Betrayal at House on the Hill

[angelcage]

[ You sleep, the ground cold beneath your cheek. The ground is hard as stone, cold marble beneath a fine layer of dust that doesn't come anywhere near acting as a cushion. The dust stirs with your breathing.


>> Wake up ]

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[angelcage]

[ The door opens and slams shut, leaving III, Yuma, and the passed out kid alone in the Statuary Corridor. ]

[trashenough]

Hey—

[ The pass over and the escape of the brat goes a little too fast for Yuma to interfere, but when the door slams shut, his first glare goes to III. ]

III! You don't reward the kid who started the fight! [ OBVIOUSLY. He shakes his head with a gruff exhale, but his mood shifts immediately. More careless yanking of III's arm as Yuma hurries over to the other boy's side, lifting him slightly off the ground. ]

Hey. Hey. Hey! [ Shake. Shake. Gentle shakes. ] Are you okay? Hey! Wake up!

[angelcage]

[ He doesn't move, for a bit.

But then— his bleeding stops, all at once, and his eyes open wide. His first words out of his mouth are not for himself, not in response to Yuma at all. ]

Jonah? Where is Jonah?

[aliiiens]

[III wants to argue--it got Jonah to stop, right? Isn't that how parenting works?? But more important things are happening right now.

It's a good thing the kid woke up. Uh, how do you check for brain damage?]

Your brother? Um, well, he left. Are you okay? What was that all about?

[angelcage]

[ He shrugs, still lying down on the ground, though he's turning his head to look at both the doors, trying to figure out which way Jonah left by staring at them each in turn. ]

We heard the rats. So I thought to distract him so this time would not be as bad as last.

[ No, he can't tell . . . Feeling his pockets now, trying to find the top. ]

[trashenough]

Last time?

[ He glances between the boy and III, a little confused. ]

Uh... that guy said something about rats too...

... Huh?

Aren't you hurt?

[ This kid isn't bleeding anymore, but that seems weird, doesn't it? ]

[aliiiens]

[III's eyes narrow. Yuma's right. This boy isn't normal, and there's something weird going on here--he's even starting to suspect something supernatural! Information is more important than anything, especially if they're ghosts or something else cool strange. So he's going to cut to the chase.]

What do the rats and the top have to do with each other, and what do they have to do with us?

[angelcage]

I was hurt.

[ He agrees, and wipes the blood trail from his nose with the back of his hand.

Was, of course, being the key word. ]

The rats will kill you, with enough of them. Die here, and you have to stay here. It hurts a lot, every time.

[ He sits up now, starting to look through the statue shards— mm, no, no top there. Not here, either. ]

So now I just want to distract Jonah from it.

[aliiiens]

Every... time you die. [Uh.]

I gave the top to your brother so he'd calm down. Is that a problem?

[angelcage]

Yes. [ He agrees, still distracted until III mentions he gave Jonah the top. He looks directly up at him. ]

Which way did he go, then?

[aliiiens]

He went out that door, the way we came in.

[He gestures to the west entrance, with a sinking feeling. He just fucked up somehow, didn't he.]

[angelcage]

Jonah— I need to go!

[ He turns to run after his brother, calling his name. ]

Jonah! Jonah, where did you go?!

[trashenough]

[ Yuma does his best to listen to the boy, but the sound in the walls catches his attention too — something moving, near, far, and disappearing. He lets go when the boy gets to his feet, but when he darts off, Yuma nearly starts to go after him... but the weight on his wrist stops him this time. Right... it's both of them together. III looks uneasy, so Yuma claps a hand on his arm. Somewhere that isn't buried under armor. ]

He'll be okay! [ Reassuring!! You didn't fuck up, III!! ] That kid sounded like he knew what he was doing, right? And they're brothers... they'll look out for each other when it counts.

[ RIGHT?? ]

You wanna keep going?

[aliiiens]

[No comment, Yuma.]

Well... In any case, I don't think we'll get anywhere by backtracking. We'll just have to have faith that they'll find each other and work it out.

[Yyyyyyeah. He's not going to bother elaborating on that; it's time to head further east.]

[angelcage]

[ To the Bedroom ]