It was hard to tell if Romani killed a man or not, because there had been this groan or a sigh, and that had been human, but the form...the form had been horrifying to behold. He didn't know [i]what[/i] he killed, or where he was, because this [i]wasn't[/i] London. At least...it was like no London that HE knew of. There was fog all around, the air tasted funny, Big Ben was listing to the left in the distance...and yet it also felt like reality. That [i]fight[/i] had certainly been real. Romani would feel that he was on the edge of something, that there was something there that he could almost reach out to. He had suddenly become armed and dangerous enough to fight, and he certainly hadn't had these weapons to begin with. It was almost as if... It was like he called them to him in his time of need, right out of thin air. This was too weird...but he had to go. There was another feeling, a sense like...he knew there was somewhere he must go, somewhere safe. Somewhere in this world, there was a place he could go. Downtown, where all the lights are bright? Hard to tell, and he didn't even have a direction yet, but he needed to leave and [i]find[/i] this place, because... [i]"Mommy? Are you there?" "Come out and play!" "Mooommyyy!"[/i] ...there were more. They weren't as close as the first creature, but like distant wolves howling to each other, they were in the vicinity...and they were on the hunt! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hah, you think Alex and Hakuro are handling this well. It was more like the situation was so crazy that the only way not to panic or get lost forever was to just [i]go with it[/i] and hope for best. As they moved on, they saw some [i]things[/i]. Some of them were just shadowy people with yellow or red or green lights for eyes, say, while others were masked monstrosities, preying upon others, and then there was this one frantic figure that ran right up to them and- Holy shit, that was Laurence! Both Alex and Raven called after him, but he was moving too fast. He looked...like something had [i]really[/i] freaked him out, more than some of the figures that he'd shoved aside, including [i]at least[/i] one of them. There was a little bit of confusion as to whether to follow him or not, but... [color=ed1c24]"That [i]was[/i] him, and he IS moving in the right direction."[/color] [color=00a651]"Also...[i]that[/i]."[/color] Hakuro had looked back to see what the boy might've been running from, and he no longer looked unshaken. In fact, Mr. Bond, he looked shaken AND stirred. He had done so just in time to see one of the shadow people fall back as a heavy black limb came out of the mist and smashed it flat! The limb retracted and...oh, they could see [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9IbQpHP03g]the horror[/url] approaching. The limb was sucked back into this hovering black mass of dense [i]blackness[/i], and as it came into view, a number of red-blaring eyes opened and they could all hear faint moans growing steadily louder, both from its direction AND in their own heads. Raven seemed to twitch in mid-flight. [center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KEcpz0IE3M[/youtube][/center] [color=ed1c24]"Get moving! [i]RIGHT NOW![/i]"[/color] Right! Back to the running, with Raven leading them ahead in the mist to get where they were going! They knew that that thing was in pursuit, as the voices seemed to persist in the back of their minds. They came to a turn now, which Raven was about to turn to, but she heard footsteps moving down another direction! [color=ed1c24]"Laurence! [i]Laurence, this way!![/i]"[/color] She wasn't sure he had heard. Quickly, she stopped on top of the wall and pointed her wing down an alleyway. [color=ed1c24]"All of you, it's that way, a straight shot and down the stairs. It can't follow you down, so don't worry, once you're there. I have to catch him and get him to head the right way. Don't wait for us! Just go! I promise I'll bring him back!"[/color] And with that, she flew off to get the other student, to make up for the mistake shed' made before. Alex, Ava, and Hakuro had a direction to take, and a dark enemy in hot pursuit. They had no time if this thing was on their heels, but...if they looked down that way, they could see...I'm sorry, it looked like a humanoid figure had shaken itself apart to become a series of small hideous blobs... What the fuck? Either way, the path seemed blocked, but the way [i]Raven[/i] had something fairly Hulk-sized slamming about. [color=00a651]"Okay, I [i]think[/i] I can parkour this, but I dunno about you guys."[/color] Were they trapped? What the hell were they going to DO? >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> And in the meantime...things had not gone well for Mikhail, either. The figures had all been speaking with their voices and even using their faces, but...it was a paper-thin disguise, at best...and it was not the best. In fact, the illusion had been far worse, as they had all - as one - removed masks of dead flesh to reveal jovial green masks with sickening leers and empty eyes. Almost immediately, four flintlock pistols had been pointed, and these 'men' grabbed him, dragging him away like a dead weight. Of course, he had shown that he was very much [i]alive[/i] by protesting the whole way, but they paid him no heed. The lot of them appeared to be dressed in a colonial period uniform, as in that of some sort of army which wore dark clothes and vests with black hats. They laughed coldly at his protests, and then finally, one of them spoke, but not to him and [i]not[/i] in the voice of anyone he knew. It was more a distorted dead man's rattle, saying... [i]"Ah...here we are."[/i] They had lured him out into the open, into the world of the shadow through a distortion caused by the Metaverse, and now they had dragged him along to...but this was the edge of the school grounds, wasn't it? What could be here that...? Oh... That's not the school at all. No...that was a goddamn [i]fortress[/i]. [center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQYrYA5L-_A[/youtube][/center] It was huge, made of stone with heavy wooden doors and many stakes around it to prevent easy climbing or escape or really [i]ladders[/i]. It had to be several stories, plus parapet with patrolmen walking along. The doors were opened, and inside Mikhail saw something akin to a gentleman's hunting lodge, mansion, and military outpost in one. Decorative trophies - thankfully, no humans - were along the walls in places. Once they were inside, one of the men who'd grabbed him said [i]"Inform the General! We have ourselves another one!"[/i], followed by other uniformed figures letting out a victorious cry as they dragged him away...down into the basement dungeon. There...things were far less gentlemanly. Good god... ALL the torture devices of the old age, some of them being used on people, even as they passed to the cell area. Mikhail was tossed inside and the bars locked. If he protested then, they only laughed and left him alone. [center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSs9H1ANmL4[/youtube][/center] There would be a long wait, and perhaps a few distant moans in the interim, but eventually...the door to the cellblock - of which he was in the furthest cell from - creaked its way open...and someone stepped inside. A man had come, walking towards him, reading from what looked like a large hardback bible. Mikhail could not see his face from the angle, but he was in uniform as well. He too dressed darkly and wore a white vest, and in his unoccupied hand he held a spear that looked like its headpiece was a big sharpened cross! He also wore a [url=https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/13f04497-c7d2-4ebd-8766-98df7d1e6556.png]strange medal[/url] on his chest and a black hat like the others, with a crucafix flanked by two pentagrams on its front. As he spoke... [b][i][color=fff200]"In the name of the Lord thy God, all those who are wicked in His sight shall be put to the sword. For in His mercy, we are saved, but..."[/color][/i][/b] ...that voice! It couldn't be...! He slammed the book shut and glared at Mikhail with evil yellow eyes. [b][i][color=fff200]"...none shall suffer a witch in their midst."[/color][/i][/b] Ashcroft...