Thread:Justjackbros/@comment-27182540-20150708013657/@comment-25867149-20150915132224

In the sphere of human experience (and quite possibly most other life forms too), there are many different elements, emotions, thoughts, and other general responses which can be attributed to any given situation, given the time to think things through.

The process of formulating these responses, even for the simplest ones, is a complex one; the compilation and cataloguing of them even more so.

It could be said that keeping a complete record of all possible experiences is only of academic value, as all possible reactions to all possible situations have yet to be discovered.

And as the likelihood that these unrecorded occurrences will eventually be preserved for posterity is very low, and as the actual gratification on completion of such a task is even lower, few people ever attempt this. And for those that do, life quickly becomes tedious and they may find their friends begin to avoid them.

But out of all of the different feelings so far encountered by humans, Déjà vu is considered to be a most troublesome feeling indeed.

That nagging, almost itching sensation of some half-remembered familiarity.

The tugging at the back of your mind telling you something’s off.

You’ve been through this before. Somehow, somewhere, you instinctively know that this isn’t the first time that this has happened to you. You can’t explain it, you just know.

It’s a tricky phenomenon, to say the least, and certainly not the easiest to account for.

More often than not, this is a trick of the mind – a neuron misfiring somewhere, a minor similarity expanded upon by the cerebral cortex, looking for the familiar in an effort to explain the constant inconstancies provided by an ever-changing world.

But in Jack’s case, he knew exactly what he was experiencing, and something about this situation was deadly familiar.

The knocking on the door. Just after they’d got away from that nightmare labyrinth Casket had nearly killed them all in.

Alarm bells were ringing in the back of his mind. Something wasn’t right.

Something definitely wasn’t right.

Why did all this seem familiar to him?

“Who could that possibly be?” Val finally spoke up.

<p class="MsoNormal">The knock came again, more insistent this time.

<p class="MsoNormal">Jack glanced over to the others. Everyone was staring intently at the door. Jon, previously seated, stood up and appeared to be about to say something. Unfortunately as he was standing up he pulled a stomach muscle located a little too close to his stitches, and he winced and sat down again. Rire and Val came to his aid.

<p class="MsoNormal">For some reason, Sage was nowhere to be seen, and it showed.

<p class="MsoNormal">Johnny Toast seemed to feel “it” too, although he didn’t seem to understand it either.

<p class="MsoNormal">The tension in the room was almost unbearable.

<p class="MsoNormal">Johnny Ghost, however, had not noticed his peers’ dreadful revelation.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Well isn’t anyone going to answer the door?” He asked rhetorically, as he stepped over to the front, hand outstretched.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Wait.” Said Jack. Everyone turned to face him.

<p class="MsoNormal">Without saying anything, he pulled the antique flintlock off of its perch on the wall and clicked off the safety.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Just in case.” He said, before any of the group could accuse him of overreacting.

<p class="MsoNormal">Slowly, very slowly, he moved towards the door and unbolted the latch. He idly wondered if Sage was doing something similar behind him. Probably with something rocket-propelled and highly combustible.

<p class="MsoNormal">The cold dread gripping at his very essence seemed to melt away, and all he felt now was a strange, unfamiliar calm.

<p class="MsoNormal">The calm before the storm, he didn’t wonder to himself.

<p class="MsoNormal">He swallowed hard, turned the handle, and pulled.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Oh. Do you greet all your visitors like this?”

<p class="MsoNormal">