(OoC: Due to the nature of this game, there will be times when your character has nothing interesting going on. Feel free to liven it up with your imagination, or just play it as it lies and narrate your way through it.
Also it's fine to mention hiding places in your post as Ghostbear1111 and mynamescox44 did each in their last post, or you may wait for me to point a hiding place out in an update. Please bear in mind that you are shaping the scenery and world around you as much as I am. I will do my best to ensure that every hiding place and item is tracked permanently, so if you hide in a shed on space C5, that shed will be there for the remainder of the game. Hide some loot, and it should be there when you return if it isn't stolen. Etc.
Finally, remember to check for a PM from me BEFORE posting. If there isn't one, wait for it please)


Update #2
September 1st, 12 AM (midnight)
Current conditions: clear, dry, dark. 80°F

Player update:
Three players changed location.

_______________________________________

Laian :
Erin continued heading Eastward for a while, but couldn't tell that he had made any progress as to him each tree he passed looked just like the same the last one. Still he journeyed on. What else could he do? Lost in his thoughts Erin nearly took one step too many, luckily for him he managed to catch his near fatal mistake and draw his foot back before he tried to place it on the ground in front of him...the ground that wasn't there.

"Guess this is as far as we go Eastward" he thought aloud as his eyes peered down the steep drop off into a ravine.

As he stopped to think of his next move, Erin noticed something sticking out of a bush to his right (south of his current position). Normally he would simply satisfy his curiosity by walking over to it and seeing what it was by shining his phone's light on it, but after what had happened tonight, everything seemed suspicious. A feeling of unease came over him and he wanted to run far away from the ominous bush. But then again, why should he be afraid of a bush? Whatever that was sticking out of the bush wasn't moving, so clearly it wasn't another psycho waiting to pounce him. This whole debate was silly. Erin settled right then and there what he had to do...



Furret :
Ian heads toward the direction of the sound, and as he nears the area where it came from, he sees someone running off into the dark.

"Oh great. Probably some punk vandal." he muttered under his breath as he broke into a jog to see if there was any damage done to the building, but after a quick glance over it, he couldn't see any sign of vandalism.

Puzzled, Ian turned to head back to his car, but before he could start back toward the parking lot, something behind a bench caught his eye. He walked over to the bench to see what it was, and as he neared it the object came into focus under what was left of the pale moonlight. A sight that nearly caused his stomach to empty itself of all it's contents on the spot.

"Principle Sharp....oh my...." Ian couldn't open his mouth to finish his sentence, as his lunch notified him it would make a return trip if he opened his mouth once more, or looked another second.

Ian stood with his back to the body -if it could be called that- for a few moments as he tried to recover from the shock. Some things a man should never see in his life, and he was certain this was one of them. Suddenly a new feeling came over him. Ian felt as though he was being watched, and for the first time he realized he too was in danger of meeting the Principle's fate if he lingered too long. Upon that that, Ian bolted toward his car, dropping his coffee mug on the sidewalk, and shuddering inwardly at the sound of it shattering. He only hoped the killer didn't hear it and realize someone was here. Assuming of course they weren't already chasing him, but he didn't plan to look behind him and find out.

Arriving at his parking space, Ian's heart sank as he saw that his car was gone. But if that was the murderer he saw running away, then who stole his car? The most disturbing realization of all the shocking revelations he'd had tonight began to set in.

The rumors were true. And there was more than one person here today. This was a team effort. His car had been stolen, and Principle Sharp had been brutally murdered and dismembered all within less than twenty yards of him while he somehow survived...and slept through it all. Had they known he was there, he would be like Principle Sharp right now.

That thought was the last straw. His coffee and roast beef sandwiches made their reappearance right there in the faculty parking lot.

As he stood bent over after the less than magical reappearing act his lunch made, Ian heard laughter behind him. Turning back he saw someone with a large item in their hand standing over Principle Sharp's remains, laughing. Survival instincts kicked in. Unarmed it would be crazy to try to fight if they saw him, but what would he do? He could run, he had a considerable head start after all. Or he could hide in the old broke down bus parked at the edge of the driveway and hope no one saw or heard him in the process. He only had a moment to decide...



Mynamescox44 :
Seifer remained crouched down, hoping his plan had worked.

After a few moments passed, he heard them catching up to the point where he threw the rock from. Seifer's breath caught and his heart skipped a beat as he listened intently to hear which way they went.

West

They fell for it. In a few moments the sound of their footsteps faded out of earshot. Seifer was safe, but he didn't really feel like it. He knew nothing of the current situation, but as he mused on the happenings since arriving, he couldn't shake a strong feeling of uneasiness. First the road is blocked, then he shows up at a house that's apparently been abandoned, then he's chased by maniacs like this. Was this all tied together, or was it coincidental in the most inconvenient way possible?

As he mulled the scene over in his head again, he remembered a detail he had missed in his haste. Those people chasing him, was that blood on their clothes? Maybe that wasn't a misunderstanding. And maybe the owner of that house wasn't just out late. And maybe the knife he held in his hand was a... A murder weapon? Seifer looked down at the knife slowly and inspected it by the light of his cell phone. Sure enough, there was smeared blood on it.

"Ho my gosh!" He exclaimed perhaps a little too loudly as he dropped the weapon in the dirt. Immediately he cursed himself in his thoughts for making so much noise while he was being hunted like this. What did he do now? Keep his weapon, or leave it? It was a murder weapon after all. Maybe if he left it in the pile of brush near him he could come back for it as evidence later...or maybe he could keep it and save his own butt if those people found him again.

Erin decided to check the bush. He looked around him to see if he could find a weapon, like a stick or some sort. He didn't find any,thing useful, unfortunately.

"Well, here goes nothing.", he said.

He walked toward the bush and started to examine it closely. His left hand bumped into another hand. It was not his other hand, it was someone else's. Suddenly, Erin was taken with a cold fear. What if it was really another killer hidden in the bush, waiting for a great opportunity to jump on him or drag him in the bush? Erin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, he carried on the examination of the bush. He re-opened his eyes and stared at a dead body, covered with blood. A young female adult was lying on the ground behind the bush, the eyes wide open and a horrified expression on her face.

"Oh, Gott!", he shouted while stepping back.

An horrifying vision started to haunt Erin. The cold cellar in which he was trapped during the night of Halloween. The female dead body that the kidnapper did show him as an example if he did not want to obey kindly.

"No! Get off my mind!"

Sadly, it kept ravaging Erin's mind. He could hardly breathe and, at any moment, he could be taken with high anxiety. He finally remembered what Dr. Valentine Miller, the therapist, said to him. "If these bad memories come back, think about something positive. Anything, even if you have to look at a photograph for a few seconds. Help your mind feel better. That's a good way to hunt these memories down, Erin".

"Think about something positive, Erin. Come on.", Erin said as he tried desperately to struggle against the vision.

What could possibly do the trick? He took his cellphone and started browsing all the photographs stored in his cellphone. His hands were shaking. The first photo was the band. He immediately switched to another photo. The next one was taken place at the swimming pool. All the team was around Erin, smiling and celebrating the sweet victory. He began to feel a bit better after a few seconds. The pain was going away slowly. He repeatedly breathed to calm down until he was ok.

"Never thought I would make it...", he said after a last deep breath.

He put the cellphone back in his pocket and went north. Needless to head back to the house or dive into the abyss of the ravine, that ravine which nearly got him. He went north, continuing on his exploration and hoping to find some help.

"There was blood on their clothes..." Seifer kept repeating in his mind, starting to realize all too well what was going on. There was no point in leaving the knife behind, evidence or otherwise. If anything, it was already covered in his prints as well, ruining what value it held as such anyways. "I need to figure out what's going on in this god forsaken place." He tried to use his phone to call 911, to contact the station in town, but even the emergency signal was cut. He was truly up the creek without a paddle, as they say.
"How could this possibly get any worse," Seifer thought, immediately remembering that's the last line you want to use in a situation like this. Contemplating what to do from here, he came up with an idea. "There's no way those people would expect me to head back to where I just came from." So Seifer headed back South, planning on using the house / barn he just visited to scavenge for supplies. Albeit it a risky plan, how often does someone being chased go back to where they were found?
Seifer also planned on searching the house for any clue as to why those people were acting the way they were. Surely there's some trace of evidence he can find to give him at least a general idea of what was happening. "Worst case scenario, only that woman will still be there, and she's already been disarmed. If so, hopefully she's still unconscious so I can restrain her." So off he went, praying that his idea of going back wouldn't backfire....

(OoC: Those who have not posted since the last update will not receive an update PM. They may post without waiting. Others please wait for your PM as usual)




Update #3.
September 1st, 1:30 AM
Current conditions: partly cloudy, dry, 78°. Dark
Player Updates: Two players changed locations. Two players stats have changed.



Laian :
Traveling Northward in hopes of finding someone that could help, Erin tried to keep his mind off of the night's events, but he couldn't help but realize that the incident at the house wasn't an isolated one, as evidenced by the body in the bushes. And if those people were on a rampage, then how many more had lost their lives, or would lose their lives before daybreak? Would daybreak even stop it? Surely one didn't go on a killing spree in broad daylight, right?

Erin shook the thoughts from his mind, remembering again the happy things from the days prior to this one. There really were some good things in life to be appreciated, so why focus on the bad around him?


As he reasoned with himself he walked up on a house. A house! Maybe someone here could help, or at least point him in the direction of the police station or something. Anything would be helpful at this point. Erin broke into a dead run and didn't slow down until he was nearing the front porch. He raised his hands to knock -or rather, beat- on the door, but before he hit the wooden barrier, he paused and took the situation into consideration. No lights were on, but did that mean anything? It was getting quite late after all. And another thought: what if the killers had already been here too? Or worse yet, what if the people that lived here were as crazy as the ones that attacked his friends? Sure it wasn't likely, but it was possible, wasn't it? Or was it? Erin's head hurt from all of the conflicting thoughts as he tried to sort the logic from the fear.

To knock, or not to knock?

As he debated on with himself, Erin heard a rustling in the trees behind him. Whirling around he heard it grow louder until he could identify what sounded like heavy and rapid footsteps. Before he could react a figure emerged from the trees...

It was only a deer. Relief flooded through the panicked boy, but the thought nagged at him what if it had been one of the psychos? It wasn't this time, but next time it could be. He knew then that he had to make not only this decision, but all of his decisions tonight quickly. Debating with himself would not do, not when every second counted.



Mynamescox44 :
Returning at the scene of the incident, Seifer first checked the shed, but the woman was nowhere to be found. His defenses went up even higher, if that were possible. He knew the woman could well be hanging around still, but he followed his gut and journeyed toward the house again.

As he reached the door threshold, he pulled his phone out, more thankful than ever that he downloaded that flashlight app 'Because you could never be too prepared'.
Shining the bright light into the doorway he saw nothing, but he knew better than to rush into a seemingly empty building when danger could be present. Instead he pushed the door back all the way with his foot, shined the light carefully around the each corner , one at a time. When he was satisfied with his search, he stepped inside.

It was a rather small dwelling, affording only enough room to perform the necessary actions in the kitchen, and certainty no more than one cook at a time. He looked carefully for any signs of a struggle in the kitchen but found none. From there he progressed to the hall which was merely a small square that acted as a hub to join the restroom, front room, two bedrooms, and kitchen. Seifer opted to check the front room first.

Upon entering, he found an older man sitting on on the couch, propped up with a pillow, he sat facing toward the television screen which showed nothing but white static, the volume turned off. The man was asleep, his head hanged low, his chin resting on his chest. How many times had Seifer awoken in that exact same position after sitting down to a relaxing program after a hard day training back in the day? He fought off a feeling of disgust at the fact that he hadn't done enough at work since being hired on to feel that tired by the day's end.
Bringing himself back to the present, Seifer noticed a woman seated next to the older man, she looked to be in her seventies, presumably his wife. She was leaning against her husband, her eyes closed. The couple apparently had drifted off to sleep while watching the news or whatever elderly couples watched together.

Seifer's first reaction was to slowly back out and let them sleep in peace. He feared waking them might give them a start that could be more than their hearts could take, but as he started to head back to the bedroom a thought crossed his mind: why would those people have come to the shed but bypassed the house? Had the situation deteriorated so much that those psychos just expected the home owner to be hiding? Had his hiding in that shed actually saved the lives of this dear old couple? But surely were that the case, these folks wouldn't have left the door unlocked, would they?

What if...no, surely not...

Seifer braced himself for what he feared he might find as he approached the old man.

"Excuse me sir. Sir?" Seifer tried to wake the older man. "Sir, are you okay?" Seifer put his hand on the man's shoulder to rouse him, but pulled back at the feel of the icy cold flesh beneath the thin T-shirt.

The man fell forward, revealing several large stab wounds in his back. His wife fell over as well, prompting Seifer to check, and he found her the same as her poor husband. The sick people had not only killed this helpless couple, they had fun with them, posing their bodies afterward in a way that mocked their once peaceful lifestyle. As Seifer stared in disgust he heard a shriek behind him. Whirling around with his knife readied prepared to defend himself, he saw where the noise came from.

A young girl, he judged to be in her late teens, stood in horror at the sight of Seifer standing over the old people who had been slain.

"No...wait! It isn't what it looks like!" He shouted in vain as the girl slammed the bedroom door back, the sound of a lock following it.

The pitiful sobbing and wailing that poured from the room crushed Seifer's heart and made the strongest burning hatred he had ever felt in his life bubble up inside of him as he thought of those creeps that did this. For now though, he had to focus on saving this poor girl. But then, what was she supposed to think? The older people -her grandparents perhaps?- were dead, and Seifer stood over them...a bloody butcher knife in his hand.

'Oh great' he thought as the realization of how incriminating that scene was came over him. 'Of all the times to walk in...try getting this one to believe you now, Seif.'

Cursing himself for his hesitation to help the woman, Mark quickly ran towards the nearest window to peek outside. If there was really someone chasing this woman, then he should still have time to get to the door to help her before it was too late. He pulled one of the boards off the window as fast as he could, hoping to see some clue as to whether he could trust the woman or not.

"Why aren't you helping me?" The woman was still screaming at the door, frantically looking over her shoulder. Mark searched the yard, but couldn't see anyone in the dark. He didn't want to risk opening the door without seeing proof that she was in danger, but he also didn't want to watch her die in front of him. Still indecisive, Mark caught a flash of light reflecting off something small... and moving?

...

It was over seemingly before it had begun. One minute, the woman was still screaming into the door with no sign of anything behind her, and the next minute Mark was watching in horror as a skinny figure sprinted up to the woman and stabbed her in the back multiple times. He sunk to the floor, in shock at how little time he had to react after seeing the soon-to-be murderer. He cursed his indecision again, knowing that the woman's blood was on his hands. After waiting a few minutes to make sure he wouldn't be seen looking out the window, Mark peered through the displaced board at the corpse on his doorstep. Her hand, which had been tightly gripping the doorknob in her attempts to open the door, slowly fell to the ground, and Mark sunk to the floor again.

After finally coming to terms with himself again, Mark replaced the board over the window and walked back towards the stairs. Upon reaching the second floor, he looked at his model airplane - his last one - and was filled with anger and disgust. How could he concentrate on building something so nice after letting a woman die on his doorstep? With his rage came tears, something Mark wasn't used to. "Why am I crying? I didn't even know the woman..." Mark knew, though, that the tears weren't for her death. It was for himself, for his inability to choose to do the right thing. He feared that his time inside had begun to strip away his humanity. Throwing his model airplane against the wall, ruining it, Mark grabbed a beer from the fridge and laid back on the couch, hoping the combination would help him find some rest.

Update #4
September 1st, 3:00 AM
Current conditions: partly cloudy, dry, dark. 74°F

Player Update: One player's stats changed


mrfe :
Hearing screaming, Mark slowly roused from his sleep. It dawned on him what he was hearing and visions of the woman killed on his doorstep flashed through his mind again. Panic set in: he wouldn't let that happen again. Fighting with all he had in him to open his eyes and shake the strangely heavy feeling drowsiness that covered him like a blanket, Mark slowly managed to open his eyes, then the real struggle began; getting up off of the couch. Pooling together all of his might, Mark slowly but surely rose from his resting place, nearly falling twice in the process. Why was he so drowsy? Had it really been that long since he'd slept well enough to recharge? This was the most trouble he'd ever had waking up.

As he reached the front door, Mark finally broke loose of his near comatose state and moved the boards to open the door. As he did so, he heard unintelligible babble from the other side of the door, but he could tell enough to know that this person was needing help too. His house had apparently become the destination for all hunted humanity to run to.

Finally getting the door open, Mark saw no one, no one but the body of the woman he had failed to save earlier. Guilt gripped him anew, and he suddenly felt nearly as guilty for letting her lie there as he did for letting her die. The least he could do for her after selfishly letting her die was to bury her. But he knew all too well how dangerous it was to be out there. He couldn't bury her yet, but he could at least put her body somewhere until he could bury her. Maybe he could put her in his bathroom until... He shuddered, no, he couldn't put a dead woman in his house, it would make him realize his own mortality and helplessness in this situation. His own inevitable end. No, he would put her behind his house, near the shed. She would be safer there until he could pay her his last respects.

And with that all fear melted away, as Mark steeped out into the cool night air, picked the body up, and carried it to the back of the house. As he began to set her down, he noticed something that startled him: she was breathing! Placing her on the ground he grabbed her wrist to check her pulse, and she grabbed his hand gently. Her eyes opened and she looked at him through tears, her lips moved, but Mark couldn't hear what she said. Moving closer he heard her repeat her words

"Why didn't you open the door? Why didn't you save me?"

A chill went through Mark. Maybe if he'd opened the door even after the attack...maybe their would have been hope. Maybe there still was hope!

"Hold on, I'm going to help you now. You can make it." He reassured her, but as he tried to pick her up again, she went limp. "No! No! No no no nonononono!" Mark panicked "No don't do this to me! Don't die on me! Not again!"

Her eyes opened again.

"It's not my fault." She said as a tear slid down her cheek "It's yours..." And again, she faded away, her body becoming colder by the second.

"I know! I know it was! It is! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I wanted to help you!" Mark shouted through the tears that were streaming down his face as he held the now lifeless woman tightly.

'Then why didn't you?' The words were from Mark's own mind, and they stung. Why didn't he? Mark couldn't take anymore. He set the body down and headed back for his front door in a brisk walk, but as he neared the door he saw something on his porch: another body! Rushing to it, he checked for any sign of life, but it was too late for this one too. He carried this one dutifully to the other, set it down, and headed back again. Upon reaching the door, he saw yet another body, he raced to this one as well, but vitals were gone.

Where were they coming from? Was someone messing with him? Was this a game to them? He became angry like he had never been before. This time he decided to wait for the killer to return, it seemed logical at the moment anyway.

A few moments passed and sure enough, a man wearing a mask appeared carrying another body, laid it on his porch, and turned to walk off. Furious, Mark grabbed his shoulder, spun him around, and jerked his mask off. But before he could pay the man back with a thorough beating, he froze. He knew that face...


"You're.... you're me?!?" Mark said as he looked into his own eyes. "But..how?" Turning around Mark looked at his porch, now piled high with bodies.

"Because you killed them" his unmasked self said to him coldly.

"I did not! I was inside when she died!" Mark shouted through gritted teeth.

"But you let her die instead of opening your front door, Mark. So you see, you're as guilty as the one with the knife." His self said with a mocking tone. "Why did you do that, Mark? Why did we do that? Why did we kill them? Why didn't we save them, Mark? Why didn't we open the door? You used to open the door just for junk mail, and now you won't open it to save an innocent woman's life? Why did we let her die, Mark? Why?"

"I'm..I'm sorry" Mark said in a near whisper as tears began rolling down his face. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Mark wailed the last apology as he fell to his knees, his face buried in his hands.


Mark woke with a start, dropping his drink. Great now his couch was wet, his floor was wet, and his clothes were wet. And so was his face... Mark realized at that moment, he had been crying in his sleep. The dream haunted him. He didn't know what to do, but he knew he had to do something. He couldn't live like this any longer.

*knock, knock*

"Hello! Please let me in! Whoever you are!"

No answers. Erin knocked on the door once more.

"Please, let me in! I'm an outsider from New Heaven. Not one of them!"

Again, no one answered and opened the door. Erin wanted to turn back and keep walking north but he heard a creaking. The door slightly opened by itself, which surprised Erin. He took his cellphone and enabled the flashlight function to see what's inside. No one was home. Erin stepped inside slowly and closed the door behind him. Then, he went in the room to his right. A nice little hallway ended with two doors: one straight ahead and the other one to the right. He opened the door to the right and entered the room. A cosy bed, a wardrobe, a wooden desk... no doubt, Erin was in the bedroom. The ray of light from his cellphone illuminated a mantle Erin come closer and noticed a few pictures. He took one of them, looked closely and saw a pretty Asian girl with a nice gymnast outfit, holding a cup in his hands. He looked the back of the picture and saw something written: "My first victory. I was 12". He smiled, thinking about his recent victory during the Olympiads. He put the photograph back on the mantle and head back to the hallway. He opened the other door, leading to the bathroom. He saw the empty bathtub and thought: "I wish I could take a bath. I really need that after what happened tonight. But I better check the other rooms and see if there's no one here first."

He went back to the main hall and opened the door to the left. By the look of the Asian style of the furnitures all around the room, the long table and the wooden chairs placed around it, it was no doubt that Erin was standing in the dining room. There was another door at the far north of the room. Erin walked towards it, opened it and entered the kitchen. The cupboards contained all kind of food, mostly spicy food, and pots with various species of tea, spices... He opened the fridge and saw more food and a rest of milk in a bottle. He took it and said: "Well, I'm done with the exploration of this house and no one's home. Better stay here for a while. Let's drink that milk and take a nice and warm bath afterwards."

He put the cellphone on a small table, opened the bottle and started to drink straight from the bottle. He suddenly heard a mewing, stopped drinking and looked down. A kitten was rubbing against his left leg. "Oh hello, little kitty." Erin said. The little cat looked up and stared at Erin. Erin did the same then looked at the bottle of milk. "Oh, I see why you came here". He looked for a bowl in the cupboards, found one, filled it with milk, knelt down and placed it before the kitten. "You're probably thirsty. Here, take this." The little cat started to drink the milk. Erin smiled then stood up. He took his cellphone back, put the empty bottle on the table and noticed something else. Next to the door he went through, there was another door, wide open. He came closer to see where it lead. Down apparently, in a basement. Why was it wide open? Erin didn't notice that when he came in the kitchen. Erin decided to check the basement. He went downstairs, unsure about what could await him in the depths of this house.

"How can I get this girl to trust me from behind a door?" Seifer thought to himself. It was a long shot, but the only option he could think of. "Ma'am, I'm a police officer, I just got here when you came out" Seifer said while gently tapping the door to get her attention. "I'm going to slide my badge under the door so you know you can trust me." He really didn't think it would work, but he couldn't just leave the girl there, helpless and alone. And on top of that whatever family she was staying with now dead in her living room. "Go away!" she screamed, still sobbing, "I don't believe you, I know what I saw!" Seifer's badge was in his wallet, covering half of the inside when he folded it open. Making sure her door opened inward, so she couldn't ram him with it when he got close, he proceeded to slide the badge half of his wallet under the door. 
"I'm trying to help you," Seifer protested, "Please look under the door, and I can prove who I am." Seifer waited a moment, unsure if she was even moving because the sound of her crying was drowning everything else out. He left the badge halfway under the door, and made a quick rounds around the house, checking outside the windows as he went for any sign of the people who were after him. Nothing... for now. He headed back towards her door, and noticed his wallet was gone. Seifer tapped on the door again, "Are you still in there? If you really won't trust me, I'll leave you alone, but can I please have my wallet back?" 
And then Seifer heard the click of the door being unlocked, but it didn't move. He wasn't sure how to react. Did someone get to her through the window? Was she just putting on an act this whole time, messing with him? Could she have been the one to kill the old couple, and this was just a game to her? And these thoughts made a rage build up inside of him, more than he had ever felt. Either someone killed the girl, or the girl was playing with him all along. It didn't matter which, he only knew they deserved retribution.
Seifer very slowly twisted the knob, hoping it was going unnoticed, and as soon as it went far enough for the latch to open, he stepped back to open the door from around the corner with the end of his arm, ready to strike. And as the door opened, Seifer instantly felt guilty, scorning himself for letting the stress of the day get the better of him. The girl was fine, still sitting on her bed crying, only silently now, and the way he entered scared her to death, again.
"No! Please don't...!" She started to scream, until she realized Seifer was lowering the knife he held at the ready. "I took the wallet to check the ID," she said, struggling to keep her tears contained, "I had to make sure the badge was actually yours." Somehow, Seifer got through to her, although most of the credit goes to the girl's quick thinking and composure in such a horrifying situation. Seifer proceeded to lay the knife down on her desk, but still stood within arm's length of it. "I'm sorry for your loss, miss. But can you wait here for just a moment?" Seifer asked. She nodded, handing his wallet back. "If you hear stuff moving around inside, it's just me. So don't worry, OK?" Seifer walked out of the room, bringing the knife with him, and started using furniture to barricade the doors and windows, but not before moving the bodies onto the porch. Couches and tables in front of the doors, tall cabinets and a huge grandfather clock in front of the windows. He hoped this would at least buy some time if they ended up needing it.
On the way back to her room, he remembered seeing some hunting gear in the other bedroom. He found a gun to fit in his holster, but no ammo. "Really...? Who keeps a gun with nothing to put it in..." Seifer thought. At least there were a couple Bowie knives to be found, one extra large, one much smaller. "His and hers sizes, huh. At least 'something' is going my way." He wanted her to have a weapon if he could trust her, but couldn't expect her to use the very knife she thinks killed her family.
Seifer dumped the bloody knife in the kitchen trash can, walked back into her room, and noticed she was finally starting to calm down. He went to her desk, and sat down.  "I don't mean to sound cold, but we may not have a lot of time to talk." Seifer said, a grim expression on his face. "What's your name? And what do you know about what's been going on in this town over the past month?.... "

Update #5
September 1st, 4:15 AM
Current conditions: Cloudy, dry, dark. 72°F

Player update: Two players stats changed.

Laian :
Erin descended the stairs cautiously, stepping as lightly as he could, and disabling his phone's flashlight, instead he used the backlighting of the phone's display to see far enough in front of himself so as not to fall or be attacked should someone be down there. The little light that the phone's screen emitted was sufficient enough for his barest needs -though he would have been much more comfortable seeing all the way to the bottom without being so bright that anyone downstairs would see it before he saw them, or so he hoped.

Erin had made it halfway down the stairs when one of the boards creaked loudly, as though a man three times his size had stepped on it.

"Dang it!" Erin said barely above a whisper, but still too loudly for his own comfort. The complaint had slipped out before he could stop it.

A muffled sound came from directly beneath him. Erin froze, listening intently for any clue as to what that odd noise was. A moment passed in silence, and Erin heard nothing. Just as he began to take another step, he felt something rub his ankle. The sudden contact made him jump with a start. Looking down he saw the kitten rubbing against his leg. The little ball of fluff was cute, but not cute enough that he didn't feel slightly annoyed with it for startling him so. Before he could react though, he heard the muffled noise again. It sounded like a person, but something was wrong with them.

Erin took another step and the board creaked just as loudly when his foot came off of it as it did when he stepped onto it. The noise followed again, but this time with more volume as though the person were waking up. Erin wondered if that was a good thing or a bad thing. This could be a victim or it could be another killer. But surely this place wasn't so evil as to have even more psychos tucked away in it...was it? He honestly had no idea. Reluctantly, Erin pressed onward in his descent of the stairs. The voice below began reacting to the sound of his footsteps, and Erin hoped he had made the right choice. As he reached the bottom the voice had become something of a whimper. Deciding whoever was here was well aware of his presence now, Erin turned his flashlight back on, but as he shined it around the room he saw nothing. Stepping forward he noticed the space beneath the stairs and saw a young Asian woman tied up and gagged.

He recognized her face: it was the gymnast from the picture, only now she looked about ten years older than she was in the old photograph. She had dried blood above her right eye where she had sustained a fair sized gash recently from apparently being struck in the head, and her arms and legs were tied behind her back. Memories of last October flashed through Erin's head and he shuddered at them. Fighting his hardest he pushed them out and focused again on the issue at hand.

The woman squinted her eyes at the bright light shining in her face and began making what sounded like part panicked screams and part begging sounds. Erin's heart filled with compassion for her, and he quickly moved the light out of her eyes and headed toward her to untie her, an action which seemed to bring her no comfort as her muffled screaming intensified.

"It's okay: I'm here to help you" he assured her in his most compassionate voice. This seemed to help the woman as she settled back into a whimper.

Once he had her untied, and removed her gag, he asked her what had happened. To his surprise she managed to speak through her hysterics, though he wasn't sure he understood what she was trying to tell him.

"They were here!" She shouted.

"Who was here?" Erin inquired. "The killers? They came here too?"

The woman nodded vigorously "Yes. They were here. They got into my house! Oh gosh how did they get in???" she raved on. "Fluffy! Did they hurt Fluffy???" She asked, seeming as concerned for the animal's well being as she was for her own.

It wasn't until the kitten came bounding up to the woman and she held the miniature ball of hair in her arms and heard it's purr that she calmed down a little.

"Now can you tell me what's going on here?" Erin asked. He wasn't prepared in the least for the story she told.


~~~~

"I'm really sorry to hear about your friends" The woman was now consoling Erin instead of he she.

The two had been so relieved to finally see another sane human being, they had sat and spoken for what must have been a solid hour. They spoke of the current situation in the community as they sat on the couch, a purring ball of hair with tiny blue eyes snuggled on the woman's lap.

"Yeah...I'm really just trying not to think about it until I find a way out of this place" Erin informed her. This talk had been good for both of them.

"I can understand." She said sympathetically. "Oh I never did introduce myself. I'm Kiara. Would you like something to eat or drink? You must be exhausted" Kiara said, though she didn't seem to plan on taking no for an answer as she was already rising and moving toward the kitchen as she asked.

"Well to be honest, I've already raided your refrigerator for something to drink. I'm terribly sorry, but I really was famished and the milk helped a little" Erin answered embarrassed and stumbling over the last bit a little.

Kiara laughed. "It's fine really. You just saved me down there, so do you really think I'm going to mind you drinking a little milk?"

As she spoke the words the kitchen window shattered and a man with a crowbar climbed through.

"Well if you didn't manage to get loose and lock me out before I came back to finish you off." The man said as he shook his head. "Locking me out, Kiara? Really? Is that anyway to treat your friends? And I see you have a new little friend here with you. Good. More fun for me."

This is the man that tied her up? How did he know her name? Small community maybe? Not that any of that mattered right now. For now all that mattered was this man's intentions of killing Erin and Kiara. Erin looked at the door in front of him. He could leave while the man was focused on Kiara. But could he leave this woman to die so he could save himself? Or should he try to help her and hope that together they could overcome him? Fighting had never been Erin's specialty, but two against one was favorable odds...until you threw that crowbar into the equation...



Mynamescox44 :
"My name is Taryn." the girl replied with some hesitation.

Seifer couldn't blame the girl for being hesitant. Heck, he wasn't fully comfortable with her yet even. And what do you say under these conditions? "Glad to meet you, Taryn"? Because given the happenings that caused this meeting, he was fairly certain neither of them were glad to meet each other. Luckily for him, she quickly continued on to his next question.

"I don't really know what's been going on --no one does. All we know is that some people started coming up missing and and it just seemed like the more time went by, the more frequent the disappearances became." The girl paused for a moment and pushed some stray strands of her black hair behind her ear as she looked down at her bed as though studying the pattern on her blanket. "Then there was a body found. It was the first time a murder had been suspected in the community for as long as anyone could recall. And then another body turned up, and things just kept getting worse and worse." Her voice cracked and a sniffle followed. "I came here to stay with my grandparents while my dad worked, but he...my dad was killed at the station...yesterday evening. He was a police officer too."

Hoo boy, Seifer couldn't seem to stop stepping in it tonight. He doubted the best thing to make her feel better was seeing a police officer in her room after her dad died on duty just a few hours before that. Not that he had done anything wrong, but he felt so sorry for this girl, and he hoped his presence didn't add to her already unimaginable grief. At least he was protecting her though. But losing her dad during that day to a murderer, then both of her grandparents that night to murderers as well? He couldn't imaging the blow that must have been to her.

"I'm... I'm sorry" the words came out, and Seifer almost instantly regretted them. So cliché, and they never really helped anyone. He rushed on "Did they catch the man that...that...what I mean is, your dad, he was at the Police Station when...it happened. Did they catch the man that did it?"

"No." Taryn replied solemnly. "No, the entire police squad was there working on the cases that had been cropping up, and they were all killed"

"What?!?" Seifer said, stunned. "You mean every single officer in town is gone?"

"Mmhmm" came the girl's reply with a sniffle. "Most of downtown was destroyed I hear. I was with my grandparents when it happened because Dad didn't want me home alone with all of the strange things going on. We only found out because the fire chief saw it and drove up to tell us and then went home to his family. Said they weren't stepping foot outside until help got here."

Help. That was supposed to be Seifer, but what could one officer do when facing so many people, all of whom were out for blood? He felt almost helpless. He finally had action and a chance to make a difference, but he wondered if it wasn't a bit more than he could handle alone. Nevertheless, he feigned courage and confidence for this girl's sake. She desperately needed something positive.

"Well that's what I was sent for. We'll get this under control, but for now I'm just going to make sure nothing happens to you. Once daybreak gets here and we can see good out there, we'll head out." He said, not sure where exactly they would head to. Perhaps to his patrol car so he could take her to safety and get some help up here. He hated to take her out there, but it was better than leaving her here alone.

Just as he started to tell her to try to rest, a loud noise came from the front room. Rushing in to see what had happened he found that someone was trying to get past his barricade, albeit unsuccessfully.

"They're back!" Taryn cried, her voice laced with fear.

"Don't worry, Taryn" Seifer said with a calmness he didn't feel "We're going to be fine. They can't get in here. And if they do, we'll be ready."

A few more pushes and the struggle stopped, and in it's place an eerie silence followed. It ended as abruptly as it began, and Seifer found it a bit unnerving.

"Are they gone?" Taryn sounded hopeful. It was the first positive emotion she'd displayed tonight, and Seifer hated to discourage it, but he had to.

"I don't think so." he said thoughtfully "But I'm not sure what exactly is going on".

A moment later and they didn't have to wonder. The sound of glass shattering outside broke the silence of the would be intruders, and the smell of Kerosene began seeping in through the window as a light began to glow outside.

"They've set the house on fire." Seifer said, managing to control his voice so as not to make the news any more terrifying than it already was.

"What?!?"

"Come on, Taryn. Grab your knife. We have to go out there. We have no choice." Seifer urged the girl to action as he headed toward the front door.

"But the fire is out there. Shouldn't we use the back door?" Taryn asked, fear shaking every word.

"No. That's what they're expecting us to do. If we open that back door we're..." he didn't dare say what he wanted to 'good as dead' Instead he simply said "Come on. It'll be okay."

Building up their courage, Seifer and Taryn ran out of the front door, and through the flames.

Erin remembered the empty bottle he put on the table. With no hesitation, he rushed in the kitchen, grabbed the bottle and smashed it right on the killer's head. The killer released a brief shout before maniacally laughing, then he turned back and said to Erin:

"So that's it? That's all the knight in his shining armor can do? Ha, pathetic! Let me show you how to get rid of a parasite!"

He kicked Erin who fell back against a wall. The killer walked towards Erin, raising the crowbar, ready to hit the young boy with it.

"This is the end of the line for you!"

Erin had a few seconds to survive before the killer used his weapon to kill him, like his friends. A brief battlecry resonated in the kitchen. Erin closed his eyes, waiting for the reaper to come get his soul. He waited, but couldn't feel his soul stolen. So he re-opened his eyes and saw the killer stunned right before him. The crowbar fell from the killer's hand and hit the floor in a loud noise.

"Ki... Kiara..."

The killer whispered the name of the girl and fell off right before Erin's eyes like a castle of cards. Then, he saw Kiara holding a sharp kitchen knife in her right hand, the blade covered with blood. She just stabbed the killer in the back and saved Erin's life. She stepped back and said:

"What have I done?"
 
Erin stood up and walked towards Kiara to comfort her, still dumbfounded by what just happened. He took the knife and put it in the sink.

"It's ok, Kiara." he said to her "It's over. Can you tell me who that man was? He knew your name."

Kiara took a moment to clear her mind then she said:

"Don. It was... It was my boyfriend."

"Sorry to hear that", Erin replied after a brief silence. "I feel bad you had to do that to save my life."

"It's ok. He no longer was the Don I loved a few days ago. I don't know why he became insane. Something's wrong in this town."

"We might find this out sooner or later", Erin said before picking up the crowbar."More of them might come along at any time so we better get the hell out of here."

"We?", asked Kiara

"Yeah. You, me and Fluffy." answered Erin.

"I don't know if I should. I'm sure I'll slow you down."

"You won't. Come, let us move on."

Kiara grabbed Fluffy in her arms and nodded. They left the house and went north.

Seifer and Taryn ran out through the front door, the flames trying their best to engulf them as they went. Luckily the fire had just been started, so the flames weren't more than a few feet high. The downside was even though they managed to avoid the large ambush, there was still the person who set the fire waiting outside for them, laughing as the flames began to rise. It was the same woman who attacked Seifer in the barn. Taryn got through with nothing but minor burns at best, but Seifer's pant leg caught fire on one side. He didn't even notice. The adrenaline pumping through his veins was numbing everything out. 
"Keep running, I'll catch up," Seifer shouted to Taryn, making a beeline for the woman who set the fire. She wasn't armed, excluding the can of kerosene she still held. "But, I..." Taryn tried to argue. "JUST GO!" Seifer shouted, immediately regretting the volume he used, knowing the others waiting on the opposite side of the house heard him. He tackled the woman holding the kerosene, putting out the small flame on his pants as they rolled. Because of the way they landed, the woman was clearly on top, with the advantage. She put her hands around Seifer's neck, squeezing with all she had.
Bringing the knife under her arms, Seifer landed a solid blow in her left rib cage, and used the momentum to try to get her off. Pushing her aside with more resistance than a wounded person should put up, he jumped up as the three people who were waiting in ambush were almost within striking distance. They all had more lengthy weapons than himself, not to mention the odds. Seifer was almost certain this was the same group that attacked him earlier in the night. On top of that, the pain from his first degree leg burns were starting to set in. All he could do was run, or die. So he ran West, after Taryn, with all three right on his heels.
Slowly, but surely, he was putting distance between them. Seifer had hated all the conditioning he did in his training, but was never more grateful for it than he was right now. It was so dark, he couldn't see them anymore, but knew they were in pursuit, and close, from the occasional voice and sounds now and then. Fatigue was setting in. "But that means they must be tired too," he thought, trying to make himself feel better. Seifer looked over his shoulder to make sure they weren't closing in, and tripped over a small uprooted tree. If Seifer hadn't fell, he would've completely missed it, but picking himself up he saw a small cavern entrance. It was just big enough for one person to squeeze through, turning sideways to shimmy in.
Hurriedly, Seifer scurried into the cave, surprised at how much more open the inside was than the way in. As he crouched down, pulling out his phone for light. He could hear something behind him in the small recess of a cave. "Is that... breathing?!" His heart skipped a beat. He turned the phone to see, and a girl with a knife was coming down on him. "Oh s***!?" Seifer nearly shouted out of sheer surprise, barely stepping back enough to evade the stab and stumbling onto his back. "Seifer...???" It was Taryn...

(OoC:
Mynamescox44 :
Laian :
mrfe :
Ghostbear1111 :
Furret :
zanderlex :
I won't be updating tonight, sorry. Mom is having heart surgery tomorrow and I need to get some sleep so I can get up and get ready in time to be there, and these updates usually take me upwards of an hour to make between managing stats, writing, and sending update messages. Every one of you who haven't posted your turn tonight can feel free to do so. I'll try to update tomorrow night again if all goes well with mom. Thanks for your understanding.)

(OoC:
Mynamescox44 -
Laian -
mrfe :
Ghostbear1111 :
Furret -
zanderlex :
My apologies for the long delay. I meant to post this last night, but I typed it up in bed and fell asleep before submitting it. Things will go back to usual tomorrow night. I hope you guys are still interested in this thing after that unexpected break.)




Update #6
September 1st, 5:45 AM
Current conditions: Rainy, wet, 70°F. Mostly dark with minimal sunrise light

Player update: two players change locations. Two players stats changed.


Chapter 2: A waking nightmare
"Daddy! Daddy!!!" A girl's voice woke me.

It was Alicia.

"What is it sweetie? Is something wrong?" I had fallen asleep? How long had I been out? And where was Steven? A sickening feeling began to set in. "What's wrong? Where's Steven?"

"He's in my room. I saw you were asleep, so I took him him in there with me so he wouldn't wake you up and you could sleep." came a very surprising answer. Was this really my daughter? She had changed so much, I could hardly believe it.

"Thank you, sweetie." it was all I could choke out if I didn't want to cry, and I had to hold it together in front of them.

Thud. Something hit the wall, and hit it hard. I whirled toward the sound and it happened again. Someone was at the door.

"That's what I was trying to tell you about. Someone's trying to get in..." the poor girl's voice was filled with fear. Hadn't she suffered enough already? I started getting angry beyond what I knew I could.

"Go to your room with Steven, Alicia. I'll handle this."

Obediently she ran to her room. When I heard her door shut, I grabbed my Colt from under the chair, and turned to face the door which came flying open.

"Now listen here, you creep. I don't... Eric!" my hand dropped to my side as I tried to take it in. My son was alive! Relief flooded through me, and I threw my arms around him.

He however didn't seem as excited as I was, as he pushed me away. When that happened, two things hit me: the first thing that hit me was that Eric didn't know about what had happened to Barbara, or how things had changed. The second thing that hit me was Eric's fist.

"Don't you dare touch me!" he shouted. "Did you really think that you would get away with it, old man?"

"Eric, what are you talking about?" I asked as I climbed back to my feet.

"Oh come on! Who are you trying to convince? I was there, remember?" his eyes flashed. Whatever he thought had happened had him furious.

"What's going on?" I heard Alicia asking. "Eric!" the excitement in her voice was heartbreaking. She had missed him so much.

"You tried to kill me, old man. But guess what? You failed at that just like you do at everything." Eric continued his babbling.

"What??" Alicia looked at me, a horrified look on her face. "Is that true?"

"Of course not!" I said a little too loud. "Eric, what are you talking about?"

"Oh no, you know full well what I'm talking about" he answered me. "And I know what you did to Barbara too!"

"Shut your mouth!" I fired back as tears came to my eyes. Oh how my heart ached for my daughter. And how could he accuse me? "I didn't do anything to her! We found her that way." I finally broke into tears, unable to hold back any longer as the image of Barbara flashed through my mind. My poor girl. It hadn't been enough to kill her, they had mutilated her body, or at least I hoped she was dead before they did that.

"Liar!" Eric shouted angrily, and broke into a dead run.

Tackling me, he began punching me mercilessly. He had every intention of killing me, and I knew it. I struggled to fight him, and had some luck for a few moments as I managed to push him off of me, but no sooner had I risen to my feet than he tore into me again sending me stumbling backward into the wall.

Things began to get blurry, and I could hear Alicia and Steven screaming at their brother, begging him to stop. Something had happened to Eric, he had lost it. I wouldn't have survived that encounter had I not thought of one thing that managed to give me the fight I needed to do what I had to: with Eric like this, how long would Alicia and Steven last before he killed them too?

No.

No, I couldn't let that happen. It was too late to help him, and Barbara was gone, but I still had two children to protect.

No...

"NO!!!!" I heard myself shouting, and as Eric threw his next punch, I dodged to the left, sending his fist into the wall. I took his brief pause and used it to my advantage. Planting my foot in his stomach, I managed to knock him back a few feet, and then I did what I never could have imagined.

Alicia and Steven screamed hysterically.

I stared in silence.

Eric stared up at me from the floor, motionless. Lifeless. I had shot my own son...but I had to do it, didn't I?




Laian :
As the unlikely trio -or perhaps duo with an unlikely feline third party- progressed on their journey, Erin took note of Kiara's silence. She spoke very little other than to answer questions.

"So how long have you lived here?" Erin asked, feeling the small talk to be awkward in this situation, but better than absolute silence would be after what had just happened.

"All of my life" Kiara replied sounding as though she were a thousand miles away in thought despite not being more than two feet away from Erin in body.

He had saved this woman from physical bonds, then risked his life to try and save hers, but he felt powerless to save her emotionally and mentally. Erin knew what it was like to be locked away in a prison of thoughts and memories, and he recognized that look in Kiara's eyes saying that was exactly where she was. He felt so badly for her, and he wished he could do something to help.

"So you know your way around here then, huh?" Erin's question served two purposes: to help Kiara open up and talk, and to help him find his way around this community and hopefully to find safety.

"Well, sort of" Kiara replied actually sounding like she was in the present finally. "I know my way around using the streets, but they're all blocked off by the loons that seem to be patrolling them for some reason. I never did much exploring or playing in the woods of Fuller Heights as a kid because I was always too busy practicing for the next gymnastics tournament. I wanted to try out for the Olympics one day, but I never had the money to pay my way to the tryouts."

"Oh really?" Erin said, glad to hear her opening up finally. It wasn't what was bothering her, but she was at least coming out of her shell finally. "Do you think you could have made it onto the team?"

"I think I stood a chance." she said realistically. "I can't say I would have outperformed the others, I mean they were amazing as I'm sure you know if you watch the Olympics. They don't get there by luck anyway." her chin lifted and Erin saw a sparkle in her eye for a brief moment as she added "But I was close to their level, if not on par. I may not have medaled, but I would have been a viable candidate for the team anyway."

She spoke with confidence, but not arrogance. This was someone who knew what they were capable of, but didn't let it inflate their ego. Someone who had a realistic view of themselves, a trait which Erin noted, not many people had. Most viewed themselves as greater or lesser than they truly were.

"That's pretty impressive" Erin replied with genuine respect in his voice. "Not many people can say something like that."

"I guess so." and her mind was miles away again. Erin would have to try again later. "Wait, I think I know about where we are... We're coming up on the high school."

"You have a high school here? I didn't expect such a small community to." Erin hoped that didn't sound as rude as he thought it did, but Kiara's laugh reassured him he hadn't upset her.

"I know what you mean. It really is unusual, but we do. It's nothing like the one where you're from, since we usually only run about ten to twenty per class. It gets the job done though."

"So is that where you went to school then?" Erin inquired as he turned his head toward her.

"Went to school?" Kiara said sounding surprised as her gaze met Erin's. "I still go there. How old do you think I am?"

'Step one: open mouth. Step two: insert foot. Good one, Erin' thought an embarrassed Erin. Now how would he answer that without risking offending her?

"Uh, well I mean you live alone, so I just assumed that you were out of school." wow that lie had come easy. Perhaps a little too easy. It saved him though, so for now he wouldn't worry about the moral issue of it.

"Ohhh okay." Kiara said, clearly buying Erin's answer. "Yeah, I was emancipated at seventeen. Long story. Anyway, I'm nineteen. I have a late birthday so I started school a year late, and then during the emancipation process, moving, and starting a new job, I lost a lot of study time, so I flunked 11th grade."

'Did I really just spill all of that information about myself to him already?' Kiara thought as she turned her gaze to the ground again. 'I barely know the guy, and he already knows I had a dysfunctional family, I flunked a grade, and...and I killed my boyfriend.' She winced at the thought and tears sprang to her eyes. Tears she had been fighting this whole time. She felt so guilty about not crying over Don, but she couldn't exactly afford a breakdown right now. Truth be told that was part of the reason she was afraid to let Erin take her and Fluffy along with him. She feared she might break down finally and he would be stuck with her...or abandon her like her mother. 'Okay brain, where did THAT thought come from? Right now is not the time to get all issuey'


"Ohhh myyy.... Kiara, don't look." Erin's voice snapped her from her thoughts. She looked up to only see Erin standing directly in front of her, reaching an arm to her side he guided her around through the schoolyard that she hadn't even realized they had reached.

After they had walked completely around the back of the school building, Kiara tried to ask what he was shielding her from, to which she got nothing but a "Don't worry about it". Normally she would have protested, but after the night she'd had, she actually appreciated feeling sheltered from at least one thing.


Furret :
Ian awoke confused. Had that all been a dream? And if not, then how on Earth did he fall asleep? Was he really that exhausted? He hadn't been sleeping well for a while now. All of those rumors had been keeping him a little too nervous to sleep much honestly. He took a brief survey as his wits began to return to him and overtake the grogginess. Seeing where he was, he groaned knowing it hadn't been a dream.

That also meant he was in danger at this very moment. He listened intently and couldn't hear a sound outside, but he wasn't sure he wanted to risk moving and alerting the killer if he were still out there. Just how long had he been lying in the floor of this busted old bus though? He took his phone out of his pocket, being careful to minimize movement and sound.

It was five AM? He'd been here for five hours? Surely it would be safe by now, wouldn't it? Slowly he began to raise up, but just as he got on his feet he heard a man's voice in the distance. Looking out of the nearest window he saw two figures walking toward the bus. Ian ducked down quickly, but apparently not quickly enough as he heard one of the voices say something about the bus. A few moments later someone started trying to pull the bus doors open.

This was it. Ian was going to die. And all because he couldn't stay awake. Maybe he should have used that coffee money on an energy drink. And of all the places to die, why did he have to die at work??? And on this smelly old bus at that, next to what he was fairly certain was a pair of Greg Walker's raunchy gym socks. No wonder it smelled like a dead skunk in there. That boy always lost his socks on the bus, but how, Ian had no idea. But what good did this kind of thinking do him? He was going down, but not without a fight. He couldn't take both of them out, but he could at least make one of them regret it.

Ian inched his way over to the door staying crouched down in the process. As he reached them, the door came open. That was his cue.

Ian leapt on one of the would be assailants. They hit the ground with a thud, and began struggling as the other assailant simply screamed. A woman? Unsure why that surprised him, all Ian could conclude was that it seemed natural to associate violent crimes with men.

"Erin!!!!!" the woman shouted. My, but if that voice didn't sound familiar. Was that Claudia Mitchell, the Vice Principle? He always knew that woman wasn't right. Told his coworkers she hated him and wanted him gone. If only they were here now, they would believe him finally!

As Ian and his attacker both struggled to stay on top of their foe, the woman kept shouting for someone named Erin. Oh gosh how Ian hoped she wasn't calling for another person to come help. In fact, why wasn't she fighting him too? He was too busy fighting this guy to process it all.

With the murderous fiend pinned to the ground finally, Ian drew back and proceeded to punch him in the face with all of his might...or he would have, but as his fist went crashing down, the woman apparently got into the fight too. That or Erin finally showed up. Whoever it was, they proved to Ian's back that they packed a wicked kick as he went flying -quite literally- off of the man he was struggling with.

Winded and face down, Ian knew he was gone, and he never even got to punch the creep.

He awaited the next blow. And he waited. And he waited.

Nothing?

Rolling over he saw the two people standing near him still, the woman was checking on the man.

"Are you okay, Erin?" she said with more emotion than Ian thought a crazed serial killer could muster. Showed what those Criminal Minds script writers knew. If he lived he would never watch that show again.

"Mr. Peters?!?" The woman exclaimed.

"Who are you?" Ian asked, noting she was shorter than the evil Mrs. Mitchell.

"Kiara Stanton!" the woman replied.

Kiara? He had attacked his student, or rather, her friend? Oh boy, this just wasn't his day...



Mynamescox44 :
"I'm so sorry, Seifer! I didn't know it was...I thought you were...I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Taryn was falling all over herself apologizing.

Before he could stop himself, Seifer began to laugh. He was just glad it was her, and the fact that she had missed was a nice bonus as well.

"Why are you laughing?" Taryn asked, confusion in her voice.

"I'm sorry, it's just...you..." Seifer began laughing again.

"Me?? Don't laugh at me!" Taryn nearly shouted.

"I'm sorry, Taryn" Seifer said, managing to stop laughing when he saw she was upset by it. "It was just your reaction, and that I thought you were one of them, and...I don't know why I found it so funny."

"So it's funny when someone tries to stab you?" Taryn said, tears evident in her voice. "My grand..." she stopped short.

Seifer wasn't sure what to say, so he just stood up and put his hand on her shoulder. The two stood there silently for a few moments until Seifer finally broke the silence.

"Are you okay? Did you get here without any trouble? I'm sorry I sent you away like that, I just didn't want you to get hurt, or to have to see whatever the outcome of that fight would be." He said gently.

"I know." came her soft reply. "What...what's that?" She was pointing at his knife that he'd dropped when he fell, or rather the blood on it.

"I, uh...had to use it after you left." Seifer said hesitantly. He didn't want to scare the girl, and knowing how things went down back there just might do that.

More silence.

"Thank you." Taryn finally spoke in a near whisper.

Seifer didn't need to ask why she was thanking him, nor did he say anything in return. He simply squeezed her shoulder, and they both understood what one another was saying without speaking a word.

After a few moments, Seifer decided to search out the area and see if the coast was clear for Taryn. Scouting their surroundings, Seifer saw no one nearby, but he did see a house off in the distance to the West, and another to the North. He didn't know which way he wanted to go, but he knew they couldn't stay here for long, or those psychos would find them again.

Erin walked towards a school bus parked in the back of the school. He just saw a shade behind the windows. Someone was there. The shade moved slowly  to the door of the bus. Erin, still holding the crowbar he took at the end of the fight against Kiara's ex-boyfriend, keep moving forward, followed a few steps behind by Kiara and Fluffy. The crowbar was ready to hit the next psycho killer that Erin would encounter.

"Are you ok, Erin?" Kiara asked."I don't see anything in that bus."

"Ssssh.", he replied.

Kiara remained silent. Erin moved slowly his left hand to the school bus door. Erin opened it with a sudden move and the shape leapt on him like a wild panther, disarming Erin.

"Erin!!!!", she shouted.

She finally saw who was that shade: a young man with long brown hair wearing a gray hoodie. It did look familiar to her for some reason. Erin wasn't lying to her: there was actually someone waiting for them in this bus. Erin struggled the best he could. The fight between the two men was intense, like none of them would stop. At first, Kiara did not want to get involved in this. Though seeing how the person who saved her earlier was having a bad time, she finally put Fluffy down and said:

"Stay here, Fluffy."

The two men were still fighting. Kiara came and tried to separate them, to end this. She couldn't help but pushing back the man with the gray hoodie, as he was about to punch Erin's face. The young man fell off on the ground.

"Are you ok, Erin?" Kiara asked to his new friend.

Erin was hardly recovering from the fight. She looked at the familiar person, the one who just attacked them. She recognized the Latin teacher of her school, Mr. Ian Peters.

"Mr. Peters?!?", she exclaimed.

"Who are you?", the man asked, confused.

"Kiara Stanton"

Mr. Peters, surprised to see her with that young man, felt inside of him slightly ashamed of what just happened. Erin, the eyes wide open, looked at Kiara and said:

"Wait! You... you know that guy?"

"Of course.", she answered. "It's Mr. Peters, the Latin teacher of my school."

"Oh, wunderbar." Erin said after heaving a sigh.

This was the second time Erin was attacked by someone that Kiara knew well. Twice in the same night, by two different people. It could have been worse but Erin felt like, despite meeting Kiara, it was not a good day for him.

(OoC: Please keep in mind I'm writing this piece on heavy sleep meds, but I really wanted to post before the next update, so it might be a little short compared to my other posts. And I hope everything is going well with what you told us about Eirin.)



"Well, we can't go back. The house isn't even there anymore..." Seifer trailed off as he finished, realizing what he was telling the girl. How could he say that? Taryn just lost her grandparents, and now the house they lived in, with all the memories scorched in it. "It's okay," she replied looking down, trying to keep her composure.

"There are two houses we could go to, or head back into the woods. It's getting brighter by the minute, so hopefully it won't be as dangerous for a while. Do you know anything about the area around here?" Seifer was just trying to keep her mind off what happened, but instinctively asked for information he could put to use. "Not really," Taryn replied, "I just moved in there... It's only been a few days. My family lived on the far side of town from here, so I only came by this end to visit, mostly just on holidays."

Seifer could see that Taryn wasn't happy not being able to contribute more. "Oh well. We've got this far on wits alone, right?" He said, remembering the good laugh he just had to make the smile he showed her seem more genuine. "It's up to you where we go. I doubt I'd still be alive if not for you," Taryn said after a moment or two of silence.

"Okay, we'll work our way from one of the houses to the other. And search for any more people who might be trapped or need help. If nobody's around, we'll just take what we can find and be on our way. If we run into anymore of those people, we hide or run. If it's two on one, let me get their attention and you strike from the back when they're preoccupied with me, but only when you know you'll be safe. Is this plan alright with you? I won't blame you if you can't or won't fight." Seifer explained to the girl, not sure what to expect from her if things get tricky. "I'll do my best. I owe you my life, after all." Taryn replied as they went North to check out the first of the two houses...

Update #7
September 1st, 6:45 AM
Current conditions: rainy, wet, day. °74F

Player update:
One player changed location
Three players stats changed


Laian :
Erin felt overwhelmed. Tonight was messing with his head in a bad way, and he couldn't help but just want to sit down and rest a while. Right there in front of the school. Why not? Was there any way out of this situation?
After all, both Kiara and Mr. Peters had obviously been trying their best to survive, and they had, but they were no closer to making it out alive than he was when he first fled from the house tonight.

The house... Erin put his hand to his forehead as the unwelcome thoughts came pouring in.

"Are you alright, Erin?" Kiara asked, sounding concerned as she saw the gesture. "Did you hit your head in the fight?"

"Huh? Oh yes, I'm fine. Sorry." Erin replied feeling a little embarrassed and hoping that no one could tell just what he was thinking right now.

"What are you doing here today, Mr. Peters?" Kiara inquired. "School has been out for the past two days now."

"Well Principle Sharp asked...oh gosh..." Ian stopped short of finishing his explanation as he remembered what had become of Principle Sharp.

"What is it?" Erin asked, turning around to face Mr. Peters. Something about the way he had said that worried Ian.

"Which way did you come from?" Ian asked them.

"My house." Kiara said as she gestured toward the South. "Why?"

"You didn't see..." Ian stopped short as he saw Erin who was standing behind Kiara shaking his head side to side vigorously, and waving his arms in a manner that seemed to tell Ian that the Principle's body was best left unmentioned.

"See what?" Kiara asked as she turned to look at Erin to see if he had any idea what was going on here.

"Any of the other students or...or faculty. You didn't happen to see any of them around here hiding did you? I was just thinking that maybe some of them might have come here like you." Ian finished, sounding almost believable. And somehow, be it luck, gullibility, or exhaustion, Kiara bought it.

"Oh, no." She replied. "But we didn't come here on purpose either. We were just trying to find someone who could help us, or some way out of here or something, and we just stumbled across the school."

Erin felt relief come over him. He couldn't say why, but he felt a need to protect both Kiara, and the little ball of fluff that was now climbing up his pant leg. Perhaps it was guilt over leaving his friends behind, but he had no choice. What good would he have done them dead?

Erin blinked the thoughts away as he stooped down and pried the kitten's tiny claws loose from his jeans and held it in his arms. The loud purr it emitted rumbled against his chest, and offered some small amount of comfort. As though it was a reminder that there was still good in this world. Still innocence. Still purity. That not all was dark and evil.

Those feelings were driven away again however, as a man wielding a baseball bat with long nails that had been driven through it to act as spikes came charging their way.

The man took a swing at Erin, who dove out of the way, holding tight to a frightened Fluffy. Rising to his feet, Erin set Fluffy inside the bus and closed the doors. This may just be an animal to some, but to Erin it was one of the only two good things left in this world. The other one being Kiara who had saved his life at her house and showed him that even a stranger could care, so not everyone was so bad. And to Kiara, this animal was all she had left. It must be protected just like it were another person.

As Erin turned back toward the fight to help, he saw a horrifying thing: The killer took another swing, and hit Kiara. The girl spun on her heel and fell to the ground face first.

Seeing this happen, both Erin and Ian charged the killer who still had his eyes fixed on Kiara. The man never saw it coming, as Ian's fist landed firmly on the side of his head, and Erin's tire iron went slamming into his stomach. The bat fell to the ground, and the man followed suit. He wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

Seeing the man downed, Erin ran to Kiara to check on her.

'Please let her be alive' the words ran through Erin's mind again and again. As he dropped to his knees beside her, he could hear her groaning. She was alive, but definitely in a good amount of pain. Rolling her over, Erin, and Ian who also had come to check on her, could see that she had been hit in her left side.

Her shirt had a tear in it where one of the nails had pierced it and her side, and blood stained the area and was slowly spreading. Erin placed his hands on the wound and applied pressure to help stop the bleeding.

"Ahh!!!" shouted the girl at the pain that shot through her side when Erin pressed on the gash. "Don't you think that creep caused me enough pain without you helping, Erin?" she said, and Erin was certain he caught a faint smile on her face as she said it.

She could joke at a moment like this? This girl was tough, that's for sure. Ian chuckled and Erin smiled. She was the one hurt, and yet she was also the one managing to lighten the mood, even if only in the slightest way.


Mynamescox44 :
As they neared the house, Seifer saw a woman's dead body on the porch. How many of these people were out on the prowl exactly? It was starting to feel like he and Taryn were the only living souls left that hadn't gone over the deep end yet.

"Stop." Seifer said as he tried to keep Taryn from seeing the body on the porch. That image was too similar to her grandparents bodies on their porch. And judging by the blood coming from under the woman's body and the complete lack thereof on her elsewhere, Seifer suspected she too had been stabbed from behind.

The cry that came from Taryn let him know that he hadn't managed to stop her in time. The girl began trembling, and Seifer could only hope that it was from fear, and not the beginnings of a breakdown.

"Wait here" he instructed the poor girl, and went to move the body to the bushes so Taryn wouldn't have to see it. He couldn't do anything about the blood on the porch, but it was certainly less disturbing than the woman's body, especially with that pleading look on her face.

Once he finished, Seifer called Taryn to him, and knocked on the door.

"Who's there?" A man's voice came from inside, much to the shock of Seifer and Taryn.

"Officer Almasy" Seifer called back. "My friend and I would like to come inside for a moment if we may and talk to you. We're looking for survivors of the strange happenings here lately."

Taryn looked up at Seifer at the words "My friend and I", and smiled. For the first time since this whole nightmare started, Taryn actually smiled a real smile. She quickly lowered her head, so as to make sure Seifer didn't see her reaction and read it as some schoolgirl crush or something when in reality it was just that she realized she actually had a friend. Her life hadn't been easy, and friends weren't exactly something she was used to lately.

"I've lived here for years, and I've never heard of an officer Almasy."
the voice called back suspiciously.

"I'm not from here. I was sent in by my department to investigate some disappearances, I've since found out that a lot worse than that has been going on here." He answered. Look, here's my badge." He added as he held it toward the window by the door. A moment later, the door unlocked and opened.

The three talked of the recent events and exchanged names. This man was named Mark, and he'd been here a while from the looks of things.


With much persuasion, Mark agreed to go with Seifer and Taryn. After all, he was going to run out of supplies eventually anyway. Maybe this way he could stand a chance. Besides, after what happened last night, he worried about how much longer he could handle staying in there.

"I need to find a first aid kit" Erin thought. "I cannot let Kiara carry on, with that wound."


That was the priority number one for Erin. Even if more of these killers came anytime soon, he had the intention of curing the wound first.


"Mr. Peters?", Erin asked to Ian


"Yes? What is it?"


"I need your assistance, please. Would you keep a eye on her? I'll go look for a first aid kit in the meantime, or something that can cure the wound."


"Sure."


Ian applied a pressure to contain the blood. Kiara gritted her teeth, trying not to shout once more at the men. Erin took the crowbar back and went in the bus, hoping he could find what he needs. "If I recall correctly, the government said every school bus must have a first aid kit. And it should be located underneath.."


He crouched and saw a green box underneath the driver's seat.


"Bingo."


Then, he noticed the metal bar attached to a padlock, firmly holding the first aid kit.


"Of course, it has to be stuck.", he thought.


He gripped the crowbar, aimed for the padlock and started using it as a stake, like in one of these old vampire hunters movies. Except this time, there was no hammer. Just Erin's strength. He gave one direct hit but the padlock seemed unscathed. Then, another hit. He examined the padlock, still locking the first aid kit. It didn't work well. "Scheisse" he whispered, as he violently put the crowbar down on the bus floor. Exactly when he was about to ask to Ian to bash the padlock, he got the same thought he had during the Olympiads. Pumped up, he gripped firmly the crowbar, gritted his teeth and repeatedly hit the padlock so many times. It finally broke and Erin could grab the first aid kit.


"Erin?" Ian said from outside. "Is everything ok?"


"Yeah!", he replied. "I found a first aid kit."


Although, he had to open it and check inside the box, just to make sure there's enough medicine and stuff to cure Kiara. It was locked underneath the seat by a padlock so that meant it hasn't been used once. He put the first aid kit on a passenger's seat, unlocked the box and noticed a good amount of medical supplies inside. Erin threw a relief sigh and said to Mr. Peters:


"Mr. Peters! Can you come inside the bus with Kiara, please?"


Erin took a compress and induced it with antiseptic. Ian came in with Kiara and sat her down on the seat next to Erin, to his left.


"Grit your teeth, Kiara.", Erin asked her. "It might hurt a bit."


He slowly put the sterilized compressed on the wound. Kiara, gritting her teeth, grimaced slightly.


"Good. Now, hold this so I can put the bandage around your waist. If that's ok for you, of course."


She nodded, then held the compress in order to let Erin use the bandage. There was enough length to firmly hold and hide a good part of the compress. Erin put the medical stuff back in the green box and hid it underneath the driver's seat, its original place. Then, Erin said to Kiara:


"You should get some rest, Kiara. Mr. Peters and I-"


Erin was interrupted by a meow. Fluffly showed off from behind a seat and walk toward Kiara. He jumped and laid down on her legs.


"Well, Mr. Peters, Fluffy and I will keep an eye on you in the meantime.", Erin said.


"Ok.", she answered softly.


Mr. Peters stepped outside the bus, followed by Erin.


"Erin?"


Erin stopped and turned his head towards Kiara, staring at him. He asked:


"What's wrong, Kiara?"


"Would you stay here with me for a moment?", she replied after a brief silence. "I wanna talk to you privately."


Erin looked at Ian, confused.


"Stay with her.", Ian told Erin."I'll wait outside. If one of these psychotic guys stop by here, I'll make sure it's his last trip, don't worry about that."


Erin smiled then thanked Mr. Peters. He closed the school bus' door afterwards and sat down next to Kiara and Fluffy.


"What is it you wanted to tell me, Kiara?"


"Remember when I told you I will slow you down if I come with you?"


"Yes, why?"


He stopped a moment, thinking she would say something. But he could read in her eyes the answer he expected her to say.


"It's ok, Kiara.", he said.


"Why did you want me to come with you?", she asked, crying.


"I couldn't save my friends. I ran away from the house. I was losing hope that I would see other people I could trust. Then, I met you. And finally, our path crossed with Mr. Peters'. Who knows how many sane people are here, at Fuller Heights. If we can work together, we'll have more chances to overcome the obstacles and leave this place once and for all."

"Do you think it's possible, Erin? Do you think we can get out of here... alive?"

"We will.", Erin answered, as he held Kiara's left hand to give a bit of confidence and courage, enough to comfort her. "I'm sure we will."

"Could we please have something to drink?" Seifer asked, trying not to impose. "Sure," Mark offered, his voice sounding distant. Mark brought a couple glasses of water for them. While Seifer and Mark were talking, Taryn happened to fall asleep on the couch next to Seifer. Her head fell gently onto his shoulder.

"I'm not sure what happened, but I moved the woman on the porch out of sight. I hope you don't mind." Seifer said to Mark, trying to sound as compassionate as possible. "...Thanks," he replied, sounding more distant than before. Feeling the tension, and being clueless as how to cheer Mark up, Seifer decided to check the area around the house. "I'll knock exactly five times when I need back in. Otherwise keep the door locked and if I have to, I'll try to draw them away. Please look after Taryn." Mark nodded in reply.

As Seifer walked outside, he heard the door lock click behind him. Not that he minded the burden, but he could at least breathe easier knowing the girl was safe, if only for a moment. Checking the area in front of the house, taking time to look out into the woods while not getting too far from the house, there was nothing. Well, nothing if you don't count the woman's body he moved off the porch just a while back.

Walking around to the back, Seifer could hear leaves and small twigs being stepped on not too far off. Unsheathing his knife and taking a defensive stance, he started walking slowly towards the noise. Although it couldn't have been fifteen steps, it felt like an eternity creeping in that direction, waiting for someone to show themselves. And after another crunch of twigs, a dog popped out through the bushes. It had a collar on. It must have belonged to someone in town, now a stray with no one alive or sane enough to care for it.

"You scared me half to death little guy," Seifer said as he crouched down to pet him. The dog started growling and showing teeth, making Seifer jump back a little. As the dog leaped forward, Seifer brought the knife up to defend himself, but the dog went right by him. As Seifer turned around to see why, the dog was struck down by a scrawny man with a sharpened wooden spear, formerly a handle of something like a shovel.

The man laughed maniacally. "And I was so close to killing you unnoticed. Every dog has his day, and this one's a twofer." He put a foot against the now motionless dog to pull the spear back out, and licked some of the blood off the tip. "I wonder what you taste like?" He said laughing even harder this time. Seifer was beyond furious at this point, but he couldn't just rush the guy. The man must have had a good 2 or 3 feet in range against him. The man squared up with Seifer, holding the spear in front to make jabbing motions when he inched in close enough. "I'm not going to leave Taryn here and run over one guy," Seifer thought to himself, trying to figure out a way to close the distance between them.

Seifer noticed a patch of dirt near the house, and an idea came to him. He lead the man over towards the dirt, and intentionally fell back right by it. As the man readied the spear to close down on him, Seifer threw a handful of dirt in the man's eyes. He rolled and jumped up as the man forced the spear into bare ground, getting close enough to stab the man in the solar plexus.

Seifer didn't notice until he finished moving the body that he was injured as well. It wasn't deep, but when he threw the dirt, the man managed to graze his side well enough to draw a decent amount of blood. After knocking, he entered Mark's house and asked, forcing a grin, "You got anything that could patch me up?..."

Update #8
September 1st, 8:00 AM
Current conditions: Rainy, very wet, 70°F. Daytime.

Player update: two players stats have changed.


MAP:
Player positions etc. are not show here yet, but may be in the future. Also points of interest may be revealed as well. And my apologies for the blurriness.



Laian :
"Thank you." Kiara smiled sincerely as a tear slid down her cheek.

"There's no need to thank me, Kiara." Erin said humbly, believing exactly what he said.

"Yes there is. You saved my life, then you decided to take me with you for my protection, even though you didn't know me. And now you've tended to my wounds and encouraged me. Thank you for it all." the girl said. And with that she leaned her head against the window and rested.

Erin didn't feel like the hero Kiara made him out to be. He was just another guy who was doing what he felt was right. But he couldn't deny that he felt better for knowing she appreciated that. And with one last glance back before stepping off of the bus, Erin's face and heart shared a smile at the site of Kiara resting up and Fluffy lying on her chest resting up as well, the purr audible even this far away.

"How is she?" Ian asked as Erin closed the doors.

"She's alright." Erin answered him in a low tone so as not to risk disturbing her. "She seems to be feeling a little better about things as well."

"That's saying a lot. There isn't too much to feel good about around here lately." the teacher replied solemnly. "Though I am glad to see at least one of my students are alive. Two have come up missing recently, and who knows if any of them are alive now." he turned to Erin "And you saw Principle Sharp, huh?"

"I believe so." Erin said as his gaze dropped a little. "Was he the man dead behind that bench over there?"

"That's him." Ian answered, a note of sadness in his voice. "In a small community like this everyone is kind of like family. I grew up with him, you know."

"I'm sorry." Erin offered.

"So am I." came the soft spoken reply from the teacher.

A long silence followed.

"You're good for her, you know." Ian broke the silence.

"What do you mean?" Erin asked, genuinely confused.

"Kiara." began Ian "I've only been around you for a short while, but I can see how much you're helping her through this. It'd be all too easy to lose your mind out here right now. You're helping her keep it together. Truth be told, you may be the only friend she has that's still alive."

Those words were difficult to hear, but they both knew Ian was right. The two men sat outside talking for some time, sharing their experiences and even a few good natured stories. One could have easily confused the majority of their chatter for everyday patio talk between friends. The comfort they took in being able to talk like nothing was wrong for this time offered them a reprieve from the madness and cheered their hearts.

Their discussions ended as they heard noises behind them. Kiara was stirring. Erin got up and went to check on her.

"How are you feeling?" Erin asked as he stepped onto the bus.

"Meow" came a reply from Fluffy before Kiara could open her mouth to answer. The two shared a laugh at the humorous timing of the cat.

"I'm feeling a lot better actually." she answered as she sat upright. "I needed that nap. I feel less overwhelmed now, and I can finally think straight. My side's still pretty sore though." she added with a slight grimace as she rose to her feet.

"Kiara you need to rest some more." a protective Erin said.

"No." Kiara's refusal came accompanied by a shake of her head. "We've sat in one place long enough already. It's time we go."

"But"

"Let's go." she cut him off. Erin knew she was right, they couldn't sit here any longer.

"Alright, let's head out then." Erin said as he opened the door and helped Kiara out. "Mr. Peters, we're going to continue our journey now."

Erin contemplated asking Mr. Peters to join them. An extra body could be useful, but barring a surprise brawl and a single discussion, he barely knew the man.



Mynamescox44 :
"Yeah, of course." Mark answered. As he turned to retrieve a first aid kit. "What happened out there? I heard some laughing and the next thing I know you're at the door bleeding."

"Well" began Seifer "when I got out there I"

A gasp cut his words short.

"Oh my gosh! Seifer, are you okay?" Taryn asked, sounding worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine k..Taryn." he answered trying to act as nonchalantly as possible, and hoping she missed that he nearly called her 'kid' when he only had six or seven years on her. "Just got into a bit of a fight. Sorry to wake you."

Taryn's eyes grew wide and full of fear as her gaze shot quickly over to Mark who was standing near her. It wasn't until she began scooting away from Mark that Seifer realized that she misunderstood.

"No, not with Mark." Seifer assured her, using all of his self restraint to refrain from laughing at her again. Unfortunately Mark, who didn't know any better, broke into an unbridled fit of laughter, earning him the nastiest glare he had ever seen.

"I...I'm sorry. I don't mean to laugh at you." Mark said, catching his breath before proceeding. "I understand that you never know what -or who- to suspect around here lately."

That seemed to appease Taryn, as the death look she was giving Mark stopped and her gaze went back to Seifer, once again inquisitive and concerned.

"Well I went out to make sure the coast was clear while you were resting and I ran into someone. But it's okay, he just grazed me." Seifer added the last part quickly, so as not to worry Taryn too much.

"Looks a lot worse than a graze." Taryn noted as she examined the wound up close.

"She ain't wrong." Mark added. "That looks nasty, Seifer."

"Oh it's just a little scrA-AAHH-ATCH! What are you doing?!?" Seifer nearly shouted as the pain intensified under Taryn's touch.

"Trust me, my aunt was a nurse. I studied a bit about health care as well and she taught me a lot." she answered calmly, as though she had patched up spear wounds many times before. The thought almost sounded humorous in Seifer's mind, but then in this place, that was entirely possible.

"Well could you be a little more care-AH!-ful there?" Seifer complained.

"Oh calm down you big baby" Taryn teased. "Mark, do you have anything I could use to stitch this up? Also I need a towel and some water."

"Oh no you don't!" a less than thrilled Seifer shouted as he jerked away.

"Seifer, that cut is deeper than you think." Taryn said, sounding like an authority on the matter. "And there's mud in it, which I refuse to ask how it got in there in the first place." Taryn paused as she grabbed for the towel a snickering Mark had brought back.

"Oh yeah, you think this is real funny don't you?" Seifer shot at Mark who simply nodded in the affirmative.

"And even if we clean it out and stop the bleeding" Taryn continued as though the two men hadn't spoken a word "infection could still set in if we don't close it off."

"It's just a scratch, Taryn, you're overreacting here!" Seifer argued.

"Trust me, Seifer." the girl spoke softly as her gaze lifted to meet his. "Please, let me help you this time." her words held such a plea to the them that Mark stopped his snickering and Seifer stopped his arguing.

"Alright." he answered. "But let's get this over with quick."

Taryn smiled a smile at Seifer that made him feel better about letting her do this. This meant a lot to her, and he could see it.

Seifer cringed as he saw the emergency stitching kit that Mark produced.
'Seriously? Who keeps an emergency stitching kit? If that isn't just my luck.' Seifer thought to himself as he watched Taryn sanitize it.

~~~~

"I know it hurts. I'm sorry, Seifer." Taryn said as she worked away and Mark just plain looked away. "I'm almost done." she said as Seifer let a loud grunt escape. "Finished." the beautiful word came as she added the finishing touches to the stitches and put the needle away. "You took that really well, especially since I had nothing to dull the pain for you." Taryn praised her patient.
If only she knew how badly he had wanted to scream the whole time she worked on him.

(OoC: As events including my character have carried on in my absence (due to not having the time to simply sit down and write until tonight), I'll dedicate the first portion of my post to catching up. I'll start from Eirinn's update #4.)

Sitting up, Mark was overwhelmed yet again by the dream he just woke from. At least, he thought it was a dream. For all he knew now, it could have been a vision, or something else entirely. One thing was clear, though, the woman laying against his front door was dead because of him.

"I've been a lot of things, but never a murderer. I am now, though. I may not have held the knife, but I killed her." Mark said aloud to himself. He didn't particularly enjoy hearing himself say it, but it helped replace the shock and horror he felt with guilt, which was something he was much more familiar with.

Laying back down, time ceased to be relevant to Mark. He had no idea how much time had passed, nor did he care. It scared him a little, he'd never felt this... out of it, but it was a way to escape from the emotions he was feeling. That alone was enough to let himself go a little crazy, he felt.

----

*THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD* Mark woke with a start, knowing that something was banging on something but not knowing what either of those 'somethings' were. He stood up and walked to the kitchen to check out that window, to see if he could gain any insight into the noise, but didn't see anything out back. As he turned to go check the window next to the front door, he was shocked to see that it was already nearly 5:30am. "Well dang" he said, "I must've gotten a good nap in." Throwing back a glass of water, he walked towards the front door. Reaching the door, he looked out the window, and didn't see anything at first. Looking back to the door, Mark was startled to see someone staring at him. He'd never seen someone look so desperate, so scared, and it startled him bad enough to make him drop the glass.

"Hello?" Mark called to the woman, eyes drifting from the woman's eyes to the rest of her body, noting things like her dark red shirt and the fact that she was slouched up against his door. "Hey, are you ok out there?" Mark called out again, surprised that she hadn't responded to him. As he watched her, he realized that he'd never seen the woman blink. Come to think of it, she wasn't moving at all. Looking back to her shirt, he saw that the collar and top of her shirt wasn't red, which he thought curious. As he continued to look at her, he saw that there were red stains on his porch - stains that hadn't been there before.

In horror, Mark realized that the woman wasn't responding because she couldn't. She wasn't blinking or moving, because she couldn't. Her shirt wasn't red, it was covered in blood. All at once, memories of earlier that night flooded back to him, and he fell to his knees in shock. Running back to the kitchen, Mark splashed as much cold water as he could onto his face, trying to calm himself down. He stood over the sink for a moment, then thoughts of watching the woman's death returned again and he vomited into the sink. Splashing more water onto his face, Mark couldn't help but laugh. Why he was laughing, Mark had no clue. Was this what it was like to go crazy? "I've finally lost it" Mark said aloud, "I finally gave in to these lunatics. To think, all the horror outside and it just takes seeing one woman die to push me over the edge." Still chuckling, Mark took a beer from the fridge and went back to his couch, laying back down.

"I killed her" Mark thought, "I'm why she's dead". He'd had this conversation with himself many times since his last breakdown, but he kept coming back to it. "I watched her die, and I didn't even try to stop them. I might as well have killed her, because I'm definitely the reason she died." Mark walked back to the window to look at the woman again. Not because he wanted to see her again, that was the last thing he wanted, but rather because he felt responsible for her death and wanted to make sure he remembered everything about her face.

----

Sighing, Mark stood up and walked away from the door. He'd sat next to the window for nearly half an hour, staring into the lifeless eyes of the woman on his doorstep. Walking back into the kitchen, Mark broke a leg off of one of his chairs, snapping off the sharp pieces on the broken end in order to fashion himself a relatively sturdy club. Walking back towards the door, Mark began to take down the boards he had put up against the front door. If he was going to die, so be it, he wouldn't watch anyone else die because of his indecision. After taking down the last of the boards, Mark walked back towards his couch. He had no idea what to do next, but figured something would come to him as he slept. That's when all the interesting things had happened this evening, after all.

As he reached the couch, though, Mark impulsively smacked one of the cushions with his new club. Stopping, he hit the cushion again, a little harder. Striking the cushion a third time, Mark realized that it felt good to hit something. Taking off his shirt, he began to beat the cushions with his club, getting more and more vicious with each hit. Soon, he was hitting the couch with all of his strength, filled with an unfamiliar rage that seemed to grow with each hit. As he continued to beat the couch, Mark saw flashes of the face of the person who stabbed the woman on his porch, and began envisioning that it was the murderer he was beating. Soon after making the effort to envision the murderers face, Mark saw flashes of his own face, and he realized that he still saw himself as the murderer. Within another few strikes, he was envisioning beating himself, as if to punish himself for murdering the woman. Scared by that, and disgusted by it as well, Mark slowly stopped beating the couch with his club, dropping the club on the floor.

Sitting back on the couch, which now sagged in the middle, Mark slapped himself in the face a few times. "I wasn't the one with the knife, I wasn't the one with the knife." Mark repeated to himself. "It was one of them. Failing to open the door is on me, but I didn't kill her." Whether Mark believed that or not was something he was undecided on, but repeating that to himself helped Mark get a better grip on his sanity. Staying here, though, wasn't gonna fly. He couldn't take sitting around waiting for another person to run screaming to his door. Mark stood up, walked into the kitchen and drank another glass of water, then walked into his room to pack a backpack with some essentials. There had to be someone else out there that he could help, some way to prove to himself that he wasn't completely gone.

Before he finished packing more than a couple shirts, Mark heard a knock at the door. Moving quickly and quietly, Mark went back to the window to see who was at his door. "Hello? Who's there?" Mark asked. He saw a figure walking towards the door from the bushes, and a second figure quickly jump to the first's side without breaking stride. "Officer Almasy" A man's voice answered. "My friend and I would like to come inside for a moment if we may and talk to you. We're looking for survivors of the strange happenings here lately.

Mark frowned and responded. "I've never heard of an 'Officer Almasy', and I've lived here for years." It wasn't really a question, yet Mark wanted a satisfactory answer. The pair had moved close enough to the door that he could make out that it was one man and one woman, but neither looked familiar. He quickly moved back towards the couch, picking up the club he had dropped, and put his shirt back on as he walked back to the door. He wanted to be ready for either a fight or to welcome someone, and neither being weaponless nor shirtless helped him accomplish that goal.

"I'm not from here. I was sent in by my department to investigate some disappearances, I've since found out that a lot worse than that has been going on here." The man responded. "Look, here's my badge." The man moved towards the window, causing Mark to back up a bit. He had left most of the boards up on the window, so as to not be surprised by someone or something coming through the window, but was still able to make out the officer's badge pressed against his window. "I want to live" Mark said to himself, "Living without helping people in times like these isn't really living. Time to take a chance." Mark opened the door, and the pair hesitantly walked into the house.

----

Water, they wanted water. Mark walked to the kitchen, still not convinced that letting the pair inside was the best idea. The girl seemed harmless enough, but who knew who the guy was... Bringing back two glasses of water, Mark realized that the girl had already fallen asleep on the officer's shoulder. He gave one glass to the officer, and set the other on the table. The cop looked back at Mark, "I'm not sure what happened, but I moved the woman on the porch out of sight. I hope you don't mind." "No, that's..." Mark hesitated with his response. He remembered yet again the scene that had played out on his porch just a few hours earlier, remembered watching the woman get stabbed to death right in front of him, and was reminded again of his lack of action. He hesitated, then mumbled a weak "Thanks" towards the officer, hoping it would be enough to satisfy him.

After a couple minutes of awkward silence, the officer looked back to Mark. "I hope I didn't say anything I shouldn't have, sorry if I did. I'm gonna go check outside around your house." Taken aback, Mark looked to the officer. "You're going back out there?" "Yeah, I won't be gone long. I'll knock exactly 5 times when I return. If I run into any... of them, I'll try to lead them away before coming back inside." Nodding, Mark walked him back to the door. "Hey, please look after Taryn for me." The officer turned to Mark as he was walking out the door. Nodding, Mark closed the door behind the cop. He turned around, and began to pace next to the door, club in hand should it sound like he was needed.

----

"One, two, three, four, five." Mark counted the number of knocks at the door, then looked through the window to confirm that the cop was back. Opening the door, Mark noticed that the cop was holding his side. "Got anything that could patch me up?" The officer was holding his side, and Mark could see a bit of blood through his hand. "Yeah, gimme a sec". Mark started riffling through the side table he kept near the door, his first aid kit was somewhere inside. "What happened out there, anyway? I heard some really creepy laughing, then 'poof' you're back at my door."

The cop had tried to explain, but the girl he showed up with - Taryn, Mark thought he remembered she was called - cut him off and ran up to him. "Seifer, are you ok?" She had asked, sounding concerned. He explained what happened, and Taryn began checking out the cut like it was the most important thing she'd ever done. "Ouch" Mark thought as he realized the cut was deeper than he originally thought. Seifer had a similar, if more vocal reaction, and Mark couldn't help but chuckle at Seifer's reaction. He'd brought a towel for Taryn, and Seifer seemed to be caught off guard at her confident diagnosis and treatment plan.

Within a couple minutes, Mark was hunting for his surgery kit - hey, you can never be too prepared - and brought it back to a very confident Taryn. Seifer, appearing less confident, was quite the amusing sight as he realized the girl would soon be sewing him up without any pain meds. Mark couldn't help but chuckle, prompting the cop to say "Oh yeah, you think this is real funny don't you?" Still chuckling, Mark simply nodded in agreement, thankful that he wasn't the one getting needles stuck in his side. As Taryn stabbed Seifer the first time, Mark looked away. Needles were never really his thing.

----

As Taryn finished, Seifer seemed to visibly relax. Mark offered Taryn another towel, and directed her to the kitchen to wash her hands, then smugly produced a bottle of pills from his pocket and showed them to Seifer. "Oh, I just realized that I had these pain pills with me, did you need some? I'm sure that hurts pretty bad." Mark couldn't help but chuckle again, knowing full well that he was being a jerk but also completely ok with taking advantage of Seifer's situation.