INSANELY angry!

Evanescent Stone

...throw your wallet down before the girl. You're dismayed at the sight of Diane's red stone necklace colliding against the hard wood desktop.

What have you done? In your rage you pulled out your wallet and chucked it against the desktop, but you threw the necklace along with it! Time seems to slow to a halt, the small jewel frozen in place at the very moment of impact. Then, in an instant, it is in pieces. Tiny shards sprinkle the air, but they are not the only things rushing out from the point of contact.

A burst of magenta incandescence illuminates the entire dormitory lobby. It opens up like a flare, blinding you and scalding your arm and face. The **** of the small explosion takes you off your feet. Before you hit the ground, you can just see the awestruck deskgirl, propelled into the back wall of the office, her rag-doll body sliding down to the hard floor.

The world is in an odd shade when you awaken. The walls and ceiling are stained with pink. You feably pull your hands in front of your eyes, and they too, are pink, at least for another minute. The unearthly color subsides, and your palms regain their natural color.

Your eyes burn, like you've just gone days without sleep. Your vision is blurry, but focus is starting to come back. When your surroundings stop spinning, you get back on your feet.

The scene shocks your senses. To your right, some guy-- a student, most likely-- lies on the tiled floor face up, his arms at his side and his legs only marginally crumpled, as if he had fallen straight down, the way a tree does. Next to him lies a girl in similar fashion, though she is slightly on her side, as if she was blindsided while innocently passed by.

You go to the pair, trying to rouse them. Their eyes are open, thankfully, but it dawns on you that they had never been closed. Never blinking, nor averting their dead gazes, they lie in silence. You check them for heart beats and breathing, and at the very least, those two check out.

The area immediately adjacent to the front desk is littered with four to five more people, seemingly awake and alive but unresponsive. What horrible thing did you just unleash?

Suddenly you remember the deskgirl, who was thrown mercilessly to the rear of the office. You jump the front desk, landing clumsily next to her on the floor. There she is slumped against the wall, and like everyone else, not too talkative. Her eyes startle you, though. Sure, everyone's eyes are locked in blank stare, but only hers are discolored-- the same color as the unexpectedly volatile stone.

Other than her eyes, she looks fine. She does not even have any cuts or scratches from the flying pieces of crystal; neither do you. And aside from the silver lace, you fail to detect any trace of the annihilated gem. Did it disintegrate?

By some luck, you catch a glimpse of the elevator floor display. The number seven is lit briefly, before it dims and the neighboring number six is illuminated instead. Five follows soon after. The car is coming down! Staying to provide assistance or an account of the incident would be the right thing to do , but what are you going to tell people? Your necklace exploded into dust? Would it be better to escape? What about the deskgirl? There will be some serious questions as to the state of her eyes... And Diane? You still haven't talked to Diane!