graveyard part five

[gamehead]

hunter's game the graveyard You wake up in an unfamiliar cabin. At first, it almost seems like you're in an entirely different place and that everything had been just a dream. The interior of the cabin looks nothing like the run-down, old-timey shacks that you had been living in before. Everything in here is sleek and modern, from the enormous flat-screen TV mounted on the wall to the fridge and mini-bars stocked with all your favorite foods. There aren't any individual rooms in here, just a common area large enough to house everyone comfortably, no matter how many more people join you...and there will be plenty more people joining you before the week is over. Because if you look outside the window, it quickly becomes clear that not only are you still in Prayer's Pass, but that you are no longer among the realm of the living. Judging from the tombstones directly outside, you're now in what had been the abandoned broken-down cabin in the graveyard. The cabin's not all that changed; the world outside has gone completely grey and everything you see appears to be faded and blurry. The only things that remain sharp and in color are what's inside the cabin, including your fellow ghosts. Occasionally, people who are still alive may enter, but it's clear that what they're seeing is completely different from what you're seeing. The door's unlocked; however, a mysterious force prevents you from stepping beyond the threshold, no matter how hard you may try. After all, this cabin is a cage for the dead - a gilded one, perhaps, but a cage nonetheless. On the flat-screen TV plays everything that is currently happening in the town. It will shut off once night starts...and something else will appear instead. (The graveyard so far)

Comments

[goddamnphonies]

Well, Critter talked a lot about bribes and threats like I had when he was convincing us we were capable of murder, because at first there was a lot of hand-wringing. Thing is though, the whole pack only got one wish. I kind of tried to ask what other kinds of wishes we should make, but nobody ever had a better idea. So it was always just, do what we can to save everybody. That's why it was such a shock when Critter said all the prey would have to die if the wolves won - because we weren't thinking that way, so you can see why we thought we'd get away without killing some of our friends at all.

[expiatrice]

[She blinks in surprise before falling into a thoughtful quiet. Right...!]

Now that you mention it, I've almost forgotten about that. Did your lot ask Critter more about what that meant during the night? It could be something like wolves would get to kill off the remaining prey within the context of the game, for example, but everyone is ultimately supposed to be resurrected before leaving Prayer's Pass for good. It wouldn't make sense otherwise, I'm sure you understand. For what did you all continue fighting for after that announcement, if the wish you all originally agreed upon became voided?

[goddamnphonies]

[He shakes his head just once before clarifying.]

No, it said that all of you would die if we didn't make the wish to bring you back, that's all. As in if we wished for something else - then all prey would be dead.

[expiatrice]

So it's to turn prey against wolves, hmm. [chinhands...!]

...

But in the end, is it just me, or that announcement shocked all of you more than it did the prey collective?

[goddamnphonies]

Of course it shocked us! It's not what we were told! I guess we thought if we made some other wish - like later on people were talking about wishing to make sure the game was just never played again, but by then I was dead - the surviving prey would, you know, survive.

[expiatrice]

I suppose this is no different than the fine print written on any suspicious contract. [a small sigh.] Did it ever outright lie to you though, as in provided inaccurate information in the past it went back to correct at a later time, discounting every instances of lying by omission?

[goddamnphonies]

[Holden thinks for a moment.] No... no, I don't think so.