Stacey Cann
Room 303

To top off a glorious morning at the shooting range and an afternoon flirting with the yoga instructor on campus, Stacey could say that the vase of roses delivered to her door precisely at seven o'clock were perfect. It was a perfectly perfect day of sunshine, good shoes and a secret admirer. The flowers smelled divine and she set them on the small dining table in her half kitchen half dining room on the left side of her apartment. The card read: To a certain flexible woman with nice lips.

Oh Chancey. Chance Cordial was the yoga instructor for the four o'clock session in the PE building downtown. In the city, the college buildings were all spread out within a four block radius, the PE building being the most south. She had bounced her way with her pink mat tucked under her arm and blonde hair up in two buns high on the back of her head. She was cute and flirty, and Chance was waiting.

It was fun playing with him, though she would never allow herself in the same room as him without someone else there as well. One day he had tried to corner her outside the locker rooms and she bolted, faking an emergency with her cat.

She didn't own a cat. She was allergic actually. But it worked.

Sighing, Stacey sniffed the flowers again then took a sip of her coke. It seemed flat for some reason, which was odd right out of the can, but she shrugged it off, turning on her small TV on the kitchen counter to some drama show she had seen two other episodes of. Apparently the gorgeous doctor guy was sleeping with the show's namesake, the intern with the reddish hair.

Stacey heard a knock on the door. Glad for a distraction she leaped up before she could get sucked into a repetitive argument about brain parts. She opened the door and was about to say "Hello" but no one was there. Instead, a tiny blue box lay on the ground. She bent down and picked it up, no name on the top and when she opened the lid, a ring lay inside, silver and studded with purple jewels.

"Pretty," she said with a smile. She figured it was from Chance again and she accepted it, slamming the door shut again.

Slipping the ring from case, she saw it was a little small. It mattered little and she pulled it onto her ring finger, happy with how it glinted in the light.

"Nice taste," she complimented the yoga instructor, and she sat back down to absorb more of the hospital show.

Ollie Cross
Room 306

Ollie pushed into her apartment, kicking off her black shoes, throwing her keys on the table, and peeling off her coat. "Morning Vince," She called, obvious exhaustion in her voice.

She worked for an IT company, and was technically a customer assistance rep, but she was often asked to come in for an overnight shift to upgrade all forms of technology. And fix things that have been causing problems. After an eight hour shift, Ollie was almost too ready to sleep. But her need for food outweighed her need for sleep.

She spotted her roommate Vincent, gearing up for his five mile run. She thought he was crazy. He thought he was healthy. "I thought you would be gone by now." Ollie remarked digging through the cupboards. Vincent laughed and said said something back before finally leaving the apartment.

Ollie stared into the pantry before finally grabbing a snack cake. She was too tired to take the time to make something, so peeling off the plastic wrap, Ollie stuffed the chocolate treat into her mouth. She dragged herself to her room, peeling off her work clothes. She changed into her Star Wars pajama bottoms and pulled on a white t-shirt.

She loved her pajamas, and was so happy to be out of the tight clothing. She crawled into bed, so happy to finally sleep, when she heard someone knock on the door. She groaned running a hand through her brown hair. "Dammit," She cursed climbing out of bed. "This better be good," She called.

She pulled open the door, ready to yell at whomever was waiting, only to find nobody there. She looked down the hall before finally looking down at her feet. A small teddy bear sat on the doorstep. The small creature had a purple ribbon around his neck. Ollie picked it up, smiling at the small thing.

She took it with her into her room and climbed back into bed. Ready for sleep.

Grayson Mitchell
Room 307

Books, the fiction reader's wonderland, the med students salvation, the young at heart's escape to childhood. Grayson considered his job at the library, trying to think of the place as a positive influence on the world. But when he had to spend hours and hours shelving books here, organizing manga there, adjusting DVD cases, labeling audio books...too much education for his ex-college student taste.

Once home, after Vincent from next door heading out for a jog, Grayson collapsed onto his stained couch and let out a dramatic sigh, glancing around his cluttered apartment. "The KingMs palace needs spritzing!"

Of course no one answered.

"The King...is dissatisfied." He was speaking to his remote control. "What are you going to do about it?"

A knock came at the door in response.

Hoisting himself out of the cushions, he strode to the door scrathcing behind his ear. "Yello," he greeted to the open air. Glancing up and down the hall, he saw no one. A box did sit in front of him though on the ground. He bent down, opened the top, and narrowed his brown eyes. "A...gummy bear?" It was purple.

He returned to the kitchen, squinting to the bear. "Where were you the night of the thirteenth?"

The gummy sat stoic.

"Playing games huh? Well, we know how to deal with your kind."

He whipped the gummy to his mouth and nibbled on it before setting it back down without both ears and arms.

"Now what are you gunna do? Oh wait...you can't hear me."

With a shrug he popped the rest of the gummy in his mouth, slumping on the counter as he chewed.

"I need a life."

Miranda Choi
Room 310

Three days had passed without incident. Not at work. Not at home.

For once, Miranda pulled on a blue tank top instead of a long sleeved shirt and gazed down her pale arms. Scars were etched into her skin all along the underside of her forearms, criss-crossing two inch lines making a pattern it seemed...but truly there was just chaos. She sighed, recalling where she had "hidden" the blades. A shoe box on the top shelf on her bookcase, a place she couldn't reach without a stool or chair.

She should just throw them out, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

The AC was running super low and she walked around the apartment without pants, shivering a bit, but loving the contrast to the outside world. Humidity was not her friend. Tousling her hair and dropping onto her large armchair, the only furniture besides the small TV on the floor a few feet away, she curled up and stared at the white wall. From the window, nighttime shadows were bluish purple on the wall, twilight fresh.

Only that show box twirled in her mind's eye. Tears forming, she hurried to her bedroom and snatched her rolling chair to stand on, reaching up on tiptoe to reach the black and white box on the shelf. She was still too short. No, stop, get down! The chair rolled a bit and she yelped, but kept her balance so she kept reaching. Almost there. Her finger tips brushed the bottom of the portion sticking out...

A knock at the door broke her concentration and she jumped, hand knocking the box to the floor, chair rolling out from under her and gravity pulling her body down to land on her side. The fall wasn't far, so she wasn't brutally injured. But a bruise would definitely form on her shin where her leg kicked the chair.

She tugged on red shorts and limped to the door, wiping her tears away. She just needed to go to bed. Her brain needed rest, not more pain. She had to keep reminding herself that.

No one was outside the door or anywhere down the hall. Only a small box lay outside her door. Dropping to one knee, she carefully opened up the lid and found beads in a simple anklet, purple squared beads amongst the tiny silver round ones. It was pretty but...why was it here?

Miranda returned inside with the box and anklet, starting for her bedroom then the bathroom. She tried on the beaded jewelry. It was exactly her size. The silver glinted under the bathroom light while the purple beads remained without glare or shine. She wondered distantly what they were made of, knowing her brother would have an idea with his knowledge of rocks and stuff of that sort.

The razor blade in her hand met her skin before she even realized it. The action was robotic, habit, something she found herself doing when her thoughts blackened. Watching the red seep out from the thin cut, she wondered if tiny people lived inside her blood and were now screaming as they cascaded over the side of their world, trying to grab onto anything to survive, families ripped apart midair and blood made homes destroyed from the mysterious metal monster from the sky.

One satisfied her and she curled into the bathtub, watching droplets of red stain the bottom. She fell asleep here, as she had many nights before, tears quietly streaming down her face.

Harrison Aiken
Room 302

Harrison sat in front of his piano, his fingers running over the ivory and black keys fluidly. The soft music echoed throughout his apartment, hopefully he wasn't disturbing his neighbors next door. They were known to bang on the walls and ask him "knock it off". He stared at the window across the room, enjoying the view of the city in the twilight night.

The wind swept in, blowing the dark curtains up. He felt the breeze on his cheek as he continued to play. It was a beautiful compliment to the wondrous melody he played. He closed his eyes, letting the music carry him to wherever they wanted to go, when a knock on his door shocked him back to reality.

He stopped playing, glancing at the door, wondering if he was visitor would knock again. It was probably that blonde across the way. She had no problems yelling at Harrison to stop playing his "stupid" music as she so kindly put it.

However, no knock came, so Harrison pushed himself away from his large piano and walked to the door. He opened it cautiously, waiting for the onslaught of words, but they never came. Confused, he opened the door all the way to find not a single person in the hallway. He sighed, about to close the door, when he spotted a small trinket on the ground.

He lifted it up, staring at it in the light. A large purple pendant hanging on a bulky silver chain. It was wonderful, the way the purple stone caught the light of his kitchen. Harrison shut the door before slipping on the pendant, letting the cool materials shock his warm skin. He went back to his piano, letting his fingers move across the ivory keys.

Vincent Chess
Room 306

Vincent smiled at Ollie as she slumped into the apartment. She looked ready to pass out, which wasn't surprising. She had been staying up with him until at least 4 in the morning helping him get through a new video game. Now throw in an overnight shift, and Ollie has probably been awake for more than 24 hours. She looked about ready to kill.

"I thought you would be gone by now."

Vincent simply laughed, not wanting to say anything to set her off. In this state, she was vulnerable to sudden mood changes, and Vincent often suffered the blunt of it. He left her alone in the apartment as he left the apartment building. He waved hello to his neighbors, as he pushed the buds of his headphones into his ears, turning on his music.

The city was still waking up, the quiet songs of birds echoing throughout the town. He took in a deep breath, before beginning his jog down the street. Five miles later, Vincent was back at his apartment building, covered in sweat. He took in deep gulps as he climbed up the stairs. He took down gulps of water from his water bottle as he climbed up to her floor.

He dug through his pockets for his keys, when he spotted something sitting in front of the door. Staring at it confused, Vincent picked it up. Tilting his head to the side he realized it was a jar of jelly. "What?" He questioned out loud.

He stepped in the apartment, kicking off his shoes. He was about to yell for Ollie, to see if she knew anything about the substance, but figured she was sleeping. Opening the jar, Vincent dipped his finger inside and licked the substance off. It was grape. And delicious.

Promising to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with it later, Vincent screwed the top back on and went to his room to shower.

Kinkle

Standing at the end of the hallway, he nodded as each member of the hall opened their doors one at a time and considered the object left for them. Six took the bait. Well, six accepted their fates more like, following the path that was already set to them.

Kinkle smiled a little and twisted a scimtar in his hand, nodding in satisfaction. After the storm, these folks would wake up lost and confused. It would be a long wake up call and certainly a long journey. But he knew the end.

Stretching his leathery dragon wings and turning about, he leaped out of the open window and soared into the clouds, stirring up just a little bit more trouble. A shuddering storm would complete the transport. With lightning striking and thunder booming, he twisted in the dark air and vanished, a shadow that no one saw now gone, never to be missed.

Stacey Cann
Room 303

The storm forming outside was confusing meteorologists on every news channel Stacey could find, all concluding something about pressure, using words no one would understand. If the public didnt understand they couldnt question them.

Outside the window, lightnining struck in three-veined shapes, ferocious and deadly as thunder shook the apartment building relentlessly. Growing worried, Stacy wrapped herself in a sweatshirt, held firmly to her cell phone and keys, ready to run when necessary. After awhile she decided to pack an emergency bag instead of relying on those two objects, but once she had that done and wrapped tightly around her arm, she was exhausted. It had been a long day after all.

She konked out on her couch in her fit of panic, eyes out the window before drooping shut.

Less than an hour later, the apartment was overtaken by a record amount of rainfall, sidewalks flooding and leaks exploding into the building. Stacey's room was untouched, except for the strange purple light coming from the ring on her finger. Within seconds she vanished from the couch, no trace of her being there existant.

Grayson Mitchell
Room 307

The thunder shook the building more than he had ever felt before in his life. Grayson gathered a flashlight as the lights went out, noise of the storm worrying him beyond measure. Out of his panic, trying to remember the emergency procedures of the building and then wondering if there even were procedures or if he was thinking about elementary school, Grayson left his apartment and dashed down the hall, knocking on doors. He needed to know if there was a procedure he needed to be taking. He disliked storms. And any kind of bad weather. He always felt he was going to go down in the next Hurricane Katrina.

"Hello? Anyone?" He knocked again on 309 but nothing. He turned to 310, pounding his fist on the wood. "Anyone?"


Miranda Choi
Room 310

The storm and a sudden knocking woke Miranda from her makeshift bed in the tub. By then the tiny bit of blood flowing from her cut had dried and she hurried to her room, wondering if they were evacuating or something. The power was out she discovered, switch useless. She tugged on a blue sweatshirt over her bare arms and ran to the door over the wooden floor.

Standing there was the guy from across the hall. 307 was it?

"Grayson right?" she asked quietly, trying to be polite. "Wha...What's going on?"

"If there's an emergency, do we like leave the premises? It seems like we should right? What with this building be old and prone to tipping. I'm sure. Somewhere it says that, anyway..."

Miranda tilted her head slightly, wondering if he was just scared of lightning or something.

"I have a flashlight...in case and well...my power's out. Oh yours probably is too since we both...live here." Grayson shook his head, as if realizing his own words. "Okay uh, sorry to bother you."

"No, you're fine..."

"I just wasn't sure if we should leave 'cause its getting bad, but I guess all we'd be doing is kayaking outside by the looks of the street."

"I'm sure...we'll be fine..."

"Fine, of course. Why wouldn't we be fine? Except of course for the fact that I don't have insurance and all that, may I come in?"

He spoke so quickly, Miranda had to blink a few times to catch up, mind still half-asleep. "Sure...I..." she muttered, standing to the side to let him pass. He bustled in at once.

Ollie Cross
Room 306

Ollie sat on the couch, hugging the small teddy bear to her chest. She couldn't keep her eyes off the storm raging outside their window. The lights had long since gone out, and Vincent was in the process of finding candles or flashlights to help light everything. She kept the small toy clutched to her chest as if it was the one thing that could save her from the storm.

She was terrified. Absolutely horrified as to what could happen. "Vincent, can you hurry. I'm really scared." She called not wanting to be alone for too long. She was about to get up and find him, when the small teddy bear starting glowing. She stared down at it, her eyes widening.

"Wha-?"

And just like that, she was gone.

Vincent Chess
Room 306

Vincent stumbled through the small storage room, digging for their flashlights. Why they didn't keep them out in the kitchen was a complete mystery to him. He cursed as he smacked his leg against something hard. Finally, he grabbed hold of one of the flashlights he needed. He could her Ollie out in the living room, calling for him to hurry.

She was terrified of storms. Always had been. Now, with the aid of the flashlight he had just found, Vincent would be able to find the others quicker. He turned it on and let the light light up the entire space. He found the last one easily, standing on top of the top shelf.

"I'll be right there Ollie," He called turning on the other flashlight to check the batteries. Worked great.

He made his way back to the living room to find the space completely empty. He called her name, searching for her through their entire apartment. "Ollie!" He called again.

Suddenly, his stomach started glowing.

He dropped the flashlights, shocked by the sudden light. "What?" He cried lifting up his shirt. He glanced around his apartment trying to see if there was something shining on his stomach, but there was nothing. The light was definitely coming from within.

He cried out, but he was already gone.

Harrison Aiken
Room 302

Harrison was too engrossed in his piano music to notice when the lights went out. Too focused on the beautiful sounds mixed with the thundering storm, to notice the charm around his neck.

The purple gem had glowed gently, almost pulsing with the music. He was at the very crescendo of his piece when the charm glowed bright than ever, engulfing Harrison in a pool of light.

The music stopped, no sound except for the raging storm. The apartment, for the first time since Harrison had moved in, was completely silent.

Grayson Mitchell
Room 310

The apartment was rather bare, with random magazine cutouts on the walls and a tiny TV on the floor. Grayson turned and found the shorter Asian girl closing her door and facing him with an odd, confused expression bending a frown into her face. He sighed and put a hand to his forehead. "Sorry...I just get nervous when concerning...storms..."

He turned about, for no real reason, then let out an anxious laugh. "So, I'm Grayson. And you're...my neighbor..." Again he laughed. "Your name being...?"


Miranda Choi
Room 310

"Miranda," she answered quickly, wanting to keep him talking since he was so nervous. "I've seen you around. You work at the library."

She was going to keep going, not liking the storm anymore than he did, but he certainly wasn't going to help her calm down. Making sure her sleeves were definitely covering her arms, she opened her mouth to speak. Then she cried out, pointing to Grayson's stomach. "You're...glowing!"

"I'm sorry...uh...what?"

Miranda gestured to his middle again and he glanced down, letting out a yelp and jumping back, as if they would help. "What the...how did...What's going on?"

Not having a clue, the Asian girl stared in horror, the purple light intensifying to engulf him in its glow. "Grayson..." she breathed, not knowing what she was going to say. As quick as the odd young man had arrived, he vanished right before her eyes.

The first thing that popped in her head was that she had finally snapped.

But then she noticed another light, purple again and emitting the light from her ankle. The anklet! Beginning to whimper slightly, she fell to her knees, trying to find the clasp and rip the thing off, but her fingers were stumbling and as a crack of lightning lit up the room, thunder shaking the floorboards enough to startle her to fall backwards against the apartment door, she vanished along with him, as if she had never been there.

Stacey Cann
???

Smiling from the dream she was having concerning a certain yoga instructor and no clothes, Stacey turned over where she lay, gripping what she thought was her blanket. But it proved stringy, cold, a bit damp. Eyebrows coming together, she blinked her eyes a few times, trying to focus on the green and gold colors around her.

When she concentrated, she sniffed and smelled soil. Then she squinted to the brown hues. Tree trunks. Gasping, she leapt up, her duffel bag still wrapped around her arm and making her lose her balance. Stumbling into a tree, she found her feet and then her stare widened on the wood beneath her fingers. It was warm. And pulsing. As if alive.

She shrank away, looking around the clearing, spine disturbed with shivers. It was a forest, dark yet illuminated slightly from tiny moving lights here and there, the number enough for her to see by. Fireflies? Seemed like. How had she gotten here?

Noticing another body, she hurried over and dropped to her knees, yelping as he knee caught a stick, but her adreneline took care of the pain for now. She recognized the girl. They lived in the same building.

"Hey," she said, shaking the girl's arm. "Wake up! We're in trouble."

Miranda Choi
???

Shouting, echoing moans of tortured souls, woke her.

Shivering and smelling rotted flesh, Miranda gagged and sputtered as she sat up off of the cold, stone floor. She found her feet, twirling about in a panic as the voices wrapped around her from all sides. Soon she realized she stood in a cell, bars long and close together, at the very end of a hall with more cells lining each side to the end where a set of stairs curled off to somewhere unknown. She gripped the bars, cold and metal under her shaking fingers and she felt tears come to her eyes. The yells circled her mind, echoing off the stones. The other inmates were in a frenzy.

Miranda turned about, hyperventilating and searching for escape from the tiny square space. But the only solace she found was the face of another dressed in clothes like hers, normal clothes, clothes from home. She dropped to her knees, staring at him and trying to find words that weren't coated in despair. She was so scared. First the storm, then Grayson glowing, and blacking out to wake up...here.

"Wh-what happened?" she asked the young man.

Ollie
???

Ollie was awoken by someone shaking her arm. She jolted up, glancing around. She didn't recognize anything. Her mind wondering. Dancing lights bounced in front of her face and it took her a while to finally focus on the girl who was shaking her.

"Stacey?" She questioned recognizing the blonde. "We...we live in the same apartment building, right?" She added. "What? Where are we?"

Harrison
???

Harrison had awoke to the sounds of screams. Screams that echoed in his mind, creating an image of tortured slaves. People screaming out. Calling for someone to help them. When he finally opened his eyes, he was greeted by dark, dank surroundings. Bars around him, dirt and grime on the floors.

A girl was shaking at the iron bars, her clothes surprisingly normal. She turned, her brown eyes boring into his. "Wh-what happened?" She started questioning.

She looked panicked. Crazed even. She ran her hands through her black hair, the strings catching on her fingers. Harrison stood from his spot crouched on the ground and stepped over to her. He placed his hands on her pale shoulders and looked deep into her almond eyes.

"Relax," He said quietly. "Panicking will not help us get out of here."

Stacey
???

"How the hell would I know?" Stacey breathed, stepping away and gripping her duffel bag tight. "There was a storm...and I fell asleep...We're probably kidnapped or something." She was trying to be reasonable, but her lungs were tight, as if on the verge of hyperventilation. Being kidnapped so wasn't cool.

She glanced around again, brain a bit clearer and knowing that this other chick wasn't going to be of much help. Stacey would have to get them out of this. The moss on the ground caught the golden lights buzzing about, greens and gold shimmering together. She gently touched the bark of the tree again, pulling away and squirming in disgust as she felt the same bulbous pulsing.

"We should start walking, see if we can find a path." There was nothing around them that helped, only the tiny lights. She then noticed their direction in their movements. It wasn't random like fireflies. They were flowing a single path to the left, out between two trees. Perhaps these bugs, or whatever they were, could lead them out of this strange, almost breathing, forest scene.

"Follow me," she instructed of the other girl, leading on and not caring to glance back to her.

Miranda
???

The boy's words, though somewhere comforting because of their gentle, twisting nature, didn't calm Miranda down. Pulling at her sleeves and tasting dried saliva on her tongue, she peered through the bars to the fingers and arms sticking out, waving for food. No one with food saw them. Their cries only fell onto one another, spirits dwindling into hysteria.

"Where are we?" she whispered cautiously, no clues visible. "We're in a prison but...this can't be a real prison...its like...out of a movie."

Just then a figure appeared, increasing the volume of shouts tenfold, along with manic waving of dirt caked limbs. A man, burly and gruff with a black beard, strode forward. His black eyes glared to the inmates as they begged. He gave no response out loud to them, but had no issue with kicking or punching at any exposed body part he could. Though stoic in expression, he seemed to enjoy it.

Then his dark gaze fell on her and the boy.

"An' what do ye think yer doin'?"

Miranda had no reply as she shrank away. She saw in his eyes the confusion and frustration. Bounding forward, he quickly unlocked the barred door and forced them stumbling into a corner. He big hands snatched Miranda's sleeves and she lost her breath to her short scream.

"What kind o' creature are ye now?" he demanded, lifting Miranda off her feet to hold her face to his as he analyzed her features. Miranda had seen the look before when a white person was confronted by her Asian features.

"What are ye?"

Miranda cringed from his breath, shivering with terror.



Grayson
???

Miranda and her apartment vanished. And after blinking against sudden sunlight, Grayson let out a shout at the sight before him. A man with a drawn sword charging toward him. Ducking to the ground and tripping as he fell flat on his face, he twisted to see the man had been attacking the straw-filled dummy restrained to a post. The blade taking out an arm, Grayson gulped and met eyes with the attacker, heart sinking.

"Didn't mean to interrupt."

The man narrowed his light-colored eyes, mouth frowning. He was dressed like from a Robin Hood film, cloth and leather wrapped around him expertly with strings here and there. A dagger hilt stuck out at his hip. Again, Grayson swallowed hard.

"Nice uh...weather?"

The mysterious man lunged, grabbing Grayson's shirt and lifting him with a grunt to his feet to slam him into a tree. Grayson choked for air.

"You're...strong."