[img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjExNi5hY2FjZWYuUTJ4aGJtTjVJRkJoZEhKcFkycy4x/burn-out-fade-away.regular.webp[/img]
Everyone ft. Layla Adora, Sully, Luca & Stormy[@Atrophy][@FernStone][@Estylwen][@Shin Ghost Note]
[code]House on the Hill[/code] [hr]

They watched him apprehensively. A feral creature. A monster in their midst.

He didn't blame them for the sour expression on their faces, lr even their readiness for a fight. [I]This[/i] was what he was, beneath the facade of humanity that he'd been left with so long ago.

[I]No breath, no heartbeat, no blood flow, no scent, you’re functionally a walking corpse.[/i]

The [i]woman[/i] had been right, on all accounts, and that had somehow got to him. Made him stupid. And now he'd been [i]hurt[/i] in a sense he hadn't understood for years, and dependent on these people to help him, if they could.

Assuming they were even [i]willing[/i] to help him, or actually knew what to do.

The crystalline shard lodged in his chest - every second it bedded there was like a hot iron, except instead of searing away the nerves and sending him into shock it only amped up. Each [i]pulse[/i] felt like an electrical surge seizing his body.

Getting across the block had been torturous enough. Doing it while [i]damaged[/i] had only made it worse, the crystal's [i]presence[/i] had made [i]every[/i] movement a new agony, where every second spent under direct sunlight felt like a stream of acid and saltwater were being poured on the webwork of [i]non-existent[/i] nerve endings that covered every inch of exposed [i]self.[/i]

And now he was dependent on [i]them[/i] to figure it out, and take a chance that [i]he[/i] wasn't sure he'd have taken in their shoes. 

The skinny latino approached, pushed the host-girl out of the way, then after a moment's... hesitation? Clancy couldn't be certain, save that he pressed on anyway.

[b]"N-n..."[/b][i]ot you.[/i] The words wouldn't come, but he [i]knew[/i] Luca was putting himself at risk by pulling it out, knew that if it was doing [i]this[/i] to him it would do worse to someome who, as far as he could tell, was barely held together.

He felt the blinding agony recede as Luca's fingers and palm enclosed around the short length of crystal that jutted out from his body, the [i]rotting[/i] overlapping and enveloping the shard's corrosive influence. Felt his [i]self[/i] pushing back against whatever force it harboured, that had brought him to a low...

Unti it was gone - replaced by the [i]poison[/i] that infected Luca and now leechijg into him as the boy nearly collapsed atop his tattered body - but nonetheless the pain had stopped. 

The others intervened. Stormy produced something that [i]didn't[/i] burn at him, while Sully moved Luca off to somewhere safe, then moved to try and help [i]him[/i], chalice in hand, despite the dying boy needing the help more-

[b]"Help hrmh-"[/b]

Sully didn't hear him protest or flinch at him being [i]cold[/i] to the touch, but he felt the [i]elixir[/i] run down the half of his mouth that was still intact, while the rest dribbled down his cheek and into the shadowy, yawning chasm that encompassed his [i]real[/i] face.

What was it supposed to taste of?

[I]He wasn't sure.[/i]

It had been so long. Food and drink offered no joy for him, nor sustenance. Eating a chocolate bar tasted no different to eating a wet block of clay. A soda pop the same as oil, or muddy water.

[I]Pointless.[/i]

And yet the elixir still tasted like [i]something[/i] different, lingering at the edge of his memory, as though it [i]should[/i] have worked, even if it hadn't.

That it didn't just taste of the sludgy, grainy [i]nothingness[/i] he was used to bothered him, because it was a reminder of all that he [i]was[/i] and would [i]never[/i] be again. That, like the woman had said, he was functionally a corpse, a [i]monster[/i] that had taken the face and memories of Clancy Patrick.

Moments later, he spewed up [i]more[/i] of the shadow-bile, except this time when the black sludge dissipated it left behind a faint port-wine spatter courtesy of Sully's elixir, with hard specks of [i]lead pellets[/i] scattered in the same mess.

After they'd cleared back to give him some space, he groggily pulled himself towards the same wall Luca was propped up against, his one remaining eye fixated on the person who'd taken the risk to help him.

[b]"Thank you."[/b] It was an earnest acknowledgement of the sheer [i]ordeal[/i] he'd gone through to help him, fully cogniscient of the risk. Clancy had realised at the cabin and  ice cream parlour, just how [i]bad[/i] his situation was, and that Ashley had tried to help him before.

Hopefully the others could [i]fix[/i] him.

Slowly, his features were... [i]prepared[/i] to reform. It wasn't an instant process by any means, and the crystal had wrought its work long enough that the damage [i]almost[/i] felt lasting, even if the pain was gone. Instead, they'd be forced to 

Stormy had asked him a question. [I]Who did this to him?[/i]

[b]"I don't know,"[/b] Clancy answered, [b]"It was some col-.. black woman, trenchcoat, body armour... armed heavy,"[/b] he pointed two fingers at himself and made a swirling motion. [B]"Tall, but... [I]stronger[/i] than she should be. First time I've run into  [i]anything[/i] that could hurt me like that... and I've [i]tried.[/i] Some of you know that already."[/b] Briefly, he shot the wary Adora an equally wary look, before moving on.

[b]"She wanted to know why I went after the [i]'old man'.[/i] I think she was talking about someone I tailed... black, has a suit and cane, white hair, weird accent. [i]Shayton.[/i] Worked with the bikers, then killed that asshole Judas, back at the club. For his [i]bosses.[/i] Same creeps those bikers were working with, maybe, I don't... I thought maybe [i]one[/i]of [i]them[/i] killed Ashley, and your friends too. Shayton said both he and his bosses  had [i]nothing[/i] to do with the murders, said [i]he'd[/i] kill Father Wolf himself. [I]'Bad for business'[/i]. But he got away before I got real answers, back at that [i]stupid[/i] Halloween thing where you were partying."[/b]

Clancy shifted his weight back, then turned his head to one side so as to spare the others seeing the [i]damaged[/i] half of his face, and the black maw that had been exposed in its place. To [i]hide[/i] it, because the experience had left him feeling more self-conscious than he should've been.

[b]"She wanted [i]me[/i], didn't mention anyone else. I told her to get bent. Go figure."[/b]

And for now, the gnawing [i]voice[/i] of hunger at the back of his mind had been [i]quietened.[/i] The elixir had... [i]dulled[/i] it for now.

That much was a relief, given present company. They were, for now, [i]safe[/i] from [i]that.[/i]