chapter 29- Second trigger

Everyone pulled back in shock, examining the eerie markings. Mine glowed a vibrant purple hue, depicting what looked like an ornate vintage clock face with two hands and strange letters or numbers from some bygone culture. Even more bizarrely, the clock's hands seemed to be slowly ticking, the tattoo itself animated in an unsettling way.

"Get it off, get it off!" Tommy panicked, but his frantic attempts achieved nothing. His icon burned a fiery red.

"We can't! It's stuck! If my mother sees this, she might actually drown me in holy water this time," Ellie cried. Hers shimmered a pinkish tone.

I looked around at the others - Khaza's glowed a deep blue, Maddie's was inky black like a tainted woodblock print, and Maxwell's shone with a golden luster on the back of his hand. The symbols were unique yet identical.

"What's happening?" someone asked meekly.

"Quiet, don't move," I instructed, hoping this bizarre effect wouldn't last long.

Through the abandoned dollar store's broken windows, discarded cans, decaying shelves and scattered chairs were now illuminated in our group's diverse, luminous colours.

"Guys...what's happening outside? Why is everything changing?" Maxwell asked in a tremulous voice.

Though Maddie had warned of this precise scenario, from an outsider's perspective it must seem utterly lunatic.

But whether you remembered the previous events or not, that was in the past. This was the present, and it was happening again.

"I thought you said this would happen tonight, that you just felt it coming?" I questioned Maddie sharply.

"I said when I got back I had this looming sense of impending doom, like a calling. But that doesn't mean I know everything!" she snapped back. "James, make sure everyone grabs hold of something sturdy and doesn't let go."

Bang! The abandoned store shook violently as the glass storefront imploded. Outside, a swirling vortex of stars consumed the view, spinning faster and faster until everything blurred.

Then darkness.

Chapter 12: (James)

We were standing back in the tavern of that other world, or dimension - we weren't quite sure what to call it. But as soon as we arrived, Ellie and the rest who didn't remember started screaming, then passed out cold.

Khaza and Maddie, however, seemed utterly unsurprised, following the same pattern as before. But they seemed more surprised that most of the injuries from last night were gone. Well, Khaza barely had a scratch, but he didn't seem sick at least. Maddie, on the other hand, was testing her voice, and it was fine.

"Khaza, I want you to gather any broken wood, chairs, anything to barricade and fortify the windows and doors. Maddie, check the game table, see if anything has changed from before and inform me. While you do that, I'll make sure none of our passed out friends get kidnapped. We can't have that, can we?"

"Aye aye, captain," Khaza acknowledged gruffly.

"Copy that," Maddie replied.

I stood watch over the unconscious members of our group, wondering - when they awoke, would they be changed? Would any of them regain memories of the first horrific journey here? Or would everything experienced in this alternate dimension be forgotten, every conversation, traumatic event, utterly erased from their minds upon return?

Only time would tell what fresh terrors awaited us all in this nightmarish realm.

I started tapping my leg on the ground. I was entranced, confused. I hated responsibility, hated being relied upon, but I was good at demanding others to do work while reaping the awards myself. It wasn't the life I had envisioned for myself though; it wasn't that simple and easy.

I need to outline what we will be doing once the other half of the crew wakes up, and hopefully they return in a few hours. Maybe this cycle of returning will repeat every day,

It's crazy, but a possibility we need to be sure of.

Step one, once the other half of the crew wakes up, see what their condition is. Step two, if everything goes well, we can test out some of our abilities in a safe corner so we don't blow up the tavern. Step three, once we have an understanding of the limits of ourselves, we need to see the limits of this dimension - how long, how far we can go into the woods, but not yet. Step four, most importantly, if the game setup can be used to aid us in any possible way. It's only the second night, so we have time, but if the Realm Master is still here, then it might not have the patience.

Stressing over questions is a dumb thing to do, but it's the only thing to do.

"I was kinda confused about what you all meant, but I get the gist of it," Tommy said as he woke up, his voice rasping like a freshly awoken person's would sound.

"Tommy, you're awake! Took you long enough. How are you doing? Remember anything? No wait, are you hurt? You need to rest more," I said frantically.

"Stop, stop talking right now. I'm having the worst hangover; I can't right now. But yes, I remember it all from the first time we were here," Tommy groaned.

I knelt down to check for any fever or abnormal signs, and once I was done, I knew he seemed fine. We can only pray, hopefully our prayers can be heard from here. Plus we got Maxwell as a medium, just in case.he is a priest after all.