Midnight at Mirnon Manor [IC~rated M]

[G]

The Likely Suspects.

- Alys West and
- 'Andy' Alyson Roberts by G
- Morgan Wright by Merry Gentry
- Ralph "Mel" Davies by Sy23
- Kayli Maine by G --deceased-
- Jack Hawthorn incapacitated - up for grabs.
- Michelle Moreau by Setsa
- Shax Law by Siksta Slathalin
- Casimir Lirian cowering motionless in the kitchen - up for grabs.

---

Mirnon manor was deathly silent, but for the loud ticking of the grandfather clock that stood in the hall, somehow having survived the long years of the house's emptiness. A fine layer of dust covered the antique furniture that still filled the house, and the thick curtains were drawn shut over huge windows that ran almost from wooden floor to high ceiling.

The lamps, though full of oil and undamaged, were unlit, had been this way for years. The food in the cupboards had long since rotted, and crumbled to dust. But somehow, the manor retained a lived in state, probably due to the reluctance of the people who lived nearby to visit it, let alone remove things from inside. The floor was still swathed with thick rugs, the beds still made, the dining table still laid out in readiness for the evening meal.

In the master bedroom, where the Lord and Lady Mirnon had slept beside each other with their infant in the crib alongside the bed, the curtains had been opened, the red-gold glow of the sunset falling on the bed, and laying a bloody orange tint on white-blonde hair of the girl who lay there. Her blue eyes were open, glassy in the light, staring up at the ceiling, frozen in their last, horrified expression. Her mouth was open, as though she was about to scream, or had been. Fingers, stiff with rigor mortis, were curled into fists, the arms bent oddly at the elbows were they had dropped to the bed. Her blood, fresh and brightly crimson, mingled with the old, dull orange stains that still covered the sheets unmoved from years before.

The bedroom door stood just slightly ajar, closed enough to hide the body from any person walking down the hall until they actually entered the room.

The house was still, silent but for the ticking of the clock. One, two, three beats, and then the chimes cried out eight times, the house filled with a cacophony of sound for just that minute as eight o-clock struck, before the monotonous ticking resumed.

Soon, very soon, the house would be filled with life again, if only briefly. Something in the air spelled anticipation, as though the walls lay in wait for the events of the night. Little did the comers know what awaited them in Mirnon Manor.

[TheBaron]

Jack Hawthorn walked through the growing twilight framed by the setting sun which was lingering on the horizon. He carried with him a small shoulder bag filled with his things and a knife which stuck out of the top of the bag. Across his back was slung a worn and beat up a acoustic guitar. It was held to his body by a worn leather strap which had seen better days but still served it's purpose. In his left had was a violin case. He stopped for a moment and looked back over his shoulder at the storm clouds that were beginning to form in the distance. He sighed and shook his head and turned back towards the imposing mansion that was looming up ahead of him. He had no time to dally to look at somber sights. He had business to attend to. He walked forward again. The day was a wasting. After about thirty minutes he reached the front door and felt a slight chill settle about him which he attributed to the shadow the house cast. He stepped up to the front door and knocked. He heard the knock echo faintly through the house. Five silent minutes past and the chills only got worse and he pulled his jacket close about him. He stepped forward again and tried the door. It swung open silently. His brow furrowed in confusion and he stepped forward through the door and looked about him. Everything was silent but thankfully it seemed a little warmer in the house that outside and as he listened close he heard the solemn tik tok of a grandfather clock. He knew because his grandfather had one that sounded exactly the same. He stepped farther in and closed the door behind him. He pulled a Zippo out of his pocket and stepped forward to the nearest oil lamp and lit it. He sat down in the chair and coughed heavily as a cloud of dust engulfed him. After it settled he reached into his bag and pulled out a full pack of cigarettes. He pulled one out and lit it. He inhaled deeply and with a sigh of contentment exhaled and watched as the smoke floated up towards the ceiling. He waited. As he waited he looked about the room and knew that this place felt wrong. Not in a holy shit I have to get out of her but more of a this place feels like someone lives here but he knew that was impossible. This place had been abandoned for a long time and not even homeless people dared approach it preferring to freeze than to come into this place. He was confused by this because while yes he felt that he didn't really belong here he could get over that fairly quickly and the manor itself was very nice and very well furnished all given how long it had been abandoned. He inhaled again and exhaled watching the smoke leave his mouth. With a little bit of reworking and remodeling. This place could become a big seller. He settled further back into the chair ignoring the dust that rose from the chair. This was a nice place once and at some point probably could be again. He finished his cigarette and closed his eyes preparing for a little bit of a nap. He had been walking for a while and his feet were tired as was his body and mind. Within minutes he was asleep snoring very softy.

[Alice]

Silence, but for the soft purr of the engine and the driver's breathing. It was loud. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale... Too loud, impossible to ignore. A request had been spoken earlier, from the female to the man at the wheel, to turn the music off, leaving the engine and his breathing as the only disturbances. These were the only sounds for the next hour.

The itch to reach for a cigarette was powerful, and gaining strength by the minute, but she hadn’t asked if smoking was permitted inside the car, and certainly didn’t desire to. Endurance was the solution for the time being.

Halfway through the ride, the clouds - angry for quite some time now and finally reaching their boiling point - started to pour. A few minutes later, thunder and lightning accompanied the rain.

She watched as the drops landed on the outside of the taxicab glass and slowly slid down, as if tears on a person's face. Each raindrop followed its own path down until running into another drop, and then making the journey together. She observed them for the rest of the ride, remembering the look he'd given her when she had notified him of the destination.

Earlier, when the taxi had pulled up in front of the woman standing on the edge of the sidewalk, her first actions had been to inform the cab driver of her target location. Protests had been made. "What are you, insane?" he had said, "No one's been there for years and it will damn stay that way - if you value your life." That's the moment he had given her "the look", his face expression hinting at "she's whether lost her mind or tired of living". The female had replied with a, "No taxi driver is in need of knowing why a person is going where they're going. The only thing that should be on your mind at the moment should be how much I will pay you."

That had about settled it.


* * *

Eventually, the cab pulled up in front of the manor gates. “As close as I’m drivin’ ya. You’ll have to walk the rest.“ She handed him the cash without complaint, and it seemed to leave him content. Then he left her there, under the pouring rain, in front of the old and rusted but ajar gates.

The stroll from the gates to the entrance was not rushed. She took her time, letting the water soak her clothes and skin. One drop landed on her right eyelash. Another on her lips, leaving her mouth tasting salty.
The manor ahead loomed above her, as if she was an ant about to be stepped on by a person - the manor representing the antagonist.

Upon reaching the door, she discovered that it was unlocked and agape. First, shock. Second, common sense. Her common sense was that the other members (contestants?) had already arrived and simply forgotten to close it.

Her first step inside was awfully loud. Her next set of steps were cacophonous. Every time the heels of her shoes collided with the wooden floor, a loud click-clack echoed throughout. The raindrops, gradually sliding down her fingertips one by one, made a plop! sound as they reached the wood.

The atmosphere and aura of the manor was almost unbearable. For her. It was simply too… haunting. Haunting - the best and only way she could depict the feeling.

Everything was there. The furniture. As if lying in wait for the owners to enter the manor any second. It was also covered in dust.

Her thoughts were overridden when she set her eyes on a man… sleeping. On a chair. She couldn’t see his eyes. What would usually be a barely audible snore was made loud in the manor. He had dark hair, and quite a few supplies, along with a violin, guitar, and a bag with a knife.

She chose not to wake him. Her chosen actions were to walk to the wall opposite of the man’s chair, lean back, and take out a cigarette. Then Michelle Moreau watched the sleeping man.

[G]

"What do you think it'll be like up there? Maybe it's haunted! Maybe there'll be..."
"Please, just five minutes of silence, Kayli. Please," Alys rubbed a hand against her forehead, frowning at the throbbing ache that had sprung up there about five minutes after she'd gotten into Kayli's car. Sure, it was nice of the girl to give her a lift, but did she ever shut the fuck up?
"Sorry," Kayli babbled on, "I'm just excited. Do you think there really is treasure up there? I wonder if you can still see the places those people were killed?"
"I'm sure the rooms haven't moved around, Kayli."
Alys refrained from yelling at the girl. It wasn't her fault she had this damn migraine. Well, it sorta was.
"Do you think it'll be dangerous?"
"Nah. Sam'll look out for me, won't you love?"
Kayli gave Alys an odd look, and Alys threw a cold, dagger filled stare back at her.
"What? Don't you believe in life after death, or what? It's just poof, and you're gone, like a fucking candle? I don't think so."
She stared out the window in an angry huff, and stayed that way until they reached the gates of the old Manor. She ignored Kayli's request for her to open them, so the other girl got out, and spent a few minutes heaving and tugging at one huge iron gate, attempting to open it. With no success at all.
She trudged back to the car, puffing and panting, and Alys giggled a little at her bright red face.
"We'll have to leave the car here," Kayli said with a frown, and Alys nodded, resuming her cold stare as they began the silent walk up the drive. It was raining a little, something Alys, believe it or not, would have noticed without Kayli pointing it out.
After several weak attempts to start conversation, Kayli put a hand on Alys' shoulder, stopping her.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to upset you. I'm really sorry... friends?"
"Whatever," Alys sighed, and they walked together to the door, Kayli standing motionless, hesitating at the door. Alys pushed past her with another sigh, trudging up the hall, her boots setting off a dull echo through the hall. When they reached the first room, a lounge room of sorts, decked out with ancient looking couches and tables and chairs, the carpets still spread on the floor. There were two people inhabiting the room already, one, a young woman with dark hair, smoking a cigarette, her eyes on the other, a boy who appeared to be.. asleep.
"Hey!" Kayli burst out loudly, appearing behind Alys in the room, the redhead giving her the order to shush before she noticed the rooms' sleeping occupant.
"Oh.. hey," she repeated more quietly, Alys shaking her head and nodding a hello to the woman who'd arrived before them, before taking a seat on one of the couches.
"I'm Alys," she introduced herself in a quiet voice, "And this.." she sighed a third time as the other girl sat beside her on the couch, "is Kayli."

[Merry]

“Dammit” she cursed under her breath for what felt like the tenth time in as many minutes, banging her hands on the steering wheel in frustration. “A Flat? Are you serious? Who gets a flat out here, the middle of freakin no where!” she felt like screaming, not that it would do any good, as she was quite alone and had been for awhile now.

She had been cruising along, the small country road, her mind a million miles away to the thoughts of the manor. Where to set up the best camera angles, best places to put equipment for the lighting, wondering at the lighting inside, sporadic, random images of where the bodies had been found and in what manner. The police photos, although, black and white given the period where uncharacteristically brutal. Her mind kept drawing back to the horrific images that had haunted her for months now. When suddenly the car had lurched hard to the left with a loud bang, almost taking her off the road, her tire had completely blown out. She hadn’t even seen anything in the road, at all.

With a mental shake she moved herself back out of the car, staring once more at the ruined tire on the front of the car. The unrealistic thought, a small hope, that maybe it wasn’t as bad as she had originally seen, and would be drivable, crushed back into reality in an instant, the tire was a jagged mess. Utterly destroyed.

Slamming the car door shut, she sighed heading to the back of the vehicle, to the open truck. Lifting it wide open she peered inside, knowing that even if she had a spare, it would be a miracle that she could change it. She was stuck, waiting for someone, anyone, that would be able to help her out. Leaving the trunk wide open, she leaned against the side of the car, and waited. Watching as the sun sank lower in the sky until it started to rain. "Great" she cursed again.

[Pastel Apathy]

The steady beat of Deadmau5 vibrated the walls of a 1989 blue Camaro RS Specs, while a lone female sat in the front seat of the old car. Her fingers tapped out the rhythm along the steering wheel in time with the music. Keeping her eyes on the road, she reached down for the can of Dr. Pepper that sit in the cup holder. She took a long swig from it, feeling only slightly refreshed, and set it back into it's holder. As the song came to an end, the girl went to turn on the heat. Suddenly, the rhythm of the beat went from typical deadmau5, to the heavy accelerated beat of Avenged Sevenfold.

Humming along to the song instead of attempting to sing along, the girl turned off the old forgotten highway, and onto a dirt road. The steady hum of the car's engine laid way for a new note to be added to the song, the sound soft in the interior of the car. Not so long after the change of song, a light drizzle started leaking out of the angry clouds. Small raindrops dotted the windshield here and there, but it light enough that the wiper blades didn't need to be activated. A small ways up from where the car had turned, the girl noticed a woman leaning against the side of her car, out in the rain.

Slowing to a halt on the side of the road, the girl unbuckled herself. She took her can of pop, cut the engine, opened the door, and got out. She was in bright, multicolored converse, her socks bunched around her ankles, and a dress with thin straps to hold it up. Most people would have looked at her oddly for her way of choosing to dress that day, but the girl didn't care. She did as she wanted, when she wanted, and how she wanted. A small swig later, the girl was coming up beside the brightly haired girl. A small cough, followed by a small little Ah-Hem, was in order, before the the girl introduced herself. "Hey. The names Andrea. Most know me as Andy. You look like you're uh, having trouble there with your car. I don't know if you're heading in the direction I am, but if you are, I could give you a lift maybe?" Her voice was low for a girl, slightly husky, but yet like velvet.

Andy was heading toward Mirnon Manor, though she didn't know if the other woman was heading there too. All that Andy knew was that a group of people were going up to the manor to spend the night in the old house, seeing as it was the anniversary of the deaths that had occurred. Personally, Andy didn't care about the deaths, nor if the house was haunted or some other shit like that. All she really cared about was spending the night in the house. Mirnon manor had always been a sort of odd fascination to her, and she was ecstatic about getting to finally spend the night there. Waiting upon the response of the only other person, Andy gave a slight sigh and looked up at the sky. The rain was now coming down harder, and the sky was getting darker by the minute practically. "I don't know if you're going to the manor, but it's just a little ways up the road. If you'd like, you can come with me, and spend the night there until someone can get your car towed and repaired."

[Xanthuss]

Shax swept swiftly through the lanes leading to Mirnon Manor, on his black and red Harley Davidson motorcycle. The engine revved as he drove through the ornate and rusted Iron gates that framed the driveaway leading to the Manor.

He brought his bike to a stop, and kicked from the stand, before getting off and unhooking his bag from the back of his bike. He hadn't brought much, just a spare set of clothes and a handgun, so it all fitted in to the small black knapsack he now had swinging over his shoulder.

He turned to the Manor, and walked up to the doors. He pushed them open, barely noticing they were unlocked, and stepped in to the entrance hall.
"Hello? Anyone in here?" He called out; he noticed at that minute a man sleeping in a chair and a woman leaning against the wall smoking, plus two other women, one of who never seemed to stop talking. "Hello, I'm Shax." He said, introducing himself to them. He set his bag down on a coffee table, and studied the people.

"Who are you all?" Shax asked softly, smiling sweetly. He was being quiet because of the sleeping man.

[Alice]

A drag of smoke, and the room was beginning to become cloudy with the secondhand fume. The nicotine;bliss.

Her eyelids were beginning to give out. Slowly, but gradually, they slid closed. The eyes appreciated the moment of relaxation, after stressing for more than twenty-four hours without a single shuteye. Alas, it was not meant to be, for the next pair arrived.

Their voices and the echoes of their shoes arrived before their bodies. Michelle's eyes fluttered open - it took an effort to keep them that way. Soon after, the words found their bodies, and two girls - a redhead and a brunette - entered the room. The redhead had freckles and warm, brown eyes. She wore girly clothing. The brunette, on the other hand, had more of a tomboyish taste.

The brunette was outspoken and rather childish. She bordered on waking the sleeping man when the redhead stopped the other female. She had better taste and introduced herself in a more orderly fashion. Alys and Kayli.

"Michelle," she said, raising the cigarette to her lips, "Moreau." There was eye contact. She studied them.

A few seconds passed before the next one arrived with a loud "Hello, anyone here?" Then, a blonde young man entered. His eyes were dark brown. He was dressed for action and carried a small knapsack. He studied them and revealed his name, Shax.

Moreau met his eyes and held them there. "A pleasure to meet you, Shax," she spoke with stern eyes, "I am Michelle." She took another drag of smoke.

Even the presence of these people didn't cure the manor of its agony. Michelle noticed.

[G]

Alys smiled slightly as Michelle introduced herself, her eyes scanning the room. More than a little creepy, though there was no physical objects in the room to make it so. It was just the atmosphere, and the memories the place held, she supposed.
Kayli seemed not to notice, babbling on, seemingly content with the fact that she had more people now to talk at, even if one of them was asleep.
The sound of a motorbike engine could be heard in the background, somehow removed from the loud, echoing noises inside the manor. Somehow the sound of her footsteps had seemed intrusive in the silence.
"Hello, Anyone here?" a male voice echoed through the hall, and a blonde man appeared, shouldering a backpack. He placed it on the coffee table, introducing himself as Shax.
"Who are you all?" he asked with a smile, and Michelle introduced herself. Alys looked again at the young woman, who'd been silent the whole time but for her introductions, smoking her cigarette. Her eyes were searching, studying, but somehow not invasive.
"I'm Alys," she smiled at the newcomer, who seemed more open than the woman, smiling casually down at them. He appeared and acted friendly enough, but Alys, as ever, maintained her inward separation from the rest of the group.
"Hi there, I'm Kayli," Kayli piped up once more, she had barely stopped speaking long enough for Shax's introduction, and it seemed she would continue now, "Isn't it spooky here! Have you all heard.." she paused for dramatic effect, though there were few who hadn't heard the story, "about the treasure! It's hidden somewhere in the manor, left behind when Lord Mirnon killed himself!
Some people say that butler of his still haunts the place. They never found him, you know. He just dissapeared."
Alys sighed. It was going to be a long night.
She made a point to herself to remove Kayli from where she seemed to have attached herself to Alys' hip as soon as possible, or this headache would never fade.
"Anyone have an aspirin?" she asked, politely but loud enough to be heard over Kayli's jabbering.

[Xanthuss]

"Is that why your here Kayli? To get the treasure." Shax said, "Is anyone else due to turn up?" Shax said.
Then, not waiting to get a reply Shax spoke again. "I think I'm going to go explore the Manor." He picked up his bag, and discreetly pulled the handgun he had pack out, and slipped it in to his pocket.

He turned and left the room, and headed for the stairs. He mounted them, and pulled his gun out of his pocket as he headed towards the second story.
Shax wasn't a superstitious person, but this Manor was a bit creepy even for him. The stairs creaked under his feet and when he put his hand on the banister a cloud of dust rose from it. Coughing and hacking Shax finally reached the second floor.

He continued holding his gun, ready to use it, as he crossed the dusty hall.
He noticed the ajar door of the Master bedroom, and he turned to inspect. He pushed open the door with one hand and then he stepped in to the room. The sight that greeted him was horrifying. He dropped the gun, letting it clatter to the floor, and back-pedalled quickly. He crashed in to antique dressed, and it teetered sideways, and then crashed the ground with a bang. The mirror it had housed shattered and ornaments scattered across the carpet, the expensive pottery breaking noisily.

"Oh my god!" He uttered, as he and pulled himself from the wreckage of the dresser. He turned and grabbed his gun, ignoring the fact that a piece of glass had sliced his wrist open, and quickly ran back to the staircase. He skipped as many steps as he could, but he was running to fast and he slipped and tumbled in to a heap at the bottom of the staircase, smashing in to a side table and making it tip over, smashing the expensive vase that had been on it.
"Dead... Girl... In... Master... Bedroom." Shax gasped to the occupants of the living room, before blacking out from the shock and lose of blood.

[G]

"Wha.." even Kayli was struck silent for a moment as Shax tumbled down the steps, and Alys jumped out of her seat.
"What the fuck!"
The blonde boy crashed into a side table, the vase sitting on it smashing on the floor, the sound echoing through the Manor's large rooms.
"Dead... Girl... In... Master... Bedroom." he managed to pant, before fainting dead away on the ground, blood trickling from a gash on his wrist.
"Holy fucking christ!" Kayli yelled, "What the.. what the hell is going on, oh my god! Did you hear what he just said.. I... what..."
She seemed to have reverted to some sort of gibbering madness at the scene she'd just seen, and proceeded to just sit in her chair, rocking back and forth, meaningless half sentences still spilling from her mouth.
"Alright, calm the fuck down, Kayli!" Alys yelled, surprising herself at the volume of her voice. Mercifully the other girl was struck dumb at hearing Alys yell. She went to kneel by Shax, going into auto-pilot as she ripped a long strip from the bottom of her dress, starting to wrap it around the boys' wrist. The material was far too thin to be of any use, and the blood soaked through it almost immediately. She looked around frantically, hopelessly for a moment, then pulled off one of the boys shoes, taking his sock and holding it against the gash then re-wrapping the material around it tightly, leaving both ends free to be tied together.
"Does anyone know first aid, or anything?" she asked, trying not to think about what Shax had said before he passed out. Oh yes, she'd heard it.
Her brain just couldn't comprehend it.
"What the hell is going on, Sam?" Alys asked the empty air, "He didn't just say that, did he? I misheard, or something. I was panicked. It's not possible, is it?"
She turned her eyes to the stairs, horror and confusion showing in her eyes as she thought about what might lie at the other end of them.

Slowly she stood, and began to pace back and forth, her worried eyes flickering between the boy on the floor and the stairs.

[Merry]

Morgan had all but given up on anyone coming along the road. With her cell phone all but useless, and the flat tire it was looking pretty hopeless. The debate which now consumed her thoughts, of course, being, the walk back to town versus the walk to the Manor. How far was it back? How much further did she have to go? Trying to recall how long she had driven out of the town, was quickly becoming hopeless as she had not been paying attention when she was driving, what so ever. So the question still remained, which walk would be best in the now encroaching darkness. Either way, it wasn’t going to be enjoyable.

She felt her hopes lift significantly hearing the distinct sound of a car approaching. The smile on her face was one of pure joy and relief when a girl stepped out, introduced herself and offered her a ride. “Oh Thank you so very much” she replied happily, “I’m Morgan and I am most certainly going to the Manor, or at least I was, till my tire blew out” she gestured toward the ruined tired absently.

The disaster now quickly forgotten in the relief of being rescued. “With zero cell service out here, I’ve been stuck, waiting for someone, anyone to come along!” smiling brightly. “I’ve got some equipment with me, if you can pop your trunk? I’ll throw it in, and we can go” she replied. “I had really hoped to be there by now, to set up, you know? But that didn’t quite work out so well” she chatted on cheerfully, grabbing her large duffle bag of camera and recording equipment, heading toward the other car. Tossing the bag into the truck and closing it with a swift push.

Slipping into the front seat, “I really, really appreciate this” she finished, smiling at Andy, wiping the rain from her face. “You have no idea!” her features still in a large smile, leaning back into the seat comfortably.

[Kaiosuke]

Shayne sped down the dark road passing a car picking a young lady up. "I can't believe I am fucking late." He said as he sharply turned a corner. Finally he pulled up into the driveway of a large manor and through the car in park. He jumped out of the car and dropped his briefcase. Cursing he picked it up and lit a cigarette.

Shayne hurried along up the stairs to the magnificent manor. He came up to the door and pounded the knocker. "Hello? Anybody there?" He called out. He looked around the grounds waiting for somebody to come to the door. It was creepy and dark and pleased him. He enjoyed dark and eerie things and felt attuned to it.

He peered back to the his Lamborghini and realized he forgot to activate the alarm on it. "Shit." He said as he ran through the rain to lock the doors and set the car alarm. He ran back up to the door and banged on it again.

[Merry]

Morgan couldn't stop herself from the light chatter the entire way down the road to the Manor. She grinned sheepishly at the driver, Andy, and didn't let the girl get a word in edgewise, she was sure of it. She knew it was her nerves. This idea or project she had cooked up was the break she needed to get into the journalist business, she was depending on it. It would be everything for her if this worked out. The idea of spending countless hours in the manor filming was much more appealing to her than reading copyright which is what she had been doing for the past few months. She needed this, and need it badly.

The last few comments she had been about to utter, quickly lost in her throat, as they turned around the last bend the manor came into view. It was a dark and imposing structure in the waning light. The rain now coming down quite steadily gave the entire setting a most striking presence. She was in awe at the sheer size of the building, having not recalled it being so impressive during her childhood, and in her research to this point.

Quickly grabbing her things, she called “Let’s go” to Andy. In her haste and excitement of finally being there, she didn’t even wait to see if the girl replied. Dashing through the rain to the door, she almost ran smack into someone standing at the door in the darkness.

“oh!” she said catching her breath, “I didn’t see you there in the dark” shaking the rain off herself without much success. She was soaked. “Did you try the knob?” she asked. Reaching out with her free hand, she grabbed the large ornate handle, and turning it quite easily, she pushed the door open wide, and stepped inside.

[Alice]

Shax, unconscious and bleeding. Alys, attempting first-aid - anything - to help the man, to keep him present in this world. And Kayli... a curled up ball of a psychotic mess.

Chaos had consumed in less than an hour of their presence in the manor. After the events, it wasn't very challenging to accept the inevitable fact of Mirnon Manor being cursed.

Michelle, her composure unscathed in spite of her thoughts, advanced to the wounded young man's side, and tied together the two free ends of the fabric firmly. What was left of the lifeless cigarette was dropped on the table behind Shax. Alys had now proceeded to pace around the hall and keep a constant dialogue with an invisible character named "Sam". Michelle did not feel the need to ask.

Grabbing the man's shoulders, she leaned him forward just enough to free him of the backpack strapped to his back. She unzipped it and rummaged through the belongings, disappointed to find no trace of a first-aid kit. Shax had just seemed like the type of person to carry that kind of stuff around.

Fortunately, there were a spare set of clothes, which she presumed he would change into upon regaining consciousness. She placed the clothes by his side, picked up and ripped apart the pillow that had previously rested on the couch, and used the fabric to clean off some of the blood from his face and torso. Due to him tumbling down the steps and crashing headfirst into the table, there was now a path of crimson trickling down both sides of his face and onto his chest.

Even after finishing, there were light red smudges.

Now, with nothing to occupy her, Michelle finally remembered about what she had refused to think about earlier. "Dead... Girl... In... Master... Bedroom."

The female's thoughts were cut short when a loud knock echoed down the hall. Shortly after, the door handle turned, revealing two soaked people.

[G]

Alys stopped suddenly mid-step as a loud knock echoed down the hallway, quickly followed by the arrival of a drenched woman holding a few heavy looking bags and completely drenched from the rain she hadn't noticed had begun outside.
She concentrated on her breathing for a moment, in and out, in and out, till her heart began to slow its racing and quieted somewhat.
"Who are you?" she demanded, rude in her exasperation, not noticing the other figure in the doorway.
She cast another glance at the unconscious Shax, now with fresh clothes laid beside him, and somewhat absentmindedly moved to grab a cushion off the couch, placing it behind his head a little gingerly.
"Should we... should we just leave him there?" her voice was scared, withdrawn, as though there was a part of her that wasn't sure it should speak at all.
She looked from the newcomer back to Shax's body, then to the stairs, finally collapsing in the closest armchair.
"Do you think we should go up there?"

[Merry]

Morgan pushed her hood back, slowly shaking the water from her fingers. Dropping her bags with a soft thud on the carpeting of the area, wondering at the snapped greeting. "Hi... I'm Morgan. I had some car....trouble" she started to explain in response, as she started to take in the inhabitants of the room.

Suddenly her eyes caught sight of the unconscious man laying on the floor, she cried out "Oh no" quickly stepping forward, to see if she could help at all. "What happened to him!? Did he fall down the stairs?" she said to the girl placing a pillow under his head.

Then stopping before she got to close, "Is that blood?" she gasped, looking at the one closest to him, wondering what she had gotten herself into, suddenly feeling a little faint.

[TheBaron]

James is dreaming. Walking forward he digs in his pants pocket for his cigarettes and his scuffed and dented zippo lighter. James stops and pulls a cigarette out and brings it up to his lips. Using his left hand protects the flame from the non existent wind he lights the cigarette. He takes a drag as he slides the zippo back into his pocket. He exhales smoke and takes the cigarette from his lips and leaves it to dangle in his hand. "What a pain." His voice echoes through out the swirling grey space and a voice answered back.

"You know your world is filled with hate and neither you nor I can see it. All we can see is how it manifests it self in physical beings. They lie, they cheat, and they hurt and murder each other. You are no different from them and you know it. You will live your life and you will hurt those around you whether you want to or not." The voice snakes out of the mist and seems to wrap around James. It is followed by a figure who emerges out of the shadows of the grey swirling mist. He is wearing a robe of pitch black with a crown of twisted metal. From his back springs broken black wings that drip blood wherever he steps. James looks at him nonchalantly, "Hello Death." Out of the skull that is Death's head a voice arises and almost seemed tangible as it swirled around James. "You know what I say is true you know from your past and you will know in your future. So what do you say James." James just nodded.

"I think you need a smoke," he says.
Death remains still then says, "You truly are a strange man. Now wake there are things you must be awake for." James is suddenly in blackness and hears frantic voices around him. Something must going on for all this panic to ensue. He slowly opens his eyes in time and everything snaps into focus. Most everyone is huddled around a crumpled figure at the bottom of the stairs who is bleeding.

"Well that's not good. Not good at all." Standing up he moves over to the wall and pulls a cigarette out of his pocket and lights it taking a drag. It will probably be best if I stay out of this. He thinks to himself. He stands there watching and wait for something else to happen.

[Sy23]

"Thanks, mate," said Ralph "Mel" Davies, jumping down from the truck. The driver would be turning onto the main street soon, and wasn't supposed to be carrying passengers, had refused to carry him any further.

Mel landed lithely, like a cat, taking the impact on the soles of his croc-skin boots. Damn it, it was beginning to rain. For the hundredth time, he cursed himself for a fool.

He'd been in clover, with Genevieve. She'd loved him, adored him, would do anything for him. He'd been sitting pretty all right, enjoying the good life. It was, after all, just as easy to fall in love with a rich woman as a poor one.

If only she hadn't come home an hour early and caught him in bed with her maid. Freaking women - so unpredictable. It hadn't even been his fault he was horizontal jogging with Solange anyway - the poor thing had virtually begged him, was so alone, in a strange land, her boyfriend had written from Belgium and dumped her... she'd looked so sad, so helpless, so alone...

So they'd been a blazing row, and since he'd known there was no retrieving the situation anyway, had concocted a story that Solange had been taken sick and lie on the bed, and that he'd taken advantage while she was asleep. He doubted Genevieve had been fooled, but it had enabled her to save face enough not to sack the Belgian girl. The grateful look she'd given him as he'd left had been reward enough.

Still, that was another dream over the dam, and he was back to square one on the snakes-and-ladders board we call life! No money to speak of, no clothes - Genevieve had said he might take the gifts and clothes she's brought him while they were together, but there was no way his pride was going to let him - and nowhere to stay the night.

And now this bloody rain!

He was sure if he'd pleaded, cajoled, she might have let him stay. But they'd been no way he was going to do that. Whatever he might have been, there was a code. He accepted his exile from the Eden of Genevieve's apartment had been deserved.

So here he was, in a place that if it wasn't the middle of nowhere, was at least in the grand final. Now and then a car or bike passed him, but no-one looked like stopping. He needed to get back on his feet fast. Get a few changes of clothes, some money.

But first of all, a place to sleep. He was footsore, tired, hungry. He'd have killed for a cigar.

Hell, he'd have killed for a coffee.

He saw the lights in the distance, and racked his brains, trying to recall the geography of the place. What was the name of that place - something alliterative. Marston Manor? NO, that wasn't it. Mildew Manor? M... something like -

Mirnon! That was it. It looked scary, even in the distance. Especially from the rear, where it didn't have the advantage of the elaborate facade. These large stately hosues are never photographed form the rear, he remembered. Even when you see one on TV in a detective drama, you only ever see the front.

And even more so when he remembered what he'd read in the tabloids - the dreadful murder. He refused to think about that.

For, right now, it was the only game in town.

The place had a million windows. If he couldn't find at least one that was springable, he wasn't the artist he thought he was. And once inside -

Well. once you're inside anywhere, he thought, the world's your mollusk!

A quarter of an hour's walking took him up to the house, where a scullery window yielded to his attentions. as Genevieve - in a different context - had yielded just over a year before. Hopefully, the place was deserted - there didn't seem to be the usual servants' cars parked outside, and the coal bin was empty. No signs of life.

He landed with the grace of a cat - though admittedly, a mangy, disreputable alley-cat - and smiled.

And then, he heard the sounds of consternation, coming from somewhere inside the main part of the house.

[G]

Alys' question went unanswered in the chaos as a new woman entered the room, looking horrified at the scene she'd walked in on.
"Is that blood?" the newcomer said in a tone that suggested she was hoping someone would say it was tomato sauce, and Alys looked to Kayli, hoping for some support, or at least a response, from the closest thing she had to a friend in this place.

The closest thing she had to a friend in this place was still gibbering and now crying in her armchair, her arms over her face in an ' i can't see it, it doesn't exist ' defensive move, rocking back and forth like a crazy person.
The young man who'd been, amazingly, still sleeping up until this point had retreated to the far wall, lit a cigarette and commenced watching the scene nervously.
"No help there, then," Alys muttered, looking back to the scene and taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. She approached the boy.. Shax, he'd said his name was, she kept forgetting, which she supposed was excusable in the circumstances, and Michelle beside him, who'd cleaned him up somewhat.
Turning to the newcomer, she introduced herself, thinking that being in this kind of situation would be doubly as horrible if you didn't know anyone there.
"He went upstairs to take a look around," she told the woman, "and... next thing we know he comes crashing down the stairs, bleeding and says there's a dead... there's a girl, in the bedroom.
Michelle," she asked the only other person who'd taken action when this whole thing happened, "Do you think we should go up there?"

[Xanthuss]

Shax coughed slightly and opened his eyes. He held a hand to his head as a splitting pain sliced through his brain, and looked around, trying to work out what had happened.
His mind was a blank from after he had found the girl till now, and he had no idea why he was laying at the bottom of a staircase, surrounded by people and destroyed furniture.

"What happened?" He croaked, sitting up slightly and wondering what had happened, not for the first time. "The girl? Did anyone go up there?" Shax said, gasping slightly and counting the people.
"I don't remember anything after I found her..." He said, trailing off.

He finally managed to sit up properly, without almost passing out from the splitting pain in his head, and looked down at his blood covered T-shirt. "Did I really bleed that much?" Shax said, staring at the blood.
He tried to recall the scene in the Master Bedroom properly, but he could not. "Be careful if anyone goes up there, my gun is laying around somewhere." He said, suddenly noticing that it was gone.

[Kaiosuke]

Shayne stood there taking the scene in. The man on the floor bloody. His fellow newcomer getting faint at the sight of blood. A woman helping the bleeding man. A man leaning against a wall smoking. A woman walked up and began talking.

A dead girl? Fell down the stairs? Interesting. Another man's gun was missing. There was talk of going up stairs. Shayne felt confused and had to hold his head for a second to discern everything. He lit his own Pall Mall Menthol, and after a couple puffs he managed to speak up. "My name is Shayne and will go with you upstairs. I know martial arts and it would be helpful if there is anybody up there."

[Sy23]

Mel knew he'd made a mistake approaching the gloomy old pile from the rear. he'd thought it deserted, a nice, uninhabited refuge where he'd never be disturbed. If he'd seen the front of the house, he'd have known the place was far from uninhabited.

Still, as he'd already remarked to himself, he wasn't overburdened with alternatives.

And now, he could hear frantic chattering, as people all spoke at once. This was not just some dinner party. Something serious, something quite devastating, had happened.

Time spent on reconnaissance is never wasted, he thought, creeping silently to a point just outside the room where the people had gathered. He crouched down, trying to get as good a view as he could. There seemed to be a crowd of people - with some stunning women among them (trust him to notice that) gathered around a person who was prostrate on the floor, and was now being helped up with solicitous attention.

What on earth was going on? Was this some kind of weird experiment? A seance? A fashion-shoot?

His last guess was given further support when another woman appeared at the door. This time, his libido really did give a bump. This one wasn't just pretty, she was like a goddess on estrogen! He'd always been a sucker for redheads, and this one fit the bill all right.

And she was festooned with some kind of sound equipment - maybe the place had been turned into a club, and she was the DJ - but she had a camera there, too. And she was dripping wet. Well, if it was a fashion shoot, it must have been kind of deflating to the models' egos that the photographer was as pretty as they were!

He watched, fascinated. There was plenty of evidence to form a conclusion as to what was going on, all of it contradictory. He kept as still as he could, and listened, not even breathing.

And he kept too still. For the passing rat, a species that avoids humans when it can, must have taken him for a piece of furniture. It ran over his foot, and then made a sudden dart to scurry up his leg!

Had he been looking down he'd have seen what it was, and forced himself to keep still. As it was, he reacted before he'd had time to think. He felt something nasty on his leg, kicked out - and the rat shot away from his shin, like a soccer-ball in a penalty-shoot, and sailed into the room - right among the knot of people that had gathered. The impetus of his kick carried him forward, out of cover, into the room itself, breaking his cover.

There was only one thing to be said in such circumstances, and he said it aloud. What the word was can probably be guessed at.

[Alice]

People started appearing from entrances all around the house like insects. Two dripping individuals came in the door, one crashed through the window, the unconscious one came to...

For an organized perfectionist who preferred to be on top of things, the recent occurrences were definitely proving to be too much for Michelle Moreau. There were too many things that she could turn her attention to, too many things to take care of. Her eyes first rested on the window crasher, then the two in the doorway, and finally on Alys. The rest were swept aside.

The already cool room turned chilly due to the cold breeze entering from the open/crashed window. A few droplets of rain made their way inside, also.

So, what did she do?

Ignoring the newcomers and overall everyone, Michelle turned on her heel and briskly walked up the stairs of the manor, headed to the master bedroom to uncover the huge mystery. Michelle had never been one to be content with being predictable, anyway.

Her heels sounded the same as they had on her first steps into the house, loud and obnoxious in the surrounding quiet that had now settled over the bodies of the manor.

Scratch that. "Bodies" made it sound like...

[G]

Alys' eyes flickered between the rapidly growing group of people as Shax woke suddenly, talking about the girl and a gun, and one of the newcomers volunteered to accompany someone upstairs, almost proudly mentioning that he knew martial arts. Shayne, he introduced himself, but Alys only glanced at him briefly before her attention was called elsewhere as Michelle strode quickly up the stairs without warning. Alys followed close behind her, ignoring a whimper of a question from Kayli about where she was going.
"This is all getting a little bit over the top for me, Sam," she muttered as she tailed the other woman upstairs, where she turned toward the now wide-flung door of the bedroom.
Alys could see the bed from where she stood, and on it..
Her jaw dropped, and without thought, moved past Michelle and into the doorway of the bedroom. The light was on, that was strange, unless Shax had turned it on. It seemed unlikely, considering that it had been dusk when he ascended the stairs and there had been light enough to see what there was to be seen.
So the light had been on before, or..
"Or there's someone in the house," Alys thought aloud. With nothing more to distract her, or the distraction proving more terrifying than what was in front of her, Alys turned her attention to the bed. The girl who lay there seemed to stare back, her eyes frozen in their last, fearful gaze. She stared into the dead girls' eyes as if petrified while several long minutes passed, and then turned suddenly away, stepping backward as she did so to distance herself from the bed.
A thousand terrified thoughts flew through her brain, focusing on none and fearing all, and for the present moment all she could do was slide into a sitting position on the floor, with her back against the wall, covering her face with her hands and trying desperately not to think.
"Sammy, what the fuck is going on?" she asked the air, her voice muffled by her hands.

[Merry]

Morgan bent down near the newly revived Shax, "You did bleed alot" she said in response, "they said you fell down the stairs" motioning to the others in the room, watching as a few of them headed up stairs.

"Did you say you saw a ... dead girl?" She whispered to him, her mind already reeling from the news story she had apparently stumbled across. Pulling her bag, grabbing her camera out quickly. "Mind if I take your picture?" she smiled, attempting to brush it off casually that she just happened to have her camera at the ready. "And why did you have a gun?" she asked quickly, snapping of a few shots of him, the blood, his shirt. No matter what happened, she was taking pictures of it all.

[Sy23]

Mel heaved a massive sigh of relief, and it was all he could do to keep it under his breath. No-one seemed to be questioning his presence - it obviously wasn't a private party, where everyone knew everyone else. He skirted the fringes of the crowd, blending in, trying to get a handle on the situation. It was almost as if everyone here was a stranger, that they'd been assembled by some outside party. Well, that suited him fine.

He watched the stunning redhead, as she bent over taking pictures of the man - man, hell, he was little more than a boy - lying on the floor. He tried not to obviously stare at her rear, but - well, she was bending, and he was behind her, and it was hard not to look... He watched her snap away, still wondering what all the other weird equipment was. Well, he guessed he'd find out if he waited long enough. He wondered how she managed, with her hair getting in the way like that - but it took away her air of absolute perfection, and was kind of sweet, for all that.

He watched the other two women as they climbed the stairs. Presumably the first woman, the haughty-looking one, was called "Samantha," since the other had addressed her as "Sam". The one following looked a sweet thing, a healthy outdoor type. Well, he wasn't going to call attention to himself by going up too.

On the other hand, he could hardly lurk around saying nothing. That would call more attention to himself than speaking. It looked suspicious. The only way to blend in in places where you weren't supposed to be, he knew, was act totally confidently, as if you had every right to be there.

He cleared his throat, and addressed the photographer. "Urm, are you planning to use a fill-in flash there," he asked. "It's just with the light here, you might be losing detail."

Now was the moment, If someone rounded on him, said "Who the ____ are you," he was in trouble. Well, he guessed he'd have to rely on his wits to talk himself out of it, if so.

He waited for whatever response would come.

[Alanoth]

Casamir walked in the front door to some odd sights. First, there was a panicked looking woman sitting on a chair, and second there was something on the stairs. Approaching, Casamir thought it might be a neat rug, but it wasn't. Instead, there was a body on the floor. Casamir began to panic, this place was more than he'd bargained for. He ran back across the hallway to the front door, pale and in need to leave. The door was locked and wouldn't budgeat all. He pulled out his comb with trembling fingers and began to set his hair, that usually calmed him down. It wasn't working, so he screamed a scream of pure terror,

"Let me out of here! This place is psychotic! I want out! LET! ME! OOOOOOOOOOUT!"

[G]

Kayli looked up from her hands for the first time since all the chaos had begun, her eyes travelling immediately to the second of the two men who'd just entered, approached them, then suddenly turned and run for the front door, which he'd just entered, only to find it locked.
"What the hell..." Kayli muttered, and the usually rather slow-moving cogs in her brain began to tick along at a decent pace, arriving soon at what some people would see as the rather obvious conclusion that excluding the possibilities of the house being haunted, or possessed and able to lock it's own doors, someone had locked the front door.

...and that was it. Look, give the brain a break, alright? It tried very hard. "Who are you?" she asked the man, rather loudly or he'd hardly hear her over his own racket, let alone what everyone else is doing. Turning to the first man who'd entered, she posed the question again.
In the midst of all this lunacy, she couldn't think what to say but, "hi, I'm Kayli."
-
Alys looked up from her hands, turning to Michelle, who still stood in the hall. Alys didn't know if she had seen what was in there or not.
"Wh..what do we do now? Call the police?"

[Alanoth]

Casmir stopped pounding and screaming and turned around panting. He now took in all of the other people in the hall. There were three women and another man, one of the women was asking his name.

"My...name's...Casamir Lirian. Pleasure...to meet...you...I think."

Casamir found the situation still odd even though one of the women identified herself as Kayli. He pulled out his comb and worked on his hair, hoping to relieve the stress. After five minutes, he had mustered the courage to start asking questions.

"Alright, what are the rest of your names? Why is there a dead body? What is up with this door? I came here as part of a dare, I didn't agree to the possibility of dying. I mean yeah, I'm late, but why should I die?"

[Sy23]

"Hi Kayli," said Mel. "Mel Davies... and, have you any idea what's going on?"

He indicated the man who had been pounding on the door, who had introduced himself as Casamir. The lunatic was now combing his hair and spouting out the sort of questions he'd have liked to have asked himself. "Why is the door locked, and who did it?" would normally have been good starting points. But this time "Did someone say something about a dead body?" seemed even more important.

He looked back at Kayli. At Casamir. Shook his head. neither seemed inclined to dispel the cirrus-clouds of his ignorance.

He turned towards the photographer, who at least seemed to have some idea of what she was doing. Apart from the rather cold looking woman who'd led the way up the stairs, she seemed the best bet.

"You didn't lock that door when you came in, did you?"

[Merry]

Morgan turned to see who was so interested in her photo taking, to respond to his question, when one of the attendee's to this little get together started pounding on the front door in apparent panic. Tilting her head past the newcomer, she watched as he started screaming about getting out.

"You didn't lock that door when you came in, did you?" brought her back to the man, Mel that had addressed her again, she stood up quickly, the photography momentarily forgotten, "Um... no” she shook her head in response, “I didn't lock the door, I just walked in. Unless it locks when you close it, but it should still open, we are after all inside" she laughed a bit, more out of nervousness than anything else. Slipping her camera around her neck, she moved toward the door throwing a casual glance at the panicked man on her way by, determined to try the door first hand.

Rattling the door hard, pulling and double checking any sort of locking mechanism, which apparently the door didn't even have. "It doesn't even have a lock? How the hell could.... ." she left off the obvious, not wanting anyone else to panic. Turning back to the group. "He's right, it won't open, must be stuck or something" she finished, keeping her voice light, as if it were no big deal.

“Maybe we should all stick together” her eyes glancing upstairs to where the others had gone off to. “Some one’s trying to play a trick on us or something” she said, her eyes finding Mel’s again.

[Sy23]

Mel nodded, imperceptibly. The pretty woman was completely right - but acknowledging it too obviously could well have caused the room to panic. He thought about kicking the door to try to open it, but two things stopped him. The first was that it looked solid and heavy, and he'd probably break a foot and look a total fool in front of all these pretty women. The second was that if - as he (and, he guessed, the photographer) suspected, it had been locked deliberately, then whoever had locked them in wouldn't make it that easy to escape the trap.

He maneuvered the redhead out of earshot of the rest, and (suppressing an urge either to gaze into her eyes, or straighten her hair where it seemed to have got mussed) queried her further, in a low voice. "Do you think it's just a joke," he asked. "Or something more sinister?"

[Merry]

Trying to appear casual, so as to not alarm anyone else further to the door being impossible to open, she replied "Frankly, I have no idea" her voice close to a whisper.

"There have been so many crazy stories about this house over the years I wouldn't put it past anyone to be doing things deliberately to enhance the rumors. Drum up business or something. Who knows… " she left off, pondering their situation briefly.

Tilting her head in curiosity, "Why are you here, anyway?" she queried, "I'm Morgan, by the way, and I’m here to get to the bottom of all the rumors and figure out this insanity. Take pictures and prove this place to be the hoax that I know it must be.” Lifting her camera for emphasis, before letting it fall again around her neck, a bright smile on her lips.

“Although it does seem strange that he" motioning to the still groggy Shax "thinks he saw something upstairs" her voice emphasizing the word something, with a distinct implication that she didn't believe what he had claimed to have seen.

[Alanoth]

Casamir just let the ladies talk and stopped combing his hair for a while. It wasn't helping him, and he just wanted this nightmare to end. The women seemed to have forgotten him, so he shuffled over to a chair and sat down with his face in his hands. He couldn't believe it, he was in a house with people he didn't know, and with a murderer. Darn that loan shark! Why had Casamir taken up the dare? He decided to stop being scared and be a little braver, so he recomposed himself and stood.

"So, why are you guys here? I'm here because I need to pay off some school debts, by staying in the house for a whole night. Can I get your names too? I'd feel less suspiscious if I sort of knew you people."

[Alice]

She strode up the stairs only to pause in front of the door of the master bedroom. Shax had notified them of what was in there. Michelle had set eyes on more dead bodies throughout her life than would be considered ordinary. And every single time, she regretted ever making the decision to look. Of course, this time, the woman in there - if there was one - would be a complete stranger, but.. still dead. Did she really want to go in?

While she gathered her thoughts, Alys had already made her way inside the room. Her reaction had been enough to let Michelle know that whatever was in there wasn't something she would prefer to lay eyes on. Instead, she chose to wait outside of the door and listen. Alys was speaking to her "friend" again.

The other female had seemed to compose herself enough to walk up to Michelle and ask if the police should be informed. Good question.

Her brain said yes, her guts said no. What were the pros and cons of each situation? If the police came, everyone in the house would surely be listed as suspects, interrogated for an extended period of time, and even though it was the more logical choice, it would ruin the whole Mirnon experience. If they took no action to notify the police, nothing would happen and Mirnon Manor would still be "alive", in a sense. Most importantly, no one was getting hurt in either case - or what she thought - so the second option seemed to suit their conditions best. They could always call the police after figuring Mirnon out.

After a few minutes, Michelle responded. "No," was all she said. Looking back at the bedroom door with a grim expression, she added, "The question is, what do we tell the crowd downstairs?" Not everyone might be able to handle it.

Then she remembered something Alys had said earlier. "Did you say that there was someone else, assuming you don't mean anyone from downstairs?" she asked with a puzzled expression.

[G]

It took Alys a moment to catch on to what Michelle meant. Remembering, her eyes widened, and she stared at the girl for a moment, composing her thoughts.
"Yes, yes.. the light. Why is the bedroom light on? Unless someone turned it... " she trailed off, not wanting to articulate the thoughts in her mind.
"The others.." she thought for a moment, "Well, they already know she's up here, if they heard Shax. Maybe we should just.." she stepped backward a few paces, pulling the bedroom door closed, "Just tell them not to look."

Downstairs, Morgan and then newcomer, Mel, had gone off to one side and were speaking in hushed tones.
"So, why are you guys here? I'm here because I need to pay off some school debts, by staying in the house for a whole night. Can I get your names too? I'd feel less suspiscious if I sort of knew you people."
"I'm Kayli," Kayli responded to the other new guy, Casimir, he'd said his name was, question. She thought she might have already introduced herself, but just in case, "That's Shax, the one whose hurt. Morgan, over there talking to Mel," she sighed, stopping in the middle of her introductions. It was all too much.
"As for what's going on, I don't fucking know, no one knows! It's all just..." with that last word, Kayli burst into tears, her face falling to her hands once more.

[Alanoth]

Casamir's eyes widened a bit at the girl crying so suddenly. He then approached her and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Hey...hey...its okay. Its all okay, we're fine. I realize it must be hard, but as long as we try to figure this out we'll be fine."

She didn't stop right away, so he let her cry on his jacket. He made a mental note to clean the shoulder later, but didn't show signs of being concerned. He himself was too concerned with Kayli, he hated to see people cry, especially women. It always reminded him of the days when his family was poor and hs mother would cry because they didn't have any luxuries.

[Sy23]

Mel broke off his conversation with Morgan just long enough to watch Casamir. The guy seemed a neurotic type, but he couldn't help that. The fact that he'd gone off to try and comfort Kayli, even though he was going through the mill himself, raised him hugely in Mel's estimation. He turned back to Morgan, wondering how to answer her question. He thought of lying, but gained a distinct impression she'd se through anything he tried to foist off on her - as well as gorgeous, those eyes looked intelligent and knowing as well. He decided not to risk it.

"I guess I'm throwing myself on your mercy here," he admitted. "I'm here uninvited - I'm a trespasser, trying to stay dry. All I can say in my own defense is that I thought the place was empty - and I was desperate for a place to spend the night. I guess you have me by the short and curlies now," he shrugged.

"I can only hope you're as nice as you look, and give me a break. As for whatever's upstairs - well, my guess is Shax saw something! Somehow he doesn't look the type that'll jump at shadows, for all he's so young. OK, I know you don't believe in ghosts - but maybe we should assume that he saw something scary and be on our guard until we know more. There's a lot of things in this world that can freeze your blood, without dragging ghosts and demons and whatnot into the picture.

"And anyway," he smiled, shyly. "I can't really credit your position that supernatural things don't exist - not when you're obviously an angel, who's nipped down to slum among mortals for a while, and forgotten to disguise yourself."

Did I really say that corny line, he wondered. Well, it was too late, now. He tensed his face for the slap that would inevitably follow.

[Xanthuss]

Shax stood up groggily and put a hand against the wall to support himself. He turned and climbed the stairs again, coming upon his gun half way up. Shax grabbed the gun off the ground, and quickly climbed down, before dropping in to a chair. A cloud of dust burst up in to the air as he sat down and Shax coughed sharply, silencing everyone.
"Excuse my panic attack everyone, but its not every day you find a brutally murdered girl in a supposedly haunted mansion." Shax said, studying the people. "I wonder if we could start by introducing ourselves."

"I'm Shax Law, and I'm here as part of a bet, that I could live in the house for a night." Shax said, starting the introductions. He shifted slightly and studied his gun.

[Alanoth]

Casamir looked up from Kayli, he had the same dare.

"Me, too. For anyone who missed it, I'm Casamir Lirian-greaser. I took up a dare that Shax here may have also taken up, $10,000 if I stayed in the house for one night without leaving. Looks like the not leaving part's easy, the front door's locked."

[Sy23]

Something occurred to Mel - and he felt a little ashamed he hadn't thought of it before. He'd been so busy appreciating Morgan's pretty eyes, it had driven more important things out of his mind. Much as he hated to leave this gaggle of pretty ladies, he knew that there were certain duties an able-bodied male had to discharge.

"Shaz, Casamir - does it occur to you guys that those two ladies went upstairs in their own? If there's something nasty up there - supernatural or not - shouldn't we go up and check they're OK?"

[Merry]

Morgan was about to respond to Mel's confession about his entry into the house, but before she could formulate something that wouldn't sound rude he continue with "I can't really credit your position that supernatural things don't exist - not when you're obviously an angel, who's nipped down to slum among mortals for a while, and forgotten to disguise yourself."

She opened her mouth to respond, and then closed it with an almost audible snap, feeling the inevitable heat on her face, as her cheeks became bright red. She had never been comfortable with compliments. Whenever she looked in the mirror, searching for what apparently other people, particularly men saw, she was at a loss. She just didn't get it. She thought she was cute. But an angel? He must be joking.

She was saved from having to reply to his obvious attempt to flirt, when he turned to ask the others about the girls that had gone upstairs. She quickly composed herself, and hoping no one noticed her slightly flustered state, "You're right. I think we need to go up there and at least make sure they are ok" turning and heading toward the stairs.

"Who's with me?" she called back, pausing to look up the staircase, feeling a little nervous.

[Alanoth]

Casamir stepped from Kayli, seeing that she was calm, and raised his hand.

"I'll go," he volunteered, "but let me comb my hair. Its not a vanity thing, it keeps me calm."

[G]

Kayli half stood, her thoughts for a moment on Alys, and that perhaps she should go and make sure her friend didn't need help. But she couldn't bring herself to do it.
After all, there was so many others going, surely they didn't need her?
She didn't say anything to the others, no justification coming to her mind that was good enough besides that she was afraid. She just sat there, her eyes fixed firmly on the ground.

[Sy23]

Mel's mind was spinning as Morgan set off towards the stairs. He was torn between two emotions.

On the one hand, the closer he was to her - he hadn't been entirely exaggerating when he'd complimented her on her beauty - the more he liked it. On the other, the point of his suggestion had been that the males of the party should be the ones to investigate any danger that might lurk upstairs. For any of the women to go up too would work against the very thing he was trying to achieve.

Yeah, and I can just imagine what I'd get if I said that, he thought. A three-hour lecture on the glass ceiling, and a query about have I been asleep since the mid fifties. There just ain't no way you can exercise chivalry in our age without looking a male chauvinist! But I can't let her go - not if there's something up there... I can't!

He looked across at Kayli - the girl was looking down at the floor. She looked frightened. Maybe there was his clue...

"Hey, Morgan, listen," he said, catching up with her. He spoke softly, so that no-one else could hear. "That girl, Kayli - she looks a little spooked, with the door being locked, and stuff. Don't you think it might be an idea for someone like you, who's level headed, and not scared of ghosties and such to stay down here? Just to be on hand if a panic starts up?"

He doubted she'd fall for his diplomacy, but he'd felt it his duty to try. Oh well - he shrugged inwardly - he'd done his best. If she went up anyway, he'd just have to look in all directions at once, and protect her as well as he could. He looked at the other men, to see if they were planning to follow him (and possibly Morgan) up the stairs, to encounter whatever might be up there.

[Merry]

With an internal sigh of relief, she nodded slowly in agreement, casting a quick glance in Kayli's direction. Part of her was secretly glad he had stopped her, she was nervous just like everyone else, but the reporter portion of her brain was definitely annoyed. coward it whispered at her. not going to get a story, waiting around it rumbled on, as she did her best to ignore it.

"Well... " she hesitated "I supposed I could. I really did wanted some photo's, if there is something up there..." she left off not willing to speculating what was up there, yet. Slowly lifting her camera off her neck, she held it out to him, and then quickly handing it to him, before she could change her mind.

"This cost me more than I care to remember, and it's not yet fully paid for. Please snap away at anything you think is worth snapping at." putting an awful lot of trust in his care of her lively hood. "Just be careful, ok? I'll stay here for now. But if you guys aren't back in a few minutes, I'm coming up there." she finished, her tone indicating that not much was going to change her mind about this.

Turning back toward Kayli "Hey.. Kalyli is it?" She stepped closer, hesitatingly reaching her hand out toward the girls shoulder. "You ok?" she asked, forcing her tone to be bright and cheery. "I'll just hang with you, if that's ok." she smiled, "Let the men do their "manly" thing" she joked, hoping to lighten the mood a little.

[Alanoth]

Casamir watched the scene with interest, it amusing him somewhat. Though he had never been in a relationship that lasted more than five seconds, Casamir had been able to help friends with relationship advice that Casamir himself did not know he knew. There was obviously an interest spark here, though to get involved would be rude.

Casamir pulled himself from his thoughts and walked over to the hallway closet to check for a flashlight. Inside the closet, was nothing more than a broom, a pair of old muddy shoes, and an oil lantern. Thugh he didn't smoke, Casamir had gotten into the habit of carrying a cigarette lighter on his person, and so lit the lantern. Casamir combed his hair again in an attempt to make it stay up, and showed his discovery to the others.

"There, now while anyone who wants to come travels up to the second floor, we won't be blind the whole way. I have a pocket knife, but does anyone else have a self-defense weapon? You never know what we may find up there."

[Alice]

Michelle nodded. It would be best if no one saw it, whatever was in there. She didn't have any knowledge of what each member of the house was able to take before passing out, and had no desire to test it. She wasn't completely sure about herself, either.

She turned towards the stairs. "We should go."

While going down the steps, her mind trailed off to think about Alys's observation. If there was another human in the manor that could be considered dangerous, should they all stay put together, to have a better chance of survival? Or should they split up and search, to get rid of the murderer faster? If there is one, she added.

Upon arriving in the main lounge/hall, it seemed as if the men had been preparing to go up. Michelle paused at the foot of the stairs and nodded to the newcomers she hadn't introduced herself to as of yet. Two men - one with a lamp; the other with a camera, and a redheaded woman next to Kayli, who looked as if she had calmed down somewhat... or not. "I'm Michelle," she said, addressing no one in particular but making sure everyone heard. Her eyes traveled from the redhead, to the comber, to the one she remembered had broken in through the window.

[Alanoth]

"I'm Casamir, I was the guy panicking earlier and who arrived on a motorcycle. Now, I'll lead the way to start searching upstairs, but who's coming with me? I'll do it alone if I have to."

[Sy23]

"And I'm Mel," said Mel, relieved both to think that these newcomers weren't going to require an explanation of his presence from him, and that he wouldn't have to be parted from the angel-eyes photographer after all. "Did you see anything upstairs? Shax and Casimir and I were about to come up and check on you - Kayli seemed to think there might be something a bit scary going on."

As he spoke, he positioned himself next to Morgan, and returned her camera. He was pleased and gratified she'd trusted him with it. And there was nothing like being able to demonstrate your bravery, without having to actually face danger to back your claim up. Despite himself, he found himself hoping she'd noticed he had tried to protect her.

He gave her a shy smile. He wasn't used to being shy, even to this small amount, among women, and it was a new experience - and not entirely unpleasant.

[G]

Michelle agreed that no one else should have to see what Alys wished she hadn't, and she followed the other woman gratefully as she led the way back downstairs, glad that someone was on the same page they were.

The scene downstairs was a predictable one, given the situation. The other two women sitting together on the couch, Michelle comforting a teary Kayli with a smile on her face that looked just a little forced, the men grouping together in what looked to be a disorganised search party. They held an assortment of items, a knife, a torch, a camera, which was shortly handed back to Morgan, who Alys now remembered had brought it into the house.
"And I'm Mel," one of the guys was saying, "Did you see anything upstairs?" he went on speaking, but Alys was no longer listening, looking over to Michelle with worried eyes. How was she supposed to respond to that?
"Umm... yes," she answered plainly, brain fumbling over what to follow it with.
"Don't go up there. I mean, I wouldn't. I mean, just... I just think everyone should stay down here, okay?"
God. Handled that well, didn't I? I sounded like bloody Kayli. she thought to herself, hoping Michelle would be able to come up with something a little more eloquent than she had.

On the couch, Kayli was looking up at Morgan, rubbing the last of her tears from rather puffy eyes and smiling weakly at the other girl as she made a lighthearted comment about the boys going upstairs. She had no time to respond before Alys and Michelle came back downstairs, putting a halt on the impromptu rescue mission before it had begun. One of the men asked them if they'd seen anything, and Alys looked terrified for a moment before giving a vague, startled response about no one else going upstairs.
What had she seen? "Alys?" Kayli almost yelled, "What did you see? What do you mean?"

[Alanoth]

A woman was insisting that it be safer to keep everyone downstairs, which Casamir found confusing at first.

"Well, if we go upstairs and find out what's causing all of this right now, we will be done and then we can work on getting out. That's just my idea, but I say we vote on it."

[Sy23]

Mel could sense the conflict in the room. The party seemed to have divided itself into two camps. One factor, led by Casamir, seemed to want to follow up on his, Mel's, original idea, and confront whatever it was upstairs. The other, led by the haughty, self-assured woman, who it seemed was called Michelle (though Mel could have sworn the other girl had called her "Sam", maybe it was a nickname or something) seemed to want everyone to stay downstairs.

One thing was certain though - every member of the group was scared, even Michelle, though she was trying hard not to show it. Kayli, in particular,looked a mess. He stayed by Morgan and Kayli, more or less by default. If it came to a vote he'd have to stand with going up, since it had been his idea originally. However, since it now seemed to be a case of going up the stairs en masse, he was genuinely worried that the women would be going into danger. And just where did the locked door fit into the picture? Alys had been quite definite - there was something to see up there. But what?

While he thought, he absent-mindedly reached out and brushed a stray tendril of hair out of Morgan's eyes. It wasn't until he'd actually performed the act that he realized he'd done it. Subconsciously, he realized, he was comforting her not so much because she was scared, as that she was embarrassed about being scared... he'd worked out she was the sort of woman that didn't like anyone knowing she was anything but sassy and brave.

He pulled his hand back quickly, realizing it was a somewhat presumptuous act, when their only introduction had been the exchange of a few sentences and the short-term loan of a camera. On the other hand, if she did upbraid him, it would take her mind off her fear, so he'd have done something nice for her, even if he got no credit for it.

He looked around the room, waiting for the vote.

[Alanoth]

"Alright," Casamir called out after combing his hair again, "all in favor of half the group searching upstairs, say 'I'."

[G]

"No!" Alys half-screamed, "didn't you listen to me? No one go upstairs, okay? Look," she paused for a moment, wondering whether truth would be the better option, or just send everyone into a panic. But if she said nothing, they would go up and see for themselves anyway, wouldn't they?! "What do I say?" she asked aloud, wringing her hands in front of her. Then she nodded, taking on a focused expression and breathing in deeply.
"You're right, Sammy," she said, and looked up again at the others.
"Look," she said again in a calmer voice, "Shax wasn't seeing things. There really is a... a dead girl up there." Her voice dropped almost to a whisper for those last few words, making them barely intelligible.
"We all just need to stay calm."
With that, she sat down hard on the floor and resumed the position she'd been in earlier - leaning against the wall with her head in hands, trying not to think.

[Alice]

"There really is a... a dead girl up there," said Alys.

"That you don't want to look at," finished Michelle. Her eyes locked on Casamir, tightly holding his gaze. "What good would it be to look into the eyes of a girl that no longer exists, other than deeply hurt some people currently in the room?" She couldn't believe it, was she trying to reason with him? A long speech - by Michelle's standards - was in place. A speech she wasn't looking forward to.

She took a few steps forward, her heels landing hard on the wooden floor. Now she addressed everyone. "She's dead. That's it. There isn't much more to it. There's a lot more to the story of how she became that way, but looking at her body will bring nothing. Even if there's something - or someone - up there, splitting up is the last thing anyone should be considering. Splitting into groups is just what the..." Should she say it? It was pretty obvious now, no need to hide anything. If the people in the house couldn't handle the truth, then they shouldn't have been in there in the first place. So she said it, "Is just what the murderer wants. Kill us off one by one," she finished.

She shot one more glance towards Casamir's direction, then revealed a cigarette. Where's my lighter? She looked back at the wall she had been leaning against upon entering the manor, the table and couch surrounding it... No lighter.

She let the unlighted cigarette dangle between her fingertips, threatening to fall.

[Sy23]

With the lightning-fast social reflexes of the almost-gigolo he was, Mel's hand has whisked a Dunhill lighter out of his pocket and held the flame up for Michelle without anyone's heart even missing a beat.

"I really don't understand," he admitted. "Granted, it's never pleasant to see a dead person - except for those few with really unusual kinks, perhaps - but they aren't dangerous, as such, unless they've died from a really nasty plague, or something."

Something was going through his head. An instinct. And it was connected with the other girl who'd gone upstairs, the one called "Alys". And the fact she'd talked to "Sam" was the clue... he decided to just let his subconscious roll with it...

"Tell me, Alys," he asked. "What does Sam make of this.

[Alanoth]

Casamir thought about what was being said, and came to a decision. He didn't know how he'd suddenly become the guy who needed to be convinced, he just thought that they needed to find out what was going on.

"I understand completely, death is not a cheerful sight. I saw it everyday in the neighborhood I grew up in, yet I didn't get used to it. I just think that we need to find out who or what killed her, and who or what locked us in here. I'm not the leader here, I don't want to be. I just know that that girl, looking down from heaven, would want us to stop more people dying the way that she did."

[Merry]

Ignoring for a minute that her cheeks blushing bright red, again, at the attention Mel seemed intent on bestowing on her, Morgan blurted out "Alys is right. We can't split up, not if there is seriously a murderer here, in this house.” All thoughts of a story, whatever the size quickly gone in the need for self preservation, the story could be told later, once she was safe. Once they were all out of this house, safe.

“We all need to buddy up, no one goes anywhere without someone with them” looking at Casamir. “We don’t anyone else to die, I think we can all agree on that, for sure” looking toward Alys again, to answer the question Mel had asked. “And what did you mean, Alys “there is more to the story of how she became that way”. Morgan asked her. “What the hell is going on?” feeling herself slipping into a slight panic. kill us off one by one running around in her mind, over and over. What little color still left in her cheeks, fading fast.

[Sy23]

Mel sensed the panic rising in Morgan, and stood behind her, holding her gently, trying to still her fear as best he could. One of his sinewy arms was across her upper body, his left hand protectively on her right shoulder, his other hand gently stroked her hair in as brotherly a way as he could manage. He hoped the other men present would try and do the same thing for some of the other ladies. The last thing that was needed right now was general hysteria! He also hoped Morgan would understand his motives...
she must realize I find her attractive, he thought. But hopefully... well, she'll know I'll put that on hold, at least until she's a bit more relaxed, and not take advantage.

It was a somewhat new experience for him to want to comfort someone rather than try to woo them into his bed, and he wasn't sure how to go about it.

"Casamir, how can you be sure she's looking down from heaven?" He asked, simply to try and get people's minds off the rising tide of panic. "Did you know her? Maybe she's looking up from the other place? Or in some nameless limbo? I'd say the reason we need to find out what's going on is for the living - not the dead!"

[Alanoth]

Casamir sighed, religion always made people mad at him for some reason. He quickly took time to comb his hair again before replying to Mel.

"Whether the girl who passed away is in heaven or not doesn't matter, you're right. We should definitely stay together as much as possible. We'll stay in one room for now, and nobody goes wandering off without a partner. I say we move to the drawing room for now, and if we need to we can move elsewhere. I'm not in charge, so what do all of you guys think we should do?"

[G]

Alys, though somewhat panic-stricken, was listening to the exchanges going on around her, and was relieved when Michelle took charge, convincing the others to stay together and not to go upstairs.
She heard the question about Sam and looked up, surprised at this mans' acceptance that Sam was there. Though why wouldn't he? He'd probably just heard her talking to him, though he didn't wonder why there was noone visibly there.. to any of them, anyway.
"We both agree," she said from her position, sitting on the floor close to the group, "we should stay together. There's something else too - " she continued, surprising herself at the calm note of her voice, "In the bedroom... that's where the girl is.. the light was on. Which means, it hasn't been long since..."
She took a deep breath, steadying herself. Not quite brave enough to actually articulate what she was already imagining far too vividly.
"Why would the light be on unless it was dark when it happened? Or nearly dark, at least!"

Kayli stared at her friend fearfully. Was Alys saying that this psycho killer was still here?!
"What are we still doing here?" Kayli half screamed, "This is insane!"
She stood, eyes darting between the group, terror bubbling in her stomach. She ran to the door, forgetting that it had been found locked, and tugged at the handle uselessly for a moment before spinning on her heels, her eyes locking onto a large window covered by a thick curtain. Crossing the room at a breakneck pace she threw herself at the window, not even bothering to move the curtain aside, or check if the glass could be opened. There was a shattering, cracking noise, and a scream from Kayli, and she tumbled out the window, curtain and all, landing in a heap in the dried up garden bed below.
Standing with as much dignity as possible (very little), she directed one last indignant glare back into the room.
"Anyone who hasn't completely lost their mind, come with me now and let's get out of here!" she called, seemingly oblivious to the multiple cuts and bruises she had sustained in the whole process. When no one responded, she turned around and began to walk away, out of sight along the grounds. The hall seemed to have been built in a way that she was in the backyard, and now had to walk around the house to get to...
"Don't even think about taking my car, Kayli!" she heard a yell from Alys, and groaned. She would walk back to town then.
In the dark.
With a killer on the loose.
"Oh, goddamnit!" she complained aloud, sitting down with her back against a large tree. Looking back, the window was out of her sightline, and seemed an awful long walk from here. She closed her eyes against the dark surroundings, ignoring the light rain that was still falling.
It was sure serene out here, she thought, and even amidst the panic, she began to grow drowsy.

Back at the house, Alys reassured the others that Kayli was prone to these sort of tantrums, and would return soon, though given the situation it was still a little worrying for her to be by herself. After ten minutes or so went by, Alys cast another worried glance at the broken window, and stood up.
"Alright, let's go look for her," she sighed, looking at each of the others in turn, "Whose coming with me?"

[Sy23]

Mel looked around at the others. It was somehow reassuring that everyone else looked as scared as he felt.

"Someone's got to go with you," he said, reluctant as he was to leave Morgan. He moved over to the window and, with the aid of a silk handkerchief he'd taken from his pocket began to remove jagged bits of glass. "Whoever this person is who's trying to scare us, they can't be very bright, can they? They've gone to all the trouble of locking us in, and we can get out any time we like just by breaking a window. Good to know we're not up against a rocket scientist!"

He left his final thought unsaid, as he stood back with a mock bow, inviting Alys to precede him. Unless they want us to go out there in the dark!

He wondered if anyone else there would come to the same conclusion.

[Merry]

Morgan could feel herself slipping into a bit of shock at the way this night was starting to spiral out of control. First the girl upstairs, now the one of the house members jumped out the window, and no one seemed to be able to do anything about it. Most of the group appeared to be catatonic and unwilling to move.

Mentally shaking her self awake, she stepped up behind Mel as he was picking glass out of the now broken window. Putting her hand on his shoulder, “You guys can’t go out there!” she forced her voice to be calm. Wanting nothing more to scream at them What if that’s what who ever is doing this wants? To get us alone, and pick us off one by one! But she refused to say it out loud, as if saying it would make it come true, and give it weight. Instead she wrapped her arms about herself and forced the panic back down.

Then her conscious kicked in. The girl Kayli had obviously panicked, and that she could totally relate to. Besides, she hoped if the tables where turned and she did something rash, that someone would come and rescue her as well. She was close to it, already. Looking at this group, she figured her chances were slim.

“Ok.. Ok…you’re right, we need to get her, and fast. “ she said glancing at Mel and then Alsy in turn, “At least three of us need to go, to make it a group effort, so no one gets… lost… ” she said with a sigh of resolve. A quick glance back at the rest of the room, confirmed what she expected, no one else seemed willing to step up and find the missing girl.

Never being one to sit idly by, she put on a brave front, and grabbing a nearby arm chair, pulled it quickly to the edge of the wall near the window. Before anyone could stop her, she stepped up onto the chair and with a muttered “Ladies first” she stepped out, jumping onto the grass below the window, landing with a soft “oophff”. She looked back toward the window, and waited to see who would join her.

[Sy23]

Mel was a little concerned to see Morgan jump out of the window... If there was someone - or something - out there, he wanted them as far from this beautiful angel as possible. Not that he was in love with her, or anything, he managed to convince himself ... it was just that he couldn't possibly protect three women at once.

He didn't dare admit the possibility - even to himself - that it could be that she wanted to be at his side. Thinking about it rationally, he thought it was more likely that Morgan didn't want to be thought a coward.

Well, she was out there now. Too late to do anything but follow. He jumped down lithely, landing gracefully beside her... perhaps a little too close, for he actually fell against her. Feeling he'd made a twit of himself, he apologized... and pushed to the back of his mind the thought that even that brief contact had sent a thrill through his heart.

"OK, Alys," he said, trying to sound as brave as he could. "You know her best. Which direction is she likely to have gone?"

[G]

Alys gulped, feeling a little pressure at the question.
"Uh.. Probably toward the car," she began, thinking back to the statement she'd thrown at her friend earlier, almost unconsciously, when the girl had first left, "She said she wanted to get out of here, didn't she?"
Following Morgan's lead on getting out the window, she dropped neatly to the ground outside. Well, she only stumbled a little bit.
"Thankyou," she said simply to Morgan, and started walking along the left wall of the house, then stopped, glancing backward uncertainly.
"Which way is the front, again?" she asked, the tremor in her voice revealing her closeness to panic though she sounded, for the most part, calm.
She studied both directions for a moment, a useless act given the level of dark outside. Trying to remember which direction the hall had been from the window, she thought she had to go around the house to get to the front anyway, though that didn't seem to quite make sense. The hall hadn't seemed to go on for that long - but the living room they'd been sitting in had been a big one.
She nodded, then continued in the direction she'd been heading in the first place, left alongside the house's wall, so that she wouldn't lose her direction in the dark.
"Kayli!" she called, "Come back now, it's alright!"

There was no response from the darkness, and Alys continued on, not really knowing what else to do.

[Alanoth]

Casamir felt guilty about not doing anything. He had been in general shock that the girl had jumped out a window, and needed to sit down. So, he did and didn't speak for a while, feeling useless and alone for some reason.

[Sy23]

Peering into the darkness, Mel was conscious of how easy it would be to hide. If Kayli was determined not to be found, there was no way they were going to discover her. He hoped that Alys (who, presumably, could predict her habits) was right, and that they'd catch up with her at the car. If Alys were wrong - they could wander around here in the dark for ever.

It also struck him - given the strange goings on - that if Kayli could hide, so could person or persons more sinister. It was a rare thing for him, but he really wished he were out here alone, instead of with two beautiful girls! He'd back himself to be able to fight or run his way out of danger, but to protect two women against some weird assassin would be a tall order.

Desperately he scanned the area around, swiveling his head, trying to cover every potential ambush spot at once, and still keep the girls in sight. He tried to place himself in a position to come to the aid of either as the situation demanded - yet a neutral observer would have concluded that at any given point, he was always closer to Morgan, and that it was her he watched the most, and with most concern.

"I guess she can't have gone far," he said, trying to lighten the mood. "Does she have the keys to your car, Alys?"

______________________________

[G]

Alys looked up at Mel's question, though it was so dark she could barely make him out, or Morgan, who she presumed was following.She reached down with her free hand and felt both her pockets, eyes widening.
"I haven't got them," she said, a quiver in her voice, glancing around to where she thought the others were again, "I swear I had them in the house, but... I could have dropped them anywhere!" she exclaimed, not voicing the second half of her thought. And without them, I can't leave.

[Sy23]

The slight edge of panic in Alys' voice was not lost on Mel - one thing he flattered himself on being able to read was female emotions - and he could tell she was upset at more than the mere inconvenient fact of having to send out for another set of keys. The implication - that to be trapped in this spooky place with no means of escape was dangerous - hadn't escaped his mind. The worst of it was, he couldn't help agreeing with her.

He tried to make his voice as soothing as he could as he replied. He protectively draped his arm around Morgan, in case she'd picked up the fear and got a case of the heeby-jeebies too.

"Hey, what a bummer. That means you'll have to get a lift when you leave, and ring the car company and arrange for a spare set. Still, at least you've got accommodation for tonight - warm, dry and safe!" He deliberately emphasized the last word. "And you won't be lonely - there's lots of people inside who you can talk to." And protect you, he added in his mind, though he didn't speak the thought aloud. "Still, I guess we'd better find this Kayli first - then we can get back inside."

The fact that the girl was missing was beginning to make him feel pretty skittish himself - he'd be glad when they found the stupid, neurotic thing and could all get back inside with the others.

[Merry]

"Yeah, Alys. We'll find her, and your keys. Don't worry." Morgan said trying not to lose the others in the pitch dark. "Either that or something tells me that Mel can start any car, regardless of where the keys might be" she finished, deliberately forcing her voice to be light as she slung her arm through his, casually. As if they were about to enter a barbeque, or go on a stroll in the park, and not currently wandering outside in the pitch darkness on the grounds of this insane asylum.

"Kayli" she called out, hoping her voice didn't waver much. where the heck was she she thought for about the hundredth time since jumping out onto the grounds. "Hey... Kayli, come on. We don't want to get lost out here, come back into the house with us!" she continued on, keeping her grip on Mel's arm.

"Damn.. it's so dark out here" she said softly. "We could have already walked right past her, and not even known. What should we do?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

[Alice]

Pacing back and forth between the stairs and the window was effective in calming Michelle. She was able to think again, and as the minutes ticked by, following after the three seemed more and more reasonable. Casamir and the other lot already seemed to be too deep in the panic to join her, so after a few minutes had gone by after the trio's leave, Michelle jumped out of the window they had used to exit and began to walk.

And walk was all she did, because seeing was certainly not one of her options. It was the equal pain of being blindfolded, of being deprived of sight, walking in that pitch black night. There was a slight chill and the rustle of leaves nearby, and it was enough to raise her goosebumps. For a while, she was able to feel the wall to her right, but soon, even that comfort was gone. She was lost. "Alys? Morgan? Mel?" she called out. She felt like a criminal for disturbing the silence afterwards.

Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

When the shrill scream reached her, she was this much away from a heart attack. As recognition set in, and she realized the scream had come from Kayli, Michelle broke into a run towards the scream's location. She didn't think, she didn't breathe - she just ran.

Stumbling along in the darkness, she finally seemed to reach something, and couldn't stop herself from tripping over it. Her face landed on something cold and smooth, and she recognized it as a cellphone. It was all she could do to pick it up, turn it on, and point it towards the direction of her obstacle...

When another scream, this time louder and shriller, echoed through the night. But this time - it seemed to have come from Michelle herself.

For the cellphone pointed at... Kayli's dead body sprawled against a tree. Her eyes glazed over, her mouth in mid-scream - exactly like the corpse in the bedroom.

[G]

Keys were driven out of Alys' mind at about a million miles an hour when the first, bloodcurdling scream rang out in the night.
"What the hell!" she cried out, not really able to pinpoint the direction it had come from. It didn't sound all that far away, though.
And there was no mistaking who that shriek belonged to.

"Guys, that was Kayli!" Alys yelled toward where she thought the others still were. Were they still there? She didn't bother waiting to find out, she set off toward the sound, half running, half stumbling in the dark. Before she'd gone more than a few steps, a second scream rang out - a different female voice this time. Alys picked up the pace, and rounded a tree after almost colliding with it. She thought she saw a dim light come on ahead, the car light, maybe? Or someone's phone?
"H..hello?" she called shakily, hoping to god it was Kayli and not... well, not someone bad, as lame as that sounded.
There was no response, and Alys moved closer every step making an agonisingly loud crunch in the leaf litter that covered the ground. Whoever it was seemed almost frozen, then she stepped forward again, bringing the whole scene into bitterly clear view.
The figure, a woman whose back was to her, obscuring her identity from Alys, stood holding a phone, the light of which fell straight onto the dead, staring eyes of Kayli's face, covering them with a dull sheen.
Alys recoiled, turning away and falling into a crouch in the same movement, and emptied the contents of her stomach onto the dirt.
"Fuck," she almost whispered, taking a few steps away from the spoiled ground, then realising she was backing toward Kayli and doing a strange sort of attempt at jumping away from both areas. She ended up sprawled in the dust, mercifully not in the place she'd just thrown up. "Fuck!" she repeated, tears streaming down her cheeks that she didn't know when she'd started crying. She looked up.
"What happened?" There was no way this other woman wouldn't have noticed her. Alys just hoped she was friend, and not foe.

[Alanoth]

Casamir heard screaming, and so ran to the open window to investigate. He saw the girls wandering around, and even saw Kayli's body. The sight made him puke, even though the blood was so far away. Once he recovered a moment later, he called out to the people outside.

"Hey guys! I just remembered that my motorcycle still works and I still have the keys! I'll ride back into town and get help even if it means risking this murderer coming after me!"

Casamir did this mainly to calm himself, but also to be useful. He began climbing down the wall, desperate to see if his plan would work.

[Sy23]

At the sound of the scream, Mel had instinctively set off running. He'd gone a few steps when he remembered that leaving Morgan alone was definitely not the best of ideas - and doubled back, not knowing whether to stay with her or go to investigate the source of the screaming. When he saw the shining of a weak torch in the distance, he realized that others had reached the scene first. And whoever it was - might have been the same person or persons who'd caused someone to scream!

Much as he was determined to protect Morgan, he was needed elsewhere. He touched Morgan briefly, and said "stay with me - shout if you need me!"... and set off towards the dim light source at a run, mentally girding his loins, ready for whatever might be there.

However, as he drew near the source of light, he heard familiar voices. Another scream - this was bad! It sounded like the girl called Michelle. He increased his speed, his lungs bursting. Being a fast runner, he'd almost caught up with Alys despite her head start, when he saw her stop, and crouch forward, holding her stomach. He dithered, wanting to go in three directions at once, and watched Alys perform some strange dance, walking backwards, then stopping and (as far as he could tell in the dim light of his own torch) looking scared out of her wits.

Since he was trying to look everywhere at once, something had to give - and it turned out to be the noble art of looking where one is going! He felt his feet slide on something soft - and cursed as he realized he'd skidded a patch of vomit. Well, that explained what Alys had been doing, at least.

Some white knight I turned out to be, he thought, self-deprecatingly as he skidded forward, his arms flailing. Luckily he managed to keep hold of his torch, which waved around like a half-price laser-light, describing weird circles in the air, and he was still gripping it when he skidded to a halt, coming to rest against the prone body of Michelle.

He wondered what the etiquette of such a situation was - he was sure Emily Post had never been asked what is the polite course of action when one chases after a scream, slips on a patch of spew and ends up flinging oneself upon a lady whom one has just met?

But then more important things drove that thought out of his mind. He saw exactly why Michelle had screamed, why Alys had been sick. He saw the unmistakable figure of Kayli - sprawled in such a way that there was no doubt she was dead! Saw that someone was climbing down the wall towards the scene. Saw that whether or not Morgan had followed him, she was nowhere to be seen!

"Alys, over here," he shouted, getting to his feet and trying to scrape the mess off his boots. "We need to keep together." He looked down at Michelle. "You OK," he asked, knowing it was a stupid question, really, but needing to keep some hold on normality. Then, to Alys "For f----s sake, where's Morgan??!"

[G]

"Hello?" Andy called, pushing a strand of black hair behind her ear and knocking again at the front door of the house. She had been off in her own world, too much to notice that the sky had grown dark, or that the rain had stopped. When she had finally come back to reality and made her way up to the front door of the house, noticing a set of car keys on the way. She scooped them up from the grass, stuffing them into a pocket, where they were quickly driven from her mind when she tried the door, and found it locked.
She'd knocked, no response, and called out.
"Hello?" she called a third time, "Anyone in there?" With a moan of annoyance, she moved from the door along the wall of the house and around the side, to a window that had already been prised open. Climbing inside, she found herself in a large living room, completely empty.
"Guys? I saw you come in here!" That girl I gave a ride, at least, she thought, She must be around here somewhere.
Noticing a dark stain on the floor at the base of the stairs, she moved closer, stopping suddenly when she saw that it was blood.
"What the fuck?"
Looking around the room, the dirty patch on the floor wasn't the only thing that had been disturbed. A large window on the far side of the room was totally shattered, a vase broken on the floor by the stairs.
"What the fuck is going on here?" Andy muttered, collapsing into a chair.
She sat in silence, unsure as to what should be her next move. Just as she was thinking maybe she should leave, she heard the outtake of breath outside, and jumped from the chair, peering out the window. In the darkness, she could just make out the sillouette of a man, just a few metres from the window.
"Hey," she called, "You! What's going on here!?"

[Alanoth]

As Casamir finally reched the bottom, he saw a newcomer arrive at the front door. The woman went inside, and started yelling from inside. Weird, thought Casamir, the door must lock from the outside.

Casamir ran after the woman, hoping to be able to warn her of what was inside. When he got to the door, he put a rock in the door to hold it, and then went after the woman.

"Hey! You don't know what your getting yourself into!"

[Sy23]

Since his eyes were now getting used to the darkness, Mel was able to make out that the figure climbing down the wall was not some evil wrongdoer, but Casamir. Well, that was one thing he could relax about, anyway. He saw Casamir vanish into the darkness again, but heard him in conversation with a female voice he didn't recognize. Though the conversation was some way away, sound carried on this now still night. He looked around, and counted heads. Well, no-one was missing, at least. And the original reason for going outside at all - to find Kayli - was now, tragically, now a non-reason!

He lead the way back to their original exit-point, and looked into the lighted room. It was, at least, comparatively safe in their. Not to mention that the rain could start to fall again at any moment. He stood back, to let the females go in first, mostly out of politeness, though he had to admit that the sight of a female in a dress climbing could be, urm, enjoyable to watch in its own right.

But he kept scanning the darkness, his senses tingling. A strong premonition came to him that the weirdness of this night wasn't over yet - not by a long chalk. There were already far too many dead bodies around for his liking!

[Merry]

Morgan was frozen to the spot when the screams rang out in the night. As her mind registered the sound, she suddenly realized that Mel and Alys had taken off at a run. A split second later it hit her, that she would be alone in the darkness if she didn't move, and fast, she took off at a run to catch up with them. Thankfully she was only a few steps behind them.

Hearing more screams just confirmed what she already guessed, and it took everything she had not to scream herself when she realized that the girl they had be searching for was indeed dead. The sinking feeling in her stomach was getting worse, and her the blood in her veins felt like ice. She didn't get too close, but the reactions of the others was enough to confirm it. she is dead... dead...dead...

Biting on her index finger to hold back her own screams at seeing yet another body seemed to help, especially when she realized she had bitten so hard she had almost broken the skin. Peering in the darkness at her finger, seeing the whitened marks on her flesh from her teeth seemed to help her focus on something other than the fact that there was another dead person kayli...kayli...kayli...her name was kayli...was kayli...was just a few feet away.

When Mel moved them all back toward the house she just nodded briefly and moved back they way they had come, not saying a word. Wondering how they were going to make it out of this place, her mind whispering to her now... what if you don't, what if you're next, what about kayli, I bet she thought she was getting out too and on and on it kept going, making her more and more upset. Her finger now starting to throb from the marks her teeth had left, but the pain was fading and distant, and it wasn't enough anymore to stop the thoughts.

She looked up hearing voices. It was Casamir talking to the girl from the car, Andy. She had almost forgotten about Andy. Thinking about Andy made her remember being stuck back on the road, and an almost childish anger came over her wishing unrealistically that Andy had just passed her on the road, and never picked her up in the first place. If she had just passed on by, Morgan would be still sitting in her car, or even better, back in town, safe, warm. Stuck in a garage waiting for a tow truck, and not about to be the next victim of some homicidal maniac in this hell house.

She reached up to climb back in the window, and that when she saw her hands again. They were shaking so badly in the darkness that she felt like she wouldn't be able to move. She just stood there, staring at her hands while they wildly shook, watching as the tremors just took over her whole body, and feeling as though she were made of rubber, she suddenly collapsed on the ground, with a soft cry of fear. "I.. I... just can't, go back.. in there" she sobbed, putting her face in her hands. "I can't...I don't want to die" she wailed, crying openly now.

[Sy23]

Every sound in the darkness, no matter how innocent, was setting Mel's nerves on edge. A drop of water falling from a leaf (due to the recent rain) sounded like an explosion in his head, like the crackling of a twig when a murderer's boot steps on it. The hoot of an owl turned itself into the war cry of a crazed lunatic about to sweep down upon them with a bloodied axe or a razor-sharp machete - or both. The glint from the eyes of a marauding cat turned itself into the red eyes of some homicidal vampire.

Get hold of yourself, idiot! he told himself. There's people here depend on you.

He counted heads -or, to be honest, rear-ends - as the women wriggled in through the window. Soon, only Morgan was left. She appeared hesitant, her finger was in her mouth, and even in the darkness Mel could see she was shaking. Was she crying? He wasn't sure. He watched, as she collapsed, whimpering.

"I.. I... just can't, go back.. in there" she sobbed, putting her face in her hands. "I can't...I don't want to die" she wailed, crying openly now.

Mel crouched beside her, holding her tenderly. He tried desperately not to notice how beautiful her face looked in the moonlight - even more stunningly beautiful than it had under the light inside. She now looked even more like an angel, but he fought such feelings to the back of his mind.

"Shhhh. It's OK, sweet one. Really, it's OK," he crooned, enveloping her in his arms, trying not to accidentally brush against any rude bits. This was hardly the time or the place, much as he'd have enjoyed it under other circumstances. "You won't die. No-one's going to-" he stopped, abruptly. He could hardly say no-one was going to die, considering what had happened. "No-one else is going to die," he finished lamely. "Come on Morgie - it's warm and safe inside, and you're getting your gorgeous bum all wet lying on the ground like that!"

But all his entreaties proved useless. Well, there was only one thing for it. He crouched and strained, lifting her in his arms, and as carefully as he could, negotiated the window, carrying her back into the main hall. He set her down, gingerly, wishing he could have held on. Then he stood up, massaged his back (for she'd been - no pun intended - a dead weight) and crouched back down beside her again. He tilted her chin up to his, and wiped away one of her tears with his finger.

"See. All safe, my lovely angel," he said.

[G]

Alys stayed, unmoving, for what seemed to her a long while, unaware of the reactions of the others as they caught up and saw Kayli.
She just huddled (she seemed to be doing that more and more frequently as the night wore on) in a ball, trying not to think, to move, to breath, tears streaming freely down her cheeks.
"Alright now, dearest," she heard Sam whisper consolingly, "It's alright. I know it's hard, but you have to move now, alright, pet?"
She nodded dumbly, feeling his hands at her arm and her waist, helping her to stand. Her twin brother, invisible to all but herself, took her hand, leading her back toward the house. Kayli was momentarily forgotten in her awe - it had been so long since he had been so clear! Usually he stayed somewhere behind her, just out of sight, dropping in his opinion every now and then, but for the most part staying silent. Lost in the feeling of Sam's hand on hers, she was only vaguely aware of the others moving along beside her as she made her way back to the house.
"Safer inside," Sam told her, "Climb in, love."
She did so, leaving Morgan and Mel behind her. Andy looked up as she came in, smiling at the sight of another face.
"Hi!" she greeted Alys, "What's going on? Where is everyone? I know I saw some people come in here before."
Alys didn't respond, and Andy watched the other girl with a puzzled expression as she nodded in response to a question Andy couldn't hear, and sat in the nearest armchair, staring forward blankly, fear in her eyes.
"Hey!" Andy spoke again, annoyance tinging her tone, "Did you not hear me? Hello! You mute or something?"
She turned to the window again as Mel climbed inside, dropping a distraught Morgan to her feet and whispering some sweet reassurance to her.
"What about you two? You mute, too? Where is everyone? What's going on here!" she demanded.

[Sy23]

"I've no idea, Andy," replied Mel. "Everyone seems to have vanished. As to what's going on, where do I start? There's dead bodies all over the place - including one outside. Don't be too hard on your friend, or on Morgan - they've both had a nasty shock!"

He whispered a detailed explanation of what had gone on into Andy's ear.

"So you see," he finished. "Everyone's in a bit of a state at the moment. If you happen to know where we could lay our hands on some brandy - or even hot coffee - or some mild drug for that matter - I think these two ladies, at least, will be forever in your debt!"

[Merry]

She heard the words, soft and warm and comforting, but they seemed as if from a million miles away. She knew he was concerned, but she just couldn't seem to focus on what he was saying. Just that it was nice to hear his voice. Then she was sitting and he was walking away. Why was he leaving? Where was everyone else?

Fear gripped her, and squeezed tight. A cold hand grasping at her heart, crushing the life from her. Taking everything inside her and ripping it to bits. It was if all the air was suddenly gone from the room and everything was suddenly spinning.

Dead. They must all be dead. If they weren't here, that must be it, right? They Must Be Dead. That's when she started screaming, and it felt like she would never stop.

[G]

Andy and Alys both flinched as the woman's wails filled the house, and the latter gave an involuntary whimper of distress, while Andy reacted immediately, taking hold of Morgans' shoulders and forcing her to look her in the eyes. No easy feat, given the girl seemed to have fallen into complete hysteria, but Andy managed it.
"What are you racketing about?!" she bit, the words coming out vicious and angry, "Like there' not enough crazy shit going on?"
She sighed, thrusting the girl away from her and turning to Mel, who seemed the sanest of the three.
"She's no friend of mine," she gestured toward Alys, who, aside from the small, panicked sound a moment ago, was still silent, stunned, "but I'll leave her alone. Useless, anyway," she muttered, "both of them." Tossing her black hair over one shoulder, she sat down, pulling a cigarette from some hidden pocket and lighting it with a match, taking a long drag before speaking again.
"I got valium, if you want that? Take the scare outta ya' a bit," she grinned at this, her bravado a cover for her ignorance of the other things he'd said.


Everyone seems to have vanished. As to what's going on, where do I start? There's dead bodies all over the place - including one outside.

She tossed them to the others, and it was Alys who caught them, opening the lid almost without thinking and tossing a couple back. They'd tried valium on her, years before, to make Sam go away. It hadn't worked, but she'd liked the dreamy way it made her head feel.

"Shit," Andy murmured to herself, taking another long draw and exhaling the smoke in a thick, steady stream above her head.

After another moment, she stubbed it out on the bottom of one boot, amongst the mud and dirt that coated them. "Well, are we gonna sit around here doing nothin'?" she said, clapping her hands together as she looked between the rooms occupants, "Or are we gonna go find these fuckers?"
With that, she stood, heading for the stairs, and surprisingly, Alys stood, following after her.
"There's a dead girl, in the master bedroom," she called after Andy's retreating back, shocking herself by the calm in her voice as she said it.

The blonde girl paused for a moment at the foot of the steps, cocking her head to one side as though listening.
"I know, Sam," she said, her voice barely louder than a whisper, "I don't trust her either." Then, with a furtive glance toward the others, both to see if they'd heard and whether they were following, she set off the way Andy's tattooed back was leading.

[Sy23]

Well, are we gonna sit around here doing nothin'? Or are we gonna go find these fuckers?

"You're second idea sounds safer," said Mel, forcing calm into his voice. "Sitting around and surrendering the initiative sounds a bit dangerous to me." He lit a cigar thoughtfully, admiring the stylish way Andy had stubbed out her cigarette, but made no move to emulate it. Mel was torn between staying with the panicked Morgan and following Andy, Normally, he'd have picked the prettier of the two, player that he was, but since both girls were total honies, indecision kicked in.

His eyebrows raised as Alys began talking to the person she called "Sam." Then his ears pricked up. Whatever condition she had that made her talk to imaginary people, there was always a chance of learning something useful. He was a great believer in the old saw that reconnaissance is never wasted. The more he could find out right now...

He looked back at Morgan. "You OK, lovely one?" he asked, softly. "Feel up to coming with us... "

[Merry]

Andy shaking her helped, helped her stop screaming at least. Grabbing the bottle of pills as they were tossed to her, she paused. She had never taken anything like this before. what the hell is wrong with me she started to feel like she was going to start screaming all over again. She quickly tossed two of the pills in her mouth and swallowed, before she could change her mind. Since she could barely muster up enough spit to swallow them, they seemed to dissolve instantly, and leave a sour taste in her throat, but at the moment she realized she didn’t really care. A sour taste in her mouth was one of the furthest things on her mind. If anything it was a distraction from the reality she was in.

She vaguely remembered an Aunt that had been all about self-medicating, from her childhood, and it almost made her shudder as she recalled the way her cousins had ridiculed the aged woman. They had called her APP behind her back, teenage slang for Auntie Pill Popper, which they had found hilarious at the time. She knew it would take more than two pills to get like that. She tried to remember an article she had done research on about most commonly prescribed medications, and something about valium that it would relax you, and possibly make you sleepy. Like doing a few shots of tequila, just sort of take the edge off. Since she was way past the edge, she reasoned that she really didn't have a choice.

She could see that the other girls were annoyed with her, and she didn't blame them. She had somehow become “that girl” the annoying, weak, crazy one. The one you had to take care of. That bothered her a little, that she could see it so plainly in their eyes. She hated girls like that herself, and wondered at how easily she had slipped into that roll. Knowing that everyone had their breaking point, it didn't seem to help that she had found hers.

Plucking up what little was left of her courage, she slipped the remaining pills in her pocket, and stood up. Walking the few steps toward Mel, she nodded. "Yes." she replied, "I can't be here alone" her eyes glancing about, seeing the shadows everywhere in the room. "we stick together" she finished flatly, slipping her fingers into his, everything in her dreading the walk up those stairs after Andy.

[Sy23]

Mel's heart gave a pleasant little shiver as he felt his hand taken. He was glad that, despite the seriousness of the situation, he could feel this way about someone. This wasn't just the usual mix of lust and greed either... he felt he could really feel for this girl. Her need to be protected, her obvious humiliation at appearing weak made him want to hold her, just ignore the rest of the world and hold her until her fears...

Stop that. Just stop it, Mel, he told himself firmly. Right now, he and the others were in a dangerous situation. And being bumped off himself because he couldn't keep his mind on the threat from outside wouldn't do much to protect Morgan, or the other girls.

On the other hand, the poor thing couldn't be allowed to go on thinking everyone in the room despised her. On impulse, he turned and smiled to Morgan, and then with his free hand gave her rebellious hair a single stroke. "It's OK, honey," he said, softly. "You had a scary time out there, anyone else would be the same. I know I was close to being terrified, and I don't scare easy. And anyway, girls as beautiful as you are entitled to be a bit sensitive."

He looked up. "It's OK, people - she'll be OK. Trust me."

And then it struck him he'd called her "Honey" - he wondered if she'd noticed. It was the first time he'd used the endearment without it being part of a deliberate plan for many years. mentally, he shrugged his shoulders. Too late now - let her make of it what she would.

[Alanoth]

((sorry for being gone so long, i hope tis okay if i jump back in off to the side))

Casamir had needed a break from all of the psychotic and crazy things that had been happening, so while the others were in the house, Casamir took some time to himself and went to the back yard. He sat on a porch swing in the gazebo and just stared up at the sky. What had he gotten himself into? Killing, murder, disappearances, strangers, and being totally useless as help. Casamir was depressed and just sat by himself as he collected his thoughts.

Casamir pulled out his lucky bullet and fiddled with it in his fingers for a minute. Maybe he hadn't died because of this thing. Either that, or the murderer thought he wasn't a threat. Casamir hoped so, because he couldn't leave since he noticed that the tires on his motorcycle were slashed. He sighed, put the bullet away, and combed his hair. He then made himself comfortable and took a nap.

[Merry]

Morgan was feeling a little better, just holding Mel's hand was helping her feel like herself again. Human contact, the simple act of helping someone when they needed it was doing wonders for her state of mind.

She was still feeling a bit chagrined that she had lost it for a few minutes, but with the bodies piling up, her nerves were just about shot. Her pride was also feeling a bit tarnished, but she quickly pushed those thoughts aside, there was just to much going on to focus on that at all. That self analyzing would have to wait till they were safe and she could and come to some agreement with herself.

His hand felt warm in hers and she focused on that instead. His term of endearment wasn’t lost on her. She felt a bit self-conscious that he felt the need to take care of her, and make sure she was ok. Even going so far as to tell the others that she was ok, in a protective way. It added more points to his already growing list. She cast a sidelong glance in his direction, and it struck her again how handsome he was, in a rugged way. He was casual, yet strong and she knew he was caring, his previous behavior to her proved it. Wistfully she wished the situation was different and they weren’t about to go upstairs to god knew what. She wondered what he would be like on a date, what he would be like if they weren’t fearing for their lives.

Thinking of being on a date, instead of here, startled her into the realization that she must be in a mild form of shock, from the recent events. Either that or that the pills she had popped must have kicked in, for now. She did feel calmer, so that was a plus. Almost like she had consumed a few glasses of wine, and everything felt warmer and cozier. It was hard to remember why she had been screaming earlier, it seemed pretty silly now.

She smiled and leaned toward Mel, so they were close. “I’m much better now. Thank you” she said, leaning even closer she sniffed slightly. “You smell good” she said, smiling broadly, with a little giggle in her voice “oh…..I probably shouldn’t have said that out loud” she stifled another giggle. “I feel a little fuzzy, but I swear… I’m ok” she leaned away from him, making an effort to focus on the others, instead of wondering what it would be like to kiss him.

“hey… someone’s missing…” she blurted out. “The other guy” she was trying to remember his name, but it was blury now. Almost like it was a dream from a long time ago. “The guy that didn’t go outside with us. Where is he?” she looked back at Mel, her smile fading a little. "We should find him, right? What if something's happened to him... something bad" she grimmaced.

[G]

When Alys reached the top of the stairs, oblivious to the goings-on behind her, Andy was nowhere in sight, but it was apparent where she'd gone. Alys' intended warning had obviously been too much for the girls' curiosity, and the door to the master bedroom was open again. Feeling her heart begin to pound, knowing what was in there, she forced herself to take a few steps toward the door.
"Andy?" she called, her voice trembling, "Are you in there?"

There was no response from the black-clad woman, who was indeed exactly where Alys had assumed she would be; standing by the bed, staring, transfixed, at the lifeless body before her. As though in a trance, Andy reached out a hand, one finger gently touching the nameless blondes' cheek, the girls' blue eyes seeming to stare straight into her own, matching ones. She hear Alys call, vaguely, but for a moment did nothing. Then she shook her head, turned toward the door.
"Coming," she answered, and strode to the bedroom door and out, shutting it behind her.
"Well, that's a pretty sight, isn't it?" she said to the scared blonde waiting for her, the grim bravado coming back into her voice. Alys just stared at her like she was incapable of a response, and Andy sighed, grabbing the girls arm and leading her back down the hall, away from the room.
"Don't look at me like I'm crazy, we have to know what we're dealing with here!" she said, releasing Alys to push open a second door, peering in. A maids quarters, she guessed, from the comparitively sparse furnishings in here. Nothing of interest, so she continued on, pausing at the stairs.
"Are those others coming?" the question was directed toAlys, who still seemed shocked since watching Andy walk from the master bedroom.
"Uhh.. I don't know.. I hope so," she sounded like she really meant it, and she did. This Andy girl was scaring her, seeming so comfortable to walk around this murder house.
“The guy that didn’t go outside with us. Where is he?” Alys was relieved to hear Morgans voice, at least they were still alive down there, even if they weren't joining them. "We should find him, right? What if something's happened to him... something bad."
"Oh!" Alys said, remembering, "Yes, what was his name, Sam? Casimir, yes, that was it. Should we come and help find him, or look around more up here?" The last was spoken at a slightly higher volume, so those downstairs could hear it.

[Sy23]

"Stay put. We're coming up," shouted Mel up the stairs. He gripped Morgan's hand tighter. "Stay close to me - I'm a bit scared, and your presence is a help," he whispered. He was quite proud of thinking this up - this way he could comfort her, without embarrassing her by spotlighting that in fact it was she that was obviously in need of comfort. It quite scared him how considerate he was becoming - maybe it just needed the right girl!

He managed to contrive it so that he was in front of Morgan, leading her up the stairs. Of course, that wouldn't help much if the threat came from behind - but he consoled himself with the fact that even a chivalrous white knight (newly minted version) couldn't be everywhere at once!

"You're right about Casamir, beautiful one," he said softly. "We really do need to go and check he's OK. Only a brave girl like you would suggest it. But we can't cover all the bases, so I reckon we should all stay together. He'll shout out if he's in trouble."

he reached the top of the stairs, and moved in the direction of the voices.

"Anything up there, Andy?" he asked, putting as casual a note into his voice as he could. "Maybe we should - ulp!"

He stared at the bed, trying to get his body between the new corpse and Morgan, trying to spare her yet another shock.

"Shit on toast! How many of them are there?" He watched as Andy rummaged in the cupboard. He caught sight of black dresses, white aprons. A maid's closet, obviously. Being Mel, he also made sure to get a good look at Andy's rear end, but then remembered Morgan was in the room and tried to make his appreciation less obvious. Much as he found female jealousy sexy, even a player like him knew this was neither the time nor the place.

"Well, Alys," he said, somberly. "What does Sam make of this?"

[Alanoth]

Casamir finaly stood up, and sighed. The night air had done him some good, and now he decided to get back to the group before he was missed-somehow. Casamir stepped out of the gazebo and walked across the lawn, suddenly noticing that loud voices were coming from inside the house. Oh, great, thought Casamir as he stopped at the back door and craned to listen, another freakin dead body! I swear, if I find out who did this, my switch-knife won't just be a keepsake!

Casamir opened the door and walked in casually.

"Hello?" he called out after he closed the door and combed his hair a bit, "What's going on? Is someone else hurt? How can I help?"

[G]

"Well, Alys, what does Sam make of this?"

Alys just stared at Mel for a moment, so unused to any recognition of her twin brother that for a moment, she could think of no response. Then she grinned at him, widely, the situation forgotten for just a split second in her appreciation of the way he just accepted that Sam was real. Of course I'm real, her sibling chided her gently, and she responded, saying of course she knew that, but how rarely did they meet another who wasn't seemingly blind to him? Anyway, how did he know about Sam? But of course - he'd heard them talking. Heard what, exactly? She shot a quick glance at Andy, thinking of their quiet conversation about the way she made them both feel.

Well, if he had heard her say she didn't trust the girl, he had sense enough not to mention it, or he would have done so already.

"This one was already here when we got here," she told Mel, again surprised at how calmly she could speak of the corpse. After you'd seen a few, perhaps they began to lose the shock factor, or perhaps she was still mildly in shock - the latter seemed more likely, really, "she was the first we found. I don't know who she is, or how long she's been dead, but... what?" she paused for a moment, her head tilted slightly to one side, listening.
"Sams' seen her before," she exclaimed, "at school!" She hadn't met any of the others in their little party before, but that didn't mean none of them lived in the village close by, where she did, "He doesn't know who she is though; we didn't talk to many people.

Maybe one of the others knows... only Shax and us have actually seen her, right?" she was speaking quickly now, her mind racing with both her own thoughts and Sams, "none of you live nearby, do you? Maybe the others?" The others - she'd forgotten them. Where were they, anyway? Had they left, abandoned the rest to whatever fate awaited them here? Or... she shuddered, and closed her mind to the thought of more bodies, waiting somewhere to be found.

"What are you prattling on about?" Andy scoffed, her head withdrawing from the closet, where she'd found nothing of particular interest, just dusty, old-fashioned maids clothing and ugly shoes, "Who cares who she is? What does it matter? She's dead! And who the fuck is Sam, anyway?"

Casimirs' calls had gone unheard by both the girls, but Sam, ever watchful, ever silent to all but Alys, had listened, and had heard them. He communicated quickly with Alys, who was mustering herself for an angry response to Andy's callousness toward the dead girl, and to her brother, and she turned to the others, wide eyed.
"Casimir," she said, and turned to the door, "We're upstairs! Maybe he know something about what happened to the others."

[Sy23]

"Sam," said Mel to Andy "Is Sam. Apparently." And then, sotto voce, so that Alys wouldn't hear "I'd suggest you leave it at that. Aren't there enough upset girls on our hands right now?"

He turned back to Alys. "Well, this corpse is a new one on me, anyway. Are there any more dead bodies hanging around, or is this enough to be going on with?" He reached ut and stroked her hair, gently, to comfort her. "It's OK, a dead body can't do you any harm. Not for a few days anyway - after that, well, they tend to get a bit unpleasant."

A casual observer might have thought he'd forgotten about Morgan, who he hadn't addressed since discovering the body. Only a really observant person might have noticed that he hadn't let her out of his peripheral vision since she'd entered the room behind him, and had made sure to position himself that he could interpose himself between her and any threat from either direction. It did strike him she might get jealous to see him stroking Alys's hair, but he knew the other girl needed comforting, and resolved to make it up to Morgan with extra attentiveness when things were a little less fraught. He let his left hand trail vaguely behind him, so Morgan could grip it if she needed or wanted.

"Does Sam have any idea what this girl - the one from your school - was doing here? And does he know of any more little surprises we've yet to find?" He didn't look at Andy, guessing she'd have a scathing expression on her face. "Can he tell us what's behind this?"

[Alanoth]

As Casamir entered the house, he heard something - not from upstairs, but from somewhere to the left, the creak of floorboards, a door softly closing. Casamir followed the noise, and found himself in the kitchen, a grubby, dirty place that looks as though more diseases could be concocted there than meals. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, at first - until he noticed the candle, sitting atop a small table, a slight coil of smoke still rising from the wick... beside it is a plate, empty, but for the leftovers of a roughly made breakfast - not rotted, as you would expect, but relatively fresh. There hasn't been much evidence left - the food is mostly gone, but for a small piece of bread and scraps of some unidentifiable meat. This intrigued Casamir enough to look further, on closer inspection, he noticed footprints in the thick layer of dust that covers the floor. They were large and looked to have come from a mens' shoe. Casamir chose to follow them, they lead through a small door at the back of the kitchen, and down a service corridor - like a servant would use, to move discreetly through the house, keeping out of sight. The tunnel continued to god knows where- but it is pitch dark, and following it would have been futile - but to his left, a soft, yellow light breaks through the thin crack of a door - and when he pushed it open, cautiously, he saw a small sleeping chamber, with a single matress on the floor and a little table, the candle set on this one still burning. A formal jacket hung over the back of the room's single chair, not a fancy one, rather one that a butler or waiter might wear - it looked very old and worse for wear, and extremely outdated, like the rest of the clothes and furniture in the house. There was no one in sight, but as Casamir took the candle with him on his way back to the kitchen, he will realised that there are more than one set of footprints on the floor - only one is paced and confident, that first large set of mens' shoes that he saw - the rest look scattered, as though the people making them were being sheperded quickly along the passage.


Seeing all of this, Casamir carefully walked out of the passage so as to not disturb the prints, and he rushed through the kitchen out over to the stairs. At the bottome, he called out to the others.

"Hey! Guys, you really need to see this!"

[Merry]

Morgan knew what Mel was doing, keeping her view blocked from whatever was in the room and she appreciated it, on some level. Steeling herself for whatever it was that he didn’t want her to see, she just kept telling herself over and over, it’s fake. It’s not real, think of it as if you were on a movie set. It did help a little.

Trying to focus on the conversations going on around her, was becoming difficult. Everything was still pretty fuzzy from the drugs, but she had to admit, they did make it easier for her to not really be upset about the whole situation. That in itself was a relief. It was almost as if the hysterical girl was cordoned off somewhere else in her mind. She was still there, but now she was under water and you just couldn’t hear her yelling anymore. It was more of a whisper, like a small nagging thought. She knew she should be much more upset, but couldn’t quite muster it.

Her eyes were immediately draw again to the figure on the bed, and the fact that she was indeed dead. it’s only a movie, it’s not a real girl she whispered again, and it seemed to help. She still hadn’t really moved from her position at the doorway, so was in perfect earshot to hear Casmir call out.

“Hey… that other guy, Casmir, is calling us” she said, not sure if she had even said it out loud for the others to hear. “We should probably go see what he wants” still unable to pull her gaze away from the figure on the bed.

[Sy23]

"You're right, angelic one," said Mel, desperately hoping the false casualness of his laugh didn't show. "How about you come with me, eh? I'd probably get lost in this rabbit-warren of a place. I've got the sense of direction of a busted sat-nav!"

Without giving her the chance to consider this, he gripped her arm and walked her down the stairs with him, in a vice-like grip that revealed the wiry strength within his thin body. He squeezed just hard enough so as not to bruise her, but enough to let her know she had no choice in the matter. He was sure he could feel her trembling under his grip, though whether from fear, or indignation that he was bossing her around he couldn't tell.

Thing is, Morgie, he whispered in her ear I'm kinda spooked about going out there, and I'd sooner have someone with me than go alone. I'm not exactly the hero type. I need someone brave, like you, along with me, or, knowing me, I'll collapse in a glibbering heap. Don't tell anyone, hey?

In actual fact, as soon as they reached the window, he planned to distract her attention and leap out and vanish into the darkness, coming back with Casamir as soon as possible. It was the most efficient way to keep her in sight if anything nasty came at them. But he wasn't going to humiliate her further by telling her that.

So thanks, he continued, and then aloud. "We won't be long, guys. If someone can brew some coffee or something, I for one would appreciate it."

[Merry]

Morgan heard his words and they made her chuckle, which she did her best to try and stifle, without much success. him? Afraid of this? He’s joking, he must be she gasped back the giggles that threaten to overtake her at the thought of him running down the hallway, screaming in fear, as best she could, lifting her fingers to her lips in an attempt to stop them from breaking free even further.

Leaning close to him as they walked, “Your breath is, tickling me….all whispery like that “ she giggled more at his short speech “You know… you’re awfully cute, in a macho, manly way” she said in an attempt to whisper back to him, wondering why she blurted that out the way she had. In an attempt to recover some of her dignity, she went on before he could remark “but you’re hurting my arm” Her voice holding a slight whiney pitch to it now, as she attempted to pull her arm away.

Pulling harder than she realized, her arm did spring free of his grip. Already feeling wobbly in general, once she did break her arm free, she soon lost her balance.

Landing with an audible thump on the dusty carpet, she found herself seated abruptly in the middle of the hallway in which they had been walking through. “Ouch” she exclaimed. “That’s gonna leave a bruise” then smirking a bit in his direction, she stifled the laughter that was threatening to overtake her fully at the situation.

[Sy23]

Morgan was not the only one trying to stifle laughter. For, after a brief moment when he worried she might have hurt herself, the absolute absurdity of the situation struck Mel. A group of adults, wandering around like five-year-olds in a haunted house, (one of whom even had an imaginary friend into the bargain), too scared even to go upstairs alone. All it needed was a few flashes of lightning, and maybe a visit from Scooby-Doo and Shaggy to make the picture complete.

More seriously, it occurred to him that if there were some malignant enemy lurking, reducing them all to helpless fear would be exactly what he/she wanted. The best way to stick a finger up to their adversary would be to give a clear message - "The only thing we're scared of right now is pissing ourselves from laughing at your pathetic attempts to upset us".

And for that matter, if evil ghosts did exist, and they were the cause of the strange goings-on - well, he'd heard that such things fed off human fear. And if his sense of the absurd couldn't, therefore, starve them to death, he wasn't the man he thought he was!

So he allowed himself to give full reign to his laughter, at the sight of Morgan, her (extremely gorgeous) legs everywhere, her hair a mess, surrounded by a puff of carpet-dust, looking something like a ghost herself. Assuming ghosts were that pretty, of course.

He bent down and helped her up, trying not to touch anything other than her arms and the small of her back (a temptation not easy to resist, but he managed it - just!) and stroked her unruly hair to rearrange it.

"Sorry - I was laughing at me, not you!" he said, with a wry grin. "Dragging you downstairs like that. Next thing I'll be loading myself up with garlic and wooden stakes, and looking for a gun that shoots silver bullets. Sorry if I hurt your arm..."

I'll kiss it better, if I thought you'd welcome it, he added to himself.

"Want me to take a look at bruise... ooops," he gave a satyric grin. "Maybe not. You never know who might be looking."

[G]

Alys shook her head to Mel's question, "No, he didn't know her well. Just one of those people you see around..." she trailed off, regretting never introducing herself to the girl, who she now also recalled seeing in the hallways and in the streets of her hometown. Maybe if she'd known her, she'd have been coming in the car with Kayli and herself, instead of getting here early, and... not that arriving with them had helped Kayli, though. She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn't notice Morgan and Mel leaving, or Andy, who sniffed somewhat haughtily at Mel's suggestion that she leave the obviously frailer girl alone, and followed the other two out of the door without even a glance in Alys' direction.

Meanwhile, out in the dark, Michelle stood alone, wondering why none of the others seemed to have noticed that she wasn't with them. She had been right behind them, when they headed back toward the house, had been sure she was nearly at the window, but somehow she'd lost her bearings before she made it there, and was now sitting on the grass, hopelessly lost in the pitch dark night, afraid to wander too far in any direction and walk back into the horrible scene that had such a short time before had been a young girl named Kayli. Shivering, she sat in silence, her knees hugged to her chest, staring pointlessly around. When she heard the first, soft footfall, she froze, half of her wanting to cry out in relief that someone, anyone was coming to find her, the other half too terrified to make a sound, knowing that that someone might not be the last person she wanted to see. A terrifying thought had struck her too, alone in the cold. What if the murderer was not some stranger, who had chosen this well known night to prey on innocent young lives? What if it was one of them?
Whoever approached did it quietly enough that she didn't realise how close they were until a strong, rough hand covered her throat, pressing so hard on her osophogous that her vocal chords were rendered useless - she couldn't even let out a whimper as her arms were pinned behind her, whoever it was pulling her sharply to her feet, leading her forwards in the dark. They didn't travel far before reaching the manor's brick wall, where her arms were released momentarily while a mans' gnarled, wrinkled fingers reached around her to push open a door so perfectly matched to the wall that it was invisible. She was shuffled along a dark corridoor, and was just recovering enough from her terror to start to wonder where she was when there was a sharp pain in the back of her head, and everything went black.

The old man couldn't help but let out a little giggle as he shoved the unconscious girl into the corner of the room, stopping to peer at her for a moment, his eyes flicking around to appraise the other unconscious bodies in the room. Then he turned and left, shutting the door behind him and in doing so, cutting off the only source of light, leaving those inside in darkness.

[Merry]

Morgan laughed out loud at Mel's suggestion that they were being watched. It all just suddenly struck her as comical, and even though the laughter had a slight edge toward the hysterical side, she laughed and it felt as if something set in her shoulders loosened, just a bit. She smiled at him, and nodded in agreement.

When he pulled her up, she smiled as he attempted to fix her unruly hair. It was a sweet gesture. She leaned in and gently brushed her lips to his “thank you” she said softly, a little surprised that she had just kissed him. Then started to pull away hearing someone walking behind them in the hallway.

[Sy23]

Mel had expected many conflicting things from this beautiful, courageous, yet (at the moment) apprehensive girl. For her to laugh off his touch with a "let's just be friends, eh" deprecation. To slap his face, for his touching her hair. Coldness for his presumption. Or, perhaps (and most likely) indifference, for after all, had she not something far mroe important to worry about right now that the advances of a disreputable guy she hardly knew.

So when he kissed him, it was at once a shock and a delight. It came as no surprise that her better nature took over, and that she pulled away before he could even comprehend or respond.

But he'd heard the footsteps, too, and could at least convince himself that this was her reason. But even the footsteps were not the most momentous thing on his mind right now. For it struck him that tthat one kiss had made a significant change in his psyche for ever.

Before - it had been any girl above a certain standard would do. And now...

Now, it was this one, or nothing...

He turned quickly towards the source of the footsteps, shielding her with his body.

[G]

One of Andy's thin eyebrows was arched high as she approached the two, a smirk on her face.
"Well, if not now then when, I guess," she remarked dryly, of the romantic exchange she'd just witnessed, "Are you done? Or shall I leave you two alone and go and see what this Casimir is banging on about by myself?" She passed them and headed for the kitchen, where Casimir's call had come from.

Meanwhile, Alys had wandered downstairs also, lost in hushed, frightened conversation with Sam. She almost bumped into Mel and Morgan before she saw them, and stepped back quickly, a scared look on her face before she realised it was only them.
"Oh, god, I thought you were..." Thought they were who? Sam whispered, and her sentence was cut off short. That was the scariest part, the not knowing.
But she knew it wasn't these two responsible, they'd been with her when she'd found Kayli.. though, when she thought about it, it had been so dark outside, and where they were standing not so far away from where her friend's body had lay. When she'd heard the scream, she just ran toward the noise, didn't look around her. She'd thought the others were right there, but... how could she know. A small whimper of fear escaped her lips as Sam quietly reminded her that she couldn't be certain, couldn't trust anyone, and her gaze flickered to Andy, who hadn't been anywhere to be found the whole time. Looking between her three companions, she realised she couldn't say with certainty that any of them was innocent, though she'd prefer to think it was a stranger who hunted them, not one of these people who'd started the night gathered together in the warm loungeroom of the manor, sheltered from the rain.. how had this all got so out of control? Thinking of that moment earlier, when they'd all been outside, she remembered Michelle. Where had the girl gone?
"Oh god," she said again, for dissapearances in this house could hardly be put down to chance, "Michelle," she said, swallowing her fearful thoughts in the knowledge that to be in a group was definitely better than being on her own, even if she couldn't completely trust any of them, "Does anyone remember when she was last with us? I mean, after we found Kayli?" her friends' name came out in a painful, strangled way.

[Sy23]

Mel knew that a refined, gentlemanly person would have been embarrassed, being caught in such a private act. He felt guilty that he found the whole situation quite amusing. Andy's nose was obviously out of joint for some reason... it could have been jealousy, he guessed, though she'd shown no sign of any interest in him before - and Morgan looked guilty, for some reason.

But this slight amusement was nothing compared to the inward hilarity that bubbled up when Alys appeared. She was mumbling away to herself ... or to Sam, maybe, Mel thought... and broke off with a scared look. He knew he shouldn;t laugh at another's fear, but it was all he could do not to break down in guffaws, so hilarious did she look.

But he forced his face into a serious mien - the poor girl was obviously upset.

I thought you were-

"Thought we were who? Urm, whom?" Mel began, confused about grammar...

Michelle. Does anyone remember when she was last with us? I mean, after we found Kayli?

And at once, Mel didn't have to pretend to be serious any more. His laughter vanished like dew on a griddle -

The girl had a point!

[Merry]

"Oh no" Morgan said sofly, "I..I.. think she was still outside" she went on, feeling horrible. "I was so upset, with the body, and... she was there, but then" she trailed off her face a mask of terror. Then trying to hold onto some slight hope "Maybe that's what Casmir is calling us about. He's found her and she's ok...." she said, and to her own ears it sounded quite lame. The way things were going, it was highly unlikely.

Feeling as though a giant pit had opened in her stomach, she slipped her fingers into Mel's for her own piece of mind more than anything. "Come on" she pulled his hand, "We need to find her" trying to sound brave, but feeling anything but. "It's all my fault if something happened to her" she said looking at Mel, her eyes pleading with him to make it all ok.

[Sy23]

Mel caught the look in Morgan's eyes - and even when they were afraid, they almost melted him, so beautiful did he find them - and wished, more than anything, that he could make it all right, that he could tell her there was nothing to worry about, no danger, nothing to fear...

But something caught him back from lying to her. A thing he'd never worried about with a woman before... he knew than, if he didn;t know already, how special Morgan was becoming to him.

"Well, if he hasn't," he said, sticking to what he could that was both truthful and optimistic "It doesn't necessarily mean anything bad. They could both be OK, but not together. If something horrible had happened to her, she'd have screamed, wouldn't she? And I think Cas can look after himself. Come on, beautiful one, let's go and look for her first. The moonlight's stronger from this side of the house, and I want to see your beautiful face...

[G]

Alys stared at the others, her eyes wide and fearful, like a deer staring into the headlights of a fast approaching vehicle, her brain unable to figure out which way to go.
And we still don't know what happened to the others, Sam whispered in her mind, his voice, normally so calm and steady, reflecting the fear Alys herself was feeling.
"You're right.. wherever they've gone, Michelle could have been taken too," the girl replied aloud, scaring herself a little with the way her mind so quickly decided that they had in fact been taken, and not just managed to escape the house to somewhere safe.
They might have gone.. might have just left, her brother suggested hopefully, but Alys shook her head.
"Of course they're still here, they wouldn't have left without us," she protested, wondering even as she said it what she would do, were she given a small window of opportunity to escape. Would she find the others, risk losing the moment? Or would she just flee, and leave them to their fate?
"No, I'd never do that," her voice came out in a whisper, sounding too much like she was trying to convince herself.

Andy had reached the doorway to the kitchen, peering in on Casimir's sillouette in the dark room.
"What's going on?" she asked, her voice sounding demanding as usual, "What are you yelling about?"

[Alanoth]

Casamir had gotten a bit bored waiting for the others to arrive, and he had spaced out. When Andy stuck her head in and demanded what he was yelling about, he snapped back to reality. He was a bit annoyed by her tone of voice, but that really didn't matter right now.

"I found a secret passage in the kitchen that leads down a strange hallway. The crazy thing is, I also found some recently eaten food, and some recently made footsteps leading from the kitchen to the secret passage along with dragging marks. Where's everyone else? We all need to be aware of this."

He had summarised all that he had found, and he hoped that he had sounded urgent enough to get attention. The others needed to see this, because this meant that they weren't alone in the house. That meant that the killer was still around, and they needed to catch him/her quick before the remaining people all became corpses.

[Sy23]

Wherever Michelle had gone, it was certainly somewhere beyond the collective powers of Morgan and Mel to find. "Not that that's necessarily significant," said Mel, his arm draped (hopefully) comfortingly around Morgan's shoulder. "Like, this is a big place. Lots of grounds. She probably can't hear us shouting."

He wondered if he was trying to convince Morgan or himself!

In order to make his search as efficient as possible, Mel had quartered the grounds, and was actually proceeding in a fairly pre-ordained way. This route took him and Morgan towards Andy and Casamir. So it wasn't long before they heard the urgent voices...

Where's everyone else? We all need to be aware of this.

Mel wished Morgan hadn't heard that. "Hey, Casamir," he said, more loudly than usual, in a belated attempt to drown out any more scary revelations, though he was aware it was a case of locking an empty stable! The apprehensive looks on the faces of Andy and Casamir would tell Morgan all she wanted to know - and maybe much that she didn't - anyway!

"Hey, Casamir. What's going on? A secret passage, eh? Sounds like fun."

Frankly, he wished he'd paid more attention during speech and drama at school. he hoped he'd disguised the fear in his voice enough, but doubted it. He tightened his grip on Morgan, checking for tell-tale signs of her trembling and beginning to break down again.

[Merry]

Morgan couldn't help but shudder at his words, a secret passage? That didn't sound pleasant all. It made her think of spiders and cobwebs and dark hallways full of creepy things. She suppressed another shudder, barely. It instinctively forced her to lean closer to Mel, and she found herself cuddled up against his warm frame, and she slid her arm around his waist. She felt much better, just being closer to him, protected, for the time being.

She knew that they had to investigate, it was the right thing to do, but it didn't make her feel any better about going down a passageway to goodness knows where. "Well, as long as we stick together.... " she said a little shakily. "We should see where it goes, right?" She was struggling to sound more confident than she really felt at the moment. She knew they had to attempt to find the missing people, and get the hell out of here, preferably in one piece, and alive.

She squeeze against Mel a little tighter, trying to relay that she appreciated his being there, without actually saying it. She noticed again, that he felt warm and it was very comfortable to be snuggled up against him, he felt alive. “Maybe this passage might lead us out of this insane asylum.” She whispered to Mel, a glimmer of hope in her voice at the thought.

[Sy23]

Just the smell of Morgan's hair was driving Mel (in a really pleasant way) to distraction at this point. More than ever he wished he could have met her in a bar, at a party - not at a time when, at any moment, some murderous, axe-wielding sociopath or demonic bugaboo would leap out at them at any moment.

And Morgan was right - totally right. The passage might well lead to safety. Even if it didn't, it was better to see where it led than never know. Just as the curiosity of cats was actually a survival trait (time spent in reconnaissance never wasted), so removing the enigma of a pathway from whence something nasty might emerge was a necessity.

"OK, beautiful - let's lead the way, shall we?" Mel said, trying to keep the apprehension out of his voice. He took her hand, but moved slightly away from her - if there did prove to be something unpleasant at the end of the passage, having to untangle himself from her could lose that vital split second. Before moving off, though, he stopped to push her rebellious fringe up and out of her eyes. Really, she was so beautiful. If he had to face some nasty right now, he reflected, it would be in drop-dead-gorgeous company. Then he shuddered at the thought of how literally true his hyperbole might be!

[Thomas Smothers]

“Shit, I’m gonna be late.” Thomas said this as he finishes tying the strings to his roller skates. He then rushes out of the house, skating down the sidewalks of the blocks as fast as he can, seeing as the night is nearing; His hair following behind him like a cape attached to his head. As he nears the entrance to the mansion, he puts his right arm out, grabbing the entrance gate to the manor and using it to keep most of his speed while turning to head into the manor and towards the house. As Thomas gets closer to the house, he looks around at the grounds, being distracted enough to not notice the stairs; The skates hit the first step of the stairs and he trips over them, falling onto the stairs. “Oh geeze.” He says in reaction to falling, in a surprised manner. After getting up, Thomas takes the skates off, knowing there would be no easy way getting up the steps with the skates on; He puts the skates in his backpack, takes out his shoes and puts them on, continuing his way up the steps and into the house. “Hello! Anyone here?!” He yells, trying to make it possible for others to hear his voice if they were inside the house as well, having thought there would be others here; But so far he has seen no one.

[G]

Alys let out a little squeak of fear as the others left, and she was momentarily left standing on her own in the dark of the hall. She hastened to follow where Mel, Morgan and Andy had gone, and entered the kitchen to join the rest of the small band of survivors.
survivors.. that makes it sound like...
"Oh, no, I didn't mean it like that!" Didn't mean to think in a way that, as her brother had pointed out, suggested the rest of what had started out as a large group, where all dead. A shiver ran through her body, and she shuffled closer to where the others stood, Casimir having rejoined their party.
Andy, ever eager to show herself for the tough, unfazed creature she was, had fallen quickly into step beside Morgan and Mel as they made for the passage they could all now clearly see leading off from a discreet place at the side of the kitchen. She glanced down at the plate, the footsteps on the ground.
"A man," she muttered, a tone almost like surprise mingling with the factual way she spoke, and glanced up at the entrance to the passage again. "Let's be off then!" she looked defiantly around at her companions, as if daring any of them to be too fearful to enter the tunnel. When no one made any noise of dissent, save another tiny whimper from small, blonde, fearful Alys, she leant across to the table, picked up the candle in its holder and fished for a lighter in her pockets, igniting the wick before she began her cautious path into the dark.

[Sy23]

At first, Mel felt contempt when he heard Alys's tiny whimper of fear. After all, the rest of them were scared shitless too, but at least they were taking action, instead of acting like poor, helpless damsels out of the middle ages. Not to mention that her fear and paranoia could spread to the others, and make it harder to deal with whatever might be facing them.

But as he thought about it, a wave of sympathy for the poor girl washed over him. After all, he and Cas were men - and therefore, taught from a young age to suppress such emotions. Andy - well, she was woman enough (for his new found fidelity for Morgan hadn't stopped him noticing) but a woman of a different kind - the type that took pride in doing everything a man could do, only better. There was no way she'd show fear, though she probably (he guessed) felt it. And Morgan - well, scared as she was, he flattered himself, she could at least count on the support of someone who (she'd surely worked out by now) admired her immensely, and would do his best to stand behind her and any nasty that might jump out of the shadows!

But Alys - poor Alys - had to face this unseen horror alone. And as soon as he realized that, a wave of sympathy washed over him. Of course, looked at that way, it was harder for her than anyone else. She had the mysterious man she talked to (and who never seemed to answer back) but he doubted an imaginary friend could be much use in a crisis.

"Are you OK, Alys," he called back, putting a light note into his voice. "Come on sweetie - we need a bright girl in all this darkness."

It suddenly struck him that Morgan might be jealous to hear him talk thihs way to another girl - well, if so he'd just have to find a way to make it up to her when they got out of this. The habits of a lifetime flirt are hard to break!

he continued to inch forward, peering into the gloom...

[G]

Andy continued along the passage, oblivious to Mel's word to Alys behind her, though the blonde girl heard them, giving Mel a grateful smile and inching forward to stand with him and Morgan.
"Yeah, I'm alright," she almost whispered.
Andy had spotted the footsteps now, and was looking down at them, perplexed. "You're right, Casimir," she said, "It looks like there's been loads of people down here. We would have heard them though, surely.." she trailed off, spotting a door to one side of the passage, and pushed it open with her free hand. It opened easily, revealing the small room behind, the dirty looking sleeping area, the coat-tails hung on the rooms' single chair...
"What the fuck... someone's been in here.. recently."

[Thomas Smothers]

Thomas walked through the house, looking around at things; his footsteps made quiet echoes through the empty halls as he walked, oblivious to the fact that others are here. As Thomas walks down one of the halls, he notices a open door, this being the door to the bedroom. He walk to the door, into the room to see the body on the bed "Wow..." he said, being so suprised he does not know how to react to it. Even though he does not know how to react, his heart beat speeds up as he is also scared at the moment, since he does not know why the body is still there.

[Merry]

Morgan’s hand had a death grip on Mel's as they walked along the dark passage. Nothing short of an atomic blast was making her break that grip if she could help it. She hated feeling so weak and helpless, but the alternative was... well, best not to think about that much, she thought to herself. It would do no good to rehash that. Moving as silently as possible behind Mel and the others, she noticed the passage way was covered in dust and grime. There were obvious footprints in the dust, so this was a passage that was used, and recently as the others had noticed as well. It explained how someone could move about the house, causing the chaos they had and not be seen.

As she peered cautiously over Mel’s shoulder, she could just see the room that Andy had opened. Her reporter’s curiosity got the best of her, "Where do you think we are now?" she whispered, her voice low and hushed, in case anyone was within earshot of their small group. "I mean... " she stammered a little "In relation to the rest of the house, it's a pretty big place" she finished. "If someone was just here…” motioning with her chin, still refusing to let go of Mel’s fingers “where are they now?" she went on, leaving off the unsaid thought, that they could be within striking distance of the real killer. Thankful for now, that they were all together. “We need to keep going…” still hoping that this dark hallway would lead them out of this mess.

[Sy23]

"Well, if there is someone here," replied Mel, grimly. "It might be them that needs to be scared!" he lowered his voice, so that only Morgan could hear. "Look at it this way, lovely one. Whoever's doing - whatever it is they're doing - they've shown a remarkable propensity for picking on isolated people. Taking on the lot of us at one go might be something it-he-she-they are gonna regret. Just one thing..."

He squeezed Morgan's hand tightly, returning her grip.

"I know what a brave girl you are, and it goes against the grain for you - but if we do meet anyone in here, mind standing back? It's just I've got a score to settle."

His logic, of course, was all over the place - how did he have any more of a score to settle than Morgan or anyone else? He was hoping that the conviction in his voice would gainsay any attempt in her part to dissect his statement. After all, one could hardly say "You're a girl, and a kind of easily spooked one at that - leave it to the men" - not if he wanted this remarkable, vulnerable woman to be a part of his life after this was over. And he very much did.

Of course, that all pre-supposed that there would be a life for either of them after tonight!

[G]

Alys has crept into the dark passageway behind Mel and Morgan, Andy and Casimir having already dissapeared into its shadows. She heard an exclamation from Andy ahead, and she could hear the shock in the girls' voice when she spoke, telling them that someone had been inhabiting the room - and recently!
"My god, Sam... it must be the killer!" she muttered, throwing a relieved glance toward her companions. That meant, at least, that whoever this psychopath was wasn't among their little party... provided that there was just one culprit, and not more than one person, working together... Alys shook her head, frowning. Why did her mind always drift to the worst possible speculations?

Andy, ahead of the others, was still examining the small room they had discovered, but, seeing that there was no further clues to who might have been inside a moment before, she made a dismissive gesture toward the room in general and continued on down the passageway, calling to the others to follow.
She passed another door on her left, which she could see, through the opening, was completely bare, and looked deserted. She barely slowed, continuing until she reached a third door. At this one, she paused, reaching out to try the handle. The door was locked tight.
"Guys.. this one's locked," she told the others, staring at it as though deep in thought. For some reason... she had to know what was behind this door!
"Mel, you're the strongest. Break it down," she said determinedly.

[Merry]

Reluctantly Morgan let go of Mel’s hand, knowing he would want to do just as was suggested. She shoved her still warm hands into the pocket of her jeans, to stop them from wringing together like they wanted to. She was still scared to death, but realized Andy was right. “What if, who ever is doing this is behind that door” she said quietly in the gloom, realizing that this could all be over quickly. They had the numbers on their side to overpower just one person, unless they were heavily armed. Still it did make her feel a bit more confident, still standing so close to Mel.

Then her thoughts took a darker turn, what if it’s another body? but she refused to say it out loud. Wondering if she was the only one thinking it. Glancing from one face to the next, it was hard to tell what was running through everyone’s mind. Her sight lingering on Mel more so than the rest, she saw the resolve clearly on his face. Regardless of what or who was behind that door, he no doubt would be breaking it down, Andy was right in the sense that they had to be sure. Whatever was behind the door, they had to know. “Let’s just be ready, for anything” she said, taking a small step back in the cramped hallway to give him room to work.

[Sy23]

In fiction, the breaking down of a door is easy. The hero lets fly a mighty kick, and the door splinters at his touch. This leaves the hero free to do other things, like crash through panes of glass without suffering a scratch, drive at breakneck speeds through crowded streets without so much as clipping a wing, and instantly find parking spots outside the place he is visiting, even in peak hour traffic.

So, had this been a televised drama, the door would have shattered at Mel's kick, Morgan would have wet her panties in admiration, and, no doubt, at that point the story would have cut to a toothpaste commercial. As it was, however, despite his long run up, his foot simply slid from the door, causing his to bounce backwards, and having to break his fall with his outstretched hands. He felt a bit of a twit.

What he uttered at this point could probably not be related, lest the sensitive ears of children, librarians and fundamentalist religious fanatics be offended - an idea may be gleaned by admitting that it is a verb, usually connected with people who like each other a lot, and also used, for some reason, when one hits one's thumb with a hammer.

It was, however, a good indication of how mad he was. So that on his fifth attempt, after a run-up that would have done credit to an enraged bull, luck rather than judgment caused his kick to hit exactly on the weakest point of the lock, allowing it to yield just enough to break the jamb from its wooden surround. He pushed the door open, with a modest look on his face that desperately tried to suggest that his previous abortive attempts had been just practice.

He vaguely held his hand behind him, desperately hoping Morgan would take it, but not wanting to make it plain it was his wish. A guy has to have some pride...

[SikstaSlathalin]

Never being one to sit still while shit was going down Shax made busy by sniffing around the area finding things he could use to survive this damn house, after about an hour he'd found a flashlight, some matches, and strong canvas he could use for a sling if needed. He was in horrible form tonight and it pissed him off, he's seen people mauled by bears and cougars before so it's not like death was new to him, normally he would've seen the dead girl and gone right into paranoid mode scanning the area for some sign of the killer or something not fall down the steps like a little bitch and bust his head open.

His shame was great but luckily it was outweighed by the fact that he was alive for a reason and that reason was to survive this night and get the others out, well as many of the others as he can. He was about to head back to the lounge room when he heard the slightest sound behind him his senses were already tweaked spinning around he threw his fist at the sound he felt it make contact with something soft and a grunt knowing he hit something he was going for the second hit but the surprise wore off his assailant quickly and he hit the air but a metal pipe smashed down on his extended left arm snapping the bones the pain barely registered before the pipe was used on his head and his world went black.

He was briefly aware of someone grunting trying to move him along a long hallway. His dull mind smiled with the knowledge that whoever this was wasn't that strong and they smelt funny. His body shut down again as the killer dropped him in relief to open a door and didn't even bother to place Shax anywhere they just shoved him into the room and left him in the middle of the floor the man smiled in the dark and said before he totally blacked out.
"I got your number now." His eyes closed and he let the cold room sooth him. Time passed he wasn't sure how much but all he did know was his left arm was definitely broken and useless. With no ice all he could do was wrap it tight as he could and sling it and with one arm that would be a bitch. Using his right arm he dragged himself into a corner and used the walls to prop his arm up a little wincing in the pain but as he taught everyone in his class sometimes you gotta roll through the pain to get the job done. First thing he did was wrap his arm tightly with some old fabric he snagged from where he was dropped. It took him an hour to twist and bite a knot around his arm. If he every got out of this place he'd have to train himself to use one arm better then he was doing now. After taking a breather he went to making a sling, he pulled out the spare canvas he found and looped it around his right shoulder gingerly putting his arm through the loop then once again using his right hand and teeth tied it into a knot on his right shoulder. Shax was hoping that the killer would come back he wanted to shoot that fucker between the legs then between the eyes, the bastard has to have some kind of divine luck bringer on their side to get the drop on the big man like that but it wouldn't happen again.

After his first aid was administered he fished around his pockets to take stock of what he had. The killer was some kind of weird because they left the Survivalist his backpack and his items. He pulled out the flashlight and used it to look around him he saw almost everyone else from this little party aside from Mel, Morgan, Alys, Andy, and Casimir. He continued his scan around the room no windows, no fireplace and only a wooden chair and table occupying the furnishings of it. Soon he heard voices coming from outside the door on of them told Mel he was the strongest so he had to break the door down. He then heard someone, Mel he was assuming hitting the door after some running footsteps.
Are you fucking kidding? They're trying to get Mel to kick the door down? Fucking Andy would do better. He sighed counting four wimpy attempts to break the door down, he was about ready to get up and kick it out himself but luck seemed to be with everyone but Shax tonight because the door cracked and swung open. He sighed getting slowly to his feet throwing his bag over his shoulder before anyone else got in the room he appeared from the shadows and stared dead in Mel's eyes he was pissed and he didn't care who he scared right now.

"It took you five fucking tries to break that door? Are you serious Casanova? Next time, get one of the girls to do it it'll save you from scuffing your croc skin boots and it'll save me from weeping for my gender. He sighs glad to get that out of his system. Everyone else is in there from what I can see, and our killer is weak and they smell funny. They were practically having a heart attack trying to drag me in here." The big man says flashing the light inside the room flashing them on the faces of the others in the room.

[G]

Alys almost screamed in fright as the door burst open under Mel's weight, and Shax almost immediately strode out of the room, berating Mel for taking so many attempts to actually get the door open. Alys, personally, thought it was a good effort considering Andy's somewhat ridiculous order for him to break the door down in the first place. Shax was looking distinctly worse for wear, his arm now quite obviously broken and tied in a makeshift sling in addition to the head injury he'd already sustained when he'd tumbled down the stairs.
"Shax!" The redhead exclaimed, "You're ok!" In a brief moment of childishness she felt like hugging the man, but it quickly passed.

Andy had merely smirked in response to the survivalists' snappy greeting to the others, and nodded her head in a curt hello before stepping past him to peer into the dark room. It was as he'd said - slumped on the floor were the motionless bodies of the rest of the group, the ones who'd dissapeared from the loungeroom and, closest to the doorway, save the space where Andy assumed Shax had been lying, Michelle. Alys, behind her, had gasped again (Andy spared a moment of annoyance at the frequency of the startled noises the younger girl made) at the sight of the corpse-like bodies on the floor, but Andy, not so quick to assume the worst, or perhaps just not as intimidated by the idea of it, had already stepped forward, pressing her index and middle finger against the girls wrist.
"Unconscious, not dead," she told the others, without looking around, "And Shax is right," she made a quick headcount, "they're all here. You said the killer was weak? His smell hardly seems relevant, but that's reassuring."

"But.. if the murde... if whoever it is... is so weak, how did they drag all these people in here?" Alys asked, her voice a little shaky, "Sam, you don't think... you don't think it's more than one person, do you?" Apparently falling back into a panicked state at the sight of so many unconscious bodies, seemed to have reverted to directing her words to her invisible brother, rather than those actually present.

[Sy23]

"Remind me again," laughed Mel, amused rather than offended by Shax's outburst, "which one of us was it got trashed by this wimp with a personal problem?" More mockery might have followed, but Mel's attention was immediately drawn to the unconscious bodies. Shax hadn't been kidding. He watched as Andy counted them. All present and (save for Shax's arm) correct. Mel didn't know if this made things more or less sinister. A murderer, while scary enough, did at least make some kind of sense. But what kind of weirdo would collect living bodies, and lock them all up together? Did the mysterious assailant have a spider complex, stacking their victims up like flies to consume at their leisure? There was something here - something they'd all been missing.

"Don't agree, Andy," he said. "About the smell. He walked past Alys and Morgan, giving both of their hands a reassuring squeeze as he passed, seeking out Shax, who was still holding his arm somewhat gingerly. He began busying himself with Shax's sling, tightening it in a way that Shax obviously couldn't do one-handed. "At least it won't affect your sex life too much," he grinned. "You've still got one hand left. OK, now you say this person smelt funny. What do you mean by funny? If we can only get a handle on this odor, it might tell us something. Andy, have the rest of them been drugged or something?" He was sick of working blind. Somewhere, somehow, was a clue as to how to fight back. "Alys - you might ask Sam just why he thinks this prankster deliberately led us to find the rest of them."

He left unsaid the implication of what he'd asked, though he was sure that Andy and Shax at least had picked it up. Have we all been assembled here for some purpose?

[SikstaSlathalin]

Shax shook his head at the string bean Romeo.
"Someone Alys's size could break an arm with metal pipe jackass, and I didn't get blood on my knuckles by punching a wall. We're fighting a man or at least I was he's quick and his skin is baggy so I'm betting he's older and the smell is relevant because it's an old man's smell which coincides with the weak thing at least weak by my standards. He says looking at Mel. I outweigh each of you by at least 100 plus pounds. An average sized man can haul everyone else in here without much of a problem even an old one, and everyone has been knocked out like I was."

Using his flashlight he found a light switch and flipped it but nothing happened. That's not surprising he was wondering if the old man was smart enough to kill all the power but then again it might be part of his sick game to keep them on and give a slight sense of hope to his prey. Shax had no doubts they were prey to this man and like a big mean cat he wanted to play with them as much as he could before putting them down.
"That's his game Romeo, even if we don't know all his rules we know the game. I'm thinking this guy wants to see us squirm as much as we can and maybe even get close to getting out before he takes us out. Maybe even like what the Riddler does giving us chances to solve the puzzle before we lose." He sighed rubbing his arm a little, why did he leave his first-aid kit on the bike?

[Setsa]

The throat around her neck...unable to speak, to barely breath.. the very last thing she truly remembered was the sound of her body being dragged against a wooden floor. At one time when she started to come to she could have sworn hearing the moans of a guy as if he was in severe pain for an instance before going back into unconciousness.

Michelle was finally woken up by the passing of bright light over her face. Dam light, essential to survive but curse it's blinding attacks! "Must you shine that light in people's eyes?" Groaning she slowly stood up, bracing herself against whatever she could grab at arms length. By the time she was firmly on her own two feet the flashlight was being held by Shax who seemed to have injured his arm whether on accident which seemed to happen alot or by the one who placed her here made no difference. Rubbing her throat she gave it a good clearing before speaking again in her more determined voice. "Alright well as much as I'm enjoying trying to figure out with the rest of you what really is driving the perverted blood lusting idiot who drug me here. I'd rather get out of this room considering he could come back and regroup elsewhere that is more secluded from the mystery person."

Gingerly brushing her long raven hair back as her arms were still feeling the after effects from being dragged such a distance. Michelle dusted herself off and looked around the room finally, "please tell me someone knows how to get out of this room."

[Sy23]

Melvay nodded at Shax's remark. Likening their assailant to the Riddler seemed, unfortunately, to be a pretty accurate assessment. It would explain a lot - why the captured people hadn't been killed instantly, why they seemed to be given just enough leeway to get out, if they were clever enough, and why the captured ones had been so easy for the rest to find.

"So what you mean then," he summed up "Is that this isn't some rational person, in it for a sensible end, like robbing or killing us. It's a genuine psycho, with an ego that can be seen from space. And he actually wants us to come close to solving the mystery, to give his sick ego a greater thrill. He doesn't want it to be easy!

"Thing is, though, that's good news, not bad. Think about it, Rambo. If he were an efficient killer, many of us would be dead by now. Yourself included. This self-aggrandizement of his is actually a weakness we can use. He only has to make one mistake in his complex game, and we've got him by the balls. And people like that always do... I've been up against that type, more than once!

please tell me someone knows how to get out of this room. broke into his summary.

"Yeah, she's got a point," Mel finished. "My suggestion? Go and convince her everything's all right. This game isn't decided yet. Could be this geriatric Svengali is in for a few shocks himself!"

[G]

"Michelle!" Alys cried out, the relief in her voice evident as the girl stirred from her position on the floor and gave the somewhat frantic suggestion that they regroup elsewhere, further from where the killer (or one of them) had so recently been. Poor girl, Sam's voice murmured in the redheads' mind, She's obviously shaken. Still thinks we're locked in here, even though the door is wide open.
"This way," she reached out for the other girls' hand and led her out of the room where she'd been held captive, into the dark hallway beyond.
"This way," she pointed back the way the party had come, "leads back to the kitchen. That," she gestured further down the hall, where it continued to wind along through the dark, presumably following the walls of the house, "I have no idea. He brought you guys down the way we came, we could see the marks in the dust." The shake had largely dissapeared from the small girls' voice now, now that she had something to focus on. Sam, with his comment, had given Alys a task - calm down the poor woman. God only knows what she'd been through, and the others, obviously calmed by Shax's bravado after his ordeal, didn't seem to have considered that Michelle might still be terribly shaken. It had been her, after all, that had discovered Kayli's body... Alys' throat tightened at the accidental reminder.

"So we're going back to the house?" Andy demanded, as Alys made to lead Michelle back down the hall, toward the more open space of the kitchen. "What are we gonna do with these?" she gestured to the still motionless bodies of the rest of the rooms' captives, "Aren't we gonna keep going? Find out what's at the end of this damned tunnel?" The raven-haired girls' face had curled into a deep scowl, her brow furrowed and her eyes narrowed, "How do you think we're gonna find out what's going on here if we just keep retracing our steps? Well, I don't give a damn if the rest of you want to be frightened little children. I'm finding out what's down here!"
With that, the tattooist turned on her heel, sauntering away, further down the dark hallway. The shadows enveloped her almost immediately, and the others' could see no trace, only hear her footfalls as she determinedly made her way further into the dark.

[Merry]

Morgan was just as shocked as the rest to see Shax in one piece, albeit a bit damaged. It was certainly better than the alternative way to find him. It gave her some hope that perhaps they would make it out of this crazy house, alive. Then to hear Michelle's voice, as groggy as she sounded, was like music to her ears. Chalk two up for the good guys, she thought to herself. She held back from making any comments as the others discussed the unknown suspect, just glad that they hadn't found more dead bodies behind the door. She didn't care one way or the other what he smelled, looked, sounded like. As long as she didn't run in to him anytime soon, mentally shuddering at the thought.

She was about to ask Michelle if she remembered anything about being taken here, when to her horror, Andy turned and stalked off, alone, calling them all children. "Mel...." she said, grabbing his sleeve, "We can't let her go alone! Come on!" pulling him along, she turned to go down the hall, calling the girl as she went.

[Sy23]

When Andy strode off on her own, Mel was torn. Right at that moment he'd have pulled off his own head rather than give up any chance of solving this mystery. He wanted to find what was behind it so bad he could taste it. Every fiber of his being cried out to follow Andy.

Against that, there was Morgan. One thing he most certainly did not want right now was to be parted from her. Especially since Shax would almost certainly (knowing the big man's ego) follow Andy, rather than allow the faintest suspicion he might be afraid. This would leave the girls defenseless...

He cudgeled his brains, wondering if he could somehow convince everyone that he was scared, giving him an excuse to remain - but he could see that wouldn't wash. After all, if he'd been scared, why had he gone into the passage in the first place? He cursed inwardly, wishing that Morgan were the type of girl to overcome his fears and insist they go along with Andy, saving him having to make the decision...

And then Morgan grabbed him, and began pulling him along. Mel murmured a silent prayer to whatever mysterious deity he worshiped, and allowed his glance to sweep over the rest of the party as if to say "Well, we're going anyway - are the rest of you going to stand their gazing into space, or what?"

[SikstaSlathalin]

Shax watched Andy march off down the dark hallway followed bravely by Morgan with Mel in her hand. As much as he hated splitting up they couldn't all go on this little venture they needed to make a base of operation, figure out how to defend it, and most importantly get everyone who was still alive out of that room so they had to split up. He pulled his pistol out and slipped it into Mel's hand.
"You guys go check out what you want, Alys, Michelle, and I will move the others out of that room and find someplace safe to hunker down. I have a limited number of bullets so don't shoot unless you have a clear shot you got me?" He turned to walk back into the room but stopped and looked back.
"Try not to let your fool-hardy hero ego win out Mel, we need everyone alive to get through this. And while diving into the hands of the assailant to save the girls will get you brownie points, it will also lessen their chances of getting out of here alive. And if this psycho doesn't kill you for his own game I will kill you for being a moronic Martyr." With his bit made he turned and went back into the room picking up one of the other still unconscious bodies in the room putting them gently onto his good shoulder then carries them out and down the hall.
Following Alys and Michelle he began slowly moving the other bodies to the kitchen. Creating a plan with every step he took.

[Setsa]

Being suddenly dragged off by Alys, the sound of the others trying to figure out what was driving the woman to just go off could easily be heard. Making her realize that this may be a way the killer(s) keep tabs on them. Thin walls, echoing halls, a killer's dream surely! Once Michelle's bearings were explained and shown to her, the same ol' confidence rose back after how ever long she was out in that room. No matter what had happened the others were still alive which meant survival was still a strong chance as far as she was concerned, and that's all she needed..... That and when she figures out who this killer is, he/she's going to regret messing with her like some demented puppet!!

Seeing Shax carrying with what seemed, relative ease, an unconcious body made her smile. "Well come on then my Tarzan.... You're welcome to stay with us long as you don't crash into any doors...or trees." With a wink and smile Michelle walked infront of the brute to give him something to follow by.... That and if the killer decided to try and knock Shax out again she'd definetly hear it and would take her turn in dragging Alys away as fast as possible. Or find something huge to knock the mystery person out with...such would depend on what she could find immediatley around her in that instant. "Alright so this is the kitchen...no light, very old and falling apart like everywhere else here so it seems..... Do we have any running water? If so we may want some to treat any wounds later on or what not." She tried the kitchen sink faucets with a small squeak each time there was a turn.

[SikstaSlathalin]

Shax laughed and winked back at Michelle as he followed her into the kitchen, we wouldn't say so but view behind her was very nice to observe.
"Don't worry about that Jane, I may have one arm but I'm still in pretty good control of where my legs are going and I don't want to break any thing unless it's over the head of our crazy captor." He laid the first body down on the floor and pulled off his backback opening it. "I have a few bottles of water in here that we can use and a small thing of alcohol wipes." He says pulling them out and placing them on the counter before walking back out to grab the next body.

It was a good thing both his arms weren't broken and his head was clear from the wound in his head. He was at at least 80% now and that should be enough to get them through this or at least toward the end. He shortly returned to the kitchen laying another body on the floor.
"I hope some of these people wake up soon."

[Sy23]

And if this psycho doesn't kill you for his own game I will kill you for being a moronic Martyr

"Apparently, then, I'm dead already," replied Mel calmly, checking the action of the gun. He was relieved to note that Shax kept it cleaned and in perfect condition. He hadn't done the clever work with a file that converted it to a hair-trigger action, but you couldn't have everything. "Shit, Rambo can do alliteration... who'da thunk it!"

While grateful for the loan of the weapon, Mel was less sanguine about Shax's other remark, concerning the limited number of clips available. While he was a reasonable shot, he knew that the best way to win a shoot-out was to blaze off as much as possible. Having to pick his shot could be just enough to hand the advantage over to their unknown enemy. Not to mention that by depriving himself of the weapon, Shax had left the other division of the group vulnerable.

Still, that was life - they only had limited resources available, and had to divide them up as efficiently as they could.

His glance flickered between Andy and Morgan. Andy, he'd already worked out, was a resourceful girl who could probably handle herself in a fight - he trusted his own assessment, since in past times his life had depended on making such judgments. Morgan, on the other hand, pretty as she was - he gave the slightest, imperceptible shake of his head. Intelligent, charming, seductive, yes - and probably a brilliant photographer - but a little lacking in street-smarts for the work ahead.

Still again, you don't get to choose what cards you get dealt. And something occurred to him - apart from the blades he had secreted about his person and Shax's gun, perhaps there was another weapon he'd overlooked...

"Hey, beautiful one," he said to Morgan. "Have you still got the hand-held flash unit from your camera? Keep it charged and ready for action, OK. But wait until I give the word."

[G]

Alys stood silent for a moment, her task (showing Michelle out of the dark hallway she'd spent far too long in already) complete, as Shax carried the bodies, one by one, into the kitchen, propping them gently against the far wall, their backs slumped against the kitchen cupboards. Michelle explored the kitchen, trying the taps - with no success - and asking about the availability of water. Alys remained motionless, staring into the almost lifeless faces of those she'd met, been talking too only hours earlier. Before they'd found the girl upstairs... and Kayli...

"Oh god, Sam. What are we going to do?" The redheads vision had blurred, no longer focused on the scene in front of her. Instead, she just saw Kayli's body, lying askew on the cold earth, so similar to the way those in front of her lay. Motionless, oblivious to the terrible situation they were in. Maybe they were better that way... maybe she should just stop fighting, let it be over quickly.


Ignoring the others, Andy strode forward in the dark, her footsteps quick and sure in the blackness. She quickly gained on Mel and Morgan, leaving them a littleway behind in the dark as she powered forward, as though fixated on something in front of her, though this could not be - if she were to hold her hand three inches from her face she couldn't have found it in this pitch black.
After a minute she slowed, reaching out - her first tentative movement since she had begun to walk. Fumbling with her hands along the wall, she caught hold of something - yes! Her suspicion had been right - turning the handle, she pushed open the door that broke up the wall of the passageway, leaning through into the manor's spacious loungeroom. Through the open door on the other side of the room, she could hear Shax and Michelle's voices - murmurs carried down the main hallway from the kitchen. Striding along the passage, she had estimated the distance one would need to travel along the wall to bring them to the loungeroom, and there she had begun her search along the wall. It stood to reason, if there was a passageway from the kitchen, it would lead to other areas of the house as well.
Freezing suddenly, she cocked her head to one side, listening. Footsteps approached - from both directions!
Those coming from the passage she'd just walked down would surely be Mel an Morgan - she had only left them moments ago, and unless there were other doorways in the dark, noone could have gotten in between them, but the other set? As they drew nearer, she stepped through the door into the loungeroom, closing it almost all the way with her ear against the wood on the other side.


The footsteps drew closer, a slow, shuffling, heavy thump against the wooden floorboards, finally stopping, level to the door. Andy's heartbeat quickened. Whoever had put the others in that room.. was on the other side of the door! She could not see the old, wizened man, his face gnarled and creased by rage and time, his eyes narrowed in the dark. His forehead was creased, his mouth twisted into a horrible scowl, and he reached out with one arm, pushing the door open with surprising strength. Andy stepped backwards hurriedly, staring at him in surprise. She composed herself quickly, frowning back at him and shifting in place, unconsciously strengthening her stance.
"Who are you?" she demanded, her eyes flashing with ferocity.
"Aint' it obv'yus?" the old man almost grinned, but his wrinkled mouth couldn't quite manage it, "I'm the one tha' made this place! Not you," his eyes narrowed further, the atempt at a grin vanishing completely. He stepped toward the dark haired girl, malice showing on his face, "Not yer' place," he muttered as he approached her, and Andy, unable to help but feel unsettled by the ancient man, who she now realised was wearing a butlers' uniform, stumbled backwards a couple of paces.
"It was you," she said accusingly, "that kidnapped the others, wasn't it? Why didn't you kill them?"
"Not tryin' ter' kill no-one," the old man muttered, shaking his head slightly, stopping in his advance toward the tattooist, "Puttin' 'em outta the way, weren't I!"
"Wh.. what do you mean?"
"Well, it aint' safe out 'ere, is it?!" he retorted, staring at Andy as though she was foolish.
The girl just stared back, unsure how to respond to this.

[Merry]

"Have you still got the hand-held flash unit from your camera? Keep it charged and ready for action, OK. But wait until I give the word."

Morgan nodded in the darkness of the hallway, casting her eyes about for any signs of the quickly disappearing girl ahead of them. The hallway was so dark. The realization that Mel wouldn't be able to see her nodding registered, and she felt a bit foolish, "Yes, I still have it" she replied, patting her pocket of her jacket, just to be sure. The familiar bump assuring her that it was indeed still intact on her person. She realized she was still hanging onto his arm like a life line, and her fingers suddenly tightened on him even more so.

"Um... Mel" she whispered urgently "Andy...is...She's gone!" Peering in the darkness and seeing no sign of her ahead, at all. Just an empty hallway.

[Sy23]

"Don't fret, beautiful," replied Mel. It's just it's so dark, we can't - "

Who are you? Came from ahead. Andy's voice!

Mel broke into a run, dragging Morgan with him. If his rough mental map of the place was correct, she had reached the lounge. Which meant -

He Stopped, just outside, and whispered in Morgan's ear to wait until he called. As he stepped through the door, his jaw nearly dropped in shock.

Andy was there, but not the normal confident, aggressive Andy he was used to. Though she looked shocked rather than scared. And confronting her - an ancient, toothless old man, who, by the smell of him, didn't waste too much precious time on ablutions! Mel's hand moved like a blur, unconsciously noting that when the chips were really down, it was the knife strapped to his calf rather than Shax's gun that he instinctively reached for. He came up with the blade, holding it pointing downwards at the floor at a relaxed 45-degree angle.

Not tryin' ter' kill no-one. Puttin' 'em outta the way, weren't I! Well, it aint' safe out 'ere, is it?

A slight shock ran from the left hemisphere of Mel's brain, to the right. It would not be accurate to say he was suddenly making sense of the situation - just that he was making less nonsense of it than before. He allowed his glance to flicker up the old man's body, noting the stained and threadbare butler uniform.

So the butler did it, after all, he thought, wryly. Just like in those old country house mysteries.

Or maybe not.

The old man didn't look like much of a threat. Sure he'd taken Shax out - but that had been by out-thinking the big man, which, Mel thought to himself, was hardly a stupendous achievement. Probably within the abilities of the average pot-plant, he guessed. "Come in, Morgan," he said over his shoulder, and went to stand behind Andy, who was still gaping at the man.

"Well, then," he asked, a slight grin on his face. He held Morgan tight in his left arm - she was shivering with fear, though in Mel's assessment it was probably needless - and kept hold of his knife with the right. "You might find this hard to believe, but I've been really hanging out to meet you. I suppose you're going to tell us just who you are - and why you've been acting so... benevolently towards us!"

[Setsa]

"Jane hmmm? You Tarzan me Jane? Well I suppose I can't be offended with that, she was the one with the brains after all." Giving him a wink she arched a brow hearing Alys talking to her Sam companion residing in her head. "Still at that I see too.....well we can't have it all."

It was then that she heard more commotion heavily muffled by the distance apart and thinner walls. "Guys..think something is going on, either of you know exactly where? Seems like the front of the mansion and if there a way through hidden...could we get a jump on this guy? No way am I going to have someone else knocked out or worse." She guessed the guys part just from the sound of a deeper muffled voice...Having missed so much of the action already she didn't want to keep that record for long. "What do say Tarzan? I'll guard your broken side and you try not to slam into walls?"

[G]

Andy was glad for the reassurance of having the other two standing behind her, though of course the dark-haired girl didn't show it. She kept her eyes firmly on the old man, determined not to give him a moment to ... to do what, exactly?
What was his motivation? He said he didn't want to kill anyone.. was just getting them out of harms way. Andy's eyes narrowed at this.
The ancient butler had quieted down for the moment, while Mel spoke, and now seemed deep in thought, his forehead (if it was possible) even more heavily furrowed than usual, pupils pointing absent-mindedly upward, focused on nothing.
"Dunno what yer' mean by benevo.. ben.. whatever yer' sayin'. Course, I been stayin' outta the way." His eyes flickered to the knife in Mel's hand, then back up to his face, so quickly the movement was almost imperceptible. "It aint safe out here, is it?" he repeated, looking from Mel to Andy, back to Mel.
"You should unnerstand!" he continued indignantly, now looking at Morgan as though he'd noticed her for the first time just then, and making a pointed gesture toward their hands, hers clasped tightly by his, "Yer a protector as well, aren' ya? Can't let it happen again, can't let it..."
For a moment, the small shred of rationality that the elderly man managed to portray disappeared completely, and he withdrew into barely intelligible muttering. Then his vision cleared again, and he looked up at Mel.
"Get 'er out!" Suddenly his voice was harsh, strong, his meaning (at least to him) perfectly clear, "If you love 'er, get 'er out! Before it's too late!"
And in the moment of stunned silence that followed, he turned to leave, inching toward the passageway from whence he'd come, muttering as he went.
"No hope here, I seen the eyes, seen the hate in 'em, I seen 'em! Thought no-one could see but I saw, saw it in the very same bed, where she were when I found 'er, so purty and perfect and all a'covered in blood and what could I do? Too late to save 'er. Too late... I was too late and now I gotta fix it, gotta make it right. But what can yer do? You'll get got too, just like that blondie in the Mistress' bedroom, in the same bed, the very same, where I found 'er..."
He continued to rant in this manner till he reached the doorway, slipping through it and closing it behind him. Andy, stunned into complacent silence by the old man's rambling, shook herself, running to the door with a muttered curse and making to pull it open. But from this side, there was no handle, no opening to pull the door ajar. It just fitted into the wall like a panel, supposed to be there, nothing but the hairline crack running either side to tell there was a door there at all, which explained why none of the group had noticed it the first time they'd entered the loungeroom.
"Shit," Andy swore again, digging her fingernails into the crack and tugging, to no avail. Whether the butler had locked the door from the other side, or whether it was simply impossible to open it from this side, she couldn't get it free from the wall, and finally slammed her fist against the wood in frustration, turning to the others.
"What now?" she asked them, inwardly fuming. That had been close, too close. He could have said, or done anything, and she felt it was a narrow escape. But that didn't mean she wasn't determined to find the old man, now they knew he was here.
"The kitchen!" she exclaimed suddenly, "The passage is still open. Maybe we can catch him!"
Without another word, she started striding toward the rooms' regular doorway, to the hall.

Meanwhile Alys, oblivious to the other two's banter beside her, continued muttering to Sam, until finally it seemed she was reassured by his responses, and looked up, focusing on the real world once more. The sense of purpose she'd felt in helping Michelle from her prison had worn off, and she was sinking back into the lost, scared self that she'd become when Kayli died. She hadn't even liked the girl, how had it so completely destroyed her normally un-phased, self-assured personality? She took a deep breath, determined to regain herself, and not remain this gibbering idiot, useless and a liability in their current situation.
"Should we do something?" she asked the others, oblivious to Michelle's hearing the commotion down the hall, "try to revive them, or something?" She gestured to the motionless bodies, leaning against the kitchen bench.
"Maybe their better left how they are. At least they don't know what fucked up situation their in."

[SikstaSlathalin]

Shax heard the commotion and guessed it was down the hall the other three went down. At first he was all ready to run off and see what it was but if he and Michelle went to check that would leave Alys alone to watch the bodies and could give this killer the chance he wanted to pick them off and separate them again. Then they'd be at his mercy again and the big man was sure they wouldn't get another break like this even if the killer wasn't some spider looking to kill them when he wanted to. He shook his head looking at Michelle and Alys.
"No we're all stay here, they have three able-bodied people, the gun and whatever little items they carry. Plus if we all go run off to help them we leave our friends here open for some kind of rear attack plus if this crazy bastard isn't working by himself we leave the whole group open to get boxed in."

He checked their two still unconscious companions before scanning the kitchen looking for anything else he could scavenge, but it looked like this place had a fire and everything was pretty much gutted out after the blaze even picking through the cupboards finding only a shaker of salt. Moving from the walls the only other thing he saw he could use was a chair. He could break it and use it as firewood, use it as a shield, or break the legs off and have four weapons to use, but right now he'd leave it in one piece.

[Sy23]

"Good call, Andy," shouted Mel, grabbing Morgan by the arm and hurrying after her. He knew that following the old man by the same door as he'd left by would be fruitless. Well, that's the way I'd have fixed it, anyway," he conceded, sensing that the aged butler had a similar mindset to himself. He sheathed his knife but kept the gun handy. If he had to fight, the retort of the weapon may well alert the others that they were in trouble.

But when it came down to it, he reflected, there was a line past which caution became paranoia. One decrepit old man could hardly be too much of a threat. Particularly as the old man in question seemed to be on their side. Mel doubted very much that the old man was responsible for all the murder anf mayhem that had happened since they'd all come together in the spooky old house. He was more concerned with the next question that sprung into his mind.

If not him - then who? Or what?!

He stole a sideways glance at Morgan.

Yer a protector as well, aren' ya? ...Get 'er out! ... If you love 'er, get 'er out! Before it's too late...

Suddenly the gun felt heavy in his grip, and his palms began to sweat.

[Setsa]

Shax brought up a good point, even if everyone was broken up into two groups, staying together was their best survival option for the moment. Seeing the newly discovered chair and the muscle bound man seeming to contemplate the chair's future. "Hey do you think you or we can get it broken apart enough to use as splints? Or as weapon or both? I mean, considering what had already happened to you it seems like a good idea. If we could find a thick sheet, tarp with some rope or fishing line. You up to doing a MacGyver genius moment and make something we can put our unconscious comrades on and pull easily behind us? I can already hear the theme song and ready to go if you are."

Many times before Michelle has had to improvise, most people have in their lifetime as well. Yes she would have preferred a different situation and location but improvising usually works and where there is an idea...there is hope right? Least the thought itself made the woman feel better as she stood in the kitchen. Tightening Shax's makeshift sling at would have to be altered relatively soon if it was going to really work until they could escape and get actual medical care.

[Merry]

Morgan stifled a yelp as Mel grabbed her and dragged her down the hall. She raced to keep up in the dark hallway. She knew they were right, but she still wasn't all that thrilled about racing after what could potentially be the killer. Then again, the thought occurred to her, he probably wasn't the one responsible for the murders.

How could one little old man, have done all that damage, caused all that horror, she thought with a shudder. It just didn't seem possible. He was too frail, too old. In which case, they needed to find him and figure out exactly what the hell was going on. It was obvious he knew more than he was letting on. Feeling that little spark of investigative reporter kick to life, made her smile, just a little. It felt good not to be so focused on, death. This was a puzzle, and it needed to be solved, and the sooner the better, and puzzles had always intrigued her.

"Come on Mel" she panted, "Andy's right, we can't let him get away!!"

[G]

Andy almost tripped over Alys as she raced into the kitchen. The redhead had been leaning over one of the unconscious forms on the floor, a finger held tentatively below Jack Hawthorns' nose. Relief filled her at the slight movement in the air as he took a short, shallow breath in, then released his breath back into the room, spent of oxygen. She had known they were alive, but they were just lying there, so still... she was startled out of her reverie by Andy's hasty strides past her, and her eyes followed the dark-haired, angry girl as she reached the closed door that led from the kitchen to the passageway, hammering her fists against the wood in frustration. This door, too, was now shut tight.
She rounded on Shax and Michelle angrily, an angry scowl forming on her face as her eyes narrowed to dark slits.
"How could you let him lock the door?" she shouted aggressively, her hands still curled into tight fists, "You fucking idiots! Too busy flirting to notice the door being shut?!"

Alys, it seemed, had escaped her fury. Probably she considered the girl too mentally incompetent to expect her to have noticed the door. "Well, I was busy talking to you anyway, Sam," she murmured, "It's not my fault we didn't see..."
All the same, it was strange someone had managed to lock the secret door without any of them so much as noticing it had been closed. And who was the he that Andy was yelling about?

[SikstaSlathalin]

Shax's face contorted in rage but biting the inside of his cheek he took a few calming breaths and spoke through gritted teeth.
"Number 1 we were not flirting we were watching over our unconscious comrades and making sure our asses didn't got fenced in by the killer or killers that came from behind us. And number 2 who the fuck are you talking about? We didn't even notice the door was being closed by anyone like I said we were busy trying to figure out hot to take care of them." He pointed the finger of his good arm at the two bodies on the floor. "Now am I following this line of shouting right? You think we let the killer close and lock the door?"

His teeth were growing more clenched but he kept his cool. "And for you to be this pissed, you must've seen him and let him go for some crazy fucking reason and now you're regretting it. Now please tell me how in the name of that is holy and good in this world one old man got past three able bodied people with all their faculties intact and a fucking pistol to come around to this side of the house and lock this door?" He growled his eyes locked dead onto Andy's but his voice somehow reaming calm and his much larger fist not smashing something nearby like he so wanted to.

[Sy23]

"He didn't actually get past us," Mel said to Shax, kneeling down to peer at the gap between the door and the jamb. "He was careful to keep himself between us and his one means of escape." He quickly summarized what the old man had said, while performing a strange series of actions - he was running the palms of his hands over various joins in the wall, his lean face occasionally lighting up with the slight signs of hope then falling into disappointment again. Finally, with a sigh that said "oh well, looks like I have to do things the long way", he took a credit card out of his pocket, slid it into the gap, and began fiddling with the lock. After a few seconds, there was a click and Mel pushed the door open.

"You know, I'm wondering," he mused, almost to himself. "If it is an old man that - or maybe someone who wants us to think he's an old... nah. I'm complicating things." He looked around the room, at Shax and the others. "Apart from Shax's injured arm, we're all in pretty good shape - those if us that are still alive." He realized how ridiculous this sounded, and cut himself off. "I mean - well, if one old man is all there is, we don't have a lot to fret about, know what I'm saying? He might have been able to take out unsuspecting people from behind, but I can't see anyone - even Rambo here - falling for that twice. And with all of us together..."

He lowered his voice, standing between Andy and Shax, so that only those two could hear. His back was to them, so they would never guess he'd spoke,

"Mind you, assuming that one old man is all we have to worry about - probably wishful thinking, yeah?"

[Setsa]

Michelle touched Shax's shoulder on his good side to help bring him down from the rising frustration towards the others. "Yea Mel that is wishfull thinking..but hope is hope and I'll take that." She gave a smile "until we find out for sure. I think it would be safer to assume there is one other pulling the corruptive strings in this mazed mansion." The woman looked around the kitchen realizing they have got to get moving.. The less predictable they are the more of an upper hand they may be given to survive. Hearing the click of the lock releasing a smirk formed on her lips "well thats open to us again... So where we taking the unconsious and who's hunting the demented killer?" She tried to make some jokes to lighten up the mood but at the same time was silently praying to the survival god that he have mercy on them. "Hmmmm does anyone know more about this place and or people besides the story thats told to most around here? Was there any surviving heir or kid that survived this place? I'm just thinking of all the mystery shows that it was the long, kept secret, kid all grown up seeking revenge."

Yea that was really reaching for straws...but if they eliminated the impossible. Then maybe the more possible reasonings would be discovered... They had hints and clues all over the mansion but piecing it all together was going to be one hell of a murder mystery night and then some.

[G]

Andy looked thunderstruck when Mel managed to get the door open, the hint of a scowl forming on her face when he succeeded where she had not.
She brushed it off quickly, straightening up from where she had been slouched, frustrated and exhausted, against a wall.
"Well, you lot can stand around here chatting, but someone's gotta take care of our frail old friend down there," she indicated the doorway. "If any of you wanna come with me, feel free. Just don't slow me down."
She made for the doorway with a fierce expression, closing her eyes tightly before she stepped into the dark hall, so that her eyes could adjust more quickly to the darkness.

Alys watched her go, her eyes indecisive. "I'll come..." she murmured, her voice too small for the other girl to catch.
"But I can't just stay here and do nothing, Sam! I'll be fine! I'm not a child... Yes, I know that... But who else can I trust? We're all that's left... I know. I know. She frightens me too. Alright. I'll stay and watch them." She seemed to be talking about the two still unconscious members of their party, still in a voice so quiet the words were barely coherent. She made no further move to follow the dark haired girl, but Andy hadn't acknowledged her in the first place anyway, if she had even heard her.

[Merry]

Morgan was torn, she wanted to stay with Mel, it was safe and easy. She knew he would take care of her, and protect her. It was probably the right thing to do, wait, right? Then again, she really did want to find out what that old man knew. Some how he was involved in this, and she wanted to know what he knew. It would be important information, she was sure of it! It seemed extremely unlikely that he was the actual killer. He was pretty frail, and seemed to be a bit crazed. He was involved, and might at the very least be persuaded to get them out of this place. Before she could change her mind, she called out "Andy! Wait for me" and without waiting to see if anyone else joined them, she ran after her down the dark hallway.

[G]

When Morgan ran up the hall, Andy was already halfway down it, in one of the small rooms that led off the passage. She failed to notice Morgan coming up behind her, in the open doorway, being as she was preoccupied with the old man she held by the scruff of his grubby Butlers' uniform, a fierce expression on her face.
"You know, don't you?" she hissed through her teeth at him, her face inches from his own, "Very stupid thing to do, showing yourself back there. Thought you could get away? Not this time."
Her eyes flashed dangerously, and it was clear that she was extremely angry.
Then, so suddenly it was hard to discern what actually happened, the butler had struggled, making some attempt to break free of Andy's grip, and she had grabbed hold of his head with her other hand, shoving it backwards with some force. There was a sickening crack as the old mans' skull made contact with the edge of the table behind him, and he slumped to the ground. Andy just stood, looking down at his crumpled, withered body for a moment, as a bright wave of crimson started to spread around his head, like some sort of twisted halo.
Then she turned to leave the room, her shoulders shaking slightly. She froze when she saw Morgan behind her, her eyes widening.
"Morgan! I don't know what happened!" she cried, glancing down at the ancient form on the floor behind her, "I was just trying to get him to tell me what he knew, and then he started struggling and..." she waved her hands helplessly in front of her.
"I shoved him too hard, I... it was an accident!"

[Sy23]

Mel had been slow to set off, and Morgan's sudden exodus had caught him flat-footed. He was a fast mover, however, and was traveling at a fast pace when he came upon the little tableau. His shrewd glance took in everything at once - the body of the old man, Andy's guilty, defensive expression, Morgan trying to shrink within herself in shock. he swore under his breath. It appeared their only ally as now dead.

Instinctively, he stood behind Morgan, wrapping his arms around her, both for comfort and to restrain her. Given what she'd just seen, Morgan might have done anything. The last thing he wanted was for her to launch herself at Andy. The small group needed to stay together, right now - not to mention that he had no desire for Morgan to see her ass kicked!

"You OK?" he asked Andy, his question having a dual motive. As well as the inquiry, he was also trying to get across he didn't blame her. Bad-ass she might have been, but he hadn't picked this incident as being a deliberate murder - and his instinct on such things was usually sound. "Better check his heart and pulse and stuff - don't like the thought he might have had a stroke, and be lying there helpless."

At first glance his statement might have appeared stupid - you'd have to have been a New Zealander with congenital syphilis not to have worked out the old man was well and truly dead - but he wanted to give Andy something to do. If she went into shock right now... checking the old man's vital signs would give her the impression she was doing something useful. He blew gently into Morgan's ear, trying to comfort her and keep her calm, while his eyes swiveled this way and that, checking there was no threat from any direction.





(Note - the rude metaphor about New Zealanders is in-character only, and does not reflect the opinions of the author)

[SikstaSlathalin]

Shax watched this with both amusement and annoyance. They were gonna kill each other before the night is out he walked past the other grabbing his gun from Mel's hand shoving it back into his pocket before looking the old man over now this what he would've been like when the first dead body was found looking closely and making a plan. Yeah he looked pretty dead, there's nothing else they can do with him now maybe it would be the end of their problems now if this old man was really the killer then Andy just saved them a lot of hassle but he had a feeling that wasn't the end of it he checked the man's vitals saving Andy the stress of touching the man she just killed he was gone.
"There's nothing more we can do for him, grab our still knocked out friends and let's get the fuck out of this place." He walked over to the old man and laid him flat on the ground closing his eyes and placing two coins over them before pulling out some white cloth he had in his bag placing it over the man's eyes. He bowed his head and said a little prayer for the man before looking at everyone saying nothing more before going back into the kitchen he broke the chair and stowed it in his bag or trying it to the straps, he looked like a regular junk monger now.
"I second what Michelle said, I say we head back to the lounge or front room and make a plan."

[G]

Andy stood, still apparently stunned, for a moment while first Mel, then Shax entered the scene, both taking action quickly, after the initial shock. Then she took a deep breath, seeming to regain some of her former hard bravado.
"I don't want to touch him," she responded somewhat disdainfully to Mel's suggestion, unconsciously taking a step further away from the old man's corpse. She watched gratefully as Shax took over that duty for her, then moved still further away, back to the comparatively comfortable dark hallway.
"It's done now. Let's just leave him.. " With that said, she returned to the kitchen, following Shax's suggestion that they move the unconscious to the loungeroom. She heaved one into her arms, latching on under his armpits, and started dragging him down the hall. Alys, puzzled for a moment, took hold of Jack's legs, helping the hard faced tattooist with her burden.
They reached the loungeroom ahead of the others and, with some difficulty, put him in the large armchair that sat against one wall.

From the kitchen, only moments after, came the sounds of a struggle. A girl's scream echoed earsplittingly through the silence of the house, and Andy came tearing back into the kitchen, her chest and arms stained with blood, her eyes wide.
"Alys!" she panted, struggling to catch her breath, her heart racing, "She... she started ranting to nobody... kept saying 'Sam,' and then.. she just went crazy! She picked up a vase and.... Jack, he was defenseless! Then she turned on me.. She's run off! I ... I was gonna follow, but I thought I should warn you!"
In the loungeroom, Jack Hawthorn had been rendered permanently unconscious, blood streaming down his forehead from when the vase had shattered against his temple, leaving a deep, deadly cut through his flesh. Alys was nowhere to be found, apparently, Andy told them, having dissapeared out of the window they had broken earlier, just before they found Kayli's body.
"I can't believe it's her!" Andy exclaimed, "Why else would she just snap like that, just kill someone who was unconscious! He had no way to defend himself! It happened so quickly I... I couldn't stop her!"

[Sy23]

Mel favored Andy with a cynical look. "You mean, she's become a shape-shifter?' he snapped. "Wise move, Andy. She becomes a homicidal maniac, and you don't waste time in trivialities like keeping her in sight, or trying to restrain her, or even calling out for back-up. Nope - you run away! If you hadn't, the world would have been spared that wonderful psychological insight!" He adopted a perfect mimicry of Andy's voice, spoiled only by a slight adulteration of his Australian accent. " 'She's not herself!' No shit, Sherlock!"

He thought about trying to follow Alys, and decided it wouldn't be worth it. She had far too much of a start, and who knew where, in the labyrinth corridors of the house, she might have gone? In any case, he reasoned, given the luck the band had experienced so far, she'd probably find them, eventually, having somehow got possession of an anti-tank device or nuclear warhead on the way!

He shrugged, and lit a cigar, wishing he had something sweet to eat to take his mind off his troubles. Chocolate Bavarian would do the trick, he mused.

[Merry]

"Well, now at least we know who's to blame, right" said Morgan, her voice trying to smooth the insane out the situation, without much luck. Sliding up to Mel, she grabbed his free hand in hers, slipping her fingers in his without a second thought. "We just need to figure out how to stop her, and, and... " casting a glance at the still figure of Jack "quick, before anyone else get hurt" squeezing Mel's fingers slightly. "Let's all just calm down a bit and try to figure this out, ok. It's not her fault Mel, I would have run, even faster out of there. "

Casting a glance at Michelle and Shax, forcing a hopeful expression onto her features "Right guys?"

[Setsa]

Michelle gave a nod to Morgan with the suggestion that anyone of them with a good enough reason would run out of there in a hurry. "Well whoever is the main puppeteer for these attacks is getting more bold by the hour. All we're doing is picking up the bodies from the aftermath... Which obviously isn't working so I'm ready to move to plan B....or G probably by now. Oh that and stik-ing to-ge-ther she said with more force in her tone of voice. I mean what's the first rule of survival besides picking your tent buddy Mel" Giving him a look just daring for him to open his flirtacious mouth. "Stick together...breaking into groups didn't exactly work well now did it?"

Taking a moment to listen to herself, Michelle was quite proud of her logical thinking. Reminding herself to keep it up after they make it out of her ideally alive.

"I'm going to go with the Vulcan appraoch and keep my emotions out of this best I can for better chance of survival..."

[SikstaSlathalin]

Shax nodded letting this new crazy twist in the hellish maze that was this night, the crazy girl finally snapped and now they had at at least one psychotic killer lose in the house maybe more Shax knew he wouldn't be sleeping at all until they got out of here. His quick mind was already rolling over plans as cold as it sounds they had one less person to worry about now he maybe have been alive still but Jack was dead weight and dead weight kills.
"The girls are right Mel chill out this night is so high in tension and stress it's amazing all of us aren't crazy by now. And Michelle has a good point splitting up is one of the biggest mistakes people make in survival situations strength in numbers and all that." He patted Andy's shoulder gently hoping to calm her speaking in a rare soft voice. "It's on Andy you did what any other sensible person would've done in the same situation, don't let Casanova's bitching get to you." He gave her shoulder a final reassuring squeeze then let his normal side take back over. "Now can we please go someplace easily defensible and make a plan of action? I'm not a fan of standing around waiting to die." He adjusted his bag looking at everyone squarely in the eyes.

[G]

Alys shivered in the cold night air, her arms crossed over her chest, fingers nervously rubbing the sides of her arms for warmth. She rocked back and forth slowly, exhaling small white clouds of air, fogging in the darkness as soon as it escaped her mouth. When had it got so cold out here?
"Oh, Sam, what am I gonna do now?" she moaned, her eyes darting back and forth, frantic, fearful.
"I know, I shouldn't have run, but... you know what would have happened! I know. I KNOW, SAM!" She gasped suddenly, listening to the echo her voice made. If Andy found her... but no. She hadn't followed, Alys didn't think, when she dove through the window, a piece of broken glass still clinging to the frame leaving a long, shallow cut down her right arm.
She shuddered again, remembering the way Jack's skull had split under the weight of the vase. She had seen it all! Gingerly, she touched her own head, flinching slightly as she did so. She had thought that people were strong... it was shocking to her, seeing how fragile they really were.
Without warning, a flood of hot tears escaped her, and she buried her head in her arms, letting the emotion flow. She had seen too much death tonight.

-

Andy nodded her agreement with the others, trying not to let the surge of indignation she felt at Mel's words show through. "You're right, though, Mel," she sighed, her eyes slipping to meet the floor, "I should have gone after her... just... watching her do that to Jack.." she sighed, the sound seeming small coming from a girl usually so tough, so self-satisfied. Then she looked up to meet the others again, and some of her prvious spark had returned to her eyes. Something Michelle had said had struck her -
"What do you mean, whoever is behind this? I told you! I just watched Alys split Jack's skull, isn't it obvious? It's been her all along! So now, it's just one little girl against the four of us. I think it's pretty obvious what needs to be done. So let's go find her."

[Sy23]

"Nah, Andy," replied Mel, softly. "I wasn't right, fuck it. I shot my mouth of without the brain being in gear... anyone with any sense would have put as much space between that spectacle and themselves as they could." He looked across at Shax. "Rambo here would probably have grabbed a nuclear device out of his pocket and blazed off with it, but anyone with sense..." He smiled at Andy. "Sorry for what I said. I mean that."

He squeezed Morgan's hand - for once, seeking reassurance for himself as much as trying to give it to her. With his other hand, he subconsciously fingered the bullets he'd surreptitiously taken from Shax's gun, before its owner had snatched it back.

"So, Andy, your suggestion, We go after this boy that's - urm, this girl - that's turned feral. Or yours, Shax - we go to ground, and plan an assault. I guess, there's something to be said for both. But either way, there's a question we still have to answer. When we do find Sa - er, Alys - or she finds us... what then? Is it the opinion of the house that we wipe her out? Whether she's doing this consciously, or she can't help it - either way, killing her's gonna be murder."

He looked around the small group. "Any volunteers to have that rap on their conscience, or their legal record?"

[G]

Andy bristled. "Oh, and did she think about that, Mel, when she killed Jack? Kayli? That blonde girl? There's nothing else that can be done here, ok? This is our only option! If you're not convinced, why don't you all go have a nice long look at Jacks' brain! It's out there for everyone to see!" With the last words, she pointed towards the loungeroom with her left hand in angry emphasis of what she was saying.

-

Alys cowered in the dark, her frantic searching of the shadows abandoned. Her arms were wrapped around her knees, clutching herself into as small a ball as she could, rocking back and forth against the tree trunk she leant on. "What do I do, what do I do? Should I run? I need to find the others..."

[SikstaSlathalin]

Shax had lost interest in the indecision of the group and too occupy himself he began doing a spot check of his gear making sure everything was in place and nothing was amiss. His bag and gear were all in perfect order and present his scavenged supplies were in the bag his knife was still in his boot and his pistol was back in his belt taking hold of this last item he felt something that was off. The gun felt lighter last he knew it had a full mag this was enough to have him scan everyone in the room and soon he saw something glint lightly in Mel's hand with a snarl he placed the pistol back in his pocket after taking the mag out. With lighting quick movements he took the bullets from Mel and by holding the mag between his arm and body he quickly reloaded it and with more quick by awkward one handed movements he loaded the pistol all this time glaring at Mel.
"Next time you try to sabotage us like that again I'll put a bullet between your eyes and leave your ass for the crows." Still growling and cursing his luck for being stuck in the same group with this string bean Romeo with delusions of playing the white knight, Shax had more mags on him but every bullet was precocious gold until they got through this hell he left the kitchen and went for the lounge.

His cold jaded eyes looked upon Jack's dead countenance he studied the feature planning on finding whatever kin he had and relating the news of his death to them. But as he looked over Jack's face he saw something he was sure wasn't there when he first saw him. Walking closer he gazed intently at it and soon he saw a small and crude flower tattoo. It was such an odd thing to find on a dead body he just stared and soon his memory went back to the first victim he'd seen in this fucked up place. The woman in the bedroom while at first he didn't take much account of the little flower on her wrist assuming it was just the whim of a young girl to get but his keen mind remembered it perfectly. It was the same flower only far better drawn then it was now. The only connection he could find was Andy since Jack never seemed the type to get a girly flower tattooed on him Mel yes Jack no. But that made no sense Alys was the crazy one not Andy but then again an old man had broken Shax's arm or at least it seemed like he did maybe it was the adrenaline that brought him to that hasty decision and now that the intense pain in his arm was at full power he knew the adrenaline was gone and he wondered if it was really broken and if he really needed a sling like this. He'd ask for Michelle to help him with more of a cast when she joined him. For now he wanted to keep this new clue to himself just in case Andy was the new killer or old killer or only killer...whatever she was he didn't want to let her catch scent of his suspicion maybe he'd tell the others if he could get Andy out of the room but he didn't want to shoot her unless he was sure he called to the others.
"Ok the lounge is clear you all can come in." He quickly put two coins in Jack's eyes and said a little prayer for him before he cast a sheet over the young man's body so as not to scare anyone or let the tattoo be seen.

[Sy23]

...did she think about that, Mel, when she killed Jack? Kayli? That blonde girl? There's nothing else that can be done here, ok? This is our only option! If you're not convinced, why don't you all go have a nice long look at Jacks' brain!

"I've seen it, thanks," Mel replied, calmly. "Doubt I'll be eating steak tartare for a while, but that's not the point." He leaned against the wall, and lit another cigar. "I dunno about you, Andy, but I've got a really crappy memory for faces. I can meet someone at a party, and a month later pass them in the street and not recognize them, y'know." How's yours?"

He puffed at the cigar, examined its glowing end. "There's one exception, though. Everyone I've ever killed, everyone I've seen die... their faces I know perfectly. Sort of selective eidetic memory. Yeah, there were excellent reasons for the ones I killed, at the time. Most of them wished a similar fate on me. Some of them even forgave me afterwards... there's been a few wish-fulfilment dreams, amongst the nightmares. Sometimes, the dreams fade quicker than others. Depending on who your victim is, and the circumstances. Could be a year, could be five." He shrugged. "The edge goes, anyway. But fading someone is never a thing you can do without emotional consequences, either way. If it does turn out to be you who does the deed... make sure you get my phone number before we split up, yeah? Some really black four am, you're gonna need someone to talk to, to convince you to put the bottle of pills or the razor down, and try and make it through another night." He looked across at Shax, indicating that his speech included the big man, too.

Next time you try to sabotage us like that again I'll put a bullet between your eyes and leave your ass for the crows. was Shax's reply.

"Yeah, probably," agreed Mel, calmly. "It's possible you'll say 'thanks for trying,' while you're doing it though."

So what did he see? was the thought that pounded in Mel's mind. He saw something, and he's not telling. I can see it in his eyes, his body language. There's a man with a secret. And one he's none too happy about keeping!

[Merry]

Morgan put her arm gently on Mel's, in an effort to try and diffuse the situation brewing between him and Shax, and the rest of the group. "Look, we all just need to calm down a bit, and think. We can't start fighting amongst ourselves, or we'll never get out of here! I for one, want out!" she said gritting her teeth a bit. Taking a deep breath, "So... let's all just work together, and figure this out"

Catching Shax's eye, pleading with her own, then looking at Andy, and Michelle in turn. Hoping they would understand, and help her out. "Look" she said her voice a little exasperated, "We're all we've got right now in the crazy house" sliding her arm into Mel's firmly. "What should we do?"

[G]

Let's all just work together, and figure this out," Morgan said, and Andy, who had seemed momentarily stunned by Mel's response to her aggression, jumped on the opportunity to turn away from Mel, who she'd been regarding with an unreadable expression.
"Figure what out?" she asked bitterly, "I think we all know whats' going on here. It was Alys! She killed the others, and if we don't do something... at the very least we gotta find her, make sure she can't hurt anyone else. Maybe we should split up, and search?"

Shax's visit to the loungeroom had escaped her notice, amid her angry exchange with Mel and her growing frustration.