[i]What is that thing, it's got me, it's got me, hurts-[/i]

The dead man's pain was flung at Chris just as surely as his corpse was, and of the two was probably the more agonizing. A person's dying pain had always hit especially hard - his knees were buckling even before the body crashed into him, sending him sprawling to the ground, the hunter's and the victim's pain mingling with his own.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be. One innocent was dead already, and it looked like more would follow, judging by the crowd of people spilling out of the library to catch a glimpse of the tumult. The hunter was still on the floor, in a heap with the girl with the closed-off mind. The monster was roaring now, frothing with rage. Something metal rolled against Chris's foot - one of the hunter's batons. He rose to his feet, a hand closed around the weapon. He couldn't fight the monster, that much was certain, but maybe someone could fend it off long enough to get the people away. What happened to him after that didn't matter.

A sentence flashed into his mind as he tossed the weapon to the hunter. He hadn't been around the man long enough to be certain it was the sentence he needed, but if ever there was a time for a shot in the dark, this was it. [color=fff200]"Get up, John! You can still save them!"[/color]

With that done, he whipped around, baring his face at the crowd of humans and advancing on them quickly, waving his hands. Confusion at the scene unfolding turned into dread, horror, and nausea. People stumbled back, their hands over their eyes. There were screams of revulsion, fear, as he drew closer and closer to the crowd. [color=fff200]"Run!"[/color] He screamed. [color=fff200]"Leave!"[/color]

They complied. With one mind, the crowd of humans turned and fled from him, fled back to the library, back inside, where they would be safe.