[color=ffb7c5][h3][center] Jay [/center][/h3][/color]

Jay had hung back near the edge of the driveway, lingering where the gravel met the grass and offering courteous floaty waves as people trickled in. Jay was perfectly still, leaning against a gnarled tree, listening to both the wind breathe through the thicket and observing the nervous expressions of the growing crowd. They all seemed roughly around her age, all wearing roughly modern attire and nothing too outwardly striking other than travelling light. Most of all, they seemed to ask the same sort of question; "Is this for real?" If this was indeed a scam, then she was not the lone fool - though it seemed suspiciously narrow of a demographic. If this was a cult, she'd have a lot in common. 

Oh, and by the way; someone had walked through a portal.

[color=ffb7c5][i]Huh? [/i][/color]

Jay mentally ratcheted along, slovenly evaluating what she had just seen. A circle of electric blue burned through the air, and seemingly, a red haired woman had manifested in their midst, as if stepping through a doorway never seen before. 

[color=ffb7c5][i]Oooh.[/i][/color]

[color=ffb7c5][i]Huh.[/i][/color]

Jay's head itched from a low drone of a headache, a dull pressure sitting inside her skull. Some kind of beast growling at the entrance of her thoughts, demanding audience. Jay dismissed it with habitual ease. 

As if opening a window to a stale atmosphere, talk of strange powers started to sprout amongst the other people. Talking to the dead. Portals. Conjuration. It all sounded like it had been lifted straight from a fairy tale. There was a prevailing sense of being unaware of other users of magic, including herself. They all probably had different powers, judging by the variation. And magic was either a collective hallucination of strange young adults out in the wilderness (in which case help was probably out of reach anyway), or it was indeed, as real as the fantastical tales of old. The latter option sounded more entertaining, so Jay crossed out much of her cyncism. Magic was demonstrably real, and she was going to be a part of a magic cult. Which sounded far cooler than a mundane regular cult.

Jay was going to be fine.

But Alora definitely wasn't. The woman had barely spoken up something about being able to control plants when Jay noticed she grew quiet and rigid. Was her eyes bulging? Difficulty breathing? A panic attack? Jay thawed from her position and made her way through the crowd.

[color=ffb7c5]"Are you o-" [/color] Jay barely could open her mouth when the gust of wind staggered her, and as if snatched by an invisible hand, Alora and two others closest to the house were lifted to the air before being sucked into the house. The house itself had begun repairing on its own, wiping centuries of solitude with supranatural vigour. It felt wildly disorienting despite Jay having never moved, the gloominess of the mansion wiped clean and replaced with a pristine building, complete with a fresh porch and even a revitalized tree.

Did the house just levitate people? Just floated them up in front of her eyes and suck them right on in? Jay squinted at where Alora stood (not that it looked like she was squinting), then at the mansion that was now humming to itself. Yep. Woop, whoosh. Right on in. It could have been a ghost. Definitely a ghost. 

Jay shouldered her backpack, strode up to the mansion porch, and tested opening and closing the door. Could it do that again? [color=ffb7c5] "Hello? Mr. House?" [/color]  She said, tugging on the door handle. If it was indeed a ghost, she had to admit, it would be a rather rude one to have flung people around without properly introducing itself.