Play@YSDC

" Ok here goes nothing..." Darren makes his way upto the pyramid.

With Charlie, Harry, Max, and Louis forming a strong base, Darren is able to climb up onto their backs and reach up to the chains. Now he's up close he can see that the chain is really just wrapped around her neck and pulled taut by the woman's weight. Despite the grisly image he is able to keep focused on trying to release her. He grabs hold of her legs and tries to lift her body. The chain slackens and unwinds from around her neck. As Darren lets her go she slides away from the chains and thumps into the others, collapsing the pyramid onto the ground.

Rolling over you are able to see the woman clearly. It is the teacher from the photographs, Safiya Ali. One leg is bent at an unnatural angle and her body sort of twitches as she lies there. Her neck is twisted with a jagged gash across the front with blood oozing from the wound. Her face is swollen and she gurgles and wheezes as she pants, blowing out bubbles of blood with each breath. Her eyes are wide and unfocused.

Charlie STR roll. STR 30: 1d100 30

Harry tries to help her, but he isn't quite sure what to do.

First Aid roll (42% skill) to help Safiya Ali:
d%

" Miss Ali...Miss Ali, can you hear us?" Looking frantically around the group Darren asks, "Any of yous boy scouts? No any first aid? Recovery position?"

1d%Fd30%

Fail.

Max's entirely book-based first aid skills failed once again.

Charlie looked on helplessly. His first aid was no better than Max’s!

First Aid (30%) 1d100

Darren knelt down next her and tried his best make her comfortable, turned her on her side and hoped she wouldn't choke, trying to remember as much first aid that he'd even seen on tv or what he could remember from coach and the baseball field.

Success!

Rolled onto her side the woman coughs and splutters. Darren dresses the wound on her neck as best he can with a few strips of cloth. Where her larynx should be is livid and swollen. For a few minutes she just lies there spitting out blood and vomit. Eventually her heaves slow and she is just breathing raggedly. Slowly and painfully she rolls over and looks around her desperately, eyes wide and darting.

She opens her mouth and hoarsely croaks, 'Got to get out...got to get out...now way out...no way...don't want to, don't want to...' She's not addressing you in particular, she just seems to be talking to herself.

"What brought you here?" asks Harry.

"Woah Miss, your ok now, try and calm down. " Darren says.

Louis looks on shyly. How did a sensible person get trapped in here, he wonders. Looking at her leg he then looks around for something to use as a splint and a crutch.

Asked direct questions, Safiya looks confused, blinking her eyes and staring blankly. Eventually she rasps something incomprehensible about 'The clown...give up your lies...be free...'

OOC:   Maybe she'd respond to a bit of reassurance or emotional support - that'd be a Be a Pal roll

"I wouldn't trust that clown," says Harry. "There's something...funny about him."

Be a Pal roll (10% base skill) to get through to Safiya:
d%

At the words of reassurance, Safiya visibly seems to relax a little. She rolls over to sit cross-legged on the ground. Her leg now seemingly uninjured. 'Oh children. What are you doing here. You shouldn't be here.' Her voice is still a little hoarse but is gentle and she sounds genuinely concerned.

"We came here to find our friends," says Harry, "but now we're trapped. But if we work together, we can find a way out of here. Why did you come here, and what happened?"

"Have you seen any other kids, a girl?" Darren asks.

Safiya still seems a bit confused and she shakes her head as if trying to clear it. 'I, I...I'm not sure. I think...it feels like I have been here for weeks. But you're the first kids I've seen. Someone came to me...he came to me, before I came here. Came to me at home. Perry, the clown, he said he could help me. I, I...I've been having some problems, I haven't been sleeping. Something happened. Something I wanted to forget about. He said that if I faced up to it...if I faced my lies, admitted them, admitted them to myself - that I'd be free.' Her eyes take on a hazy far away look. Then she shakes her head again and continues.

'But when I got here. I couldn't. I mean, I couldn't. Did you see them? The grey shapes, the remnants in the mirrors? I couldn't. I just couldn't.' She pulls up her knees and rocks a little, repeating 'I just couldn't, I couldn't.' Darren places a hand on her shoulder in what he hopes is a gesture of reassurance. He's not really sure how to interact with an adult like this but he can tell she's suffered...something. 'It's okay Miss, it's okay.'

She lets out a single sob then seems to pull herself together again. 'Well I wandered around for days. That clown, he kept saying he wanted to help me, that he was disapppointed in me. Freaked me out. There's something wrong with him. Something wrong with everything but him even more. I couldn't, I wouldn't do it. Every time he came out of that tunnel...' she lets out a harsh laugh, 'Tunnel of Love. I ran away. I couldn't find any way out. I didn't want to become one of them, but I didn't want to stay...' She looks up at you all, into your faces, 'Did you meet Barry? I hope not. Do you know what he did...?' She trails off and goes silent for a minute. 'I couldn't stay here so I...I tried to find another way out...' silence again. 'And that didn't work. I just hung there. The pain never went away. I just got used to it I guess. The pain, couldn't breathe, the blood dripping. But I didn't die. I just hung there...' she lets out another harsh laugh. 'I think I went a bit mad.'

She shakes her head sadly and goes quiet again. 'There's nothing else for me now. No way out. I'm going to go to the lake. In the lake. Under the lake.' She looks in their faces again. 'You've seen them? Under the water? They're still not dead...but maybe...maybe it'd be better...better...' She goes silent again, just rocking, sobbing, and hugging her legs.

What she says about the clown. The clown coming to her. Something about it, about the way she says it. It resonates with you. You can't put your finger on it but deep down, down in your stomach - there's a lurching feeling, like anxiety. But you're not sure why. Recognition?

”We met Barry,” said Charlie, hefting the bat. ”I think we know what he did. I took his bat so he can’t do it again.”

He sounded more confident than he felt.

"We've also seen the shapes in the mirrors," says Harry. "And the witch in this one I'm carrying. Do you know about her?"