[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5165889][img]https://i.imgur.com/SstS9jz.png[/img][/url]
[h3]Streets of eastern Central Yharnam, just south of the plateau elevator[/h3]
Without really needing Draco's urging, Stefan had already taken the first several steps toward the screams, though he did so haltingly, jaw clenched, as he frantically tried to determine what he was supposed to do in this situation. There were civilians in danger in there, yes, but there were also civilians out here that could easily be in danger as well. There were most likely more civilians out here than inside, and given that, judging by the sound, the ones inside were already in the process of being killed, the ones outside had both numbers and the greater likelihood of successful survival. Part of Stefan wanted to argue that he had to at least [I]try[/I] to save the people inside because it was the “right” thing to do, but a more pragmatic part of him – one that had seen the light of day much more frequently since he became a Hunter – knew that the situation was not so simple. The screams were coming from inside a normal house; a two-storey building fit for a handful of people at most, likely to be relatively cramped and cluttered with furniture on the inside. Conditions in there would be highly disadvantageous for Hunters, who relied primarily on evasion to stay alive against physically superior adversaries. His mobility would be greatly hindered, lowering his chance of winning a fight against whoever was in there. And if he died? Then the intruder would kill the people inside anyway, after which they could just meander outside and kill everyone else as well.
What was the alternative? If he stayed with the civilians he was escorting the ones inside would surely die, while his group... what? They could head back down the street where they had come from, but the street was unobstructed and well-illuminated, and the next intersection in that direction was a ways off. The intruder would finish their business inside, come outside and could then easily spot Stefan and the group to start pursuing them. Stefan would have much better chances outside... or rather, he would have if he had been alone. In that scenario he would have to fight while simultaneously protecting the civilians, once again putting him at a disadvantage both because he had to divide his attention between his opponent and his charges, and because he could not allow himself to move very far from them.
The other way would lead into the church giant and whatever skirmish was going on over there... but also to the elevator. If the civilians could get on the elevator and ride it to the top of the plateau, they would at least be temporarily safe. There was the giant and whatever he was fighting, yes, but for as long as that fight lasted, everyone over there would hopefully be distracted by each other. They still had to deal with the intruder, however... unless...

“Go over there!” he shouted back, still half-running sideways toward the screams as he looked back at Draco and the others. He pointed up the street at the giant and elevator. “Ride the elevator to the top if you can! If anything notices you, run back here!”

With that Stefan turned fully toward the house and set into a full sprint, a speed that would carry him to his destination in but a couple of seconds. He would go and take face the intruder, hopefully saving the screaming people inside, while the civilians tried removing themselves from danger. Most optimal solution, he thought; highest possible chance of saving as many lives as he could.
He came to a skidding halt in front of the door, the screams much louder now this close, holding his right hand and weapon to the aside as he reached for the door-handle with his left hand, bracing himself mentally for tearing the door open and throwing himself in harms way.
As he turned the handle, it occurred to Stefan that it was odd that none of the screaming people in there had been silenced during his approach. The first victim had sounded as though he had gotten killed immediately, whereas these other voices had been crying out for at around a dozen seconds by now... and their screams implied fear and grief rather than physical pain. Almost as if the intruder was content to simply let them scream, which was odd...
Stefan pulled the door open, saw a flash of movement – of something reaching out through the doorway – as something hit him in his abdomen [I]hard[/I], hard enough that he could feel various pops and cracks inside himself of organs and bones breaking from the impact. He looked down and saw an absurdly large hand clenched into a fist pressing into his body; the hand itself would probably be as large as Stefan's entire torso unclenched, each finger tipped with a huge claw, the back of the hand covered in long, blackish fur.
[I]There's a lit censer next to me,[/I] he thought incredulously, the disgusting smell of incense filling his nostrils even as he felt the air being knocked out of him. Then: [I]Beasts don't make fists.[/I]
All of this happened in but a split second, as the punch struck deep, and the attacker followed through with it. Stefan felt the fist keep pushing, the brute strength behind it leaving him in awe, as his feet were lifted off the cobblestone, air started whooshing past his ears, and the doorway – and the foe in it – suddenly started removing itself from him. Stefan was thrown back into the street, flying about ten meters (33 feet) through the air before landing on his back, rolling several times before finally coming to a stop.