[center][h2]Harriette Moore[/h2][/center]
[sup][color=gray]? ? ? : ? ? hours[/color][/sup]
People were talking. She could hear their muffled, discordant voices around her. She heard fear, anger, worry. Mostly she was hearing disbelief and panic, though. That did not bode well. Harriette was slow to rouse, unwilling to face... whatever was going on. Whatever had happened to them. She remembered a gathering at the gazebo, the realization that all of them could see those cracks in reality, and then—

[i]After that... that couldn't have been real.[/i] 

The cracks widening, completely breaking open, and the warm wind enveloping them and putting them to sleep. A falling sensation before total darkness, followed by waking with a soreness in her side where it felt like she'd landed on solid ground.

[i]This can't really be happening... can it?[/i]

Harriette's thoughts were echoing what the others were saying aloud. Finally, she opened her eyes and sat up. The view brought cold dread seeping into her bones. It was like some horror film, twisted surreal imagery everywhere around them. Harriette dragged her gaze along the horizon, but everything looked... bad. Cursed and terrible. A mockery of the city they were just in. She looked to the building ahead of them, a large prison complex. It stood where the university would have been.

Despite everything, a quick burst of laughter bubbled out of Harriette. It was gone as quickly as it'd come. She pinched herself a couple of times, thinking it must be a dream. When she took that tumble on the staircase she must have been knocked unconscious. What else could explain this? But she didn't awaken. 

Harriette stood up, dusting off her skirt. She was noting all the little details now, every little thing about whatever place they were all in. The more she considered it, the more she was convinced that this wasn't a dream, and the pit in her stomach grew all the colder.

"Mass hysteria..." she murmured in response to some of the students wondering about delusions and hallucinations. Even as she said it she shook her head though, then cleared her throat and spoke up a little louder. "...it wouldn't be like this. This is... something else."

She couldn't bring herself to say 'this is real' aloud. It felt real though. Sounded and looked real, even if her brain was fighting to find some evidence that it wasn't. Logically, it was impossible to fall through a crack in reality into a hellscape silhouette of your city. And yet.

Thinking about it that way though, that this was something actually happening to them right now that they needed to get out of, it brought some sick sense of comfort to Harriette. She could still feel that dread within her, but she could try and focus on getting them out of this situation. After all, most of the people gathered were students. Some dealing with this much worse than others. She turned to give these students her attention, gaze softening, but of course another curve ball came flying at them. Light, alarms, and men dressed in all black uniforms. It might have been a relief to see other people, but these men were faceless and aggressive. Were they even humans at all? They didn't look like the others that had been pulled in. Regardless of how they looked, Harriette raised her hands. In vain she tried reasoning with them.

"Right, we're - we're not inmates. We're lost and we need help," she said as she moved with the group, following the beings' instruction. Of course the faceless officers didn't acknowledge her words, just pressed her to keep walking. That was okay, maybe they could explain to the judge when they got there so long as they didn't stir up any trouble, like someone trying to make a break for it—

"Wait, stop!" Harriette had slowed to call out to the breakaway, a man she didn't recognize at all. He might be in danger for that move - or worse, endanger the rest of them. The guards he'd toppled were quickly getting to their feet and ushering the rest of them to keep going, a baton nudging Harriette in the back to pick up the pace. She bit her lip and ultimately complied.