[CENTER][url=https://open.spotify.com/track/14AI8Qt9giIa8uzek1I24O?si=c4b0575a0bef4d8a][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019ac7e8-9d61-7059-9994-7033a1ea72a9.webp[/img][/url][/CENTER][indent][sub][COLOR=#696969][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] [color=white][I]The House[/I][/color][/sub][sup][right][COLOR=#696969][b]#2.03[/b][/COLOR][/right][/sup][/indent][center][COLOR=dimgray][SUP][sub]______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sub][/SUP][/COLOR][/center]
[center]𝕮𝖔𝖒𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖜𝖔𝖔𝖉𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖐, 𝖙𝖍𝖗𝖔𝖚𝖌𝖍 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖔𝖕𝖊𝖓 𝖉𝖔𝖔𝖗, 𝖕𝖚𝖘𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖋𝖗𝖔𝖒 𝖆𝖇𝖔𝖛𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖇𝖊𝖑𝖔𝖜;
𝕾𝖍𝖆𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖘 𝖇𝖚𝖙 𝖓𝖔 𝖘𝖚𝖇𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊 𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖊 𝖔𝖋 𝖒𝖊𝖓; 𝖗𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖉 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖓 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖘𝖎𝖉𝖊𝖜𝖆𝖞𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖞 𝖌𝖔.
𝕬𝖉𝖗𝖎𝖋𝖙 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖉𝖎𝖗𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 - 𝖊𝖞𝖊𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖍𝖔𝖑𝖉 𝖉𝖊𝖘𝖕𝖆𝖎𝖗 - 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖓 𝖆𝖘 𝖔𝖓𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖞 𝖘𝖎𝖌𝖍 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖞 𝖒𝖔𝖆𝖓:

"𝕳𝖊𝖑𝖕 𝖚𝖘 𝖘𝖔𝖒𝖊𝖔𝖓𝖊! 𝕷𝖊𝖙 𝖚𝖘 𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊! 𝕷𝖎𝖛𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊, 𝖘𝖔 𝖑𝖔𝖓𝖌 𝖚𝖓𝖉𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖇𝖊𝖉, 𝖉𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖒𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖊 𝖜𝖊 𝖜𝖊𝖗𝖊 𝖋𝖗𝖊𝖊."[/center]
[hr]
[indent][color=A9A9A9][color=48D1CC]"So you just woke up here?"[/color]
John picked his way through strange rooms and over twisted furniture, occasionally stopping to lend a hand to Astra, who nearly always refused his assistance with a proudly independent defiance in her eyes.
[color=BDB76B]"No, I woke up at home this morning, like I said."[/color] He answered, pushing through another door and noting that the rooms, while certainly not getting any [i]less[/i] bizarre, didn't seem to be getting any weirder either. Perhaps they'd plateaued - exactly this strange, and no stranger. [color=BDB76B]"But between stepping out after brekky and stepping through the front door to this place, it's all blank. Like I blacked out."[/color]
[color=48D1CC]"Blacked out? What, you're like, a drunk?"[/color]
[color=BDB76B]"A little bit, but that's not really the point."[/color] John replied, combatting Astra's teenage barbs by laying bare the uncomfortable truth they poked at. It worked; Astra immediately looked like she'd been caught with her hand in the biscuit barrel. [color=BDB76B]"I was definitely sober, if that has anything to do with it. I'm not [i]that[/i] far gone, yet."[/color]
Astra stayed quiet for a little bit. Good. She'd been making mostly inane chatter for most of their journey so far, and John was glad to have a minute's peace and quie-

[color=48D1CC]"Well [i]I[/i] woke up here and I was hoping you were the same and since you were apparently 'sent' to help me, you might have some answers, but you seem absolutely clueless."[/color]
[color=BDB76B]"Yep. You're welcome for getting rid of that monster, by the way."[/color]
[color=48D1CC]"That thing left because it [i]wanted[/i] to. You weren't hitting it [i]that[/i] hard."[/color]
[color=BDB76B]"Nevermind. I should've let it eat you."[/color]
Astra scowled at him and crossed her arms, pouting.
[color=48D1CC]"Well if you really think so maybe I should just wait here for it to find me again and let it finish the job this time."[/color]
John sighed. [color=BDB76B]"Come on, I don't think we're far now."[/color]
[color=48D1CC]"No."[/color]

John pressed the heel of his palm into the bridge of his nose and considered if either Nergal or Mammon or anyone else for that matter would be able to hear his pleas from inside the House and agree to take his soul in exchange for teaching him patience.
[color=BDB76B]"Astra, get a grip. We need to get out of here."[/color]
[color=48D1CC]"I'm not going anywhere with you until you apologise."[/color]
[color=BDB76B]"I'm very sorry."[/color]
[color=48D1CC]"And [i]mean[/i] it."[/color]
[color=BDB76B]"[i]Astra![/i]"[/color] He was exasperated and irritated and unable to mask it from his voice. Swinging wood at a monster was so much more straightforward than navigating the varying emotions of a fourteen year old girl. She didn't respond, only kept pouting. [color=BDB76B]"I'm sorry, really. Of course I didn't mean it. I'm just a little stressed. I'd just like to get us both somewhere safe."[/color]
[color=48D1CC]"Hmm..."[/color] Astra hummed, tapping a finger against her lips and making a show of taking deep consideration of John's apology. [color=48D1CC]"Apology accepted. [i]Barely.[/i]"[/color]
[color=BDB76B]"Brilliant. Can we be getting a move on now?"[/color]

John ushered Astra forwards, directing the way back as best as he could remember it while they weaved through hallways and ducked around doorframes. The strange configuration of the decor began to settle in against John's senses and he could feel it becoming almost routine; he wondered if, when he got out and returned to his apartment to crawl back beneath his sheets and file this whole sojourn into the same 'Do Not Disturb' folder as his jaunt through Hell, his own conventional arrangment would strike him as equally outlandish.
[color=48D1CC]"Quit hurrying me."[/color] Astra said, complaining after one too many gentle pushes.
John raised an eyebrow and stepped around her to lead instead. [color=BDB76B]"Don't you have [i]any[/i] sense of urgency?"[/color] He snapped back, feeling tension uncoil in his chest as the rooms started to become more familiar, while an equal amount of careful anticipation wound its way around his ribs in his anxiety's stead. 
[color=48D1CC]"You're in such a rush!"[/color]
[color=BDB76B]"Yeah! I am! That black thing might come back, and I'm fresh out of bannisters! And even if it doesn't, I'm quite keen to get out of here! I'd quite like to be having a drink or sharing a smoke with my mates right now, rather than running around getting stuck in some more spooky shit I don't have the wherewithal to healthily cope with! Aren't you anxious to get back to your friends or your parents or literally [i]anywhere[/i] other than this fucked up house?"[/color]

Astra didn't answer. John glanced back at her, and slowed his pace when he noticed her eyes were looking down and away, anywhere but back at him, and the smugness in her expression had been replaced by a soft sadness.
[color=BDB76B]"Aren't you...?"[/color] He asked again, plaintive and trailing off. [color=BDB76B]"You must have someone who'll be looking for you?"[/color]
She shuffled on her feet, uncomfortably shifting her weight from one leg to the other. Her mouth opened and closed a few times trying to start a sentence, but was unable to produce a sound; eventually, she found her voice again, but now it was a lot smaller.
[color=48D1CC]"I don't...know. I woke up in one of these weird rooms. I wandered around lost for a while, then that monster found me and I ran. And then you showed up and I don't remember anything else!"[/color]
She'd started slow but her words got quicker the longer she went until it was all just tumbling out of her mouth.
[color=48D1CC]"I don't remember any friends I don't remember any family or my [i]parents[/i] I don't even remember my own [i]name![/i] You asked, and I said 'Astra', but I don't think that [i]is[/i] my name it felt more like it just came to me when you wanted it, like something just gave it to me like a badge to wear because I - you - we needed one in the moment! I don't remember where I was before I woke up or even remember [i]if[/i] I was before I woke up, I don't know if I'm 'Astra', I don't know if I'm anyone [i]else[/i] either! I don't. Remember."[/color]

She sounded small and sad and confused and afraid. John looked at her and all he saw was a frightened girl. He reached an arm out to put a hand on her shoulder while she looked at the floor, averting her eyes, and he felt incredibly awkward doing so.
[color=BDB76B]"Look...the house or whatever's in it took my memories as well, so that's all it is. We know whatever's going on is messing with our heads. Probably on purpose to get to you exactly like this. I'm sure as soon as we get out we'll both remember everything. I'm [i]confident[/i]. This house is obviously [i]weird[/i] in some pretty severe ways, but it's also just a house. I've been through worse."[/color]
[color=48D1CC]"Sure you have."[/color] Astra replied, glancing up at him, sullen but having calmed down after her outburst, at least enough to dredge up some sarcasm; John felt oddly grateful to be taking potshots from a teenager again.
[color=BDB76B]"I walked through Hell to save my sister from our family."[/color] John said, literal as anything and with all the gravitas of a funeral dirge, but eliciting only an eyeroll from Astra regardless at the sheer triteness of the sentence. [color=BDB76B]"I can manage a weird house to save our own arses."[/color]
[color=48D1CC]"Whatever you say, John."[/color] She replied, shrugging off his hand and wiping the threat of a tear from the corner of her eye. John smiled; youthful derision was better than existential breakdown. Astra smiled back, slightly. [color=48D1CC]"Let's just go,"[/color] she continued, with all the intonation like she no longer had patience for [i]his[/i] delay. [color=48D1CC]"Sooner we leave the better."[/color]
[color=BDB76B]"I knew we could agree on [i]something[/i]."[/color] John remarked, drawing another withering glance, and then gestured forward. 

[center]-[/center]
[color=48D1CC]"You got a last name, John?"[/color] Astra asked. They were close to the antechamber now, and the rooms were settling down as they backtracked; the pantry was right around here, with a tear in its rear wall like a rip in a pair of jeans, and then they could follow it back through to the utility room, then the kitchen and the dining room, hallway into antechamber, and then getting the Hell out of this House.
[color=BDB76B]"Why, you shopping around?"[/color] He questioned back, flicking a smirk in her direction at the same time. She reached out to hit him.
[color=48D1CC]"[i]No.[/i] Just wondering. I can't remember mine. Did the house take yours too?"[/color]
John smiled sympathetically. [color=BDB76B]"It didn't, sorry. Mine's Constantine."[/color]
[color=48D1CC]"John Constantine..."[/color] Astra mulled over the name, swirling it around in her head. [color=48D1CC]"Feels familiar, but I don't know why."[/color]
[color=BDB76B]"Well, that's good, right? If something's familiar, it's attached to a memory somewhere. You've still got [i]something[/i] rattling around the noggin."[/color]
[color=48D1CC]"Maybe...I don't know if 'familiar' is right. It's more just...a feeling. Like it's important. Like it [i]should[/i] mean something to me, even if it doesn't quite yet."[/color]
[color=BDB76B]"You be careful. Don't be getting any funny ideas. You're far too young for me."[/color]
Astra pulled a face. [color=48D1CC]"[i]Ew,[/i] as [i]if![/i] You're not exactly much of a prize."[/color]
[color=BDB76B]"Jesus, tell me how you really feel why don't you."[/color]
[color=48D1CC]"Sorry. I'm sure you'll make some girl very happy one day. But you're not exactly my type."[/color]

John smirked, enjoying the banter. It was taking his mind off of things.
[color=BDB76B]"What [i]do[/i] girls your age like these days? All the women I know are a coinflip between a fridge-shaped fifty year old with a salt'n'pepper moustache, or a Korean boyband supermodel with the face of a seventeen year old and abs approved by committee."[/color]
Astra paused and closed her eyes with her hands to her temples like she was in deep contemplation.
[color=48D1CC]"Are the Korean boyband supermodels blonde or brunette?"[/color]
[color=BDB76B]"I think they probably wear wigs, so dealer's choice I suppose."[/color]
[color=48D1CC]"Definitely the Korean boyband supermodels then."[/color]
[color=BDB76B]"Oh? Which wig would you be picking?"[/color]

Astra didn't get a chance to answer. They pushed through the final doorway to return to the antechamber but neither had expected what they were now faced with.

The room was as John remembered it, except much larger, stretched out like someone had pulled at each corner, and the absence of all the furniture and ornaments he'd seen previously on his first entry, and the addition of a colossal hole torn into the floor. Floorboards splintered and erupted at its edges like something had exploded up from beneath the House, ripping through the ground and leaving a gaping pit in its wake. John could not see the bottom; the light faded shortly past the lip of the hollow and did not penetrate down further than a few feet. It was dark and musty and quiet, and for all appearances could have descended downwards forever. John froze at the edge, holding one cautious arm out behind him to ward off Astra even as she crept up to take her own look into the depths. He looked across the hole and saw the front door on the other side.
[color=BDB76B]"That's the way out over there."[/color] He said, pointing at the door and ignoring the very quiet voice that urged him to pitch his body over the edge of his own voliton. He gave Astra a stern look. [color=BDB76B]"Be careful."[/color]
[color=48D1CC]"Thanks, Captain Obvious."[/color] Astra replied, but John paid it no mind. They picked their way steadily around the rim of the pit, pressing their backs into the walls and watching every footstep to make sure they didn't stumble on an uneven floorboard or slip on askew ground. Slowly but surely they circumnavigated the hole, and made their way to what they hoped was their freedom. Stood in front of the door, John held his breath and reached for the knob; a clammy palm wrapped around cool brass, and in one motion he twisted and pulled. 

The door did not move. It was still locked. It thumped uselessly against itself and John put both hands on the handle and wrenched it back and forth, willing the lock to shatter and the wood to splinter and the entire damn thing to break open by force; all that actually happened is the door rattled and John got angry and then he kicked the door, hard, and hurt his toe doing so. 

[color=48D1CC]"What now?"[/color] Astra asked behind him, prompting John to sigh and rub his eyes. [i]'What now'[/i] indeed. He turned making his best effort to put on a steady, confident facade.
[color=BDB76B]"Let's try upstairs. Maybe there's a window, or a balcony, or we can find a loft hatch and bust through the roof."[/color]
[color=48D1CC]"We haven't seen one window trekking through this whole place so far and you think one will just magically appear upstairs?"[/color] Astra retorted, combative as ever. 
[color=BDB76B]"Got a better idea?"[/color] John shot back.
[color=48D1CC]"You don't have a clue! You're grasping at straws!"[/color]
[color=BDB76B]"Obviously! Obviously I am! Sometimes, straws is all you got, and you gotta grasp somethi-"[/color]
John hushed up as a crashing came from behind the double doors on the sidewall - the set they hadn't been through yet, and as such hid immeasurable unknowns. John pushed Astra behind him; he was torn between marching toward the doors and throwing them open and confronting whatever on the other side was tumbling closer and closer, or tripping over himself and the girl in desperate flight backwards and up the stairs without sparing even a single glance at whatever could be coming through those doors in pursuit.

He didn't get a chance to do either. Frozen in indecision, John and Astra both could only stand and watch as the crashing tore closer until the doors burst open entirely. Standing in the doorway was a panting, frantic-eyed, and considerably more haggard-looking John Constantine.

John - the one with Astra, that is - was utterly paralyzed. He locked eyes with his doppelganger, who stared back and looked...not surprised at all. If anything, this other John's face passed through only a moment of stony acceptance before settling into an expression that seemed mildly apologetic. 
[color=48D1CC]"What the [i]fuck[/i] is going on?!"[/color] Astra yelled, suddenly furious and demanding, breaking out from behind John's half-hearted protective grasp and marching toward this newly-appeared double. Both Johns moved forward simultaneously.
[color=BDB76B]"Astra, don't - I don't trust him - it - whatever-"[/color]
[color=48D1CC]"It's [i]you[/i], what do you mean, don't you want some answers, don't you want to know what the fuck's [i]happening[/i]-"[/color]
John stumbled in his dumbfounded haste. The other John was steadier on his feet - determined. Resolute.
[color=BDB76B]"Astra [i]please[/i] we've got to get out of here, this is all [i]wrong[/i]-"[/color]
[color=48D1CC]"Ask him some questions- ask [i]you[/i] some questions- get some [i]fucking answers[/i]-"[/color]

All at once the Johns were face to face, Astra jabbing a finger into the duplicate's chest and asking questions, making demands, hurling pejoratives. The doppel-John ignored her, only looking wearied and slightly sad at the first John. John suddenly noticed his double was holding the book under his arm.
[color=BDB76B]"I'm really sorry about this,"[/color] the duplicate John said. [color=BDB76B]"You'll understand soon."[/color]
And then he pushed John and Astra into the hole.[/color][/indent]
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[center]𝕴𝖒𝖆𝖌𝖊𝖘 𝖔𝖋 𝖘𝖔𝖗𝖗𝖔𝖜, 𝖕𝖎𝖈𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖊𝖘 𝖔𝖋 𝖉𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙, 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖌𝖔 𝖙𝖔 𝖒𝖆𝖐𝖊 𝖚𝖕 𝖆 𝖑𝖎𝖋𝖊.
𝕰𝖓𝖉𝖑𝖊𝖘𝖘 𝖉𝖆𝖞𝖘 𝖔𝖋 𝖘𝖚𝖒𝖒𝖊𝖗, 𝖑𝖔𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖗 𝖓𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖘 𝖔𝖋 𝖌𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖒, 𝖜𝖆𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖑𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙.
𝕾𝖈𝖊𝖓𝖊𝖘 𝖔𝖋 𝖚𝖓𝖎𝖒𝖕𝖔𝖗𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊, 𝖕𝖍𝖔𝖙𝖔𝖘 𝖎𝖓 𝖆 𝖋𝖗𝖆𝖒𝖊;
𝕿𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖌𝖔 𝖙𝖔 𝖒𝖆𝖐𝖊 𝖚𝖕 𝖆 𝖑𝖎𝖋𝖊.[/center]