[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/565628460572344360/612470836581892116/RoxanneNameplate.png[/img]
[img]https://file.toyhou.se/characters/2515611?1566330121[/img]
[h1][color=F91890]Run[/color][/h1]
[/center]
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[hider=Run]It was way too noisy in the cafeteria, and Roxy just needed somewhere to clear her head and get away from the crowds. Maybe it was a bad idea to go use the bathroom during an emergency drill, and maybe it was an even worse idea to go all the way to the second floor to get away from the cafeteria, but Roxy was fairly confident that there wasn't actually a tornado or something coming. It was just a freak storm after all; and the power got knocked out all the time. Or...it wasn't [i]super[/i] unusual for that to happen. Sure...the emergency lights wouldn't come on either. That was fine. It probably wasn't a problem.

Roxy's hands trembled violently as she tried to turn on her phone for the fourth time. There was a pit in her stomach that was threatening to turn itself into a loss of her lunch, and her heart was pounding away like a jackhammer. Maybe this wasn't as fine as she made it out to be. Maybe she was just in denial and had slipped away so nobody would see the panic that was starting to set in. 

That was probably it.

Even the glow stick necklace she'd pulled out of her bag wasn't helping at all. She still had a few of them left over from the first day of school, but the soft blue glow of the stick around her neck was only serving as a minimal light source, and not the beacon of positivity that she was used to glowsticks being.

Roxy looked in the mirror, splashing some cold water on her face and feeling blindly for the paper towel dispenser so she could wipe her eyes clear. She patted against the wall for a moment, following it along until she found- [i]BONK[/i]

[color=F91890]"OWCH!"[/color]

Roxy slammed her head into the dispenser and stumbled backwards a step, bringing her hand up to her head and just wiping her eyes with her free sleeve; something she was going to have to do anyway since the towels were motion activated, and the power was out.

[color=F91890]"Owie...that really hurt."[/color] she said softly, talking to herself and rubbing her head where she'd caught it with the plastic corner. It was a fortunate thing that she could see now at least, and she walked back over towards the mirror to examine her poor dented forehead in the dim blue light. Fortunately, it didn't seem like she'd seriously injured anything; she'd probably just have a small bump in an hour.

It was while she was looking at the mirror that Roxy heard the curious sound of scuttling behind her. The soft, slow sound of claws on tile as something crept through the doorway and into the bathroom. With the blue light illuminating the doorway as dimly as it did the rest of the room, Roxy looked deeply into the mirror to try and source the movement of a large figure she could see in it. With a slow, terrified glance, she turned to look at the source of the reflection.

A strange, beetle looking creature, as large as a mountain lion with a wicked looking barbed tail stood menacingly. Right now, the tail was pulled the whole way back, and it began launching forward with astounding speed. As Roxy gasped in fright at what was only describable as a monster, her knees buckled and she fell to the ground; fortunate only in that it caused the creature to miss. 

[i][b]CRASH![/b][/i]

The tail snapped forward to impact against the mirror as Roxy scrambled towards the stalls, the rain of shattered glass pouring down on her. Roxy could feel as some flakes fell down the back of her shirt, leaving small cuts in her skin the whole way down. Likewise, she could feel the stinging pain of the pieces that were driven into her hands as she pushed herself of the floor and ran for one of the stalls.

Roxy slammed the handicap stall shut and slid the lock into place, breathing heavily as she backed towards the toilet. She had no idea what was going on, her hands were bleeding, and there was some sort of monster trying to kill her. It was fair to say that she was panicking right now.

She took a deep breath, steadying herself as she listened for the creature. She could hear the crunching of mirror underneath its large crab-like legs, and the blue glow from her necklace was enough for her to see the front few limbs approaching the door to her stall. 

It seemed to wait there for a moment. As if it were also listening for her...

Roxy held her breath.

The creature was just standing there, on the other side of the door.

Her legs were trembling so furiously that she was afraid she'd lose her balance again.

...

...

Was it still waiting for her?

...

[i][b][h2]SMASH![/h2][/b][/i]

The handicap door buckled inwards as the piercing barb punched through it, causing Roxy to squeal in terror and immediately hit the ground again. She slipped under the stall dividers as the thing attempted to wrench its tail free from the door, and crawled on her hands and knees towards the bathroom exit. She let out a slight whimper as a sliver of glass dug its way through her jeans and into her knee, but she didn't allow it to slow her down. She leaped up as soon as she was under the last barrier and darted out.

Roxy ran as fast as she could down the hallway, but even as she made it past the second classroom door, she could hear the sound of the creature bursting out of the bathroom. She dared not look behind her as she ran, even though she doubted that she'd be able to see anything anyway, but she could feel it gaining on her. The way the hair on the back of her neck stood up as the clacking sound of claws approached let her know that it was getting closer.

Thinking quickly, Roxanne darted down the first hallway she saw: the flight of stairs between floors. Obviously, up was a bad idea; all the horror movies had taught her that much. So when the creature slid past, scrabbling at the floor to gain traction, Roxy sprinted down the stairs. As she rounded the bend, she stopped suddenly at a flash of movement, only narrowly ducking backwards out of the range of the tail as it speared through the gap in the stairs. However, the sudden backwards dodge caused Roxy's foot to slip out from underneath her, and she found herself tumbling down the rest of the stairs and into a heap at the bottom. Somewhere in the middle of her fall, there was the sickening '[i]crunch[/i]' of a bone being dislocated.

[color=F91890]"Ow...owie...ow ow ow...oh no..."[/color] Roxy muttered, steadying herself on her hands and letting out a yelp of pain as she placed weight on her left arm. She was battered, but her left shoulder had taken the edge of a stair particularly hard, and was currently throbbing painfully with every pounding beat of her heart. She pushed herself up and ran towards the nearest door, a slight limp in her stride as she did. It wasn't locked, and Roxy slipped in, closing the door softly behind her. Just as she heard the click of the door latching into place, she also heard the sound of a large creature hitting the ground; apparently just off the stairs after her.

Roxy didn't even move. She stood there, with the doorknob still in her hand, just waiting for the sudden explosion of wood. She had no plan; if the thing came through the door, all she'd be able to do would be to run again. But she only made it out of the bathroom by shear luck.

If it came through the door...that'd be the end of her.

With that thought weighing on her mind, Roxy's whole body shook violently. She had to slowly bring her hand up to her mouth to stifle the slight sob that escaped, and she could feel the warm tears running down her face. She was terrified, and in that moment...she really just wanted her mom to be there with her.[/hider]