[MINGLE] PLOT: Siren's Call

[sixthiteration]

WHERE: Anywhere
WHEN: August 25-26
OPEN TO: ALL - MINGLE
WARNINGS: Mental manipulation, drowning, death
NOTES: Details here. This post is for EVERYONE, not just the affected. Please make sure and note if your thread is locked for plot purposes.

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It began slowly.

A wisp of song or familiar sound on the breeze swept in from the lake. No source to be found, only the uneasy feeling it had been heard before as it coiled itself steadily inside the minds of the chosen. The sound was a mantra, pulsing soft at first and then louder, growing over days until it seemed to fill the skull, relentless. Come here, the lake whispered, cajoled, shouted. It is cool and quiet beneath the waves.

Come here, it presses now in time with the melody until there is nothing but to blindly follow. The water is calling.

Comments

[living_proof]

"Wow, that's—" I pull back, blinking, my face still screwed up with worry. "That's like the worst Cure song there is." Whether it's a better option than 'Scarborough Fair,' I couldn't really say, but it helps explain the dopey look that had been on his face.

"I haven't seen it yet," I say, stepping back and pushing the damp hair from my face. "It's been chaos since I came to."

[zomboligist]

"Don't even remind me, it's got personal memories attached," he grimaces, thinking of how many times it's been on the radio. He definitely recalls hearing it when he'd been dating Peyton and thinking about how perfectly it fit.

God, he hates soppy romantic past him for making him all sad now. Ravi stumbles as he manages to get back to sand, tripping slightly as he finally gets himself back to rights. "Wait. Came to?" he echoes, giving her a suspicious look. "Liv, did you drown?"

[living_proof]

"No," I quickly reply, shaking my head. "I only got halfway there," I add, motioning to my clothes, still very wet from the chest down. "There was this song in my head, the Simon and Garfunkel one about parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme? And then I just snapped out of it and I was standing waist-deep in the water. I fell trying to get out and Bucky grabbed me and— I don't know what happened, Ravi." I swallow hard, glancing back down the shoreline, to the people in similar circumstances, dazed and confused.

"Do you remember how you got out here?"

[zomboligist]

"I mean, judging by the absence of a car, walking?" He knows he's being glib about almost dying, but it's better than acknowledging what had almost happened to him, seeing as he doesn't want to think about that for very long.

"I remember fighting it, trying to at least," he admits. "I was in the hospital and I barred myself up, but then it got to be too much and I just followed it, right up until you saved me," he says, eyes bright with relief. "I have a bad feeling this isn't just us, though, is it?"

[living_proof]

"No," I soberly reply, and lift a hand to take hold of his bearded chin and direct his gaze away, down the shoreline. While it would have been worrisome had this just been an us thing, a zombie thing, we would have at least had some sort of place to start. This... I don't know what this is.

"It happened to Bucky, too. And I'm guessing all those other people."

[zomboligist]

He snaps his gaze away from the shore, but it really does take Liv's hand on him. If not for her, he thinks he'd be frolicking right back into those murky waters to try and lose himself in the sea. Not good, not good at all.

He gives Liv a curious look as he thinks about their scrubs, but then his don't match the pattern, so it's not that. "You think it could be everyone? Or are there some people who are immune?" He never thought he'd be thinking about a vaccine for a siren song, but here he is.

[living_proof]

"I mean, it doesn't look like everyone, but we'll have to take a head count to know for sure." Which I had promised Bucky I would do, and should probably get a move on now that I feel relatively confident that Ravi won't resume his bathing beauty routine.

"I need to go back to the inn, get the list. If you think you're okay, you should probably stay here in case someone needs medical." Not the way I'd prefer it, walking alone feeling the way I do, but needs must and all that.

[zomboligist]

He needs something that'll smack the song right out of his head. Maybe it's old-fashioned, but his eyes brighten when he thinks about the old myths, though he's not about to shove actual wax up there, not when he spends most of his days trying to make sure his ears stay waxless.

"Do you have something we can jam in my ears? Maybe if they're covered, I won't try and take another mid-day soak," he jests, like this is the sort of thing they can already joke about, despite him nearly drowning a few moments ago.

[living_proof]

"Your fingers," I reply, mouth quirking down. I get that he's joking and I understand the impulse, but I am really not there yet.

"Look, why don't you go get the list and I'll stay? You have longer legs anyway, and I have a boyfriend who will pull me out if I go for another dip."

[zomboligist]

He doesn't like that either, but from a self-preservation standpoint, it's probably the better plan. Ravi doesn't say it out loud, but he assumes it's fairly well known that Liv is the stronger of the two of them, will-wise, so he'd best go back and get the list, she can stay.

"Be careful, okay?" he insists, like he's having second thoughts (again). "I really don't want to replace my tiny zombie friend. Placing the small ad would be a nightmare in a place like this."