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[indent][indent][indent][color=gray][sub][right][color=dc143c][b]Location:[/b][/color] Westwood, Indiana, USA[/right][/sub][/color]
[hr]Alja was talking but Graves wasn't present. His eyes were glazed over and he was looking out over the cistern, into the pool of swirling water where he'd nearly drowned. That nearly avoided fate wasn't what was on his mind, however; it was where his mind had taken him when he lost consciousness. This wasn't the first time it had happened. Wasn't the first memory he was dropped into.

[i][color=dc143c]'Why do I keep goin' back home?'[/color][/i]

Home wasn't something he thought of much. That place was better left dead and buried. A mire. It was a mire that trapped him in the muck and kept him from going anywhere. Andrew thought he'd crawled out of it when he got his own place, even if he was still stuck in the same dead end job he'd gotten after high school in the same dead end town that'd taken so much from all of them. He thought he'd buried it and moved on, but ever since the Glitch it'd come back. It had visited him twice, now. Was it back to try and drag him back into the mire once more?

Something metal clattered against the wet stone beside him and Graves jumped out of his skin. [color=dc143c]"Shit."[/color] He breathed, looking down at the knife and then up to Alja. Color rushed to his cheeks. He'd totally forgotten she was standing right there. And she'd just saved his skin, too. Was he really brought so low by a couple'a bad dreams? Shake it off, big man. You've got work to do.

[color=dc143c]"Sorry, yeah. Thanks."[/color] It wasn't much, but any old blade would do for now. He doubted there'd be much more need anyway; that rat must've been the mother. Too big not to be. That did leave the question of where her nest had been, though, as they hadn't seen head nor tail of it in all their time down here. Wasn't looking forward to keeping up the search- he'd had just about enough of this place.

[color=dc143c]"You, uh...didn't have to do that."[/color] He sniffled. [color=dc143c]"Thanks for stickin' your neck out for me. Lotta people wouldn't do that."[/color]
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