[M] — Mythos Complex [IC] (H)

[Leon G]

I rolled a 10

Consul resembled a butterfly coming out of its cocoon with her head peeking out from several thick blankets wrapped around her body. Consul hated the cold, but her previous space heater broke and she didn’t have the spare money to buy another heater. At least her could just stock up on blankets found at discount shops, and this was much better than heat. Her arms, covered by woolly, long sleeves, were the only thing besides her head sticking out from the blankets, and that was so she could enjoy her eBook. It was relatively late at night, and she should have been sleeping,. Between college life and being a waitress, Heaven knew she needed her energy. But the book she had been reading was impossible to put down. Consul was at the part where the heroine had confessed her love to the antagonist. Normally Consul didn’t like romances, in fact she found them stupid and overly sappy, not only in books, but also in real life, too, but this was a special case.

As good as the book was, Consul found it hard to stay awake and felt her eyelids drooping. She let out a yawn and decided to rest her eyes for a few minutes. Her eyes had been closed for no longer than two minutes, when she heard a shrill shriek through the thin floors of the apartment complex. That was the thing about this place. Even though she was on the lowest floor, she was still able to hear things from all the way up on the third floor. She dismissed it as nothing, as this place made weird noises all the time. She wasn’t concerned about danger such as a fire or a murderer. If anyone would be causing a fire, it would be her with her terrible cooking. And if a mass murder were to enter the building, wouldn’t they start at the bottom floor? Comforted by her self-made facts- even if they weren’t exactly 100% reliable- Consul was able to dismiss the noise without a second thought. She returned to her Kindle, picking up at the point where the two main characters had exchanged a kiss. Consul sighed and closed the book. While she enjoyed the romance, she wished for one of her own at times. The problem was, she wasn’t too great with people. She couldn’t even find a roommate, to split the already low costs with. Oh well, life can’t always be as great as in the books. For now, Consul with have to be content with loneliness. Shutting off the Kindle, Consul lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. It’s so dark, she thought to herself. I hate that about winter. She wasn’t afraid of the dark, but the Unknown freaked her out. And not knowing what lay in the darkness was a bit unsettling. She shut her eyes and reminded herself that she knew what was where. She imagined her apartment in the daytime and the thoughts were soothing. A few minutes later, Consul was sound asleep. That was good because she usually had a lot of trouble falling asleep, due to her insomnia.

[Ru]

Enter first monster...

Spoiler: Dice Rolls 

Howl rolled a 17. An outside roll was made. Received result "clue." Will be implemented in a later post.
Boots rolled a 3. An outside roll was made. Received result "noise." Will be implemented in post.
Cait rolled a 12. An outside roll was made. Received result "noise." Will be implemented in post.
Daniel rolled a 4. An outside roll was made. Received result "nothing." Nothing will occur.
Hanna rolled a 3. An outside roll was made. Received result "noise." Will be implemented.
Katia rolled a 3. An outside roll was made. Received result "rumor." Will be implemented in a later post.
Apollo rolled a 10. An outside roll was made. Received result "nothing." Nothing will occur.
Bridget rolled a 3. An outside roll was made. Received result "rumor." Will be implemented in a later post.
Keito rolled a 5. An outside roll was made. Received result "rumor." Will be implemented in a later post.
Ellie rolled an 18. An outside roll was made. Received result "noise." Will be implemented in post.
Noah rolled an 8. An outside roll was made. Received result "ghost appearance." Will be implemented in post.
Consul rolled a 10. An outside roll was made. Received result "kidnap." Will be implemented in post.

Ru's New Rolls
Howl (4); Boots (16); Cait (15).

Landlord’s Office

Achluophobia is quite common in society, namely amongst children, but is not unheard of as we age. Fear of the dark, though for most it falls more into the fear of the unknown; an irrational urge to dart away or hide from what the blind eye cannot see.

On this cold winter’s night as the crying of the deceased can vaguely be heard through thin walls of the larger building beside it and the calm winds in between the residents of Mythos Complex living in the special rooms within the landlord’s quarters can barely hear the frequent cries of Katie. And as such — in return — sounds become barely audible when escaping this area for those inside the tall walls. Lives between the main complex residents and these namely intertwine when the both attempt to use the gate or speak to the owner of the grounds at the same time, but otherwise little is truly heard.

With this said, it comes as no surprise as these creepy crawlers crept through the cracks of Room 1’s walls that no word was uttered from its neighbors, as they were too far and dealing with their own crisis to hear slithering so soft it was almost silent. Tiny monsters pressed through the gaps in between the floorboards with ease, while others came from the ceiling from seemingly nowhere. Quietly they made their way to the room’s resident: Consuelo Rivera.

Before a scream could be uttered the creatures leapt and plunged her down farther into the darkness and out of the sanctum of her closed walls. Black was all she could see, with the occasional darker shadow moving here and there. Soon many of the armored slugs appeared with tiny needles sticking out from their hardened shells and fangs bared, though their victim could barely see their gluttonous faces, but merely their silhouettes.

As Consul sat upon the wet, cobblestone floor, directly across from her in glowing red letters read:

“Fair is fair,
In death and gore,
Here’s a hint to even the score.

All is Crimson,
All is Red,
But does it matter when you’re Dead?

Color is only Surface,
It does not cause their behavior,
The common interest will be your savior.

Accountant,
Brawler,
Waitress,
History Professor,
The differences are your bane,
What will save you is what is the same.

Metallic scent,
Copper taste,
The similarities will get you out of this place.

Answer the riddle,
Profess in rhyme,
Only then will the door open in time.”

The Main Building

Fear has a tendency of controlling the actions of others, even without necessarily being a threat, especially when it arises to a phobic state. As a simple fear it can easily be conquered by pushing oneself into it with the reassurance of it being a silly thing to be afraid of, however… once it gains the title of “phobia,” it can be quite hard to overcome and venture towards vanquishing it.

Luckily, in the case of Cait, there was no fear of the dark like some of her other residents. Strolling through the halls in a pitch black haze did not bother her in the least, nor did the shadows dwelling in the background, as she knew what they were. Seeing without the light was not hard for her, but even so she was usually guessing what the silhouette was and — most of the time — she was correct. In this particular case she feared — what she considered to be — the ultimate fear: death. To her, that was what these spirits represented and the more it dawned on her how alone she was the more she was succumbing to a trembling state of mind.

Tonight was one of the few nights she lacked a client, but oh how she wished there was one, or that she had attempted to bed one of the other residents. Heck, maybe she could have gotten one of them to play Boggle with her for all Cait cared, at least she wouldn’t be so secluded. The walls around her had turned from her home — her sanctuary — into a prison with an enclosing space. Spirits could manifest wherever they pleased and she was well aware of this… Seeing Katie the mangled mess she was after her passing was not a sight she wished to ever see again.

Exiting towards the cries was an obscene idea, however the idea of dying alone was causing her body to tremble and mind to be on edge. A panic attack was on its way; she needed to act fast. Emerald eyes darted back and forth; left and right about the walls until they focused one to her left. Cait pressed her back against the door, staring intently as the thought crossed her mind. Quickly she darted over to the wall of hers that she knew had Room 3014 to the side of it where Joseph slept. She hadn’t recalled speaking much to him before, other than polite hellos, but she was desperate.

Cait knocked a barber shop rhythm on the wall and pressed her ear against it, slinking her body down to the floor as her knees collapsed beneath her. Whether he was awake was a mystery. She repeated the same pattern on the floor instead, hoping to also wake up Apollo or Noah down in Room 2014. So long as someone came… anyone… She just needed to not feel alone.


Boots jumped at the sudden sound of their door being knocked upon, though she acknowledged after such a scream she must have woke up someone. Sleeved wrists rose up to wipe her watery eyes as a sigh escape her throbbing chest. “I… I’m… I’m sorry, Hanna… I just…” the words came in stuttered whimpers; her lips trembling over her teeth.

“Don’t apologize,” he grunted and rose to his feet. Howl left Boots in the middle of the room, opening the door for their concerned neighbor. “It’s fuckin’ Katie…” muttered in a sort of growl beneath his breath as he passed by her through the doorway. “Go on and see her. I got a bone’ta pick,” then he headed over to Room 3011 where he knew Katie hid.

As he walked closer to the spirit he could not see she let out a shrill scream only so few could hear. The banshee cry shot through the ears of Boots, Cait, Hanna, and Ellie, but somehow had not reached the sound waves for others. Howl pressed on, unaware he was causing the sound to enhance.

Boots’s face shot down to her knees as she knelt on the floor with her palms over her ears in some attempt to lower the volume. She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes tightly, the tears streaming down the sides of her cheeks as her body continued to shake with fear. Sometimes she wished her fears did not exist; she prayed to be more like the brave Howl, despite knowing it was a pipedream. Maybe then she could face Katie on her own without blubbering like a lost child and find out what it was the girl wanted so desperately to tell.

Cait slammed her forehead against the hardwood floor and began to scream along with the spirit. She was oblivious to how unhelpful she was being, adding to the noise of the monstrous sounds echoing inside her skull. The wider she opened her mouth the louder the cry became as she desperately kicked herself into a corner of the room right by her bed. A part of the bed frame stabbed her spine, temporarily causing the scream to cease and as she climbed atop her plush safety zone it dawned on her the spirit’s cries had came to a halt. Even so, she chose crawling into her warm comforters over returning to that doorway. Maybe… Maybe I can just sleep…. Sleep through it…


The cries had ended not because of the quieted Cait, but because she ran out of fear of the brawler. Katie’s soul darted down onto the second floor in Room 2014. There she appeared before Noah briefly in a terrified state as the pale girl trembled, brows burrowed in fear. She hid herself deep in the room, unaware of Noah’s presence with her palms placed on the wall. Rivers cascaded down her sorrowful expression, disappearing before they had a chance to hit the ground. Pure anguish could be clearly seen upon her complexion as the hold of this place ate her up inside; her soul was not permitted to rest.

“Save yourself…” Katie’s spirit whispered through a whimper. “Leave this place…” Then she disappeared for the rest of the night.

[Evil Troy]

Rolled a 12 on the DnD roller.

Like any other night Joseph lay asleep on his bed with nothing more than a single blanket over him, and the room being as dark as it could get. To him this was the only way to get a good night sleep. However, despite his pitch black room and the cold night air one thing the Mythos Complex did not always have was a quite night. Whether it was moans, the crying of a young woman, or the occasional scream; all of these thing managed to bring Joseph out of a deep sleep. Tonight was one of these nights. After hearing a scream from just down the hall Joseph rose up lazily and propped his head up on his right hand and let out a deep breath. At the price he was paying for his room Joseph really could not complain much, but at the same time being woken up multiple times a week at ungodly hours grew old. After sitting silently, for a few minutes, trying to figure out what was going on through the sound of footsteps and voice Joseph finally decided to get up and take a look.

Once Joseph was finally out of his bed he flipped the switch of his lamp and covered his eyes from the painful light which now embraced the room. After a moment Joseph uncovered his eyes and looked down at his boxers. "Heh I should probably up on some clothes first." He quietly said to himself as small smile came to his face. Slowly, almost as if forced, Joseph made his way over to the closet and pulled out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Moments later Joseph had his head poking out of his room and looking out into the dimly lit hallway on the other side. At the end of the hall he saw one of the girls who lived downstairs standing in front of where it sounded like the scream came from. The site of the girl made it to where he wanted to just say forget it and go back to sleep, but at the same time his curiosity of what had happened began to eat away at him. Before Joseph had a chance to decide, however, a rapping sound started coming from his wall. It was in the tune of a song which was unknown to Joseph, but as he looked back in his room to figure out where it was coming from he realized, it was coming from his neighbor Cait.

Although the two had only spoke just a few times, from the moans of pleasure and all the different men she had over he knew that she was, for a lack of better words, a slut. Not even bothering to close his door, Joseph slowly made his way to where the knocking was coming from. However, when he made it to the wall the Knocking stopped. Confused Joseph lifted his hand to knock on the wall when all of a sudden he heard the knocking again, only fainter this time. Joseph could now start feel his heart beat faster as eeriness of what was going on around him started to sink. After taking a moment to look down at his hand he was hold up and letting out a deep breath to calm himself he shook his head and knocked on the wall. Though, no sooner did he knock on the wall did he hear another scream come from right next two.

Startled by the noise Joseph fell back and looked at the wall. The scream was definitely coming from his neighbor but tonight this was no scream of pleasure, tonight it sounded more like a scream of fear. It was then that, without even thinking, Joseph ran out of his room and began knocking on his neighbors door. "H-hey! Are you alright!" He asked after he knocked a few times. Seconds later Joseph realized what it was he had just done, and, like always, his heart started beating even faster and his face grew hotter and hotter. "Shit! She may be a slut but she's still pretty hot! What the hell am I going to say to her!?" He quietly said to himself as he waited for an answer.

[Lord Tully]

(1d20)[7]
As soon and Howl opened the door Hanna heard the spirit's call, the sudden noise made her take a step back. This Katie person had killed herself a fair bit before Hanna had come to the building, but she'd heard others occationally talk about hearing her. She didn't really believe it was a ghost, but it was hard to deny things when you hear them for yourself. ~It will take more then noises to scare me.~ she quickly glanced at the young man who asked her a question, answered with a blunt "No" and hurried in to Boot's side.

"Hey hey, you're alright." She said softly as she went down to her knees and put her arms around Holly, "She can't do anything to you, I promise." she then turned her head and addressed the spirit, "Go away Katie." she told it as polite as she could, "You're scaring Holly, you don't want that do you?" she turned her attention back to Holly. "You'll be just fine Holly, I promise." she told her as she hugged the girl.

But Hanna wasn't sure of that herself when she heard one of the tenants down the hall start to scream as well. Hanna put her arm around Holly's head to cover her ears and keep the sound away. ~Stop screaming you bitch.~ she thought at the person's direction, she'd been perfectly able to explain away or ignore the few things she'd experienced before in the building, but someone screaming right across the hallway was a bit difficult to ignore. "Everything's fine Boots, Howl and I are here so nothing cane touch you." Hanna knew that if anything could keep Boots calm it was Howl.

[Public_Hazard]

15

The screams of them all had yet to stop as pounding on the thin walls echoed through out the complex. From the distant voices that bounced off the walls and into Noah's ears Howl was the one to stand out above the rest. The rather protective man was likely taking charge of the entire dilemma. Of course he seemed more fixated on something else by the hammering of his foot steps as the cries of the others were coming from the other side of the hallway. With another chug at his whiskey he kept his ears tuned to everyone else as he let his eyes drift shut. The buzz of the alcohol had yet to kick into his system, a rather discomforting issue that had grown within him as the liquid drug's effects slowly had a much lesser effect over time. At his current understanding it would take every drop to knock him out for the night.

The pounding came to a sudden stop from above, causing Noah to pay closer attention to what was happening. A sudden chill surged through him as he encircled his arms around his torso to seek warmth, he was left uncertain of the cause as it vanished. He knew first hand the feeling of being drunk or buzzed, judging from what he could tell his mind was still considered sober. Suddenly a drift of whimpering entered his ear canal, much like the soft cold wind surrounding his body earlier. The noice was far too close to be coming from outside, with this thought Noah slowly opened his eyes as a figure descended like air through the walls of his ceiling.

Left in subtle shock Noah remained silent observing the pitiful state of the transparent being before him, her hair was long and elegant despite its untamed nature. Her soft looking expression of pain caused a twinge in Noah's heart as he softly paced towards her. The streams of transparent tears carressed her plump pale cheecks as they cascaded into nothingness. "Katie..?" Noah spoke with tears building on the rims of his eyes, a subtle cracking coming past his rigid voice. "Save yourself...." Her soft whisper barely audible in the room as she gasped a whimper. "Wait what do you mean?!" Noah raised his tone as her figure began to merge with the air surrounding them, his body instinctively moving towards her "...Leave this place." and without a second of silence she vanished.

"Katie!" Noah slammed his fist onto the surface the girl had been leaning on. His action rippling through the wall likely causing his neighbors to hear. His tears had already begun to stream down his bloody face, merging at his chin and dripping onto the floor. "Come back, we can help you....I can help you" his soft voice only meant for her as his nails scratched the surface and placed his forehead on it. Sitting this way he waited for a few moments before slamming his fist once again "God damn it! Come back!" he screamed out uncaring for who heard his cries. A slik river of whiskey began to flow from the ignored bottle on the floor, its content would remain untouched for the remainder of the night.

Brushing away the tears with his arm Noah made his way towards the door of his room, the cracked door still remained in its opened position from earlier. The cries had completely ceased except for a few whimpers emerging from the upstairs corridor. Not taking the time to be bothered with safety, his figure leaped over unneeded steps. He had forgotten to clean up his bloody exterior but all of that was rather unimportant to him as he entered the hallway. From the looks of everyone, most were left uncertain of the situation, a few whimpers were coming from Boot's room and with a quick glance inside Hannah was comforting her "Go away Katie...". He could already assume what had happened within this small hallway. However his attention came towards Howl as his rigid exterior made its way towards what was once Katie's room.

Gritting his teeth Noah called him out before he could reach the door, "Howl!" he paced towards him. "What the hell happened in here?" keeping his voice down and his anger at bay Noah spoke to him. With the time he had spent in this complex he was fully aware of Howl's protective nature to Boots. Judging from the cries coming from the man's room he was certain Howl was looking to bite off his anger on Katie. The image of the scared small girl had already engrained itself on the surface of Noah's mind. Unwilling to tolerate Howl's brawler nature Noah took a step toward calming the beastly man or at least slow him down.

[Zatory-Master]

(1d20)[9]

Keito looked up at his guardian. She was shivering just like him. She had asked him,"Jesus, it's cold in here... You okay?" Looking at Keito who felt like he was going to freeze to death. Keito responded with a small nod and continued rocking on the bed. They lived on floor three. He expected it to be cold, but not that cold. He had forgottened about the shreek that he had heard earlier and focused on the cold. Sadly, for poor little Keito Defam Jr. Things got a little worse.

A four legged creature had jumped on the bed. It's height reached Keito's knees and it was covered in fur. This was Ellie's pet cat, snickers. Keito slowly moved away from the creature. He knew what they were capable off. A little jump and cat's could cut his face into tiny pieces. He attempted to pet it, but with just a meow of the cat, Keito was already on the other side of the bed. He was still shivering but he kept his eyes on the Cat. Hoping it would just jump off the bed and walk away with no problems.

He glance at the cat was interrupted when Elli asked him,"Say, you must be freezing like me... do you want some warm?" He looked at her with warm eyes and nodded. He needed something fast. Being in the freezing room like that could be bad for someone unless they have something to warm them up. Keito sat there and waited for Ellie to do what she had in mind.

[Tune]

(1d20)[9]

The soft touch of his warm hand against her cheek and the faint feeling of her hair being brushed out of her face shocked her. She tensed, and for a moment, she contemplated knocking his hand away. She shook her head, and brushed his hand away. He couldn't see any movement she made without his glasses - and for that she was thankful.

"I do not scream," she replied, pulling the blankets closer to her chest.

Tense and uncomfortable from Apollo's affectionate touch, the lack of sheets and clothing between them was unnerving as she sobered up. Goosebumps rose up when she turned over to face him more, her breasts mistakenly rubbing against his chest from the slight shift. In the dark, the faintest heat radiating from her cheeks hide her blush from sight.

She struggled to form words. Swallowing her embarrassment, she shook her head 'no' to his question, followed by an uncertain nod. "I'm fine." She looked away, though it wouldn't matter, her eyes traveling towards the door. "Should we.. go check?"

The thought of leaving the warm covers made her shrink back underneath the warm fabric. Her clothes... they were somewhere on the floor, lost within his own clothing. A small grin spread across her lips at the thought of his expensive clothing being worn by anyone other than him. He'd surely take offense but despite his stuffy demeanor and corporate job, he had a knack at surprising her at times.

Noises of all kind suddenly erupted from Apollo's room. Noah was back, and by the sounds of his shouting, he wasn't in the best of moods. Katia knew well the sound of a fist making contact with something - and the thin wall was no exception to that little life fact. The abruptness of it all sent Katia clinging to Apollo.

[The Imposter]

Rolls a 10 on the DnD dice rolla

The ominous door with its red glow called out to Daniel as he limped towards it. His leg still numb with pins and needles. Fact was that the commotion on the other side really is what was calling him. Thumps and voices only enticed him further into swinging the door open rather quickly, so much so that it smacked against the wall. Knocking down the baseball bat he kept beside the door, just in case. He hobbled out into the hall and called out to the room across from his own. His tone seemingly cheerful but carried with it a slight undertone of agitation.

'What the hell is going on over there? Everything alright? I hope no one is acting out that famous scene from Ghost!!?'

Seemingly there was no answer, but Daniel's ears picked up someone talking at the top of the stairs on the next floor. He quickly shuffled and did his best at getting up to see who was up there. His method was quick but it was hardly silent with his leg annoyingly giving him trouble still. When he got there he saw Noah and then Howl. In that moment Daniel almost wished he had stayed in his room. A nervous laugh seeped out through his lips as he looked at them both down the hall. Of course it would be the two guys that looked like they ate people like Daniel for breakfast that would be conversing in the hallway in the middle of the night.

'Well....looks like you two have everything under control up here. Hehehe....We can all just pretend I never poked my face up here and you two can go back to whatever it was you were doing.'

[Preach]

[12]

Was it - had it stopped? She couldn't hear the crying anymore. Sitting up hesitantly, Bridget flinched and froze once more when a scream rang through the building. This wasn't coming from her room - it was coming from elsewhere on her floor. Maybe the ghost had moved on to spook someone else? She wasn't sure, and didn't care. Her hands were shaking. She took some deep breaths to calm down. Tea, yes, she would make some tea - that would calm her down, certainly.

Regretting the decision to pull the covers off quite so violently as the cold air hit her, Bridget slid off the bed and slipped her feet into the slippers on the floor. Some footsteps and shouting were audible from the hallway.

She sighed. Her ghost roommate was apparently gone, but with the ruckus the other tenants were making it seemed unlikely she would get any sleep that night. Resigned, she flipped the lights on and shuffled to the kitchen area to turn on her electric kettle. As she took down some tea bags from her cupboard, she heard more footsteps and voices. She brushed some stray hair away from her face and approached her front door, deciding to see just what was going on outside, in case she should be concerned.

Unlocking and opening her door, light from her room poured out. She could see Howl, whom she'd always found somewhat intimidating, being confronted by Noah, who she also found intimidating. Great. Were the two going to fight? Well, she certainly wasn't going to stick around to find out. Slightly behind them, she could also see Daniel, who looked uncomfortable to be there, as well as Joseph, her neighbour, knocking on someone's door.

The kettle was whistling behind her. Her mind raced again, and she made another decision. She motioned at Daniel, and at Joseph, inviting them in. She wasn't really sure why - maybe because they looked as nervous as she felt? And though she preferred to be alone, she wouldn't mind having company just then, not when people were screaming and she'd just been haunted. Sometimes, when she couldn't handle being alone, she would visit Hanna. Now, however, the thought of reaching Hanna's room and having to pass Howl and Noah in the process made her uncomfortable. Besides, if they did choose to come by, it wouldn't be that many people anyway. It wouldn't be as bad as dealing with a big group of people. It would be fine.

[Wanderess]

[2]
Ellie smiled a bit at his answer and slipped on her college sweater which had her school mascot on it, and jumped out of the bed to go get the two of them some thing warm and comfy. Snickers scattered off ahead of Ellie as headed over to the counter and poured the two of them hot chocolate. Once done with the drinks she scattered off to the corner of the apartment room and reaches down inside a box and pulled out two blankets, that would keep the two of them warm through the rest of the night... if it even was night. She glanced up at the window which showed nothing but darkness. She yawned again and realized she was still a bit asleep. She walked over to the small bed that she slept on and handed the boy one of the hot cups.
"It's hot chocolate," she said, as she also tossed him a fuzzy blanket. She settled down crisscrossed in the middle of the small bed and felt the black cat jump up next to her and sit in the space between Keito and Ellie. Ellie stroked her soft black fur that felt like satin between her fingers. Ellie wrapped herself tightly with the blankets she had, and looked to see that Keito had just enough blankets to keep him warm as he could be.
"So!" Ellie said as she set down her cup on her dresser. "Today is a special day at work for me, and I was wondering if you wanted to come and help me out with it?" She said it with a smile and looked at the boy. "Do you like animals, cause I was gonna leave in the morning- if it is morning, seeing as I can't seem to find my alarm clock- , and I was just thinking you would like to get out of the apartment or something..." Ellie trailed off, and looked out the window, seeing the flurries of streaming snow that went hectic outside. "But I think Mother nature has different plans I guess..." she grumbled and shivered. Ellie needed to have a word with the landlord as to why the heater wasn't working. But not now, as she was scared that the drunkards in the building prowled like carnivorous dogs looking for another victim to consume along with their booze.
Eli sipped her cup, but not before she was interrupted by a bloodcurdling scream that made her jump in surprise. She covered her ears in extreme discomfort as the sound intensified, and pushed harder and harder, until it had stopped just as suddenly as it had began.

What the hell is going on out there? she thought as she slowly stood up, dropping the blanket, and walking towards the door, she looked back at the boy.

"Stay here, please," Ellie asked him kindly and firmly, hoping the boy would listen. Snickers jumped off of Ellie's laugh when she got up, and now looked curiously at her owner.
"The same goes to you too missy," Ellie said pointing a finger at the cat before going out into the cold hallway.