only option.

But hey, that didn't mean the food would turn out any less delicious than it usually did.

 

[Darrian_Gabriel]

Steadily drinking his protein shake, one of his other roommates, Brianna, came sauntering into the kitchen. Damian and most of his friends that shared the rented house had very different work schedules, so it was a rare thing for many of them to be home at the same time, and even rarer for any of them to actually sit down and speak to one another. As was evident, Damian hadn't really seen or spoken with Bri for quite awhile. He of course knew she was pregnant, but hadn't really noticed how far along she really was, so was somewhat taken aback by the size of her swollen belly.

"Jesus Christ, was is she giving birth to, a rhino?" he sarcastically thought to himself.

"Any word from Ali?" asks Bri upon entering the kitchen.

He put his shake down next to him and smiles "Well good morning to you too sunshine. Ya know it really says something when you greet one of your house mates by immediately asking if they've heard from someone else.." he says with a sardonic tone "But no, haven't heard from Ali, been wondering about where's she's been myself."

Not a moment after, Kendall enters the kitchen in her usual cheerful mode "Morning babes..." she says as she plops herself onto the counter next to Damian "What's up?" she utters.

Damian looks over to Bri with a slight smirk on his face "Well at least Kenny said good morning." he said before turning back to Kendall "We were just in a intense philosophical debate on the differences in the atomic structures of Soy Lattes as opposed to Mocha Frappes and how one drink represents the dichotomy between good vs. evil and the other being a placid symbolism between the auspices of capitalism and communism...and then we switched to wondering why the fuck anyone hasn't heard from Ali." he said overly sarcastically "So Kenny, I guess the six million dollar question of the day is, when was the last time you heard from Allison?" Damian says with a smile on his face, knowing full well how much his friend hating being called Kenny. It was an affectionate nickname he had for the girl from almost the moment they met a few years back. He had been told several times by Kendall that she preferred that he not call her that, which only made him more determined to keep on using it, knowing how much it annoyed her. But that was just part of Damian's rebel like attitude, well that and the fact that Allison could never manage to stifle a giggle every time he used the moniker.

Suddenly a loud "Morning..." echoed into the kitchen the from stairs as Khai casually strode in, whilst grabbing a banana off the counter.

"Goddamn, your mean your here too? Everybody stop and take a deep breath, because this has gotta be like divine providence or some shit. I have never seen this many people in the same room, since we first moved into this shit hole..." he says when his phone goes off inside his pocket. Damian hurriedly retrieves it, his heart rising into his chest as he goes to look at the caller I.D., hoping against hope that Ali's name would appear on the screen. But those hopes are dashed as he silently reads "Celine's Boutique" on the screen "Hello?"

"Hi Damian, it's Cel, from Celine's Boutique." says the voice on the other end.

Damian intakes a sharp breath, puzzled as to why Ali's boss at the salon was calling him "Yea Cel, good hearing from you. What's up?"

"Doing ok, listen I'm sorry to be ringing you this early, but Ali does have you as an emergency contact and we haven't been able to reach her."

"Um ok...is something wrong?"

"Well I don't know, you see Ali was supposed to open up the Boutique about an hour ago and she just hasn't showed up."

A sinking pit begins to form in the young’s man stomach as the realization sets in that everyone was apparently looking for Ali, and couldn’t find her. A lump begins to form in his throat as the color flushes from his face "You mean she didn't call in sick or something?"

"No, not a word. I checked my phone for maybe a missed text or something, but nothing. It's not like her to just not show up for work, you know what I mean?"

Time seemed to slow down, as while he was on the phone, Damian witnesses the same shadow like specter staring ominously at him from the hallway. The figure was as it was before, tall, stick figure thin, seeming to be made of nothing more than wispy shadow like mist, no face to speak of. Damian's eyes widen, his ability to form words, temporarily ceasing, as several moments of belated silence pass awkwardly.

"Hello, Damian are you still there?" says Celine on the other side of the phone.

Her words seem to snap the young man back to some semblance of reality "Yea Cel, I'll call you back..." he says, his eyes not once leaving the sight of the frightening Shadow Person looking at him from the hallway as he hangs up the phone.

Without wasting a breath, Damian rushes out of the kitchen and into the hallway, but just as the time previous, before he could confront this entity...the figure vanishes, almost as if it was never there to begin with. Damian just stares on in stunned silence as his heart nearly pounds out of his chest. A few beads of cold sweat now dripping from his brow "Just what in all fuck is going on?" he thinks to himself.

Taking a few more moments to compose himself, he goes back into the kitchen, to the dismayed look of the others "Listen uh...I'm gonna take a ride over to the salon, I gotta bad feeling about all this. Anyone wanna take a trip?"

BloodThunder27 BOKEH. trystan

 

[BloodThunder27]

'Perhaps a 'Good Morning' would have been nice.' Brianna thought. However, when he answered and said that he hadn't heard from Ali, Brianna did frown a little. The sudden disappearance left her uneasy. But before she could say anything more, Kendall entered the room and greeted them both. And it wasn't long until the entire household was in the kitchen and Damien partially went off on a rant on how it was too much of a coincidence, especially since the last time everyone was together was when they all moved into the house, which was a couple of months ago, at least before she got pregnant. Suddenly, Damien's phone started ringing. As he answered it, she quietly moved her hands to massage her belly as it was starting to hurt since they were talking about Ali's disappearance before interlocking her hands underneath it to keep some of the strain off of her back. After he got off the phone, Damien suddenly bolted from the kitchen. In that very moment, her phone started ringing. Once more, she answered it. On the other side, there was only silence, followed by heavy breathing and the sound of a woman whose voice was similar to Alison whimpering in the distance. This prompted her to hang up and toss her phone onto the counter with a terrified look on her face. Snapping out of it, Brianna took a deep breath before gently massaging her belly once more and then looking up at Damien, who just made his way back into the kitchen. "Yeah, I'll come along. Probably better then sitting around in the house anyway. Dibs on the front seat because there is no way in hell I'm gonna fit into the back."

BOKEH. trystan Darrian_Gabriel

 

[BOKEH.]

KENDALL PEARSE

Kendall's blue eyes narrowed at Damian as he spoke a load of nonsense to her. There was something about coffees and then auspices of capitalism and communism and—she huffed. "Good lord, you must love to hear yourself talk." To make matters worse, he had continuously used that horrible nickname of hers. Kenny. She almost groaned in irritation at just the thought of it. None of her nicknames were ideal but something about that one never ceased to annoy her. With one hand, she reached out and playfully swatted one of his arms as a smile spread across her lips. "And you’re such an ass." she accused, lifting her chin a bit. "But no, I haven’t heard from Ali either. I thought she was working today?"

The blonde's briefly attention drifted away from Damian and towards the new arrival in the kitchen. "Morning, Khai! Sleep well?" she greeted as she began to slowly swing her legs back and forth.

The ringing of a phone drew her attention back to Damian. Though she was close to him, she still couldn’t quite make out the words coming from the other side of the line. All she could detect was a muffled voice. Even so, something about the hushed voice sounded eerily like sinister voice she had heard in her room this morning. A chill ran over her body and her hands instantaneously became clammy. No, no. She squeezed her eyes shut. She was just hearing things, she reminded herself and exhaled deeply. She hadn’t even realized she had been holding her breath. Her eyes snapped back open.

Whoever had been on the other side of the line and whatever they had said to the male next to her had clearly bothered him too because he was suddenly fleeing the room without a word.

After a few dreadful moments of anticipation, Damian had come back into the room.

"Listen uh...I'm gonna take a ride over to the salon, I gotta bad feeling about all this. Anyone wanna take a trip?"

"I’m game too." she announced, pushing herself off of the counter and moved to stand next to Brianna. "Did something happen to Ali?"

INTERACTION(S): Damian Darrian_Gabriel | Khai trystan | Brianna BloodThunder27

 

[Darrian_Gabriel]

"Yeah, I'll come along. Probably better then sitting around in the house anyway. Dibs on the front seat because there is no way in hell I'm gonna fit into the back."

Damian just nodded his head nervously as he ran his fingers through his jet black hair and fumbled through his front pockets as he retrieved his keys "Alright, let's fucking go than...anyone else?"

"I’m game too. Did something happen to Ali?" said Kendall.

Damian just let out an exasperated gasp of air "I sure as hell hope not, c'mon."

Without another word, the three departed the old house and piled into Damian's 2015 black Camaro. The car ride into town was a quiet and awkward as Damian, Kendall and Brianna drove through the streets of downtown Gavin. Traffic was very light as the usual 9am rush hour hadn't hit yet. Nevertheless it still took about 15 minutes to reach the small strip mall where Allison worked. Damian screeched in and belted into the first available parking space he saw. Again without saying a word to each other, the three young roommates exited Damian's car and walked straight into Celine's Boutique at the far corner of the strip mall. Damian was the first to reach the door and flung it open without much regard to his two female friends behind him. With his heart in his chest he rushed over to the front counter, hoping to catch a glimpse of Ali at her usual hair styling station. But all he saw was the boutique's owner, Celine, a jovial and heavy set black lady just finishing up with a customer. In the back there was only one more employee, a guy named Sam, sweeping some locks of hair from off the floor.

"Hey guys..." says Celine, a little taken aback by the three's sudden entrance.

Slightly winded, Damian swallowed hard "How's going Cel. Ali show up yet...she in the back?"

"Afraid not hun, you guys haven't seen her?" asked Celine.

Damian closed his eyes in a mix of frustration and fear "Son of bitch..."

"What's going on, does anybody know if she's ok?" asked Celine, the concern in her voice rising.

"We don't know Cel, that's why we all came over here. It seems nobody has seen Ali for over two days. We're startin to shit our pants a little bit."

"Ok, ok, just calm down, I'm sure everything is ok." says Celine trying to sound reassuring. She turns over to face the guy sweeping up in the back "Sam honey, come here for a sec. You haven't by any chance seen or spoken to Ali recently have you?"

Damian leaned against the counter and turned back to face Brianna and Kendall whilst Celine spoke with Sam "I wasn't gonna say anything, but some unusual shit has been happening to me this morning. I'm thinking it might have something to do with all this. Have you two seen or heard anything weird lately? I dunno, like a nine foot tall stick figure cousin of Jack Skellington maybe?"

BOKEH. Deadly Darkness BloodThunder27

 

[Deadly Darkness]

Sam tried to ignore the fact that Ali wasn't here, but it felt odd. He hadn't been working here long, but for as long as he had, Ali had never missed a day. He remembered how she talked so fondly of her job. That was one of the things Sam liked the most about her- her love for her work. Sam unfortunately did not share the same enthusiasm. Instead his life felt like a dead end, and every job was just some limbo he had to serve in to pay for past sins.
The mornings were typically slow, and they had only seen one customer since opening. Sam currently held the store's broom, sweeping up the hair that had landed in clumps on the floor. The bell above the door rang, but with a force greater than normal. The door had been thrown open, a complete contrast from the usual gentle push it received when customers strolled in. Sam's head whipped up, uncertain of what to expect, but certainly surprised when he saw three individuals around his age enter the building.
"Hey guys," The store owner, Celine, said. Her voice wasn't filled with its typical high-spirited moxy. She seemed surprised. Did she know these people. Sam did his best to not appear like he was eaves dropping, but after hearing Ali's name his eyes darted over to the group. They were looking for her too? Was everything ok? He was quickly drawn out of his thoughts by the sound of Celine's voice.
"Sam honey, come here for a sec." Keeping a hold of the broom, he took long steps towards the front. "You haven't by any chance seen or spoken to Ali recently have you?"
He shook his head, watching as Celine then looked back to the group.
"Is she ok?" Sam asked. Hearing his own voice startled him slightly. He didn't expect to talk to anyone today, but nonetheless the words had come out. Uncertain if he should follow the question up with anything, he remained silent, dark eyes flicking between the three new comers.
BOKEH. BloodThunder27 Darrian_Gabriel