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Getting sucked into a trial feels like drowning. Claudette thinks her body is getting pulled into a whirlwind, pushed through heavy fog, before the entity throws her into whatever realm it feels fit right now. And like every time, Claudette hits hard ground with a thud that makes her groan.
"Can't be a bit gentler, can you?"
She rubs the back of her head, slowly sitting up. The light is matt orange, and she doesn't have to look far to see she's been sent to the cornfields.
"My favorite..." She sighs and gets to her feet. No use moping about it. Idling around will only alert the crows.
Crouching, she phases into the rows of corn, making her way to the signal pole of the nearest generator. She remembers the very first time she touched one of those things, her fingers oily, electrocuting herself every few seconds. That feels like a lifetime ago. She's fairly skilled with those things now, after fixing them countless times.
Her hearing strained, she settles on the generator and starts to poke her fingers into the broken machine.
"Boo!"
Claudette jolts. Thankfully, the generator doesn't blow up in her face, whipping her head around. Yui is equipped with a wide grin, patting her hands against Claudette's shoulders.
"Yui! You scared me-" She stops. Yui is bleeding. She's clutching her shoulder, and Claudette probably will never shed the icy feeling seeing blood pool out of living breathing bodies.
"It's that k-pop amateur", Yui scoffs, "Took a couple knives for Kate. You got a moment?"
Claudette quickly reaches into her pocket for a bandage. "Kate is here too?", she inquires, gently pushing down Yui's jacket to patch the wound up.
"She is, alright. The guy seems awfully fixed on her. Probs likes her voice. What a weirdo." She shakes her head. "I was bleeding too hard to stay over, but we should probably give her a hand."
Claudette nods. She ties up the bandage, and Yui experimentally rolls her shoulder. "Good as new", she notes, "They're over at the building. Let's go."
Claudette throws a mournful glance back at her half fixed generator. But Kate is more important. Yui and Kate have become her family in this unkind world. Whenever they aren't in a trial, they spend their time together at the campfire. It almost feels normal, spending time together like nothing is wrong.
Those are far and few moments between the every day horrors of the trials, but Claudette thinks if she didn't have them, she would simply lose her mind.
Yui is crouching behind the rotten fence and waves Claudette over to her. Kate is up on the second floor of the building, peeking out over the balcony.
"Hey! Songbird! You good?", Yui calls out. Kate glances down, her eyes narrowed. Her face is all bloody, and she's clutching her stomach. She signs a thumbs up, and Yui motions Claudette to follow her into the building. A generator springs on in the distance and Claudette holds her breath.
No screams. No crows. It's unusually quiet. Yui said it's Ji-Woon. He's a ranged killer, shouldn't she be hearing his knives at least?
The two of them make their way up the stairs, where Kate is huddled in the corner of the balcony, panting hard. Ji-Woon really seems to have given her a run for her money... But where did he go?
"Got you good, huh?" Yui softly brushes Kate's bloody hair out of her face. "Sorry sweetheart, I had to get the pro for help. Y'know how bad I am with botany."
Kate huffs and tilts her head to the side, her eyes trailing over to Claudette. "What would we do without you?", she asks. She sounds delirious, and Claudette gently lifts her shirt. The wound on Kate's stomach is deep. Nothing she can't handle, but... It's inhuman.
They endure this pain over and over until they grow numb to the horrors. The entity toys with them however it pleases, turning its hourglass every time it sends four of them into its cruel trials. And when the time runs out, the ground turns to molten lava and the tendrils will skewer them anyway.
It's pointless.
It would be, if Claudette was alone.
She digs another bandage out of her pocket, and with Yui's help, they manage to stop the bleeding. Another generator pops in the distance and Claudette glances over the balcony. "Strange. What is he doing?"
She's still not sure who is with them in the trial. Yui offers Kate her hand and helps her up. "The entity could really give us a ride", Yui notes, rolling her eyes, "All this senseless walking around."
"You think I could have Maurice? I'd really like a horse", Kate responds.
Yui laughs. "Yuck, that rotten thing? I was thinking of something useful, like a bike."
"Won't help you in the swamp."
"But it would look dope, ever considered that?"
Kate laughs this time. Claudette sighs. Her heart beats faster just watching them, makes her feel warm despite the coldness of the atmosphere. There's no sun in the world of the trials, no warmth. Only coldness, death, decay. Sometimes she feels her own blood and Yui and Kate are the only warm things in this space.
A scream pierces the looming silence and Claudette perks up in alert.
"Jake", Yui says, "Damn it. He really stalled nicely for us."
Claudette throws a glance at Kate, accessing her status. "My generator was half finished, maybe you two could go and I'll check on Jake."
Yui narrows her eyes. "Fine, but don't do anything harsh. Y'know what that idol weirdo is up to."
"Sure do."
Yui wraps Kate's arm around her shoulder to stabilize her as they make their way downstairs, where Claudette parts ways with them. She makes her way through the corn, tries to disturb the plants as little a possible as to not make too much noise.
Once she steps out, she finds Jake hanging from a nearby hook. Frowning, she slowly draws closer. She hadn't heard him scream twice, and where is Ji-Woon overall? He puts very little pressure on the generators.
Upon closer inspection, Jake's mouth is taped shut. His eyes widen and he starts squirming, whimpering and shaking his head. Claudette throws a glance over her shoulder, but everything seems quiet. The crows are still sitting on the fence, and there's nobody on the balcony. Where is he?
Gritting her teeth, she raises her arms and unhooks Jake. Jake immediately tears the tape off his face and grabs Claudette's shoulders. "It's a trap-!"
Claudette opens her mouth to respond, but she gets cut off by a sharp pain piercing the back of her leg. She screams, throwing her head around to see Ji-Woon standing there, leaned against a tree. Another generator pops, probably the one Claudette instructed her companions to fix, but Ji-Woon takes no note of it. His bright yellow eyes won't stop burning holes into the two survivors.
"You do make the most beautiful sounds, botany princess", Ji-Woon coos, "Won't you let me record your screams for a while?"
Jake pushes Claudette behind himself, spreading his arms protectively in front of her. "Get lost, freak. You and me weren't done yet."
Ji-Woon cocks an eyebrow. "We weren't?"
"Claudette!" Yui appears out of the corn, Kate following a little slower. Claudette whines, reaches down and pulls the knife out of her bleeding leg. It shimmers pink in the dim light of the realm, her blood pooling from the edges. She has no time to bandage that.
"Shit", Jake grunts, "Gimme that." He grabs the knife from Claudette's hand and throws it at Ji-Woon.
To Claudette's horror, the knife connects flat with the killer's eye, and Ji-Woon stops moving completely. The sky flickers, and Claudette jolts when all crows suddenly start cawing, flapping their wings and rising to the sky, where they circle in a dark swarm.
"Hey, country girl!" Yui is sitting at a treasure chest behind the fence after the crows finally gave space, holding up a key. Kate's eyes light up and Yui tosses it to her.
"You went too far." Ji-Woon's voice sounds completely flat. His accent is thicker now, and he slowly pulls the knife out of his eye. There's only gore left in place, more blood pooling from the empty socket. "I can't let that go, Jakey."
Jake spits to the ground. "Try me, asshole."
Ji-Woon produces his bat from behind himself and charges. Jake pushes Claudette towards Yui, throwing himself into the fight. The bat roughly connects with Jake's side, causing him to stagger. Blood pools form his lips, but his face stays determined. He's a tough fight, even for Ji-Woon.
"Kate got the hatch", Yui urges, grabbing Claudette's hand, "Come on." Yui pulls her along, but Claudette throws a last glance back at Jake. He sacrificed himself for the girls. They can't leave him behind.
"Jake! Come on!"
Jake doesn't listen. He manages to take the weapon from Ji-Woon, swinging the bat and letting it collide with the killer's skull. Ji-Woon stumbles, but Jake keeps hitting him. More and more, and Claudette's attention is promptly attracted by the sky again.
There's a bright light rising from the far back. Like a sunrise.
Yui has stopped, her fingers clasped around Claudette's wrist tightly. "Daylight", she gasps. Claudette nods in mute shock. There has never been day in this realm.
"Maybe because Jake-" Yui gets cut off by a piercing scream. Jake and Ji-Woon are fighting on the ground, Ji-Woon repeatedly stabbing Jake with a throwing knife.
"Go!", Jake screams. His movements become sluggish. He's slowing down.
Claudette resists Yui's grasp, but she doesn't let go. "We have to go. Claud, the sky isn't right. Something's wrong."
The crows suddenly turn silent. One by one, they start falling form the sky, falling dead to the ground. The daylight. The light is killing them.
"We have to go", Yui urges, and Claudette doesn't resist this time. They can't save Jake. They can't let his sacrifice be in vain.
They disappear into the corn, where a terrified Kate is guarding the hatch. Yui insists that Kate goes first, then Claudette and she herself at last. The familiar feeling drowning envelops Claudette, to send her back to the campfire.
Only... They don't return to the campfire.
Claudette blinks against the darkness. There's no moon, but the starts twinkle on a clear sky. The ground beneath her is hard. A road, maybe? Her leg is pounding, damp wetness soaking her jeans. She ignores the pain, adrenaline pumping her veins.
"Yui!" She hurriedly looks around. "Kate!"
"Over here!", Kate's voice sounds. Claudette gets up, limping, and finds that she really is in the middle of a road. She stumbles off the street and finds Yui and Kate next to it on a patch of grass.
"What happened?", Kate asks. She looks pale and her wounds have soaked her shirt and bandage.
Claudette looks around, listening. There's no noise. "Jake..."
Yui frowns. "Sorry, sweetheart. He wanted us to go."
"I know..." She reaches out both of her hands, and the girls both take each one of hers, interlacing their fingers.
"I think... We made it out", Yui states. She holds her free hand up as if it was raining, except it isn't. "No campfire. No whispering."
"We made it turn to dawn by fighting back", Kate says, "Jake let us escape the entity."
Claudette lets her head drop. "I failed him."
"You didn't." Yui squeezes her hand. "Jake's smart. I'm sure he'll find a way to follow us. Freein' everyone. Hopefully, that Trickster freak is going to hell." She takes a deep breath.
And before Claudette knows it, Yui presses a kiss against her cheek. "Tough game, girl. You're on fire."
"Hey! Don't take her all to yourself!" Kate quickly mirrors Yui, pressing a kiss to Claudette's other cheek. "I can't believe we made it..."
"This means we gotta get a bike this instant", Yui proclaims, "I gotta take my girlfriends bikin'!"
"I demand a horse, then!", Kate bickers with her.
Claudette blinks away tears. Did they really make it out? Is this the end of all those horrors? "I think some flowers would be nice..."
Yui chuckles, and Kate joins in. "Got it. I won't rest until you got your flowers. Though for now, we really should find a hospital. Can't believe I'd ever be excited for a tetanus shot."
They step back onto the road. If they just follow it, they must arrive at civilization at some point. Where to go from there? Claudette doesn't know. Her heart weeps for Jake. For what he gave to let them get away. Did Ji-Woon kill him? Did Jake return to the campfire? Is he alive? Will she ever see him again?
Claudette escaped, but she isn't alone. Never again.
She has her most beloved friends... girlfriends?... by her side, and they just proved that together, they can do anything.