Joel's eyes were glued to the window now. He refused to take them off of it. He saw it. He [i]knew[/i] that there was something out there. He had seen it clearly. Well, as clearly as one could see a completely black figure in that fucking [i]void.[/i] He was shaking slightly, eyes narrowed in concentration. Rowena handed him a mug of something hot--presumably tea-- and he picked it up, not peeling his eyes from the window, and took a small sip from his shaking hands as he set the mug back down on the table. HE exhaled audibly, then began to speak. His voice was quiet, almost calm.

"It wasn't an animal." he said, shaking his head slightly. "It was absolutely not an animal. It was... it was tall. and it was black. And it had purple eyes. And--and it was thin--it was way too thin. It's body...proportions...whatever. They were way off. It's arms were really long and--and It was just watching.... it was looking at us, and it was watching us.

He looked over, first at Lee, then at Rowena, gauging their reactions. Lee was clearly in disbelief, but Rowena was listening intently. She believed him, and that made him feel a lot better. He continued, directing what he was saying exclusively to her now.

"It looked like it was waiting for something." He said. He shifted his gaze to the front again, his eyes settling on Vincent. HE had the gun. He was watching the window. Everything was fine. Everything was going to be alright.

"Rowena, it looked like--"

The sound of shattering glass filled the diner, followed by the sound of a million tiny shards raining down upon the cool linoleum floor. Anyone who was still asleep jolted awake. Joel's head snapped to the front of the diner. He let out a small sound of fear as the creature stepped through the window, ducking its head slightly to get in. Vincent was still standing near the front. HE screamed. It was across the diner, on the opposite side. ut it turned to him, it looked at him. It [i]moved[/i] to him. It was on him in nearly three steps. He had barely had time to aim the gun before it brought down one of its hands on him, slamming his body to the floor violently, smashing his head into the tiles. 

The gun skittered across the diner floor, under a distant table somewhere now. Blood was dripping off of the side of Vincent's head. HE was mumbling incoherently, looking desperately for the revolver, his hands feeling for its weight, but they were only finding air. He gave up after a few moments of searching, instead deciding to scramble away from the creature on all fours, his eyes up on its featureless face.

Before he had another second to react, the lumbering creature grabbed him again, this time by the neck. Vincent's movements ceased, his hands went to the creatures as it lifted him up into the air. His breathing stopped. His legs kicked and flailed as he tried to pry the things grip from his throat, his eyes wide, staring deep into the monsters sunken, purple holes. It tilted it's head slightly at Vincent. Innocently, one could say. Like a puppy trying to figure out why it cant run through a sliding glass door.

[i]"Help--"[/i]

It was all Vincent was able to squeak out. The creature flicked its wrist ever so slightly, and in doing so, snapped his neck like a twig. The crunching and breaking of his bones echoed throughout the diner. His body went limp in its arms as the life drained from his body. His hands fell from his throat and down to his side, swaying gently.

Vincent was dead.

Seemingly without a care, the monster tossed his body aside, through the other window. Vincent smashed through that one too, his lifeless body crumpling on the sidewalk outside somewhere. Avery screamed. Joel had his hands over his mouth, suppressing any sounds, and Rowena mimicked him, suppressing a sob. What the fuck was happening. What the [i]fuck was that thing?[/i]

It turned towards them, and Rowena could swear it was looking at her. Was she next? Was it going to--

Before any more of that thought could go through her head, three shots rang out through the diner, and all three of them connected with the monsters head. Two in the forehead, one piercing one of it's large eye sockets. And it's eyes stopped glowing, turning a deep black. IT stopped moving. There was a moment of silence. And then it collapsed. It was dead. Was it dead? Was it that easy? How? What the fuck was it? Who--

"Alright. I'm keeping the gun from now on." Lee said as she lowered the gun, breathing heavily, not a trace of fear on her face as she turned her head to face Joel and Rowena. "Joel, I'm sorry. You were right. I'm sorry."

Joel was right. Jeff was right. They were in trouble, and there were two big fucking holes at the front of the store.

They were exposed.