Escaping Osiris

A fall into madness

Atticus
I saw my sister, her hair falling off her shoulders in an angelic manner, blue eyes brimming with tears of happiness. And then Ivy spoke, her soft voice a whisper in the new feelings of this mansion, but the things she said. Oh the things she said, that would alert us all.

Look up, she said. And we did, as the harsh inky letters blotted across airborne paper spelled out our destinies. As they slowly vanished away, like a giant hand scrubbed them with an invisible eraser.

Ah six of you now, perfect. Here is your message, this is the last year for you all, in 4 months time if you have not connected all objects to their respective counterparts then you shall perish. And so will the rest of the world, your unknown families gone, your buildings gone, your friends gone, your love gone, your world. Gone. Get the objects, and here is a clue, each one represents one of you.

"Well that was flipping cheerful." Ivy kicked a chair.

"Calm yourself." My beautiful sister fixed the chair.

"It was only a chair." Lucas said quietly.

I knew immediately I didn't like Lucas. The way he talked and looked at my sister, I knew he hated her. So I hated him. That was all there was too it.

Lucas
I stepped a little further from Atticus as he shot me a nasty glare. I didn't know what it was about their family, but I didn't like them, and they didn't like me. Sure Ariza was nice and pretty and all but there was something beneath that, I hadn't quite placed my finger on it, but it was there.

"Perhaps we should all go to bed now." Elery suggested.

"I have a couple of questions." Atticus said, turning to Ariza, Avner, and Ivy. Elery and I looked at each other in a silent conversation. These were the people Atticus trusted, these were not us. Somehow in that brief moment Elery and I got closer. She was the outsider, the one no one really liked, but I made a new friend in that moment. A brown haired, braided, fierce glared, friend.

"What do you want to know?"

He asked the normal question that Ivy asked and Elery asked and Ariza asked and Avner asked and Sawyer had asked. I barely thought about the three girls before us who gave us all the directions, but I remembered them perfectly.

Nadia. She was the bright and cheery eleven year old, with tan skin and black hair, her eyes warming like a quilt. Somehow I was never great friends with her. She and Avner were too busy flirting, like Avner did to every girl he met, but especially with Nadia.

Celeste. I had like Celeste. With her short, different length pieces of hair and big green eyes she looked like an Anime character. She was quiet like Ariza, but not as mysterious. Always debating with herself and arguing and whispering under her breath, I somehow loved her like a sister.

Lyla. We were inseparable, my partner in crime but very different personalities and looks. She had had shoulder length frizzy orange hair, green eyes, and a splash of freckles across her face. Always optimistic and energetic I had secretly maybe had a crush on her just a little bit but not majorly but kind of a lot. Maybe. And then they left.

They were going to search for things in the mansion. And never returned. Screams echoed the halls as sadness settled. And then Sawyer left, and Avner and I were left alone.

I stood there dazed as everyone walked out, Avner came back in slowly.

"Uh, Lucas?"

"Sorry, I was thinking about The Fury Squad." That was what they had called themselves, and we had made fun of them at the time, but it was nostalgic now.

"Oh." His face fell as it always did when we talked about Nadia.

"Let's show Atticus his bed."

It felt weird to give Atticus Sawyer's bed. There was now no empty meadow bed. I had been sea and Avner, rock. And now Atticus meadow.

"I hope you all know that I am not a complete jerk." Atticus said as he hung in the doorway awkwardly.

"Make yourself at home my man, we were all first timers at one point."

Atticus nodded and slowly sat down on his bed. If only we hadn't slept that night.

Elery
I thought the new guy was kind of cute.
As I climbed into my sea bed for the first time, and told the other girls goodnight, I thought about if I had siblings.

"You guys ready for me to turn out the lamp?" Ivy said, her hand hovering over the switch.

"Hang on, I wonder if we have pajamas in the trunks."

We all climbed out and threw the heavy lid up, and saw a few pairs of extra clothes and some pajamas. The three of us sighed in unison, happy that we could finally get out of these un-modest dresses. I pulled on the cotton night gown and leggings, and then Ivy switched out the light.

I thought for a long long time as I lay in bed. I could hear the distant growls of monsters, but the only thing I thought was of Lucas, and our silent friendship pact. I wasn't the outsider, I was being tucked under the wing of someone.

That night all I had dreams about was the maze of hallways and doors I had never witnessed, and I wanted to go in. I wanted the adrenaline. I wanted the love from the other five when I found an object. I wanted to be the one to break us out of here.

And so in the middle of the night I crept into the hallway, only to find the white faced Atticus in my path.

"What's wrong?" I hissed.

"I had a vision." He whimpered. I thought he would be tougher than this, being fifteen. But his emotional side was cute.

"Of what?"

"The end, of the end."

"End of what?"

"What happens if we don't find the objects. I saw that."

"So why are you in the hallway."

His freckles face hardened. "Why are you in the hallway?"

"I was going into the Mansion."

He grinned. "So was I."

And we went through the black door with a silver swirl. Into the Mansion of Osiris. Having no idea if we would return with an object or return at all. And I was carefree.