2020-02-21 - Under Pressure

It's been a relatively normal day. Jonathan headed out for a bit of a run since he still does what he can to stay in shape. But that was hours ago, and he wasn't supposed to be gone that long, was he?

(TXT to Jonathan) Katy : Hey, babe, you've been gone almost all afternoon. You coming home soon?

Having spent all day at the computer, slaving over code and design work, Katy hadn't realised that Jonathan had been gone a while until she went for a snack and realized that he hadn't returned from his run. He had left after lunchtime and had been gone for roughly four hours. She decides to leave a text message while snacking on some grapes.

It takes a bit of time before the response to that text comes. As if it took some time for Jonathan to get hold of his phone.

(TXT to Katy) Jonathan : Help! Fell down and hurt my leg. I've been trying to figure out how to get out of here... Out in the woods, along the trail I usually run...

(TXT to Jonathan) Katy : Hang in there, I'll be there ASAP.

And Katy grabs a jacket and her keys, and her purse before she leaves the apartment to go towards Firefly Forest.

(TXT to Katy) Jonathan : I'm not going anywhere. Please be here soon.

Thankfully, it's not that far to get to the Forest. The trail Jonathan usually runs leads a bit deeper into the woods than the most normal for a walk. It's a bit of a winding trail, following a hill.

Katy recognises the usual trail Jonathan tends to run on and she follows it, jogging along, keeping an eye out for him.

For a long while, there's no sign of anyone. Then, there's an area where there's a sharp turn next to where there's a bit of a steep drop from the trail. The forest is a bit darker here, but doesn't it look like a person down at the bottom?

Although it isn't advised to do so, Katy uses the deepest depths of her capabilities to scan for any living consciousness as far as she can see.

There is a living consciousness down the drop. "Hello?" The voice seems a bit hoarse, like he's been calling out more times in the last long while. "Hello?" Sounding a bit more nervous this second time. "Is anyone there...?"

"Jon!? Jonathan, is that you???" Katy calls out in a bit of a panic as she slowly attempts to reach the voice as she attempts to go down the steep drop herself.

"Yes," Jonathan calls out, looking up in the direction of where her voice is coming from. "Careful, it's rather slippery..." And that's true, most of the drop is coated in some wet, muddy soil, making it quite slippery. Probably how he fell down in the first place.

Moving slowly towards Jonathan, Katy reaches him eventually, and she looks to him, checking him. "Is anything broken?" she asks him, a bit panicked.

"Katy, is that really you?" Jonathan looks to be quite bruised and battered, with some cuts in various places along his body. "I... my knee... I tried getting up, but it didn't... I would have called, but I couldn't find my phone." The ground looks like he's dragged himself a short distance. "I'm sorry..."

"Jon, sweetheart, I'm going to try something, but I need to you to trust me," Katy says calmly to him, "Can you do that?"

Jonathan grimaces. "When I tried to stand up, the leg just wouldn't support me..." he mutters. "I tried to stay on my feet, but I couldn't... I'm sorry..." He sounds more worried about not being able to stand than the actual pain. "How will we get up?" Then he seems to realize what she said. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to try to fix this...with my mind." Katy explains carefully.

"Mind... Got it..." Jonathan replies. "I'm sorry I couldn't get to my phone early enough... I tried... I promise."

From one of the nearby trees, there's a rustling sound. Is that a bird in between the branches? Probably...

Katy seems to fix all of the superficial cuts and bruises but...his knee. "Oh shit," she curses under her breath. Before she could figure out what to do next, she hears the noise and becomes very still. Only the sound of her breathing can be heard from her, and she's trying hard not to panic.

"Oh shit?" There's a pause as Jonathan hears those words, and he looks to her, blinking a bit. He blinks at the noise, glancing around, even more nervously. 'What is that?' he mouths, staying entirely still for now. Starting to look a bit more nervous now.

Katy shrugs quietly as she begins to focus on Jonathan, her energy sliding into his mind like a cool summer breeze, and he can hear her in his mind. < I am going to help you up, slowly. Couldn't fix your knee but we should try to move. >

Jonathan nods slowly, as he hears her voice in his mind. He still looks a bit panicked, but he doesn't shout or anything like that. Just nodding a bit slowly.

Meanwhile, there's once again that noise from the trees, but this time, it seems to be on the other side of them.

Helping Jonathan up and supporting him as much as she can, she tries to help him stand. The noise startles her and she lets out an audible gasp.

Jonathan whimpers as he's helped to his feet. Trying to keep quiet he glances towards the trees, letting out a bit of a pained cry as he hears that gasp.

Katy tries to lead Jonathan towards a path of some sort. Firefly Forest seems to look and feel darker than she's used to. Maybe it's the fact that the canopy tends to block out the sunlight, but she's not entirely sure. She knows that weird things happen in Gray Harbor though, so she is alert.

"Hurts..." Jonathan mutters once more, voice a bit pained. "Need... doc..." he begins, going silent again as he tries to keep from crying out once more.

And the noise keeps on moving around in the trees. What can it be?

< I am going to check out what's out there. You sit down and relax. > Katy leads Jonathan to a tree to help him sit down; he's clearly not going to walk for a while.

"Don't leave me... please..." Jonathan is sounding more scared than he usually does, as he is helped to sit down. "What is that noise from the trees?"

"Shhhh, babe, I won't be far." After giving Jonathan a comforting hug and a kiss on his forehead, Katy stands about five feet away to investigate the noises.

Still looking quite scared, Jonathan calms down a bit at the hug and kiss on his forehead. Carefully, he watches her head those few feet away, wincing as he does. "Be careful..." he says, quietly. "What's making the noise?"

And now that she has looked to investigate, whatever it is that makes the noise seems to be moving a bit away againm, as if scared or something like that.

Walking back to Jonathan, Katy whispers to him, "20 yards to the clearing that will lead us back to the path. Can you walk?"

"Do I have a choice?" Jonathan replies, offering her a bit of a pained smile. "I think I can do it... at least for a while..."

Katy tries to help Jonathan walk again. "You know, I'm going to have to call your mother about this at some point, probably when we get to the car."

Jonathan nods a bit slowly. "Let's just get to the car first, okay?" It's said through a grimace, as he glances around once more. "What was that thing making the noises?" he asks, quietly as he moves, leaning on Katy every time he needs to put down that injured leg.

"Just keep walking," Katy says in a hushed voice as they walk, and she tries to ignore the sound.

Jonathan nods a little as he hears that, walking in silence for now. Tehy're almost past the trees now.

Ushering Jonathan out to the clearing towards the path, Katy remains silent and alert, listening for something.

And there the rustling returns again, but this time, it sounds like it comes from both sides...

Jonathan lets himself be ushered along. Keeping quiet aside from a few pained whimpers every now and then.

Despite her best efforts, Katy is starting to feel rattled too, and the sense of urgency heightens as they move. "Hang in there, Jon," she whispers, "We're almost here."

Starting to hurry a bit, as he hears the noises again, Jonathan ends up moving a little too fast, and his knee makes him fall over once more, with a thud. There are two more thuds behind them, as the things that caused the rustling noises drop to the ground. They look like lizards, about three feet tall, and a bit muscular. And they have lots of rather sharp looking teeth.

With a startled gasp, Katy tries to help Jonathan to his feet again at first but when the lizards come, she instead stands protectively in front of his prone form, facing the danger in front of her.

Jonathan tries getting to his feet, but freezes a bit when the lizards appear. "What are those?" It's offered quietly as he works on getting to his feet. "Get back..." he offers to Katy, grimacing a bit.

Katy simply helps Jonathan up and focuses on getting him back on his feet.

And forward the two lizard creatures come, cautiously. They're soon joined by two others, moving closer. Closer, and closer still... And then everything goes dark...

When the darkness fades, they're back in their bedroom. Jonathan's face down into his pillow, his left knee a bit swollen, but they are home, and no sharp-toothed lizards in sight.

A wave of paranoia hits Katy as she sits up in bed and the first thing she does is listen for Jonathan's breathing. But she moves slowly, as to not wake him.