Adventure Pending...

Chpt. 7

When Jackson wakes up it's straight from a nightmare eight hours later. They gasp, inhaling a bunch of spit in the process which sends them into a loud, wet coughing fit. They managed to roll over onto their side, reaching up to shove hair out of their face and try to breathe.

Someone pats them on the back, making them flinch and hold a finger up. Their throat felt raw, but the coughs finally slowed down, and Jackson fumbled to try and find the container with their hearing aids in it.

They spot Frankie crouched beside them when they sit up, her lips moving until she seems to realize what the normie-passing character was looking for. It takes its hand off their back, reaching for something behind them, before handing them the container they hadn't found in their pockets.

The hearing aids buzzed with extra electricity when they made it into their ears, and Jackson flinched when they screeched a moment later (Holt woke up with a swear at the sharp noise, which was just adding to the annoyance).

When they finally stopped buzzing and screeching they hear Frankie's voice, "Even I heard that," as they look towards Clawdeen, whose ears had flattened.

"Morning, Jackson," comes another voice. Cleo, by the sounds of it. "That was certainly dramatic,"

Jackson huffs out of a hoarse laugh, "Yeah, sorry," they let their hair fall back over their golden eye, wiping at their mouth. They became acutely aware of the slightly damp air brushing over their ears, and conclude that the clips keeping the long appendages hidden had probably fallen out in their sleep. (If they weren't so tired, they would've noticed that when they put their hearing aids in, but they just woke up so cut 'em some slack)

Nobody seemed to be commenting on it though, and they'll take what few wins they can get right now.

"Do you want a water?" Frankie asks worriedly. Their ears twitched at her voice and they nod.

Finally looking around, Jackson sees that everybody is awake, Draculaura is on her Cophin and Ghoulia on her PC (Jackson wonders if they have a different word for laptops, since phones have a different name, but they don't really care enough to ask). Cleo and Clawdeen were watching the hybrid on the floor, and their remaining member was getting them water.

"Nightmare?" Ghoulia inquires, and Jackson hums in confirmation, nodding their head vaguely.

"Oof," Clawdeen replies, and Jackson laughs. "We've been up for an hour or so, Draculaura and Ghoulia are scouring the internet," she explains.

"Find anything?" they asked, reaching up to rub at their eyes and yawn.

"Not yet," Draculaura frowns, pulling her phone from her field of view, "A lot of websites won't load, and the ones that do haven't been updated in two days! Two! I can't check Critter like this, nobody is talking!" he pouts.

"Two days? That's not right.." Frankie frowns, reentering the room. She hands Jackson a plastic cup with little green dinosaurs on it, "People have only been gone for a day, less than even,"

Jackson and Clawdeen's ears both drooped, "Has anybody else noticed time feeling a little weird, or is that just us?" their ears twitch down and they run a hand down their face, "Me,"

"It feels weird, but the clock is going at the same rate," Frankie shrugs, "Also I don't know how to explain but," she gestures with her hands, "Has anybody else noticed, like.. It feels like the streetlights moved? Or something else changed? Like something just feels slightly off whenever I look outside," her hands fall back into her lap.

Various yes's (and one no from Cleo) reply to her, "Things smell different, too," Clawdeen points out, "Like the air is," she sniffs the air, frowning, "Damp and.. Sticky, the air feels sticky," she decides.