Cracked 5: A Recollection by Nicci Vicious

   It has now been three days since Cracked 5. I have had time to recoup and process my thoughts.  

   

  As mentioned when we did Cracked vs Heretic last year, I have been following Cracked since they first started. As soon as it was announced, I made it a goal to make it to England to experience it. Last year in the aftermath of CR vs H, the announcement soon came of the next show in England and we immediately decided to go. The weeks leading up to Cracked were a mix of excitement and “what am I getting myself into?” Part of me knew what to expect, the other knew this would be a whole new ball game.  Dreams of Blake and the show were constant. I can definitely say I was extremely anxious leading to the event. 

  The day before the event we arrived to our hotel and settled in and had dinner with one of the people in our group, Elicia.  Needless to say, when our message with the details about the pickup point and our instructions on when to be there and what to expect came, panic set in for all of us. I will say it was nice that we were all together for this very important moment so we could all process it together.  

  The day of the show arrived quickly. I don’t know if I actually got a full night of sleep. We had a nice breakfast, a nice long nap, and a quick bite to eat with Mike and Colin, who would both be joining us for our show.  Our group ended up consisting of 8 of us: Elicia, Sam, Laura, Mike, Colin, Kerstin, Mathias, and myself.  We met and walked to the pickup point together.  This was our chance to quickly bond and try to calm each other's nerves. The moment of panic when we arrived a few moments early and decided to wait on a nearby foot path to discover there were already 2 members of the crew in white coveralls lurking definitely caused us to scurry away quickly.  With perfect timing, at 7 pm as we crossed the road and stepped into the pickup spot, came the white van to usher us to Blake and Reliquia.  As we lined up, signed our waivers, gave our reasons why we should be allowed to go with Rosalie, it all became very real. I was no longer Nicci, I was Subject 9 and I was on my way to meet Blake once again.  

   We soon parted ways with half of our group and the remaining four of us (Sam, Elicia, Mathias, and myself) were left to find what we were told would be an important item for later. Our scavenger hunt was interesting to say the least, but it definitely helped ease the tension until Rosie and Sarge came back to scoop us up. The van ride was disorienting and frantic as we were left with Sarge and we knew we must follow every instruction he gave. We soon arrived to the site of the show to have our hoods removed and find we would need to rescue our fellow group members in order to continue.  We had a calm before the storm before we were led to be cleansed and made worthy of Blake. This would be the last time we would be with Laura. Standing there hearing all the panic and chaos but not being able to see it definitely helped build the intensity. We very shortly after came face to face with Blake. I remember losing my breath as I looked up and saw him, the growing fear of letting him down began building inside of me.  The physicality of the next moments were grueling and we soon lost Elicia... Then there were six. 

  The remaining six of us stuck together the remainder of the evening together being ushered scene to scene. We were at Blake’s mercy and would have to stick together to get through it all. There were moments of very mild pain, panic, relief, etc.  We did have a great moment when it came to eating where Sam and I shockingly devoured our very thoughtfully prepared meals before the rest of our small crew.  Our final moments of Blake were extremely emotional, tears welling up as we read his prayer and this overwhelming sense of pride from everyone as to what we had just endured.  We had made it the entire 4.5 hours.  We were now warmly welcomed into Blake’s flock and could carry a great sense of accomplishment with us.  I am completely grateful to Blake and his crew for this experience. It was definitely worth the nearly 5,000 mile journey to be a part of something I will not soon forget. Thank you again for allowing me to be a part of this all.