So the reason this has taken so long is because school gave me more work than usual (my procrastination and hatred for it doesn't help) and because I was re editing the older chapters, having started with chapter 1. When only half my editing was saved. I wanted to clear up some plot holes and sloppy writing that I made before I changed the direction of the story. So then after it erased nearly an hour of reading and changing I just slightly raged, closed the app and refused to touch it for the next day and a half.
For Meg, life simply continued as it was, she did not see any of the original three killers in the trials, and neither had Claudette or Nea, the Swedish girl finally letting it spill in regards to what the Wraith had said to her.
So in the meantime her streak continued, she wasn't taking anymore dares this time. So no more trying to get every survivor out without any of them but herself taking a hit. Instead she just threw everything she had into each trial without letting up on the killers.
She was yet to see any of the original three killers in a match, which just made everything easier, no more games where she'd be the only one to get out. Unfortunately it just continued to build an excited anxiousness in her, an inability to wait for what was coming.
Unfortunately now she was doing just that, sitting there and waiting on a wooden log infront of the fire watching the others ready to explode.
Her nerves were going to get shot if she was forced to sit on the side lines longer. It was only worse now as nearly every survivor but her was sent into a trial. Thankfully she had gotten to take out her energy on the other killers previously, humiliating the newer and mediocre killers while infuriating the more experienced ones.
The huntress had always been a little weird to Meg, and she had always acted slightly different around the female survivors, even handling them a bit gentler when over her shoulder. There were times that it seemed even more so, and there wouldn't be too much of a connection between those events if it wasn't only ever Feng and herself that she treated the most gently.
David naturally was extremely displeased the first time he heard of it, and still was in a way even after so long. Feng didn't mind too much, it kept her shirt from tearing when being lifted off the ground and she didn't get bruises from an iron grasp, but it wasn't enough to create any good favor. She was still thrown on a hook anyway, and Meg agreed with the sentiment.
She glanced over at the British scrapper, he sat next to Feng, not too close, not to far away, and was engrossed in a conversation with the gamer and Zarina.
David's annoyance was rather well hidden just like his feelings for the small Asian gamer, and his annoyance was rather territorial as well as protective.
Meg found it rather sweet, and she couldn't help but hope that they'd wise up to each other's affections soon enough. Despite being in her early twenties and supposedly above her teenage tendencies, she wanted someone to gossip with. And she knew Feng would be "so down" as the gamer would put it, as long as Meg had something to tell in return.
A small, soft smile graced the young woman's beautiful but dirtied face at the thought. People always craved action and excitement if they lived subdued or domestic lives, she knew she was no exception, track had given her some of the rush she so desperately craved as a teen, but it hadn't been enough. Now though that she lived through a horror show multiple times a day, a domestic life with some friends and a new family didn't sound bad.
Perhaps it was just instinct, or maybe it was a side of her she'd been yet to discover until now, but the thought of tiny little feet scurrying around her house was suddenly heart achingly desirable.
An unpleasant nausea churned in her stomach as her mind drifted to other possibilities. The sickness reflective of past memories and fears for the future.
Meg didn't doubt there wasn't a single first world child who hadn't heard the term "hindsight is twenty twenty" and dismissed it in misplaced arrogance. Thinking that they could do what literally every other human on the planet had failed at. She was no exception, she had thought that she would never be like her father, that she could do anything she put her mind to without to much preparation.
In all honesty she was still rather surprised with herself, with how far she'd come on an emotional and mental level in the tea world. Only having one parent would do that to you.
Her neighborhood certainly hadn't helped, the saying "it takes a village to raise a child" rung true. Nearly ever monster in history had some sort of parental problem or an issue with social interaction, whether it was their fault or not.
If you were lucky you could still be normal, you'd just be a little odd by society's standards.
Meg's thoughts continued to swirl around the past, there had been a film maker she was a bit of a fan of in her later years before being taken. He'd made good movies, he actually put passion into the projects and it showed with how much of a hit his works were.
She'd come to respect him a lot too, he had proven to Meg that it wasn't out of this world unrealistic to have high standards regarding finding a man. She unfortunately never met him, but she'd seen the interviews with him and heard a lot of what he'd had to say about a wide variety of topics. So it was a little fair to say he was a bit of a crush for Meg, even if he was already in his mid thirties while she was just 20 at the time.
He was better than most men, well read and spoken, intelligent but did his best to control the self superiority that tended to follow it, and he wasn't half bad looking. Granted he was no underwear model but he wasn't ugly.
The red head couldn't stop reminiscing today could she? Although it wasn't hard to blame her. With how fuzzy the survivors memories were of their past remembering someone as vividly as Meg did the filmmaker was precious.
Regaining her train of thought Meg thought about what had even stirred the memory of the man to begin with.
He had once mentioned in an interview that he had two older siblings, but that they were too much older than him to really have fun with him as a child, and the neighborhood he grew up in didn't have anyone else his age. To top things off all but one of his cousins were several years older than him.
He might as well have been an only child, his mother and father were intelligent and moral and they were the only people he wanted to talk to as he went through his teenage years.
He'd developed a bit of an overly mature mentality because of it, but the part that truly hit so close to home about Meg that it hurt was what he'd done before that. The director said he'd been immature longer than the other kids, mentally two years behind all the other middle school kids and then suddenly four years ahead once high school hit.
It was different from what Meg had experienced, but looking back on the two side by side. It was the same snake, different skin. A teenage desire for popularity even if it killed you from the inside out.
Meg squeezed her eyes shut as old memories she never wanted to remember surfaced. Stupid choices that would continue to haunt her until she could actually take the time to focus on herself and her own well being instead of holding the others together.
She wouldn't be able to put those demons to rest while caring for everyone else.
Thankfully it wasn't all on her, Dwight had voiced that he was more than up to the task of taking on a figure head position, but their situation required more than that.
The four original survivors actually interacting in a positive manner to each other did much more for the other survivors spirits than anything Meg or her family could say. After all, if the four who've been here the longest, none of which were even in their late twenties yet, and by extension had their whole lives taken away from them, could still be sane and happy here than there was hope for the others too.
Man she really needed something to do outside of trials, just being left alone to think for hours upon hours was not enjoyable. It led to dark thoughts, internalization of those thoughts, acceptance of it all, and twisting even the most compassionate person into a warped version of themselves.
Of course it also had the potential to do the exact opposite if the person was capable of thinking outside the box, but it wasn't worth the risk in the red head's mind. Even if you eventually realized how self destructive it was you'd most likely have already made some very bad habits that were well entrenched in your subconscious.
Maybe she could talk to some of the others, see if any of the other survivors had hobbies she too enjoyed.
Running had always been here thing here and in reality, but she couldn't exactly do it competitively anymore and not being able to race took a chunk of the fun away.
Unfortunately the other survivors didn't do too much outside of trials either, Ace had done his best to make his own cards and chips for gambling and the other teenagers would often play easy games. But Meg had already participated in those frequently and it was always short lived with the trials grabbing anybody in an instant.
She needed something new, something she could do by herself if need be. But of course Meg coincidentally could find literally nothing inside her own head. No matter how hard she tried to come up with ideas.
Perhaps inspiration would strike later, maybe she'd find her new hobby if she saw someone else do it first. She'd have to watch the other survivors more hawk like during downtime.
Mist encroached on the campfire through the trees, extending a thin tentacle like appendage of it to swirl around her feet, rising up her body slowly. A prelude of the trial to come. So Meg did what she did best and dashed to her stash of items, finding the ones she wanted and she throwing a phalanx bone into the fire.
There was only a tiny chance she would actually go up against him, but even if she didn't she didn't mind playing in such a beautiful map. She was a real sucker for a full moon on a cloudless night, especially when there was a pretty forest that was only highlighted by the almost ethereal glow of said moon.
Those nights were rare where she lived, but she always appreciated them, it let her go on nighttime runs, even if she and her mother were a little nervous at her being out alone in the dark. But it's not like being out alone in the middle of a lonely forest was much safer during the day, and Meg never ran into trouble before.
Well before she was taken.
Meg looked up at the other survivors, intent on seeing who'd she'd be sent in with, hopefully it would have at least one of her friends. If she was on her own again she'd have to switch her skills for the game.
They were an annoying thing, skills. The entity gave them a supernatural flair alongside the killers, although to a much lesser degree.
Each survivor had a "collection" of abilities they called skills from the others. Along side ones that everyone instantly had the ability to learn. But only four would ever work in a trial at once, just like how they could only add two parts to their med kits or flash lights in trials as well.
Meg had taken it upon herself to learn every single skill the others had to offer, even Yun Jin and her group's.
So far the rules regarding those skills remained air tight, Meg wasn't going to be slipping in an extra or two skills for a long time at this rate, if ever. Perplexing as it was, Meg'a extra freedom of movement had saved her before, like lunging to not leave scratch marks or even grabbing the doctors weapon, yet that seemed to have been a one time occurrence.
Her limbs remained firmly robotic in the other trials with little exception, and those exceptions never exposed themselves as badly as Meg's world rocking experience against the doctor.
She should probably talk to the others about it, after all she'd told them about her meeting The Trapper, or Evan. As well as her escape from the doctor, but she hadn't really gone into detail. If this was some stereotypical movie Meg probably wouldn't have told any of them about her interactions with "chuckles" out of fear of negative backlash.
But it wasn't like she was helping him kill the others or anything. She still brought her best in every trial without fail unless it really was that unnecessary, like when they were fighting the Pinhead.
He certainly was an oddity, he rather reminded her of the Executioner, except the Executioner was arguably much cooler and much more fun to play against. Each time she dodged his special attack it got her adrenaline rushing and gave her that feeling of accomplishment and skill.
Meg couldn't even be too upset when she didn't successfully dodge it, rare as those times were considering the Executioner hadn't been here much longer than the Blight.
Pinhead bored her, simply put, he was too lazy to actually get his own hands dirty so he used his chains to hit them if he got close enough, just to miss and ruin the superiority that radiated off of him. Meg could only imagine how much the freak had to have been bullied in school as child and potentially even after that for him to overcompensate that badly.
But Meg's musings and negativity towards most of the killers could wait, she had a trial to do, and it seemed she was being paired with Ace, Kate, and Felix. Well, Ace and Kate would keep Felix up and running and the generators roaring while she would keep the killer on her.
A one on one death match, hopefully one for the books.
"Hey red!" A gruff voice called out to her from the fire, garnering her attention. It was Bill walking towards her and placing both his hands on her shoulders.
"Knock 'em dead for me kid, alright?" His hands slid to her back as he gave her a short hug.
Meg smiled widely back.
"Of course."
Evan's new strategy had worked spectacularly.
He had tweaked it of course after initial experimentation, defending both Ruin and Devour Hope was far too difficult against the better survivors. So he removed Lisa's Hex Ruin, and instead started using Kenneth's pop goes the weasel, as the disgusting man himself dubbed it.
It was incredible, paired with his already masterful trap placement and tactics he crushed all the survivors who were unlucky enough to face him with even greater ease. The only exception being a particular match with three of the original survivors. Unfortunately Megan had been the only one absent, instead being substituted for by the blonde tattooed girl.
That one had been a challenge, it had gotten his adrenaline rushing and nearly pushed him to his limits, the survivors seemed to be coming off of their temporary high, not every single match was perfectly organized anymore and they were starting to play more recklessly.
A lot of the newer killers had been bringing all of their ebony Moris in their games to secure kills, targeting survivors and using the mori to avoid getting stabbed in the shoulder. But it wasn't like the Entity was being fed anymore than usual.
Evan's mori stash remained largely untouched, left to gather dust in his estate, unguarded in a box on the first floor of the mansion. Why should he care if they were taken? Devour hope let him kill who he wanted if they had particularly frustrated him anyway.
However Evan knew how much value the newer and mediocre killers placed in the skull charms. They would give him quite a few items worth in exchange for the many moris he had. Perhaps he should protect them a bit more than he did for that.
Evan was currently in his manor, largely considering it his own since he had killed his father before he came here, and because he had changed the decor, as much as he was permitted too by the entity at least, as he saw fit.
It was a beautiful fortress, 3 stories tall with a large basement half underground. It wasn't absurdly wide, just a little less wide than the Nemesis' police department, and was all concrete, brick, iron, marble, and glass.
Thick steel girders were imbedded into the ground at the corners of the basement that doubled as support for the first floor. Those girders were coated in multiple feet of concrete to form a base for the walls, which were then given a single layer of brick to both cover and hide it.
The windows were fairly standard, except for the fact that each and every one had a metal crank next to it that could shift iron bars into place over the window. There were no glass doors, only thick steel, iron, and oak ones.
Archie had been more paranoid than most would believe. He had specifically chosen oak for its natural strength, and even then those doors only closed off the least important rooms in the manor, the ones that held no strategic value.
All the doors that actually led outside were mixes of metal, mostly iron. While Archie had spent an incredible amount of money to have the door that guarded the uppermost hallway made out of steel.
It protected the master bedroom, Evan's room, Archie's study, Archie's library extension of his study, and a secondary room attached to Evan's.
That secondary room was partially a bathroom for Evan, as the master bedroom had its own, but it also was where Evan could best hide and make his drawings.
Of course now he did it in one of the third story rooms, where he had gathered all the supplies he would need. Having scavenged for all the paper like materials, and stockpiling his charcoal and sticks.
Most of the estate was empty however, Archie Macmillan being more concerned with flexing his financial muscles over other high class family's in Washington. Many rooms simply stayed untouched, or were used as storage.
Evan had frequently used the empty rooms as a child to play games. Hidden tunnels that connected the rooms were the perfect maze to run around in and or hide from his father when Archie got drunk or particularly angry.
The third floor was the most empty, and a large portion of the second was as well, however the rooms that were used had years upon years of memories in them. Most of those memories were bittersweet to Evan.
His mother had spent so much time down in the kitchen, cooking with all the tools and instruments she had at her disposal with an excited gleam in her eye. She'd sew in her free time, making winter clothing especially for him so he could see the snow without getting sick.
There was a fireplace, a well loved leather chair was where his mother had read all of her books, where she had taught Evan to read in her lap. Following his mother letter by letter until he was smart enough to do it all on his own.
A well of emotion came up Evans chest, feeling like a visceral heat or passion that was going to burst out of his neck or sternum if it was contained for too long.
He did however, allow himself to smile fondly at the nostalgia of it all.
The only child stood infront of the front door of said manor. Thick iron with a unique kick blocked any and all intruders, all of the buildings windows had been barred. The domed skylight on the roof being the only glass unprotected.
Shifting his cleaver from his right to his left hand Evan took out a key from a hidden pocket on the inside of his overalls. He slid it into a tiny hidden socket in the wall, and twisted a full three hundred and sixty degrees until it clicked.
A groan rumbled through the floor, and then the sounds of metal shifting and more clicking could be heard until one resounding and final click rang out.
Evan grasped the large handle with his right hand and pulled it downwards. Any normal man would have had to used both of his hands and maybe even some extra body weight if they were on the weaker side, however Evan moved it like he was flicking a small lever.
Tossing his cleaver back to his dominant right hand he shut the door behind him and set off into the woods.
He had a particularly monstrous creature to track if he was to find the location he was looking for, and subsequently, the person that had captivated his attention.
The trees eventually began to blur together the longer he spent soldiering through them. Evan remained unfeeling of cuts from any particularly sharp and low hanging branches, few as they were.
The sky was still dark, however a noticeable fog had begun to become visible in the distance. Soon which covered the entire sky in a grey blanket.
The trees had faded with it, instead being replaced with strange, tall, rectangular buildings. In the distance between some of those strange buildings was a shorter, but much wider building. Overgrown with strange orange and black chitin like rot. The two large front doors were wide open revealing a mass of white marble and dark wood that was too far away to discern properly. But Evan had played enough games in their to know it by heart.
It had a stone and metal fence surrounding the back and front gate of the building. In one section there was a pure metal fence with an outdoor staircase, and at the very top having crashed through the wall, was a burning helicopter.
He never liked playing there in trials, the floor had nothing he could use to hide his bear traps, although the tight doorways made it impossible to go around them at the same time.
However if he wanted to achieve his goal he would have to stake out the building and follow its inhabitant.
He needed to know where the Nemesis went when it ran through the woods.
This most recent match was against the Trickster, and "K Pop gone wrong" as Meg dubbed him was being paired with herself, Nea, David, and Ace.
So in other words, he'd be lucky to get more than two hooks, nearly all of them were using Jakes skills to not scream as the cherry on top.
They were in the temple of purgation, soft fake rain drizzled down, soaking their clothes against their skin. The ground was muddy but thankfully the grass kept it from trying to swallow their feet.
Currently three gens had already been completed, including the one inside the temple itself, and none of them had been hooked.
Ace had gotten unlucky and cornered, David's abilities the gambler was using has paid off but he didn't have anything close enough to use and unfortunately got downed.
But then Nea had blinded the killer as he picked the gambler up while David dropped a flash bang right at his feet moments later.
To say the killer was enraged would be an understatement, it was obvious he was on the sadistic side. One of the killers the survivors had no doubts was a psycho even back in the real world and someone who deserved to rot.
Those killers never kept the survivors wondering about any humanity left buried within them.
However humanity or not the Trickster was angry and even despite his arrogance he had to know he was outmatched. So he begun to target them, tunneling with no care for the generators or winning. Just killing whoever had angered him the most, and right now that seemed to be David since he was the one to add insult to injury.
Said scrapper was running the trickster in circles at a jungle gym. The pallet hadn't even been dropped yet, and the Trickster was already slower than most killers, on top of how he was even slower when using his knives he was hardly faster than any of them.
Combined with how David's very own killer was the Huntress, who functioned almost exactly like the trickster, made this like taking candy from a baby.
He had a few stray cuts from lucky knives, but other than that was untouched. And he made sure to get that point across.
He even went as far as to laugh at the Korean psycho.
A fourth generator rang out from the far reaches of the map, only one remained and all of the survivors knew were it would be. Meg had seen them circling the map while another tortured the newbie, and she had done it too.
The best one, and the one she knew Ace and Nea had to be working on was behind the temple directly infront of the exit gate.
Meg had little concern for if the trickster had his ability to block the gates, it never seemed to last more than a few seconds if none of them were hooked. They had already cleansed his hex that blocked vaults, however he didn't seem to have the ability to instantly down them when carrying another survivor.
However she was worried about an end game perk. Including the hex totem that had blocked vaults, four of the totems were cleansed, and Meg was having an incredibly hard time finding the fifth.
That hidden end game hex could get even the most inexperienced killer two or even four late sacrifices.
Fortunately the buzz in the back of her head that warned her of her teammates health was quiet, and even if David was down Nea or Ace could get him while the other finished the generator. This game was as good as won.
If she found the last totem.
He had to be using that endgame hex right? Perhaps he had one of Freddy's perks?
Meg felt a chill creep up her spine at the thought, it could slow down their exit gate progress, or even worse, block them from escaping if he got a hook.
She sucked in a breath at the realization, sure the Trickster seemed angry, and she had no doubt he actually was, however she also had no doubt he'd use such a dirty combination.
Filled with panic against a newbie killer for one of the first times she wasted her energy and tore across the landscape in search of a totem. She checked various corners and gaps between trees as she ran, all empty. There was a hill behind the temple next to the exit gate where Nea and Ace were working, so she finally slowed down there.
A guttural growl crept up Meg's throat. There was skulls alright, but this totem was already cleansed. Hadn't she already checked this hill twice now?
Meg clenched her hands into fists, her short finger nails digging into her palms and leaving small indents in her soft skin. Without any better way of taking out her anger all Meg could do was put a little extra force behind each stride as she speed walked in the direction of her friends.
She tried to think logically, four of the totems were cleansed and the fifth remained elusive. There was a general rule of spacing between nearly everything in the trials. From gens, to hooks, to loops, and totems fell in that broad category.
So there should only be one general area where the last totem was, on the opposite side of the temple...right where David was looping the trickster.
Just her luck.
She approached Ace and Nea on either side of the final gen, three of the pistons firing and the fourth looking like it was about to start moving any second.
Unlike most trials where absolute silence was necessary to survive, the could talk more freely with David distracting the trickster, But even still old paranoia held on with a vice grip, just because they could talk didn't mean the Entity liked it.
Meg waved her hand at Nea, gesturing for the Swede to follow her. Nea got up, pointing at Ace to stay there and finish while Nea helped Meg.
Nea followed Meg behind the temple and around the corner, through stone pillars left behind and eventually to a wooden jungle gym next to the other exit gate. It was there that their heartbeats picked up and they could hear the thunk of throwing knives hit wood.
Nea crouched down, Meg following her lead to creep forward towards the vault.
Meg peeked her head over. The pallet was still up and David zipped though it as a whoosh of air chaised after him, followed by the ding of a killers weapon hitting the wall.
David immediately ran for the vault, making Meg and Nea scramble backwards as he threw himself over it and landed next to them.
When he noticed them he stared at them like they were insane, as if asking what in the world they were doing there. Meg just pointed her arm at the totem she could see tucked away in a corner of the walls.
David nodded in understanding, and after looping the trickster one more time for a favorable starting place, left the jungle gym and ran towards the large stone ruins towards the front of the temple. Most likely headed for the shack, and the jungle gym Meg had passed to find the hill with the cleansed totem.
Letting out a breath Meg didn't realize she'd been holding as the heart beat faded, not entirely she realized, as she crawled over the vault. With as much composure as she could summon she walked to the totem. But before she could touch it the buzz in her head activated, David was injured.
Nea had disappeared, which was both terrible and potentially good, hopefully she'd be able to help David if he got unlucky.
She just had to get to work on this totem, and risk the trickster finding her. Just as the pads of her fingers touched the support beams adrenaline flooded her veins like lightning and the sound of the gates powering up could be heard.
Just as Meg feared, the dull totem in front of her lit up with fire. But she just kept tearing at it, trying to dislodge the triangular poles from their well bound joint.
The heart beat was getting louder.
Just a little longer, just a few more seconds and she'd have it!
The buzzing of the Trickster's bat beat her to it. With Jakes teaching Meg collapsed onto the totem without a sound, sliding off to the ground just where she'd been crouching with a clench of her jaw, and an infuriated growl.
The trickster laughed mockingly, twirling his bat flamboyantly like always, immediately and roughly tossing her over his shoulder and onto a hook. The worst part was that because this was the Tricksters first hook of the game. Meg couldn't use Adam's unhooking ability, all she could do was gamble with her life.
The trickster stared at her, and Meg was worried he might stay there until she died, but after hitting her with his bat one last time, he left.
Meg tried her best to contain her scream, but getting hit on a hook always hurt more than when free, so she just tried to turn the pain into a scream of rage. It worked, somewhat. Her cry or rage echoed out scaring the crows away, but it could have been better.
She looked for the Auras of her friends, seeing Ace pull the lever on the far away gate before creeping away slowly while Nea patched up David. However they were farther away on the other side of the map near the shack.
This was not good, she had such a tiny chance of getting off and only three tries, soon only two if she let the entity progress any further. So with desperation clawing it's way up her chest she began to swing her legs like she was sitting on a swing set. Eventually after enough momentum she reached up and pulled herself upwards as hard as she could.
She jolted forward on the hook, metal digging into her shoulder even more so as she let out a pained grunt, but she remained stuck. She still had one more chance!
Regaining her lost momentum she reached up, dimly noticing David and Nea just beginning to run for her at the sight of her escape attempts and having left David injured.
Her blood slicked fingers grasped the metal and she flexed her arms so much it almost hurt. She had never given her upper body as much attention as her legs, but she hoped what she had done was enough. She closed her eyes, lifted her legs high and mimicked jumping off the swings as it swung forward like she was a little girl at recess.
And off the hook she went.
Her eyes snapped open as she fell, her feet hitting the ground and her knees buckling as she collapsed to the grass. She tried to turn mid air as she tumbled, landing on her unhooked shoulder, taking only a moment to rest before standing on exhausted and shaky legs to reach the hex.
A quarter of the way through tearing at it she heard the telltale screech like noise of the tricksters terror radius. But Nea or David should be there soon enough and they just might be enough to get the totem cleansed.
She could hear knives thunk against the wood above her head, trying to startle her off the totem, followed by a singular knife hitting a survivor, and what sounded like Nea's slight grunt of pain.
Thankfully she got the totem, but seeing as she was still injured she just might be screwed. Cleansing that totem meant she couldn't stab the trickster if he got her again, but hopefully Nea could use her flashlight.
Nea sprinted through the pallet, slamming it down behind her to a satisfying thunk as it connected with the Trickster's head. Meg could hear him curse in Korean as she stepped over the vault and began to walk towards the further exit gate.
David sprinted around the corner on her right while Nea came from the left, both quickly catching up to Meg, and then being over taken as the redhead bolted forward in a dash of speed.
Nea took a hit for David when the Trickster got close, Meg making it through the open gate where Ace was running towards them. He took the hit meant for Nea and all of them sprinted through the barrier. Fog engulfed them after enough distance, all of their wounds healing as they were transported through to the camp.
However they were rather surprised to see that like when a new killer arrived, the surrounding scenery was drastically different. No longer was the forest that was eerily similar to the Macmillan estate. Now stood large Egyptian like limestone bricks forming ancient looking houses, some floating in mid air. And the sun was beating down on every stretch of uncovered sand.
Yet despite how hot it should have been, it didn't feel any colder or warmer than normal, and thankfully the intense heat of the fire wouldn't make any of them get heat stroke. There was even a new guy to come with the new mystery killer, a guy who just had to be Guy Fieri's son he looked so similar. He was currently talking to Mikaela, no longer the biggest newbie of the group.
That tended to happen a lot with the two newest survivors, and when she and the others arrived the two paused. Mikaela started the conversation again, most likely explaining who they were and how things operated here.
It wasn't too long after Meg had settled and the adrenaline wore off that Guy Fieri look alike approached. "Hello, it's nice to meet you. My name is Jonah Vasquez, I've been told you are Meg Thomas?" He spoke in a light accent, holding his hand out professionally. Meg grasped it, his hand not ludicrously larger than her own, not like the Trapper's, who's hand could encircle both her hands and then some.
After a brief and awkward hand shake he kept the conversation going past the brief introduction. "I've heard you and your friends are in charge of the camp here in between trials. How exactly does everything work here and in the trials?"
Oh gosh now she would have to explain everything all over again. But maybe he'd learn faster than the rest? He seemed to be a smart person in reality and had a high IQ so maybe he'd overtake the other newbies.
"Well that's a bit complicated and tedious, so if you'd rather put it off we can-"
"No please, I don't mind." Jonah interrupted, he had a rather well contained eagerness to him, his hand had scooted forward by an inch. A barely noticeable gesticulation.
"Alright then, well these trials take four of us at random and throw us in varying maps against various killers. We only have to face one at a time, mind you, but they're all different ranging from their powers to their skills which other killers can use. Most of the time a new killer and survivor arrive at the same time, and based on how the campfire has never looked like this in all its history I'd be shocked if it was just you." Meg finished with a quite but deep inhale, watching him closely to gauge his reaction.
Jonah merely scratched his chin, gazing around the campfire in curiosity before responding.
"So it just repeats endlessly?" He questioned, staring right at her. Unlike with Ace Meg could actually see his eyes calculating everything and anything as he processed everything she gave him.
"Yep, Me and three others were the first survivors, and for a while it was just us. We never got much of a break from the trials, but there were only three killers to switch between back then." Meg crossed her arms, slightly narrowing her eyes in confused curiosity.
"So I am to assume that because you and your three friends have been here the longest, that you four are the most skilled as well? Alongside those three first killers?" Jonah offered up his question with a slightly lighter tone in his voice, trying to keep any hostility out of it.
"Yes you are safe to assume that, I've got the highest record for consecutive escapes with my friends close behind. And those three killers are the most skilled as well, not many of us can face them without being shredded." Meg let out the last sentence as a warning, She wasn't about to let another trial go by where the newbie got cocky enough to challenge The Trapper and nearly kill them all in the process.
She'd nearly lost her streak when Felix and Yun Jin had both done that.
"Is there anyway out of here?" He asked calmly, continuing to put Meg on edge. He'd been unusually calm for someone who was just put into their own hell. None of them had been this calm, but perhaps he was just concealing it well.
Meg decided she'd give him the benefit of the doubt for now. "Not that we know of, but I'm currently working on something we haven't tried before, and I'm hoping it will yield helpful, and pleasing results. After all, why not mix work with pleasure?" Meg smiled jokingly as she finished, which Jonah returned to her relief.
He didn't seem that bad, nor did he seem like a heartless mastermind consumed with being logical over ethical. Perhaps she'd actually not mind him very much.