Hanging By A Thread - A BFTAF Team Challenge Story Part 1
Gathered in a small coffee shop on the north end of New York City, four unsuspecting strangers from four very different corners of the earth find themselves caught in the middle of a brutal murder scene, when a clerk unlocks the back storeroom to find blood drenching the walls, and the victim's body abandoned. Brought together for questioning by the police, the four use their fear to fabricate a ring of support that encircles them and binds them together. In a decision triggered by anxious curiosity, these strangers decide to find out for themselves exactly what happened in that place, and set off on a search-driven enterprise of their own. But when one of them stumbles upon a shocking revelation, it twists the entire investigation.
(This story is in roleplay form, for those wondering.)
Feel free to meet the characters before you begin reading. This is, of course, optional, and so therefore does not count for slides.... right? D:
Also, each teammate controlled the voice of one character in this story. Visit the character list to see who voiced who. :)
Marie: Marie stood at the counter ordering a cafe au lait. Her voice betrayed a hint of creole leading knowledgeable observers to guess her New Orleans roots. "Just ah little bit oh honey, mesi." Marie took the cup of milky coffee from the barista and moved to a nearby table. She took a few sips of her cafe au lait sweetened with honey and settled down to enjoy a mechanical book. Just a little light reading...
Magdeline: "Das ist warum ich zuhause geblieben sein sollte," Magdeline muttered under her breath as she forced through a throng of people passing on the gritty sidewalk, lifting her collar higher about her neck and folding her arms close to her chest, "This is why I should have stayed at home." Her back arched against the chill and she swept away a short, stray hair that was pressed flat against her forehead from the rain. Glancing up at the numerous flashing signs looming above her, Madgeline noticed a warm light coming from a shop not two feet in front of her. Using a series of quick movements, she detoured around a few busying individuals, and was met by a yellow glow emanating about her. Shedding her long jacket, Magdeline squinted her eyes against the light and stepped toward a man who was absentmindedly scrubbing at a counter with a thin cloth.
Kat: Kat was sitting at a table far in the corner, sketching the couple across the room. Her abandoned cup sat there; she always finished her drinks before she sketched, for fear that she would end up spilling it all over her book. She tapped her pencil lightly on the table; this sketch wasn't quite going the way she had planned. Just then, the couple finished and got up to leave. Great, so much for that. Maybe I'll just finish it up later, she thought miserably, In the meantime, I need another mocha latte.
Magdeline: "Excuse me," Magdeline approached the barista, "I think I am lost, do you know where I can find 5th Avenue?" The man cocked his head at her thick German accent. "You're on it," he smiled, "New York City's a big place, I don't blame you for not knowing where you are," he added after he saw her cheeks flush. "You look cold, why don't you have something to warm you up?" The man dropped the cloth and made his way to a coffee machine.
"I might," Magdeline looked about the room and noticed a woman in the corner busily writing, or at least that's what it seemed. Her attention returned lazily to the barista as he asked, "What would you like?" Magdeline looked at him uncertainly, "I don't know. Anything." The man deposited a steaming cup of black coffee on the counter. "Milk and sugar's over there," he indicated a small shelf of condiments with a flick of his head. Magdeline nodded gratefully and placed a five dollar bill in his hand. The man attempted to give her the change but the lines of her mouth smoothed into a slight frown as she replied, "I do not want it." Taking the coffee firmly in her left hand, Magdeline slowly edged toward a seat directly before a large window; it lit a portion of the street on its other side from the glow of a dim lamp suspended from the ceiling. Magdeline noticed in the corner of her eye that the woman who had been writing before was now eyeing her conspicuously. She placed the pencil she had previously been tapping on the table into the crook of her mouth. Magdeline sat with her back to the woman, but could still feel her eyeballing the back of her skull.
Alonzo: Alonzo drummed his fingers on the table, he was by the window watching all the people walk at city pace past the coffee shop; he took a sip from his mug, the warm liquid ran down his throat as the door opened allowing the brisk cold from outside into the building. "Note to self: don't sit by the door" Alonzo muttered under his breath. He cast his eye over the room, sifting through the good and bad, the good from great, and the great from perfect. One looked promising, enough for him to use some of his energy.
With a quick glance into the window, he fixed his hair to perfection, and got up and walked over to the girl, who was sitting by the opposite window. Trying not to look too obvious he gracefully took a newspaper from the stand next to the door and began to fake read. As he approached the girl, he'd gathered from earlier that she was German; he racked his brains for something to catch her with.
Without her noticing, he bent down to her ear, "Guten Tag," he whispered, his voice ringing as clear as a bell round every sound in the word, wrapping a hint of lust around it.
Magdeline: Magdeline lifted the piping coffee to her lips and felt a presence behind her. Turning her head slightly, she heard a quiet voice slither a German greeting into her ear. Slowly lowering the cup, Magdeline's eyebrows sloped downwards as she replied, "Kann ich Ihnen helfen?" She watched with satisfaction at the edge of her vision as the man recoiled, obviously at a loss as to how to reply. Smirking, Magdeline swiveled in her chair to face him, "Can I help you?"
*click* *click* *click*
Faintly over the sounds of the espresso machine and murmurs of customers...
*click* *click* *click*
Marie: Marie swallowed the last sip of her cafe au lait and turned the page of her mechanical book. There was still some time left before she had to catch the plane to Twikkii Island. Maybe just enough time to finish this last chapter...
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
A piercing scream shattered the serenity of the coffee shop. Marie was momentarily startled and her free hand reflexively moved to the grisgris around her neck.
Magdeline: The young man opened his mouth to reply, but at that moment a screeching sound pierced the air. Magdeline stared at the man in confusion. After realizing her motive for this, he retorted, "That wasn't me!" Magdeline's eyes roved about the room as her vision swallowed in the scene before her. A broad woman with dreadlocks who Magdeline had not noticed before now had a wild look about her eyes, and clutched at a charm surrounding her neck. Her search changing direction, Magdeline saw that the pencil once dwelling in the mouth of the shop's other female inhabitant had fallen from its resting place, diving to greet the paper stretched upon the table where the woman sat. The barista, who had returned to polishing the countertop, leaped away from it in alarm and turned on his heel in confusion.
Kat: Kat, who had been chewing on her pencil in search of inspiration, gave a wild start as a shriek rang through the building. The pencil bounced lightly off her sketchbook. She glanced wildly around at the other customers; the place seemed to have been cleared of people save for three others and the employees. Looking around questioningly, she got up to walk towards the others. The one woman, who she could now see had wild dreadlocks, seemed to be grabbing a small charm for protection. She headed toward the man and woman at the other table, unsure due to her intense concentration whether something had happened at that table.
She stopped and gazed at them, suddenly unsure what exactly she wanted to say. "So, uh, do you have any idea...?" she started. But at that moment the barista flew back into the room, eyes wide and frightened, seeming incapable of speech.
"I...I....it's..." he stuttered, unable to get the words out. After some gasping, he got out "Phone...911...she..." Kat glanced at the others nervously, waiting for him to explain more.
"Sir? What's going on here?" she asked. He looked at her, his eyes betraying some great fear that she couldn't understand. "Who screamed? What's wrong?"
"One of our...she's...dead." Finally managing to get the word out, he collapsed in a dead faint behind the counter. The others gasped, staring at each other wide-eyed. Someone was dead? What exactly happened here?
Magdeline: "Oh Herr, ich sollte zuhause geblieben sein!" Magdeline folded her arms and slumped across the table, burying her face in the crook of her elbow. "Why didn't I stay at home?" she mumbled in English. The young man looked at the two figures beside him questioningly, "Is anyone going to call the police?" He was nervously tapping his foot.
Marie: Minutes after the frightened scream, sirens cried in the distance getting closer and closer. Someone must have called the authorities but Marie was too stunned to notice who. Somehow she found herself standing with a small crowd of strangers just as confused as she was. Her book was abandoned at her table next to her overturned coffee cup, which luckily had been empty when she jumped up in shock. With the momentary surprise slowly fading as the sirens pierced the air, Marie took a few steps behind the counter to see a woman's foot sprawling out of the back room in a growing pool of blood. Startled again, she had to look away…
Magdeline: Magdeline lifted her head at the sound of a siren. She looked over to the two standing beside her table; they were both peering at each other confusedly. "Who called the police?" Magdeline questioned, but was only greeted with blank stares. The broad woman with dreadlocks advanced toward the counter and Magdeline saw her jump back in surprise. Rising from her seat, Magdeline strolled over to her.
"What is the-" she began to ask but was cut short when she noticed blood pooling about a leg strewn across the floor, emerging from the back room doorway. The corner of her mouth jerked upwards, "Why are you scared? It is only blood." She pushed the door open a bit more to reveal the rest of the body. Kneeling down beside it, she began to examine a perforation in the victim's back. The broad woman's eyes widened at this, but she couldn't look much longer at the sight.
"Eigenartig," Magdeline scrunched up her brows as her fingers grazed the puncture, "How odd..."
Kat: Kat looked out the window at the sound of sirens, confused. She didn't remember anyone calling the police. She noticed the woman standing by the counter jump slightly, presumably having found the body. The other woman got up from the table and headed towards the area, leaning down as if inspecting something. Kat exchanged a quick worried glance with the man, who so far had hung back, unsure whether she really wanted to see this. In the end, a morbid and artistic curiousity seized her. Maybe seeing how a dead body lay would help improve her sketching. Lovely thought to be having at a time like this, she chuckled callously. As she approached, she saw a leg surrounded by a large pool of blood. Trying to keep down her latte, she crept closer, stepping just close enough to see the entire body. The woman inspecting the body seemed to be puzzled by something, then turned and glared at Kat. She shrunk away, and shuffled quickly back to the table.
Magdeline: The wound appeared to be two small holes, but as Magdeline bent her head to inspect it further she heard the door open and felt a cool blast of air tickle her skin. Returning from her crouching stance, Magdeline turned to face a crowd of men in blue uniforms piling into the small coffee shop. There were only a few, but they cramped the room and commenced to shouting at one another; Magdeline realized that she did not like them very much. Everything was so very different in Germany, and she knew from experience in the field that having a yelling match did little to remedy a situation. "Halt den Mund!" she commanded, "Quiet!" None of the blue-clad men paid her any attention. Angrily, Magdeline stormed over to one of the officers. "Tell them to shut up, please," she stared him defiantly in the eyes. The officer attempted to return the glare, but it proved less icy; finally he turned to the group and bellowed for them to cease their noise.
Magdeline nodded appreciatively, "The body is in the back room. Get an ambulance for the clerk, he has fainted. None of these people," she gestured to the three others who were huddled together near a table, "had anything to do with it. They are not guilty." The officer tugged on his hat, "Thank you, ma'am, but we'll still need to bring you all to the station for questioning. The clerk too, though he'll have to get some rest first." Magdeline's smile of contentment faded into a frown and her eyes turned cold once more. With one last piercing look in his direction, she replied, "Fine," and stalked off to join the others.
Alonzo: Alonzo folded his arms; he didn't have time for this. However, he couldn't leave, he wanted to but he just couldn't move toward the door into the fresh city air. He thought about what kind of life the victim might have had, what type of family would grieve in memory... This reminded him of his family, he tried to shake the thought out of his mind but their faces were etched onto his eyelids, his brain wouldn't co-operate, it whirred into optimum speed, he had to hold onto a table for support. 'What if it was him who had been shot, would his family mourn or rejoice. A part of him died, what if he never left, would things be better could he have found "her". Every insult his mother ever threw at him, every late night, every girlfriend, every break-up...
"STOP IT!" Alonzo shouted.
Marie: Once the police arrived, the scene in the coffee shop got even more chaotic. Marie moved away from the utility room and glanced back towards the blue uniforms charging through the nervous customers. Everything had happened so quickly yet seemed like it was in slow motion. The officers started herding everyone on the scene into groups once the steely German woman finally snapped the cops to attention. Marie found herself in a group with three others including the blonde, a shy woman with a sketchpad and a young man. Suddenly the man gripped the table and shouted which made Marie feel like she was jumping out of her skin. As the others began filtering out of the coffee shop and the cops starting bringing other groups of witnesses downtown for questioning, Marie realized the only group left was her own along with a few cops. The ambulance must have arrived and taken away the panicked clerk but it was difficult to pay attention to everything with the adrenaline flowing through her. Marie did notice as she looked back towards the body a shaft of light coming down the hallway beyond. Maybe the killer escaped out the back and left the door ajar...
Magdeline: Magdeline's eyes narrowed as her gaze shifted over to the young man, who had just bellowed an angry command. "Drama-König," her eyes rolled and she wandered over to the body once more, observing an agile young man snapping photographs of the victim. Two other officers huddled to the side and conversed at a tone that was just barely out of earshot. Magdeline strained to hear their words, but as she inched closer the two shot her annoyed glances and their conversation sloped off. Magdeline greeted their abrupt halt with a cold, steely stare, and, eventually uncomfortable under her gaze, the two made for the gaping entrance.
Stepping around to the side of the body, Magdeline nodded to the photographer as he tipped his hat and strolled towards the door, satisfied with what photographs he had managed to collect. Feeling a presence behind her, Magdeline pivoted slowly on her heel and noticed the woman with dreadlocks looking keenly over her shoulder at the doorway to the back room. Magdeline turned to follow her gaze and noticed a small fraction of light emerging from the darkened room. She reached her hand toward the doorway and curled her fingers about the side, peering in with a craned neck. Lifting her leg, she slowly chose her pathway past the body and nimbly released her foot from the air, allowing its faint falling sound to reverberate off the walls of the hollow chamber.
Magdeline felt a weight rest itself on her shoulder. She turned her head slightly and her eyes traveled toward the hand of a policeman that had perched itself on her shoulder. "Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you not to go in there. For the time being that would be considered a violation of police property," his voice was a husky deep monotone, and he sounded faintly like a record that had been played too many times. Magdeline cocked an eyebrow and hissed, "Don't touch me." The man retracted his hand and Magdeline quickly jerked her head back to its original neutral stance. There was a slight popping noise as the bones along her neck snapped back into their usual position. Narrowing her eyelids to squint into the upcoming blackness, Magdeline pursed her lips as she always did whenever there was something pressing on her mind. Bringing her heel from the ground once more, she advanced into the empty room and allowed the uncanny darkness to swaddle her in its dark embrace.
Kat: Kat sat at the table, idly tracing various shapes in her sketchbook. She didn't want to stay in this place and get interrogated, but she couldn't bring herself to get up out of the chair. The only four remaining to be questioned were the woman with dreadlocks she had noticed earlier, the woman who had been sitting here previously, and the man who had been with her, who had just yelled something. Kat was so lost in her own thoughts she couldn't tell what he had said. She knew it was a matter of time before they all had to be talked to, and sure enough one of the officers called, "Okay, you four, please sit over at this table and in a few minutes we will send someone to talk to you. Until then, please stay out of our way." He glanced at the door the German woman had disappeared into some time earlier.
As the other three slowly filtered over to her table to sit down, each looking a little apprehensive, and, in the case of the blonde, murderous, Kat put her pencil down and snapped her book shut. She didn't want to sketch while people could see what she was drawing. Besides, she figured they would probably talk about what had just happened to them, or more correctly to the woman that was now lying in her own blood. As they all sat, determinedly not looking at each other, Kat watched the police for a few seconds, wondering what they were doing. Then, completely against her normal nature, she started a conversation. Sitting in silence just felt awkward.
"Um, well, hi everyone. My name's Katrina, but most people call me Kat." As they all turned to look at her, she blushed, but continued, "I'm an artist, as you can probably tell from my sketchbook. I'm 28. And, uh, I'm just visiting for a week from Paris, where I live with my grandparents. I went to art school here for a few years, and when I was finished I moved over there, and I frequent the Louvre. I love to travel, and I'm glad I picked a career that gives me enough time to do so, even if I don't necessarily have enough money. I, uh, suppose that's all that's interesting. What about you?"
Magdeline: As she advanced into the clammy stockroom, Magdeline's footsteps became gradually muffled, as though the very air was thickening about her to swallow the sound. Finally she halted and the pinpoint of light spilled across the iris of her left eye, a small glowing slit that creased a line down her front. Magdeline reached a firm hand to the source of the light and gripped the edge of a door, left ajar in the slightest sliver. Pulling back, Magdeline widened the space and felt a cool rush of air brush her face and release a tickle that traveled back and forth along her arched spine. Her thin eyebrows clashed together in the middle and she reached a foot toward the welcoming glow-
"Ma'am!" Magdeline rolled her eyes in disdain and, clenching her teeth to stop an onrush of curses bubbling in her throat, turned to greet the silhouette of a policeman in the doorway. He shifted uncomfortably on his feet as light spilled about him onto the dust-ridden floor. "You'll have to come back in here, you're needed for questioning," his mouth stretched into a thin strip across his jaw. Magdeline's hips swung angrily as she returned to the body of the clerk, playing a methodic game of hopscotch past her splayed limbs. The officer motioned for her to join a table where the other three onlookers had just seated themselves. The policeman mumbled something regarding another officer, though Magdeline chose to ignore him. Instead, her focus shifted to the woman sitting to her left; a quiet, tanned blonde who gripped a sketchbook as though it were her living source. The woman cleared her throat and introduced herself, mentioning her hobbies and lifestyle, and awkwardly asking about the others in the group. The four sat in silence for a time and the quiet woman let her gaze fall to her sketchpad as her knuckles turned white from gripping it. "Christus auf einem Kreuz," Magdeline muttered under her breath, "Christ on a cross." Her eyes snapped up from where they had lowered to her interlocked fingers resting tensely upon her lap.
"I am Magdeline, nothing else. Do not call my Maddy, and do not pronounce my name as though I am a magazine. I am from Germany and my purpose here is business; I work for the German government intelligence. The United States and German leaders have been communicating lately," she shot a steely glance at the quiet blonde, who quickly shrunk in her chair, "but I will not be speaking of that." Magdeline crossed her arms and leaned back slightly in her chair, though her back was still arched, "Now someone else speak before you bore me to the point of desperation. You know," she smirked, "if you don't entertain me I might just report this to the Bundespolizei." The three surrounding her exchanged glances of confusion. Magdeline let out a sigh of exasperation, "It is the German federal police force, incompetents."
Kat: After the woman finished, Kat felt a stupid desire to prove herself. She wasn't a coward, but she had never seen a dead body before. After all, artists are more accustomed to working with live ones. Before either of the other two could say anything, she plowed ahead.
"Look, sorry for butting in, but I feel I have to say something here. Think of me what you like, but I am not a silly little girl who can't fend for herself and faints at the sight of blood." She looked at the German woman, Magdeline, and made eye contact. She felt that this was probably dangerous, like making eye contact with a wolf, but she did it anyway. The woman raised one eyebrow, but Kat didn't look away. When she deemed the time long enough, she looked at the other two. "Now. Before you two say anything, I want to say that I have quite the photographic memory; it's part of what makes me such a good artist. I can remember certain events, scenes, even pages from books perfectly, as if they were right in front of me. I can remember exactly what that room back there looks like. So that, combined with Magdeline's intelligence work, could make it perfectly possible for us to solve this crime ourselves - if all these cops weren't here, that is. And presuming that you would work with us," she nodded across the table. "Sorry, who's next?"
Magdeline: Quite unexpectedly, the previously quiet woman retorted with a defiant look in her eyes. Magdeline raised an incredulous eyebrow and restrained the faint smile that was threatening to play across her lips. Vielleicht wird sie nützlicher sein, als ich dachte, Magdeline thought smugly, Perhaps this one will be more useful than I thought.
Alonzo: Alonzo half listened to the introductions which they all seemed to be eager to get onto doing before anything else happened, but Alonzo was 'half' preoccupied with trying to see round the door, he'd never been at a murder scene before and it wasn't on the top of his 'to-do' list either, but there's always a first time for everything. He had nearly forgotten about the little incident he had earlier with his memories playing havoc with his mind, causing some mild embarrassment, but Alonzo could side track his emotions as if they were never there in the first place, but he thought nothing of it, the only thing he was good at was getting his own way with women.
Again, he 'half' heard the discussion at the table with the arty girl explaining about her brilliant memory. He could see the German woman fighting a smile, he didn't know what but something just irritated him about her, but within a second of thinking that the irritation was eradicated from his mind.
“And I can shoot lasers out from my eyes.” Alonzo said sarcastically. “No, I don't have anything special about me. But as you all seem to be hooked on introductions...” He paused and flashed his eyes around the table, “...My name is Alonzo, err, I like ice cream, scary movies, cars and wo...” He knew that ‘women’ would be the wrong thing to say, “...wombs,” A part of him died inside, he frantically searched for a sane explanation, “As it's where new life comes from," He saw Maggy stifling a laugh, “I dislike musicals, knitting and cockiness,” He said the last words directed at Maggy with such an edge they could've been mistaken for a threat.
Magdeline: Magdeline chuckled internally at the young man's conspicuous death glare. "Well, I will try to behave myself then," she rolled her eyes and began to drum her fingers on the table, hearing the clack of her nails as they made slight divots in the wooden surface, "If we are going to work together then we musn't be at each others' throats, yes?" The three threw her a strange look, which Magdeline returned in mockery. "Did you not realize? We're going to solve the murder. Without the police," she gestured over her shoulder at the men crowded near the door of the coffee shop. The blonde woman glanced uneasily at her companions, despite having brought up the suggestion before, and Magdeline noticed her begin to tap her pencil subconsciously against the sketchbook she held. "We know more about it than they do," Magdeline slumped back in her chair, arms tucked beneath her shoulders, and watched as the others floundered under this sudden decision that had been throw upon them.
"It is like that American show," she dug her canine into the corner of her bottom lip, "what was it... Scooby Doo?" She could have laughed aloud at their reactions.
Alonzo: “I wonder who's going to be the dog then,” Alonzo muttered under his breath. “Sounds brilliant, as you've been sniffing for clues already,” he turned to face Maggy, “What can us lot do then?” Alonzo looked deep into her eyes waiting for her answer, he desperately hoped for the answer ‘Get up and leave’.
Magdeline: “You three," Magdeline responded, sweeping her eyes about the table, “will be assisting me in tracking the killer as well as observing anything you think would prove beneficial to the search.” She directed her focus toward the young blonde, “Katrina will be sketching anything useful, in the off chance that her photographic memory manages to let something slip,” Kat scrunched her face at this, “Alonzo will be... well, Alonzo will just be. I suppose,” she turned her head to him, “if need be we can use you for brute strength.” The subtle insult didn't seem to sink in, or at least the man didn't address it. Frowning slightly, Magdeline's eyes traveled to the broad woman with dreadlocks sitting directly in front of her, “And who are you again?”
Marie: As her three new companions introduced themselves and suggested that maybe they could find out who murdered the poor woman lying on the floor of the back room, Marie listened quietly and took everything in. Now that the initial chaos had subsided her nerves had calmed considerably but it took her a few minutes of silence just to center herself again. Finally the blonde woman who introduced herself as Magdeline turned to her and asked who she was. "My name's Marie," she responded with a gentle musical accent to her words "and I'm originally from New Orleans." She looked from person to person and contemplated the situation for a moment. "I don't know what happened to that poor woman but maybe I can help find out." Marie surreptitiously pulled out a few items from her inventory including Mystic Dust, Dragon Scales, Moonbeams and Eye of Newt. "There is a way for us to look for clues without..." she jerked her head slightly in the direction of the police, her dreadlocks swaying slightly "...those buffoons stopping us. But you will all need to become witches..." a slight nod towards Alonzo sent her dreadlocks gliding in the opposite direction "...or warlocks in order for my spell to work." Marie quietly cast the Magus Mutatio spell on each of them so the cops wouldn't notice what was going on. Once they were all witches, Marie began the Tempus Interruptus spell. The gang noticed some kind of strange ripple in time and then everything froze but the four of them. Glancing around at the almost comical police standing like mannequins around the victim, nothing around them moved. "Shall we get started?" Marie asked, putting away her magical items.
Magdeline: After answering Magdeline's question with a brief introduction, the woman with dreadlocks began to rummage in a large bag. Magdeline's eyelids thinned suspiciously as the broad woman extracted four bottles of various sizes, containing what seemed to be some unnatural things of solid mass. Marie lowered her voice and leaned slightly over the thin edge of the table towards her three companions as she enlightened them with her plan of action. Magdeline listened intently, although she remained composed and seemingly laid back. However, when the southerner mentioned their becoming witches, Magdeline's ears perked and she lifted an incredulous eyebrow from the deep bed it had dug near the bridge of her nose. She parted her lips to speak but could not force words - a deep rumbling in the broad woman's throat proved an incantation and Magdeline's vision began to spin. The bulb of the dim lamp suspended overhead painted streaks across the light and she felt a tightening, sick feeling take her, as though a giant had just forced his hand through the flesh of her belly to grip her stomach with a steely embrace, and now twisted her insides about the grooves between his fingers. Magdeline felt the control of her muscles loosen, and it seemed as though her head was dipping down into a quick dive, soon to meet the table that her long fingernails had punctured in a death grip.
Just as soon as it had begun, Magdeline was wrenched back into conscious thought, the giant retracting his hand in such a quick, angry movement that her insides were left to spill awkwardly from the gaping hole in her stomach flesh. The transition rattled her and the weight of all of her memories from past and present threw themselves at the front of her skull. Magdeline had to stop herself from screaming, such was the force of the impact. The thoughts inhabiting her head began to pound their fists methodically on the walls of the cavity of her mind.
(The second part can be found here.)