#woodsrisen

[screwcool-a]

i just want to say how much i adore your dialogue. it's so rich, real, somehow you capture the cadences of her speech in a way that feels natural on the page, if that makes sense? it's mesmerizing honestly like wow i just wanted to gush!!

i’m !!!! ahlskfj lksdf this is so sweet and i was literally just getting nervous a second ago about whether it was reading well or was Too Much so thaNK YOU !! this is so kiND I LOVE U !!

[disappearanceofjk]

[pm to: rhys]: thought it would be better than this. growing up. and you? pplaying your game, coming out of nowhere like a goddamn ghost, so put-together, so glib, so unconcerned. damn. tell me something that isn't about jared, for once, or about the woods, or any of this bullshit

[TEXT]: Growing up was certainly something. A little too early for me, I think. I...didn’t get the closure of childhood I needed, I think. 

[TEXT]: I’m gonna let you in on a secret, Karen. I’m...not as composed as people think I am. I come off that way because I really try my best to be strong for everyone, but all human beings break. I...try not to, because I’m just used to being strong and pushing aside my own feelings for the benefit of others, but...

[TEXT]: Ha. I’m not sure, anymore. I’m so unconcerned because it’s better to take things at face-value, I suppose...I’ve never been too in touch with my emotions. It’s just something I’ve grown accustomed to. If I talk and act as if everything’s okay, I’ll be able to clear my mind. It’s hypocritical of me to care so much about other people but not about myself, isn’t it?

[TEXT]: Well. Don’t tell anyone, and I know it’s one of those boring hobbies, but I like to birdwatch. And cloudwatch. It’s very comforting. I used to collect Pokemon cards too, but I never learned how to play the game, card or otherwise. I know how to crack eggs with one hand.

[TEXT]: Oh! And I used to take my sister to the playground and talk with all the people there and push her on the swings. She...made me a bracelet once at camp. It has my name on it, and it’s bright pink, cause she thought I’d hate it, but jokes on her, because I wear it every opportunity I get. She also got me my gloves. And I have dimples, right? So she used to always draw on my face so when I smile, my dimples are...Purple, or something. 

[TEXT]: ...I miss her. 

[TEXT]: Do you have any siblings, Karen?

[disappearanceofjk]

[pm to: rhys]: random question: do u love this town? i'm a little drunk but i don't love this town anymore. it keeps taking ppl i care about. can't stop it. can't figure out why. are u even from here?

[TEXT]: Do I...love this town?

[TEXT]: ...No. I can’t say I do. I’m sure the people in it are lovely - they are, they’re so dedicated to helping each other. Everyone here’s so admirable. 

[TEXT]: As for the town itself? It keeps taking. It has no regard for its people, it just...takes. I’m sorry, I wish I could do more.

[TEXT]: Not exactly. I was born in Georgia, but I moved around a lot. I’ve been here a couple of times. It’s a little ironic, actually, I’ve always liked this town growing up... Funny how things can change.

[TEXT]: Please make sure to drink some water.

[disappearanceofjk]

@woodsrisen​ gets a personalized clue!

warnings for: implied body horror, light gore, dismemberment

There’s been something odd going on about the rifle that was used to shoot the creature. 

It’s inexplainable what it is about it, but the mere presence of it would give Karen a uneasy sensation of feeling watched. It’s the paranoia that comes with being alone, with being trapped in a quiet, dark room unable to see anything in sight. It urges her to let it stay, though, to not replace it ( in the end, isn’t that what everyone wants? ) .

A couple days after the incident, it almost begs Karen for her to touch it. It’s commanding, a persistent urge that won’t go away. It’ll nag at her, a consistent thought that’ll never leave her mind, until finally, finally, she picks up the rifle again. 

Immediately, she would find that the rifle burned. It was hotter than any fire even conceivable, something that would definitely scar skin. It burned, oh god, it burned. Afterwards, the world plunged into darkness, silence suffocating as it surrounds the woman. At first, there’s nothing -- Karen’s simply floating, the world around her nothing but black, but peace cannot last forever. There’s a figure in the distance, laughing, beer bottle in his hand. Adrian Roth takes a sip from the lip of the bottle, encouraging his friends -- his words are muddled, but his bright and slurred tone was easily recognizable. Something crawls its way towards him, something absolutely unrecognizable ( no matter how many warnings, he won’t seem to notice it. ). One of its human hands slithers up, ripping Adrian’s arm out of its socket. Boy continues to speak, as if undisturbed by the monster, before fading away, replaced with the image of a familiar prom date. Calder Macready stands in front of his mirror, adjusting and readjusting how the suit fits on him. There’s anxiety, but excitement in his features as he reties his tie for the nth time that day. Like Adrian, a human hand reaches up to yank his leg away, the limb coming off without any sort of resistance. Smile remains, and boy disappears to be replaced with sweet little Carrie. She cheers when she hits a particularly good one, looks up above her as if expecting something, face lighting up when she gets it. She disappears when she starts running after the object, disappearing. There’s no sort of ending, no conclusion to what happens to her in the woods. 

Sanami’s father is different. The view Karen gets of him is one after he up and left -- him, filling up his car with gas at a gas station in the middle of nowhere. He waits, but before he can get back into his car, he seems to look off to somewhere else. Distracted by the noise, man investigates. 

He doesn’t come back.

The scene is wiped away, replaced with a very familiar, very recent one. It plays over and over again, as if in a loop -- Rhys’s hand grabbing Karen’s arm and holding onto it, bullets bouncing off, people screaming and panicking and driving away. It rewinds and plays again, rewinds and plays again, rewinds and plays again - 

( you couldn’t save them, karen. YOU COULDN’T SAVE THEM, YOU COULDN’T PROTECT THEM, WHAT USE ARE YOU ?! YOU COULDN’T PROTECT THEM, YOU COULDN’T PROTECT THEM, YOU COULDN’T PROTECT THEM --- )

The world seems to come back, the whole scenario played out as if a dream. The rifle stays there, no longer urging Karen to touch it or hot to the touch. It’s just a normal rifle, nothing strange about it. 

[disappearanceofjk]

[TEXT]: Please welcome Karen, Laura, and Connor to the search party. I hope things will be able to go smoothly. 

[disappearanceofjk]

[txt]: i get that you want to improve our chances of killing it [txt]: if that's your explanation for insisting children come. [txt]: just let those of us who want to kill it go and kill it. [txt]: you're gonna fuck some people up really bad, rhys. their trauma's going to be on your hands. don't do this. no one deserves to see this. [txt]: that all said, you have my full support in killing it. i'm willing to take a large role, if it means other people don't have to. what do you need me to do?

[TEXT]: I know. Not even those who want to kill it want to see this happen, but...It needs to happen. If something happens, I need everyone to be there. I don’t want anyone learning things from second-hand information. It...It’ll be traumatic, I know, but it’ll be worth it in the end. I know it will be.

[TEXT]: Thank you. Firearms pierce it easily, so anything regarding that would be good. If you could bring extra weapons as well, that would be great. Thank you, Karen.

[disappearanceofjk]

[txt: rhys]: let's be honest, rhys. this isn't just about jared. i don't know what you saw in his house, but what i saw was confirmation that my friends are dead and i'm never getting them back [txt: rhys]: sure, i'm holding out hope for jared, but [txt: rhys]: it's not something i'm going to be able to just forget

[TEXT]: Perhaps they’re not dead just yet. Please have some hope.

[TEXT]: And I’m...aware of that. But I’m hoping once we find Jared, we can maybe...look at this with fondness. That’s a little farfetch’d, I know, but...

[TEXT]: I suppose I can’t phrase this the right way, ha. I’m sure you get what I’m saying, though.

[disappearanceofjk]

[pm: rhys]: no, no siblings. i was a handful as a child, and my parents had dreams of opening their own dentist's. i always wanted one though. [pm: rhys]: that sounds really nice. really nice. yeah. [pm: rhys]: you seem pretty decent, when you're being honest [pm: rhys]: if u need someone to hold down the fort while u fall apart, i'm your girl [pm: rhys]: if u don't mind me asking, what... what happened? did you guys fall out of touch?

[TEXT]: Siblings are something you learn to appreciate when you get older, I suppose. At the time, they feel annoying. Or so I’ve heard, I’ve never really had that experience myself.

[TEXT]: I need to be strong for everyone. Thank you for the offer, Karen, but...I didn’t mean to get minors involved with this, honest. I just...texted whoever was in Jared’s contacts along with some other random numbers and hoped for the best. Ha...That was pretty stupid of me now that I’m thinking back on it. I need to be strong for people who can’t be. That’s always been my thing.

[TEXT]: Something like that. I’m...not sure if she’d like to talk to me again. How bizarre would it be if someone you loved that you haven’t talked to in a long time suddenly texted you again?

[TEXT]: ...Now I know how everyone else felt when I texted them for the first time. Ha.