The Muse

Emerald City

@Purple Robin Looks good! Go ahead and post him in the character tab :)

Emerald City

Bump just in case anyone is still searching for something. Always accepting new people. :)

Emerald City

@Hammerman Aw, well that's a bummer. :/

Emerald City

@Hoekage Looks good! Go ahead and post her :)

Emerald City

Annnd we're off to the races! Everyone feel free to start making your 1st posts :)

Emerald City

_{Vision.Colour.}

_{"You know I love you."}

Her voice was breathy and far away. Elizabeth's eyes searched frantically through a shroud of darkness.

"Lily?" She called out into the void, her heart pounding against her chest as the darkness seemed to close in around her.

"Lil, I can't... I can't find you, I.." The words stuck in her throat and suddenly she was unable to speak.

_{"Tomorrow will be better."}

Elizabeth struggled to make any noise at all. Her eyes welled up with tears as the darkness caressed her, pressure closing in around her throat and squeezing.

"Ellie."

Lily's voice was directly behind her now, whispering in her ear. Elizabeth could feel her there, leaning into her back, with strands of her short black hair gently brushing against Elizabeth's cheek. She wanted anything in the world to turn, to see her face, but she was frozen in time. Paralyzed.

Lily nuzzled into Elizabeth's neck, her lips brushing lightly across her skin.

"I never meant to hurt you. We're in this together."

Two hands placed themselves against Elizabeth's back and after a brief pause... Elizabeth was thrust forward off of a cliff.

__________________________________

Glistening with sweat, Elizabeth frantically sat upright in bed, heart pounding. Her emerald eyes quickly scanned the moonlit room, assuring herself that she was safe within the walls of her bedroom. Angrily, she wiped the tears that had apparently been streaming down her face. She grabbed her phone on the desk next to her bed to check the time: 5:36am

She sighed and set her phone down again. Too early to go back to sleep again, if she could even manage it. Instead of giving it a try, she grabbed the journal that rested on top of her windowsill and opened up to the next blank page.

_{March 20, 2019
I think I'm cursed.}

With that, she closed the journal and set it back in place. Reluctantly she pulled herself out of bed and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. If she wasn't going to sleep, she might as well be productive; get ready, do some homework, and cook breakfast for the family when it was time.

10:00 am

"Do I smell bacon?"

"Good morning, sleepy. I knew you'd get up for some bacon!"

Elizabeth grinned, bright eyes meeting the tired blue eyes of her father as he padded, barefoot, into the kitchen. His hair was a mess, he still wore his pajamas and he needed to shave. He'd looked worse before, but this was not his finest hour.

"I made pancakes and eggs too. Here, I'll make you a plate."

"You spoil us. Thanks, El." He took a seat at the rustic dining table and coughed a bit, breaking up the tar in his lungs from decades of heavy smoking. "How long have you been up? Are the boys awake too?"

"Just a few hours..." She took a plate with scrambled eggs, three strips of bacon, and one pancake over to her father. "Yes, the little monsters took their food and ran back up to their rooms. Playing video games, I'm sure." She smiled and shook her head as she took a seat at the table across from her father.

The boys, Logan & Levi, probably should have been in school at this moment, but fortunately for them her father had taken them out of school for the week in light of Lily Turner going missing. He felt they would have been too distracted in class to pay attention anyway. Lily, being Elizabeth's best friend, was like a sister to them as well.

"Ready for today?" Jonathan Baker briefly looked up from his breakfast to meet eyes with his daughter, checking for an emotional reaction.

Elizabeth frowned and uncomfortably shifted in her seat, looking away from her father and out of the nearby kitchen window. "No."

The Mayor had called a town meeting a few days ago, set for today at noon in the community center with the Emerald City police department. They would discuss the disappearance of the Mayor's daughter with local news stations and any citizen who felt like attending. So far, nothing had been officially confirmed or denied, but the rumor around town was that Lily Turner was long dead. Elizabeth had heard that if you didn't find a missing person within the first 72 hours, they were probably dead. Today marked exactly one week since her best friend had gone missing. Her heart ached thinking about it. At what point did a person become numb to these sort of things?

Due to the nature of the day, The Cosy Bear Cafe had been closed. They would reopen in the morning, but there was no way the Baker family would be missing the press conference. Elizabeth had prayed that they would have some sort of good news for the town, but it was hard being optimistic these days.

Emerald City

I just put a little information about the mayor's daughter in the "updates" post in the character tab, under "Significant Story NPCs". I also did some NPC info for Liz's life. Just FYI if anyone is interested. :)

Emerald City

I just put in the community center for you guys. :]

Now, time to work on my intro post to get this baby started!

Emerald City

@Allycat Looks great! You can post him in the character tab. :)

Emerald City

@SlopGoblin Love it, as always. Haha Go ahead and post her up!