Taryn and Seifer engaged their enemies, but something was different this time. They weren't fighting for themselves. They were fighting on behalf of Kyle. In this moment, all that mattered was vengeance for these people who hurt the boy.
Taryn was still on top of her foe clawing away while he continued to scream out in pain. Seifer had managed to turn around before his foe could pull the knife out of his back, and pulled it out himself, using a knife in each hand. Each blade was facing outward, so he could swipe and punch simultaneously. The man Seifer was fighting pulled another knife out of his pocket, bigger than the first.
Each man would inch in and swipe unsuccessfully, quickly closing the gap between them. Seifer was charging recklessly in his rage over Kyle. Someone landed a blow, and as they both checked themselves, Seifer had been cut across the chest. His jacket and shirt were now in tatters since arriving, being more hole than clothes at this point.
The man fighting Taryn finally managed to push her off, his face scratched to pieces. He rolled on top of her and, having lost his knife, tried to punch her. She managed to block the first throw, and moved her head to the side to dodge the second. When his fist hit the ground, she grabbed his wrist, and stuck her knife through his forearm. As he pulled back in pain and screamed, she flipped him over, and was on top again, tearing at him once more.
Seifer tackled his foe, bringing them both to the ground. He dropped the pocket knife he had taken out of his back. They landed next to each other, on their sides facing one another. They both tried to scramble to their feet, but Seifer was a hair quicker. Taking advantage, he kicked the man in the face, sending him on his back. Seifer stood over the dazed goon, and punched him until his fists couldn't take anymore abuse. What was left could hardly be called a face.
Meanwhile, Taryn had also beaten her opponent down. After he was out, she was taking her knife and stabbing into him relentlessly. It was only when Seifer came and pulled her off, she finally calmed down. There were no tears, or even regret between the two this time. In a way, they were proud of what they did. Kyle deserved retribution, and to the best of their ability, he got it...

"MOOOOOORE!" Standing over his latest victim, Mark yelled with delight as he pulled his makeshift shiv from the corpse. He paused for a moment, tilting his head to better listen for signs of life. "I almost pity the fools" Mark thought, "None of them stand a chance against ME!"

Running further into the woods, Mark hunted. Nothing matters except the next kill, nothing is better than watching the life fade from the eyes of whatever sad soul managed to find themselves in Marks path. All Mark could think about was the next kill, the next chase, seeing the pure fear in the eyes of men and women who realized they would shortly breathe their last. THIS was what he lived for, this is who he was.

Pausing to catch his breath, Mark listened again for signs of life. He heard some rustling in a bush behind him, and turned around to see a dog standing out of reach behind him. He started to lunge at the dog, but something stopped him. "I... I know that dog..." Mark struggled with a strange desire - a desire to let the dog live. He paused, and the dog barked at him a few times. He noticed that the dog was ready to run, and doubted that he could catch the dog if he scared it away. Yet, somehow, it seemed familiar...

"I know you..."

All of a sudden, Mark was flooded with memories of the dog in front of him. He remembered finding the dog under his car one day after work, barely 3 months old, and taking it home. He remembered running around the neighborhood with the dog, and falling asleep on the floor next to the dog.

"Rufus?"

Just as suddenly as it came, Mark felt a wave of red flood over the memories. Memories of playing with Rufus became memories of fights to the death between the two, memories of trips together became memories of vicious attacks by the dog in the middle of the night. Mark saw red, and the dog began barking again. Running towards the dog, Mark threw his makeshift knife towards it. Missing only barely, Mark watched as the dog ran south. Wasting no time, Mark picked up his spear and began following the dog, it was time to kill.

(OoC: My apologies for taking so long to post this, and thank you for your patience. My hand is still hurt, but I'll just go ahead and press through it for this post since I've kept you guys waiting too long already.

Okay, this is the next to last u pdate, so everyone be ready to finish pulling your story ending together. You have two posts remaining at the most: today, and the closing post that you can post after the final u pdate tomorrow as a sort of epilogue that will tell us what happened after the whole RP ended, though you aren't required to do so (but I would like for you to if you would). If you do post a final post after the ending, don't set it too far into the future please, just the events of the next few hours, days, or couple of weeks.

Mynamescox44 :
mrfe :
Please read Laian's u pdate as well, as it bleeds over into the story insert.

Finally, time will skip by a considerable amount over the next two u pdates, so don't forget to pay attention to the new time stamps).


U pdate #21
September 2nd, 2:30 A.M.
Current conditions: Dry, clear, 64°F. Dark.

Player u pdates: Two players stats changed, three players changed locations.
Enemy u pdate: One group of enemies changed locations.
NPC u pdate: One NPC died.


Laian :
Erin stared off into the dark corner of the room as he struggled silently with his thoughts concerning the revelation that Chris had given him about Kiara - or the misunderstanding, whichever it was. As he pondered the questions in his head, he was interrupted by Chris' voice.

"Earth to Erin." the younger teen said as he waved his hands in front of Erin's face.

"Huh? What did you say?" Erin said, a slight tinge of red on his face as he realized from the look on Chris' face that the boy knew what he had been thinking.

"I said the others are being awfully quiet in there. Maybe we should go see what they're plotting." a mischievous grin spilled across his face and Erin realized what he was getting at - Megan might be having the same talk with Kiara right about now. Ugh, why couldn't people mind their own business?

As Erin turned to face the door, something caught his eye: a body? Yes, a small body. Without a word of explanation, he ran toward it leaving Chris to follow with his eyes, wondering what had gotten into him.

Erin stopped short of it, he couldn't look any closer, this was just a kid and that was too hard to handle. Before turning his head away he noticed the girl's pale skin and black shoulder blade length hair that spilled over her stripped yellow shirt.

"What the..." Chris mumbled as he stood beside Erin finally seeing the girl. "Why would they"

"Let's go." Erin said coldly as he spun to face the door and began walking forward, bumping against Chris, sending the boy off balance.

"Erin?" Chris called after him "You okay, man?"

"I said let's go." Erin called over his shoulder without stopping. Clearly this hit Erin hard.

'I'm worrying about my feelings and having talks about love while that little girl's lying there dead' Erin thought as guilt came over him. It wasn't his fault she died, but those just didn't seem like appropriate thoughts and topics when standing by a child's corpse.

Confused, Chris managed to catch up to the older boy, and together they entered the front room.


"Drop the knife young man." a man stood with a shotgun pointed at Chris' head. In front of him sat Kiara, Megan, and the rest of the teens that had survived the fight at the HQ, tied up.

"Who the"

"I said drop it." the man cut Chris off. "Do it now. And you," the man glanced at Erin "drop the tire iron."

The two boys did as they were told, albeit hesitantly.

"Now sit down by the others" the man ordered. Calmly Erin and Chris obliged, sitting down with their backs to the man like the others. "Alicia!" the man shouted "Tie them up for daddy like you did the others." No one answered.

"She didn't come last time either." Megan offered. "You held Kiara at gunpoint and made her do it, remember? Or do psychos lose their memory too?"

"Shut up, brat!" the man shouted as he kicked Megan in the back, bringing a cry from her, and nearly driving Chris to his feet. "Get up and I shoot her." the man said emotionless, causing Chris to settle down. "Alicia! Dang it, where did that girl go off to now?"

Erin looked at the others and saw Megan crying, Chris fuming, Kiara staring into nowhere, and the others looking frightened. His eyes traveled back to Kiara, and he stared at her, hoping she would notice and signal to him that she was okay.

"Alright boy," the man said as he nudged Erin "Tie him up. One funny move and I shoot your pretty little friend that you're obviously so fascinated by." he said, gun pointed at Kiara.

Gritting his teeth, Erin rose up, grabbed the rope, and complied with his orders. "I'm sorry, Chris." he whispered, to which Chris nodded in understanding.

Once he had finished, the man instructed Erin to be seated, and rather than risking lowering his gun to tie Erin up, walked around to face the group, keeping his rifle trained on Erin, he spoke, recounting his story in Fuller Heights.


Chapter Four: Daddy's Little Girl
At least an hour had passed since the man began recounting his story to them. He rambled on about his children: Eric, Barbara, Steven, and Alicia, pausing occasionally to call for Alicia again. His mind was clearly gone, as he switched repeatedly between talking about Alicia as though she were in the next room over and talking about how she had come up missing. The changes came without warning, and it was during the moments that he spoke of her missing that he seemed to almost grasp reality.

"Then last night after we talked for hours on end, Alicia sat down beside me and we listened to the crickets chirping together." he laughed tenderly with a gentle smile on his face as he studied the floor. "She fell asleep leaning against me. The poor girl didn't want to sleep after what had happened to her brother, but her young body couldn't take it any longer. When I was sure that she was out cold, I carried her into the back room and put her on a pallette made out of the picnic blankets I got off of the shelf over there." he gestured toward an aisle across the room. "But you know those creeps won't attack while we're awake. Crafty little...or maybe...maybe they're just plain old cowards. They never bothered any of the kids while I was awake. Always hit us when I was asleep, but they never get me, just the kids." the man was growing agitated, something the teens in front of him didn't like. "Why didn't you face me, you cowards?!?" he shouted to no one in particular. "Why didn't you kill us all? Why pick us off one by one like this? Why the kids??? Is this some sort of sick game to you?!? FACE ME!!!" he shouted and began firing his rifle at every shadow and invisible fiend he thought he saw.

"Sir." Erin spoke up meekly, drawing the man's attention, his wild eyes stared accusingly. After a frightening moment his rage subsided and his features softened.

"What have I done?" the man said with tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me. I shouldn't have tied you kids up, you're just... kids...like my own...please, untie them."

Erin hesitated. Dare he trust this man's fleeting moment of sanity to last until he was finished untying his friends?

"Go ahead" the man said calmly "it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I was wrong. You kids didn't do this to me, you should get out of here while you can. I have to find Alicia before I can leave."

Erin had a terrible feeling that he had already found Alicia, but he wouldn't press his luck. He first untied his friends and then spoke again.

"Sir, I...I think I have some bad news."

"What is it?" the man asked as he looked at Erin, worry on his face.

"I...think your daughter...well...she's in the back room behind you." he struggled to get the words to form. This man didn't need any more sorrow after the time he'd had recently.

Hope in his eyes, the man dropped his rifle and bolted through the door behind him. A few short moments passed and loud laments began coming from the back room. The teens all dropped their heads, and sniffles could be heard throughout the room.

"Noooo!!!! Not you too! Oh we were so close to getting out of here! Don't do this to me! Wake up! Wake up!!!"

A few moments passed, and the man came busting through the door again. Rage on his face he scooped up his gun and struck Erin in the face with it's stock. "Which one of you did it??"

"Hey! They didn't do anything to your daughter!" Kiara shouted as she rushed over to check on Erin.

"Shut up! They were back there and they knew she was dead. One of them did it! She was fine the last time I saw her!" tears streamed down the man's face, and even the accused boys couldn't help feeling sorry for the man.

"Don't you see?" Megan spoke up softly "They kill everyone else round the clock, but your kids only get hurt one at a time, and always while you sleep."

"What are you getting at, little girl?"

"You're the killer." she said with sympathy for the man, despite what he'd done. Deep down she knew he loved his children and would have never hurt them had he known what he was doing.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" his chest heaved with each breath. The man was outraged, and broken.

"Think about it." Megan said again softly.

"No. You're crazy!" the man answered. "I could never have hurt my children! I loved them with my whole heart...I couldn't."

"Then how did they get past you each time? Steven...what about him? How did they get into the room with him? And how did they move the stuff without waking you?" at this point Megan was in tears with the man.

"They...there was some way. They're just...oh...oh no..nonono no...I..." the man paused as his eyes showed that he was in deep thought. "They were all stabbed though. I didn't bring a knife with me when I left out with Alicia and Steven." the man said as he put his gun down and reached into his pockets. He froze after fishing in his pants pocket for a moment, and slowly he pulled his hand out, a pocketknife in it. "This is the pocketknife my wife Claire got for me for my birthday when we were dating. I did have a knife...oh..oh my poor babies...Eric was right, I did do it didn't I? Oh I'm so sorry..Claire! I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to!" he dropped the knife as though it were suddenly hot to the touch. "I'll make up for this...I promised to keep the kids safe. I promised that if anyone hurt them, I would kill him." slowly he placed the rifle under his chin.

"No!" Erin and Kiara shouted together.

"Don't look, kids." the man answered.

"Don't do this!" Megan began pleading.

"Don't blame yourself." he said gently "This is on me, not you. I did some awful things."

"But what if I'm wrong?"

"You're not. And if you were, I would still rather it be this way than live with the knowledge that I failed my children and let each of them be..." he choked out the last words "be murdered. Now look away."

"It doesn't have to be this way." Chris said as he took a step toward the man.

"I said look away. I'm pulling this trigger whether you look or not, so please do us both a favor, and look away."

"Sir..." Erin began.

"One."

"Sir, please."

"Two."

"Don't, please!"

"Three."

The teens all turned their heads.

"I'm sorry, kids. Dad loved you... very much."

Boom.

Kiara sank to the ground beside Erin crying, and Megan collapsed in a heap, sobbing uncontrollably. Chris knelt by his sister, taking her in his arms to comfort her.

"It isn't your fault, Megan." he spoke gently to the girl crying against him.

"Bravo." a man's voice said behind them. They all turned to see who it was: a tall man dressed all in black. "I was wondering when he would crumble. Most men don't last half as long as he did."

"What??" Erin asked sounding outraged as the man's meaning began to sink in. "You mean...you're the one that killed those kids?"

"Oh and add to the group a smart one!" the man chuckled "Indeed I am. And might I say young lady, you were a superb helper." he said as he looked at Megan "Even I never thought of trying to convince him that he was the killer. I mean I sent his boy back saying that to him, but I never thought he could believe it! That ending was brilliant! BLAM!" He shouted the last word so loudly that the kids jumped "Brains EVERYWHERE! Just look! Hah, priceless. Thanks for the help sweetheart." he added with a wink at Megan who began bawling all over again.

"I DID do it, Chris!" she wailed.

"Don't listen to this sicko, Megan." Chris said, torn between tearing into the man and holding his sister as she fell apart.

"Ahh My how I love the chaos I caused tonight. This is my best work yet!"

"What are you babbling about now?" Kiara asked, irritated and furious with the man.

"Haven't you looked outside tonight? Seen the insanity? The blood? The chaos?"

"You saying you did that??" Chris asked.

"Give the boy a prize!" the psycho said with a laugh. "Indeed. It was a lot of work, but definitely worth it all. Sadly the effects are only temporary, but it works wonders while it lasts!"

"You sicko!" Erin shouted and started toward the man.

"Not another step." he held out a handgun. "If you even look like you plan to take a step toward me, I'll shoot. Now where was I? Oh yes! This man was easily the highlight of the whole process. I killed the kids myself, but it was still so much fun watching them die, and watching him slowly slip into madness as he saw them drop like flies. Heh, my genius amazes me. And you should have heard that first girl scream while I was killing her! Barbara was it? Oh even I almost felt bad watching her suffer like that. You see, first I broke her legs so she couldn't run away while I tortured her, then I"

Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.

Six gunshots. The man froze then looked down at the holes that the bullets had left in his stomach as they passed through him from behind.

"How ironic." he said, and fell down dead. Behind him stood a young girl with blood on her yellow striped shirt, and a gun in her hands.

Alicia.

She fell to the ground beside what was left of her dad and began mumbling something to his body as she hugged it tightly.

The teens all ran to the girl to check on her.

"I got him dad. I got him. I got him for you dad. Don't worry. I got him." the girl kept repeating the words.

"It's okay sweetie." Kiara said gently as she placed an arm around the young girl. "We're gonna get out of here, okay? You'll be safe. We'll see to it for your dad."

Alicia said nothing at first, but the mumbling of "I got him dad" stopped. After a moment of silence, she lifted her head and turned to face Kiara.

"I got him." She said with red eyes and a tear stained face, and broke down in Kiara's arms finally. "I got him. He killed them all...my siblings and my dad...and he tried to kill me...but I got him. I got him for them. For dad." she said between sobs.

"Shh.. Shh... Yes, you did. He's gone now, and it's going to be okay." Kiara spoke, her face against the top of the thirteen year old girl's head.

The other teens looked at each other, and with no words, all managed to communicate to one another that no one would tell Alicia what had really happened to her dad.


The moment was cut short as the front door came crashing open, and several goons with weapons came in looking for their next fight. Alicia rose to her feet, pointed her gun, and fired, but she had emptied the chamber on the man she had just killed. Not missing a beat, she grabbed her dad's shotgun, and Erin snatched up the dead psycho's handgun. Together the two managed to take down the majority of the crowd, but when the inevitable happened and they both ran out of bullets, Alicia charged head on at the remaining five crazies and began swinging the shotgun like a club. Even after all that had just happened, this girl still had courage to fight on. Or maybe she was letting her rage at it all out.



Mynamescox44 :
After a moment of silence shared between them, Seifer had decided to bury Kyle as best he could with no shovel. Between he and Taryn with their knives and the ground that had been softened so much by the rain, they managed to dig a hole just deep enough to fit the boy's body in and cover him with a shallow layer of dirt. It was small, but they felt it was the least they could do for the poor child.

"Okay, let's go. We need to find Mark and get out of here. I've had enough of this nightmare." Seifer said as he turned from the grave to scout a new direction.

"Wait. One last thing." Taryn answered and headed towards a downed limb. "Help me break this thing in half."

"What? Why?" Seifer asked, confused by the strange request.

"Just help me do it, please." came the impatient reply.

Seifer managed to snap it alone and handed Taryn one of the pieces. "Now what was this for?"

Silently the girl knelt beside Kyle's grave and began digging a small hole. When she had finished, she placed the half branch into the hole and pressed down hard, then filled in the gaps in the hole with the dirt. She then took her knife out, carved on the branch and turned toward Seifer.

"Okay, I'm ready to go now." she said, tears threatening to fall. Seifer wanted to ask, but thought better of it. Instead he glanced over at the branch and managed to make out the carving: a cross and the letters K Y L E written from top to bottom. It was a grave marker - the nearest thing to a tombstone that she could give the child. Her tenderness and compassion despite this whole mess never ceased to amaze Seifer. How could she still have so much care and love for humanity after what they had done to her? He felt compassion for the child as well, but she always went the extra mile. And buried somewhere beneath the exhaustion - mental, physical and emotional -, the pain, and the torment from things she'd witnessed tonight, Seifer could swear that he still saw some flicker of hope on her face. In her eyes.

"What?" Taryn's voice broke Seifer's concentration and he realized he was staring at her like she was from another planet.

"Nothing." he answered. "Nothing."

"No," she said, sounding uneasy "it was something. You were staring at me like I had a third eye and gills."

Seifer couldn't help but chuckle at her comment. Oh no, she was going to be agitated again, wasn't she? He slowly turned to look at her again, preparing himself for the look of death. Instead she was smiling. Huh. Go figure. Maybe she was trying to be funny?

"It was nothing." there it was: the look. "I was just thinking of how tired you must be."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am." of course he wasn't , he just didn't want to see that look.

"If you say so..." was her only reply.

"Yeah well, we need to figure out where to go to from here. Now I don't think he left Fuller Heights so West and South are out... Maybe he went to his house? Couldn't hurt to check, right?" Couldn't hurt...unless they ended up dying while walking AWAY from the exit.

"That works for..." Taryn's answer stopped short "did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Seifer asked as he strained to hear any noise.

woof

"That!" Taryn nearly shouted in his ear. "Is it Rufus??"

"Taryn, don't be rid...I mean it could be any dog." Seifer chose his words semi-carefully.

"I know that, but how many dogs have you heard or seen tonight?" she answered sounding hopeful.

"Well...not many." he said, knowing there was no use in saying otherwise: her mind was made up. "Okay, let's give it a look. At least the animals all seem sane... so far anyway."

"Awesome." she said and they set off toward the sound. "And Seifer?"

"Yeah?"

"Stop acting like you have to live in fear of upsetting me, you nerd."

"What did you call me?"

"A nerd!" came the perky reply. That happiness made no sense in this setting, but it managed to help Seifer feel a little better about the whole situation. Was this how it was? He kept her safe and she kept him sane?

WOOF

"That way!" she shouted and broke into a run.

"Taryn!" Seifer shouted as he ran after her. He really wished she wouldn't get so far ahead of him out here.

"It IS Rufus!" Taryn shouted over her shoulder at Seifer who was catching up. "Hey boy!...Something has the poor thing terrified."

"Look out!" Seifer shouted, but it was too late: a thug with a large knife leapt from the bushes and plunged his blade into Taryn's side. The girl cried out in pain and fell to the ground. At the sight of her lying on the ground with blood pouring too quickly from her left side, Seifer was both furious and afraid for her. Acting more on adrenaline than thought, Seifer charged and shoved his blade into the maniac's back, who in turn ran off taking Seifer's knife with him.

"Seifer..." Taryn's voice said sounding small.

Seifer knelt by her side, "I'm here, Taryn." He knew staying to search for Mark was a bad idea. He knew something like this would happen. He knew...

"Is Rufus okay?"

At a time like this, when he feared for her life, when she was pouring blood from a fresh stab wound dangerously near her heart, she was worried about the dog? And a dog she had only met a few hours ago at that! Why this surprised Seifer, he didn't know.

With a whine, the dog that had been hiding behind Seifer came around to Taryn's side, sniffed her and began licking her face as though it wanted to help her.

"Does that answer your question?" Seifer said with tears threatening to well up. "We need to bandage you up though." he added as he tore what was left of his left sleeve off and began wrapping it around the girl. "I'm afraid I'm not the half the nurse that you are though...obviously."

"And I'm not half the fighter that you are...obviously." Taryn replied with a soft laugh. She knew Seifer was more concerned than he let on. "I'm okay, Seifer. I'll be fine."

"Well now," a woman's voice called out as a figure emerged from the bushes in front of them "Looks like the party started without us, boys."

Seifer looked up to see the woman: Short and blonde with a blood soaked shirt that appeared to have started out green for what he could tell in the moonlight. The right leg of her jeans were torn, and her long hair was matted together in clumps with what looked like more blood. From the bushes behind her, five men emerged, each with a makeshift weapon in his hand: a rake, a shovel, a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, hedge clippers, and a sledgehammer. The woman on the other hand was packing a shotgun, and she had it pointed right at Seifer's head.

"Wait a minute...you're the one that attacked me last night in that shed!" the woman shouted angrily.

"Attacked YOU?" Seifer knew now wasn't the best time to argue, but the woman's twisted perception of reality forced him to speak out. "You attacked ME. I just defended myself!"

"Oh please, must we argue over semantics?" she retorted sounding as though she actually believed what she was saying. "Besides it's like mom always said: don't whine to me about who started it, just make sure you're the one that finishes it... She wasn't exactly your typical mother material. Anyway, now it's time for payback."

Seifer was at a loss: if he sat still, he and Taryn would die. If he moved, he and Taryn would die. Well this was it, wasn't it? This was the end...

(OoC: Holy plot twist, Batman! Safe to say that's not where I saw this going...)

WOOF

Mark ran, his thirst for blood becoming more unbearable by the second. It wasn't human, but it bled, and it would bleed for Mark tonight.

WOOF

Almost there. Almost caught up. Almost time to end another life. Mark licked his lips in anticipation as he ran, mouth watering in anticipation. Through the woods he ran, over a fallen tree and ducking under low-hanging limbs, closer and closer to where he heard the last bark come from.

On a dime, Mark stopped. "What was that?" Mark thought he had heard voices, perhaps a scream? "They better not be having fun without me!" Mark yelled as he sprinted towards the noise. He saw a clearing up ahead, and someone stumbling away from it just to his right. Seeing two people in the clearing, but noticing one was laying down, Mark elected to take out the runner first. He jogged behind the man for a few seconds, keeping pace without overtaking him, and whistled once he was bored. The man turned to look, and Mark half-heartedly lunged at the man, simply intending to scare him. It worked, the man tripped over himself and fell hard on his side. Noting a knife already in the mans back, Mark knelt on the mans stomach and giggled with delight.

"Here I was, chasing some dog I found scrounging around, and I end up with you? Today's my lucky day!" The man called out, screaming for help, but none was forthcoming. Mark stoked his shiv against the mans face, whispering things like "It's going to be ok" and "Don't worry, you're safe now" while smiling the most genuine smile he could muster. Remembering the couple in the clearing, Mark apologized to the man. "Sorry, I wish I could stay to play, but I've got other people waiting for me. Don't worry, I won't make it too quick."

Slowly, Mark pushed the shiv into the mans stomach. The man screamed, which encouraged Mark to move slower. Very intentionally, Mark took his time stabbing up into the mans gut, taking time to wiggle the shiv from side to side and occasionally stabbing towards where he thought something important was. Eventually, as it looked like the man was about to pass out from pain, Mark stabbed up towards the mans heart. The man screamed, then went limp, barely conscious. Mark removed the shiv, and stood up to go towards the clearing. "I did tell you we wouldn't make this too quick, right?" Leaving the man to slowly bleed out, Mark jogged back towards the clearing.

--

"I... I know them..." Mark was kneeling in a bush outside the clearing, looking at the two people within. One, a girl, was laying across the knees of a man. "They... Who?" Scanning the rest of the clearing, Mark noticed a makeshift cross above a mound of dirt. He wasn't too far from it, and was able to make out "KYLE" written on the wood. "Kyle... Kyle... Where do I know that from? Kyle..."

All of a sudden, memories overwhelmed Mark. He remembered exploring a house, the door to the basement revealing a small boy. Looking into the eyes of the boy, realizing he was gone, and watching him run into the dark. Going into the basement, reading a note, learning the kids name was... "Kyle..."

He hadn't been alone in that basement. The realization shocked Mark. He had been with someone, and he hadn't killed them. Looking back to the couple, he looked more carefully at them. "I... I know them..." The girl had been the one who read the note, the man had opened the basement door. Mark stopped them from chasing the boy.

"I'm okay, Seifer. I'll be fine."

Seifer... Hearing the girl say the name brought back even more memories. Memories of letting them in his house, memories of fighting people with them, memories of cracking jokes together. "Seifer... Taryn..."

Mark remembered.

--

Out of the woods stepped a woman, followed shortly by 5 men, and none of them looked too chatty. Snapped out of his stroll down memory lane, Mark felt the sea of red wash over him again. All his good memories, again, became memories of hate and strife. Jokes cracked became insults hurled, time spent in conversation became epic fights to the death. Seeing red, Mark stood tall and gripped his shiv tightly. He heard the woman say something about "doesn't matter who starts it, just make sure you finish it", and he stepped out of the woods. "Don't worry, I will."

Walking towards the standoff, Mark was gripped with inexplicable rage towards the couple. They'd tried time and time again to hurt him, to kill him, and Mark had tried to return the favor. Time to finish what they had started. "Stand back, they're mine."

"Excuse me? Keep your nose out of my business, big boy. These two belong to me." After she finished, she nodded to one of the goons, who stepped forward with a shovel. Mark smirked, gutted the creep almost without thinking, and repeated himself. "I said, they're mine."

"Mark?" A young womans voice cut through the red haze like a knife. "Is... Is that you?" Looking towards the couple, Mark saw that they both looked at him as if they had seen a ghost. "Are you... you? Mark?" Mark was hit again with waves of memories, bringing him to his knees as sides of himself battled for control. At first, the memories brought back by the womans voice seemed to be winning out, and Mark managed to mumble a weak "Taryn", but then the red wave began flooding back over the memories. "Mark, it's us! It's me, Seifer, and Taryn!" The man called to Mark, almost pleading for Mark to recognize them, and Mark again felt like he was punched in the gut. The mental battle between the two sides of Mark began again, and Mark dropped his shiv and put both hands on his head, swaying back and forth as the battle within himself ensued.

"Alright, enough playtime, let's get to business." The woman with the shotgun pointed it back towards the couple, who tensed, then she hesitated. Mark looked up at them, and seeing them both in fear brought out a primal need to protect them, and he lunged forward.

Boom.

Mark hit the ground, and was almost immediately overwhelmed by pain. It felt like a thousand bees were stinging him all at once, all across his back, and Mark found himself unable to get up. He looked back towards the couple, who looked at him in horror, and he knew that he had been shot. Looking at the woman with the shotgun, he noticed that she was shocked that he had taken the hit. "I thought... You said... You're with them?" She was obviously taken aback, surprised that Mark had saved the couple. "No matter, there are enough rounds to go around."

Seeing them in danger, Mark summoned every ounce of energy left in his body. He pushed himself to his knees, to the utter shock of everyone present, and managed to stand. "Time to... finish... this..."

Lunging towards the closest person, Mark grabbed the pitchfork in the mans hands. They wrestled briefly, and Mark began seeing red again. Suddenly, his back hurt less, and he felt stronger. He wrestled the pitchfork from the mans hands, and used the handle to begin choking his victim to death. As the man went limp, Mark felt something thin but hard strike his back. It was the man with the hedge clippers, and Mark made short work of his stomach with the pitchfork. Picking the man off the ground, Mark threw him across the clearing, pitchfork and all. Noting the man who had been with the woman engaged with the creep holding a rake, Mark charged the woman next. She managed a shot into his leg, but Mark wrestled her to the ground, and began punching her. Not holding back, she didn't seem to last long, and Mark looked up to see who his next victim was.

As soon as he did, everything went black. Once he regained his vision, Mark noticed that he was now in the grass a few feet from where he had been, and there was a man standing with a baseball bat above him. The creep smiled down at him, and mouthed "end of the line" as he brought the bat down on Marks back. Pushing himself up to a knee, Mark tried to lunge into the creep, but was met again with a baseball bat to the face. Looking up, Mark saw the bat swing again, and again, and again, and Mark felt himself slowly slipping away.

--

Mark opened his eye to see the man on the ground, wrestling with something small and brown. It wasn't holding back, viciously attacking the bat-man, and the fight seemed to be going the dogs direction. "Rufus" Mark muttered, his vision going in and out. He saw the dog fly away, and the man stand up with bat in hand. All of a sudden, the man fell to the ground, and Mark saw Seifer standing above the body. Both he and Taryn managed to get over to Mark, and Mark didn't hear much of what was said, though it was obvious that they weren't ready to go out for beers.

"Thank... you..." Mark managed to mumble, though he wasn't sure if they were able to hear him. "Stay... me, we're... out of here..." The two were obviously trying to say some movie stuff to him, trying to keep him going, but Mark wasn't too excited about that idea. Right now, sleep sounded pretty perfect, and that's what he decided he was going to do. As his head hit the ground, though, Mark saw the woman who he thought he had killed leaning towards the shotgun. Using the rest of his strength, Mark pointed towards her, trying to warn them. "H... She... Look..." Was the best Mark could muster, though, and he saw her aim the shotgun towards Seifer. Both Seifer and Taryn turned to look, and Mark tried his best to push himself up, desperately trying to get in between the gun and the pair next to him. Seifer pushed Taryn backwards, Mark saw a flash, and then everything was black.

Black.

Just black.

(OoC: Have to apologize for the short part and the short fight, the major part of it focused on Chris. Yeah, yeah, not really inspired. I'll make sure to reveal what the mysterious letter says and more next time. And yes, I figured Alicia would save him from death with... the incredible power of love :3 )

Seeing how things were going, the first person to join Alicia and Erin in the fight was Chris. The boy with the golden heart was ready to give his best to take care of the guys. Followed by the others, he ran to the opponents and used what he learned from taekwondo lessons. He managed to repel one of them with a kick right in the belly, who broke through one of the windows of the store and fell outside on the ground.

"Sorry, we're closed.", Chris said to the man down, with a grin.

A hand grabbed the left shoulder of the young boy. Chris turned his head to the left and saw one of the assailants who violently threw the kid back. Chris fell on his torso, between two aisles. Alicia decided to give a hand to Chris, as she saw the guy that Chris knocked back a few seconds ago coming back inside by the window to get his payback. She knew that the young boy would have a bad time with two mad men against him. Chris started to stand up, not noticing his aggressor walking slowly towards him with a long wire in his hands. The mad man used it to strangle the boy. Chris, taken by surprise, tried to free his neck from that grip, in vain. His sight was getting blurry, as he lost consciousness slowly. The last time he would see the light, pretty much. "Guess this is as far as I can go.", he thought to himself, before lying down on the floor, out of energy to survive any longer.

Wake up, Chris...

The young boy, in his deep slumber, heard his name mentioned by a female voice. At first, he thought it was Megan desperately calling for him. His head shook, like he wanted to get rid of that voice in his head. "I must be dreaming or... I'm finally in heaven, greeted by a lovely angel... No way... I never believed in that bulls*** ". Indeed, Chris was not the type of person who believed in a god, nor in heaven and hell. Pretty much the atheist reckless rebel.

Please, wake up...

That same voice, again. He finally opened his eyes and saw Alicia's head standing right before him. He turned his head to the left and to the right, then forth. He saw his aggressor and the one he kicked earlier, knocked down on the ground.

"Am I... am I dead?", Chris asked, confused.

Alicia's head got closer to his head all of a sudden, her lips touching Chris'. Then, a smile was drawn on her face. The same smile appeared on Chris' face, quite flabbergasted inside of him though.

"Hmm, girl? Alicia, right? Isn't that a little bit too fast?", he asked her.

"Shut up, silly boy!", she replied, smiling.

They exchanged a smile. Though, that moment of happiness cut short when a thought crossed Chris' mind. "What about the others?", he asked, as he started to get up. His friends and Fluffy appeared in front of him. Chris breathed, as a sign of relief.

"Hey boss! You ok?", one of the kids said to Chris.

"I'll be honest with you: I thought I was dead for a second." He stopped talking to finally get back on his feet. Alicia did the same and stood next to him.

"You did not... see anything, right?", Chris asked embarrassed, thinking they might have seen the kiss Alicia gave to him.

"Saw what?" Kiara said.

"Hmm, nevermind. Are they..."

"Dead? Yes.", Erin said solemnly.

"But... they got Sam. And Austin.", Megan said.

"Crap...", Chris softly said before turning back and walking towards the counter.

He sat down at the foot of the counter, thinking about how the fight turned out. They were victorious, that was a fact... at the cost of losing two of Chris' friends. The young boy, destroyed by that loss, thought about his actions during that fight afterwards. Did he do what's best? Was there any other way which could have prevented Sam and Maxwell from giving their last breath? He recalled what Rufio said at the bar last time, when they were arguing.

You are not worthy as a leader, Chris...

These exact words. "I'm such a moron. Nothing more, nothing less.", he mumbled silently.

(OoC: Sorry for the short and uneventful update. I'm putting most of the effort into the final post.)


Almost instantly after the woman pulled the trigger, Rufus had leaped onto her torso and bit down into her neck, his sharp teeth tearing out what life she had left. While Mark had managed to shield the pair from most of the damage, a few pieces of the buckshot managed to pass him by. Taryn was untouched, but Seifer had a few pieces of lead in his upper back. Albeit far from fatal, another injury no matter how small was not helping their chances. Once the woman had stopped moving, Rufus came to his master's side, whining under his breath.
"Mark! Mark!!" Seifer tried desperately to keep his friend conscious, but it wasn't working. Mark was out cold. The two quickly wrapped the wounds they could.
"Help me pick him up" he instructed Taryn as they lifted him piggy-back style onto Seifer.
"Is he..." Taryn started to ask, but Seifer cut her short.
"I don't know. Either way, I'm not leaving him here. If we can get him help, we have to go now."
Carrying Mark, Seifer and Taryn made their way back to where they had first heard Rufus not too long ago, the dog following as well. With their wounds they couldn't exactly run full speed, but were making good progress considering. Passing Kyle's grave, they each pushed on harder, praying Mark didn't have to meet the same fate.
A few minutes later, Taryn suddenly fell to her knees. Everything happened so fast, neither of them realized Taryn's side was still profusely bleeding. She wasn't far from anemic shock. Her sight was starting to fade, and an overwhelming sense of cold hit her battered body.
"Seifer... I... I can't keep going like this." Taryn sounded desperate, being so close to getting out, but feeling so far. Seifer sat Mark down and came to her side with what little medical supplies they had left.
"You're gonna be fine. We're so close. Please don't make me drag the both of you out." Seifer said the last part teasingly, trying to keep her spirits up while wrapping her wound with duct tape, the only thing they really had left. "Wait here just one second, ok?" Seifer searched around and brought back a sturdy but thin branch. It wasn't much, but it would be a decent make-shift walking stick. When he made it back, Taryn looked worse than before.
"I don't think... Mark's breathing." was all she could force out.
"He's beat up, but he's a fighter." Seifer helped Taryn back to her feet, and then scooped Mark back up as well. "If anyone could make it through all that, it'd be him."
They pressed on towards the South East, hoping to make it back to Seifer's car, praying it was still intact...

mrfe :
Mynamescox44 :
Laian :
So sorry it's taking so long. I'm writing the story's ending right now but it'll probably take another day or two because I still have to limit my typing (though it's getting easier) and I'm also trying to make sure I cover everything I want to before it ends. Please continue to bear with me on this. I'm trying to get it done, I promise.

(OoC: This is the the end, folks. As such, I won't be handling the u pdate of anyone except Laian since he has Alicia with him. I will still summon everyone as usual though. Please be sure to read his u pdate since, as I said, it contains the conclusion of Alicia's story.
It's been a great experience running this RP with you guys. I learned a lot for future reference in these styles of RPs. Thanks for playing!)


Final U pdate:
September 2nd, 5:03 AM.
Current conditions: Dry, clear, 63°F. Dark.

Player u pdates: One player died. Two players made it out alive.


Laian :
With the last of the attackers wiped out, the adrenaline wore off and the fatigue - emotional and physical - set in on the group as a whole. It was a crazy roller coaster of a life that surviving this nightmare had been for all of them. One minute everything is chaotic and you fight like you're full of energy and fresh as anything, then a minute or so after the insanity dies down, you're back in reality, and the reentry hurts worse each time.

Erin heaved a sigh and sat down on a box of wares that had been left sitting next to an end cap. All he could think about was surviving the next encounter, an unavoidable eventuality. After all, wasn't that all this was? One big pointless fight? He fought tooth and nail to survive and to protect his friends, but so far he had lost every friend he was trying to help aside from Kiara and Fluffy, and Chris and his crew -- and he'd lost two of them this time.
Yes, that was his existence now: fight so he could rest, so he could fight, so he could rest, so he could fight...and every once in a while a member of his little party died. He was only putting off the inevitable and he knew it. Still he had to hope maybe he could keep Kiara alive until this nightmare ended. If it ended. Eventually Fuller Heights would have to run out of people to throw at them, right? It wasn't that big of a place after all. He could keep her alive until then, or so he hoped.

Keep Kiara alive? Was that his only remaining goal for this experience? After a little reflecting and staring at the floor, he concluded that saving Kiara was indeed his only ambition here. He would die, he had known that for a while now. That's why he could charge straight into that last battle: he wasn't just being brave, he was embracing his destiny and trying to make his death mean something.

"Erin?" Kiara's voice broke through his thoughts as she squatted down beside him. "Are you okay? You seemed to take that last fight pretty hard"

"Yeah I'm okay, Kiara." the lie came out without a thought, but as he turned his face toward Kiara he decided there was no point in lying about it. "No, no really I'm not okay. I'm just..." he sighed again "is this all there is to it?"

"Is what all there is to what?"

"This" he said as he gestured toward the alarmingly large pile of bodies by the door. "Is this all there is to life now? To surviving? Why do we kill them? Is it just so they won't kill us? Is that really a good reason?" he didn't want to be this honest with her, he wanted to shield her from the disturbance his thoughts had caused him already. How could he expect her to cope with his thoughts if even he couldn't?

"It's self defense." she answered matter of factly.

"Self defense." Erin repeated with a note of disgust directed at himself "Self defense. So I kill these people and that's justified by the fact that they tried to kill me? It all seems pointless. In the end one life is no less precious than another, so whether I kill them or they kill me, it's equally tragic."

"Erin..." she offered weakly, unsure what to say to his reasoning. To him.

"I'm no better than them."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not, Kiara. They're human just like me. And maybe if they did kill me...maybe they would leave each other alone...and maybe fewer lives would be taken tonight."

"So you're just going to let them win then?" the words came out with a hint of disappointment in him.

"Kiara, in a situation involving someone being killed, no one wins." he paused in silent contemplation for a moment before continuing "But no, no I promised you that you, Fluffy and I would get out of here, and I intend to keep that promise." He lied about that last part: his death was inevitable here. He couldn't say so to her though, it could be her undoing since this little ragtag group was all she had left.

And with that Erin rose to his feet and spoke aloud to everyone "Alright, where to now? Clearly this place isn't safe either."

"We were...I mean...dad and I...we were heading for the outskirts of the community." Alicia spoke out, as she looked up from the spot on the floor that she'd been staring blankly at for a good ten minutes, seated beside her dad's body once again.

"Do you know the way?" Erin asked, but the girl simply shook her head.

"I do." Chris answered. "It's risky, but it's probably our best option now."

"Okay, let's go then. The sooner we get out of here, the better." Erin said as he scooped up Fluffy and handed the appropriately named kitten to Kiara before heading toward the door with the others. It wasn't until he was standing outside in the doorway that they realized that Alicia wasn't following.

"Come on, Alicia. We need to get you out of here." Kiara coached gently.

"No." the girl said plain and simple.

"Come on, sweetie. You can't just stay here."

"No." Alicia's resolve showed no sign of wavering. "I won't leave my dad here." She said, still staring at that same spot on the floor.

"Alicia," Kiara continued trying to reason with the girl "It's what your dad would have wanted you to do."

"No." she was clearly growing agitated. "Look at him: doesn't look like he could really care one way or the other now, does it? He'll never know if I leave him or not, but I'll know."

"Alicia..."

"I said no!!" she shouted as she finally lifted her head to look at Kiara, though the tears in her eyes obscured the other girl's appearance. She lowered her head back down to stare once again at the familiar spot on it, and watched as her own tears landed beside it.

"What are we gonna do?" Megan asked, clearly not wanting to leave Alicia nor to stay.

"We'll just have to take him with us too." Erin's answer seemed to shock everyone as the others looked at him disbelievingly, saving Alicia who looked at him hopefully.

"Really?" was all she could get out, her voice choked out by the tears.

"Really." Erin said with a faint smile and a nod of his head. "Chris," he began, turning to face the boy "come with me. We have work to do."

A few moments later the entire group was heading toward the outskirts of Fuller Heights as dawn began breaking. Chris and Erin lead the way, and between them they held a sleeping bag with Alicia's dad inside, a blanket spread over the opening at the top, covering where his head should have been. The added weight made the trip seem far longer than it actually was, but they finally reached the wooded thicket that grew all along the border, except for the roads.


"You there!"

The kids all jumped and whirled around toward the voice coming from the road, Erin and Chris nearly dropping the body they carried.

"Hey, it's okay. Oh gosh...you poor kids look like you've really been through it." The voice was coming from a police officer, his SUV - marked NHPD - parked behind him on the shoulder of the road.

"The New Haven police are here?" Erin asked the question to no one in particular.

"Erin?" the officer left in the vehicle said. "Is that you? What are you doing here?"

Erin squinted to see the person speaking to him. "Greg?"

"Yeah, it's me. Are you okay?"

"I...I think we will be now."

~~~

The officer in the SUV was a close friend of Erin's brother, detective Wolfe. They'd graduated school together and both went straight into the academy. The officers loaded up the teens in the vehicle, and though it was slightly cramped, they were all too happy to be leaving at last. It seemed so surreal. They had actually survived this nightmare, and from here on out things would be okay and hopefully one day they would be able to resume something that resembled a normal life.

When they finally reached New Haven Police Department and walked in, the officers inside - seeing their group walk in with blood soaked clothing, escorted by two officers and a makeshift body bag - instantly got the wrong idea. Noticing the looks on their faces, Greg was quick to inform them that the teens were the victims. The other officer with Greg escorted Alicia to the back, but not without her dad's body which she insisted come along, and refused to turn loose of.

"What's going on?" Kiara asked Greg who stood beside the other teens still, as she watched Alicia being escorted to the back.

"We're going to call her nearest kin to come after her." he answered. "If she has none, she'll have to go into foster care."

"Is she going to be okay?" Kiara's voice was filled with concern.

"Well..." Greg began, sounding none too encouraging "I don't know about 'okay'. She'll probably never be the girl she was before this whole thing happened, given how traumatic her story was. The poor kid has been through far too much." he tried in vain to hide the tears that were forming "But given her age, she has a decent chance of making it. Yeah, I think she'll be as okay as you could expect, given time."


Meanwhile another officer showed up and escorted Chris and Megan to the front desk where they were asked for names of relatives they could reach out to, as were the other teens. Kiara and Erin were the only two who would have to take this alone. But then Erin would have Mike to lean on for support, but Kiara would be alone. That thought hurt Erin more than it would have had it been him.

They were safe physically finally, but they would never be safe emotionally or mentally from this nightmare. That part of it would never end for them, or any of the other survivors, if there were any other survivors.


~~~~~~~~
Alicia was placed with her Aunt from Gillsberg, a city roughly 120 miles North of New Haven. As Greg predicted, she never was the Alicia that had went into Fuller Heights with her family again, but she managed to pull through. At eighteen, she graduated with a scholarship to a local college, and proceeded to apply herself to becoming a criminal psychologist. She told everyone that she wanted to help the world in her own little way because there were too many people hurting others and not enough trying to help instead. Though honestly she often wondered if she didn't choose that profession because a part of her wanted desperately to find out why the man that had murdered her family had done so.
She never found out that her father committed suicide, nor did she ever find a reason that could truly motivate someone to do what had been done to them.

Mynamescox44 :
mrfe :
(OoC: Feel free to post anything you wish now.)

(OoC: Well then, last stop for the train folks: the epilogue. This was a fun adventure. I really had fun and nearly cried at some point (I'm not kidding). Hopefully you enjoyed following that adventure like I did. Get ready for what happened to the rest of the characters. And that letter. Yeah, about that... if your handkerchief is right next to you, leave it there. It might be useful, just saying. See you in the next RP, folks. Laian out.)


Days have passed since the incident at Fuller Heights. A long night of tragic events. The pain, the good and bad times they've been through... all that was now way behind Erin, Kiara, Chris and Megan, known as the survivors of Fuller heights.

Chris and Megan have finally been adopted by a old Chinese couple keeping a restaurant in the downtown of New Heaven. Chris helped them a lot with deliveries, fast as he is. He kept swimming at the swimming pool from time to time after a rough day, alone or with Erin, and resumed his taekwondo lessons. He kept in touch with his friends, especially Alicia for whom he had a certain crush on after what happened at Fuller Heights. He still remembered that soft kiss he hid to Erin, Megan, Kiara and the others. As for Megan, she became a renown writer. One of the best-sellers was the transcript of the events of Fuller Heights, from the memories at her aunt's house to that day when her, her brother and her friends have been saved by the NHPD. A crazy thing to do for someone still tormented by the events of Fuller Heights. Though, it's not a trauma any more. She even dedicated a book to her brother, as she still considers him as a hero, an example.

Kiara finally tried out the Olympics and got a bronze medal. She kept training until, one day, she could get the gold medal. Aside from this, she taught Chinese to people in need of learning that language. Not at New Heaven high school though, it was pretty much private lessons. She lived happily with Erin, who became with the experience from his ex-band "Ekatomb" a great musician, a talented composer. Like Dan always told him, "your songs marked the rebirth of the band, man". So he clearly knew he could try as some point in the future to start composing songs. He also produced young talents, more or less famous yet grateful to him and his kindness.

(OoC : Sorry the long wait here. I'm still working on the ending, but with TdV among a few other things it's taking me a while to finish it with the quality I want it to have. I'll post it soon so please bear with me and thank you )

Mynamescox44 : It just occurred to me that you're probably locked out of posting in this thread back to back. Sorry about that.

mrfe : Letting you guys know I plan to close this Monday (if I don't forget) so if you somehow have an epilogue for Mark you may want to post it (not sure what van be said about a dead guy, but hey, why not).