The Perfect Storm [Accepting&&Open]

[minus infinity]

Emma wished she knew what to say to this girl. Maybe it was true, and she had just partied too hard. That could explain her appearance, Emma thought. But the absolute panic in her face was too strong to just brush off and chalk up to a wild night. Like the other girl, Emma only had questions, and a sick feeling of slightly irrational unease. The only thing she knew was that the storm last night had probably caused more damage than people were realizing. But still, she was confused.
When Emma became aware of someone approaching, she turned towards him. The girl in front of her looked panicked and lost, and Emma only looked confused and a bit tired. She wondered if he would know anything about the storm, or any information whatsoever that could help this girl. Emma knew she certainly didn't have anything. Besides, she still had to go to work; still though she felt a strange urge to help.

Thomas exited the park and jumped back, startled, at what he saw. "God Almighty," he said under his breath. What happened last night?
There were cars, much different than the ones he was used to. Much quieter, too. People were dressed in a much different way than he was used to; he had to avert his eyes and clear his throat when a woman in a mini skirt walked by him. The job occupation he initially thought the woman had was something that he should have by no means mentioned to her. That is, unless he decided he needed a good slap across the face. He felt her eyes on him for a second and he could have sworn he flushed tomato red, but then she walked away and Thomas decided to look around for a newspaper or something of the sort to hopefully provide him with some answers. He wanted to find his family, too, and hoped someone or something would help him. Right now, he was really in no condition to go sleuthing on his own. He was still so confused, and dizzy and lightheaded as well. As though maybe he were coming down with the flu. That was the last thing he needed right now.

Kitty stood up but quickly regretted it, because the wooziness that enveloped her entire body was so suddenly and completely overwhelming she almost felt as though she would collapse in vertigo and vomit. The mere thought of illness, however, was enough to make her cringe with fear. In her time, illnesses were taken care of immediately so not to infect others. Anything as mild as a cough could be instantly taken care of and forgotten about with a pill.
For some nagging reason, though, Kitty was beginning to feel like she wasn't home anymore.
Where am I? How did I get here?

 

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

Jeremy spotted Kitty and saw that she didn't appear alright. He thought he should help. "Hello, there. Are you feeling alright? Do you need help?" he asked.  

[wolf_with_a_dragon]

Okay, Jake was seriously starting to get worried. This girl thought he was joking when he said the year, and she had no idea what city they were in. "Uhh, I'm dead serious here. The year is 2014, and as far the city is concerened this is Lockehart. Come here, I'll prove it." He said as he found a street sign. He knew exactly where he was at again, and there was a convenience store only two blocks down. He grabbed the girls hand and took off down the street so he could show her a newspaper.  

[Another Damned Vampire]

Daniel was surprised when the stranger spoke to him as if to a servant. "My name is Daniel Charles Godalming. This place is either the township of Lockehart, or some region of hell. The more I see, the more I believe it to be the latter." He spoke in a haughty tone, trying to put the soldier at his place.  

[minus infinity]

Kitty looked at Jeremy with a glazed look in her eyes when he approached. She noticed that he looked official, like he had just gotten off work. Kitty, on the other hand, looked like she was doing the walk of shame. She was dressed in a long tunic, boots, and had been wearing goggles... she had been experimenting with new specimens before she had somehow been put here. Teleportation, perhaps? Kitty rubbed her head and looked again at Jeremy before saying, "Hello," in a throaty and thickly accented voice. "I seem to not be sure of where I am." She tilted her head to the side. Both of them were wet, as though they had been caught in the same rainstorm. Trivial as it might have been, the fact was strangely reassuring.

 

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

"Ah. How strange. I'm having the same problem" Jeremy replied, looking around. "Perhaps we can find an information centre or something. Even just a store with a map. It could help."


"Lockehart? Never heard of this place" Cedric replied, getting annoyed by Daniel's tone, but had other things to worry about. He took out a small device from an inside pocket of his uniform. It was a 26th century computer-type device that he tried to turn on, but wasn't working. Cedric wanted to research the location, but was getting frustrated when his machine wouldn't work. "Piece of s**t device" he cursed at it.  

[Another Damned Vampire]

Daniel looked at the man. Everything about him was strange, and getting stranger. Why was he swearing at his cigar case - that's what Daniel assumed the small square object to be. He looked around some more. This whole thing was giving him a headache and a strange feeling.  

[MommiiDearest]

Then maybe that means I have died. or- am I in one of my friends games? Looking around, she started watching the shadows for creatures she would need to inevitably fight, if this was in fact a game. Allowing herself to be pulled along by the strange man, Blythe kept darting her gaze at the people that were filling up the streets. She took a weird sort of solace in the fact that some looked equally as confused or upset as she was feeling. When they came to a metal box that held folded papers, she bent down tapped the hard plastic of the window on the front. Nothing happened. She frowned, and tapped again. "Is it broken? Why is the newspaper stand not showing me this mornings paper? The screen isn't even lighting up." Tap. Tap. Tap.

Echo covered her face with her hands and whispered, "What do I do? How did I get here?" Her stomach grumbled loudly and she glanced up quite embarrassed. The boy approaching caught her eye before she looked back at Emma. "I am sorry. Are you having difficulties too?"

 

[minus infinity]

Kitty looked around for a moment, but saw nothing familiar. She would have given anything to be back home, or at the very least to wake up and realize this had only been a dream. "Alright," she said slowly, "I believe there is a store nearby." There also seemed to be a newspaper stand not far from them, and Kitty saw the two people already in front of it. She looked at them with curiosity for a moment, then looked back at Jeremy, then began to stumble over.


Emma finally smiled a little at the other girl, hoping to give her at least some bit of reassurance. "There's a grocery store near here," she said. Then, she paused. She really didn't know much about this girl, but even though she was obviously panicked she seemed harmless. "... Would you like to come with me?" Bringing her to her workplace would mean no danger, Emma thought. Besides, it looked like she really needed a companion. (As an only child, Emma could sympathize with that.)
She turned briefly towards the guy who had approached them, and wondered who he was. She'd never seen him before, but unlike her new companion he wasn't damp or confused. If anything, he only looked very tired. "Some storm," she murmured to him in acknowledgement.


By now, Thomas had wandered into a grocery store and had cleaned himself up using the sink in the restroom. He still didn't feel or look like himself, but it was at least an improvement. He had noticed something new and quite disturbing, though. When he had passed through the store on the way to the restroom he had happened to glance at the prices. He'd never seen prices this high. He'd have to be a merchant just to afford a few pieces of fruit. In his day, one could buy an entire array of trinkets and things using no more than a dollar. Now, just one of those things costed a dollar in itself. This whole thing just made his head hurt, and he would have given anything to just be with his family. Where had they gone? And for that matter, where the hell was he?

 

[wolf_with_a_dragon]

Jake smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand when he saw the girl tapping the box. "Maybe because the paper is still in the stand?" he said as he put in some change and grabbed the paper. He mostly ignored the newsy part of the paper and focused on the date. "See? April 15, 2014. Says so right there." he said as he pointed to where the date was.  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

Jeremy took Kitty's arm to give her support. "You alright? Are you sure you don't need a physician or anything? I'm a dentist, so I can't help you if you bumped your head or are sick, or anything like that" he said to her, letting her rest on him.


Cedric pressed on his earring which was actually a small, round, black communication device. "Control, you there?" he asked. No answer. Something really odd was going on. If this was a simulation, he would be getting an answer. Not only that, but he had his researching device and it wasn't working. Now he was standing next to a man in clothes he had only seen in history texts. Something was off and it was getting irritating not knowing what it was.


Trace made his way over to Emma and Echo. "Yeah. It kept me up all night" he said, then looked at the lineup going all the way out the door at the coffee shop. "Looks like I'm not the only one either" he commented. He then turned to Echo, who had been freaking out before. "Are you alright?" he asked with concern.  

[Another Damned Vampire]

Daniel returned his gaze to his new acquaintance. The man was talking to the box. At first it made no sense, then he had an idea. "Excuse me, is that your telephone? I think I know what's wrong. There's no wire." Happy with himself for having solved the stranger's problem, he smiled a friendly smile.  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

Cedric gave Daniel a confused look. "Wire? All my communication devices are wireless. They've been that way for hundreds of years" he replied. "Unless you mean there might be a loose wire. That could be true, though this is relatively new." he said. He looked the computer device over. "I don't understand though. If this is a simulation, then Control would reply. Unless this is supposed to be a situation where I lose communication." The future soldier looked around and at Daniel, "though why they'd set the simulation to here instead of present time is strange."  

[Another Damned Vampire]

Most of the soldier's talk was totally lost on Daniel. But it occured to him there was an important question to ask him. "Please understand that I am a civilian, when I ask you this question. It is plain from your looks that you are a military man, yet your uniform is unfamiliar to me. So would you mind telling me what nation you serve?"  

[MommiiDearest]

She practically ripped the paper out of to look closer at the printing on the paper, "Well it isn't my fault. I am used to everything being digital. So sorry for not sure what to do in these dark ages." Blythe blinked at the date and a slow smile crept over her lips. "I have gone back in time. This is the past. This is the past!!" She hadn't meant to yell but excitement coiled in her belly and she flung her arms to hug Jake. "Do you know what this means?!"

Echo nodded, "That would be nice. I don't really want to be alone right now. Umm... Yesterday when I went to sleep, well... it was 1999." She wrung her hands nervously and glanced over towards the male, Trace. "I will be alright. Just having a really weird freak out." She tried to smile but her lips were dry and her skin felt tight.