Heeey Doctor ;)

Well, my plans have somewhat been foiled. First of all, Free edited out some of our interview that was somewhat necessary to my explanation of Jesters Folly. Second, I still can't edit Jesters at all. I suppose you could say it isn't even my blog anymore. Thieving fucking bitch. Ahem. And the pink elephant in the room, the reason why my posting is so poorly formatted and I'm not explaining what happened at the party?

Well, Advy's party didn't exactly go as planned. I've wound up with extensive burns, a migraine from hell and a minor case of smoke inhalation among some scrapes and other assorted bullshit. I am rather sullenly posting from a shitty cell phone in a fucking hospital gown so no one will freak out and think I died. That's right kiddies my ass got hauled to the hospital again. As far as I know, no one died at all. But... well, you'll have to see for yourselves. My posts are going to wait until I can get my thoughts together and out of this hellhole. Sorry I let you guys down.

I'll try and bitch my way out of here as fast as I can. The only upside to being here is that I can hit on all the doctors I see, and they can't say anything. They think I'm delirious from the drugs and the smoke inhalation.

For those that have come after the fact, here is what happened at Advy's party:


I showed up about fifteen minutes early. Key in hand, I was looking over my shoulder and rather fervently hoping to myself I wouldn't encounter anyone in the search for my door. It was fairly easy to find, opening to what I can only describe as the 'stalker room.' Tv screens covered every wall, each playing some fucked up video detailing a private moment from people's lives. (A good deal of these were of Shady. Unsurprising, eh?) A laughtrack was playing in the background, as if there were a hidden live audience laughing at all the worst moments. Thrown in among the videos of Shady's and the rest of the guests were "live" videos of the Advocate torturing and killing people. One that struck me as terrible at the time was of Advy dressed as a stage magician. With a sick of sense apprehension, I watched as he made a big to do of shoving a girl into a large box with holes at each end for her feet and head.

He brandished a large steel saw, winked at the camera, and began to saw through the box. there were gasps and groans and screams of revulsion as the saw began to slice through the girl's body. Blood began to pour out the cracks of the box and pool around his feet. The audience beganto stand and act as if they were about to bolt. He held up one hand and smiled, then flipped the top off of the box. Inside were the two halves of the dead girl's body, slashed and torn, her legs laying seperately from the rest. As I watched in horror at this video and the many others covering the walls, the laughtrack began to grow louder and change in pitch. I snapped out of my trance as it reached a crescendo, sounding like so many screaming voices. The tv screens began to fade to black one by one until they were all blank. the door to my side unlocked and swung open with a bang. I muttered to myself, "Okay, okay, damn! I get the hint.." Through the door I went, ears ringing and a sense of unease beginning to pervade my mind.

I was greeted by yet another chorus of screaming souls. This time... it was much worse. Inside was a room packed with cages occupied by naked, screaming lunatics. All malnourished and filthy, they turned at the sound of my entrance, and as one seemed to reach through the bars towards me. Whether they thought I was their savior or simply food, I had no idea. The continuous screaming from one room to the next made it so freaking hard to concentrate through the din. When I felt at my wit's end, I finally managed to hear a female's voice calling my name... I turned to see a dark haired woman, limping in my direction. Something clicked immediately at the sight of her. "Shady, thank god. Is that you? Where is the Advocate?" I moved to walk towards her, but flinched back as a particularly long arm tried to grab my hand.

The cages seemed to be built around the victims, but the thought of being grabbed, bitten or strangled by one of them wasn't an especially appealing idea. Shady in turn smacked away a hand that got too close for comfort, and replied. "Advocate? Probably getting off to his guests wandering around his maze." She shrugged and ran her eyes over me, asking if I was alright. I laughed and gestured around the room, implicating the ghouls around us as I did so. "As alright as I can be in the situation. I have an idea. Let's get out of here. The last room I stayed in too long 'punished' me. I don't want to see what this room's punishment would be." She nodded after a moment and agreed. She suggested we leave and simply go see what came next. She lead the way through the closest door, limping still as she did so.

I followed her through into pitch darkness. I groped around for a light switch, but I froze in my search to squint a little into the gloom as a cigarette tip flared to life in front of us. It threw an orange glow around it, illuminating a man peering at us malevolently, his mask pulled up slightly to allow for the cigarette between his lips. Shady muttered his name under her breath, the warning obvious. "Ferus." He began to speak, his voice cracking and hissing as he did so. "Ladies. Nice to see you. especially you, Dia. It's always fun to meet someone on the List for the first time." Shady and I glance at each other at this, and he snaps at me for it."Don't look at her. Look at me. The fun thing is, you're the first person to have truly brought this upon yourself. Everyone else is an innocent bystander, but you, you pushed until something snapped. Which is quite hard for somebody as thoroughly snapped as I."

"I would go on about a variety of things: the relative nature of self appraisal, the chaotic forces beyond what we can see that drive us in ways no one can understand, the little things that bring us to the places we go... But that would be silly, because I'm no philosopher." A machete appears from nowhere is raised up high as he speaks. "I'm a killer." The machete sliced down and left us in darkness. There was some muttered cursing here, and I could hear Shady telling me to just go through the first door I could find. I have to admit, I was terrified to even be in the same room as Ferus. Meeting someone that wants to kill you in person is much different than a stranger you know next to nothing about. That physical presence he carried with him... it was the stuff of nightmares. I would have been grateful to be back in one of my 'dreams' in comparison.

I walked into what must have been a mistake on Advy's part after that. There was a room full of birds and what seemed to be a few trees. I looked around suspiciously, and noticed a serpent at the room's floor. It was slithering around, with a few random bulges in its body. I soon knew why. The serpent opened its jaws wide and snapped one of the birds in half, coming over to eat its meal directly in front of me. One of its coils overlaps my foot, and I froze. I am deathly, deathly afraid of anything serpentine, and this had to be a sick joke on someone's part. I wonder who! It looked into my eyes and began to swallow. It remained like this for a few minutes, my sweating bullets and looking into this oddly malicious snake, when it finally slid off into the brush. I was grateful for the chance to escape at that point.

I ran through the door to the right and walked into a room with a very big hole, smack dab in the middle. I looked at it with some confusion, and began to tiptoe around it warily. After the last few rooms, I wasn't exactly keen on spending too much time in there. Down in the hole, I could see a small child whimpering pitifully and crying out for help. I was instantly angered, and looked around the room for anything that might help. On the wall was a timer counting down what looked like 5 minutes. I (stupidly) panicked. I went to peer down in to the hole and try to re-assure the child. To my surprise, I felt a shove from behind, and fell in to see no one there. I looked up to see the same child smiling at me. He tossed a rope down at my feet and walked off, whistling and acting nonchalant as could be.

I grabbed onto the rope and started to climb, irritated with myself for falling for such an obvious trap. Or "into", as the case may be. Of course the fucking rope had tiny thorns woven into it. I very seriously began plotting the Advocate's demise at this point. I admit it. I was not a very kind person as I was hauling my ass over the top of that fucking hole. After I stood up and looked around, I noticed a messaged had replaced the timer. "Appearances are deceiving." No fucking shit, Advy, thanks for the moral lesson here, you fucking douchecanoe. I wound up sitting down at the edge of the hole, looking down and trying to calm down over Advy's latest attempt at a morality lesson. Seriously, the fucking jackass should have had his ears burning by that point, from all the awful and deliciously painful things I was imagining happening to him by then.

"Oh yea. Punish me now for sitting down and picking the thorns out of my hands!" The room was completely silent, so apparently the Advocate either didn't care or was preoccupied with his other victi- I mean, guests. Maybe just maybe he was wise enough to keep his fucking punishments to himself for once. I finally stood and walked through the next door, somewhat confident I had removed all the thorns from my hands before I grasped the door handle. It opened, and my first thought was "Oh fuck." I had wandered my way into a room filled with these... defiled, fucked up mannequins. I had a terrible experience while playing the Silent Hill games when I was younger, and these mannequins looked disturbingly like the nurses in the hallway leading to the little girl's lair. Oh, just fucking peachy, yea? Foreshadowing. Again. Douchecanoe.

There were candles scattered across the room's floor, casting shadows accross the mannequins' bodies. Their faces looked alive, and tormented. I turned slowly in one spot, trying to find the doorway out before I actually had to pass the mannequins. Stupid, irrational fear of oversized dolls. A light flickered off in a corner, and it cast shadows over a face dramatically different from the rest. It was alive, and watching me move around, it's eye glinting at me in amusement. The face was directly next to me, and I... well, I did what I'd done a few times already. I panicked. I took the pocketknife I had from my pocket, and stabbed at the figure. I connected with a disgusting, squishy sound into his side. I let the blade leave my hands. He began to cackle and walked me forward backward. He wrapped his hand around the blade itself, and yanked it out without a flinch. "Dia, in the flesh, I see." He paused then to rake his eyes over my body, pausing at my face once he was finished. "I like this a lot better than text."

I shrank back into the wall behind me, pressing myself against it in a desperate attempt to put space between us. I returned his appraisal, stopping to take notice of the skeleton hoodie and pitch black clothing he was wearing. I shut my eyes, took a deep breath, and began to silently pray I would make it out of this encounter. there was no consuming darkness to protect me this time. I murmured out loud, almost to myself, "Hello, Gallows. It's, um, nice to see you at last." Gallows tossed the knife over his shoulder, barely missing Graves. She moved off to his side, watching the two of us. He slammed his hands against the wall, close enough to my sides I swore I could feel them without his touching me. He began to drum his fingers against the wall's surface, making my skin  crawl from the vibrations.

"Ya haven't been round much, girlie. That's ok, though. We're gonna get all caught up." I cleared my throat and opened my eyes to look into his. They were searching, staring at me intently, as though he were memorizing who I was. I hesitantly turned my gaze from his, and moved to put my hand over one of his. "Creevey's been taking all your time lately, Gallows. I've been.." I paused for a moment, searching for the right words. "...worried about you." He glanced down for a moment before looking back up at me, studying my features once more. "Is that so?" He drawled, his head cocking slightly to one side. He remained silent for a few long seconds before he turned his hand over in my grasp and holding it briefly.

His eyes narrowed in amusement as he pinned my arm to the wall. "Why?" He inquired merrily. I squirmed as a flash of heat darted through me, my eyes shifting back to his. "Because I wanted to. After the incident at the warehouse, I stopped thinking you were invincible. And that, well, that scared me." I closed my eyes once more after this, tilting my head to the side and squirming again in his grasp. It was ridiculously hard to keep this man's gaze, especially in the situation in which we found ourselves. My whole body felt like it was on fire. Hell, for a moment, it was hard to breathe under the pressure of the question he had asked me. "Because ya want me to live?" Gallows questioned with a light chuckle. He leaned into my body, the face of his mask burrowing against my exposed neck, resting at the crook for a moment and breathing in in obvious pleasure.

"Would ya miss me, Dia? Would ya cry and squirm..." He whispered, as his free hand slid down the wall to my hip. "Like you are now?" He chuckled, pulling back his hand, his hand running up my side until it reached my throat, pulling my attention back onto him, He forced me to meet his gaze. The feeling of his mask scrapping against my neck made me shudder, the hand trailing up and down my side made me shudder violently. But the hand on my throat? That convinced me to look at him, finally. Fucking intimidating bastard. It felt like the world had stopped spinning as long as his eyes were on me. My confidence grew, and I whispered back harshly, "Yes, I would miss you. and you know I would." Graves backed to blend with the mannequins, holding both his and her weapons. I assume now this was to give us some 'privacy.'

Gallows giggled to himself, as if it were the funniest thing he'd ever heard. "Ya want me to live!" He pulled me forward by my throat, head cocking further to the side. His gaze traveled over all of me that he could see, an eerie imitation of his first look-see in this same room. His eyes gleamed and he grinned widely, almost as if to express his unseen face. Gallows leaned in closer to my face, a mere inch apart. "You liiiiiiiiiiiike me~ ya squirm, I FEEL your heat from here." He hissed, "I can touch you now, Dia. I can rip and tear, listen to you scream, and pant, and cry my name." His hand tightened around my throat then, though not quite enough to cut off my air supply. My vision danced at this, and I began to see an odd aura surrounding him. The colors swirled and danced around him as if he were constantly moving, but the most overwhelming thing was how dark and oppressing it was. Like the devil himself had come to stand in front of me, and I could see him at last for who he was. It was not a pleasant revelation at the time, being held by the throat as bruises formed.

I leaned forward, his hand tightening further on my throat as I did so, my arm straining at the awkward angle as I moved. "Sure you could, Gallows. But... we have a party to attend. I'm sure you wouldn't want to ruin your fun by rushing it in a place like this. Not when you could come hide with me any time you please after this. Josie needs a safe place to stay, no? I made a promise. Unfortunately, that involved you and Graves." I knew full fucking well at this that Josie had already decided to stay with Shady, and that the prospect of coming to stay with me excited him. Dangle a carrot in front of his face, and possibly, maybe, he would be distracted enough to give me enough room to breathe. I grinned, elated that I had been able to counter his words and hoping rather fervently that it would work in my favor. The finger digging into my neck barely registered in my excitement to get away from him, away from the situation I had found myself in.

Gallows pressed his forehead against mine and chuckled softly, "I".. he took in a deep breath and released it slowly, his body straightening and easing up. "am going to listen to you scream in every pitch humanly possible." He finally let me go, letting me stumble forward from the loss of support as he walked over to Graves, taking back his farming scythe. His sickle looped on his belt. "But you're right, we have a party to attend to." He swung the scythe over his shoulder, much like Graves. His hand motioned for me to venture forward, beckoning like the devil he was, was about to close a deal, his scythe glistening menacingly under the candlelight. I smiled, delighted he had stopped touching me. I made no sound, refusing to confirm or deny his words. I simply walked forward after him. Following the scythe as if I was about to travel the River Styx.

We all entered the next room, Gallows last, shutting the door behind all three of us. The heat of the room was immediately noticed. The room was a warm, tinted red room. "Ho ho ho~ are we gonna get cooked like 'em turkeys?" He seemed to be speaking more to himself than to us at this point. He began wandering around the room with his arms spread out, reveling in the heat and, more likely, the insanity of being cooked alive. The scythe began spinning, dangerously close to Graves and I. I flinched back from both the scythe and the heat, my elated mood rapidly disappearing. Between the external heat and the flush I still had from Gallows' threats, it felt like I had been in the room for minutes, rather than seconds. Graves moved behind us to check the door we came through, only to find it locked. There was little noise as she checked the other doors, to the same result. Gallows and Graves looked at each other and communicated silently as the temperature began to rise steadily.

Gallows reached up to the base of his skull, grasping the zipper and pulling it down over the front of him. The hood split open, but curved around and over his face, hiding it within the darkness for the most part. His grin poked from the gloom at certain angles. He unzipped the jacket down to the top of his hips, parted, it was still closed over the end. His skeleton-like hand rubbed his abs absently, tapping when a thought came to mind. Looking straight at me, he let his arm drop back to his side and grinned widely, teeth on the sharper side of shark shining through the darkness. "Looks like we're going to be stuck here for a bit, Dia." I gaped for a moment, shocked and rather irritated by the unexpected news. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me! I finally convince you to go further on, and leave me alone, and what happens? We wind up locked in a boiling ass room together. That's it. Advy's officially on my shit list. I wanna kill him!" I muttered to myself for a few more minutes, trying to distract myself from the sight of his exposed skin.

The sight of his abs, combined with the still wet blood and sweat running down... yea, it was rather obvious that worked WONDERFULLY, so I finally stopped perving long enough to start stripping. Off went my socks and shoes, and I began to roll up my pants legs. I eyed my tank top warily, in deep thought as to the wisdom of my possible next acton. It was hot as fuck in there, but stripping down completely in present company would have been... unwise. I decide against it, and begin to fan myself lightly, trying my best to stare anywhere but at the man across from me. Gallows spun, twirling the farming scythe around his side and above him, his laughter echoing mockingly across the room. "Ya didn't convince me, girlie. All ya did was state the truth. I'd have more time with ya at your place than I would here." He stopped and looked at Graves who was absently fanning herself with her hat, the flat look in her unblinking eyes staring back at us both.

He shrugged in my direction, loosely pointing at me. "Y'know, in a minute, that top ain't gonna matter cause I'll be able to see EVERYTHING." He hopped from one foot to the other a moment, giggling hysterically before stopping almost immediately. "I like Advocate. He makes good things happen to bad people." I muffled a scream. "Yea well, fuck Advy. And ya know what? Fuck you too, for that matter." I spun on one heel to face the opposite direction, crossing my arms in front of me and sitting down Indian style. I thought maybe, just maybe if I ignored him for a while, there would be a chance to get out of there unscathed. In hindsight, of course I was wrong. It's never, ever a good idea to turn your back on someone that has told you he would like to kill you slowly simply for the asthetic pleasure of it.

Gallows edged up behind me, plotting himself directly in the path behind me so that I wouldn't notice him. His scythe came around my stomach, the inward curve following the line of skin just above my hips as it rested in my lap. His hand was firmly on the weapon as he drew it back a fraction, digging the blade into my flesh enough to make an indent, not quite enough to cut me open. Yet. It was an obvious reminder to watch myself. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" He purred from behind me, the blade of his scythe moving my shirt upwards. An inch before my ribs, he pulled on the scythe again, leaving it to rest against my bare flesh. "Ya know what I'd like?" He asked, grinning next to my ear. "To just cut you in half and watch what fell out. Fell how heavy your heart weighs in my hands." He sighed at the thought. "But that's too quick compared to the other things I have in mind. " I cringed as he spoke into my ear. I spoke to him quickly after that, my voice cracking and probably wavering on the edge of tears.

"You talk big, but you know the rules as well as I do. If you kill me here, your life is forfeit. And besides..." I turned towards him and spoke in a stage whisper, eyeing him over my shoulder, more than a little aware of the irony of the situation. "You could do that to anyone. It would also be rather boring and unimaginative of you compared to your past work. Are you trying to disappoint me?" I turned my gaze back to my lap, absentmindedly tracing the line the scythe pressed into my skin. He grinned, leaning his forehead against the back of my shoulder. His eyes gleamed as he considered murdering me, shuddering violently against me as he fought the urge. I thought for a moment he was actually going to do so. He laughed quietly, giggling now and then as I spoke. Taking a few deep breaths, he spoke, chuckling between words. "If I cared about what you, or anyone thought, I wouldn't slaughter people so quickly, so easily. I'm not a serial killer, girlie."

He spoke, his Southern tone light, but as serious as I've ever heard him speak. "I don't got no one to impress and don't care to impress anyone. No messages to leave. I kill for me." Gallows tilted the scythe, brushing it against my thigh. "I never said I was gonna kill ya presently. Just said I wanted to. I've been patient until now, I can wait until we're outta here to watch you writhe." I shivered and leaned back slightly, debating on how much I should tell him. "I like living. You have nothing to prove to me. I simply hope at the end of this mess I still will be. Since you aren't killing me now, is it really necessary to touch me?" I was zoning out and staring at the scythe as I spoke, almost speaking to myself than to Gallows. He leaned back, his head tilting to one side lazily. "Not particularly necessary, but ya aren't exactly bitching off in my ear about it." He mused.

Off in the distance, I could hear Graves checking the door handle once more. Gallows looked to her momentarily before he looked back to me. "Y'know, Dia. Ya should stop telling yourself poor people around ya those little lies." He said, the scythe around me disappearing as he pulled himself up. Giving a stretch, he walked to the middle of the room and gave a lazy spring on the hell of his shoe. "You and your friends, so many lies ya'all tell yourselves." I speak softly in his direction, getting ready to stand and follow him out. "No idea what you're talking about, love. Are we able to leave now?" Gallows sighed lightly, as if he were disregarding what I had just said. I found out otherwise when he reached around me and grabbed my throat. He hauled me to my feet and spun me around, then slammed me back into the wall. This was beginning to be a pattern, and my back was starting to ache from the repeated abuse.

His scythe leered down, tip sticking below the top of my tank top and meeting flesh. "You're a liar, girlie. Lying to me, even to Graves over there, Advocate who is listening, all your readers, all your FRIENDS, most importantly, yourself." The scythe began to cut into my skin, right above my heart. It wasn't deep enough to do serious damage, but it did plenty to make me bleed. "You. Are. A. Liar." He smirked, his head shaking in disappointment. He motioned to Graves to check the door, and as she did it opened. "You keep telling yourself those lies, girlie." He mused to himself, leading ahead. Graves paused to look back at me and held the door open for me to follow through. Once I was close enough to hold the door myself, she moved on to follow Gallows. "Graves!" He called, not looking back. "We get to see Ferus again!" He sang, zipping up his jacket once more.  "Indeed. You must be happy." Graves replied, her voice emotionless and low.

Looking over to me, she forced eye contact. "Though, I cannot say everyone is happy he is either. Some would be wise to stay away." The suggestion was subtle, but nonetheless there. Graves knew firsthand Ferus's ways from their past. Gallows, ahead of us, merely cackled. "I hope not, I want to see some trouble!" I rolled my eyes, and paid attention to the room we had come to. It looked like a creepy imitation of a disco club, complete with pulsing lights shifting through all the colors of the rainbow below our feet. This "central room" was apparently where the party was to actually take place. It was... gruesome. It looked like the Nightmare Before Christmas had a love child with the entertaining hall of Hannibal Lector. In the very center stood the cake. The "cake" was made of dead and rotting bodies, arranged in crude poses for the "entertainment" of the guests. "Damn Advy, the cake is not a lie, but couldn't you have splurged on some fucking cake mix? Nasty ass bastard." I continued to mutter to myself for a few minutes. Advy.. was annoying me by that point. It seemed like a whole lot of lead-up to come out on the other side to a sickly themed gathering with... what reason? To fuck with us? There had to be more, and I didn't even care at that point.

Tables of nauseating food littered the sides of the room, and what looked like gruesome depictions of Hangman and Russian Roulette were going on in the back. Gallows popped back up at my side, two cups of drink in his hands. He wordlessly handed me one and turned his attention to Graves and began speaking under his breath with her, glancing at me occasionally. I drank, and went to find Shady once more. I was curious to see where Josie was as well. If Gallows and Ferus had fucked with me as hard as they had, I was, admittedly, worried to see whether they had broken the rules or not. I spotted a few dubious characters standing around, looking uncomfortable and scared. It was apparent we all were here for less than happy reasons. Advocate began to speak, and said something about a timer and... balloons?

Everything was a little bit fuzzy from there. I remember Gallows dragging me around the room, and a panic ensuing about fifteen minutes later. A fire broke out, and I could smell propane. I tried to stumble my way out, but at that point I was having trouble putting one foot in front of the other. I realized that Gallows had slipped me something, and turned to accuse him. I watched him waggle his fingers and disappear out a door with Graves in tow. I fell to my knees, desperate enough to begin crawling. I looked up to see Ferus laughing and staring at me. "Really, you're ready to burn here? Dia, the world is burning. You've only just started smelling the smoke." He grabbed me by the arm and began to drag me through the wreckage the other guests had left in their herding out the door.

He started to fucking run, giving less than a fuck about whether he dragged me through needles, glass, or fire. From that point on, I have no memory. I've been told I crawled to the car and hid until Shady came and 'rescued' me, and took my keys. I don't know. the next thing I saw was the ceiling to the hospital room I wound up waking up in. Next post, I'll explain what's happened since. I think I hear someone screaming?