Crisis

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"Doesn't it look beautiful?"
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Catherine Deckard
Hex Code: #191970
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Heather tossed and turned while murmuring in her sleep. It was the nightmares again eating away at her. A loud clap of thunder jolted her awake. She lie awake in her bed, drenched in cold sweats with her eyes darting around the dark room as if the creatures that plagued her nightmares somehow made it out. The only thing that could be heard was the blanketing sound of rainfall and the occasional faint roar of thunder.

Heather took a few moments convincing herself that every shadow wasn’t a bloodthirsty monster before she finally turned on the light on her nightstand. Her clock read 3 o’clock in the morning. It didn’t surprise her. Heather felt that her nightmares were more than just bad dreams. She felt that maybe they were either a sign or maybe even a vision. Her nightmares happened so often and on top of that they were so vivid. So much to the fact that sometimes Heather had a problem figuring out if she was truly awake.

The girl reached into her nightstand drawer and pulled out a small journal. She flipped through it quickly to find a blank page. As she skipped through the book each page reminded her of every terrible dream she recorded. Sketches of monsters that stood out to her in her nightmares filled the pages. The book was almost filled.

After filling out the latest entry in the journal Heather placed it back and settled herself back down into her bed. Drowsiness was surfacing again since it was the middle of the night. She reached out to turn off the lamp but froze halfway. Instead she grabbed her necklace of a crucifix and put her lips to it before turning in her bed and closing her eyes.



It seemed like Heather had only shut her eyes for a second when she was awakened again. This time by knock on her door. The girl noticed there was some faint form of light outside. It was morning but the clouds still dominated the sky. The clock now read that it was seven in the morning.

The knock came again at the same rhythm as the last. Heather stood up from her bed and slowly made her way to the door. She released the deadbolt but left the safety chain on as she opened the door. Standing in the hallway was her friend, Hannah. She was fully dressed and wore her usual thin smile.

“Good morning.” She greeted. Heather found it to be too early for the morning to be good and couldn’t form any strength to form a smile to match her friend’s. Instead, Heather shut the door to undo the chain and reopened it to let Hannah in.

“Coffee?” Heather managed to form the question as she closed the door behind her friend and was already making her way towards coffee maker that was in the kitchen area inside the hotel suite she stayed in. Hannah always had coffee. Heather asking was more of a formality than an actual question.
“Yes, thank you.” Hannah answered anyway as she sat down on the couch. “I suppose you want to know why I’m here so early.”

“Maybe.” Heather answered. She did wonder who could possibly be knocking on the door so early in the morning. But upon seeing it was her friend she dismissed the thought.
“I have somewhere I want to take yo-”

“Uh-oh.”

“Trust me. It’s completely for your benefit.” Heather looked at Hannah with a curious expression. “I found someone may be able to explain to you what these nightmares, you have, are.” Heather let out a disappointed sigh and Hannah immediately continued. “It seems like they have higher source of energy than others. I think they might be the real deal. It couldn’t hurt to check it out. Especially, if that person has answers to your these nightmares you have.” Heather narrowed her eyes at her friend.

“This is the last time.” Heather said through gritted teeth. Hannah seemed pleased with the answer. Hannah was going out of her way to help Heather. The least she could do is put up with it until it became frustratingly annoying which would be after this if it proved to be another fraud.



The streets of Cambridge, England were still very wet and a light drizzle continued from the storm of the previous night. There were a few people out and about but it wasn’t busy like it was during mid day.

As they approached their destination they noticed a small crowd. As the two girls got closer they noticed people were gathered around a man that seemed to be giving a speech.

“There are some that say the Earth will end in fire! Others say in Ice. Even now you have books and movies that speculate and entertain the idea of how our humanity will reach its end. Will it be a zombie apocalypse or will we meet an end at the cause of our own hands; Nuclear destruction.” The man paused for a moment so that the crowd’s murmurs would die down.

“I say humanity is not ready to go extinct. The End that will happen will only shape us and bring us forth into a new age. We will adapt and evolve and the ones that are the strongest will move on as the rest of humanity will die off.” The man’s eyes shot towards Heather and he quickly pointed a finger in her direction. Heather hadn’t even noticed she stopped walking. It was like she was pulled in and entranced. There’s no way she’d even consider the ramblings of a man who looked dirty and homeless.

By the time Heather came back to her senses the man was standing right in front of her. The crowd was now formed around Heather and he.

“You-your aura is different.” Heather thought for a mere second that this man had to be talking to someone else. “You are conflicted. You are at struggle with something but you don’t know what it is, do you?” With that the man turned and walked back to the wooden pedestal he stood behind earlier and continued his speech.

Hannah must have found out that she wasn’t being followed anymore and quickly looked around for Heather. It didn’t take very long to retrace her footsteps and find the girl mixed in with the crowd.

“There you are. Why are-” Heather held up a finger and Hannah stopped speaking. Then she, too, seemed to be drawn into the man’s speech and listened silently. After a few more minutes he finished and the crowd dispersed, going back to whatever they were going to do prior to listening to the homeless man’s message.

“You there!” He was looking directly at Heather. “Come.” The two girls exchanged glances before moving towards the pedestal.

“As I said, you have a conflicted aura. It looks like it is being suppressed by a lingering shadow.” Heather tensed when she heard this.

“Is there a way to get rid of the shadow?” Hannah asked and the man scoffed.

“I don’t fix the shadows. All I can do is tell you they are there. Every man has his own demons to face. But I will say that under the shadow is a light trying to get out. It’s funny isn’t it? A shadow suppressing light? It’s normally the other way around. It’s why you stand out to me. You’re a girl different amongst the rest. I would easily spot you in a crowd of hundreds.”

“Is there anything I can do?” Heather asked this time. She hadn’t felt this antsy in a very long time. It’s the first time she came to anything close resembling answers.

“Sometimes people walk around their whole lives not knowing what to do. They may write it off as hauntings or possessions. That’s what happens when you don’t deal with this issue. Those are the people that don’t face their monsters. They try to rationalize it away. The only thing you can possibly do is accept it is apart of you. That way you can control it and then send it back to the darkness from whence it came.” A rumble of thunder was heard and the man picked up his small pedestal.

“I believe that’s all I can help you with, but trust me. I don’t think you’ll get a better answer. I have seen the shadows. At the moment all I can do is call on the lord’s help to keep them at bay until i can find a way to confront them. But they are closing in on me just as your shadows are closing in on you.” And with that the man walked away leaving both Heather and Hannah stunned.

The monster roared as steel clashed against its tough blue scales, raising its tail to slam it into the sea. A wall of water rose up from the force of the splash, around ten feet high, but the boat refused to capsize and our heroes remained undeterred! Steel gleamed in the sea-salted light as the warrior unsheathed his ancestral broadsword. Face creasing into a gruesome snarl, the warrior took a couple of steps forwards from where he was standing on the boat they were on, gaining a run-up as he leaped up to face the impending tsunami wall of doom. He slashed downwards with his word with a fearsome yell.

The broadsword cleaved through the wall of water like a knife through hot butter, separating the wave into two. The two smaller waves passed around the ship as it bobbed in the hole the warrior had made. As the warrior had leapt the magician began to chant, voice gaining an eerie lilt as he continued the spell. The merlion roared and struggled as it got lifted out of the-

"Wait, a merlion?" Xander interrupted Seth. He ignored the glare Seth sent him for disrupting the flow of the story, leaning forward as he rested his elbows on the table they were sitting around. "You mean a fish and a lion? Hahaha! How does that even work?"

"You stick the head of a lion onto a fish's lower body and give it gills so that it can breath underwater, along with waterproof fur. You know, the symbol that represents Singapore? There's a reason that country's also known as Lion City. But anyway." Seth hummed thoughtfully, drumming his fingers against the table. "I think the fur can trap air bubbles, and they're seadwelling creatures. They're either eastern sea monsters or mAnything else?"

"Yeah, got one." Dan raised his hand, even though they weren't in a classroom. They were in the living room at the table doing their own things. Dan had homework, Xander was scribbling something down on the laptop he had in front of him, and although Seth was relaxing with a book he was reading it out as a well-needed distraction, telling the story in suitable epic-narrator fashion (if a bit sarcastic). Occasionally, hands went out to the large nacho-filled bowl in the front for a snack to fuel their brains.

That had nothing to do with Dan's question, however. "Does a Merlion eat meat, fish or vegetables or a mixture of those?" he asked curiously. "Or plankton. Would they eat plankton?"

Seth shrugged, shoulders moving up and down as he leant back against his chair, resting the book against the edge of the table. "Probably fish and other types of seafood. I dunno, there's no meat in the ocean unless you count sharks or dolphins or whatnot. You prepared for the trip to the museum tomorrow?"

"Done and done! Too bad you're going to be late thought, but no worries! I'll show Dan around." Xander gave Seth a relatively relaxed smile, raising both his hands in a thumbs up pose. "Just do whatever you need to do. What happens next?"

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In a small dark alleyway somewhere in the USA....

Jacob walked calmly out of the alley, dusting his hands off on the jacket he was wearing. The twenty-five year old was dressed impeccably, in a stylish black jacket and grey shirt, with jeans and old boots. His hair was more mussed than usual, giving him a rakish, handsome look. For all purposes, Jacob looked like a young man out on a day to the mall, where he was presumably going to meet up with a girl, someone who was preferably pretty. He looked more suited in a mall instead of a dark, dingly lit alley.

Unfortunately for life - and Jacob - the person he had met with was not a girl. He was male. He was also very much out for Jacob's life.

He was also dead. Jacob had made sure of that himself. The body was currently in a dumpster, stuffed under a coat and positioned to look like a homeless old man taking a nap underneath some bins.

That person should have picked someone better to rob.

Humming a warm ditty underneath his breath, Jacob slipped his hands into his pockets, fingers clenching around the items inside the pocket. He'd covered his tracks almost supernaturally well, so there was no way the police could come for him for murder. Slipping into the crowd and looking for all purposes like a young man out for partying, Jacob hummed, strolling his way through.

I wonder what I should get for dinner?

Jan walked out into the street, taking in the sounds and smells of New York. He couldn’t help but feel a pang of nervousness as he realized how...foreign he felt. He had figured it would be difficult, obviously, his English wasn’t very good at all and didn’t understand the currency, for starters. He could navigate the airport, somewhat, and the lady at the currency exchange booth had been very patient with him in her attempts to teach him what coins were worth what, but now the enormity of what he had done was beginning to sink in. He had left for a good reason, Jan knew that, but he had, well, left. He had left his family, his home, his people behind, and for what? That thought crossed his mind and the dream came screaming back into his head: That hideous, apocalyptic dream of burning buildings and unimaginable beasts ravaging the city because of that golden box and that gi-. He buckled slightly, steadying himself against a pillar as panic weakened his legs.

Jan couldn’t help but note the group around him sidle away as he leaned to his side. He expected it, being nearly seven feet tall. His massive frame already drew stares back home, but here he felt people saw him as even stranger. He assumed it was due to his clothing, specifically his jacket. He loved that jacket, even though his family felt it was a bit eccentric. Nobody wore that symbol anymore and some even got upset by it, seeing as a reminder of dark times, but that was why Jan liked it. For Jan, it was a symbol of resistance against an evil of unthinkable magnitude, a symbol that he feared would be needed in the days ahead. This type of fear he was feeling now, then, was unacceptable. If he was to fight this evil and cleanse the city, he needed to remain strong.

Jan tilted his head back, let his bag drop, and inhaled deeply, willing himself to be calm. He felt his mind focus and balance on the knife's edge between fear and anger, settling on the ocean-deep sense of duty that began to focus his mind. Jan exhaled, his breath coming out low, hard, almost like a growl. He had a job to do. The giant nodded to himself, picked up his bag, and began to walk across the street to...where?

Ah. He didn’t know. He had thought there would have already been some devastation, given the severity of his dream, but everything seemed relatively normal. He assumed it was normal, anyway. He was secretly dreading that New York would be like the movies, with people in suits shooting out of cars and shouting in horrific accents. So far, he had only heard the accent, and the thought that he wasn’t in immediate danger helped him relax and gather his thoughts

So, he had a problem with no apparent solution. He had no idea where he was going and no idea where to start finding out where to go. He supposed, then, the first thing he would do was ask somebody. Easy. He could do that. Yes.

As it turned out, he most definitely could not do that. He began to suspect this after one hour of searching and finally admitted it around hour three. He asked about the golden box, monster sightings, and any unusual activities. If people didn’t flee at the sight of him, the language barrier made getting his point across an exercise in pointing, gesturing, and for one man, twenty dollars. For his efforts, he had been directed to a Chinese restaurant, a zoo, three different hospitals, a massage parlor, and finally one very impatient police officer, who told him to stop. He did, but that only made him realize how hungry he was. He hadn’t eaten on the plane and it was getting late, after all.

And so Jan found himself back in the Chinese restaurant, which he assumed was called the Golden Box. He had never had Chinese food before, but he liked whatever it was he was eating and it was a lot cheaper than he had expected. He got a noodle dish with what he guessed was pork and some kind of beer with a label he couldn’t read, but it had cost him eight dollars and the waitress was pretty, so he wasn’t going to complain.

As he ate, he formulated another plan. He wouldn’t ask about any supernatural occurrences, rather go to locations where supernatural things would be likely to occur. He figured landmarks and places with significant history, preferably a grim and storied one, would be ideal. Failing that, somewhere with a lot of people, because monsters needed to eat. He knew about the statue of liberty, the empire state building, and central park. Where they were, he didn’t know, but he could find out.

It turned out the closest was Central Park, which was where Jan found himself sitting, watching a pair of old men play chess. Other than the occasional jogger and a cough from one of the elders, nothing really seemed to be happening. The giant grunted and pulled a large hand-rolled cigarette from his jacket pocket, lighting it with a match and inhaling deeply, letting the smoke out with a sigh. As he watched the smoke float away, he leaned back and closed his eyes to rest, weary from a day of failure.

<"Just what have I gotten myself into?">

He figured it out when the world exploded. Light and fire and screaming woke him from his peace as he was flung from the bench and sent skidding across the grass. Jan's heart thumped like a hammer in his chest as he began to see them. The things. It was starting. Good god in heaven it was starting. He forced himself to his feet, ears ringing and blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. He had to get off the street. Lurching forward as fast as he could, the giant drew his pistol in one hand and his knife in the other, stepping over corpses in his drive towards whatever building looked safe. He noticed one man, running, who seemed strong. Jan followed behind him at a distance, seeing him enter what looked like a cafe. The griffon encouraged him to enter it as soon as possible. He looked at his surroundings, and then the man. He began to shout in Polish, falling back to his native tongue unconsciously, his voice guttural and deep.

<"It is beginning, friend! The end of the world is upon us!"> He chambered his gun, keeping it trained on the what was left of the door. "<I am Jan! Are you alone?>"

Gabe was sprawled in the back seat of a cab, not a bad day to be riding to Grand Central Station. An old friend from culinary school, Charlie, was having a barbecue out in the burbs. Any excuse to get out of the city for some fresh air is a good excuse. Any excuse to get some of Charlie's barbecue was an even better excuse

Knowing Charlie had a kid, and half the reason for the barbecue was the kid's birthday, Gabe was even nice enough to bring a present. There was a sheathed blue light-saber with a black shiny ribbon tied around the handle sitting on his lap. He left it unwrapped of course so he could randomly flick his wrist and extend the blade for fun, much to the displeasure of the taxi driver. After about the third disgruntled look back Gabe collapsed the sword and left it resting on his lap but he impatiently tapped his leg wanting to mess around some more.

He moved to staring out the window, they were passing the museum and it was always cool to check what the new exhibits were. As they passed though Gabe noticed people were running, no, flooding out of the museum. Was that fire? There were sparks as lightning landed just inches from the car. The taxi driver began to show concern. It appeared a really bad storm had suddenly descended on the area but there wasn't any rain.

It all seemed natural until the death-beam shot up from the museum. As Gabe turned to look at the driver's reaction he found himself staring face to face with a terrifyingly sharp beak. He swore and tightened his grip on the light-saber on his lap, it wasn't a real sword but he could still hit whatever the hell that thing was with it. The bird thing seemed more interested in the driver though and proceeded to drag him from the car.

Gabe took that opportunity to get the fuck out of the car. He did not take his time as he saw a few bodies around and he made a move to the nearest storefront. He was making good progress when one of the magical lightning bolts came down before he could respond. The shock went straight through him and into the ground. There was no time to panic, no time to realize what had happened. Just pure electric power, and pain, lots of pain. He fell to the ground, a symbol burned into his neck behind his right ear. He stayed huddled on the sidewalk clutching the light-saber. He was alive, but his hair was glowing at about 100 watts and he had no desire to move for the rest of the day.

"And here we have a Greek statue of Hercules..."

Xander stifled a yawn, resisting the urge to close his eyes and nod off. Dressed in a loose black and white university jacket and jeans, the redhead looked like a university student out to study the museum's artefacts for a paper. Fortunately (or unfortunately) for Xander, he wasn't the one who had homework to complete. That would be his cousin Dan.

They were in the museum for Dan's homework, which was to record a historical artefact. Xander didn't really see why he had to come along when all they were doing was just staring at old pieces of history - he'd much rather play a game instead - but Seth had volunteered them to come, and Dan had looked so happy, as if he hadn't expected the offer but was glad that it'd appear, that Xander didn't really have the heart to refuse. It'd be fun, right?

Yes, waking up early to follow Dan searching the whole museum top to toe with great fevor (all he said was that he was looking for a golden box to do his work on) before taking a break to listen to a middleaged man drone on and on and on about old pieces of history that he had no interest in was fun, alright. Very fun! So fun that he was wondering whether they had an ancient greek bed or something so that he could enjoy it even more, preferably in his subconscious. It wouldn't have been so bad if Seth were here to talk to, but his best friend wouldn't be able to make it to the museum until late afternoon. When Xander and Dan had asked why (Dan in a curious tone and Xander in a slightly more dismayed tone) Seth had just shrugged and replied "Wes asked me to pick something up." and that was that.

A couple more hours till Seth would arrive. It didn't made listening to the tourguide any easier, though. What's so important about that box anyway?

"Are you done yet?" Xander whispered to Dan, slipping his hand in his pockets.

"Not yet." Dan scribbled something down in his notebook, red eyes darting around the exhibit just in case. Nope, nothing. Pausing in his writing, Dan turned to look up at Xander with a faint frown. "You know, you could just-huh?"

"what huh?"

"That girl..." Dan's eyebrows creased in puzzlement as he gestured minutely with his pencil. Bringing his arms up in a stretch, Xander turned around in a way that most would just dismiss as an attempt to stretch his limbs and looked in the direction of Dan's pencil, just in time to see a girl with dark hair looking at a door. Hmm, kind of pretty.

Looks like my little cuz has a crush. With a grin that looked more like a leer, Xander bumped his elbow against Dan's shoulder. "Ooo, is she your type?"

"What?" The flabbergasted 'why the hell would you even think that' look Dan sent Xander's way just made Xander grin all the more. "Wait, what?! Whu- why would you even think that -"

"-My little cuz is all grown up, Aunt Sophie would be so proud -"

"No! No, I don't like her like that! Just - I thought she looked like..." Dan trailed off, looking frustrated and mildly disturbed. "She just looked like - wait, what're you going?! Let go!"

"We're going to meet her, of course!" Xander kept his voice low as he shot a grin at Dan, tightening his grip on Dan's arm. Finally something interesting! Who cared if entering through the guard door was illegal? It'd be more fun than listening to some old guy drone on about ancient greek history at any rate. Dan didn't look too sure about conducting what was probably breaking and entering, and Xander made to reassure him. "You said you knew her, right? Let's introduce ourselves! C'mon, it'll be fun!"

"B-But its illegal!" Dan kept his voice low too, although Xander couldn't help but notice that he was looking with curiosity at the door. He wasn't even struggling that hard against Xander's pull to the door. It was obvious that he was half-torn between keeping the law or finding out what was going on, although a look in Dan's eye suggested that there was another reason he wasn't telling Xander that he was so curious about the girl. "And I've still got to look for that box-"

"Which might be inside the basement!" Xander rolled his eyes, not releasing Dan's arm. He kept his voice low, dragging Dan away from the others to keep the conversation more private. Now that his curiosity was aroused, Xander was determined to get into the basement. "The guard isn't back yet, we can enter the place and see if its there and talk to the girl all at the same time! What's wrong?"

Dan still looked conflicted. Xander was pretty sure that it was because of the whole 'breaking the law' thing (why were people so hung up on that, seriously?), but there was a sense that it was about something else, something Dan wasn't quite willing to share. "But..."

"But what?!" Dan whispered, grinning excitedly down at his cousin. "Look, we've got an unguarded door, a mysterious girl, and a chance to examine the bowels of the building and find something interesting than a statue to write about for your project! C'mon, where's your sense of adventure?"

That was apparently all that was needed to convince Dan. And thank goodness, because the girl had already entered through the door a good few minutes ago, and that was before they had the conversation. Grinning, Xander turned and took a step forward, gripping the door...

Only for the building to give a large rumble, a tremor shaking dust down from the ceiling onto people's heads.

Xander blinked. "Earthquake?" Around him, people were having similar reactions.

Dan, however, looked unnerved, as if he'd just seen a ghost. He looked around agitatedly, and although Xander wasn't sure he thought he heard Dan mutter "It's exactly the same..." Under his breath. Shaking his head, he grasped at Xander's arm, yanking him away from the door.

"Dan? What's wrong?"

"We've got to get out of here," Dan said urgently. A few people were already leaving, worried about potential earthquakes. Another tremor shook the building, and Xander stumbled as the floor shook. Dan took the opportunity to try dragging him towards the exit, although he only moved a few inches thanks to Xander's weight. He looked up at Xander with haunted eyes, eyes that were wide with horror, begging him to just believe him and move, body doing its best to push Xander towards the exit of the exhibit. "C'mon Xander we have to get out of here before-"

Xander only found out later that Dan meant 'before the beam of light and monsters!". The building started to creak, walls cracking with increasingly loud cracks like fragile ice in water and effectively cutting off the rest of Dan's sentence.

Light flared up, blinding and burning. People screamed as the building began to fall apart, running to get out as fast as they possibly could, screaming as lightning began to flash.

Chaos reigned.

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The next few minutes was all a blur of light and sound and fast movement. Xander remembered running like the wind for the door that lead out of the exhibition, dodging falling debris and lightning (Oh my God Oh my God Oh my God what was going on?!) until one suddenly struck Dan's leg, causing him to cry out and fall.

Without pausing Xander scooped his cousin up and onto his shoulder like a bag of rice. Not bothering to look back, Xander charged forwards even faster to dodge the rapidly expanding beam of light and the lightning bolts. Another lightning bolt tried to strike Dan's face, but Xander raised his arm to block it at the very last minute. The bolt sank through Xander's left forearm, stinging like a thousand wasps had just stung the same place at the same time.

It hurt. The pain was excruciating. If Xander hadn't been hopped up with a mixture of adrenaline and fear that the moment he stopped moving he'd die, he'd have just curled up and clutched his forearm, hoping that someone could shoot him full of painkillers or just plain shoot him so that the pain would just go away. Or lop off his arm with an axe; that was an option too! As Xander was hopped up on terrified adrenaline and in a rapidly collapsing building with a very strong urge to live, however, the redhead just screamed at the pain and kept going, doing his best to ignore the agonised throbbing in his arm.

After what seemed like forever (but was only a few minutes), Xander finally spotted the exit. Oh thank God! Throwing Dan through it by the scruff of his neck, Xander flung himself through the door without a minute to spar and rolled to a stop on the grass, a few feet behind Dan's sprawled figure.

Not a moment too soon. Xander's squeezed his eyes shut at the blinding burst of light from the beam, bracing himself against the shockwave. Feeling around, he grabbed Dan and quickly dragged him away until they found a statue to huddle under. Leaning Dan against the statue, Xander finally took a step back and examined his cousin.

It was not a pretty sight. The boy was breathing shallowly, eyes squeezed shut as he clutched at his leg, moans of pain that he couldn't quite hold back vibrating in his throat. His skin was covered in sweat, and he was shaking; fullbodied shudders that resembled someone shivering in extreme cold. When Xander tried to touch the leg an agonised whimper broke out before Dan audibly cut it off, gritting his teeth so hard that Xander wouldn't be surprised if they were grounded to nubs.

Dan was not alright. But he was alive, and that was all that mattered right now. Leaning forwards and ignoring his own pain, Xander gave Dan a tight comforting hug, running his fingers briefly through Dan's hair before peeking outside the statue.

Chaos, pure and simple. And where does monsters?! Xander wasn't quite sure whether or not he was hallucinating. Seth was going to have such a field day about this if it was real!

That is, if he was still alive. He's got to be alive. He's got to be.

But first, shelter. Then call to find out. Reaching out, Xander grabbed Dan and gently rearranged him on his back, carefully prying Dan's fingers off his leg. Looping Dan's arms loosely around his shoulders, Xander leant low and ran towards the nearest shelter he could find - a ruined shop that was already filled with people, chattering and panicking and crying and whatever people tend to do when disasters strike.

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"Out of the frying pan..."
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Alias Kane
Hex Code: #8B0000
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"Alright dude, don't worry." Seth looped lightbulb's arms around his shoulders, dragging him to hide behind a car. Looking around rapidly to find a safe area. If there wasn't any, he'd have to ride his bike to a different, hopefully more safer place. "You're gonna be ok..." he muttered anxiously. It was meant to sound comforting, but the words sounded more like Seth trying to convince himself that everything was going to be fine.

I hope Xander and Dan and everyone else are ok...

"Over here!"

Huh? Seth's head swivelled towards the direction of the whispered shout, heart rising with hope at the familiar voice. When he spotted a familiar redhead beckoning to him with a grin, repeating the words 'over here!' again, Seth grinned in relief and ran towards his friend, keeping to sheltered spots and ducking low to avoid the griffin's attention.

It was a bit like playing hide and seek - run towards an upturned truck or car or debris as fast as he could, hide behind it until the coast was clear, then run towards the next obstacle to hide. Rinse and repeat, only this time if Seth lost he'd get eaten up alive by a bunch of monsters. Along the way he collected a crying small boy carrying a teddybear, a pair of young children who looked as if they were siblings and a young woman clutching her ankle and quietly cursing up a storm through gritted teeth as she hid between a truck and a car that were partially collapsed on each other like an upside down V-shaped ramp. Partially storing a couple of new curses to memory, Seth leant down and helped her get seated on the bike, gesturing to the kids behind him.

"Not far now," he whispered encouragingly, gratefully grabbing the scarf the woman offered to him to wrap around Lightbulb's head. It didn't hide the glow completely, but the thick material dulled it enough for it to be less noticeable than before.

They made it there without a hitch, although there were a few close calls. Seth was the last one to enter, hands pulling him in and taking the glowing-haired man to rest with the other afflicted people. He barely had enough time to blink before Xander and Dan were in front of him, squeezing him tight with a hug and entering into a rapidly deteriorating conversation. Closing his eyes, Seth sagged into their arms and hugged them back, allowing himself a moment to unwind as sheer relief soared through him.

His friends were alive.

"Seth! Oh my god I'm so glad you're ok have you seen those eagle monsters-"

"- there was this lightning thing and everything, I thought we were gonna die did you see the beam of ligh-"

"- and they ate her up like a live fish! Swallowed her down and everything -"

Ok, that was enough relaxing. "Alright, chill." Seth said over the two talking to each other. The two ignored him, and Seth winced as their grip on him began to tighten like a vice on a slow to set off beartrap. "Ok guys seriously chill - oof - alright Xander stop squeezing me Dan let go of my stomach-" Seth grimaced as he felt his bones starting to crack and with the last of his breath, smacked Xander's back and wheezed out "Leggo can't breath."

"Ah, right!" Seth staggered as Dan and Xander abruptly let go of him. "Haha, sorry," Xander said, not looking sorry at all. Seth glared at him, but there was no heat in it, and Xander continued to talk as Seth caught his breath, keeping his voice low. "We've been talking with the other survivors, and they're going to be headed towards the subway." He said, gesturing behind him towards the small group of survivors. From what Seth could see, there were around twenty of them in various states of dishevelment. A man with spectacles was tying a strip of cloth around the young woman's ankle while a girl was looking around for more strips of cloth. It wasn't hard to find - they were in a clothes shop.

A partially ruined clothes shop, but still a clothes shop. And Seth couldn't help but realise that Xander was wearing a new black jacket, his old one tied at his waist with the sleeves.

"The subway's probably the safest place right now, since its underground." Xander continued to speak as Seth looked around the shop with a keen eye. "The griffins seem to like to stay above ground - if they enter a shop its only if they want to eat us, and they come out immediately once they've found prey. Otherwise they stay out there," He said, a little too cheerfully for a talk about mythological creatures he hadn't realised existed until a while ago that he'd seen eat people. "Little chance of them entering the subway tunnels. Wanna head there?"

Seth looked up at the ceiling and thought about it.

Nothing else could be accomplished by staying here. It was dangerous, and so the best thing to do would be to head for safe ground. He shrugged, picking up a thick navy jacket that was around his size. Denim was a tough material, it'd serve him well. His other jacket could be used as a pillow or blanket once they reached their destination.

"Sure," he said, shrugging. Beside him, Dan gave a sigh of relief. "Why not?"