Forum Thread

"Wake up!"

"QUICK-"

Kaden yelled, shaking Adrik.

"...Adrik-?"

Adrik wasn't stirring. The moss snapped around the both of them, throwing them into the air. And then Adrik did, with a start and a cry of terror.

"Kaden?!"

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DD walked through the castle school. She was a dash worried, she didn't see anyone! Where were the students, the teachers, even the headmistress?! Did she miss something???

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Marina flew from room to room of the school, searching for her classmates. Where was everyone?! She tugged on her braid worriedly...

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"Quick! Do something!" Kaden yelled, growing more panicked by the second. The leaves were wrapped around his ankles, preventing him from getting away..."Oh no...!"

Adrik managed to tear away a vine wrapping itself around his ankle, but another quickly replaced it, binding his wrists in the process.

"Kaden!" he cried. He started to be dragged into the foliage. "Noooooo-"

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Isla stood up. Fire tongues darted up, licking for her face. She stepped back, casting one last appraising gaze on the starting fire, then turned on her heel and-

Slam! She ran right into a girl she'd never seen before.

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*Grimm would be sitting by the fireplace in the lounge area of the lobby*

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Isla Greer

"Get out of my way-!" Isla tried to push her aside. "We need-" She paused. She didn't recognize the girl. Why should she help her...?

"Nevermind," she said coldly. "Just don't come near me again, got it?" Without waiting for her to reply, Isla breezed by, her mind racing. She needed to find a window, or better yet, a fire escape. No matter what those idiots in Hollywood said, it wasn't safe to be in a burning building for long. The smoke'd kill you in minutes.

She knew that from personal experience.

Her pack rustled on her back. "Isla?" Arius' head emerged. She gave him a gentle tap on the head.

"Stay down, Arius," she told him softly. "You're safe. We're getting out of here."

He regarded her with those soulless button eyes. How could I ever lie to him? "You did it again, didn't you?"

She didn't respond.

"Isla, I warned you-"

"Shh. It's okay. We're getting out of here."

"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't gotten attached. If you'd kept them off your mind-"

"I said to SHUT UP-!" The puppet hit the wall soundlessly. Isla stood panting, enraged, her features contorted. "I know, okay?! I know this is my fault! But it doesn't matter. We're getting out of here. We are. Does that make you happy? Huh? Just the two of us, like you always forced me to-"

She slammed her mouth shut.

The puppet had curled in on itself, staring up at her. A trickle of fear ran down her spine. "Arius, I-" The puppet sat up, its flimsy paws seating themself on either side of it. It cocked its head to the side. One of the buttons had grown loose. "Arius, if I don't repair that, your soul-"

"My soul'll bleed out," Arius murmured. "And you'll lose everything."

"You will too." Her voice tremored far more than she'd like. She needed to be confident- she couldn't let him- he couldn't- "If you die now, your soul will be banished. No hope for resurrection. You know that just as well as I do."

"But you'll lose far more."

She lowered her head. "I'm sorry for throwing you."

"That's not what I wanted to hear."

Her head snapped up. She stared at him bewildered. All of a sudden, he had morphed into a complete and total stranger. What? What was Arius saying-? "Of course that's what you wanted to hear," she said slowly. "That's what you always asked for, right? An apology?"

Arius smiled in a way that was by no means pleasant. "Now, that is not enough."

"What do you-"

"You know what I mean... 'O` Isla.'"

---

*Grimm would begin to sketch in her medical journal*

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Seara

Seara curled up in the back of a room, clutching a note in their hands. The wall dug into their spine, but the pain was nothing compared to the fear which jolted throughout them every time they reread and reread the words on the now crumpled paper.

"Nono-" they breathed. "Nooono... Can't... can't keep..." Their eyes glazed over and they clutched it to their chest again. "Can't do it... I can't... not again..."

Then they heard a knock.

They sat up.

Grimm...?

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Title: Grimm

*Grimm would knock on Seara’s door again, using Morse code to spell out “oui it’s me”*

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Hesitantly, Seara's head popped out of their room. They stared at Grimm for a long moment. Then they pulled her in, shutting the door behind her.

"Grimm!" they hissed. "W-What're you doing here?" They glanced nervously back and forth, as if wondering if other people were hiding in the shadows. "I- It's so late..."

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*Grimm would hug him tightly, having missed his warm embrace*

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Seara didn't return the hug. "Grimm... It's not safe. I don't think you should be here. The promises- people might think something's going on..." Their hand nervously went to their head and adjusted their hat. "If I end up dead, you'll be the first suspect."

They gave a gentle push to her shoulder.

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*Grimm would look at them confused*

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"Grimm-" they began.

Them a crash. Seara went rigid. "Go," they hissed. "Get out of here." Off in the distance, a low, keening wail had started up. It grew piercing. Seare gave her a push that wasn't as gentle as the previous ones. "Go! Go!"

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*Grimm would hesitantly go, listening to Seara*

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The door slammed shut behind Grimm.

Seara released a breath.

And then they caught it, whirling around to face the window. Curtains billowed in the repeated gusts of the clouded sky. Seara stared for a moment, then shuddered.

They, in all their times at St. Venti's, had never opened their window.

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*Grimm would walk to her room with a concerned look, she would rush to her room, grabbing her cloak, her bonesaw and her bag filled with potions and bandages. She would rush back to Seara’s room to aid him*

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But their door was locked. Seara made no noise beyond it. The whole corridor was as still and colourless as a flat, yellowing picture from the 1930s.

A noise from down the hall.

"Grimm...?"

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*Grimm would rush towards the voice, her cloak flapping as she ran*

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