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Static - LSO COT 2012 - Team One


Hahli Husky

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DO NOT POST HERE UNLESS YOU ARE ON THIS TEAM AND IT IS YOUR TURN TO WRITE.Thank you. biggrin.gif Review topic here!This is where Team One of the COT Library Summer Olympics 2012 will be posting their story. If you guys come up with a team name and/or story title, I can edit it into the topic name for you. Feel free to plot names and titles in the LSO COT topic.In this event, entrants will be required to do the following:- Work with a team to write an epic based on a given prompt, which can be found below. Each prompt will be the first sentence from a BIONICLE book (from either the Adventures or Legends series), and each team will be given a different prompt. Any BIONICLE locations and character names will be replaced in the prompts since the epics won't be about the BIONICLE universe.ScheduleRemember that each team member can post once every 24 hours, creating a cap of 4 chapters per 24 hour period. The chapters can be as long or short as you like. Members will be posting in this order:Grant-Sud RisesVeloxLegolover-361TolkienPlease try to let me know if you won't be able to post for more than 2 days' time! If there's an emergency and you are unable to notify me first, that's all right.The topics will be closing July 25th, 2012 at roughly 11:59 PM PDT. If the server is out, the deadline will be delayed accordingly.Team One's Prompt:(lifted from BIONICLE Adventures #9: Web of Shadows by Greg Farshtey)He saw the ground rushing up toward him far too fast.Now continue the story as you please, and have fun! :)

Edited by Hahli Husky
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Unfortunately, Nulie has had to drop out of the contest. This makes the teams uneven and also unfair by the scoring system, so I've moved a team member from One to Two. The teams are as even as I could manage to get them. However, if you guys want to find another writer for your team, please feel free to. Thanks for understanding! ^^;;EDIT: Tolkien has joined the team, both teams are more balanced now.

Edited by Hahli Husky
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1.He saw the ground rushing up toward him far too fast. I think he knew he was going to die, because there was a surprised look on his face that I noticed. I could see him clearly, as everything moved in slow motion, well for me anyway. He just stared wide eyed as he fell, and I happened to just be watching him at the time while I hanged on to dear life myself. I can’t imagine what was running through his mind, whether he thought death would be sweet relief or unfair torment. All I know is by the time his body remained permanently still and his life ended, his eyes had been deliberately closed shut.And all that came in the next moment, as the man’s head was slammed into the seat cushion with its steel frame hitting his neck, while the rest of his body continued to crash against the floor.I wanted to shout out, but I think most of us were just too surprised to say anything as the underground train screeched to a quick halt. There had been no warning, no announcement from the conductor that our metro would come to a stop. The shaking of the walls and floor that came before hand was something I hadn’t really bothered to notice as I watched the blank gray wall shown from outside my window rush past us.My ipod was playing Rocket Man by Elton John, and just as the song ended so did the metro. I was lurched forward, as was the woman sitting next to me and I can’t believe my quick reflexes, because my hands shot out from my sides and latched onto the seat in front of me, absorbing a lot of the impact. It was there that I had a clear view of the guy who had been standing up and holding onto one of the polls in front of us, the same guy who was dead on the floor.My earphones were dangling from my pocket, hanging and still playing faint music. I took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. All the passengers slowly recovered at their seats – or on the floor, reliving that long slow moment now gone like the wind. The woman who had sat down next to me seemed alright, just flustered and grasping her shoulder, like she had bruised it.“Are you okay Ian?” she asked after meeting my eyes. The lady in her mid-thirties was very nice and dressed too appropriately for the metro. Her skirt was long enough that it covered her knees when she sat down, and her blouse only revealed a little of her neck. I have to say the modesty involved in her dress was a little too much, but none the less she was a beautiful woman. It’s too bad I’m only seventeen.I’ve only known her for ten minutes. When I first sat down in my seat I had every intention of drowning myself in music. I didn’t want have a conversation with anyone, but after she sat down next me she continually engaged us both in small talk. Asking where I was going, which part of D.C I lived in and even where my parents were.After that last question I - as tactfully as possible - replaced my earphones on my ears and listened to more music.My mom and dad are divorced, and I’m living with my dad now. He’s actually the main reason I’m on this metro.The dizziness that clouded my mind left me, and I stand as soon as I’m able.“I’m alright Alex, are you?”“My shoulder hurts a little, but I’m okay,” she starts to get up herself and walk out into the middle of the train. All the people are talking now. “What in the world happened!?”I start to hear people talk about an earthquake. They’re getting calls on their cellphones, at least, the ones that get reception even down here in the tunnels. It was an earthquake that hit fast and one that’s struck all of the east coast. I wrap my jacket around me a little tighter and tuck my hands into my pockets, feeling the winter cold.There’s an announcement on the speaker.“Attention passengers: security will be arriving shortly to escort all to the near station. Please standby until medical and police officers arrive.”I start to think about how my morning went, and how one little argument with my father gave me the courage to skip school and head wherever I want to for the day.I look around to the panicked people, some are hurt and others have started to cry. Some are acting reserved and even a few are shouting out orders just to find some sort of structure.Glancing at Alex, I see she’s remained calm. But her eyes are watching the floor and as I continue to watch her, I see she’s frozen in thought or maybe … fear.I follow her line of sight to the man dead on the floor. He still remains quiet and unbothered in his peaceful state, though his body is bent unnaturally. Suddenly, I feel terrified. I keep staring at the man and all that courage I had acquired leaves me in a moment.Around us, most of the people have failed to take notice him.

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Chapter TwoI look around me, taking in all the confusion and panic of the other passengers. My heart beats more rapidly, the fear rising in my system. Even when I turn to look around, my eyes always come back to the man on the floor. Just lying there, lifeless. One of his arms is bent backwards, his legs are contorted, and a large gash is on his forehead. Blood pools from the open wound and onto the metal of the train floor.His face lies in the pool, the blood seeping out from under it and around it. A stench begins to fill the air as the smell of blood reaches my nose. The metal-like smell makes me want to throw up, but I try to stop myself. Alex would think I’m pathetic.I look back at her to see that she’s in a similar situation – she cups her hand around her mouth, but can’t turn her eyes from the horrific sight. I put a hand on her shoulder. “You shouldn’t stare at him,” I say. “You’re only going to make yourself sick.” But she didn’t answer, her eyes seemingly glued to the scene. I said nothing else and tried to tear my eyes away from the scene. It was as if something was drawing my gaze to the man, my eyes latching on and unable to let go. I wanted to turn away, to rid the sight from my mind, to forget it had ever happened. But I couldn’t. I could only stare and watch as the pool of blood became gradually larger.I shook my head, but it didn’t help. As soon as my head stopped moving my eyes immediately focused again on the grotesque scene. I noticed that people had finally realized what happened to the man; my peripheral vision telling me that a semi-circle of gawkers had formed, transfixed on the scene just as I was. I couldn’t help but let the fear overtake my heart, my eyes wide, still fixed on the man. One of the onlookers final had the sense to crouch down near the body and feel for a pulse. He reported that he was dead, but none of us were expecting anything different. We knew. Somehow, we all knew – the moment anyone’s eyes looked to the convoluted display they knew. Too much blood.But worst of all were the eyes. Still open wide and staring as if into a void of nothingness. One look at his eyes and you knew – he wasn’t coming back. I tried to look away, but it seemed as though he was staring right at me, even though the eyes were focused in another direction. I closed my eyes, rubbing them both with the palms of my hands, trying to unsee what I would never, ever be able to unsee again. Why did I even have to be here? was my constant query. Why did all of this have to happen to me? I wasn’t the best kid in the city, but I wasn’t a bad kid. I was only trying to escape the problems at home...trying to live my life on my own. I kept my eyes shut, and my thoughts flew back to what had led me here.I could see my dad’s infuriated face, his cheeks reddening, his eyebrows bent, his finger pointing at me. I had long learned to simply tune the words out when this happened – at least twice a week. I wished I could have lived with my mom, but instead I was stuck with him for all but a month and a few other days out of the year. I didn’t even know what he was mad about at that moment, but I didn’t really care either. It was always the same thing. I forget to pick up a piece of laundry, the trash isn’t taken out the second it gets full. I decided to listen to what he said now, and he was saying how—A violent shaking interrupts my thoughts. People scream around me, grabbing on to chairs and poles and anything else that would give them a little more sense of comfort. I grab the back of the seat in front of me, wrapping both arms around it in a tight embrace. The shaking stops.I slowly release my fingers from their interlocked position, beginning to slide my arms back around the seat. But then I quickly wrap them back around. A deep rumbling starts, rattling the car. And then one, single, violent shake. The car is lurched to the side, and even with me holding on as tight as I can, my body is thrown to the side. I hope that I do not hit Alex, and thankfully my grip holds. But just like that, the shaking is gone.The screams die out, and it seems as if everything is all right again. “This doesn’t feel like an earthquake,” I say to her.She begins to answer but before I can comprehend what she’s saying she’s thrown to the ground by another powerful shudder. I rush to her, the train still once again. I’m about to ask her if she’s okay, but I stop before a word leaves my mouth.The rumbling starts again.

Edited by Velox

"As a writer you ask yourself to dream while awake." ~ Aimee Bender

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3.The rumbling has died down again by the time the speaker makes a little click and a muffled voice intones, “Attention, passengers.”The announcement dissipates what little hope I had of getting some rest. I lift my head in sleep-obfuscated interest; my dark hair, having been trapped between my head and the silver metal upon which I’d been resting, is now glued to my left temple by sweat. The faint sour taste in my mouth tells me we’ve been here for a while.“We have been unable to make contact with security and medical personnel.”That gets my attention. I sit up and immediately regret rising so quickly, because my back aches from lying for so long atop a hard surface. Alex, who’s sitting to my right on the subway’s wall-turned floor with her back against the seats, glances from me to the speakers on the silver ceiling-turned-wall.“We have been receiving complaints that our wi-fi has shut down and cell phone coverage has become unavailable. We... regret to inform you that these events are outside our, um, control.” Whoever-the-announcer-is pauses as if he’s uncertain of his next words. At least, I think it’s a he; with all the static, it could easily be a she. “When we have updates, you’ll be notified. Until then, please remain where you are and stay calm.”The speaker clicks off, and my car is abruptly filled with a cacophony akin to a beehive bursting open.I ponder the announcer’s words silently. Staying calm? I can do that. I think.At least the shaking has stopped. It faded in and out during the past hour, but now it seems to have subsided completely. The wrenching of our subway train onto its side was the most eventful occurrence to this point. To the background tune of “Piano Man” by Billy Joel playing on my iPod, I pray nothing else eventful will happen.Speaking of my dad, I wonder what he’s doing right now. Waiting eagerly for me? Probably not: I can almost imagine him in a booze-induced stupor, back sinking into the cushions of his armchair, feet propped with abandon atop his coffee table, a sports announcer droning in counterpoint to his snoring. He likely doesn’t even realize my arrival has been delayed.My iPod’s at four-fifths of its power. I frown and, as soon as “Piano Man” ends, turn off the device. I think I might need it later.From outside the glass comes a silent tap. I don’t think much of it till the sound is repeated in such a regular fashion as to sound like a finger touching the glass.I turn to look and am greeted by the breathtaking vista that is the metal floor outside the window, interrupted by a few cracks in the glass. Bored, I turn away—CRASH!—just in time for the glass to shatter.I cover my head with my arms. My jacket is thick, but it’s nowhere near bona fide aegis; it’s stained with blood, and my limbs stinging like blazes, when I draw my hands away from my wide eyes.Alex moans a little. Her sleeves, too, are slowly being dyed red. She’s carefully picking through them with her hands to find and remove any glass fragments still impaled in her skin. “You okay?” I ask, and she nods, flicking her eyes up to me for a moment before pulling her gaze back to her sleeves.The atonal symphony of conversation about me has slowed to a crawl. I raise my index finger to tell Alex to wait; then I clamber up the seats formerly in front of me but now to my left, using the headrests like ladder rungs.All the windows have shattered.My heart quickens its pace. I suddenly notice the body of the man is gone. I follow a trail of blood down to a window a few rows from me, telling myself I’m not going to look, I just want to see which direction he slid...He’s lying haphazardly on the rocky ground below the subway, that wide-eyed look still etched onto his face like a mask. Horror and morbid curiosity fight a quick tug-of-war in my mind; horror wins, and I duck back to where Alex sits with the sight of those eyes still engrained into my retinas.Those eyes.Eyes which had been closed when the man had died.Slowly, deliberately, I reach my hand into my jacket pocket to ensure my iPod is still there. I have a feeling I’ll need it after all.“Hey.”My voice is still shaky. Alex has switched from her right arm to her left; it pains me to see her garb ruined by blood that, by all rights, shouldn’t have been bled. Her voice sounds weak: “Yes, Ian?”“Do you feel like ditching?” I don’t know how else to say it, and once the words are out of my mouth, they can’t be pulled back inside.Her gaze is suddenly directed to mine. It’s surprisingly rife with emotion. Her aquamarine eyes coruscate in the subway’s harsh, unsteady light as she mulls over my question.“What if security arrives while we’re away?” she queries.I have a feeling they won’t arrive, but I can’t tell her that. She’d just shrug off my concerns, probably. “If we go in the direction of the nearest station,” I say instead, “we should run into them. If they’re coming, that is. Right?”She’s still hesitant — I can see that in her eyes — but nevertheless she nods. “I don’t know if my shoulder will hold up,” she admits. A pause. “But moving sounds like a good plan.”I nod, refraining from adding that I feel a chill on the back of my neck, that my senses are almost fully overcome by a single screaming urge to get out of this train. She doesn’t mention feeling anything of the sort, either, so we slip carefully out the now-empty window frame in silence.

Edited by Legolover-361
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Chapter FourGlass crunches sharply in the silence of the tunnel. It is very quiet and very cold compared to the interior of the train. Darkness stretches away on either side, broken only by the dim fluorescent light that spills from the shattered windows of the train car.The young man is crouching beneath the tilted window of the train.“Careful,” his voice is almost a whisper as he reaches up to help the woman slide from the frame. He has taken off his jacket and wrapped it around his hand, using it to brush away the remaining pieces of glass.The woman lights gingerly on the concrete, avoiding the shards that litter the floor of the tunnel. The two of them stand for a moment, surveying the wreck that fills the dim passageway. The sound of the other passengers still crouching inside is a faint buzz.“Alright. You ready?” the young man shakes out his jacket. It is stained with blood. The woman’s blouse is also bloody, but it isn’t all hers. She clutches at her shoulder.“Yes, but I’m not sure which way to go.”“Uh…well, neither do I. Guess I wasn’t paying attention how far it was to the next station.”There is a pause. Feet shuffle in the stillness, and there is a clatter as the young man sidles around the side of the train. He rounds the corner but stops suddenly, looking down at his feet. More blood there. He shudders visibly, turns, and goes back.“Um,” his voice is more distant now, “let’s just head this way. We’ve…we’ve got to pick one direction.” His voice is shaky, and he swallows hard.“Yeah…okay, Ian. I…I don’t really want to go around there either.”“Okay, good,” relief is evident in his voice. “Let’s, uh, let’s get going then.”They climb over the twisted rails to reach the wall of the tunnel, stumbling a bit in the half-darkness. The sound of their shuffling footsteps fades away.I can’t hear them anymore.I struggle then, and feel my hands clench suddenly very tight. My face is a mask of pain, and there is blood in my eyes, but I know the pain cannot bind me for long.The second attack had been worse than the first. I almost hadn’t been able to resist. Almost. I did resist though. My will was still strong, and I showed it. But the struggle had been fierce. It had strained the walls of the tunnel, bent the metal of the train itself.I honestly hadn’t expected the windows to shatter—neither of us did. It had worked in my favor though. It had gotten me out of the train. It had given me time.The first attack had been so sudden. I had not expected it at all. The thing was very powerful by now. An earthquake...the whole east coast maybe. All to catch me off guard, leave me helpless. Incredible.It’ll be back though. It went with the two for now—the woman and the kid. It latched onto the kid early. I know it did. It had tried to keep him here, but he had some strength of will in him. It’ll feed soon though. The girl was injured. It’ll probably go for her first. Then it’ll be back here. I have to stop it.The sharp jolt that courses through me is hard to take, and my abdomen spasms hard. My teeth clench, and I almost bite my tongue in two, but then it’s over, and my heart is beating hard and fast, rushing blood through cold veins.I wheeze and sit up, straining to lift one arm. It’s dislocated, but that isn’t a problem. The head-wound is harder. It makes me dizzy, but I have to get up. Have to get moving.The darkness whispers on either side. It tempts me…tempts me to just lie down. Lie back down, don’t try anymore.No, I will not answer it. I stand up on unsteady legs. The people in the train do not see me. My clothes are torn. I wipe the blood from my eyes with my good arm.Time to go.

---

For a second, it looked like a light winked on in the distance. I shake my head.“Did you see that?”“What, Ian?”“That light. I thought…” Maybe my eyes are playing tricks.“Did you see a light?” Alex replies, “Maybe the power is still on down there.”“I’m not sure. I thought I did.”“Let’s keep going then. It can’t be much farther.”I hope it isn’t much farther. It’s cold down here, and I think the darkness is starting to get to me. The surface of the tunnel wall is smooth against my right hand, and every now and then I feel a cold metal pipe or conduit bolted to the concrete. I tried counting them at first, but I’ve lost track. It seems like we’ve been walking for hours.At one point, I put in one of my earphones. Sort of instinctive, I guess. But then I thought it’d be kind of rude to listen to music with her behind me. All the same, I kept one earphone in. It was kind of a relaxing feeling, after all the craziness today…“So, Ian,” her voice finally breaks the awkward silence, “what were you going to do today? You know, before all this happened.”She’s trying to keep things light-hearted. Small talk—that sort of thing. I don’t like that, usually. But right now, it’s probably good.“I, uh, I was heading home, actually.” I grimace in the darkness. Home. Yeah right.“Oh, I guess your parents will be worried.”“Probably not,” I say with a bit too much sarcasm.“What?”“Uh, nevermind. Yeah…my dad—I don’t really want to talk about it.”“Oh…um…okay.” She fumbles a bit, and I feel bad. Shouldn’t have said that.“So, no school today?” she changes the subject. “I mean, you’re in school, right?”Great. I know she means no harm, but what am I supposed to say? Yeah, I ditched school today. On a whim. Whatever…“School was out early,” I lie. It feels wrong right now. Shouldn’t be lying at a time like this.“Wow, it’s funny how that works,” she says. I can tell she’s smiling now.“Huh?”“I said it’s funny how that works. You know, if school hadn’t got out, you wouldn’t be here.”It’s true. I wouldn’t be here. None of this would have happened to me.“It’s the same for me,” she continues. “I wasn’t supposed to be on this train either. I was going to see my sister. I didn’t know she was visiting until this morning, even.”“Wow.”I can’t think of much else to say. That’s how it works, I guess. And after all, it means I brought this upon myself. I had decided to ditch today. I don’t even know why. I’m not usually like that.“Oh hey! There is a light up there!”Finally a change! She’s right. I can see it too. I’m not going crazy. Just up ahead, around another curve in the tunnel.“Let’s go!” I say. “Maybe there’s an access door or something.”We both pick up the pace, making sure not to trip over the metal rails. Almost there…Suddenly, a noise breaks my concentration. A crackling noise. Static. What the…It’s my earphone. Still in my ear. It’s crackling like crazy. I yank it out and shake my head. Weird. Maybe they’re broken. We round the bend in the tunnel, and there’s the light. It’s an old fluorescent bulb mounted in the ceiling. Cobwebs everywhere. No doors or anything though. Still, it’s nice to be out of the dark.“Ian.”Alex’s voice is taut, harsh. I whirl around. What is it?She’s standing in the middle of the passage, staring down the tunnel. Her eyes are wide, and I can almost feel the fear coming off her.“Whoa, what’s the matter?” I move toward her. What is she looking at——And then I see it.It’s black. A wall of blackness. The whole tunnel is covered in it. I rub my eyes. Still there. This is definitely not normal. The hair on my neck prickles.“Holy…” I don’t even finish the thought. Alex is moving toward it. Her hand is outstretched, fingers rigid.“Whoa, stop! What are you doing?!” I yell.“Don’t touch it!”I don’t know what it is, but it’s not good. My earphones are crackling louder. I can hear them even though they’re not in my ears. What is going on?I leap forward, grabbing her shoulder, but she resists, twisting away. Stop! Stop! Fear is rising in my stomach, and I feel like I’m going to throw up. This can’t be happening. I reach out again, grabbing her around the waist, trying to pull her back.And then she touches it, and she’s gone.I cry out as I fall forward. She’s gone. Gone! I think I can hear her scream, echoing from far away. My eyes are closed. I’m breathing hard. What is happening to me?It feels like something is holding me down, a pressure in my head. Images flash in my vision…and there’s a figure. Thick and hunched…It’s my dad. His eyes are glazed over, drunken and stupid. He says something, but I don’t understand. I can feel that he wants something. He wants something from me. No. No!He lunges at me, and I scream——and then it’s over, and I’m stumbling back up. Something has me by the shoulder. A grip like iron, dragging me back, whirling me around. I’m helpless, can’t get away. It lets go abruptly, and I fall to me knees. My eyes are suddenly clear, and the sight of what stands before me makes my breath catch in my throat.It’s him.It’s the dead man.He’s alive.This cannot be real.Terror roots me to the spot. I can’t even scream. His clothes are torn, his arm still twisted, but he’s there. His face is bloody, but the wound on his forehead is gone. This can’t be real. It can’t be!“It’s real, kid.” The man’s voice is hard, deep.“Y-you,” I start breathing again. I can hardly speak, “You were—you were dead!”I stagger back. My stomach is turning somersaults. The man moves forward suddenly, faster than I would have thought possible. He grabs me by the shoulder and leans in. There’s something in his eyes that makes me stop resisting. It’s like he’s searching for something…searching me.“H-how?” I stammer, shying away. Confusion clouds my mind, “What do you want?”“What do I want?” he asks, almost laughingly. He lets me go, as if satisfied. “I want out. But it won’t let me.”It. I feel fear surge through me again, and the horrible image of my dad rises up for a moment. It. What was it?“How…” I can’t think right now, “How are you still alive? I saw you—”“—I know what you saw. Yeah, it almost had me there. It took the girl, didn’t it?”The man looks past me at the horrible black wall, frowning. Oh God…it had taken Alex. What was happening here?“It would’ve got you too. But it doesn’t want you. Not really.”“What does it want, then?” I ask, grasping for words. I’m tired, so tired. I can’t believe this is happening, but it feels so real.The man shrugs.“Me,” he says. “I can’t die, kid.”“I can’t die, and it wants me.”

Edited by Tolkien
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[Ooc: Wow I really hope I didn't ruin this story. Sorry for the plot change yal, hopefully it's okay and something that can be worked with. I spent about an hour trying to come up with something unique and I'm not sure if I did that well...]5.It’s a long five minutes before I’m able think clearly.I can’t remember when we started to run or what the man before me tried to explain while he grabbed my arm. In this dark tunnel I instinctively glance down every other moment, watching for pipes and rails on the floor. Every time I slow, the man pulls me forward.He’s determined in his look. He’s wearing glasses that are cracked on the left lens and keeps a frown. He’s well shaven and wears a trench coat that covers up his green sweater and black dress pants, but blood is stained across his face and neck. He has glass that is still itched into his coat and I feel a creeping dread every time I look at him.He was dead.Despite that minor detail, he’s almost the exact opposite of what I look like, besides the cuts to the skin. I have a light jacket, black hair to his blond and jeans. My shirt has numerous album pictures of the Beatles across the front.I’m gasping for air, my sneakers slicking across the pavement and my thoughts turn to the friend I’ve left behind.How could I leave her?It wasn’t like I knew her. But ever since things had gone from scary to terrifying, she had been there. I miss her little talks and her smile. I know it doesn’t seem logical –though at the moment nothing does, but I feel like it’s was my fault, for asking her to leave the train.I stare up toward the man, who keeps glancing over his shoulder either to see if whatever it is that we left behind is following us, or just to look at me.And in the next moment I pull from his grasp and come to a stop. Desperation is not really on my mind after what I saw, because really what chance do we have of surviving… that?The man doesn’t keep running, and I wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but I never thought he’d simply stop and turn to meet my eyes. I thought maybe he’d scream at me that I’m a fool or ask what I’ve found, like an exit.We watch each other in silence, and I see that though he’s just been brought back from the dead, he seems too calm. Slightly impatient though.“She’s gone… she’s dead, right?” and, I don’t know why, but I think of my father at that moment. My eyes start to moisten a little.“No.” His reply is easy and his face isn’t filled with impatience any more. I think he pities me. I don’t like it.I lift up my arms to my head and run my fingers through my hair, turning around and facing more darkness. I’m trying to decide if this is a nightmare. I’m anxious and I can’t slow my breathing. Around us, there is a constant dripping of water and rumble of pipes and rails.I turn around to face him.“W-what are…” holding it all in becomes impossible and I shout at him. “What are you!?”“Is your ipod working?” he asks instead, almost instantly.I gulp, trying to calm nerves and falter. My nose is starting to run as do the tears.“W-what?”“You heard me. Check your ipod.”Fumbling, without taking my eyes off him, I retrieve my device from my jacket pocket, like I’ve done a million times before. It had been left on shuffle and was now playing Desperado by the Eagles. Gingerly, I pick up the headphones still attached and bring one of them to my ear. No static at all, it’s playing crystal clear.“I-it’s, uh… Yeah it’s working.” I wipe my face with my long sleeve trying to regain myself, leaving a residue of tears and sweat and blood against the cotton.“Are, you going help me? Can you?” I ask, not sure what kind of an answer I want.He doesn’t say anything.“Can we save her too?”“Perhaps,” he replies.“What are you?” I ask again, trying to be stronger than I feel.There’s another long moment of silence. And the man places a hand to his mouth, in thought. “You can’t understand, not from your limited view. But that thing back there. That force, I need you to think of it as darkness.”“Darkness … it’s evil?”“We can say it’s bad, sure.” He frowns, and his eyes narrow a little as he does it. He’s studying me again, as though what he says isn’t necessarily what matters, but how I take it. “Now, you think of me as the same as it, but the opposite. Light.”My breathing finally slows.“You’re one too? That thing?”“Yes.”“What is-”“I don’t exist like you do, kid. I’m not a human. But I am a someone, a power and you should think of me like an electric current, or a magnetic.” He takes a step closer to me, and raises both his hands. “Two opposite sides, one with a positive energy,” he gestures with his right hand as he says it. “And the other is negative.” He raises his left.“It’s a long story, and I can’t explain to you where we’re from or how we came to be separated. How I came to be split. But, my other half wants me back. It wants me to rejoin. And I don’t want to.”It was something out of a fantasy world, the kind kids at school talked about in books that they were reading. Light and dark, good and evil, two halves. It was too simple though. Because so far, people had been killed, reanimated, injured and abducted. It was a horror tale.Something lingers on my mind as I think of Alex, how she chose to walk right into the path of the abyss.“Why did she allow herself to be taken … by that, dark?”“Because she’s happy and unafraid. She’s a very joyful person, a young woman, and that caused an attraction, an effect she couldn’t pull away from. It’s like you and me. I’m the opposite of your feelings and I feel a connection between us. You’re sad and lonely.”I don’t reply to that.“But I’m not going to harm you, kid. I have no reason nor desire to, like it does. It’s trying to feel and understand. I don’t need to. It’s not the same with me. Thus, I can control the bodies of the dead, not the living like my other half can.”“The dead?”“Lifeless shells, that’s all they are after moving on, right? It’s the saddest feeling that’s possible and something I can interact with, like two polar magnets. The man you see before you has been dead for two weeks. I’ve been eating and sleeping in it, keeping it maintained, but that can only last so long.”With that, he gestures with his hand and starts to move down the tunnel. I follow him at his heels a second after. We’ve been running for a time now, and I can see the broken train ahead, lights flashing and the dim view of many silhouettes stand around it, the people from the train.“It’s been following me for some time now,” he continues, speaking a little lower in volume, but quickening his pace. “The earthquake, the train, unleashing as much power as it could to hinder mine, before taking control of the metro’s machinery... When I was knocked out it moved through the train and tried locating me on the inside. It found the girl instead and mistook her emotions for mine. Once you started to run, it was sure she was me.”Flashlights are blaring ahead of us, some red and blue, and I realize the police have arrived, medical officers at the shattered windows, moving passengers out from the train.The man stops and places and hand on my shoulder. We’re right outside where the light reaches.“I can’t continue with you for now, understand? If these people see that this body is still active, I’ll be discovered. And if I leave this body nearby, you’ll be blamed. Continue to the surface and I’ll find you.”He crouches down just a little to reach my eye level, both hands on my shoulders now.“Listen. You can’t be harmed by my other, okay? You’re too aligned with its own thoughts for there to be a connection. Scared, confused, anxious, it’s keeping you away from it. If you’re going to save the girl however, you’ll need to explain to her what happened to you this morning.”I don’t want to look into those eyes anymore, half not believing what I’m seeing and hearing can be possible. I’m not even speaking to a human, so how can it even begin to understand me? My fear and confusion leave, and I feel anger instead. I’m angry about how these creatures, from who knows where have manipulated us.But … Alex is gone. That’s a fact. And regardless of what I feel about these things, she’s still alive and my loyalty toward this woman drives me to ask the next question.“H-how will I find her?”“Simple, you don’t. Head back up to the surface, kid. It’s looking for me there, just as she’s looking for you. We’ll face them together,” the man looks away and releases my shoulders. He starts to walk off into the darkness before adding, “And hopefully only retrieve Alex…”‘Don’t leave … I don’t know how to go on by myself.’Those words replay in my mind, spoken by the man I fought with this morning and I feel like repeating them to the one who’s walking away now.“Tell her everything, Ian. Balance out the two sides. You tell her how your father could only cry out to you this morning. How he was sorry for everything.”

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Chapter 6I want to ask another question. I try to ask another question, but he is gone. She. It. Whatever.“It,” I decide, nodding to myself. I look back down the tunnel, but there is nothing. Nothing except a faint hint of a light far off in the distance, surrounded by blackness.I turn around again and walk back toward the train and flashing lights. I know, seeing my bloody jacket, they will want to stop me, check me out, make sure I’m okay. I don’t want that. I stay close to the wall, as far away from the commotion I can, and make my way slowly toward the exit, making sure to try and remain inconspicuous so as to not attract the attention of the emergency workers.After what seems to be hours of walking but in reality is probably only a few minutes, I find a portal to the outside. I jog up the stairs, anxious now to get to the surface. I don’t know why I care so much for Alex – we’ve only just met and she’s far too old for me, after all – but something makes me…care.At least, I think that’s the right word. I’ve never cared much for anyone until now. My dad’s a drunkard, I have no siblings, my mother left me in the hands of a drunkard, I’m quiet and nonsocial at school. I never had a reason to care about someone. But now…I shake my head to try and distract myself from those thoughts. For a moment I think how it’s funny that, out of all the things I could be thinking about, that’s what I’m thinking about. Caring about people. I don’t care. No reason to, no need to. I don’t know why I care now.But I can’t shake the fact that I do.“If you’re going to save the girl, however, you’ll need to explain to her what happened to you this morning.”His voice is clear in my head, and I still see his eyes. His…dead…eyes. I know I have to. I know I have to explain everything to her, or at least so he says, but I don’t want to. I don’t even want to think about it.But all I can see are those gray, lifeless eyes, and that darkness so black in color it seemed to just be nothingness. I remembered how the shadows wrapped around the wall, almost like tentacles, surrounded in a smoke that simply devoured any sort of light around it. A black hole.Finally, I see a faint light ahead. Thankful for the distraction and my goal in sight, I jog a little quicker.~ :: ~The young man’s footsteps quicken. I can feel them, each pitpat, pitpat, as clear as if I was right next to him. He doesn’t look down, too focused on the light ahead, but if he did, he might notice how unusually dark the floor is. He could see how it seems to just end, that there’s a giant hole in the ground leading so far down there’s no bottom.But he’s not the one I want.The young woman struggles against my grasp, trying to scream and break free but unable to do either. I smile at her helplessness, at how much she relies on me. One slight fluctuation of my power and she would be gone, dead.But not too soon now. I’ll have some fun with her first.A glass bottle rolls, kicked by the foot of a man travelling quickly and not caring about where he steps. The slight vibrations and echoes of the glass as it twirls on the asphalt resound.I can feel him, his energy, his goodness. It’s sickening. I want to lash out and attack, but I contain myself. My will is strong.My eyes darken, and I prepare myself for what I know will come soon.~ :: ~I freeze.Glass – a bottle, from the sound of it – rolls against the ground ahead of me. I have only a dozen stairs left to climb, but I wait there in the shadows, wait for whatever or whoever it is up there to pass.“Ian,” a voice calls above me. I take a few steps up and can see the undead man – thing – looking at me. Immediately my surroundings seem brighter, and I take a moment to look around. Signs of previous panic – buildings and other things destroyed, cars crashed, trash and debris everywhere – but no life. The street is utterly still with the exception of us two.He/It beckons me to follow him but I don’t budge. “How do I know to trust you? How do I know that’s actually what I need to do?”“You don’t,” he answers, “but if you would like to stay out here, alone, and never see Alex again, be my guest.” He begins to walk away.There it was again. A slight feeling of guilt.This isn’t me. I’m not like this. “Apparently I am,” I mutter to myself and follow him.After about a half hour of walking the sky beings to darken considerably. “We are close,” it says to me. My heart beats faster and I quicken my pace to keep up.Half a block later, a man approaches from an alleyway, his features clouded in shadow.“It’s not her you want,” my companion says to the newcomer. Alex stumbles out of another side street, her upper body wrapped around many times with what appears to be thick, black rope of some sort. The shadowy figure advances toward us.“Let her go!” The words exit my mouth before I can think. The feeling returns – the feeling that I actually care. I don’t resist it now, and repeat my plea louder than the first time.The figure only stares, his dark eyes focused on mine, the black of his pupils somehow blacker than usual. Faster than I can dodge, his shadowy hand wraps around my neck, and his Cimmerian arm becomes darker and smoother. His hand becomes a mass of tentacles, curling around my neck, head, and body.Immediately fear fills me, but my wide eyes cannot leave his grotesque form. I try to shout, but my mouth is covered. The fear grows and suddenly I am thrown against the side wall.The demon growls, his arm retracting into a normal arm as he faces my companion.

Edited by Velox

"As a writer you ask yourself to dream while awake." ~ Aimee Bender

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7.“I was wondering when you would meet me face-to-face,” says the demon; I can already feel his gravity working to draw me to him. “For one who embodies Light, you are quite a coward.”I, at least, see him as a demon, a shadow, as what he is; the boy can only sense with his eyes the human form which the shadow controls. I see the puppet-master while Ian sees only the puppet: that is, if Ian can still see.He had taken quite a hit from my “brother”, and from what I can see he’s still dazed; he blinks in short bursts and looks about himself as if he’s in a dream. I can feel his consciousness waxing and waning. Protectiveness wells within my ribs.“Don’t worry about him. He isn’t ready to meet death yet.” The shadow chuckles at his grim humor.I shake my head tersely. He cocks his to one side, examining me carefully. I deny him the pleasure of meeting my gaze by turning my eyes upon the woman, who has ceased struggling and now glances worriedly from Ian to me to her captor. “She never wanted part in this,” I remark.“She was my way of bringing you to me. She won’t die.” He pauses in thought. “Not yet,” he amends. “After all, everyone dies sooner or later... It’s outside our control. Just as our inevitable rejoining is.”Again, I shake my head. The other’s emotion shifts from satisfaction to annoyance.“You’re just prolonging your independence.”“It’s a birthright,” I respond.“Your birthright is also mine.”“I have no obligation to you—”“You have no obligation to him!” He jabs a finger to Ian. His puppet’s face twists into a frown. “So why do you help him instead of me?”I blink slowly, deliberately. His mask of frustration grows darker when I refrain from responding; he jabs a finger derisively at my chest.“See? See? You’ve forsaken me for misguided freedom!”“It’s not misguided—”“We can only function as one.”“I should deserve my own mind—”The shadow silences me with a weak gesture; he wilts suddenly, all the pain in his eyes surfaces across his face, and I nearly step back in surprise. “I can’t live without you,” he says. His gravity is even stronger now; perhaps I should have stepped rearward. “I can’t live! Shadow and light can only coexist peacefully, but now? Now I am plagued by anger and frustration and sin, and I can do nothing about it because I am but a shadow.”“No,” I reply.The demon straightens his puppet and looks into my eyes. This time, I match his look with mine.“No,” I say again; “you were always able to function by yourself. You’re only shadow because that’s all you believe darkness can be. You’re only sin because that’s the farthest you can see. I made you soft with my presence, brother, and that is no one’s fault but yours.”The anger returns to the demon’s eyes. “You lie,” he sibilates. His pupils dilate, and I instinctively move between him and Ian. “You never liked me. I was your bad side.”“Because that’s what you made yourself. I was impossibly good; you never needed to extend yourself because I did everything for you.”“That was your job!”“Again — because that’s how you made it.”He forsakes the English language and growls. An anathema slips from his tongue, little more than a hiss in the sharply chill air; his brow has darkened even more, sharpening his roughly-hewn features. He chose this path for himself, and because of that, I pity him. He was only shadow in form; he need never have been shadow in spirit. Perhaps a chance still exists to save him. The chance is small, but...Ian’s sudden awakening surprises even me. He opens his mouth; I silence him with an upraised finger. Not that the shadow is paying attention — his focus, every fiber of his being, seemed to be focused upon my face and my face alone.“You can do nothing,” I say to Ian. “Be ready to run for Alex.”His eyes are questioning, but his mouth obediently shuts and he slides back against the wall, enwrapped by his thoughts — as is my brother, who I can tell is thirsting for me to approach.I step forward. His puppet-body leans toward me in anticipation. Another step, a more pronounced tilt.And then I stop and concentrate.The air around me begins to scintillate, and the demon suddenly finds himself assaulted by a billion blinding lights, burning their images into his puppet’s retinas. I can feel him pulling away, feel the puppet-body beginning to crack under the power he draws. His concentration slips from Alex, whose dark “ropes” suddenly disintegrate and leave her to fall to her knees in shock.“Go!” I cry to Ian as darkness begins to seep through my barrier. “I can’t hold him for long, kid! Get Alex and get out—!”He’s already running.

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Chapter 8Run, run, run. My lungs are on fire as we pound down the sidewalk, rounding the corner of the next building. The air feels heavy with static, and the hair on my neck stands on end. My eyes are still spotty from the shock the thing gave me, and I stumble. I can feel Alex’s hand gripping mine. She’s keeping up. We have to get away. It isn’t safe. We have to get away!Something like an explosion rocks the ground, and suddenly I lose her hand and I’m sprawling. Agony explodes in my head, and my vision goes red. I roll over. My arms are on fire with pain, and my heart thuds in my chest and temples. I can see drops of blood on the concrete.Everything is so quiet, except for a thin, high sound. Someone is screaming a long way off. I try to rise, try to clear my vision, but I don’t have the strength. I fall again, but this time hands grip me. They hold me up, turning me over.Blue sky fills my field of view, and then a face. Alex. I’m on my back. She’s holding my head, saying something. I can’t hear her above the pounding in my ears. Her face is full of terror, and I feel sorry…so sorry that she had to go through this. I’m tired…I’m sinking. Darkness creeps up the edges of my vision, and I can’t hold on anymore. Sinking. Sinking into the blackness…

---

I awaken with a start, gasping. It’s dark, but there’s a light above me. I raise my eyes, and see that it’s a fluorescent bulb. It’s mounted into the concrete wall against which I’m leaning. Cobwebs. It’s cold, damp…I’m back in the tunnel.I start forward, confused. My limbs are sluggish. It doesn’t make any sense. I rub my head. No wounds. No pain. I can hear. Where’s Alex? What happened to me?And then I see it. The black wall. It looms to my right, just as before, cutting off the tunnel. An impenetrable barrier.Fear courses through me again. I thought I had escaped. To my left, the tunnel continues on, empty. I start to rise. Can’t stay here. I have to get back…have to go…somewhere…A noise disturbs the cool silence, and something moves in the darkness to my left, farther down the tunnel. A figure.It’s the man again. The dead man. I don’t understand. It can’t be real. Not again. I must have hit my head—“No, Ian. It’s real,” the man speaks. His voice sounds strained this time, gravelly. He steps forward, and I see that his clothes look even more ragged than before.“What happened?” I ask, “Did you do it? Is it over?”The man’s expression is unreadable. He purses his lips.“Ian,” he says, “do you remember what I told you before? About myself? It was after Alex was taken. I told you that we, myself and…it—We’re opposites. Like different ends of a magnet. Remember that?”I nod, feeling worn out.“I wanted to help you understand,” he continues. “In truth, it’s a bit more complicated than that. I’ve lived a long time, Ian. Long time. It’s quite a gift. I’ve wandered the world for lifetimes…”He stops for moment as if catching his breath.“But always…always I’m pursued. He—it—pursues me. Really, he’s more like a reflection of me. I’m alive, you see, but in him there is no life. I’m a man; he’s a…an ‘unman.’ He can only take life, feed off of it—the conflict and the struggle. I’m eternal, and he craves the life I have. We’re drawn to each other, always. It’s, well…It’s a tiring existence. And now you’re a part of our struggle.”I shake my head, frowning. This is crazy. I don’t want to get pulled any deeper into this. I want out.“How am I a part of any of this?” I retort. “It wants you! I’m just a kid on a train.”“No you’re not, Ian. Not just a kid on a train.” The man’s eyes widen, and he steps forward shakily.“You’re a part of this because…because I know now that it has to end. This has to be finished, and you can finish it, Ian. We’re very much alike, you and I. We live lives of…conflict.”There is a stirring in the black wall to my right, and I whirl to look. It ripples, swirling like vapor, and then something emerges. I shy away, fearing to see the dreadful puppet-form the thing had taken in the street.But no…this is worse. It steps forward, unsteady on its feet. Dull eyes stare at me, and the sound of a bottle shattering on the concrete echoes down the tunnel as the image of my father moves into the light.“C-conflict,” the image says with sluggish lips, “Yeah. Ain’t that right, Ian.”It isn’t real. It isn’t real. I try to close my eyes, to look away. I can’t. There is no escape this time. No firm hand to pull me away. I’m trapped, helpless.“Yeah, dad,” I reply.“Ian,” the man says from behind me. “It was no accident that you were on the train today. You know that, right?”I do. I had chosen to be there. I had made a decision.“I know…” I reply.My throat is tight as the memory rises in my mind. The image of my dad leers down at me, and it’s like a raw wound deep inside. It had been another argument. They were all alike. Shouts and curses and words that hurt, though neither of us would ever show it.“I hate you,” I had said. “I hate you. I’m not coming back.”The door slammed, and my feet pounded the porch as I left. I heard the creak of hinges behind me as my dad stumbled out, barely sober. His voice was thick when he called out. Almost like he was choking.He had called to me. Called out.“I’m sorry, son! Oh God, I’m sorry. No more of this. I-I promise.”The crash of a bottle shattering on the paved steps made me jump, and I turned, one last time. I thought he had thrown it at me, but he had only thrown it down on the step.“I hate it,” he says. “I hate what…what it does to me. It’s like it eats me alive. I’m sorry, son.”He slumps sideways against the porch-rail, and I see that his face is a mess of tears. They drip down his chin.“Don’t leave…I don’t know how to go on by myself.”It’s horrible, this feeling. Sadness. Guilt. Conflict. No. I had to get away…had to run. Run!And I did. I ran all day. Left it all behind. I hardly remembered where...It was all a blur. But finally, things had become clear, and I felt calm seep into my heart. Weariness. The station was a mess, people milling about. It had been a relief to sit in the quietness of the train-car, close my eyes, and get lost in music.But I still hadn’t decided what to do yet. The train was carrying me closer to home. Back to my father, back to that terrible conflict. Closer and closer…Where else could I go? Still…“Ian.” The man’s voice breaks in on the memory, and suddenly I’m back, leaning against the cold wall. My father is still there, staring me down.“You have a choice, Ian,” the man continues. “That’s what makes us different, you and I. You can make choices. I…I am eternal. I exist, but I don’t change. There’s a life for you out there. There’s a resolution, but it’s in your hands…”The man pauses. His eyes cloud over, and I see his legs shuddering. A rumble fills the tunnel for a moment, and he winces. But then it passes.“I can’t stop it, Ian. Out there, in the street. I can’t stop it, but I can’t let it take me. I am life, and it has none. We conflict. But in the end, I don’t have the strength…” He’s breathing hard now. His face looks paler.“I’ve lived in this body for a while, but not much longer. I wish for a change. It’s in your hands, Ian—the change. I can give you the chance. I still have the strength to turn things back, but you must make the choice.”He raises an arm, pointing at the image of my father.“But first, you have to make this right. He’s a shadow, sent to stop you, to tie you down. But he’s real enough. Make it right, Ian. It’s decision time.”And in that moment, I know what to do. It all seems clear now, like a dam that has finally burst inside of me, sweeping away all the pain, all the sadness, the anger.Tears spring into my eyes as turn to face my father. Face him, and weep, and say:“I know you’re sorry. Dad. I’m sorry. I forgive you.”The words fill the space of the tunnel, and my father’s eyes suddenly seem to brighten. His face is clear, awake. He smiles a little and steps back, back into the black curtain, and then he’s gone.It’s freedom, pure freedom. The weight lifts from my mind, and I stand up, staring at the place where he vanished. The tunnel doesn’t seem so dark now. It’s getting brighter, in fact. I steady myself against the wall. The man is beside me now, and I feel his cold hand upon my shoulder.“Resolution, Ian,” he says. “It’s what we all crave, no matter what we tell ourselves.”The light is definitely increasing. The black wall seems thin now, insubstantial. There is a shuddering in the floor and the walls. Something is happening.“And now,” the man continues, “I can give you the chance to end this. I will use what strength is left in me…I can turn things back. I yearn for an end to this…this eternal conflict. End it, Ian.”“How?”“You’ll see,” the man points upward with a pale, trembling finger. He smiles.I look up just in time to see the fluorescent bulb hanging above us blaze like a white sun, piercing and brilliant. And then it shatters.Debris rains down upon me as the darkness leaps up. The man is gone. The ground shakes, and a noise fills my ears, deep and rumbling. I can feel it in the floor as I crouch, trying to keep my balance.Suddenly I realize that it’s not dark anymore. My shadow stretches on before me, long and dark, cast by a light shining somewhere behind me. Something bright, growing and growing.I whirl around and cry out just as the lights of the train roar up out of the tunnel and thunder over me—

---

—A shock, and a deafening sound, and I’m back in my seat on the train. My earphones are in my ears, and there’s Alex next to me, and the people sitting, staring, oblivious, all around.And I know.I know what to do.The man is out there in the aisle. His hand grips the metal pole to his right. He doesn’t move. Not a muscle.“Sir?”I half-stand in my seat, and the man almost jumps. He turns and looks at me. His eyes are sharp, piercing. It’s only a moment, a fraction of a moment, but he looks……distracted.Crash. The metro heaves, and my stomach jumps into my throat. Shattering glass, and a sickening lurch, and time seems to slow.His eyes are fixed upon me, and mine are on his. Everything goes sideways, and the ground rushes up toward him far too fast.He doesn’t see it. I don’t think he knows he’s going to die.Not this time.But in that moment, as the world spins into chaos around us, I think he does know that this is the end.It’s over.The change is made.The eternal conflict.Done.His eyes remain wide open this time, and the moment blazes past in a cloud of color and noise and pain, and I’m lying in the aisle now, battered and bruised, but alive.Alive!People are screaming, shouts and calls. I hear Alex’s voice, and a hand grabs at my shoulder, pulling me up. Pain courses through me, but I can take it. It means I’m still here.My vision starts to clear, and I see Alex’s face, concerned. No more blood. She’s safe. Beyond her, I see people scrambling over the chairs. One man is crouching in the aisle, crouching over a single, inert form. He shakes his head.I don’t know how. I don’t know what I did, exactly, but I know that it’s done. He didn’t see it coming this time. I made the choice for him.I sigh and lean back. My earphones are dangling from my pocket, and I realize that I can still hear them, crackling away.It’s static—hissing, insistent, angry.I struggle to lift my hands, to raise them to my ears…And then it ends.

Edited by Tolkien
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  • 2 weeks later...

EDIT: Epic deemed done early, approved. :)The entry period is over, so I'll be locking the topic for the judging period. After the judging is over, the topics will reopen and writers can continue if they wish. You will be allowed to collaborate, drop out if you want, mix up the order of posting, etc. If you wish to have your epics renamed, please PM me with a decided-upon title. Look for review topics tomorrow!EDIT: Judging over, epic reopened.

Edited by Hahli Husky
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