week 5

[stagemanagers]

[That was...an absolute shitshow. More beloved friends are dead in a mess of a trial that's left Angus half the man he was, Riley in a free fall and the Phantom...somehow still standing despite taking two stabs to the torso.

When you wake on Sunday, you'll find that you've recovered another one of those memories - or had another dream, if you still wanna be in denial about it. The door blocking the stairwell on the second floor has been unsealed. You can now venture up to the third floor! You have so much space now, it's just a shame it's all come at the cost of eight lives.

But despite the tragedy you have made progress! The trip into the Phantom's lair yielded some hints to the past of the Opera House, your house manager's apparently grim hobby and the possibility of an ally outside the Opera House. Who knows what this week will bring?]

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday


(( Welcome to Week 5! Please remember to submit your AC and your memory regains, as well as your coins! You can also still contact the Phantom. ))

Comments

[garbageface]

We danced. She was there. But when I woke up this morning, she was gone.

[ As Stephen stands, Santana pulls two crumpled Breadstix coupons out of her pocket and presses them into his hands. ]

If you find her, you’ve gotta — you’ve gotta give her these. I’ve already searched the first floor. Come on.

[ with that, Santana heads in the direction of the fitness studio, unsteady on her feet. ]

[37773972]

[Stephen's at least aware enough to know he's seeing things that aren't real - that he's daydreaming, literally, at times - and it stands to reason that Santana might be, too. He wobbily pushes himself to his own feet, looking down at the coupons, then]

Santana, wait- wait!

[garbageface]

[ Thanks to her flu, Santana is more slow-moving than usual, so she’s only barely made it to the door when Stephen calls out. She turns around, confused. ]

No, we can’t wait, we don’t have time, we need to find her before she’s killed. You wouldn’t wait if it was — if you couldn’t find Mephisto.

[ Desperately: ]

She’s my Mephisto.

cw; hallucination

[37773972]

[Oh, doesn't that strike him. He's silent for a moment, before forcing himself to talk;]

She's not here, Santana. She's-

[His eyes flicker past, then back to her.]

-we're seeing things. It's the sickness. It's not real, she was never here.

[He sounds like he's trying to convince himself, too]

[garbageface]

[ Santana’s voice grows pitchy, hysterical. ]

Yes she is! We danced! For once, I was happy in my miserable fucking life, and no — no Phantom is going to take that away from me!

[37773972]

Santana!

[There's an edge to his voice, a sharp, angry tone she might not have heard before-]

He's fucking with us!

[-but it's pained, too. Because he knows- it's working]

[garbageface]

[ Santana hasn’t heard that edge before. And it’s enough to snap her gaze back into focus. Now, she’s properly looking at Stephen.

No one fucks with Santana Lopez. She lets out a heavy sigh. ]

It was — nice. While it lasted. [ quieter: ] I’m just scared I’ll never see her again.

[37773972]

[He stares at her for a minute, just collecting himself- then, swiftly, not caring that this is Santana Lopez?

He moves over and takes her in a fierce hug.]

I'll find a way to make it happen.

[garbageface]

[ Santana does not at all expect the hug, and she’s stiff for a few moments before slowly wrapping her arms around Stephen in return. People don’t usually do this. Santana’s parents are tough-love types, and back home, she’s managed to push almost everyone else in her life away before they could get this close. This is new. But it’s also kind of nice. ]

I don’t — I don’t think you can.

[ That’s Santana, ever the realist. ]

But, um, thanks. For being — nice.

[ Santana’s tripping over her words, now. This isn’t how she usually talks — something is pushing her, and while she’s still struggling to get the words out, it’s probably good that she says all this. ]