In which a group of strangers slowly realize that nothing can do them harm.
"I feel like there is something living in my dead body, or dead in my living body."
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Bravery, like all other things in this world, is dangerous. That night, when Thea Davis reached her slender fingers forward, she mistakenly thought that adventure awaited. Her fingers fell through the air, her arms outstretched and her legs holding her in the air delicately. At the time, she was smiling.
Erik Crossford stood closest to the centre of the group, facing Thea. His heels dug into the ground and his hands were raised above his face, shielding him from the bright light. This action, born out of habit rather than actual thought, pulled Erik farther away. He could barely make out her shadow, tipping forward and slowly disappearing as the brightness consumed them both.
Despite his proximity, Jamie Teller wasn't quick enough to grab her. He stood closest to Thea, though the distance was enough. The tips of his fingers grazed her jean jacket while he leaned forward. If he had had time, Jamie would have cursed himself for failing another person this night. In the seconds to follow, he didn't recoil.
Cara Nightly was close as well, though her hands were tucked firmly behind her back. She peered forward, a strand of hair falling in her face which she didn't dare move. While the rest of her body pulled away from Thea, Cara's head was bent forwards. Her eyes were enraptured with the shifting glow which hung in the air between them all.
Eden Connor stood with his knees bent and his hands on his hips. He figured that in this position, he was ready to react to whatever confusing thing was happening in front of him. Though he was used to hearing his heart thumping in his ears and feeling adrenaline course through his veins, he was not use to the feeling of panic which was sitting on his shoulders. He could not move; he could only wait.
Since June normally preferred to exist at the edges of a crowd, she had only just begun to step forward. Her face was beginning to become illuminated in the darkness of the park, revealing her furrowed brow. In spite of the low lighting, June found herself studying the faces of the strangers around her. The habit did not stop a shiver from rolling up her spine.
Wesley Ferns was trying to get a better look at the scene while maintaining his distance. His arms were crossed over his shoulders, and he tried to keep his face straight as he stared ahead. He thought for a second, no matter how strange, that the light was staring back at him, as if beckoning him in. Typically, Wesley's imagination got the best of him. Though he would normally brush off the thought, it clung to him in the darkness.
Lee Hayde's short nails dug into her skin as her fist tightened around her leather guitar case. Initially, she had wanted to run, though the potential danger to her instrument kept her firm in place. For the first time in her life, Lee felt like her brain was empty of words. Ideas sputtered in her mouth as she tried to find a way to shout forward something. Anything.
With her back turned to the rest of the group, Percy Coleman had begun to walk away. She pulled at her dog's leash, trying to get him to follow her, though his eyes too had been captivated. Percy was friends with disaster, and while she didn't particularly care to avoid it, she had a dog to protect at the very least. At the last second, Percy turned her head back towards the others, watching on with bright eyes.
Furthest form the others, Hope Thomas stood still. Her breath was growing heavy beneath the scarf she wore, but she could not find the strength in her to move it. It was as if, she thought, that every muscle in her body was wrapped in coil, and her body was growing thorns from the inside out. She considered that, perhaps, she should not have hidden from her Dad where she was going.
Due to a power outage which ravaged the entire town, all the footage of the ten strangers entering the park had been destroyed. They came over a period of two hours, all separated. Since the cameras were destroyed by the time they fled, they did not catch their hurried footsteps, nor the groups they had formed.
They did not catch that ten had entered but nine had left.
