A Surprise! (OPEN! 8D)

[ilina yuliana arnaut.]

Eleven O'Clock in Grover's Corners. Well, this wasn't exactly Grover's Corners, for sure. And it wasn't eleven, either. More like 'seven o'clock at Power's Academy'. And nobody was resting, at least Illi wasn't. Where was she? Getting what could end up being the biggest rush of her lifetime. These forests? Haunted. Totally and irrefutably, right? Yep. She had heard from so many people little stories here or there, and Illi, armed with a flashlight, was going to see for herself whether or not anything was true. It was just starting to get dark and most people weren't in the forest. Or just coming out. They passed Illi, some of them egging her on, some offering a completely serious (hah!) word of caution, others just ignoring her. Dead girl walking. Or not. Illi just wanted to see what it was like out here. Her powers didn't exactly contribute to a nice little fighting force, but she would be totally fine. The woods were... Dusty... Right? And totally all polluted and junk. Right? Of course. Truth be told, maybe Illi was just a little scared. But it didn't exactly translate correctly to her face. Gracing it was a wide grin, brimming with anticipation and excitement. She'd seen lots of movies like this, and she was actually living one for once. She was pumped, to say the least. Pumped and scared at the same time, which accounted for only the biggest of adrenaline bursts. If need be. Hopefully not.

What was she freaking herself out about, anyway? There was nothing at all in here. There never was anything, really. And plus, if Illi got lost in these woods? She had a great sense of direction. Especially because she started walking and had continued walking in a straight line. If something made a loud noise, she could always just 180 and book it. She was going to be fine. Once she got to a point where it was very, very dark and very, very quiet, she stopped. She just stopped and waited, her eyes darting around. She was wearing long pants and a sweater, so she had no need to worry about ticks or other junk like that. Sure, they would probably end up dying if they actually had some sort of disease or something but they were still annoying. Especially the ones that were healthy. Those just sucked. Get it? That was a good one... Anyway, yes, she was waiting there. For what? She didn't know. She flicked on the flashlight and gave a quick sweep in front of her. She didn't bother looking behind her. She'd hear something coming from behind her. And there was nothing in front of her. So, she took another few steps, and-

Snap.

Illi stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes widened and she listened hard to anything behind her. She didn't do that. Twigs don't snap on their own. She didn't see any small animals, and they probably would have run away. She didn't do that. There was something behind her ready to kill her in one swift motion because there was no way in the world that she just made that noise. Illi tried to slow her breathing to hear even closer. She was going to die. Dead, dead, dead. So much for a new life. She had a good run. Probably the shortest ever in the world. The shortest at Power's Academy, for sure. Now her fellow underclassmen would be telling the tale of that dumb sophomore chick who decided it was a great idea to go out into the woods and get killed by some big ferocious monster who was undoubtedly going to eat her in a most horrid manner. Wait, no. What did she learn from horror movies? Never, ever run. Ever. Running got you killed. Playing dead, too. Fighting back? It would probably make the thing mad, but the only way to escape for the protagonist was through fighting. Illi couldn't fight. She had to do something, though. So, she decided on her best course of action and simultaneously wondered why in the world the thing didn't even bother killing her by now. She whirled around, shining the flashlight at it, and threw a kick, not even bothering to look at what "it" was because, well, she didn't want to see right at the moment. Still, take that, evil monster out for blood and vengeance.

[thejokerlaughsatu]

Nathan hadn't expected there to be anyone else in the forest that night. It wasn't that he didn't think anybody else went out there; in fact, he often passed people on their way back from a walk in the woods, or a trip to scare their immature freshman friends. No, he knew that others went there, and frequently. But the thought that he might run into somebody there was far from his mind. The only person he'd met out there in the tree was that older boy, the one who'd ruined his sketch, but even that was a distant memory. That had been weeks before, and he hadn't seen a soul out near his working place since then. That was merely a fluke, a bit of bad luck on Nathan's part, but now he was sure he could be alone.

He was headed there now, on his way to have a bit of alone time. It wasn't that he insisted on being completely solitary when he worked, but his ideas and his pencil flowed best when he was alone. Other people didn't understand the value of silence. They couldn't sit quietly and work on something of their own, or even watch him (though he hated when they did); they always insisted on starting a conversation with the reluctant boy, and never seemed to take a hint when he tried to make them leave.

He was almost to his tree, the one with the high roots, when he stopped. There was a figure on the path ahead, but at this hour, and with the trees to block out most of the light from above, it was impossible to make out who it was. Maybe that older boy again, come back to cause more trouble, or some stranger who thought they could take his spot between the roots, the hidden little hole where he sat when he worked. Whatever they wanted, he was going to get rid of them.

Ready to go on the offensive at the slightly sign of resistance, Nathan readied his powers. If he needed an illusion, it would be effortless to call one up, probably a cougar or a stray dog, something to scare them out of the forest. As he took a step forward, he barely noticed the twig snap beneath his foot, but apparently the person in front of him did. They turned and kicked out wildly. Nathan stumbled back, doing his best to avoid the blow, and fell backwards to the ground. His sketchbook hit the ground next to him with a soft thmp, but at least it was closed this time. No more ruined sketches. After a moment of getting his breath back, he gasped out, "What the hell are you doing?"

[ilina yuliana arnaut.]

She heard something fall alright, something and maybe even in addition to that, another something. She hadn't, however, made contact with her foot, so it probably just dodged her. In an instant, her mind went crazy. What if it saw her 'attack' coming, and what if it, in response, dodged? She was absolutely terrified! What in the world would she do? She would be one of those legends of Power's Academy, one of the masses of dumb kids who went out into the forest only to be attacked by some giant creature. Maybe they'd at least find her flashlight one day. Evidence. She'd been there, alright, and she knew for a fact that flashlights weren't edible. Or were they? She'd never tried. It didn't seem like something she would want to. After all, there were the batteries and the metals and such. And it probably tasted gross. Bad on the teeth, too. Ow. Nevermind that, she was going to die. Dead, dead, dead, forever and ever and ever until the end of time during which she still might be dead. Though, at that point, nobody can say what kinds of technology haven't been invented yet. Yeah, there's some hope right there. She'll be resurrected by science one day!

Or, rather than coming back in a blaze of glory, she'll just hear some dude ask her what she's doing. And boy, did he seem irritated. And man, if there was any more light, then he'd end up seeing just how red Illi's face was. She almost kicked him! Where she probably shouldn't be kicking, no less! She twitched her flashlight, taking care not to shine it directly in his eyes but just enough to get a view of what he looked like. Sort of. She could make out some features. And he didn't look too pleased, as she had theorized.

"Oh my gosh oh my gosh I'm so sorry! It's just, I'm new here and I heard of all the stories and I wanted to check it out but I didn't think there was anything here, well, I didn't think so at first but then I heard a twig snap and I freaked out so I just kinda... Kicked." Catching her breath quickly and letting out a nervous, awkward kind of laugh, she stuck out a hand in an offer to help him up.

"Honestly, I thought you were a monster who was going to kill me and drink my blood from a stone goblet or something. Just for the extra effect, you know?" She felt the need to add in that last part. It was really important, really. Just to make sure he knows that she really thought she was going to die for about a half second. But now? The only feeling left was a lingering awkward nervousness. And she could totally go for a nice, tall glass of lemonade right about now but that was completely beside the point and it was entirely unlikely that she'd find any out here in the woods. Where nobody is. Save for her and some kid who apparently likes to draw. Cool! Her flashlight had briefly made its way over the sketchbook, and she smiled. Hopefully he could see, but if he didn't he could probably tell she was all smiles and sunshine from her tone.

This was certainly a strange happening, really. She never imagined she'd meet another person here out in the woods, especially someone who was drawing. Illi wondered what exactly he was drawing. It was getting to that time of night when you couldn't really see anything. She figured drawing out here would be... Counter-productive or something. If you can't see what you're drawing... But, then again, it could totally be some sort of experimental art form! Maybe this guy was secretly developing a totally new and different style of drawing, one where you don't know what you're drawing, but you draw it all the same and see how it comes out! It would be like abstract stuff, but by accident! That was really cool. It Illi had any drawing talent whatsoever, she'd probably try that sometime.

[thejokerlaughsatu]

It took a moment for him to get his bearings and come back to his senses. Once he did, Nathan squinted up into the light, or rather past it, as he struggled to see the face of the person who'd assaulted him. The voice belonged to a girl, probably around his age, but he couldn't make out her shadowed features beyond the glare of the flashlight. "Whatever. I don't care about your stupid ghost stories. Just lower the flashlight." This wasn't entirely true. Most of the time, Nathan loved ghost stories, and he hadn't heard that there was supposedly one about the forest, but at that moment, he wasn't in the mood to converse with this girl, especially not about such pointless details.

"What, so you think the solution to everything is to kick it? If something bothers you, you lash out and try to hit it? Some day, a guy will come up behind you to hug you or something, and he'll end up with a foot in the balls, and what do you think he'll think of you then?" he snapped. Nathan certainly wasn't in the mood for things like this. He already had to worry about Lucas or Kaiser coming out here to bother him, and now this girl was here to do that job for him. Maybe one of them had sent this girl, just to spite him. "Is that seriously all you're doing out here? Trying to find some 'ghost'?"

[ilina yuliana arnaut.]

Woah. Okay, Illi didn't quite expect that. She tried to be nice, she did, but then what did she get in return? This guy was hostile! She almost felt like running away right there on the spot, but then she would have to avoid making eye contact with this guy ever again. Anything coming from him anymore would just have some level of awkwardness that... Well, wasn't that fun. It seemed like he hated her already, but Illi could swear that he was probably a nice guy once she got to know him. Maybe she'd just have to get on his nice side? Though, admittedly, she had no clue how to go about that. Maybe bake him cookies or something? Like, 'I'm sorry I almost kicked you the other day' cookies? Totally, that's a great idea, especially when you take into consideration the chances of her burning everything down with the oven. Illi wasn't that good of a cook, even with things she just had to put in the oven and let it bake for a while. She could microwave stuff fine, though, and she could boil water. Everyone has to start somewhere.

"Um. Sorry!" she said, obviously quite a bit embarrassed. He could have taken this in stride and perhaps made a joke about it, but he didn't. She lowered the flashlight like he asked to. He seemed to be offended or something, and it made Illi feel awful. She almost kicked him! That would have been awful on its own, but thankfully Illi hadn't kicked him. She was glad for that, but his reaction made her feel perhaps even worse than she would have if she had kicked him. He'd at least know she could kick, and... Uh... Intimidation factor? Oh, who was she kidding? Illi wasn't intimidating at all and the kick wouldn't have hurt unless it accidentally hit somewhere it really shouldn't. But geeze, can't a girl ask for forgiveness around here without someone getting angry?

Then he lashed out. This was just... Illi couldn't handle this. She stood still, taking everything in. This guy was so mean! Maybe he just didn't have a nice side. Maybe he lived in the sewers and only arose once per year to terrorize girls who are a bit freaked out by possibly flesh-eating monsters in the woods. Just a possibility. It made her guilt level rise to previously uncharted levels and Illi was feeling absolutely terrible about herself. What if that situation actually happened? It probably wouldn't, though, because these were all the circumstances and... Yeah, in a normal situation she wouldn't freak out and kick around! Here, there could have been something. Like an animal or something trying to kill her. She wanted to live! But after his hypothetical, he made a direct attack on her. Illi almost lost it right then and there. But she kept her expression sorrowful and calm rather than sorrowful and sobbing. Inside, though? She just wanted to hug this boy forever until he forgave her. But he'd probably end up making Illi leave anyway because of his words. This guy was... Wow. Illi didn't know what to think of him. There's a good side to everybody, and this guy couldn't be an exception. There weren't exceptions to that rule.

"Well..." she started before folding her arms in front of her and rocking back and forth on her feet. "I don't go around kicking people. But as to my reason why I'm here... Yeah, the ghost, I guess so." Her previously happy demeanor had faded into a very quiet remorse. "Just wanted to see if "it" was real after all." She made a quick glance up. It wasn't night yet. She still had time to make sure this guy knows that she was sorry! He probably didn't, however, want to hear any excuses from Illi. Nothing about the whole 'scared for her life' thing because he would probably just call her stupid. Then Illi would start to cry and she would avoid eye contact with him wherever she could. It just... Wouldn't be good. Not at all. Everyone has a good side, she kept telling herself that. Even this guy had a good side.

"Look, I'm really sorry. I honestly didn't know you were there. Is there some way I can make it up to you somehow?" She sincerely hoped there was. But her gut told her there wasn't. She would even risk burning down everything to make a batch of cookies for this guy. Just to get some forgiveness. Illi felt like the monster she'd been searching for.

[thejokerlaughsatu]

A ghost. She'd started all of this because she thought a ghost was going to come up behind her and murder her in the darkness. Not only was she stupid, she was completely ignorant of all ghost lore. Nathan's respect for this girl had started low and was falling fast, and not just because she'd tried to kick him in the darkness. Her intelligence, or apparent lack of, was what had started her out so low; her "ghost hunting" without any idea of what she was doing was what forced it to drop so quickly. "If you want to make it up to me, then get out of here," he said sharply. "You shouldn't even be out here in the first place, but even if there was a ghost, it would definitely kill you. You don't know the first thing about ghost hunting, do you? You think it's OK to just wander out in the dark and 'catch' it?"

He bent down and gathered the sketchbook into his arms. At least it was closed... the pictures inside wouldn't be damaged, even if the cover had already started to wrinkle a bit from the water stains. He would need a new one soon anyhow, but that didn't mean he was about to let this girl get off scot-free. Not only had she done something incredibly stupid, but she was trying to apologize for it. Nathan did feel a bit bad for being so harsh on her, especially when she'd tried to say "sorry", but words couldn't fix everything, and especially not things like this. Words would have saved her before, but they couldn't rescue her now.

[ilina yuliana arnaut.]

Illi had tried to be nice. She tried to apologize, she tried everything she could. And this jerk was just shooting her down at every opportunity he could! Illi was, frankly, sick of it. At this point she just really, really wanted to walk away. But something kept her here. Maybe because this guy was such a jerk, she needed to think of something to... Oh, she didn't know. She didn't want to tell him off because Illi wasn't like that. She wasn't a jerk, unlike some people. But, she would admit, he did deserve it. Definitely. What made a person like this? Illi thought it was sad. She almost pitied him. Well, she would have, but he was just way too much of a butt to warrant any sort of pity. But what he said... Illi thought about it. Granted, not for long because she needed to reply without a pause, and she did just that, but she had a little bit of time to think about what he said. And all of it was... Well, wrong. Last time she checked, ghosts couldn't hurt people. Could they? They could just spook people. Demons were the ones who hurt people. Now, Illi hadn't spent much time researching this, but horror movies counted for something. They were the ones who had to research all this junk. But the fact remained that Illi wasn't trying to catch anything.

This guy was a jerk. Plain and simple, maybe he didn't even have a good side to him. She was curious, that's all. Curious and nervous. She was in a new place, she didn't know anybody, she was going on rumors and myths... She didn't know any better. She just decided to do it. Maybe, you know, someone likeminded would be here? It was totally an opportunity to make a new friend. And by most circumstances she would have made a new friend just then because at least this guy seemed to know something about ghosts. But he was a jerk. She would have asked him what he knew, had she thought she would get a response that wasn't full of anger and malice. He hated her for no reason, and she didn't want to be in an environment with him. But, unfortunately, they went to school together now. Great. She sincerely hoped they weren't in any of the same classes. That would just be... Awkward. No, worse than awkward. It would be... Bad. Just bad.

"I wasn't trying to catch anything, just see it for myself. But, since you want me to leave, I'll leave. No big deal." She left it at that and turned around, walking back in the direction to leave the forest. Her pace was somewhat slow. She was absorbing the last of the good traces of the atmosphere. Keeping an eye out to look for anything that might actually be there. Though, at this point, she didn't believe that there was anything out here. She had a slower pace outside, anyway. Inside, there was never anything new to look at, so she just walked quickly. Out here, though? There was everything to look at! Still, even with the beautiful nature in the growing night, this was probably awful for her health in general. Her stress levels were probably through the roof and she would never get any sleep at this rate. She'd just be thinking of how angry she seemed to make people... It was awful, really, especially considering how happy she always was. Everyone said that smiles were contagious, but... Guess not. She hoped there wasn't anybody else as angry at the world as him. Illi figured every school had to have one of those people. One of those people who didn't seem to have many friends and was just, in general, bad-spirited. You know? Those people were just better off avoided. No need to bring her spirits down. She had all this stuff she could do back in her dorm... Maybe he'd call her back? Nah, probably not. Wishful thinking, for sure. But why did she want him to call her back? She already convinced herself he had no good in him... Ugh. So complicated.

[thejokerlaughsatu]

Nathan watched the girl go, glaring after her until her form had disappeared behind a tree. He wanted nothing to do with people like her, idiots who thought they could wander out into the woods in the middle of the night and find a ghost. She was a complete idiot, and just as likely to find an escaped prisoner or a serial killer as a ghost in these woods. She would probably react to both in the same way, too, and try to get closer to "see it for herself". He took a few more steps deeper into the woods, closer to his private drawing space, where he would finally be rid of the idiocy that surrounded him in public places.

But something about her bothered him. What was it... not how stupid she was, because that was a clear fact, and nothing that would bother him like this. No... it was the ghost. That had to be it. How had she heard a ghost story that he, the storyteller and conversation collector, had never even heard mentioned? He stopped on the path, then struggled with himself for a moment. Then, "Hold on. Where did you hear about a ghost, anyway?"

[ilina yuliana arnaut.]

She thought he wanted her to leave. And she was in the process of leaving. In fact, she was pretty much on the edge of here and gone. Her mood even started to lift a little! There were plenty of things waiting for her back at her dorm. Things that wouldn't yell at her. But, this guy wanted to talk some more. Ugh. She kind of really didn't want to, but she wanted to be polite. So she turned once more and found him a bit closer than she had anticipated. He was still far away, though, but it was still a bit weird. Actually, no, he was just weird. But, then again, everyone was weird in their own way. This guy was just weird in the antisocial way. Or something like that. Illi was never an expert on social issues or whatever you'd call them. She didn't want to call them mental disorders. He probably didn't have a mental disorder. Maybe he was naturally mean. Poor guy. She wouldn't know what she'd do with herself if she ever was mean. It wasn't anywhere in her DNA. He was probably going to yell at her some more even if she told him the truth. So, she would.

"I've overheard lots of things. Some people say it's a ghost, others think it's a demon or something. The general consensus is that there's something out here." She could have gone on for hours telling him everything about the stories she's heard. Everything from the 'ripping apart kids who wander in' thing to the 'it's just really creepy' thing. She could tell him what she believed, but he probably wouldn't care. What she definitely stayed away from was the fact that just turning and talking to him again put her mood right back down to where it was a few minutes ago. There was just something about his tone... Like he was just hostile for no reason. Jerk. But she couldn't show that. What she was curious about was the exact reason as to why he had called her back, just to see where she learned of this story.

She already had formulated a bunch of theses. One, he could secretly be interested in Illi's investigations and he could just be putting on a face or something. He could be pretending to not like Illi or her search simply because that's the way he is to the school. So, he could be faking the whole jerk thing. Two, maybe he was narcissistic or something. He didn't want Illi to search because she was doing something wrong. But he might believe that he could do them right, and he would do them himself. Maybe later he'd make fun of Illi when he found evidence. Illi'd just find it cool, though, so no big deal there. Or, three, and probably the most likely of her theses, he was just a jerk and he was going to say something that would make Illi feel awful about herself after this. But, then again, once she gets out of the forest, she'd probably feel amazing again. Maybe she could stare at the stars for a while until she feels happy. That always made her feel really good. She didn't know why. Maybe just the sense of adventure that comes with an infinite number of worlds like the one she lived on. But the space programs of the world, in their infinite slowness, haven't yet developed a way to get people light years away in a blink of an eye. Siiiigh. Maybe, if this guy was so good, he'd work for one of those agencies and develop just that. That would be cool. Except Illi wouldn't be allowed on one of the space ships. Not many people would. What a jerk! Denying people space travel... No wonder Illi wasn't getting good vibes from him.

[thejokerlaughsatu]

Nathan listened with something close to contempt. He'd expected this girl to be stupid, perhaps even more of an idiot than he'd thought at first glance, but he hadn't expected the rest of the school to go right along with her idiocy. There was a massive difference between a ghost and a demon, and anybody who couldn't tell them apart was obviously either lying, or completely inept. "A 'demon or something'?" asked Nathan, and he didn't even attempt to keep the scorn out of his voice. This girl was giving him an endless source of mirth, if only because she was saying and doing incredibly stupid things. Then again, how was she to know what his interests were? He'd never even seen her before.

"For your information, if you'd seen a ghost or a 'demon or something', you would definitely know the difference. I think whoever told you this was lying to you. Let me guess: you heard it from a friend, who heard it from a friend, whose cousin's step-sister's best friend wandered out into the woods on a dare and never came back. Well, they're all lying idiots." He stopped himself from adding "just like you"; that would be a little too cruel, even for his taste. After all, she couldn't help being inept, especially not when it came to matters of the supernatural and the occult. It was his hobby to study, not hers.

[ilina yuliana arnaut.]

Anything set this guy off. It almost made Illi angry. She definitely pitied him, poor guy just... Alienated people. It wasn't right, something had to have made him like that. But whatever it was, Illi wasn't about to pry. This guy obviously had something against her. He probably wanted nothing more to do with her, and to be truthful, Illi wanted nothing more to do with him. She was only here because she was too darn polite for her own good. Illi didn't want to be mean to him, but she almost couldn't help it. He was being a complete jerk! Illi had to take the high road. She couldn't stoop to his level. And plus, Illi wasn't that good at being mean, anyway. She didn't want to try. That statement could be applied to anything regarding him, right now at least. She didn't want to try to get along with him, she didn't want to try to explain herself to him, she didn't want to talk to him. At all. All he was doing was being the biggest jerk in the universe to her and offering nothing in return.

One thing struck her as odd, though. He said that they're all lying idiots. They all? He must have hated everyone... Weird. She never knew anybody who literally hated everyone. She supposed it gave her a little bit of consolation. It was nothing person. It was just his job to hate. He was a hater. Plain and simple. He wanted to break the stride of the happy and belittle everyone else. In Illi's case, he wanted to do both. He thoroughly discredited the story in his mind, probably, but in Illi's mind it was something different. It was definitely sensationalized in every way, but there wasn't any harm in checking. He thought he knew everything, even down to Illi's motives! Perhaps he wasn't so intelligent himself. She had stayed silent through his little rant, and now she had to think of a response. And upon receiving nothing from her quick-thinking end, she simply sighed, turned, and started again right back down where she had originally intended to walk. Away. From him. She wanted nothing more to do with him. She just hoped he wouldn't call her back. Being herself, she'd feel almost compelled to turn back. That wouldn't end well.

She went through a short hypothetical. Let's just say he did call her back. He would probably call her back and say something like 'Are you listening to me?' and then Illi would absolutely burst inside. But that's on the inside. On the outside, she'd probably just say a few words along the lines of 'I don't want to talk to you' or something and she'd walk away. But she never knew. This guy could spout out a whole long epic about something. This guy was unpredictable. Illi usually liked people who weren't predictable, but this guy made a remarkable difference. And it was now that she realized that he was making all these judgments without even knowing her name. That could have been applied to many others, as well. Perhaps he didn't know their names, either. Maybe he didn't know anyone's name, he was just like this to everyone. So, could someone hypothetically start off on a good foot with him? The resounding conclusion was no. If she wanted to be friends with him, and at this point she really wanted nothing to do with him, she would have to work at it. For a long, long, long time. Probably until the end of the world or until she dies. Whichever came first. Though she didn't believe in all that "end of the world" crap. It just seemed unlikely to her. Who knows, maybe this guy could succeed as the leader of some country and launch nukes everywhere. He probably would, too, after making his country a police state. He was just that much of a jerk, and Illi wanted nothing to do with people who launched nukes at everyone around him- physically, hypothetically, or metaphorically.