Taja Ondine Halterman's Story

Sienna Cartlow

“Huh… Have I lost weight?” Sienna mumbled absentmindedly to herself as she patted her stomach. Though her showers were normally lazy, drawn out affairs, she hadn’t soaked too long; just enough to clean up the cuts she’d made on herself before finding some bandages and ointment to help fix it up. Oddly, a lot of her minor abrasions seemed to have already disappeared, and part of her assumed that had something else to do with the powers she’d inherited from Sinopia. Still, the point was that her jeans definitely felt looser, enough so to warrant using the slightly tighter button. Weird, but not an unhappy weird. She still wasn’t super fit or anything, but it was nice to see she probably could’ve had that noodle cup earlier. Stupid 10 year old didn’t know what fat was through her stupid fat head.

Taking her time slightly to dry her hair and examine herself in the mirror, she still looked pretty worn out and beat up, but respectable enough. She normally looked pretty dead inside in life, so it wasn’t that far off her normal resting bitch face. It was enough of a façade to hide all the craziness going on in her head, and the guilt and agony she was feeling over her loss. To think, she’d thought herself lucky when she’d seen Yohan and the others. Now, she’d trade practically anything of hers to just feel the pleasant warmth of having Rio by her side. Or yelling at her to stop being lazy. Or doing that goofy thing with her ears when she tried to make her laugh. Or… Or that would never be coming back. Sighing again, Sienna was grateful that Sinopia was giving her at least some reprieve to consolidate her thoughts. She needed a plan of what to do here. But where was she even going to begin?

She was wanted for questioning and who knows what else after her disappearance; and frankly, no one would believe her if she told them half the shit. Heck, she struggled to still believe it even now. Still, there was Yohan, Rina and Taja. Something like their arms, or Taja’s… monster stuff (Fitting for the little brat) would surely go a long way to helping that. Then there was also… Patting down her pockets again, Sienna retrieved another of her crumpled cigarettes, spinning it in-between her fingers, before she held it towards her pointer on her other hand. Just like magic, a small flame sprouted forth, lighting the stick as she drew it back up to her lips. Well, if there was anything to take away from all this shit, at least she wouldn’t have to bother bringing her lighter with her anymore. Regardless, being able to do crap like that would be proof enough, yeah? Then again, all this crazy horseshit… Did the government already know about it? Was stuff like this kept under wraps? Screw the aliens at area 51, maybe they had freakin’ wizards and witches and demons…

“I have to do something…” Taking another deep breath from her cigarette, Sienna leaned on the bath tub edge, letting the extractor fan do the work for her in clearing the smoke. Weird. Normally her smokers lung would be bothering her by now after having so many in quick succession, but she hadn’t coughed once in ages. Shaking her head, she reminded herself not to get side-tracked. She had to tell someone and get back out there. It wasn’t like she could avoid society indefinitely. Whatever consequences that held from there, well, she’d have to face them as they came. It wasn’t like she could just return after what happened, even if she did want to go and slug Tate in the face. And Rio… Were they already planning that funeral? Would she get out of police custody and all this crap in time to attend? Then there was the others. What would they want to do about all this crap? She could talk it over with them after eating, speaking of which…

Heading downstairs and oblivious to the events that had transpired, Sienna walked in on the end of a horror scene. Rina’s body lay slumped on the ground, pieces of… Her just… across the counter, part of the wall, floor… Blood… And on top of that, her head looked like… God it was… Covering her mouth in both shock as well as to try and stop the involuntary reflux, she turned back out of the doorway, dry heaving in the corridor. She was kinda grateful she hadn’t eaten yet. “What the fuck guys?! What the hell happened?!” Sienna called from the corridor, refusing to re-enter the kitchen just yet. Slowly, her mind began to process the rest of the scene in the kitchen – Taja in the corner, that weird man covered in blood and at the counter, Miranda on the phone…

“That is the fate of one who can’t change. One who can’t see the world differently, who rejects themselves and fails to face their inner demons.” Sinopia’s voice came from seemingly nowhere and everywhere, perforating every facet of Sienna’s mind to ensure that she heard it. “That could be you, in time. Remember earlier? You weren’t too far off from a cadaver yourself.” There was a certain smugness in Sinopia’s voice, Sienna just trying to steady her breathing and take it in. She certainly didn’t feel like eating anymore. Shit shit shit, this day just kept getting more fucking brilliant every second. As if she didn’t have enough crap to deal with in her life, now this shit? God, she’d probably be questioned about this crap too, ugh. I mean, she didn’t know Rina at all really, nor did she really care for her but jeez, she didn’t want her to die or anything! Resting against the wall in the corridor, another voice filtered into her mind, and this time, it wasn’t Sinopia’s.

“Strike one.” It said mockingly. Sienna had no idea what that meant. Other than the obvious ominous implications of striking out. “Sin, what was that?” Sienna asked, and weirdly, could feel the cat shrug. “A warning. Suffice to say, having your comrades die would not be wise. Lame as they may be, you and I are now connected to them, like it or not… Well, except the dead one.” Sienna grimaced. This shit was getting to be too much. Just… There was way too much to handle. What was she supposed to do? Breaking through her panic to be rational, she realised that they needed to start taking some direction. “Guh… Hey, are you calling the cops gym girl? We’re all probably going to have a lot of explaining to do at the station…” Thankfully for Frederick, Sienna hadn’t entered the kitchen again to see him cleaning. She’d probably have had something to say about that.

Taja's body went numb. Strike one came a warning from nowhere. She didn't even think anything of it as she got up and turned to walk out of the kitchen. She passed up the group she had been with and walked towards the front door. You know, kid, you could have stopped her. Elsworth appeared next to her. Taja kept her head down, she didn't feel like talking or listening to the stupid thing that always kept coming around when it was clear he wasn't wanted. I mean, why did she come after you and not the pervert? I just find it so str-"

Taja interrupted him, "Probably because it was me who had her go to the stupid gym, ElsWORTH." She said his name, mocking him like he was actually something of worth. "If I hadn't listen to the voice or the visions she wouldn't have ran after me! She would have gone home." She was screaming at him now.

The image of Rina bashing her head over and over again brought her pain, but somewhere deep inside it also brought her joy. Shaking her head ran towards the living room. "Where is the gym from here? I am wanna go home. I need to go home..." She glanced back towards the kitchen and saw just the feet of Rina. Her eyes started to water, "Someone needs to call the police..." She wasn't aware of her feet moving but she saw the phone behind where Rina lay. Before she knew it, Taja was walking in the blood was tippy toeing to the phone when she slipped in the blood. It took a few moments before she lifted her hands and saw red. "No no no..." She quickly got up and to the phone, dialing 9-1-1.

"911, what is your emergency?" A female voice came over the phone.

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Cayson felt a chill near him and looked around. "Strange." He said before going back to his pickle selection. "Pa, pa pickle pa pa pa pickle." He sang as he looked through jars of pickles, making sure they were in good conditions and looked as fresh as a fresh pickle could be. He was just about to pick when a vision flashed before his eyes. He was to go to some kind of tea party at a place called The Sunny Shield at 8 p.m. and to bring food.

Once the vision ended Cayson stood up tall, he didn't like the feeling that was going through him. He looked around and saw an old couple and a lady in her twenties staring at him like he was some kind of piece of cake. Smiling awkwardly he went back to pick the jar of pickles he selected and then a couple more. "The vision did say to being food." He said to himself and walked to one of the cashiers and looked at his watch. It read 11:13 a.m. He had a good amount of time to go looking for Taja before he had to go have tea at the sunny place.

"Eleven dollars and ninety-four cents is your total." She said. Cayson dug around in his pocket and gave a fifteen dollars. "You sure do like pickles, huh?" She asked before turning to get his change.

"Yeah, plus going to bring some to a tea party." He said nonchalantly.

The cashier gave him a looked and laugh, "Well that is a bit odd to have, but hey if you like it then that it is all that matters." She said while she gave him his change. "You have a good day."

"Thanks, you too!" He waved as she jogged out the market. He headed towards the corner store that was near Taja's home. He planed on going around the block and towards the gym where that other girl who was too skinny was walking towards.

His mind was empty during the moment, nothing seemed to really matter but getting away from it all. His heart raced, his body leaped into action and now he saw the door in sight. It was all he could think about, throwing himself onto his bed and just closing his eyes and forgetting the painful memory. Honestly, something in the back of his mind wanted to destroy the body, to get rid of it all in order to push out his emotions right now. But running came first, for whatever reason, running felt like the only option he had left in this situation!

Then, it all came to a sudden halt. He found his body easily being lifted up and being put down on the couch, his eyes wide with surprise as he could only blink right now. He thought he had done it, that he had gotten into his room and that everything was gonna be all right from there. Instead, he had been dragged back to where he had struggled with before. He felt something move along his cheek before going away. This seemed to bring him down a little, enough that he could accept being out here for the time being.

What else was there left to do for him? He could only assume the cops would eventually come over and notice this, what would they say to him? He wasn't one of the five listed missing, he already knew he had no records or anything except for the last ten years he had been living in town. That was all though, the only reason he seemed to have gotten away with it up until now was because of his parents. He no longer had them here with him though, he had avoided trouble for years and now finally karma had come up before him and told him it was time to face the music.

It felt like an eternity now, being trapped in limbo and forced to endure the everlasting torment it had in store for him. She had just up and killed herself, why? Why had she done such a thing?! She seemed perfectly fine up until just a few ago, he should of been more cautious and more alert, he should of been to stop her from doing it. It was ultimately his fault, how could the others be expected to do anything about it? They had been dragged into this, just like she had been. Her death was on his hands, yes, his hands!

He had known for years about this stuff, not enough mayhaps, but enough to warn people. He should of warned them about the dangers, he should of warned them about staying away from him instead of drawing himself to them. Why had he done this terrible deed today? She went crazy because she was thrown into a whole new world, and here he was, feeling sorry for himself. He should be the one that died, not her! Why had he survived, why had fate cursed him to a life of misery?! Wasn't it suppose to go better, wasn't everything suppose to be better now that he was finally here before the door?!

His mind went silent for a bit, he had no idea how long he had been sitting here. He ultimately decided to just lay down, face away from everything that was happening right now. He had to calm down, he had to relax, this was the only way to do it. Ultimately, ultimately, ultimately... His mind pushed itself to the brink of insanity, words started to repeat themselves in the process of relaxation. He had no idea what was even happening now, where was he even, why was he here instead of home, had he gone and just died, finally given up attempting to live?

He could remember so many things, to a point at least. Ten years already it had been, ten long years of this damned life. Negative, negative, negative. Always so negative. Yes, he had always been so negative. Why bother trying to hide it, he had nowhere left to run. People were now running around his house, screaming and yelling here and there, it was madness. Panic was surely running through the minds of the others, how could he blame them? Sad, all so sad, too sad for you. Yes, it was too sad for him... Or was it?

What was he doing right now, laying here and thinking he could get away from everything? The truth, the truth, THE TRUTH! Yes, suddenly it was all too clear. He had even admitted to it earlier, he had finally reached the door. Now was the time, he had finally reached it and now he was about to let it get away?! Nonsense! A person killed herself because she couldn't handle what she had seen, but not him. He had thrown it away, even if for today, and he knew then and there what had to be done. It's time you learned the truth, the truth, the truth, the truth.

Suddenly he rose up to his feet without another moment to waste and headed for the basement door. He grabbed hold of the doorknob and opened it, walking down into it as he stopped down at the stairs. "Okay, so, like, no one let anyone down here. Trust me on this one if you don't believe me." There was no way any of them could explain what this thing was or why it was here, but he could investigate it. Yes, yes, yes! Obviously he left the door open in case any of them wanted to come down here, after all, it would be some time before the cops came. Surely they would be too busy with the body to come down here, and even if they weren't, he trusted someone like Miranda could handle them.

Well, here he was again, down here... With the device. It certainly felt strange being here, after all, this was the device that had brought them back, and yet it was the only real proof that they were all still alive in some form or another. Those sketches had to be drawn by someone, there had to be a clue or some clues down here or somewhere in his house that would explain about this device. There just had to be, he knew there was no way his parents would just have a device like this for no reason! Well, one thing was for sure, they would have to use it tonight to go back and return...

Return, return, return.



Ricky wasn't too keen on what had to happen next, somehow, deep down, he knew it would come to this. Even when he explained to them or tempted them with power, they still had the nerve and the gull to pull out firearms on him. Needless to say, they were no real threat to him, and so he decided to demonstrate how hopeless it was for them. The dark hands came forth like a nightmare, a faint howling like noise came along as the two shivered with fright as Ricky went on the offensive. Loyal or not, they were still the lackeys of a now dead man.

The hands first attacked the person on the left, cause they sure as heck wouldn't fight back now. They grabbed and restrained the user's arms and legs, limiting them on how they could move, not like it mattered all that much in the end. The person on the right only got to watch as his friend was bent backwards slowly and without any means of fighting back. Slow cracks came as they pushed the person's body further and went beyond the limits of what could be done. With a loud shriek, the person's back snapped and ended the life of a poor fool. The hands threw the body aside and went for the next target, who tried to run away from his frightening new enemy. Alas, he was far too late.

The hands grabbed a hold of his leg and tore a piece of it off. The man screamed with pain and fell down, unaware of the horror that was now surrounding him. And when he came to his senses, only terror could register in his mind as the hands blocked out any light and grabbed a hold of his body, now with aggression and force behind their grips! Ricky's sadistic grin grew as he saw pieces of skin fly about where the man was trapped, like pieces of paper being blown through the air. The sound of tearing and crushing made it's way outside the room, and anyone who heard it could only register the worst was being done.

Then, everything went silent and everyone could only stand and wait, guns ready to blaze through and kill whatever came out. No light could be seen to those who stood closet to the door, they knew something was coming, but what? Then, the door bust open, and hell itself seemed to emerge unto them. Darkness quickly swept out, seeming to engulf the walls and all visible light within it's craps, and they could all see the creepy little hands all stretching out, coming right for them. The sound of gunfire was the first to emerge, they thought they could somehow get rid of the menace. But they learned all too quickly that what they did was meaningless.

Ricky walked out of the door slowly, only his eyes visible in the engulfing darkness that was The Black as he watched the mayhem occur. When darkness engulfed this poor unfortunate soul, they panicked and tried all they could to escape. But the hands grabbed a hold of one of their feet, grabbing the person further into the darkness as the hands quickly made short work, the face being the first to go before red stained the walls nearby. Red would be the only color Ricky's mind allow to stand out in the dark.

Ricky continued his walk, hands in pockets, eyes showing no form of empathy for the people he once considered family. They all screamed the same, was the first thought to register into his current mindset. They were all the same to him: Scum. One person struggled to fight off the hands as they gripped onto the body to push it against a wall, and then the last thing they ever saw was two sharp looking fingers stabbing their way into the person's eyes. Another person tried to shoot themselves in the head before the hands could, but they quickly snapped the arm and let the gun fall to the ground. Oh how poor a choice, for the hands would not accept anything other than death by their own actions, and so the person's head was twisted around in an instant before the body was dropped and the hands began to tear the body into pieces.

He couldn't help himself as he began to laugh among the darkness, the only sound that he could register other than the cries of misery that filled the darkening place. People were being slammed until they were mush, some had their heads crushed slowly under the hands, others would not get such a mercy when they were thrown into the ceiling and dragged along it to make a red trail along it. One person almost got lucky, they saw Ricky and saw him as the threat, aiming a pistol at him and shooting in his direction. But no bullets would hit, and the eyes only got closer to the person's position. They kept firing until they were out of bullets, and then, they wanted to run. But before they could turn around, a hand burst forth through their chest, the person struggled to breath as the hand slowly twisted itself and began to race faster and faster. Ricky couldn't help but smirk as he was covered with a new paint job of red!

Five. Only five remained. When they saw Ricky step out into the light, they were horrified at the sight of the fresh red liquid dripping off of his body, and that horrifying grin that only a monster could make turned to them. One of them burst out into crying, another seemed to come close to a panic attack, while the others seemed to suffer from a lack of breathing. "Give it to me." Ricky spoke in a low tone, almost like a whisper. The five couldn't help but look at each other, what exactly did he want from them? What COULD he want from them at this point?!

"Bow." His demand was clear, and they all felt a crushing grip within their chests. Swear loyalty to a sadistic and cruel murderer, or join the slaughter fest. It all clicked that Ricky had spared them because he viewed them as the closet of the bunch, and they had a hard time coming to grips with the reality of the situation. However, when they began to see the red hands slowly make their way out and begin to spread, they all knew what to do and kneeled before Ricky like some kind of King. The hands stopped all at once, except for five, which the others could not see coming due to their heads being bowed and their eyes being tightly shut.

"Welcome to oblivion!" He shouted with glee, and the hands each grabbed hold of the faces of the five, they struggled to get free but the hands were just too strong for them. Ricky began to chuckle as cracks began to emerge all over the five, their eyes rolling as they were slowly engulfed in darkness. Ricky turns around and shakes his head, putting one of his hands over his face as he went into full on laughter, the hands slowly receding as the five bodies shook and twitching with The Black having consumed them. Then, they stopped all sudden movement and the darkness began to become absorbed into them, all of them getting the same twisted smirk Ricky had as Ricky throws his head back and laughs like the demented lunatic he always was!

By the time Taja could dial 911, Miranda had entered the house once more, and the werewolf could hear the dial tones clearly. Quickly snatching the phone from the young girl's hand, she answered. "This was a test call, please do not send anyone, there is no emergency." she said calmly. She looked to Taja, shaking her head and putting a finger to her lips to shush the girl before she could speak. Her glowing Amber Eye stared into the eyes of the girl, sending an unspoken message of "It's okay, I handled it." there was some more speaking on the otherside of the line before Miranda grunted. "Yes I realize the importance of this number, my little cousin does not, I told her to test it out and she accidentally hit dial. Yes...Correct. Okay, good bye."

She hung up and sighed. "I handled it, young one. I have a cousin in the police force. He's handling the whole situation so that none of us are being questioned by the cops. Myself especially." She said. She placed the phone on the counter, pausing for a moment. That janitor worked quick....blinking she shook her head and then rubbed Taja's head softly, another show of affection. Of course she was oblivious to the fact that most of the people in this house were considered missing, meaning that the cops would show up eventually anyway.

She stood straight and looked around, her nostrils flaring as she got a smell of the area. It still smelled like blood. Miranda's body shuddered, uncertain whether it found the smell of blood revolting or satisfying. She coughed, shaking her head before moving to the living room and flopping herself on the couch, her toned, muscular body relaxing as it lounged on the couch, her eyes closing slowly as she tried to drift into a sleep.

Frederick sat down at the table quietly. This day was just bad in more ways than one. He was not so sure what to think and feel right now, part of him wanted to take the blows the day gave him and get back up and the other just wanted to curl up on a bed and sleep. This was just bad all things considered.

As Frederick sat down...on the table with his thoughts as he finished his burger. "Man...What are we supposed to do now?...Someone is dead, people are losing it...and I got a voice in my head..." He spoke quietly to himself like that was going to help.

"Having a little crisis not so young one? I am here to guide you my not so little lamb. So feel free to ask me." The voice in his mind spoke softly and calmly. However her words were rather...peculiar to say the least.

For Frederick, without much to do and stuck in a little bit of a hole. He decided to take the voice up on its offer for some answers. "I will gladly ask some questions then. Why are you here? What do you want in particular?" He asked.

"Well my dear not so young child. I am here to simply guide you on a path that has been carved long ago. In the very bowels of history. A grand fate for a select few. However dear my dear not so little lamb...You are not ready to leave your pen. As for what I desire that time will come...and when that time comes more mysteries shall be revealed." The voice in his head replied calmly. Her response however left more question then answers however...it was clear that something big was going on.

"Well the biggest mystery right now for me is how you look like. I mean are you supposed to be a mysterious voice that guides me on my way?"

"My so eager to see upon my form...As you desperate to lay your eyes and hands upon me as well you sinful beast?"

Frederick in response reeled back in response. Now who was being the pervert now! Her mind was in the gutter, not his! "Hey now! I am no beast. I am but a humble janitor who's sole purpose is to clean any place that has a speck of dust on it!"

"My...still denying yourself?...Mayhaps I shall appear to sate thy sin so you may accept thy sins."

"Or how about just appearing normally like a normal entity of the spirit world? Your the one pushing the envelope here!"

"That may be true, but your mind was thinking of it was it not?"

"Because you kept on bringing it up. Not my fault that when you say one thing enough times it geos into your head!"

"I shall leave our story here at that then. Until next time my not to little lamb. Mayhaps you shall see me in my true form soon...If your mind is ready of course..." The voice chuckled as it vanished.

What the heck was in his mind? It was so...mysterious and strange...But he always did like a bit of mystery!

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Abe paced around in his office, staring at the map he made on his own wall. Each picture of those missing was on his wall, one of them being his own daughter. His fist balled, this is why he should have be stricter with her. He knew the dangers of going out in the storm, now she was missing. Fear and anger ran through him, of all the mistakes he made in his life, this one was the worst. Abe hadn't been able to tell her his secret, maybe he waited too long. No, he would find her alive and when he did should would be so grounded and then he would tell her.

He looked over the pictures, next to the youngest one was the note she left.



The store that was the closest to her mother's work and her house was the same store Sienna, one of the missing, worked. Rina also went to the store, this same store. Something had to have connected them, besides being at the store. Miranda was last seen at her work, the gym where Sienna was heading. So what happened to the girl and Rina after Sienna left work? Did she do something with them? Questions ran through his head, but no answers came forth.

Abe gave the map one more look before grabbing his phone and wallet and headed down to his home gym. He needed to work out, just standing there was driving him crazy. He wanted to to punch someone, mostly himself, for letting his baby girl, the only thing left over from Serena, go. He knew deep down in his gut that he shouldn't have let her go. A feeling had clawed his way through him. What was wrong with him? Why had he gone so soft? This is what happened when you slack the grips on the reins. You lose sight and are overly confidant.

Abe changed out of his suit to sweatpants and wrapped his hands in bandages as he pounded against the punching bag. He pictured himself as the punching bag and with ever hit got harder. He deserved punishment for letting her go. She was probably scared right now, did she miss him? Probably not, he had been strict with her from the very get go. Or maybe he was too strict on her all this time and that is why she went missing. He shook his head, clearing it. Right now he needed to focus on bring her and the rest of the group home.

His phone began ringing. It took a moment before he realized the noise, jogging over towards his phone it read "Frank". Glaring at the phone he answered it, "This better be good, Frank." His voice was deep, angry, and tired.

"I thought it might want this information, might lead to nowhere, but knowing you you want every small detail." Frank said. Frank was his partner and a lot older than him. He had been in the force for some time.

"Spit it out." Abe grumbled.

"There was a 9-1-1 call from a house about five to ten minutes away from the Timberland gym. Apparently it was a lesson for a little girl, supposedly her cousin, but the dispatcher felt like it was cover up. Maybe the girl was calling for help and whoever had her caught her. I suggest you go over there. Becca is texting you the address as we speak." Frank's voice got a serious tone.

"Thanks." Was all Abe said before hanging up in time to get the text message. "Time to get some answers." Abe said before running up to the second story and showering.

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Rina woke up feeling absolutely nothing, her eyes locked on the back of Miranda's head. "What the hell happened?" She looked around and saw the perverted old man cleaning the floor and Taja was covered in blood. "Oh my god, Taja are you okay? Are you hurt? What happened?" She hurried towards the girl, examining her.

Taja stared at her in complete shock before letting out a blood curling scream. Rina jumped back, "What is wrong with you?!"

"Y-y-you d-died! Are you another person likes Elsworth? I can't take two of you." She cried into her hands, her tiny body shaking.

"Dead?" She looked around and there it was her mutilated body. "How...how did this happened?" She asked. Falling to her knees next to her lifeless form.

"You bashed your head into the counter after going crazy and Miranda did some of her magic to make you stop bleeding, though you were already dead." Taja whispered.

"Crazy?" She asked, looking back at the girl. She wanted to cry, but no tears had formed.

Sienna Cartlow

Things were falling apart pretty quickly. For the most part, her comments seemed to have been unheard or ignored, though she couldn’t exactly blame them. Things had been more than a little crazy as of late. Vaguely, she’d heard Miranda speak about having someone ‘handle’ the mess before she’d headed out, the creepy cleaner had eerily mopped up the entire mess and had taken a seat at the table with his burger, and to top it all off, Taja was speaking with a floating, ethereal representation of Rina. Sienna’s worldview had been shaken and changed by recent events, but that was kicking it up to a whole new level of unfathomable change. She’d had enough of it at this point.

“I don’t want to be associated with any of this or these weirdos…” Sienna mumbled to herself, briefly looking to where Rina’s body was before reminding herself why that was a bad idea, grimacing and heading back out to the hall. Yohan had ducked out somewhere, who knew where. Frankly, she didn’t care. Maybe he’d had the common sense to bail before all this shit went down. Then again, it was his house; chances were he was hiding somewhere. Either way, she wasn’t about to go look. She’d had enough of dealing with these people. It was time she got herself out, did whatever she could to clear her name and maybe get back to something resembling a normal life. At first she’d considered consulting with them, negotiating some sort of agreed compromise into how to tackle the situation, but to hell with it! She didn’t owe them jack shit, what had they done for her? If anything, they were to blame for dragging her into all this crap!

“Stop smirking.” Sienna stated with a glare, Sinopia simply looking amused as she watched Sienna pick herself up off the wall, heading for the door. The cat had started being oddly quiet, letting Sienna work through things, but Sienna didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. It was refreshing, if a little strange now. She was almost used to the intrusions at this point. Pushing open the door and stepping outside, Sienna squinted in the natural light. Well, at least the sky was normal… Shutting the door behind her, she took a moment to get her bearings of the local area, not really recognising any nearby landmarks, it didn’t look too hopeful until she could spot a somewhat far off church steeple in the distance. Judging by that, she had a rough idea of where she was relative to her place, as well as the local police station.

“Well, that’s a start at least…” Sienna mumbled, beginning her walk. Though she wasn’t fit, she didn’t own a car since that whole mess with her parents, so she was somewhat used to it despite her laziness. On the way, she wasn’t sure if people were staring at her or if it was her imagination. It was a small town, and it wasn’t exactly known for big news like this. It wouldn’t be entirely unreasonable to think that she’d be recognised. Steadily making her way in towards town, as Yohan seemed to live further out on the outskirts, she slowly began taking in the sights, piecing together a mental map of the area. It never hurt to know your way around, and if by some unfortunate miracle she ended up in this area again, it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared. As she thought about it more and more, she realised that this was pretty much the opposite direction as they’d generally headed from the gym in that other parallel world. The place synced up in general topography too it seemed, with similar hills and valleys.

“If that’s the case, then…” Sienna looked to the side as she came past it. In the other world, it had been a somewhat large and dilapidated building. Here, it seemed to be a bar. Briefly looking to the exterior, she felt something odd in the pits of her stomach. She didn’t have any idea why, but it just… Made her feel uncomfortable. An unease. Dismissing it as simply her hunger catching up with her, she continued to walk on her way, not noticing Sinopia following behind her, intently staring at the woman that stood nearby. Perhaps the cat could have warned her of the danger or said something, but for now, Sinopia felt it was prudent that Sienna learn some lessons on her own.

Well, it looks like he was alone. He was better off that way, anyway. These people were running around his house, and it sounded like one of them had finally left. He thanked the heavens, but he knew the police were gonna be here and some of them were going to be around for just a little bit longer. They would have to come back at 11 PM anyway, but it was time he could use to reflect and get used to all that had happened. He could move on from that dead girl, get his place to himself and just relax.

That would be the case, if it wasn't for the... Stranger things in this house. None of them had triggered any of them yet, but he knew they were there. Like the Master Bedroom, a place he would often forget about and then see next to his parent's room and try to open, only to always get flown back into a wall the second he grabbed the doorknob. It was impossible to open it, brute force would only get you more hurt. It seemed like the door was made to curse anyone, no matter how smart or strong you were. That room was cursed, whatever was in there wasn't worth the amount of pain he would be forced to endure just to try to keep a hold on the bloody doorknob!

There were so many other things this house had done to him over the years, and all of them were still there somehow. It made him nervous to think about it, someone had been very careful with what they placed in this house and he couldn't tell if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Either way, he suspected none of the others would be foolish enough to try and set any of them off. He should really focus back on the task at hand, who knew when those cops would be showing up.

Examining the device was... Not easy, to say the least. One such experiment had him trying to pull it off the wall, but to no avail. It wouldn't budge, not even for a second. He had to be careful with it though, he didn't know if it was easy to break or if it would activate just from him damaging it. Was it even possible to hurt this thing? He had no idea, but it seemed like something straight out of one of those stories his parents used to tell him. In fact, this whole thing seemed like it made his parents stories actually true. What could that mean, had his parents really known? He still doubted it, but the evidence was right before him, surely that was enough right?

As he continued to examine the strange device, his mind turned to the information he had been told. The time of The Wizard was a dark one, every time he heard it, it sent chills down his spine. Everyone always said it was false, but now, was it really with the new information presented before him? When The Wizard was defeated by The Warrior, magic was said to have been feared by the populace of the world. In order to keep the world safe, magic was taken away one day, by who or what no one knew. But be they human or non-human, no creature was ever allowed to naturally wield magic from that day on. True magic... How far did it extend? It certainly wasn't something any of him or the people he had survived last night with seemed to have. There was always the option of asking the man with shades, hell, it was the only option they had.

So what was it they had now then? This certainly wasn't the true magic he had been told of from his parent's stories. Especially that one he could recall, the one he adored the most... No, he had to focus right now! He had found something on the device, something worth examining. It looked small though, his hand reaching over to poke it when... ZAP!! He was blown back, his hand shaking violently as the other four could feel the same temporarily jolt through their hand. "Wow, that... Ouch, that really hurt! What the heck?!" He tried to sit up as he held his arm, his hand still shaking as he looked over to the device. So it too had one of those curses? That was annoying, he would probably have to search the house later when everyone was gone, but for now, there was another matter to attend to.

He remembered that he was running low on some things, no one else lived here besides him, what had he need for those things before? He knew he had some money, he would have to get them, but he didn't want the others tagging along. He really needed some space from them, like it or not, he could always do that... But that was rude. They were thrown into this position, just like he was. For now, at least, they could stay. But for how long depended on when the police would leave. He hoped they would leave shortly after, which reminded him of the one time someone tried to sneak into his house. He saw them coming, and he immediately called them out on it. Suddenly, the door swung open, and they were tossed out, unable to return inside the household. This house really was cursed, wasn't it?

Once his hand was better, he decided to test out the limits of his new power. He focused on himself, letting the sound around his body be temporarily silent. When he took a step, not a sound came. Excellent, this wouldn't be a problem. Walking out of the basement and closing the door behind him, he headed up to his room where he took hold of the money he had saved up for this kind of thing. Once he touched it, he let the silence consume them as well, he wouldn't take any chances, he wanted out and no one was stopping him. He may be overcautious as all heck, but these people weren't about to control his life. If they tried, he could always consider them a hostile, he didn't even need to say it, just think it, and whoosh, they'd be out!

But he hoped it wouldn't come to that, for now, he hoped he wouldn't come back to them having gotten the house angry at them or something. He sure as heck thought the house was alive, in some form or shape. He left his room and closed the door behind him, letting them think he had just gone into his room or something. He headed down the stairs and went up to his door, taking a look back before sighing out, which not even he could hear, before letting the front door's sound be caught in silence and opened it, walking out and quickly closing the door behind himself. Now, the silence was lifted, and as he walked away from his own home, he let out a sigh of relief. Finally, he was free from those people, and hopefully wouldn't see them again until tonight. Now, he thought to himself, what would he buy?

Taja stared at Rina in complete shock before letting out a blood curling scream. Rina jumped back, "What is wrong with you?!"

"Y-y-you d-died! Are you another person likes Elsworth? I can't take two of you." She cried into her hands, her tiny body shaking.

"Dead?" She looked around and there it was her mutilated body. "How...how did this happened?" She asked. Falling to her knees next to her lifeless form.

"You bashed your head into the counter after going crazy and Miranda did some of her magic to make you stop bleeding, though you were already dead." Taja whispered.

"Crazy?" She asked, looking back at the Taja.

Taja couldn't move, she didn't understand what was going on or how this all was happening.

Suddenly, Miranda snarled, the sound canine and feral, as she felt a jolt of pain run up her arm without any prior warning. Her eyes snapped open; she was awake now. Looking at her arm, she shook it out, and her attention was then captured by the lack of sound usually made by Yohan as the boy moved around. This was weird. Her nostrils flared as she picked up the scent if everything in the House. There of course was the blood, now cleaned, what's left of Rina's body in the back yard, Taja, Sienna's fading scent, God knows what coming from Yohan's room, and then... ah there he was. Turning, Miranda stared at Yohan as he walked past, thinking that he was invisible because he wasn't making noise. She sensed the innate fear in him from his body-language, and let him be, knowing full well that people with power in corners often lash out. Her glowing amber eye followed the boy, but she did not for a while, letting him have a sort of head start. She blinked, and then looked to the clock on the wall. The Cops aught to be there any moment. She'd go out and meet them.

After a few minutes, the sound of cars traveling up the street with their sirens blaring caught her ear, and she made to walk out to the front porch. She crossed her arms as she stood on the porch and she looked down at the first man to step out and up towards her. Her cousin, Anthony Wallace.

"Miranda."

"Cousin. Body is in the back. Ghost in the kitchen." Her cousin pulled out a notepad and sighed jotting things down. He was much larger than Miranda was, a sergeant by the look of his uniform. However he was not as pure-blooded as Miranda, and thus never made eye contact with her to prevent a dominance struggle.

"I will handle the Body, you said the mess was already cleaned in the kitchen?" At her nod he nodded and sighed. "Still smells of blood, doesn't it?" At her not he groaned and turned to the other cops arriving.

"Alright, the body is in the backyard, my contact here said she was bashing her own head against the counter, mess is cleaned up, but to be sure, ask the others in the house." Anthony commanded, "Get the body bag ready, let's go see the extent of the damage, her father will want to see her I think. Let's move! Lunch is in an hour and if I miss more than thirty seconds of what my girlfriend made for me I'm skinning you all."

"Speaking of her father...he aught to be here soon...." he said under his breath, a half groan of annoyance. He didn't want to deal with an angry officer today, but it seems he drew the short straw.

Cops ran around then, also notifying that the people who had been filed as missing were found while they were at it. An officer, female and gentle in her tone, went over to Taja and Frederick, unable to see Rina's ghost, and began asking him simple questions. "Did you see what happened? Describe what happened. Take your time if you need it, where are the others who saw it?" And so on and so forth.

Pictures were taken, statements reported, the body bagged up and taken to the vehicle that would take it to the morgue, and the deal closed within forty-five minutes. Officially, anyway. Anthony returned to Miranda, nodding. It was done. Miranda smiled and nodded, commending her cousin for his swift and excellent work, he smiled sheepishly in thanks and she patted his shoulder, nodding to his car. She wanted a ride back to the gym, and he paused, grunting softly; Rina's dad was nearby.

Despite the rather depressing atmosphere, Frederick regained his rather cheerful self thanks to the combined effort of his willpower...and the constant comments of his ghostly neighbor in his head. Of course breakfast was long since ruined and most of his food was about to go to waste so he decided to do the reasonable thing. Wrap them all up and stuff them in the icebox.

Whenever someone got hungry they could just heat it up...or eat it cold if that's their deal. Honestly, after a day like this he just wanted to just relax a bit. Maybe read his books, but of course he left them all at home. The first thing he should do however is get his coat cleaned. It had blood on it and well...walking around covered in blood was just asking for trouble.

Heading to the laundry room, she stuffed his coat inside the washer, but some cleaning detergent inside and fiddling with a few dials began to wash it. Well that was done...now what? He had to wait until his coat was cleaned. He decided to sit on the couch and lean back on it.

"What is going on now? I feel like we are like soldiers drafted into the army about to fight some evil threat to save all of humanity...I might be overthinking it really..." Frederick spoke to himself with a sigh as he turned on the television and turned that on before switching to the cartoon channel. Something about a mouse and cat...it was a great and funny show which already made him smile and laugh at the antics.

---

---

Abe got to the house, his car creeping slowly up the driveway. The house was a plain jane kind of house. It didn't stand out at all. He calmed himself in his car, his hands gripping the wheel tightly. If he went in there with guns blazing it would only cause trouble. Please, Rina, be in there He begged.

He opened the car door and gently closed it before making his way up the to the front door. His face was expressionless, but stern. Abe knocked on the door loudly three times. "Hello! Is anyone in there? I am Abe Jasmine with TPD! A phone call was made from this house. We are just checking up to see if everything is okay." His voiced boomed.

As Frederick sat down on the chair simply watching the television, he gave a deep sigh. What was he supposed to do now? Maybe he should go home...It was the time of day where most people was at work...Yeah, he should go home read some books and...His thoughts were interrupted when a few knocks came to the door. Someone called out and instinctively Frederick got up and walked over to the door and just...opened it up when he failed to relive TPD probably meant Timberland Police Department.

Frederick met face to face with an officer, oh...this looked rather bad huh? He got a call from the house apparently and wanted to check up on things. "Oh, hello officer. Feel free to look around I guess." He replied rather casually as he opened the door. In fact, this was not his house and he was letting an officer in. Oh well.

"Oh my not so little lamb...Have you seen or heard the news? You are supposed to be missing. And here you are at a house that you should not belong in in front of an officer. Oh my~! I never knew you were such a man of sin. Maybe you are letting him in to see the teens and that kid and take all the credit for kidnapping them all. Maybe this is the day you finally tell the truth that you enjoy the younger generation." The voice in his head returned with a giggle.

"Hey! I'm just here to let him look around. Besides, its not like the others are gonna throw me under the bus right?...I just hope my coat is done washing...Besides, if I don't let him in he would get more suspicious...at least more suspicious than he already is. So you can hush your mouth shepherd. Stay in the back seat!" Frederick spoke in his head as he moved to the side to let the man look around.

"Ah, but I am indeed your shepherd. I am here to guide you and make you realize your sin my dear lost lamb. I wonder...How will you react when everything comes crashing down around you and your peaceful life is full of fear, stress and death...This might be the start."

"Oh please, you write and draw a comic in two weeks then come back to me."

As Abe barged into the house, he made an impeccable amount of noise, the noise that annoyed and awoke the Werewolf who was dreaming on the couch. She sat up, glaring at the man with her glowing Amber eye, her other eye still shut with grogginess. She was quiet, aside from the small, almost cute feminine grunts she made while waking up, yawning and stretching out her muscled body. While she yawned she would accidentally show off her massive Canine teeth, and while she stretched her joints cracked audibly.

In her groggy haze, she blinked "Huh? Phone call?" She yawned again, hiding her teeth this time. Then it hit her; the phone call Taja had made, the one she'd made to her cousin earlier. Speaking of which, her cousin would be arriving shortly. Her concentration was broken when Frederick decided to give the guy permission to search the whole house. He'd find the body...they'd do finger-prints, they'd find her fingerprints on the body, they'd know she's a werewolf, only she could do that much damage to a human skull with her bare hands.

Fuck.

The sound of another car pulling up filled her ears and her chest tightened. This was getting complicated. By the smell of it, that'd be Miranda's cousin, Anthony stepping out of the second cop car, walking to the door, and entering. He'd stop upon seeing Abe. "O-oh...Abe, sir.. I...wasn't expecting you here?" he said. Miranda bit her bottom lip in annoyance. This was going to get annoying really quick, and with the annoying numbness in her arm from Yohan's little trick earlier, she wasn't in the mood for it.

Oh well.

---

Rina heard the familiar booming voice coming from the front of the house. "Oh no no no, Uncle is here. He is going to be so pissed. Can't one of you like...hide my body?" She asked around, but stupid Frederick welcomed him in like a needy wife welcomes her husband home. She peeked out of the kitchen and saw him standing there looking at Fredrick like he was crazy. "I wonder if he can see me." She whispered to herself.

---

---

---

Taja peeked out of the kitchen also before hiding back in. She was covered in Rina's blood. "He is going to kill me though you killed yourself." She wanted to cry, tears stung her eyes. She took a deep breath and walked out. "S-Sir."

---

---

---

Abe could smell iron and bleach. He knew something was up. All these people were the ones to go missing, so why were they all here? He was about to ask what was going on when one of his officers walked in. "O-oh...Abe, sir.. I...wasn't expecting you here?" He said. An eyebrow arched, "Well yeah, why wouldn't I be? The question here is why are you here? Stay right there and call Frank. Tell him to come here and bring a forensic, an ambulance, and backup." He ordered before turning around in time to see Taja, the small girl who went missing. She was crying and full of blood.

Abe rushed over, "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Who did this?" He looked her over. Her small hand stopped him.

"I-I am okay, but... but..." She started crying. "R-Rina she... she just... she couldn't handle everything and t-took her head... a-and Pervy Man Fred t-tried to clean up the b-blood because h-he is a neat freak and I just want to go home!" Abe froze. He held the girl close, picking her up.

"It is okay, Taja. We got you." He said as he took a step towards the kitchen and saw his daughter's body on the ground. His breath got stuck in his throat. He wanted to scream, cry, punch someone or something, but he just held onto the crying Taja. "Everyone, stay where you are. Don't move till backup comes." He ordered everyone.

"Oh dear, looks like the chains of justice has wrapped itself around you my dear not so little lamb. It looks like all your good deeds did go rewarded...to jail that is...how unfortunate." The voice is his head spoke up at the rather...bad situation.

Frederick began to sweat bullets, she just had to tell him that he cleaned up the blood. This was it! He was done for! This is where his life as a janitor and writer comes to an end! He was going to have a new occupation that was for sure, prisoner janitor for years! His father would be so disappointed in him! He could only hear him now!...

"I did not raise my son to clean up prisons as a prisoner! When you get out boy I'm going to make you wish you stayed in prison!" The bearded man yelled in anger as he raised his fist and a mop. "No dad please! It was a misunderstanding!"

"You are also a pervert! To a young girl at that! I will clean up your act! YAHHHHHH!"

"Not the face!"

Yup...This was very bad. What should he do, if he stayed here he had a chance to prove himself or something. But Taja called him a pervert and told on him! If he does not go to jail for getting rid of evidence! Then she would get him in jail for being a pervert! Everything was bad.

"Hey moocher! Don't you like...Have anything to get us out of this situation!?

"You could always run my dear lamb...If you don't want to take the fall for everyone then just run. You always follow rules and everyone. You should break it even when you know its the wrong thing to do. Sure, its the rule to go to jail but you know its not fair when you are the one person. An adult? Surrounded by teens and a child at that? A pervert kidnapper...I wonder who that officer is going to belive in this situation...Oh dear...Just waiting for you to finnaly sin is such a grand feeling, if you want to remain uncaged my dear lamb make a break for it."

"I would shame myself and my fathers legacy as the best janitors! I am no criminal!...But jail sounds bad though..."

"You can only remain sin free for so long...Let us see where your 'good deeds' get you in a couple more minutes...You can trust me my dear lamb...I will lead you to salvation. But if you continue to ignore my recommendations then the path you follow will lead to despair..."

"And the path you follow is mooching! I like to see you in my shoes for being a pervert and kidnapping!"

"But I am not in that situation. You brought yourself in this situation, not I...Looking at a childs thigh, if you want something to look at how about that girl's ghost?"

"What! Ghost!?" Frederick exclaimed as he looked around and noticed Rina...Wait she was dead. That meant she was a ghost! Oh no! She came to haunt him from beyond the grave!

"You are...such a strange lamb..."

"He is here because I called him here." Miranda spoke up, looking to Abe as her cousin froze, and then began to do as told, calling those qualified to handle a body. "I wanted this to be handled...quietly." she said, not looking away as he spotted the body on the floor, hugging the now crying child that was Taja. She rolled her eyes, the Amber one glowing dimly. "As for the girl...Rina....what Taja said is true; she..." the werewolf paused, pretending to be a bit more human than she was, "...started bashing her head against....the counter...I...couldn't handle the smell of the blood....So I had our Janitor friend...clean it...." she shuddered, convincingly putting on the human-girl act. Though if anyone knew who she was, which Abe likely would, or at least know of the Wallace family, they'd know she was...different.

She wasn't planning to move anyway, so when he told everyone not to move, she just laid back down, yawning, not bothering to hide her canines as she yawned, the sharper-than-average, and much larger-than-normal teeth in plain view to anyone looking over the couch. Like her cousin Anthony, who looked away at the sight of her teeth. Yawning, much like bearing one's teeth was a way of displaying dominance over others in Werewolf Culture. She closed her eyes and continued her yawn, loudly doing so while finding herself growing comfortable on the couch. She'd have to either ask Yohan where he got it, or steal it. Either one.

---

Taja held onto him and watched.

---

---

---

Backup arrived. They gathered everyone who was there. Abe walked around and looked at Frederick. "I want everyone brought to the station and question. Keep an eye on this one, " He motioned towards Frederick. Forensics started to close off the kitchen and paramedics started to check everyone out before they were ushered to the back of the cop cars. "I will bring Taja, you all can go." He ordered.

With one hand he held onto the girl's and with his free hand he rubbed his neck. "I think we should get you to the station and let you call your parents, okay?"

Taja nodded. Both walked to his car and drove off to the station.

Abe walked in, file in hand, and sat in front of Taja. They had to get her a booster seat because she sat down all you could see was a floating head and it made him chuckle. He had to be serious and her looking silly like that would not help. She looked scared, but he reassured her that she was alright and that her parents were on their way. She nodded, sitting there playing with her thumbs.

“What happened the night you went missing?” He asked softly.

She looked up at him, scared, “Momma had to leave and the babysitter wasn’t there yet. She was worried of leaving me alone, but I reassured her I would be alright. Then after she left I started hearing a voice inside of my head telling me to go get Sienna from her work and bring her to the gym. I also got visions showing me where to go. I wasn’t going to go, I swear, but then it wouldn’t stop till I left and went get her. She wouldn’t come to the gym, actually she thought I insulted her. I didn’t mean to call her a cow or anything, but it kind of slipped out. Rina stood up for me and I took the time to hurry and steal the keys before running. It was the only thing I could do to make her leave.” She was on the verge of tears.

He nodded, patting her hand, and asked, “Did you get abducted?”

Taja shook her head, “No. Once we all were in the gym things started to happen. Like a car crash and then us being all in pain. We got these marks and then went to this scary place where everything was the same, but a lot scarier. It was horrible.”

Abe smiled softly, “How do you all know each other?”

Taja looked up at him, “I have never seen any of these people before today. I am ten, my momma would never allow me to be near these other people, except Rina. I could see Rina babysitting me. She was a nice girl. I liked her a lot.”

Abe was glad to hear someone liked his daughter and that she would treat a young girl well. He raised her to at least be a decent person. “Okay, Hun, now who owns the house you all were at?”

Taja rubbed her eyes, “I think it was Yohan’s house. I am ninety percent sure it was. I don’t like him very much, but I rather him over Pervert Man, Frederick. He stared at my thighs for a long time. He even stared at Sienna and Rina a little longer than he should.”

Abe wanted to punch this man in his face, he couldn’t understand perverted men. “How did Sienna get away but everyone else stay? Is she working with the owner of the house?”

Taja shrugged, “I didn’t know she left. As for working with Yohan? I believe Miranda would be the one to work with him the most, though… I think he was just trying to get with them, “She leaned in close, “if you know what I mean.”

He chuckled before looking down at the next question and frowning. “Okay, what happened with Rina?”

She looked down at her hands again, speaking low she said, “I walked in to the kitchen after I woke up and Rina was holding a cup of coffee just looking up in space. I thought she was just daydreaming… I know I do it a lot when I am feeling nervous. Pervert Man was making breakfast, so I thought maybe she was nervous to be around him…” She started to tear up, “t-then she just… started freaking out. Asking if I was real or if she was going crazy. It scared me a lot. Then out of nowhere… she just started banging her head into the counter. Frederick tried to stop her and then help her stay alive. It was a mess. Blood was everywhere. I don’t know why she did that. I really really don’t.”

Abe tried to calm her down, “It’s okay. You are here and safe. I am sorry you had to see all of that. So, it was you who called 9-1-1, what happened? Why did you hang up?”

Sniffling she tried to calm down. Nodding at the first part of the question, “I did, I slipped in Rina’s blood trying to get to the floor. She needed professional help, but Miranda stopped me. I think she had someone to help with it. She told them I was her cousin, which I am not… I don’t think. Then she called her actual cousin and asked him to come over.”

“Okay I am going to circle back around to Yohan. You are doing great. Have you known Yohan before?” He asked.

Taja shook her head, “No, officer. The first time I saw him he looked like a loser sitting in the corner. He was a cry baby. I think he even puked in the back of the gym. Something is very wrong with that guy.” She shivered.

“Why was he not at the house?” Abe asked.

She shrugged, “I have no idea. He was there when I went into the kitchen. Maybe everything got him scared and he ran… like maybe Sienna got scared too and ran. I know I would have if I wasn’t so scared and wanting to call for help.”

Abe nodded again, “Could he be possible for Rina’s death?”

Taja shook her head no, “No, sir. Unless he threatened her before anyone got to the kitchen, but that percentage would be very low. Yohan is a freak, but I highly doubt he would have killed Rina.”

Abe patted her head and closed the files, “Thank you so much for answering the questions. You did very well and I know for a fact your mother and father would be proud of you.” He held out his free hand, the other was holding the file, and walked out of the room. They walked to the front where her parents were waiting for her. He let go of her hand and she ran to their arms. All three of them were crying. He called Frederick to the back room and walked away. He couldn’t look at the family anymore. It killed him that he couldn’t do that with his own daughter.

---

---

Abe walked in, file in hand, and sat in front of Fredrick. He had been one of the people missing. When Abe looked up from his file he saw Frederick pull out a card. "Sorry for the misleading attitude offer, Secret agent Frederick. I was working on the missing persons case when all this happened." He spoke as he held the ID for him. Abe took it, looking it over, and shaking his head. Something was off, but he was going to ask the same questions as the rest of the group. He decided that he was going to make Frederick stay for more questioning once he ran his name in the data base to see if he was in fact a secret agent. "Anyways officer, I will be answering your questions.”

“What happened the night you went missing?” He asked, writing something down on a pad.

“On the night, I went missing I was working at Timberland High School acting like a janitor when I went out into the parking lot to head back to my car. A well-dressed man was waiting there and before I knew it I was in a different place I had no clue where it was. That was when I met all the teenagers and the one child. Funny story, the child thinks I’m a pedo...Do I look that creepy? ...Ugh....Anyways this was the first time I met any of these kids." Frederick spoke as he placed a finger under his chin.

"After we managed to escape where ever we were locked up, one of the Kids...Yohan was his name brought us to his house. I would have headed to the police station but it was too dangerous so we needed to lay low.” He said.

The guy was a weird one, but he was answering some of his questions before he could even ask. “How did Sienna get away but everyone else stay? Is she working with the owner of the house?” He finally asked after shifting through his questions.

“As for Sienna...I guess she got out as morning came while we were resting she snuck out back home or something. So, I don't think she is working with Yohan.” He said.

“What happened with Rina?” Abe just asked.

As for with Rina, I was in the kitchen...making food, yes, I know I made food here. But everyone was hungry and well someone had to cook the food. So, I was there when Rina walked in. I did not realize it at first until I heard some banging on the counter and well...It was only her, so she just went crazy all of a sudden so I did my best to stop her. But she was going full force on the counter like she was possessed or something. I did my best and stopped her but... there was... a lot of blood... and matter...." Frederick shook his head to get rid of that scene from his mind before speaking again.

“Why didn’t anyone call 9-1-1 before Taja and why did someone say that she was just learning how to dial 9-1-1?” Abe asked, looking over his questions again.

"I was busy trying to keep her alive and that’s probably when Taja called 9-1-1. Honestly, I was busier looking and trying to help Rina.”

He nodded, Abe was beginning to like the man. He at least tried to stop her, though she never seemed suicidal before. “Have you known Yohan before?” He asked.

“As for if I know Yohan I never met the guy. All I know is that some girl probably came by and he left with her. I say he is having some private romance or whatever. But I highly doubt he was the cause for this..." Frederick spoke as he breathed a deep sigh.

Abe looked up at the man after taking some notes and closing the file. “Thank you, sorry that you can’t leave just yet. I will need you to sit in the hallway by the front desk. We need to run your name in the base to see if you are actually a secret agent, standard protocol is all and maybe a few more questions.” He said with a small smile before walking out and switching files with his partner.

---

---

Abe walked in, file in hand, and sat in front of Miranda. She had been one of the people in the house at the time he got there. She was the third one he interviewed. “Alright, Miss Wallace. I am just going to ask you a series of questions. Just answer to the best of your ability.” With that he began the series of questions.

“What happened the night you went missing?” He asked, writing something down on a pad.

Miranda raised her eyebrows and thought back, “Was a regular night at the gym, then these kids came in, and some...supernatural, magic shit went down; ruined my night." she said, looking back to whoever was questioning her. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was leaned back into the chair casually.

Abe’s face didn’t change, instead looked at her and continued his questioning, “Did you get abducted?”

"If by "abducted" you mean be transported to an alternate dimension without my knowledge or permission, yes." She shrugged. Despite the sarcasm, she was sincere as well.

He wrote some stuff down in his pad and continued on from his previous question, “If so who was he/she?”

"Think that was Yohan's doing. Not sure. White haired boy, cute face, much too young to be doing what he says he's doing." She looked up with her eyes, trying to remember the details as they came to her.

Abe nodded and gave her a minute before asking another question, “How do you all know each other?”

"Really, I don't. I know their names, I think...Like I said, they burst into my gym for whatever reason and offered little explanation." She uncrossed her arms and offered a full shrug in response to this question.

Abe nodded, “Now, who owns the house you all were at?”
"Think that was Yohan, or, his parents? Dunno much about him." Again, a shrug.

He was getting bone dry answers from her. His eyes narrowed a bit, “How did Sienna get away but everyone else stay? Is she working with the owner of the house?”

"Pretty sure she just walked out." She said, nodding after a second of thought.

“Okay, what happened with Rina?” He had been wanting to ask that question since Taja had told him, but he wanted to get everyone’s take on it.

"Lost her mind, smashed her own head against the counter. I had the Janitor clean it up." A slow blink, the tone of annoyance with the questions began to creep into her voice, and she leaned further back into the chair.

“Where were you when it happened?” He said, fighting down the tone of annoyance. This girl had something to her. She was hiding something, but he kept on with his answers.
"At the table, watching her. Lost my appetite." She looked down with her eyes, shuddering subtly.

“Was it a suicide or did someone do that to her?” He asked.

"She did it herself, I've never seen a human with such a lack of self-preservation." She put an emphasis on the word human with her tone, looking at the questioner with a stern expression.

Abe cracked his neck. Never in his life did he want to cross over a table and straight up punch a woman in his life, but she was getting to him. His fisted his hand around his pen, trying not to lose his cool, “Why didn’t anyone call 9-1-1 before Taja and why did someone say that she was just learning how to dial 9-1-1?”

"That's because I called my cousin, Anthony. I expected him to get there quicker and handle the situation quietly. Last thing this town needs is media coverage. I stopped Taja from calling because I don't like unnecessary bull-shit." She gestured around to the room around her as an example of what she meant with her words.

He nodded, “Have you known Yohan before?”

"No. Seen him walking around, never spoke." Simple shake of the head.

“Why was he not at the house?” He asked with a blank face.

"He left I guess. Chickened out when Taja called 911." Shrug and a nod.

“Could he be possible for Rina’s death?” Was his final question.

"All this shit went down after he showed up in my gym, so I'm going to say yes. Can I go now?" Finally she leaned forward, putting her hands on the table and looking as though she were about to stand up.

“You can go from this room, yes, but I am going to need you for further questioning after I talk to everyone. You can sit in the hallway by the front desk.” With that he got up and left the room himself. He gave his partner the file and took another one from him.

---

---

Abe walked in, file in hand, and sat in front of Sienna. She had been the first one here that was in the group, but with all of the chaos didn’t get the chance to interview her till last. “Alright, Miss Cartlow. I am just going to ask you a series of questions. Just answer to the best of your ability.” With that he began the series of questions.

“What happened the night you went missing?” He asked, writing something down on a pad.

“That’s… Well, hard to explain… You’ll probably think I’m lying or whatever, since it’s pretty absurd…” Sitting back in her seat with her arms folded, Sienna’s brow furrowed as she was clearly thinking, staring to the water left on the table. “Somehow, we ended up in another world. It was honestly like something out of a comic book. There were monsters and shit… I get it if you don’t believe me, but something… Changed while we were there. The only word I can think of to describe it is magic.” She paused, clearly looking to him to see what kind of reaction Abe would give. Leaning forward slightly, she unfolded her arms, placing her hands onto the table in front of her. “I could show you, if you don’t believe me.”

Abe’s face didn’t change, instead looked at her and continued his questioning, “Did you get abducted?”

“I guess? I wouldn’t know who was responsible though. It’s not like I ended up involved in this other world crap willingly...” Sienna scoffed a little, looking off to the side and staring at a spot on the table, maybe zoning out.

He wrote some stuff down in his pad and continued on from his previous question, “If so who was he/she?”

Looking back up at the question, Sienna sighed. “Like I said, I’ve got no idea. I guess I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Abe nodded and gave her a minute before asking another question, “How do you all know each other?”

“To be honest, I only know them all through this crap. That Taja girl showed up with Rina at my work, and the little… Brat.” There was a notable pause as Sienna held her tongue from a harsher expletive. “She stole the keys to the store. I ended up calling my roommate to try and look after the store while I gave chase. After that I met uh… Gym girl at the gym. Can’t remember her name. I think Yohan was there too? And I dunno when that creep guy showed up, but it was in that other world…” Sienna stopped for a bit, looking up to Abe. “Are they here too?”

Abe’s eyebrow raised, if he hadn’t of interrogated her first he would have thought the young girl would have never done such a thing. She didn’t have the background to up and steal a set of store keys. “They are, but that is all I can tell you. Now, who owns the house you all were at?”

“I guess it was Yohan’s place. Apparently, we had to go there to get back from the other world. It’s uh, kinda like a parallel dimension, the place has the same general layout as Timberland.” Sienna put her hand to her chin, before rummaging in her pocket. “I brought this paper back from there. It was in the basement of the other dimension’s house. It’s like, a design for the machine? Or part of it? Anyway, all that crap should still be in his basement. Well, the device at least.” Sienna placed the somewhat crumpled schematic down for Abe, wondering if it would actually be handy at all.

Abe tilted his head. He wasn’t expecting to get so much information from the girl, but he took the paper and added it to the file he hand on her, noting on a clean piece of paper that it was evidence and to check out the basement more. “Thank you, Miss Cartlow. This helps us a lot. How did you get away but everyone else stayed? Are you working with the owner of the house?”

“How did I get away? Well, shit went down and… I guess I couldn’t really handle it. I was coming here to turn myself in though and get some information. I honestly don’t know where to go from here. As for working with Yohan, I barely know the guy. I think we’re all connected now or some crap though…” Rolling up her sleeve a little, Sienna lifted her hand to show the strange symbol that had materialized on it. “I think we’ve all got this mark. ‘Cept Yohan’s is a little different.”

Abe leaned in, taking a closer look. He had honestly never seen a tattoo like that before. He made a not to get someone to look at it before she left. “Okay, what happened with Rina?” He had been wanting to ask that question since Taja had told him, but he wanted to get everyone’s take on it.

“She… “ Sienna stopped again, involuntarily flinching at the memory of the corpse she’d seen. It hadn’t been a pretty sight. “Well, I don’t know. I wasn’t there. I came down to hear the others freaking out and saw… Well, that. I think that’s why I kind of got out of there. That dude was cleaning the blood and Miranda was on the phone to someone about cleaning it up and… Well, that didn’t sound right to me. I was a little scared, but I honestly didn’t want to be associated with some sort of cover up. They said she killed herself, but… I honestly don’t know.”

Abe had to try hard not to curl his fist. So it was a cover up, but Taja had been there. She had seen it, maybe Miranda had threatened her to lie. I am going to have to talk to her cousin after this. “Where were you when it happened?” He asked after clearing his throat.

“Upstairs. After everything that happened I… needed some time alone. I kind of had a bit of a breakdown… The smashed mirror up there should be testament to that…” Sienna mumbled, unconsciously squeezing her bandaged hand.

Abe took notice of her hand, but continued his questioning. “Was it a suicide or did someone do that to her?”

“I couldn’t say. I didn’t notice until I came down and she was…” Sienna swallowed uncomfortably, then reached for the water, shakily pouring her glass and drinking from it.

Abe was noticing Sienna’s actions and took note of it all. “Why didn’t anyone call 9-1-1 before Taja and why did someone say that she was just learning how to dial 9-1-1?”

“Like I said, I didn’t even know until I came down and heard some crap about cleaning the blood and dealing with it. I wasn’t about to stay there and calmly dial the number, but I did tell the officers I met about it. You can ask them.” Sienna stated confidently that they’d back up her story, having nothing to hide in that regard.

He nodded, “Have you known Yohan before?”

“No, like I said, I met everyone for the first time.” Sienna repeated, a little agitated by the repeat question.

Shifting in his chair, trying not to seem so stand offish to the woman he asked her, “Why was he not at the house?”

“I dunno. I lost track of him when I went upstairs, so I have no idea where he went.” Answering truthfully, Sienna was trying to be as cooperative as possible. She was getting anxious to find out about Rio, but she needed to get through this shit first.

Abe could see her becoming anxious and tried to get through the questions as fast and thoroughly as possible, “Could he be possible for Rina’s death?”

“Possibly? I don’t know. He was pretty quiet for the most part, but he didn’t seem crazy murderous. Then again, Rina didn’t seem crazy suicidal…” Sienna muttered the last part as she thought out loud on it.

Once the questions paused for a while, Sienna sat up a bit, looking back over to Abe. “Um, I… I saw on the news that… My roommate Rio… Can you tell me what happened?” Sienna asked hesitantly, but there was a strained desperation in her voice.

Abe looked up, his lips twisting down in a frown. “I am sorry, it seems like she had spun and hit a wall. She would have made it, but then another vehicle crashed into her, which sadly lead to her death. That is all I can give you since it is still an ongoing case.” This night had turned out to be one of the shitiest nights in his life. “You are free to go, Miss Cartlow.” He said before walking out. He looked at Frankie and shook his head.

"We are going to be having a long night a head of us. I kept a few for more questions. Also, Frederick claims to be a secret agent. I need you to run his name in and tell me what you get." He said. Frankie nodded and walked off to do just that.

"Hold!" Ricky shouted out, raising up his left hand with his all black fingers. All of the vehicles came screeching to a halt as they stopped in the middle of Timberland. It had taken them some time, but they had reached here just in the nick of time. Ricky got out of his truck to see the sun setting in the distance behind them, causing him to lick his lips. This was looking all too sweet, everything started here and now! "Yes, excellent, most excellent! Everyone, you know what to do!" Snapping his fingers, all but his own truck road off to begin travelling throughout the town. It was going to take them all night, but he could tell luck was in his favor tonight.

"Alright, it's just me now." Ricky reached out his right arm to pat his truck gently. "We've been waiting for this moment, too long it feels like. Such a small amount of time, stretching out over what feels like an infinity." Ricky couldn't help but laugh now, throwing his arms up into the air as he bent backwards while raising his arms up. "What an exquisite feeling! What more is there to gain from life than what I am feeling right now? Ah, to be alive, to be human, to be the dominant predator!" Ricky went back to standing normally and cleared his throat, narrowing his eyes to get a more serious look about them before walking over to the back of the truck.

Looking over the five cages he had selected, he raised his hand up and his eyes glowed yellow briefly. Multiple hands came out from behind him, grabbing hold of the cages and setting them down on the ground next to each other one by one. Having a hand reach over to unlock each cage, the doors swung open without hesitation and at first nothing really seemed to happen. Then, the dogs mentioned before slowly began to each walk out of their cages, causing a small trail of darkness to be emitted behind them until they each stopped next to each other as if waiting for orders.

Ricky couldn't help but once again admire the almost strange beauty that came off of these mutts. One would assume at first glance they were looking at a skeleton of a dog, but they were far from it. Having no real eyes in their eye sockets, these pale blue mutts were more akin to that of how ghost dogs, at least to Ricky that's how they looked anyway. They weren't actually ghosts, but close enough no? No liquid came down from their mouths, and petting one of them would make you think you were touching something reptilian instead of mammal. They had been sent for one purpose only, and pulling out a little white orb, he was going to send them out on that purpose.

"Gotta love you magical dogs." Ricky walked over in front of them and knelt down, waving the orb slowly in front of each of them. The magic dogs each began to sniff and become familiar with the scent he was giving them, and one by one they all started to emit an eerie growl unlike that of any regular dog. "Can't be seen, felt or even heard by normal people! Only those with magic can do anything about you." Ricky put away the orb and rose up to his feet, walking back over to his truck.

"You can't see normally, so you use your other senses to track down the target. Able to track the scent of your targets, able to sense out the magic within them once you locate them. Shouldn't take too long for you to find them." Ricky snaps his fingers. "You know who I want tracked down. Find the missing people that were on the news earlier today, track them down and don't stop until either you or they are dead. If you manage to kill even one of them, bring me their bodies as proof."

The dogs eerily began to move forward slowly, a blue glow briefly appearing within their eye rockets before fading out just as quickly, continuing to flicker like this in a matter of seconds for each of them. A car flew into Ricky's sight and headed straight for the dogs, Ricky couldn't help but smirk as the dogs only continued to walk slowly before the car ran over their position. The car continued about it's business as usual, but the dogs were perfectly fine, as if the car hadn't even touched them.

A blue flame appears within each hound's eyes sockets, a terrifying roar emitting from each of them now as blue flames burst forth and covered over every one of them, acting as fur and protection at the same time. The blue flames only covered certain parts of their head, making the blue flames within their eye sockets stand out all the more. Wasting no time now that they were active, they each began to run forward and search out for the targets Ricky had specified, each of them holding a terrifying grin as they left a brief trail of darkness behind them before it faded away.

"What a waste to use them on regular people." Ricky leaned back against his truck as he closed his eyes and smirked. "Ah, well. I got a job to do and I ain't wasting no time about it. I wonder, who shall prevail in this fight? Either way, I wish I could watch it with my own eyes, but that will have to wait. Don't fail my expectations, Hounds of Despair." Ricky bursts out into an evil laugh as he rears his head back.