HIM

[x]

Bridgette's high-heeled boots click-clack-clacked against the linoleum floor as she made her way down a seemingly neverending hallway. The lighting, fueled by white neon tubing hooked to the celing far above the Mistress' head, was quite bright, bright enough to make any normal person want to squint. Every fifty yards or so, a speaker-box could be seen hooked to the white walls--- walls with paint that peeled from age, revealing blood red plaster underneath. After awhile, you could start to hear music streaming from the speakers. Relaxing, smooth cafe tunes. Played nonstop in the hopes of keeping the children calm.

More frequent on either side were the shiny black doors: Room 214, 207, 215, 206…classrooms. They were all empty. It was too early in the Morning for School.

Groaning, Bridgette reached up as she walked and removed her black-rimmed glasses before tucking them into one of the many pockets that adorned her robes. “Something always has to happen to wake me up, doesn’t it?” she grumbled to herself.

When she at last reached a t-shaped junction in halls, she took a right, followed it for some time, then took a left--- finally coming to the Front Hall stairs. She jumped them two at a time; each individual stair wasn’t worthy to grace her feet. Right hand lightly gripping the silver railing, brilliant ringlets of honey-yellow hair bouncing, Bridgette masterfully traveled downwards three stories and hundreds of steps within twenty seconds.

“Madame Bridgette, you have arrived,” a Prefect greeted her at the base of the steps. The ground level floor. “We were beginning to go bonkers waiting for you.” He nervously reached up and straightened his mask with a shaky arm.

“Oh, shut up, you parasite.” Something in her voice rang distinctly Australian (enough so to bring back fond memories of the Crocodile Hunter), but, then again, no-one had ever really figured out where she had lived while on Earth. She could be anything from anywhere. “Now show me to them.”

…He shut up. Then he turned and motioned over his shoulder for her to follow. They walked through a grandly, exquisitely decorated hall, complete with chandelier lighting and mosaic tiles, and into an even more brilliant Commons. If one didn’t know any better, they could walk into this School and mistake it for a hotel. An admittance kiosk crafted from gold and pearl. Decorative plants that accented leather sofas and arm chairs. And the front doors themselves? Ten feet tall, made of pure glass. Looking through them, you wouldn’t see much aside from the ash-grey sky. Purgatory had a tendency to warp what you saw through glass or inside mirrors.

“Morning fatigue, Bridgette, my Madame? They’re right there.” The Prefect pointed over to a lonely corner, where three wine red couches clustered around a coffee table. She followed with her gaze, and, when she finally saw, the woman let out a tiny laugh of glee.

“Six of them? Absolutely marvelous.”

Usually, only one or two dead children appirated in the Commons per day. Six was a miracle. Bridgette clamored over to look at them, her sky blue eyes sparkling with anticipation. They were all lying limply on the couches, some in each others arms. One was a rabbit, two were foxes, another a hyena, and still another a raccoon. One was even a unicorn.

Bridgette tucked her robe under her bottom and took a seat in one of the open armchairs, thereafter crossing her legs. She smiled. “Now we just have to wait for them to wake up--- and realize they’re Dead.”

((As you can see, I’m starting this right when all of our child characters first die and arrive at the School. This way, I can better introduce all of them (and you) to what it’s like there. You can start with flashbacks of their death, or just have them wake up, either way works. Feel free to start off with your other chars too. Whatever floats your boat.))

[Entaru]

"Hey! That's my ball!"  Entaru hopped up and down in vain, attempting to take the ball back from the bully.  The other bully bashed him across the head with a junior sized baseball bat, knocking him to the ground.  They began to stomp on his prone body as they laughed at his shrieks for mercy.

"You white trash little hobo, things like you don't derserve to have pretty toys"  The bully hurled the ball into the street.  Entaru gasped as he watched his only toy nearly get hit by a car.

"Noooo!"  Entaru bolted out from underneath the bullies, knocking them both over, and grabbed the ball.  Suddenly, the blast of an air horn caused Entaru to look in horror as the silver grill of a MACK truck slammed into his nose.

Then everything was gone...except the ball.  He rubbed his nose in the darkness, all the while keeping the ball at his side.  Then the darkness began to dissapate.  He rubbed his blurry eyes with one hand to clear his sight.  He looked around the room in awe and was surprised to see a woman sitting across from him.

"What happened?  Where am I?"

[x]

One of the children stirred, the first child to do so...the white fox. Bridgette noticed his emerald green eyes fluttering open long before she heard his question. Smiling, she replied: "This is the Afterlife, sweetheart. But don't be scared. Never be scared." She stood up and walked over to him before sitting down at his side. "Because this is the place where all children go after Death," she lied. "This is where you will heal, where you can forget anything and anyone who's ever hurt you." She was not adhered to getting all lovey-lovey, so instead gave him a gentle pat on the back. "It's okay if you want a moment to take it all in. Everyone's a bit freaked when it first happens."

~~~Meanwhile~~~

"Wakie! Wakie! Time for eggs and bakie!" Aike-Aike called as she pushed open the door to her patient's room. On a sign next to the door, the child's name had been posted: Mark. She walked inside, switched on the lights, and smiled before moving to her patient's bedside. "How is my darling little Marky-Marky this morning?"

...Her 'darling little Marky-Marky' wasn't doing so hot. The ten-year-old boy was skinny as a rail, his eyes were swollen and had dark circles under them, and his previously luminous hair was dull from being stuck inside so long. Even more despicable, his tiny wrists and ankles were encircled by Velcro restraints that kept him pinned to his eternal bed.

The room was terribly cold, hideously white. Every metal surface and plaster wall gleamed. For some strange reason, the staff always thought it was important to keep a clean infirmary. Groaning, the miserable boy woke up at the sound of her voice, and did his best to readjust his position under the scratchy white sheets. He looked to her with weary eyes. Then he turned his head away.

"Aww, Mr. Grumpyfur, what's wrong?" Aike-Aike implored, sincerely thinking the reason didn't have to do with her. When Mark didn't answer, she simply went on: "It's your Operation today, so no reason to be sad. Gonna be sooo much funnn, huhhh?" She reached for a pouch attached to her belt. It was in the shape of a pink piggy with big anime eyes. She opened it, and, after a bit of digging, she proffered an over sized syringe. Baby blue casing. Pink pump. Needle several times the size of a wasp's stinger--- perfectly adorable, just the way she liked it. Aike-Aike knelt down to her knees and reached under the bed, feeling for her box of toys. Once her thin fingers alighted upon the edge, she reached inside and started to surf around for 'Mr. Teddy.'

"What is wrong with you?" the boy cried shakily. He had since turned back to her.

"What's wrong with me? Nothing, nothing nothing nothinggg..." The last three 'nothings' she sang rather than spoke. "Aha!" She yanked her hand back out from under the bed, light brown teddy bear in tow. She stood up. "Alright, little Marky. Today I'd like you to meet two very good friends of mine. This...*motions at the teddy* is Mr. Teddy. And this...*motions at the syringe* is Mr. Needle. They want to take a little trip to the wacky rainbow factory."

Aike-Aike broke out in insane laughter, thinking she was giving the kid the fun time of his Afterlife.

[Entaru]

The door swung open as Nero all but danced into the room.  His replacement hand clicked and whirred happily at the thought of creating mayhem.  Sliding next to Aike-Aike, he looked the boy up and down.  "Well, well, well, what have we here?  Did the boy hurt himself or is today going to start off good?"

Entaru leaned in beside Aike-Aike, getting dangerously close, and looked at the boy's chart.  His eyes lit up as he saw the words: Correctional Surgery.  "Ho ho!  Today is going to be excellent!"  The last word came out as a screech as he danced his way to the opposite side of the table.  "Nurse Aike, please tell me you haven't prepared him yet.  I so do love watching you prepare the patients."

[Dtannings]

((I'm going to go with the same style as Enty and start with their last seconds of life. I like how that works))

Kodo pressed the pencil ever closer to the upper-classman's eye. That'll teach her for calling her a theif. She wasn't like her parents. The student grunted loudly as she kicked Kodo off of her, saving her from what could be a serious wound.

Kodo's eyes widened in fear as she stepped back to find no ground beneath her. The upper-classman could only grasp at the sudden relazation at what she'd done.

Pain shot through the racoon's back as she hit one step, and barraged the rest of her body as she tumbled down the stairs, ending with a sickening crack at the bottum.

However, she didn't land hard. In fact, she landed on something soft; cussionned. Kodo was afraid to open her eyes. She knew something wasn't right.

At the sound of another child speaking, she opened her eyes, hoping to see the infirmary at school. She simply stared across the room at the woman across from her, knowing emmediatly that she was no where she'd ever been before.

[x]

Aike-Aike let out a yipe of suprise at the Doctor who had just danced in without warning. Not hearing a thing he said, she turned and looked up at the towering Doctor as though she had never seen him before--- according to Aike's memory loss problem, she hadn't. "Wow, mister, you're really gimongous, aren't you?" Her voice had always been insanely girly and high. Enough to make one wonder whether she practiced at it. Though she smiled at Nero, she didn't give him a chance to answer.

"But I can't talk right now, Mr. Super Tall Guy. I have to play a game with little Marky here," the lunatic chirped, and faced back towards the boy. "Now. I think I was saying something about Mr. Teddy and Mr. Needle going on a trip. Let's see.....where oh where could that darn Rainbow Factory be? Do you know, Mr. Teddy?" she asked of the bear, bringing it close to her nose, her eyes crossing as her line of sight blurred. When the toy did not so much as open its mouth, she frowned. "Well, it has to be around here somewhere." The wolf, holding up her two toys, began to prance around the room, looking for a tell-tale shelf of goodies.

"You're freaking insane, you know that? Both of you," the boy hissed, shortly before being overcome by coughing fits. At first it seemed like the poor thing was going to hack and wheeze enough to bring up a lung. But, slowly, the coughs and the tremors subsided and he sunk mournfully back down in bed, closing his eyes, his wrists submitting to their restraints. "Just a..." he told himself slowly, "...just a bad dream....just a bad dream...just a dream, it's just a dream......."

"Welll stick a feather in my hat and call me Yankee Doodle!" Aike-Aike exclaimed out of nowhere, from across the room. "I've found the Rainbow Factory, everyone!"

The 'Rainbow Factory' in question was actually a cabinet above the corner sink--- a cabinet chocked full of tiny bottles of drugs. Drugs which would soon grace the inside of Mr. Needle.

((Don't worry, I'm going to get Bridgette moving as soon as I can, what I'm really waiting for is waiting to get my own children's death and waking in order...))

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Talin started to stirr in a room that seemed rather lavish compared the place he saw Mother in. He looked to the woman sitting across, and then the -clomp- -clomp- of boots resounded as a blacked cloaked figure with horns walked into the room, and handed the woman a clipboard with each child's 'documentation'.

Orphin stood there and waited for Bridgette to either praise his timliness, or give him something else to do.

Talin's eyes stayed locked between the woman and the figure that just arrived, and he tuned out everything else that was going on. "W-Where am I..." was all he could manage, not sure why he didn't feel the pain he did with Mother.

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Asia fidgeted in Kali's arms, slowly opening her eyes to see the array of creatures around her. She looked up to Kali sleeping behind her, and smiled.
"Thank God, we're ok," she said before turning to Bridgette. "Where are we, miss?"

[Vyvas]

Waking up, the dark Lilium would look all around her before moving. Dark, almost black holes for eyes, scanning everything, the dead bodies in paticular. She picks herself up after a minute, moving into a sitting position, legs up to her chest. She says nothing, of course, merely brushes off her black dress.
Vyvas would wake up not long after Lilium, and she has a much different reaction to it all. She is startled, and her head looks all about the room, before a shaky, scared voice asks "Wheh-where am I~?" her voice quivering with the question, only making her seem all the more afraid.

[HowlTheGrayWolf]

"Twinkies...nah, those won't be good. Devil dogs, nope, I need something that's good tasting and filling." Leon thought to himself while looking down the rows of shelves, inside a small store named "Small Town Stop". Sweets, junk food, soda: all the things that kids wanted, unless they were alone and hungry, then they would look for food that would actually help them, rather than just throw empty calories into their stomachs (Unless the kid was still a younger one). "Ah! Beef Jerky! That sounds good!" Leon hastily swiped a bag of Jerky, got some water bottles and went up to the main counter. There was the store clerk, a middle aged man with a comb over and mustache. "Excuse me, sir, but I'd like to purchase these items." He put the jerky and water on the counter, and the man stared at him for a second with an eyebrow raised. " Kinda strange that you'd be out here all by yourself at such a young age, ya'll gonna be ok?" Leon frowned a bit, thinking of his parents faces. "Yes, well, I'm confident that I'll be safe from harm." (A bit too ironic) As the clerk was working his cash-register, a suspicious looking stranger passes by the both of them and tries to look occupied with some magazines...about woman's fashion. "Alright, that'll be 5 bucks, kid." Leon nodded and reached into his pocket, then pulled out a crumpled up five dollar bill. The clerk looked up from his register, then saw the stranger who walked in only minutes ago, was pulling out a gun. He struggled to pick up his pre-loaded .12 gauge shotgun. "GET DOWN, KID!" Leon crouched down as the clerk shot off a round, then pumped it. The man got hit in the shoulder, and sprayed multiple bullets with his 9mm handgun, one of them catching Leon in the chest. He heard another shot go off, and a large thud following it. Moments later, the clerk was on the phone, probably contacting an ambulance. "Yes, please hurry! Hang in there kid, helps on..." Everything started to fade into black, sounds were drowned out, and silence ensued.

After moments of absolute darkness, silence and confusion, Leon's eyes opened slowly. He saw a number of kids around him, but he was too disoriented to care. He looked up to a nicely dressed and smiling women. "Where in the world..." He sat up slowly and looked around. "This does not look like a hospital. What exactly is this place, miss?"

[Entaru]

Nero sighed.  She didn't remember him...again.  Yes, the Purgatory Medical Staff weren't known for their ability to remember things but she was probably the worst.  For years he had tried to get her 'attention' and every day she forgot who he was.  So beautiful and impossible to get at.

All the more reason to try.

He looked down at the child strapped to the table and smiled underneath his veil.  "Well, it seems you're in for a treat, boy.  Those are the good chemicals.  You'll get to watch the ENTIRE operation.  Aren't you lucky!"  Nero burst into laughter and spun on his toes around the table.  "Nurse?  Are Mr. Needle and Mr. Teddy ready for their trip?  I'm afraid the child is getting bored of the game.  I think we need to liven up the game a bit."

[x]

Aike-Aike selected from the cabinet a glass bottle that was full of a rainbow-colored fluid. She stuck the needle through the lid and withdrew a good 200CC worth. Then she heard Nero’s voice slicing through her concentration. After returning the bottle to its shelf, she danced back to the table to join the Doctor. “Bored? Marky-Marky, you can’t be bored, can you?” She plastered a dejected look onto her face. “That makes me really really sad. I try so hard to make you happy, little Marky. Please don’t be bored.” When the boy refused to reply, his eyes closed, every so often murmuring ‘It’s just a dream…’, Aike-Aike pouted and turned to Nero. She stood up on her tip-toes, but even that wasn’t good enough to reach Nero’s ear-level, and the woman ended up whispering her next bit to his shoulder: “I think you’re right, mister. He does look pretty bored. What should we do about it?”

 ___________

Breathe…I can’t…I can’t breathe……. Lungs stretching and tearing beyond any normal capacity, eyes burning from the various toxins and chemicals and other disgusting things, fluffy white dress and long blue hair weighing her down, Brenna yet still tried to swim forward into the murk, arms grasping wildly for her friend only to come up empty-handed each time. So much water……so much…..Darla…Darla, where are you?..... Two minutes ago, a rush of water to envy any major river had flooded the concrete basin where Brenna and her friend Darla had been playing in the rain. They had attempted to climb out, but too late, for within seconds the water grew from a steady trickle into a monstrous, undulating, muddy-colored wall. Sweeping the children away into a tunnel, slamming them into a metal grate…

Why is this…so hard….why can’t I swim the way I want to…. Brenna tried to kick off the grate, and after that didn’t work, she tried to climb up it. Amazingly, she was able to. But instead of receiving a breath of air at the top of her climb, Brenna’s head was greeted by a donk of rough concrete.

She was trapped underwater. No way to keep flowing with the current. No way to swim back. And no way to come up for air.

The girl prayed. She prayed as her eyes rolled back into her head and she was forced to shut them just to ease the pressure. She prayed as her lungs grew red hot in her chest, as they seared with agonizing pain. She even prayed whilst she went unconscious and slowly died.

_____________

Darla was in a sort of predicament. Stuck. Stuck to a metal grate while cold water pushed at her body with a mighty force. Only…Darla wasn’t so lucky as to have freedom of movement like Brenna had. No, instead, her legs were tangled in the thorny, twiggy branches of a giant tumbleweed, which had been carried with the current alongside them. Every time she cried out in pain, as a rock or other hard object slammed into her, as one of her bare legs caught against a thorn, she would swallow more water.

One could easily and simply say that Darla’s Death was more agonizing than that of her friend’s.

___________

Eyelids flickering open, Brenna pushed herself upright on the couch. Soft. Soft….that was….wrong. The metal grate was far from soft. And the air…dry. Also wrong. Where was the water, the water she had been drowning in seconds before? “Either I’m dead or this is some unusual sort of hospital,” the girl commented as she scanned the magnificent room, her gaze traveling over the array of children, the bizarre-looking man in black, to at last rest upon a human woman with soft features, blue eyes, black and white robes with a giant white cross pattern embroidered over her chest, and golden-blonde hair that cascaded down her back in huge ringlets.

Next to her, Darla stirred, moaning…coughing a little only to realize her lungs were no longer plagued with water. She sat up as well, equally shell-shocked by what she saw. “What in the blue blazes is up with this?” she asked, instantly reverting back to her obnoxious personality.

___________

Bridgette beamed warmly as she saw that most of the children were finally waking up and looking around, some asking where they were. More children had appirated by this time, bringing the total to a mind-shattering nine. She was about to answer their volley of questions when Orphin strode up to her side and interrupted, handing her a BlackBook clipboard full of records and personal information for each child. She turned, looked at the prone Prefect, and smiled. “Well, mate,” she said, accented enough to again make you wonder if she hailed from Earthly Australia, “That was magnificent timing on your part. Thank you, peaches.” ‘Peaches’ was a pet name she used for anyone who made her happy in a great way. Rarely did any of the children have the capacity to make her that happy, so she mainly used it on staff.

Through the BlackBook magic that encircled the clipboard, she could feel Memories streaming into her consciousness, Memories that each child held…so many were dark, terribly dark…But now wasn’t the time to pour over BlackBooks. There were things to be done. Bridgette cut off the connection. She gave the child called Entaru a last pet of his back before standing up.

Suddenly, before she could speak even one word of welcome to the new group of children, the alarm started to wail. It was so loud that it echoed off of every surface, reverberated in every hall— somewhere out there, a child (or an incredibly dim-witted staff member) had succumb to their Second Death. The alarm was not made by staff hands. Or any other hands for that matter. No-one knew where it was. It was just an omnipresent, un-seekable thing created by powers above Bridgette herself. Its job was to sound every time a resident of Purgatory died a second time.

The woman wanted to curse aloud, but knew better. Rather, she took Orphin by his right shoulder and did her best to speak over the alarm: “Gather some of your mates. Tell them to go look over the School, see if any ‘doubly-dead’ kids are lying about. I’m going to have to go Outside the gates and look in the town. And as for you yourself, Orphin, I need you to take these children to a waiting room somewhere where it’s quiet. Get them some blankets, some candy, some water, whatever they might need to tide them over ‘till I come back. Please try not to scare them. I prefer happy, smiling faces.” She glared at Orphin seriously, hoping her orders sunk in.

Then she turned back to the children and gave her best sympathetic look. “Don’t worry, everyone. It’s just the alarm. I’ll be right back to show you around your new home.” Bridgette quickly glided to the glass front doors and pushed them open, running outside into the courtyard. No rush of air greeted her, cold, hot or otherwise. Just the everlasting blankness, everlasting downpour of ashes from grey sky that was Purgatory.

“Woe is the life of a Head Master…” the woman complained, shortly before unfurling her black raven’s wings through the slits in her robes and taking off into the still air.

[Dtannings]

Kodo stood and patted her shirt habitually. With the sudden alarm, the adults acted strangely, leaving her greatly confused. She bit her tongue and held back the urge to question, one of the other children were sure to ask for her. She glanced at the blonde woman as she strided away, before turning to the other children to see her companions in confusion.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Orphin felt happy at being referred to by 'Peaches' though it did not fit his form in the slightest. He nodded at her order and then went to a Prefect that was just leaning against the wall since it didn't have orders. When compared to Orphin, it looked like the leaning one was higher in rank, but that was not the case as Orphin knocked the larger Prefect down with only a single fist to its massive gut, and then let out a soul-rattling roar in its direction. It scrambled to get up and soon was out the room and went to gather others to go look for any 'second-death' children.

After that brief display of animosity, he turned back to the children, and with a smile that could barely be seen under his hood, beckoned them to follow him to the waiting room as he stood there.

________________

Before the black-robe even showed his attitude, Talin was at least increadibly scared by how the figure carried himself, but when he saw the sudden strength, a permanent fear of him had formed at the pit of his being. But, he couldn't show it because he really had no idea what was going on, so he slowly got off the couch, and started walking towards it, then waited on the others to follow suit.

[Entaru]

Entaru cringed as he heard the man roar.  It was merely the sound that scared him though.  The ways of adults were not foreign to him, as many in his neighborhood would resort to such violent outbursts if even slightly annoyed. 

Getting up, he followed the adult.  He was dead now...he knew that when he awoke.  One doesn't normally survive being hit by a truck when you're only a little over 3 feet in height.  He knew he would never see his parents again but it didn't seem to bother him.  Yes, he loved his parents but there was no point in mourning for them...they were alive after all.  The other children were scared but he felt...at home.  As ominous as the building was he just couldn't bring himself to be scared.  As he followed the man he looked about in awe.

With everything that felt wrong about this place, it felt...so very right.

___________________________


"Well, if the boy is bored then we should play a game!  The children love games.  But what to play...."  He began circling the table tapping his index finger on his chin.  "We could play Candyland...no, we're low on red and green pills......HA!  I know!"  Nero snapped his fingers in realization. "We can play 'Hide and Seek'!" 

Nero turned to the child and knelt so that he could get closer.  "Oh, I think you'll like this game Mark.  You see in 'Hide and Seek', one of us hides a random object in you and the other has to figure out what in the room is missing and take it out of you!  If the finder guesses wrong or can't find the object, then the hider wins.  If the finder guesses right and successfully finds the object, then the finder wins.  It's a wonderful game, believe me."

Nero turned back to Aike-Aike "What do you think, Ms. Aike?  Do you want to play 'Hide and Seek'?"