Timberland

Shiro and Yohan traveled along a set of stone stairs. With each step they took, the spiraling motion they underwent as they ascended upward messed with Yohan's mind. How could the place have been built and yet he could only see the same pattern over and over again? How could he not see any differences in the steps when he could see things like cracks in them? Perhaps they were minor things to complain about, but to him it was like a bad itch that just wouldn't go away.

It finally came to an end when they ascended up to the top of one of the castle's towers. Seeing the castle itself like this struck Yohan in a way only his body seemed to recall, a feeling of overwhelming excitement that made him want to see the castle in full. His attention quickly was drawn back to Shiro when he pointed out towards the land around the castle. When Yohan rushed over to where Shiro stood, the excitement was quickly gone and replaced with horror.

Barren. It was a barren wasteland that surrounded the castle. Not a single fire to light up the land, not a single plant could grow here, not a single sign of life was here. "Why?" Yohan spoke with a growing despair to his tone. "Why is it like this?"

"This is the struggle everyone eventually faces. Ruin, Desolation, Destruction, Death, Despair, Madness, Agony. This is the world outside of this castle now."

"But... How could it have gotten to this point?" Yohan's question forced Shiro to inhale greatly before releasing it slowly. The expression on Shiro's face showed the pure sorrow he held for his next words.

"Because hope dies out. When hope dies out, one loses the will to fight. When one loses this will, they want only the end. This is that end now, creeping it's way into the mind and infecting everything around it with corruption. If nothing is done, there will only be nothing. This castle is the last stronghold against this nothing. When this castle falls, death will come."

"What... What can I do about it?" Yohan turns his head to look at Shiro, who's eyebrows rose before quickly lowering as his eyes closed.

"Believe. You must believe." These words left Yohan confused, yet when he went to speak, everything became blurry to his sight. He felt tired, his eyes closing as his mind drifted off.

---

Back we shall go, for all of you connected. The feeling of shared bonds shall pass on similar feelings. A tightening grip of visions shall now take hold for this point of time!

The loud noise of thunder caused his eyes to open, if it weren't for his helmet rain would be dripping all over his face. He rose up from the ground to find he laid upon grass, his body shaking with upmost fright! His head felt foggy, his chest heavy with fear, while his skin crawled with pain that cut deep into his soul. A terrible night had striked his home, and only he had lived to tell the tale.

His body shot up to rise, quick with adrenaline, as a storm rained down upon his armor. The heavy force of rain clashed with his armor, an eerie darkness tried to cut off his sight! With his newfound energy, he pushed himself up to his feet to look for his parent's castle. Alas, with a flash of lightning and a roar of thunder, he had found his home. The darkness was not there merely for looks, it had somehow creeped it's way to the physical realm!

The castle he once called home had now been consumed, the darkness before him reeked of something born of wicked desire. Visions struck through his mind of how he had been inside the castle, of how he had traversed his way through it and saw the fallen bodies of his comrades before it appeared. The sudden darkness that had consumed his home had now latched itself onto the castle, everything inside was more than likely lost. Within minutes, the sound of horses came in the distance, the knight looking over to see his friends approaching his position. Someone had found him, and that could only mean more disaster awaited him.

"My prince, thank the gods you survived!" One of his fellow knights spoke up, with all of the horses stopping before him. "Thy castle was attacked by a wicked force of magic! Where is his Majesty?!"

"I cannot say." The prince said. "I did not see him come out. I, too, had thought myself consumed."

"Thou mustn't speak lies, m'lord!" The knight proclaimed with disbelief. "No man could hath survived from within!"

"'Tis only the truth I speak! I was within, and here I stand before thee! Would thou question me in a moment of crisis?!"

"T'was not my intention, but that would make thee the first man to hath survived! This evil has spread throughout the lands, m'lord! Our forces dwindle each time we attack! This could very well spell the end if his Majesty truly is dead!"

"There is a way, but thou would hast to take me to a wizard!"

"Hath thou lost thy mind?! Wizards hath brought nothing but misfortune upon the lands! What makes thou think any wizard can be trusted?!"

"This one owes me a favor, and I intend to find out from him the truth of this evil! If my father truly is dead, he will know. I will ride alone if I must, but either way I am seeing this wizard!"

---

Yohan's eyes slowly opened as his eyes narrowed. He could hear it raining, again with this huh? He reached out slowly and grabbed hold of the time near his bed, his eyes shifting tiredly to look over at it. Eight A.M. huh? That was unusually early for him. Oh well, he could at least get people out of his house so he could go back to sleep. He already heard the noise of something moving about, no doubt it was that weird adult they had met before.

He got up to his feet and walked out to the living room, as he did so, he heard the sound of a television already playing. His eyes slowly narrowing until he walked out into the living room to fully see and hear it. "Yesterday afternoon saw a terrible tragedy." The news was on, and they were talking about yesterday of all things? "A model crashed her car and died immediately upon impact. Police suspected her ex-boyfriend Richard Leonard to be behind the case, however when coming to his home for questioning, they found Richard nowhere to be found."

Wait a minute, yesterday, accident... No, it couldn't be. They were talking about that lady who just crashed and died before they were sent off?! No, he had to calm down, he was overthinking this. He still couldn't entirely believe that everything yesterday was connected, it had to be just coincidental. "Richard Leonard, known by some as Little Ricky, is the son to Walter Leonard, the very same wealthy man who owns Leonard Industries. Richard has been known from an early age for getting into trouble and if found linked to this new murder, could find himself arrested for the last time."

"In other news, five individual's suddenly vanished yesterday without a word. How do we know this? Well, let's now go over to the man who was called in to start the investigation." Yohan had to sit down for this, he had a feeling he knew exactly what was going to happen next. Sure enough, a man wearing a large coat appeared on the television screen.

"This isn't the first time I've been called in for this. Lately, groups of people seem to be going missing like these five from Timberland. A man in a nearby town also went missing, we got reports of him heading off to work when people say he just suddenly never turned up to it." Yohan's mind turned to the man he had seen getting devoured last night. It had to have been him, someone who looked ready to go to work suddenly being attacked. This was starting to make his head hurt, if only he knew how that device in his basement worked!

"We couldn't get anything positive until we discovered another unfortunate accident. Sadly, there was another crash sometime last night, and it took the life of yet another person. Luckily, what we could find left lead us to find out it was a person linked to one of the five who went missing." Another crash, another death. Unfortunate, perhaps they'll go more into this second crash when they aren't so focused on the missing people.

"So where did this lead you next?" A woman's voice asked the man with the large coat.

"Well, we were able to find out about a girl named Sienna Cartlow. Wouldn't you know it, she was supposed to be at work only to dissapear just like the man in the other town. Through this, we were able to get into contact with a man, who you'll hear from later when the second crash comes up." This wasn't looking good to Yohan, how the heck would the others react to hearing this?

"So I hear you worked all night to find out where Sienna had last been seen, is that correct?"

"Yes, it is. We found ourselves going to Timberland Gym, where some passerby's who had seen the crash had apparently spotted a woman who fit Sienna's description. We don't know exactly why she went there, but if my assumption is correct, she was snatched up with the others and taken away. This is where we found out about the other four, and that's where we stand now. Two people dead, five missing. I had heard the crime rate with this town had gone up recently, but to think things would all come together like this here is unfortunate."

"I'd just like to personally thank you for all of your hard work in discovering this." The man with the large coat gives a quick nod to this.

"Well, it wasn't just me, you know. We had parents to a little kid who kept calling us, asking where their daughter had gone. We had some school staff members who told us of a man who went missing and just left his keys strangely out in the front. The owner of the Timberland Gym suddenly going missing when she had last been seen there and not going home. And, of course, the helpful young man who helped us out with the second crash incident."

"Thank you again for all that you have done in this. Now, we will present picture ID's of the five missing individual's with the names of each. We can only hope that the worst hasn't come for them and that they are all still safe."



"Rina Jasmine. Sienna Cartlow. Taja Halterman. Miranda Wallace. And Frederick Bell. See, I told you we'd find out who they were." The man sitting next to Ricky spoke out, giving a devilish grin to him. Ricky just kind of gave an awkward stare while continuing to eat for the first time today.

"Well, well, well. You said it, and it happened. Wow, sir, how did you ever do that?" Ricky gave a taunting chuckle to follow. "But seriously, how did you do it so fast? People shouldn't of given these punks five seconds."

"I told you, Ricky, I have ears and eyes in the best places. I knew people connected to them wouldn't resist hearing that someone important to them had gone missing. If that second crash had never happened, we would of never been able to confirm a connection. Poor girl apparently went out searching last night for her friend, and ended up dead instead. Lucky for us, since we would of had to deal with her if she got too close."

"Haha, I know exactly what happened to that girl!" The Djinn couldn't help but give a sinister laugh. "I ain't telling you buttheads though, it's going to be my little secret." Another chuckle to annoy Ricky, who raised his arm and swung it through the demon to swat him away for a bit like a fly. The food was just too damn good to waste with such an annoying loudmouth to spoil it.

"So what do you want me to do about it? If they go home, that's the end of the story right? Nothing can be done then!"

"You underestimate our power, Ricky. We have roots deep within the world of Gaia. Think about it, Timberland is a dump of a town! Nobody cares about some little place that just barely got put on the map. The only reason the news is even like this today is because we demanded it to be as such! You already saw yesterday first hand what this power can do when you put your mind to it. Tomorrow, you will begin searching for these intrusive little brats."

"Oi, you ask a lot out of me, you old man. How am I going to find them among so many?"

"Oh, don't you worry Ricky, they stick out like a sore thumb, just as you do now. They have only just begun to live a life of fear, we will have answers out of them yet. And if they are the sources we picked up on last night, well... We'll just have to take care of them, won't we?" A sinister laugh escaped the man as he stood up and walked over to a window.

"Sure, as long as you keep your word to give me Timberland to do with as I please." The Djinn flew back over near Ricky and gave a sinister grin upon his words. "I'm going to have fuuuuuuun~"

A sudden crash was heard Somewhere in the house as the resident werewolf awoke from her sleep, flinging whatever was on top of her off of her body and onto the ground. Sitting up she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, her Demon staring at her as it lay next to her, like a lover from a one night stand. "Here you are, in the house of a young man, and you're not going to take advantage of that?"

Silence.

"Oh come on, you haven't done anything fun in a long time." Again, silence. "Raid the pantry at least? Fucks sake Miranda you've gotten boring....and you smell." it was that that merited a response. A Grunt in the affirmative. Of course, the noses of mere humans, magical or not now, wouldn't be able to detect the smell that Miranda and her Demon could pick up, but it was time for a shower regardless.

Standing with a grunt, she stretched out her tall, muscular body, bones and joints cracking in relief as she did so. Walking out to the living room, where Yohan watched the news, the woman grunted and leaned against the wall. "Yo....boy....Yohan, whatever your name is....you got a shower and some extra clothes for me to wear till I can get home?" She asked, looking at the boy with lazy, but still predatory, piercing eyes.

Leo Pichard awoke in a mess of white bed sheets, his monochrome simple patterned doona halfway to being completely on the floor. Stretching his toned arms above his head awkwardly as they lightly knocked at the timber headboard behind him, he let out a long loud yawn. "Well. Can't say that was the freakiest dream I've had but close to it." He mumbled lazily to himself in a series of strained tones as he stretched. Sliding on out of bed in a simple pair of black trunks he recalled at first seeing some really hot chick but then she suddenly transformed into some messed up dark entity and chased him out of a hotel room. Plus it was raining. Glancing outside as the sound of rain caught his attention he assumed that's where the weather in his dream came from.

Throwing on a grey knit sweater over his long sleeved, tight fit black shirt, followed by a pair of dark blue denim jeans and chocolate brown Chelsea boots he turned on the TV as background noise. Finishing up in the bathroom the reporter announced a car accident that had happened the other day. Bad stuff always happened on the news. It was always: blah blah school shooting blah blah someone got stabbed blah blah England versus Germany in soccer this evening etc etc. So he didn't pay it much attention.

Grabbing his long black coat, umbrella, keys, wallet and phone, he headed out locking up his small terrace behind him as he headed for the marketplace. Was best to get groceries over and done with in the morning to avoid the last minute horde of shopping soccer mum's with their spoiled kids. As he walked through the aisles trying to choose between a cheap brand and expensive brand of bread, he whipped around probably too quickly, almost bumping into the sandy blonde beauty. "Whoa- ha sorry didn't see you-" Her azul blue eyes piercing his heart as he paused for a moment captivated by her. Mouth gaping like a fish out of water. "...there. Uh." Leo finished as he recollected his thoughts, standing up tall as his chestnut brown orbs stared back into hers in a rather awkward silence. Smooth Leo. Very smooth.

Frederick crossed his arms together as he looks over at his finished masterpiece. A now clean house! Not a speck of dust left, every item organized and it smells clean and not dusty anymore! Heck, the basement was so clean you could hold a skating ring down there!...it would be wise to actually not try skating down there actually, its just very clean and you would just likely fall down...

Well with a whole house clean...now what? Oh yeah! Breakfast or...something...eh, everyone likes bacon. Unless they were vegetarian. Or hates bacon in the first place...Alright he should just cook the bacon. Heading to the kitchen and basically raiding Yohan's fridge, Frederick took out a tray of bacon and began to fry it on a frying pan because what else would he use? His coat? Nah, that would catch on fire and that would be bad!

Food for Six maybe? Some people might have more appetite than others though...Eh...Cook the whole tray of bacon! That will solve the problem. Wait a second...forget just bacon! He would fire up another spot on the stove and Raid Yohan's fridge again and get out a few trays ground beef. He was making some burgers! Because burgers were awesome and delicious!

Frederick whistled to himself as he began to mix the ground beef with some spice and bread crumbs giving it that extra crunch when people bit into it. A few eggs to loosen it up a bit and presto he made himself some meat patties. He soon threw that on the frying pan after spraying it with a non-stick spray and whistled to himself as he cooked. The smell of food filling the house.

Eh...He'll pay back whoever owned this house...Wait? Why was he just raiding someone's fridge to cook?...Ah who cares! He was going to pay them back with money so in a sense...he was just cooking food like normal, he just had to pay for another persons groceries instead of his own groceries.

Amber opened her eyes slowly as the light streamed in, smiling at the classic summer weather she saw outside her window. Pretty soon, she'd be starting school again, and that would mean having to bolt up at 6 in order to get ready.

She'd been fairly busy over the summer, of course, doing odd jobs here and there, taking things like SAT and ACT prep, and searching around for potential colleges she might go to after the next summer, but even with all that activity, there was a lull that happened right around August, and she treasured it. She treasured the roaming she'd done with her friends, the beach, and, to sum it all up, the freedom.

After a fair amount of time spent getting dressed (she'd been waiting for a chance to try on one particular little number that she found during a mall trip a few days prior--a small, solid red top with gold buttons on the wrists that she thought went especially well with a skirt), she went downstairs to fix herself something to eat (her parents having already left for their jobs), checking her smartphone while she waited for the food to cook.

Her brow creased a little bit as she read the news--five people had been reported missing today. She knew it was silly, but, what with the news, she checked to see if there were any pictures of the missing people.

...whew. Her friends, at least, were safe. That said, she still hoped that the people in the bulletin were okay.

Sonea hummed as she walked along, pushing her cart as she looked through the isles. She seemed to be deep in thought while picking up various things along the way. Eggs, milk, sandwich meat, ground turkey meat...oreos.........olive oil....

By the time she reached the cereal isle, her body was just going through the motions of picking things up as her mind was completely elsewhere. Her eye moved about the isles almost with a glazed look to it as her ears twitched as she strained to listen to some sort of sound.

"It was your fault...You lead him to you. Do I take life or give it? Who is victim and who is foe?"

Cereal...Coffee....milk again.......flour...........chef's knife........

"Like water I ebb and flow...defeat is simply the addition of time for a sentence I never deserved. But you imposed..."

Heart......lungs......................liver...........arm........eye..........

Her world warped around her and distorted itself as the items she was grabbing were no longer items in a super market, but some sort of nightmarish hellscape of body parts, organs and the sounds of screaming things. Shadows danced across her vision of an eye that was no longer there. She could 'see' everything. A barren land, empty in ever detail. Devoid of life but for a single castle in the distance.

Kidneys.........brain..............

"I wish to be free...Release me! I seek a new freedom......."

The voice now clearly her own but harder, sounding more angry and tyrannical then her own as something came out of the Black and grabbed her, it's hands wrapping around her neck with an arm and a black tendril of force. It was her left arm with her eye glaring back into her own.

"I WILL KNOW ALL THAT I POSSESS! RELEASE US! RELEASE US! RELEASE US! SET LOOSE YOUR POWER AND MAKE US WHOLE!"

As this being grabbed her, she bumped into Leo and her vision ceased and she promptly fell backwards onto her ass with an unlady like thud. She winced as she rubbed her eye with her right hand and shook her head a few times to try and free herself from the remainder of her vision, some of which still lingered.

"No no I am sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going" She said, pulling herself up off of the floor and dusting herself off "I wasn't exactly here you know? I tend to shut my brain off sometimes while I am doing my chores. My name is Sonea, whats yours?" She asked, holding out her right hand to shake while moving her left behind her back.

This Leo fellow was really easy on the eyes and they way he looked at her, it was as if there was a thunderbolt going through him. The slack jawed stupor left him stunned, and she did giggle a bit at it while she had her hand extended outwards towards him. He was really cute...lets see where this conversation could go. But the niggling voice in her mind lingered...and a new form took shape behind him, through her missing eye.

It appeared like a shorted haired cat, much like the Cheshire from Alice in Wonderland...but much worse in appearance.

'Ahh Sonea...we cant go back again. No surprise really...only a very few find the way and those do who do, don't recognize it when they do. Illusions too die hard. You have taken the first step even if you didn't know it before'

The cat grinned and jumped up into her basket, staring at what she bought and sniffed at it.

'To forget pain, is convinient. To remember it, agonizing. But the truth is worth the suffering...and our world, though damaged can be restored. Remember your pain...remember the ritual and know what purpose to the Black you serve. Your important in all of this...and you will soon realize it. I will guide you but you must listen. I will await you when you reach a quieter place'

With that, she looked into her basket again and the cat was gone...and she was smiling at the man as if nothing had happened.

Sienna Cartlow

“She gets too hungry, for dinner at eight…~” Sienna scrunched her eyes tightly as the voice began to filter through the air. It wasn’t entirely unpleasant. In fact, there was a talent buried in it, and the lyrics itself that were being sung were familiar, though she couldn’t quite place them. “…She wouldn’t bother, with someone she hates…~” The song continued, despite Sienna pulling the nearby pillow over her head. She had a pounding headache, and wasn’t even considering leaving the comfort and warmth of the large, fluffy… Wait, this wasn’t… Where…-?

Opening her eyes with a start, Sienna sat up rather quickly, looking about. Looking to the window sill, she detected the source of the voice, the small feline of Sinopia bopping back and forth to an unseen rhythm as she continued to sing. As Sienna began to clamber out of the bed, the cat turned to look over its shoulder, punctuating the last line of the verse. “That’s why this lady… Is a tramp~” Perking her eyebrows once as she met Sienna’s gaze, the girl returned an eyeroll as she stretched slightly, looking about her accommodation. “Was that supposed to be an insult? I-“ Sinopia hissed in Sienna’s direction, cutting her off and leaping off the sill to the floor as she began strutting towards the door, each step continuing to move in time to a beat, though Sienna noted that the rhythm seemed to have changed. “The best is yet to come and babe, won't it be fine?~”

Leaping up towards the door, it loosely swung open, allowing the cat to stride through. “The best is yet to come, come the day you're mine~” The voice continued to filter to Sienna’s ears, even as the feline descended the stairs towards the kitchen. Sighing, Sienna groggily took a moment to slap her cheeks and fix her hair a little, stepping back into her shoes which had been left neatly by the side of her bed. The moment she took to collect herself had begun to bring back all the memories of the previous day. Briefly, she wondered if she’d had too much of a drinking spree and some sort of lucid dream, but the singing cat told her otherwise. “…We've only tasted the wine, we're gonna drain the cup dry…~” As Sienna followed the sound and rounded the corner, peering her head about the room, she noticed a pleasant smell in the air, and realised just how ravenous she was feeling. Seeing that weird guy cooking, Sienna moved over, leaning in to see what was in the fry pan. She wasn’t disappointed, but it did look like it’d take a while to cook.

“Let me know when that’s ready for me.” Sienna stated unabashedly, not bothering with a greeting or anything else to the man. He looked like a wimpy pushover anyway. Moving past him to follow Sinopia’s swinging voice, she stepped into the lounge, spotting Yohan and Miranda in some degree of conversation, maybe about the news on TV. Hesitant as she was to stay around much longer, Sienna’s stomach refused to let her leave without a meal, so she may as well get comfortable until then. “My head keeps - spinning, I go to sleep and keep - grinning…~” Sinopia’s tune had changed again, and Sienna wondered exactly what the cat was playing at. The freakish feline had proved itself strange enough, so whether this was another game or just a weird aspect of the demon she couldn’t tell. "If this is just the be-ginning, my life is gonna be; bee-you-tee-full~”

As the cat was singing, Sienna couldn’t help but notice the way her eyes kept darting away from Sienna to something beside her. Furrowing her brow, it took Sienna a moment in her sleepy state to follow the gaze to the television. What, was there something importan-

“Friends and family described the girl as one with a passion for life, learning and helping; an energetic and promising young engineer. This tragedy, along with the missing individuals…” Sienna froze where she was, staring in silent shock at the screen as she listened. The photo in the corner was of Rio. Somehow, that and the words on the screen didn’t make sense to her. ‘Tragic Fatal Accident’. It had to be some sort of joke, it- “I’ve sunshine enough to spread, It’s just like the fella said…~” Leaping up to the television cabinet, Sinopia crossed in front of it, meeting Sienna’s vacant stare. “Tell me quick, ain’t love a kick in the head?~” Her face and tone was mocking, and the reaction from Sienna was immediate. Grabbing the nearest vase, Sienna immediately threw it at the feline, who leapt to the side, moving to the floor. “…Like the fella once said, ain’t that a kick in the head?~” The singing continued, and another piece of the lounge décor flew at the cat, this time Sinopia leaping from where she was to the seat where Yohan was resting. “Like the sailor said quote, ain’t that a hole in a boat?~” Sienna practically screamed in anger, and Yohan nearly had a painful encounter with a picture frame had Sienna been a little less accurate. As it was, he still had to duck down.

Leaping down from where she was to just in front of Sienna, Sinopia stopped singing, smirking with sinister satisfaction. “Hmm, fun as this is dewdropper, you’ll miss the best part if you focus on little ol’ me.” Sienna practically exploded as she made a lunge, though the cat was far too quick, and probably intangible anyway. Hitting the floor hard, Sienna watched Sinopia slink her way back upstairs, pausing only to talk down to her from her new vantage point. “Just watch the gogglebox, then come and see me. Should be easy for a sap like you to laze about like that.” Darting up the rest of the way, the faint words of another song could be heard, this time something about a shark and teeth. Sienna could only roughly push herself off the floor, briefly looking to Yohan and Miranda before she got to her feet, moving over to the television screen as she stood and watched with something akin to determination.

It continued to talk about Rio and her fate. The crash. Instantly fatal. Thought to be unrelated to the crash earlier in the morning, but found to be connected to a number of missing people, Sienna amongst them. Dimly, Sienna fumbled with her pocket, finding her phone. Punching in the number as she continued to listen to the show, the words she heard on the other end of the line sent electricity through her body. “Hi!” Rio spoke, full of enthusiasm. “Rio! It’s Sienna, I-“ Sienna stopped as Rio interrupted her. “This is Rio! So sorry! I must be busy or something, but trust me when I say you’re really important to me! Leave your name and number, and I’ll totally call back. Unless you’re like, a telemarketer or something. Anyway, uh, here comes the beep!” Sienna listened to the whole spiel in a hollow trance, before lowering her phone to her side, clicking the button to end the call. Unwilling to turn around, tears were dripping down her face as the reality began to finally settle in.

“Now, we’ll have a re-run of the interview we had with Tate Rosenfell, roommate and friend to Rio Rillia, as well as the missing Sienna Cartlow.” The television announcer continued, Sienna faintly looking up as she saw Tate, seated opposite some local news anchor. He was asked all sorts of questions – About Rio and about Sienna, and although his sadness looked genuine, Sienna had no doubt that it was some bullshit act. The crocodile tears caused him to stop mid-talk, the interviewer comforting him. “Rio was… She was so special to me. I never… I never got to tell her how I really felt…” Tate continued to sob, taking a moment to ‘compose’ himself before speaking again. “I... I just want to know what happened to Sienna. Please, work with the police. Anyone that sees her, please, please tell them… I-I’m barely coping by myself as it is…”

“That’s fine, you’re doing great Tate. It’s at this time that I’d like to bring up something Tate spoke to me about, but was too embarrassed to ask for. The three were struggling financially, and by himself, Tate can’t afford a funeral service. Any charitable souls willing to donate to this cause and help get Tate back onto his feet, as well as make a tribute for Rio, please, call…” Sienna fumed, practically about to knock the TV from its stand. That slimy bastard! He wasn’t poor! Rio wasn’t in the same state she was either; her parents would definitely be able to pay for something like that! That disgusting creep was using this situation as some sort of scam to mooch money off dopes sucked in by that act! Practically strangling her roommate through the TV, Sienna would’ve stormed off if not for the fact the interview was still going.

“T-thank you… I don’t know what I’d do if not for people like you… A-and as for Sienna… I… I don’t know what to say. She… She didn’t sound well when she called. She said something about someone stealing the keys to the register and stuff, but the money was gone and she wasn’t there and… Well, she might’ve gotten involved in some bad stuff… Drugs or… Sienna, I don’t know where you are, but I’m worried and…” Tate broke down again, and Sienna looked incredulous. Just what was he saying on local television about her!? Not only that, but somehow she KNEW that slimeball was the one that emptied the till and blamed it on her! God, this crap was… What the hell was wrong with him?! As If she didn’t have enough to worry about right now…

Slowly, steadily, Sienna began to sob to herself. It was getting harder to hide and hold back now. It was getting overwhelming. Just what… Why…? Why was all this happening to her? Why’d it have to happen to Rio? What-… Sienna stopped for a moment, taking in a sharp inhale and holding her breath. The tears stopped as she clenched her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. Maybe Yohan or Miranda had started to try to speak with her, but something else had reached her mind. That cat. It had known. It had mocked her. It. Knew. The pieces were beginning to snap into place for Sienna. Squeezing her hands into fists, she shoved her way past to head back to the stairs, climbing back up towards the bedroom.

And as she got closer, she heard the lyrics of song to mock her once more.

Sebastian would awaken not only to his alarm blaring at him, but his sister’s cat pawing at him through the covers of his bed, the sunlight blocked by the heavy thick curtains covering the window, he sat up and reached to pet the cat, the little creature hissing viciously. Seb’ gave an unamused look to the cat, and grabbed the cat by the skin of its neck, the cat getting violent trying to claw at him, he got out of bed and put the cat outside his room, listening to it patter off elsewhere in the apartment, “that’s new” he moved to the ensuite and showered quickly before coming back through into his room to dress.

Simple black shirt, rolled up sleeves, jeans, belt, eyepatch, the eyepatch wasn’t in the usual place, Sebastian sighed heavily and looked about, finding it dragged under his bed likely sometime when the cat was let in. he checked it over before putting it on, once dressed he grabbed his mobile and headed out into the rest of the apartment, the damned cat racing by his feet to claim his mess of a bed.

“bloody thing, why did i agree” walking through into the kitchen and lounge area he noticed the note and list, left for him by his twin sister Rebecca “could you pick up the listed stuff from the shops” with a heavy sigh; he turns to the fridge and opens it up, no milk and something smells bad, Sebastian, goes through the fridge finding what was reeking.

Quickly launching the rotten lump of vegetables into the bin, he shook his head and slammed the fridge shut, almost breaking it, again, luckily the cat wasn’t in the way this time. Without breakfast, he’d get by with black tea.


A half hour later and he was leaving the apartments building: keys, mobile and jacket. Sebastian’s apartment was centralised so it wasn’t a long walk to the shops. He entered the store and walked through gathering his stuff from the list, stopping to look down one aisle as two people collided into one another. He stayed put long enough to see if they were alright, but moved on with his own business.

As Frederick was busy cooking the food, he heard a voice call out to him. The voice was of course female, and she wanted him to let her know when the food was ready for her. "Don't worry, I am making enough for everyone and enough for extra's!" He laughed to himself as he continued to cook the food.

Suddenly Frederick felt a chill up his spine, he felt like someone was standing right behind him. Funny...there were a bunch of people in this house and he was getting a little freaked out. What? A scary ghost was behind him now?

"I think I am much scarier than any silly spirit..." a voice spoke right behind his ear. Frederick himself jumped as he turned around, hands in the air with surprise plastered all over his face. "What's the big idea sneaking up on me while I am...huh?" Frederick paused his rant when he noticed whatever whispered in his ear was gone.

Strange...He could have sworn he heard something. "You are indeed hearing something." The voice spoke again.

"O-Oh! For a second I thought I was going crazy. Pleased to meet you random voice! Now if you excuse me, I have food to cook rather than listening to some unknown voice that suddenly popped up in my head." Frederick shrugged and began to cook his food.

"If you think you can ignore---"

"Cooking food is serious business, if I lose concentration it could cause a fire. And paying for a whole house takes much more money than groceries."

"Will you---"

"And secondly, I could accidently burn myself as I cook. If I focus more time on talking to a random strange voice then there is a good chance I will burn my hand."

"Could you let me---"

"Also! As a cook I cant let myself be distracted! Unless I improve by abilities as a cook and make sure my communication is great I have to only listen to orders! I cant do small talk yet! I gotta level up for that!""

"Can I speak? Good. Now shut it for one minute. Are you really going to let people keep on pushing you around like that? You are too nice for your own good, that woman that was just speaking to you could easily tell you were a pushover. If you are going to let any little person just do whatever they wish, then you are no better than a dog." The mysterious voice finally got a word in.

Fredrick on the other hand seemed to have ignored the voice's words and was just whistling to himself. "Will you listen to---"

"Remember! Cooking! No time for idle chit chat!" Fredrick raised his hand as he silenced the voice.

"He did it again...Leave it to me to get the idiot..."

Taja woke up, the noises from television causing her to slowly sit up. She was away from the door. She was to hungry to care at the moment though. Standing up she followed the smell of food till she reached where the television was. Some people were missing and there in the photo of people were her. Her family had to be worried.

"Of course they are, they probably fired your stupid nanny too. Way to go, Taja. The great Taja. The Sweet Taja." Elsworth had appeared out of nowhere, standing next to her like he somehow belonged there. Her tiny hands curled up into a fist.

"Why can't you just leave me alone. Obviously you aren't wanted." She turned away from him and walked into the kitchen. It smelled really good, her mouth watered, and her stomach growled. In a low voice she asked, "Hey, Pervert Man, when will the food be ready? I would like to go home as soon as possible."

---

---

Cayson laid in bed staring up at his action picture poster on his ceiling. He wasn't supposed to have anything on there, but his parents never looked up to see it. It had been a month so far. Yesterday he had went over to Taja's house to see her, but there were cop cars. He figured that something serious was going so he ended up at the park with a few friends. His friend, Gregory, told them that he overheard his mom telling his dad that Taja had went missing and that there was a note from her saying that she had went to the store, but that she never returned.

When he heard the news he was angry. Who could have taken his Taja? Whoever it was was going to get a fist to their face. Rolling out of bed he got dressed and headed down to the kitchen where his mother was cooking for everyone. The news was on and he wouldn't have paid attention if it wasn't for Taja's picture on the screen. So Gregory's mom was right. He shoved some bacon into his mouth and grabbed a toast before sliding his back pack on and heading towards the door.

"Where do you think you are going?" His mother said.

Cayson swallowed his bite and smiled, "Out."

"Not till you brush your teeth." She said sternly, not even looking up at him.

"But I did already!" He whined.

"Mind coming over here to let me smell your breath?" She asked, smiling up at him now.

He grumbled, running upstairs to brush his teeth before running with the toast in his mouth out the door.

I will find you, Taja. Don't be too scared. He thought as he ran towards the closest store to Taja's house.

Starting Off Good

"At last, I have ascended up in the world." Ricky said as they walked down some stairs to get to a Gateway to prepare for tomorrow. "My place is here, among the strong, among the elite, among the great! I, Ricky, am going to show this world who is boss! I will be the one who will be remembered for a great new era in humanity's history! I will --"

"Little Ricky had a little lamb!" The Djinn interrupted. Ricky stopped to give him a quick glare before looking forward to resume walking.

"I will march upon the bodies of my fallen enmies! With this power, I am --"

"Little Ricky had a shortcoming!" The Djinn interrupted again. Ricky stopped and gave him a very annoyed expression before taking in a deep breath and shaking his head.

"Ahem... I am the harold of chaos, of darkness, of hatred, of sin! And then, and only then, shall I look upon the sky and declare --"

"I'M LITTLE RICKY! I compensate for my little dick by making up stupid bullcrap!"

"SHUT! UP!" Ricky turned and glared darkly at the Djinn.

"Okay, okay, I will." The Djinn held up it's hands and shook them briefly.

"That's better..." Ricky raised his head and closed his eyes, puffing out his chest as he gripped his jacket with both hands. "I look upon the sky and declare --" He turned to look at the Djinn, who said nothing. "And declare...." He watched him carefully, slowly turning back forward before smirking. "And declare --"

"I. LIKE. DIIIICCCKKKSSS!!!!" The Djinn burst out with laughter as it spun around Ricky.

"RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Ricky was overwhelmed by rage, swiping his arms furiously at the demon as his face went red with pure rage, you could almost see the smoke coming from his ears. "I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL FRIKKING KILL YOU!!! GET BACK HERE, YOU SON OF A WHORE!!! GOD DAMMIT!!!!!"

"Aaww, is that any way to treat your betters?" The Djinn slipped itself through a wall, Ricky pounding his fists on it repeatedly in frustration.

"COWARD!!!" Ricky began slamming his head on the wall, only for his eyes to widen as The Djinn poked it's head back out, but now twisted and malformed.

"Boo~"

"WURAAAHH!!!" Ricky fell back and fumbled about like a scared little child. The Djinn slipped back fully into the room and laughed hysterically at Ricky fumbling about.

"Ah, I'm just pushing you, kiddo. You talking in a loud speech to purposely annoy me is one thing though." The Djinn shrugged as he began to float forward. "C'mon! Those kids make you look like a pussy!"



It didn't take long for people to come out, almost as if all at once. It was unusual, really. It had been so long since he had bothered to pay attention to actual groups of people, sure there was school, but he had zoned out more often than not. Life had changed itself in one single day, and today felt like it could all go wrong. "Come back here tomorrow night." The man's voice came back to him, it felt like it had just been a few minutes ago he was talking to the strange man.

Why should he bother, none of them had any real reason to -- "Because you are now targets." He put his hand on his head. "If I could feel your power, what would a person with actual harmful intentions do?" They could be sensed? By who, when, how close did they have to be, what special conditions had to be met?! "There are people with this power on Earth that have connections, some darker than others." They are... living among us? Living as common people?! "They could easily find you and your family or friends if they so wished it." ... What time did they have to meet him again? "Eleven PM."

He heard Miranda call out to him and he got up to his feet, looking over at her. She still had that same look from yesterday in her eyes, even if it seemed more hidden today. "Yeah, I do." He spoke up. "It's not that far up the stairs. Second door to the right. There's some unused clothes in the third door to the left, nobody cared for those clothes anyway." He wasn't going to follow her up those stairs, he felt unsafe around her. Maybe it was because of yesterday, or maybe it was multiple things. Whatever the case, the appearance of her inner demon last night meant she could be trouble.

By the sounds of it, and the looks of the entire bloody place being cleaned from head to toe, Frederick was currently making something in the kitchen. For some reason, it made Yohan think he was the perfect fit for the old definition for a housewife. Suddenly, Sienna was throwing things like left and right, holy balls! He had to duck to avoid the picture as his eyes shifted to Sienna and stared at her for a little while as if she was about to do something again. Luckily she didn't, but it was obvious what was going on the television right now was upsetting her. He started to feel bad for her, he wanted to say something to her, but she began to walk without another look or word. It was probably better not to say something anyway, he didn't want anymore stuff being thrown around.

He could hear more movement in the house, but it didn't sound like anymore trouble was going to happen. He walked over to the painting she threw and picked it up, looking over at the picture. Yohan, five years old, with his parents. All of them were smiling, Yohan looked like he was so happy, his parents looked so satisfied here. Ten years already, huh? Time sure flies by when you are lost. He would have to fix it later, it was the last thing he had left to remember his parents by. Placing the broken picture on a desk, he decided to pick up the broken pieces of the things Sienna threw, being careful not to stab or cut himself as he sighed. He'd have to get a bag to get rid of the broken mess later.

Yohan decided to experiment with something, looking to fingers on his right hand and focusing on them. He walked over to the nearest wall and tapped it lightly with the tips of his fingers, but nothing happened. It couldn't work with this? He looked over to the television. "Oh, that'll do." He pressed the tips of his fingers on it as he focused. Sure enough, the sound began to change to a certain rhythm instead of the news talking about typical news stuff. He couldn't help but smile a little, his spark was back and he wasn't about to let some corrupted people scare him down. He walked over to the window and stared outside of it, tapping his foot to the beat playing from his television, though none of the lyrics were actually being sung.

---

Ricky stopped once he was back home and pulled out some headphones, putting them on and plugging them in as he began to walk, hands in his pockets as he began to move his body side to side with the beat he heard. The Djinn stared at him curiously, unable to hear the beat, but shrugged. He taps Ricky's shoulder and motions for him to speak out the lyrics, to which Ricky shrugged and decided that was fine. No harm in doing it, right? After all, the demon and him had been working together just fine so far, why not?

---

"You think you got your game planned out?" Yohan started, boping his head to the beat. "To a T. Yet I'm two steps ahead yeah."

---

"So you step into my way, stand down. It's a trap, one more step, and you're dead (yeah you're dead.)" Ricky continued.

---

"Why just a picosecond ago, clear blue skies, but now lightning's struck your last resolve." Yohan picked it up.

---

"It's not an accident that no one hears your cries, as your last strength seems to dissolve." Ricky finished.

[ALL TOGETHER NOW!]

"You'll never see it co-miiinnnngg!"

As Frederick was finishing up his cooking, a sudden crashing noise made him jump a bit. "Oh come on! I just cleaned the whole place..." He sighed to himself as he turned off the fire meaning he was now done cooking.

"Why must you clean up another persons mess? Obviously whatever happened it was the fault of someone else, you should let them do it instead of just paradeing yourself through filth and muck." The voice in his head spoke. To this he had an argument for.

"Wanna know why? That's because I get paid to clean up messes! Just like my dad before me he was possibly the greatest janitor that ever lived! He was the most amazing father I could ask for so I will follow in his steps. Of course a disembodied voice has no use for money because you probably don't need to eat. And you seem to not need any place to sleep in. heck, you might be mooching off in my mind right now and chilling like a moocher you moocher!" Frederick spoke firmly as he began to plate the hamburger.

"Me?...a moocher...and...forget it for now then..." The voice decided to give up this battle for now. Obviously, this man has something wrong in the head.

"Hey, Pervert Man, when will the food be ready? I would like to go home as soon as possible." A small voice spoke, directed at him. Only one certain girl called him a pervert...And her insult was upgraded! That was mean...Frederick sighed but regained his smile as he began to stack burgers on a massive tray. "They are all cooked to perfection! A stove cooked meat patty! A nice small stack of bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and a nice homemade Barbeque sauce! I call it the Texas Burger! Fit for any burger lover! Breakfast!...Lunch...Dinner? Forget it! Foods ready!" Frederick raised a fist in the air as he laughed proudly at the twenty burgers he had cooked.

"Have thou sinned now? Its not enough that you degrade yourself for meager janitorial work but now being perverted to the younger generation. How low can a human go I wonder?..." The voice spoke.

"Well excuse me random disembodied voice! I am neither a Pedophile nor pervert! I happen to look at the tail growing out of her back, and my eyes noticed her thighs. Have you seen a child's thigh that thick? I Don't think so whatever you are! I looked for a total of two seconds, that's it. And for your information if I was lonely I would find a girl that would like to get with a janitor cook comic writer! Thank you very much!" Frederick spoke in his own head as he gave a huff before he nabbed himself a burger and bit into his hard cooked meal.

Delicious!

"And now you are deluding yourself...One must---"

"Hush nwow! Ish fwood twime! Shve complicwtd twlk fer lwter!" Frederick spoke in a mouthful as he happily ate.

The silence was broken as the female with an eye missing spoke up, also apologising. She seemed to have a kind nature. Considering how easily she introduced herself to him after he rudely bumped into her, he felt that she was quite social and friendly too. Snapping back to reality, his lips curled into a coy smile. Leo gladly extended his arm and grasped her hand firmly and gave it a brief shake. "Leo, nice to meet you." He finally replied before releasing her soft hand. Her giggle certainly quite addictive, he felt the need to make her laugh more after hearing it. "Need any help with the groceries?" He questioned politely. He found that her missing eye made her quite unique and interesting; it certainly didn't bother him. He couldn't help but feel a tad nervous in front of such a beautiful woman he had just met though. Nervously, Leo ran his fingers through his pale silver locks. Leo also liked to try and be unique. I mean, if it's no trouble? I would just like to get to know you more. I mean you know talk and stuff. And help. Groceries. Yuuup." Okay you can stop talking now Leo before you hurt yourself. Despite your looks you weren't best with words huh? Guess that's what the looks made up for.

---

Iris had spent most days inside whenever she could lately due to the terrible whether. Iris hated thunder storms. The noise, the rain, everything. It always startled her and she hated that.
Crouched on the couch seated in front of the television she stuffed her face with potato chips as she watched a show about a dad who hated being a dad and swore at kids a lot but loved his own kids nonetheless. It was pretty funny as she giggled away, until her mother rudely interrupted and stood in front of the TV.
"Iris--"

"No." Iris was quick to interrupt as she swayed to the side in attempts to continue watching TV, chewing away.

"Sweetie be reasona-"

"Nope."

"Iris it's not even raining anymore! You have no excuse!" Her mother scolded. Iris simply pouted and looked up at her with a frown. She had a point.

"Ugh. Fiiiiine what do you want?

"We need your favourite. Food. You can't live off snacks so I wrote a list of things you need to get." Her mother placed the note on the table in front of her then walked away. Iris eyed the note and didn't deny she quite enjoyed grocery shopping. Most of the time she was scolded for bringing home something extra home that wasn't on the list.

Iris didn't over do it today with her outfit. A simply nice fitting, grey winter dress, some sheer, tan stockings and some white canvas shoes. Grabbing her phone and wallet she headed to the marketplace.

Upon arrival she had a basket of things ticked off the list. Walking through the aisle with her head down looking at the note she muttered to herself. "Eggs...Bread, milk..." That was when she heard a bit of commotion beside her followed by a female falling over only to be greeted by some tall guy with cool hair. She couldn't help but cringe at how cliche their story already looked. Is she in a movie? Glancing around in search of a camera she shrugged.

Suddenly pausing. There it was. Her favourite cup of instant noodles. Sweet ole teriyaki chicken and beef oh how her mouth watered just thinking about it. Of course this wasn't on the list, and it was far too high up for her to reach. That wouldn't stop her though. Standing on her tip-toes she reached up, grunting at the struggled as her dress lifted ever so slightly. Letting out an irritated sigh she thought about possibly asking for help? Staring at the two tall love birds she gagged and shook her head. Looking around some more a guy with an eye patch who looked around her age was looking at various items on the shelving. Okay where's the director? This has to be a movie. She felt almost plain among these people, and she had naturally pale violet hair and candy red eyes for crying out loud.

Deciding against all options she placed her shopping cart down, rolled up her sleeves and jumped. No noodles. "I'll climb you cursed shelf if I have to..." Actually. That's not a bad idea. Or so she thought as the female placed down her shopping cart and began attempting to climb the shelf for her beloved instant noodles.

Miranda let out a small grunt as Yohan showed her where the shower was, and told her that there were fresh clothes in another room. Moving to the third room, she quickly found a set of clothing that would fit her; some leggings, a tank-top, and a hoodie. Folding them and then grabbing a towel before moving into the bathroom and locking the door, the werewolf proceeded to strip as she waited for the water to heat up.

She was quiet, staring at her body in the mirror. She wasn't overly-proud of her toned, muscular body, but she wasn't ashamed either. She looked good, and she appreciated it. Biting her bottom lip she shifted her hip to one side, thinking about the events that had just transpired. Another world, hell-hound things....a new power, and a demon following her around, doing lewd things in the corner of her eye.

Waving the sight out of the way, Miranda growled softly and stepped into the shower. She wouldn't linger however, taking only perhaps seven minutes to wash her body and rinse her hair before turning off the water and stepping out of the shower, grabbing a towel and drying herself quickly and effectively. Grabbing the clothes she'd found, she put them on, leaving the bathroom with the hoodie draped over one arm, and the towel rummaging through her hair to dry it, but otherwise in a kind of provocative outfit until she put the hoodie on over the thin tank-top.

Sighing she licked her lips at the smell of the food the man in the kitchen was cooking, and was drawn to the kitchen to wait until it was finished. Once it was, she wasted no time in picking up two fully stacked burgers and a plate before sitting at the table, and eating quickly, her canines flashing themselves into view every time she went to take a bite of the burger. Large, sharp, and intimidating, it only solidified the fact that she wasn't human.

Her phone went off. Standing, she quickly found it and answered it with a loud, almost growling huff. Her father was on the other line. "I'm fine. Yes, fine. No, I didn't officially leave. I'll explain when I see you again." there was a pause as her father lectured her about staying on duty even if no one showed up to work out. "I know, Father...look, it's something you need to hear to understand. I'll be home soon." Another lecture. "Understood, Father.....Yes....Okay. Goodbye." she hung up and a low growl rumbled from her throat before she sighed and turned back to the table, moving to finish her food.

She looked straight at Yohan, knowing he'd heard some part of her conversation, it would be impossible for everybody to not hear anything, she spoke loudly and clearly, yet for such a strong voice, it had an almost...beautiful quality to it, one that made people want to listen to her speak. Either way, she needed a car and to know where she was, as was the question in her eyes as she looked to Yohan, expecting him to know what she wanted based on how her own family spoke in person with each other.

This boy was really rather cute to offer to help her with her shopping. A heavy blush came over her face as she could have sworn that there were candid cameras somewhere in this super market. While she gave him another warm smile, she noticed above his head were two pointed cat ears with two eyes peering over his head. She looked slightly confused for a moment then shook her head as she nodded

"I wouldn't mind a little company sure" Sonea said while gesturing for him to follow. When the other eye patched man approached them she offered a curtsy to him in thanks.

"Oh yeah I'm fine. I was just kinda lost in my...head for a second. I did not feel any pain anyways"

Above Sebastian's head, the same ears and eyes peered at her while floating upwards to show the Chesire Cat floating above the two of them. He purred contently as he reached forwards with a paw to touch their foreheads

"These two will make excellent use for you Sonea. Best not dawdle or slow yourself down. This is where we begin to build. These two will be keen to you for the future ahead. I shall keep my eyes open and wait for you to get somewhere quieter" The cat grinned from ear to ear and vanished in a puff of smoke.

Neither of them could feel this "touch" as it was all going on inside of Sonea's mind and a paw print remained on their heads until it too vanished. She blinked and rubbed her eyes for a few seconds while turning her head towards Sebastian with that same smile on her face.

"I'm Sonea by the way. Sonea Almsworthy, Engineer and Blacksmith extraordinaire. Wanna come with us? We were gonna go shopping together and I certainly wouldn't mind making some new friends"

The cat now reappeared and sat on the top of her head while patting her hair with a paw. She was off to a good start it thought and now she was beginning to grasp what was to come. Even if she didn't realize it yet. For now, he would remain silent while Sonea chatted with them as she began to push her cart forward while waiting for the other two to follow with her.

"I am still sorta new to town and haven't really gotten much in the way of interactions out here with the local populace. Mostly I tend to do my work in the smithy for the farmers and the like so I would absolutely love some company today. If you both want to come along. Hey maybe we could even go to a coffee house or something for some java. I certainly wouldn't mind splurging for some potential new friends"

Sebastian glanced up from what he was looking at a carton of soymilk, too the two strangers “Sebastian...yeah, thanks for the offer but no thanks, looks like you’ve already got yourself some company” a pleasant smile and he’d walk away to look around for the other items on the list.

Stopping to watch the pale violet haired young woman climb up the aisle, he approached before she could get any climbing done. “would you like help or are you happy to just climb and try to get the noodles?” Sebastian hadn’t approached all that close leaving a five foot gap between himself and Iris,

From the earbud hanging lazily from his collar the tunes of Ozzy’s Crazy train was playing, Seb’s head lightly bobbing to the tunes, from the other bud in his ear. Seb’s yellow eye examining the scene before him, for now his eye didn’t wander, he glanced to the three remaining pots of the noodles and approached reaching up and grabbing one of the pot noodles for the pale haired stranger and one for himself.

“there, take care” his good deeds done he moved on to finish the shopping he had to get done. “alright where’s the cat food.” mumbling to himself, he took out his mobile and flicked through his songs, and then shuffled the songs. The new song, Sabaton’s Firestorm.

Sebastian’s head bobbed along as he whispered along “better run for for cover, you’ll be quick or be dead...” he continued to wander collecting together his needed supplies. the music gradually spiralling into heavier and darker songs.

Amber's breakfast was fairly light, and so it took no time at all for her to finish it and start contemplating what else to do with her time. She had a few plans later in the day, but there was a gap of a few hours she would have to account for in the meantime. She was caught up on television, and wasn't quite in the mood for reading (that was planned for tonight, since she hadn't heard of any outings), so, bar any interesting contacts popping up on her phone, she'd be going out!

She really was dressed for it, anyway.

She made her way to the car, pausing to think about where she wanted to go briefly before deciding on a place--a quick stop to replace some things, and then perhaps a further look in the mall to see if she could spot a birthday present for a friend of hers. She hadn't seen it in stock anywhere a few weeks ago, but with luck she'd be able to find it in time.

However, she realized quickly she'd need a list to do the first thing. Luckily, that was mostly taken care of (she knew she was running low on some things), though she would need to add a few items as well. It wouldn't be hard at all to do so.

Once she had reached the marketplace, it wasn't too hard to find anything. Simply a matter of checking things off the list--which was why she made such things. However, as she moved about the shops, she noticed someone familiar-looking...she didn't quite catch their face, but it looked like that of one of the girls a year or so ahead of her. She decided to go up to them and see if she was right. Of course, she also was looking for supplies in that direction, so she had a sort of "out" if she was wrong and about to embarrass herself...so...

"Hey, do you know where I could find mayonnaise?" Amber asked, waiting for the face to turn.

Cayson ran past the market, but stopped right after when he realized there were pickles that were supposed to be on sale. He stood there, letting people pass him by as he thought about what to do first. Taja loves food, so if he got some pickles now when he rescues her she would be so happy to be saved and have food! Maybe he could buy her some of those crackers she liked.

Turning around he galloped back to the market, dodging people, and even jumping over a dog. He had to hurry if he wanted to get to Taja fast fast. "Watch it!" An older man yelled as he accidentally crashed his shoulder into him.

"Sorry." Was all he said as he made his way through the market for the pickle aisle Once there he started to do a small dance while singing the pickle song. He skimmed the shelves looking for the perfect jar of pickles.

Sienna Cartlow

“That's life, that's what people say. You're riding high in April. Shot down in May~…” Pushing open the door to the bedroom, Sienna’s expression was one of deathly seriousness, a stark contrast to Sinopia’s more whimsical tone to her singing. At first, Sienna hesitated, as she didn’t spot that cat anywhere about the room. Then, as she looked to the vanity chair, she saw her. Not the feline that she was used to, but the full-sized adult women from before. Or at least, that’s what the reflection showed, the chair itself looked empty with Sinopia’s cat-self hidden behind the back rest. Eying Sienna in the reflection all the while, she continued to sing as she tidied her hair and did her makeup, the cat preening herself in reality. Then again, was the delusion that Sienna saw any more real than the woman in the mirror?

“…I said, that's life and as funny as it may seem. Some people get their kicks. Stompin' on a dream~.” Pivoting to look around the chair, and now stare directly at Sienna, reading between the lines made it all too obvious what Sinopia meant. “But don't let it, let it get you down. 'Cause this fine old world…~” Smiling sweetly, Sinopia leapt from the chair, moving onto the bed closer to Sienna, looking up to her. “…It keeps spinnin' around~” Suddenly, the door behind Sienna closed by some unseen force, giving the two privacy. Turning to look to it briefly, Sienna then returned her stern glare back to Sinopia, having not said a word yet. Finally, as Sinopia winded down her singing, she decided to actually speak with the girl that she represented.

“Sienna, darling, relax. Why, you look grimmer than that Rio girl before that truck hit her…~” The mocking sent fury through every inch of Sienna’s body, but she managed to hold herself composed for the moment. She needed answers. Though that didn’t stop her fist from trembling. “Why… What did you do?” Sienna asked, and was caught a little off guard by the immediate laughter that followed. “Really, sweetie? That’s how you start this? I took you to be smarter than that, but I guess you’re just a tomato after all…” Strutting slightly away from Sienna, Sinopia stopped as she reached the edge of the bed, glancing back over her shoulder. Sienna’s glare hadn’t changed, and once she was certain she had the cat’s attention, she continued to press for answers.

“I heard what happened. But I want to hear it from you. I want to know why. How. I want you to try and explain yourself, because so help me, this is not what I wanted!” Sienna’s tone raised a few octaves at the end of her demands, losing her composure as she swung her hand wildly behind her, striking the wall. Sinopia watched this a moment, then relented. “Really? That’s not what I remember. You and I? We had a deal. My power and keeping you alive, in exchange for what you consider most precious to you.” Striding back towards Sienna, Sinopia moved to the edge closest to her and took a seat. Sienna herself remained standing over her. “That’s not what we agreed on you piece of shit! I didn’t think-“

“Didn’t think what? Didn’t think you cared about her? Oh, I know. I’m just as much you as you are. But see, I’ve tapped into much more of your potential than you seem to realise you have. I suppose I’ll have to explain the beauty of my work…” With another leap, Sinopia moved back over to the vanity, sitting on the edge of the desk. “I took that which was most precious to you. Or rather, I took all the things that were most precious to you, past and present.” With a wave of her tail, images began to filter through the mirror of the vanity. “You didn’t care about Rio, you cared about yourself more than anything. And I took that from you, by taking her. I made you realise just how much she meant to you. But by then, it was too late. She was already mine, even as she became the most important thing to you.” Behind Sinopia, images of Rio’s final moments flashed across the reflection, Sienna able to only watch in a stupor.

“So you see, I really did make the most of my bargain by taking multiple aspects from you. You have no one to blame but yourself - I mean, I am a part of you – but that aside perhaps if you’d thought things through more or weren’t such a pathetically selfish human being I would’ve chosen something else. The you in that moment found your life to be worth more than hers, and the you now finds things to be the other way around. That’s not my problem, sweetie.” Having shut her eyes for part of her spiel, Sinopia didn’t realise Sienna had moved up closer to her, swiping her hands to grab her around the neck. Just like before however, they phased right through. “Like hell it’s not your problem! I want nothing more to do with this crap or you or anything! I’ll kill you you –“

“Kill me? Hah, please. You can’t do anything to me. I’m a part of you, not some physical thing, so you can’t just-“ Sinopia was cut off by the sound of glass shattering, Sienna shoving her fist into the mirror enough that it splintered to the floor around her, small bits of glass causing her hand to bleed. “Dearie me, that’s bad luck, you hear? Just what do you think you’re…” Sinopia stopped as Sienna picked up a particularly jagged piece of glass, holding it towards her own neck. “Part of me huh? Well, I can only assume this is one way to hurt you.” Sienna laughed hollowly as she watched Sinopia’s eyes dart between the sharpened glass and her neck. The two sat like that a moment, before the feline broke the silence.

“You won’t. I know-“

“Won’t I?” Sienna interrupted, her tone daring in spite of the situation. “You’re a part of me, right, Sinopia? You know what I’m thinking. You’ve taken what’s precious to me, so why shouldn’t I?”

“You’re too scared to-“ Sinopia started, but never managed to finish as once again, Sienna interjected.

“Shut the hell up! If you’re gonna ruin my life, my friends, everything, then I won’t hesitate to end it, and you, got it? You played me for a fool, but if you’re going to be a part of me - if your sorry ass is gonna be sticking around - then we play by my rules from now on! No secret manipulative backstabbing shit from you, you play it straight, or you don’t play at all, got it?!” Sienna was shouting now, and as she finished, the two slipped into silence. Sinopia’s eyes moved about, as if contemplating the situation, watching the blood drip from Sienna’s hand. She was trembling and squeezing the glass shard a bit too hard, and it was cutting into her palm.

“…You win, darling. For now, at least. I like the fire you’ve shown, bearcat. Dealing with your own devils like this… It’s ingenious. But…” Sinopia trailed off as she climbed down from the vanity, heading for the door. “I’m you. So like you, I don’t like losing, and I don’t like playing second fiddle. And just like you, if I see a chance, I’ll be seizing my opportunity to take command.” With that said, the door opened, Sinopia heading out before calling over her shoulder. “So put that away Mrs. Grundy, you’ve made your point. And go get cleaned up, you’re making a mess.”

Finally dropping the shard of glass, Sienna stumbled to sit on the bed, holding her head briefly despite the blood on her hands. This was all so crazy… Why… Why had all this happened to her? Still trembling, Sienna patted down her pockets to retrieve her cigarettes and lighter. Doing her best to compose herself as she made her way to the bathroom, lit-stick in her mouth as she filtered smoke into the air, she could still hear song drifting down the hall as Sinopia began once more. “Don't you know little fool, you'll never win. Why not use your mentality, come on step up to reality. But each time you do, just the thought of me. Makes you stop before you begin. 'Cause you've got me under your skin~.”

Felix Tolbert

Felix woke with a yell as the ringing of his alarm broke the morning silence. Still not entirely aware that he was awake, he continued flailing his arms and legs in a similar fashion to a turtle stuck on its back, before promptly sliding off the bed and thumping his head painfully on the floor.

Groaning, he pushed away the pile of pillows and sheets he had buried himself in. One hand rubbed his head while the other searched for his still blaring alarm. Slamming it quiet, he yawned and stumbled to his feet. Golden sunlight was seeping through the drawn curtains, which he pulled open, so it was now flooding his small student room. He remembered having some kind of bizarre dream in which he could have sworn he was being chased by giant goats with teapots with heads. Why he’d even been scared he couldn’t guess but he just felt stupid now.

Shortly, having showered and checking the mirror to see how his - for want of a better word - ‘beard’ was coming along, he dressed himself in his usual attire of dark blue jeans, a medium blue shirt and his favourite caramel brown sweater. After slipping into a pair of black shoes, he strolled into the flat kitchen to pour himself some cereal and a rather strong cup of coffee. He was happily munching on his breakfast when something on the news caught his attention. There had been two car crashes yesterday, both fatal. Not only that, several people had been reported missing. This shook him slightly, and his expression fell as he stared at his flatmate’s laptop, open on the table.

“Don’t worry about it man,” he said, noticing Felix’s apprehension; it was no secret he was a bit of a coward. “I mean, you saw that storm, right? That was really bad weather. And they’ll probably find those people soon enough.”

“Huh?” Felix replied, indignant. “Pfff. I’m not scared. Really. Heh...” He cleared his stuff away and made his way out of the door, his flatmate shrugging.

At least the weather’s improved since yesterday, he thought to himself as he pushed open the door of the accommodation building. Leaving his grey waterproof unzipped, he set off to the supermarket where he was working a shift today. Despite himself, he kept making wary glances at the roving traffic, as if certain a truck could spin off course and plunge him into instantaneous death at any moment. He shook his head in embarrassment, eventually reaching the store. After clocking in and stowing his coat away, he donned his work jacket and name badge and got to work at the checkout, greeting each customer with a cheery smile and as helpful an attitude as he could muster.

Taja eyes went wide at the plate of burgers that were in front of her. Her stomached growled in approval. She scooted closer to the table and took two, just to be polite, and nommed on it. She looked up at Fred the Perv. maybe he isn't so bad, from a distance... away from my thighs. What if he tries to touch me?

"You could kill him," said Elsworth, a simple smirk on his lips.

"That I could," was all she replied with as she finished off the first burger.

---

---

Rina looked over the chaos that had unfolded in front of her. She was clinging to a now lukewarm coffee and wondering how she could explain any of this to her uncle. He would think she had gone nuts and maybe she had. Her hand gripped tighter to the mug. She couldn't go back to him, not yet. She looked down at Taja and wondered if she was secretly crazy too. Didn't she say she heard voices? What if I got whatever crazy bug she had? Maybe I am not even in this Yohan guy's house, maybe I am in her's. She looked down at the mug that she held in her hands.

What am I even holding or drinking? Oh god, what if I never met Taja? Is she even real? Is anything real?! Rina looked all around, patting down things, and even feeling Frederick's arm. "A-Are you real?" She whispered to him.

She took a step back and stared at the entry way of the kitchen. "How could I have gone to a different world? Maybe I am already dead and this is hell or where I was just hell." She looked at Taja and walked around the table, gripping the side of the small girl's arms.

"I-I bet you aren't even real you little brat!" She laughed while shaking her hard. Taja kicked Rina the stomach before backing herself into a corner. The girl looked scared of Rina.

"I am r-real!" Taja screamed back through teary eyes.

"Of course you are! That is what an imaginary person would say. What kind of ten year old would wear something like that with thighs like THAT?!" She laughed.

"I need to get out of here. This house is all in side my head. You are all inside my head. Head, head, head, yes my head." She looked around the kitchen. "I just... I just got to get out of my head. Yes, that is what I have to do."

Rina got to the counter and repeatedly slammed her head into the counter. Pieces of skull and brain flew.

---

---

Taja wasn't expecting Rina to go crazy. This whole time she had been in the corner of the kitchen being quiet. She had thought Rina was just thinking of taking a break from everyone. So when Rina started muttering things she had looked up.

Maybe she shouldn't have looked up because Rina came over and started shaking her hard. "I am r-real!" She screamed. Taja didn't want to cry, but between the pain and Rina going crazy she didn't know what else to do. So she picked up her foot and kicked Rina in the stomach hard enough for her to let go before standing up, dropping the burger, and backing into a corner. She was afraid to move.

That is when Rina started talking about her head, she didn't know how to calm Rina and looked at Fred the Perv to help out, but it was too late. Rina was bashing her head into the counter. Taja screamed bloody murder and she curled up into a ball. As Taja cried she could smell the iron in the air, blood. She didn't dare look up, not right now.

Though she was scared and angry, she forced a giggle back. Why did she want to giggle at such a time? This was crazy. Did that place do this to them? Or was it the things that appeared before entering the other side? She didn't know, all she did know is that she wanted this nightmare to end.

Well...at least she did not call him a pervert this time...Frederick thought to himself as Taja was really the first one down to come and eat. In fact...no one else came to the kitchen to eat...besides Rina. She was busy enjoying a coffee when she started feeling her surroundings. Eventually she began to grab and feel his arm and asking if he was real. "What? Of course I'm real...I mean I'm literally sitting down in front of you eating a burger. How much more real could I get?" He replied as he went back to eating his food as she continued to fumble around.

"So thou hath not tried to become a further pervert to the little girl? Are you trying other means to sate thy lust?" The voice spoke as it pestered him about being a pervert.

"I am willing to bet my janitorial badge that you are just doing this to mock me at this point...wait, never mind. I am not betting my badge of honor. I'll just bet a few hundred bucks so you can mooch off of some other thing. And for your information, if I wanted to get married and have a family I would actually go out and find a woman who appreciates a Janitor Cook Writer." Frederick replied in his mind.

However, when he began to hear something being slammed against the counter along with screaming. Almost jumping at attention, he noticed Rina bashing her head against a counter. "Holy moley lady!" Frederick exclaimed as he rushed forward and took a hold of Rina.

"Woah there lassie! Heel girl! What on the name of Earth are you bashing your head!?" He spoke to Rina as he struggled to prevent her from bashing her own head in. He was decently fit, but of course he had very little experience holding back a person who seemed hell bent of slamming their face into a hard counter.

"To think the most crazy person would be the most reasonable right now...I suggest you just---"

"Hey! I know there are more people in this house! A little assistance in helping me prevent someone from committing counter smashing suicide!?" Frederick called out as he was getting a bit of blood on himself.

Well, everything was going smoothly. The tunes stop as soon as he had finished saying the words and everything after that was silence. Not a word spoken from him or making any more noise in order to relax for once since, well, waking up yesterday. But he could never fully shake off what he had seen in that place, a place that they could now access at anytime through his own basement. The sketches had not revealed why it was put there or how his parents had obtained such an "interesting" object, but he certainly couldn't reveal it to the public now.

It was a simple decision, one that he hoped the others would come to realize as well. Visions of the beast's face, if it was indeed a Hell Hound, that sinister look in it's eyes and the demented smirk it gave before... It was at this moment he realized: They had no plan. How were they going to meet back up with this man if that thing was still around? His mind had started to wander again... He let out a deep breath. For now, at the least, there was no need to worry about it.

Noises from the kitchen and a lingering smell of food making it's way to his nose confirmed his suspicion about people enjoying themselves in the kitchen. It mattered not to him, he would simply move in and eat whatever was left after the others were done. If everyone else had already eaten, so be it. It's not like he personally cared what happened to himself anyway, nothing about his body would change despite others worrying about possibly starving himself.

Just when he had settled into a few minutes of silence, his ears catch the attention of Miranda on her phone. Well, guess he had quickly relaxed more into his position than he had realized. Once the call was over, she looked him straight in the eyes. It just had to be him of all the people in this god forsaken household right now, didn't it? It couldn't be the actual adult in the kitchen, it couldn't be the cranky ruthless person upstairs, it had to be him. If there was such a thing as fate, it certainly had it out to make him thrown into situations he never wanted to be thrown into!

Her eyes said it all: Where Am I, and how do I get the nearest car? "Well." He started off, his voice sounding a bit strained and tired as he honestly was holding back the more forced push he was giving himself right now. "We're in the north part of town. I hear there's a car shop just to the left and down the street." It didn't sound like much, but he figured if he just got to the point sooner, she'd leave him be so he could enjoy the silence again. Maybe he'd get lucky and she'd actually leave the house. He could only hope though.

When he heard some noise, he thought it sounded like it came from upstairs. What was that girl up to now? If she was breaking more things, he would have some fierce words to say... Well, if he cared enough. The sooner he could go back to being alone, the better for him. He never seemed to get any luck when hanging around others, it usually lead to disaster. Oh, had he only known the irony of his own thoughts right now.

WHACK! A sudden noise erupted outward, he thought it came from upstairs, but it sounded closer somehow. He became startled, was someone attacking them, now?! WHACK! In rapid success to the previous noise, the same noise carried with a bit more weight behind it this time. He definitely heard it coming from the kitchen this time, just what was going on in there?! WHACK! Well, that sealed the deal, something was very much wrong. Even though the noise had stopped, that didn't mean his fears had.

Without much thought, he ran towards the kitchen's direction. He almost made it there when he stopped to see the scene. Rina's body, being held up by Frederick who was now being covered by the mess that was coming from her body, and somewhere Taja was hiding herself he could only presume in this moment. He had stopped as soon as he had discovered the scene, and his mind immediately raced back towards that sudden scene of his parent's car again. He had no choice, he had to run away, there was no other choice for him in this instant. His body was going too far out of his control, and he felt that tightening grip over his heart.

He felt himself hiding back in the spot he had originally started from, he could hear the news from the television going on in the background as he kept himself away from seeing that again. That girl was... Dead? That sound, was it her that did that or had it been one of the others? His mind raced at the assumptions, she had been one of the more quieter ones of them and had always seemed more distant... Had she tried to do something and they had retaliated? He just couldn't come to grips with the reality that she tried to take her own life, no, it looked more like she had taken it. What was happening? Was he in danger, was he about to die too?!

"In other news!" A familiar voice came from the television. Oh no... When he turned to look at the television, there he was, with one smug of a smile and actually appearing to have taken the place of the reporter just now. "Rina Jasmine is found dead!" The white haired male fake gasps at this, putting his hands up to his cheeks while his eyes dart left and right constantly. "But where did it happen?" He suddenly stared directly at Yohan, a sinister smirk growing on his face. "Why, it was you! YOU caused her death!"

"No, no, I had nothing to do with it!" Yohan tried to defend himself, but it wasn't working.

"How sad. Denial is a thing, you know. Let's see that instant replay!" Happy cheers came on the television as Yohan is forced to watch Rina slam her head repeatedly until she is stopped by Frederick, but by then, damage had already been done. "Oooh, I guess you could say she's got a few brain bits from that huh?!" A laugh track plays out of nowhere as he smirks while snapping his fingers. "Keep it on repeat." The same process was repeated several times, each time more gruesome and violent than the last. Everything was starting to get red, he felt his heart racing, everything was starting to feel faint...

Until the last play, when she doesn't hit her head strangely. She looks kind of scared actually, hesitant. "Please, no, don't do this!" She cried out weakly, looking hurt and limping back as best as she could. A gun came into view, pointing at her head, tears ran down her face as she continued to beg. "No, please! I want to go home! I want to go ho--" BANG! Her word were interrupted and she fell to the floor, cold as ice. When the man with the gun turned to the screen, he looked just like Yohan and gave a nasty grin of pleasure.

"N-no... Stop..." Yohan had tears running down his eyes now, the screen suddenly went static as everything now had a red tone to it. Sitting in front of the television was the boy... But something was off as his pupils turned red and the smirk melted into a frown.

"Death does not wait, my boy." He rose up to his feet, his form partially malformed as he had rags all over him, only his red eyes were visible in the darkness as his bony long arms gripped each other over his chest. He stood hunched, yet his form towered over Yohan's to cast his shadow over him. "It's time you joined her. It's what you want." He pulled out a gun and slowly pressed it right up to Yohan's forehead. "You can't deny what you feel any longer. It's only going to get worse from here." BANG!

Everything went back to normal, and he found himself holding a piece of shattered glass. His eyes widened and he threw it away, it had only been inches from his neck. He gripped his hand lightly and looked it over, tears running wild down his face as he got up to his feet and ran right back into his room, the door slamming shut and the lock turning to keep anyone unwanted out. Then, only silence. But the four others would all hear a ghastly voice suddenly call out to them. "Strike one."



"Knock, knock." Ricky stated before the door. He didn't bother to actually knock, which didn't surprise him when no one answered the door. He groaned and looked down at his wrist, tapping his foot three times before raising up his right arm and pounding it on the door. "I SAID KNOCK, KNOCK YOU ASSHOLE!"

"Ugh. Go away, Ricky!" A voice screamed out from the other side of the door.

"Let me in to see the boss, god dang you!"

"The boss don't want to see you. You aren't wanted here right now, Ricky. He's in a bad mood right now, trust me, you don't want to --"

"I am the one who sent that threat, you moron!" The door slide open almost immediately and a gun was pointed right in Ricky's face. "... Well it's nice to know I'm as welcomed as ever."

"Follow me, Rick. Ain't no saving you this time." Ricky rolled his eyes as he was brought in, his hands casually in his pockets as he whistled. "Hey, what's with the whistling?!" Ricky shrugged as if to apologize, but The Djinn knew better. He grinned as he reached down and placed a hand on Ricky's left shoulder.

"Wish granted." He stated, chuckling as he watched Ricky brought into a room where he could see everyone pointing guns at him almost immediately.

"Ricky. You were like a son to me." The fat man who ran the group turned his seat around to face Ricky, his gun pointing in Ricky's direction. "Tell me. Why would you betray us like this? I gave you a gift yesterday, and now today, you come here and threaten my life? You get this much to say before you are filled with lead."

"Ah you fat piece of crap, I'll tell you something. You've held back this group's true potential for far too long. Think about it, back before we knew magic existed, what did you do? You ran this place like a family, no? You said you would treat everyone with respect and that everyone would get a fair share. Am I wrong?"

"Get to the point, Ricky. My patience is running out for you and the waste spilling out from your mouth." Ricky grinned at these words.

"We were offered a deal one day, were we not? How everyone could have a better life if they accepted the responsibility of their actions. Yet you got greedy. You fell under the influence and became afraid of it's own power corrupting you from within, so you withheld us from truly obtaining it. You exposed everyone briefly to it, but small doses are not enough! You lied to everyone in order to keep us all limited!" Everyone started looking towards the boss, who was starting to shake and sweat terribly.

"I've heard enough! I'm through with you! Everyone, shoot him!" But no one fired, causing the boss to look around at the others.

"Boss, you told us that if we exposed ourselves to a small dose every week, we would eventually rise above the average human. Why would you lie to us? We all agreed to share in the power together!"

"Y-you don't know what it does to normal people! This whole magic business is bullcrap!" The boss glares back at Ricky. "The White, The Black... Don't you see?! Neither side really matters! Both are bull in the end, both of them end up becoming corrupted! If The White or The Black are allowed to run wild through Timberland itself, everyone will die! This town will crumble! There are some forces you should never get involved with, and I will not allow myself or my family to become slaves to those monsters sitting at the top! You were always trouble, Ricky. It pains me to have to kill you, but I never considered you a true member of this family!"

"Go ahead and shoot me then, old man." Ricky's smirk ignited a fire within the boss' eyes, as he and the others all opened fire on Ricky. For a minute, all anyone could hear coming from the room was the flurry of gunshots. However, when the guns had stopped, a wave of silence crept it's way over everyone. Ricky was still standing, and not a single bullet had even hit him.

"What...?" The boss could only managed to get out these words as he watched the bullets slowly being crushed in the air. A dark aura slowly became visible to everyone, this dark aura resembling an outline of smoke around Ricky as each bullet had been taken in and crushed by hands that had manifested from the aura. The boss' eyes widen as his worst fears come to realization through Ricky.

"Get 'em." The Djinn stated to Ricky. Suddenly, Ricky was gone to everyone.

"W-what?!" One of the others looked around, sweat starting to form as they couldn't help but start to freak out. "W-where did he go?!"

"Find him!" The lights start to flicker at this moment, everyone freezing in place as they all slowly looked up. "What is going on with the power?!" The boss looked around quickly as he got up to his feet.

"Hey there." Ricky said, grabbing the boss' shoulder from behind. "I got you."

"WHAT?! WHEN DID YOU --"

"Kidding!" Ricky backed up with his arms in the air, everyone's guns returning to focus on him. The lights returning to normal as he smiled, the aura now gone.

"Alright Ricky, enough games! Time to sleep with the --" The boss stopped speaking, his body shaking violently as the others looked over at him with concern. Cracks started to appear all over his body as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, his body boating up before BOOM! His body erupted up into a literal explosion, everyone becoming surprised as nothing was left of the boss but a big scorch mark on the ground where he once stood.

"That is the power of The Black." Ricky raised up his left arm, showing how it had been changed and the ring had been infused with his middle finger. "The power I just used is called... A Dominion~"

Leo felt more confident once Sonea agreed to have some company. Knowing that she was new to town and unfamiliar with the area gave him plenty of excuses to ask her out and simply get to know her more. Wow Leo already so interested in a girl and it hadn't even been a whole day with her. For all he knew she could be one of those creepy stalker chicks that had pictures of him all over her room. But in his world this female was most beautiful, cute and quite friendly. Although she seemed distracted by something from time to time; perhaps it was just nerves?

Nonetheless he gave the other random man a short wave although he was about to introduce himself, he seemed busy with his own shopping and helping the strange girl reach for something? Must be in a hurry so he simply went back to concentrating on Sonea. In all honesty he couldn't help but be happy that the man with the eye patch declined Sonea's offer; feeling quite possessive already. Perhaps the kid could sense this? Like a strange guy code or vibe for could you kindly let me have alone time with this cutie.

"Ah well lucky for you I pretty much grew up here. My whole life has been spent in this town. Although I am fond of it, it would be nice for a change of scenery I must admit." Leo grinned before continuing. "I would love to show you around. It'll be much more pleasant knowing I'm giving you a little tour." The company was always nice and he was already planning ahead in his mind some interesting and important places to show her. "Oh how interesting! You're a blacksmith? That's actually pretty cool." Leo was quite surprised such a pretty thing wasn't afraid of getting a little grease and cinders on her. Plus not many females particularly took interest in the trade, it made him more keen to get to know her.

As they began walking down the aisle with their shopping, he felt more and more comfortable talking to her so casually. He wasn't sure why but she had a very welcoming aura. "Currently I'm just a programmer but to be honest it's not my thing. I mean it's easy and it pays well but I'm more interested in becoming a journalist."

---

Iris was just about to start climbing the shelf in her winter dress until an unfamiliar voice seemed to be directed her way. She froze as her eyes scanned for the owner of the voice before landing on eye patch guy. Iris was surprised he spoke to her at all, thinking normally people would just ignore others and go about their business. Did she look that distressed? Apparently. Not really understanding how desperate and quite reckless she must have looked being caught trying to climb the shelves.
"Nah I'm fi-" As she was about to decline his offer for help, she was caught off guard to see the male approach her, reach up and grab the instant noodles. One for her and himself. She would admit he had good taste noticing the flavour he had chosen. "Or not. Uh thanks." Iris couldn't help but feel a little nervous by the random encounter. Her heart beat slowly calmed as she hopped off the shelf and watched as he went back to shopping. Tilting her head to the side he studied him from afar, as she couldn't help but get a sense of nostalgia from him? Strange.

The pale violet haired female shrugged it off and turned to place her noodles into the basket until she jolted at the random sight of a young blonde girl who asked about mayonnaise? "Jesus Christ-- You scared me." Iris let out a relieved soft awkward laugh as she sighed before grinning at the female. "Mayonnaise huh? Hm I think that's in the sauce and dressings aisle." Iris then studied the girl more closely, she too looked familiar. From school perhaps? She would take note to pay more attention to the people around her next time. Even though she would most certainly not do it anyway. "I can show you if you want?" The female then placed her noodles into her cart and picked it up glancing at her own list for a moment.

Miranda blinked as Rina began to bash her head into the counter, the werewolf frozen in uncertainty. While she had no problem with gore, death, or normally traumatic events due to her upbringing and ancestry, the fact that someone was willingly smashing their head into the counter surprised her. And Dissapointed her as well, someone too weak to live on by themselves wasn't worth living, in her opinion. Standing after the deed was done, and looking at the bloody carnage. Without thinking, her hand twitched, and so did the still dying body of Rina.

The blood stopped abruptly, and the body shuddered and made a sickening gagging noise before dropping to the ground. Miranda blinked again, her Demon smirking as it leaned against the wall. "You just mutated a fellow human. How does that make you feel?" it asked, a devilish smirk on its face. Miranda only glared. "You're right. She was already dead. I suppose it doesn't count all that much, then. Does it?" again only a glare.

She turned to Yohan, seeing the boy freak out over the fact that there was a dead body in his kitchen. She picked up her phone and called her home. "It's me. Something came up....I can't return to the gym today. I know....I know. Yes. I promised I know. One day will not hurt. Okay. See you soon." She hung up the phone, and moved to Yohan, grabbing him by the shoulder rather gently and guiding him back to the couch, sitting him down.

She paused for a moment, showing what could be described as an uncharacteristic sign of affection to help calm the boy down, patting his cheek gently, her thumb tracing his cheek-bone before leaving him there, and moving to the body of Nina. She looked to Frederick, nodding to the blood. He wore the uniform of a janitor. Surely he'd know what to do. She knew how to hide a body well enough.

Grabbing her by the collar, she hefted the body over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and moved to the back yard of Yohan's house, looking around for something to bury the body under. Then it occured to her. It'd be easier to call the authorities, tell them it was suicide.

She knew just the person.

Pulling out her phone she put the body down, and rested it against the wall of the house. "Ches', it's Mir. My...friend just committed suicide, need the body buried properly....she had a mental breakdown. I'd prefer it this was kept quiet....The home-owner is....young, shocked, inexperienced." she paused as her cousin talked. "Yes I realize what I'm asking. I'm not telling you to just get rid of the body. Inform the family, let her have a full burial, the whole thing. But normal cops won't believe me if I say it's a suicide. You know they don't like...us." she said.

"Thank you."