[center][h1][color=39b54a]Willard[/color][/h1]
[hr][color=f9ad81]Safe Haven[/color] - Interacting with [@t2wave][hr][/center]

	After only a few games of monopoly, Willard quickly found himself to be exceptionally bored - these other children certainly weren't very good at this game at all, and seemed more fascinated by the miniature figures and making up their own rules, which only irritated the boy all the more. Eventually, having grown tired of the game and tired of the children, he excused himself from the game room and walked into the meeting room behind the bar, withdrew the drape that covered his own bedroom, and settled down onto his child-size bed, withdrawing the in-ear microphone that he had been given for the mission from his pocket, and set it next to a few other of his keepsakes - an old mp3 player that had worked a while ago, a deck of cards from a plethora of different pre-war card games, an antique He-Man action figure, and a picture of mom, dad, and himself, which was faded and bent.

	Lifting the Polaroid image in his small hands, Willard sat back against the wall and stared into the picture for a moment, pondering lightly as to how his "parents" were doing. He had been restricted from visiting them after he had been taken away by Blaque, leaving them behind in a gloomy and run-down part of Grand Haven. Though it wasn't nearly as decimated and crime-ridden as the Duval District, Willard still worried if they were safe, once asking Blaque when he could visit them again. It would be a while longer, he had been told, and so Willard waited, wondering just how much time was in "a while longer".

	Willard's focus was broken as a large banging noise erupted from above, causing the single light dangling from the ceiling to flicker and shake. The boy sat in silence, gazing up as dust fell upon him, a low rumbling coming from the room above his. He replaced the picture in the corner of the room, and stepped out into the back room. Just as he did so, the rumbling ceased, leaving him standing silently as he waited for any further noise. After a while, Willard walked over to the door separating the bar from the back room, and, opening it just slightly, peered out, watching as Priest descended the stairs and left. A short time later, two other figures came down the stairs, and placed themselves next to the bar.

	[i][color=39b54a]That's the girl from the orphanage.[/color][/i] Willard watched carefully as the girl, still clad in Blaque's coat, hopped onto a bar stool and sat quietly as the other figure stood beside her and began speaking. Willard inched the door open just a tad bit more to try and get a better look at who was talking, but whoever it was had stood just beyond the boy's sight. Hearing another set of footsteps come down the stairs, Willard turned his gaze toward Blaque, who had begun making his way down the hall toward another medical room. As the man in shades disappeared from vision, Willard refocused on the pair, unaware of the eerie silence that had settled in the main room.

	[color=bf8040]"Come out from hiding, child; there is no reason to be afraid,"[/color] the voice of what sounded to be a man cut through the air, startling Willard as his presence was discovered. Slowly and cautiously, the young boy stepped out from behind the door, eyes cast upon the floor as it shut behind him. The girl had turned her gaze to look upon the pale young boy, hair white as snow, covered in light, baggy clothes. [color=bf8040]"You need not worry, young one, we mean you no harm,"[/color] the voice drew Willard's gaze toward the source, causing the boy to stand in silent terror at the sight. The man, gray in complexion and with small, round eyes, had no color that Willard could see. The boy blinked, and blinked again - there was nothing beyond his "normal" appearance, no aura to be read, no feelings to predict.

	[color=bc8dbf]"You - you're the boy that was with the robot, right?"[/color] the girl drew Willard's attention away from the colorless man. He stood motionless for a moment, then nodded, which seemed to please the girl, as she smiled in response. [color=bc8dbf]"What's your name? Can you speak?"[/color] Noticing how silly he must have looked, Willard began, [color=39b54a]"M-- my name's Willard, miss,"[/color] he looked from the girl to the gray man, then back to the girl. [color=39b54a]"What 'er yours'?"[/color]

	The girl grinned, amused by the child's response. [color=bc8dbf]"I'm Jinx,"[/color] then, pointing a thumb toward her companion, [color=bc8dbf]"my spooky friend here is Pohl,"[/color] then with the same hand, she beckoned Willard forward. [color=bc8dbf]"I promise he won't eat you or anything!"[/color] Jinx laughed, though Pohl's face remained expressionless. Hesitantly, Willard stepped away from the wall behind the bar and stood before the two, pressing his hands against his sides. Glancing back toward Pohl, the boy noticed something peculiar - the gray man didn't have a shadow. His brow furrowing, Willard looked up into the man's beady eyes, which were fixed upon his own.

	[color=bc8dbf]"Oh, all you're doing is frightening him,"[/color] Jinx snickered, hopping from the stool and crouching down, eyes level with the child. [color=bc8dbf]"So, Willard, how old are you?"[/color] Jinx asked kindly, trying her best to keep the boy from focusing too much on the spirit behind her. [color=39b54a]"Ten,"[/color] Willard spoke softly, gazing into Jinx's amber eyes. Jinx stared back, a bit intrigued by the way the boy's eyes almost glowed, and was almost tempted to ask about them, until Pohl piped up behind her.

	[color=bf8040]"Another soul comes to meet us,"[/color] the spirit's voice danced across the air with the smoke from a new cigar, playfully skipping and flowing through the open space of the bar, until it dissipated into nothing. Jinx lifted her head to observe a teenage girl, perhaps close in age to herself, walk to the end of the hallway, her own gaze seemingly distant. Standing upright, Jinx placed a hand upon the bar, raising an eyebrow at the other girl, waiting for her to make the first move. Willard turned his head, feeling a bit out of place in his own home with the new people inside of it. Unsure of what to do, he remained still, Jinx and Pohl at one side, the new girl on the other.

[hr][center][@King Tai][@Wick][@RumikoOhara][@FantasyChic][@pugbutter][@Necrophage][/center][hr]