The Greenthorpe Saga

[Alister]

Yay Duckies! Awesome chapter.

According to <a href="http://www.alister.eu/jazz/story.html">this URL of sexyness</a>, the order here on out is as follows:

Doubble Dutch, Toxic Bunny, Strato, KRSplat, Cobra, Spaztic, Coppertop, Unknown, SlaYo, Kaz, Risp, acid, Ducky, (Alex)

Minus the people who have permanently stopped writing, of course.

And I warn you all in advance that I won't be writing until after the 12th of May. Still, given the recent record of things around here, that's not too serious...

[NovaStar]

Meh, I might volunteer writing.

[Coppertop]

Hm, I just reposted the list that Slay has on page 11. Our, uh, revised version, I guess ...

[Doubble Dutch]

(-)! I don't know why, but my proxy server doesn't like long replies, stupid server.

Well, I'd better post something before Copper gets mad and gets her cronies, cobalt and nickel to rearrange my face.


Chapter err, 32 I think


"Okay then, what about fire? I've seen that used lots in movies, maybe-"

Tier smiled grimly. "Hold out your hand then." Michelle did as she was told. Calmly Tier picked up the small lighter by the table, lit it, and held it beneath an outstretched digit, after a few seconds it blackened, a short while later the sulfurous smell of singed fur permeated the air. Michelle removed her hand and stared at it, where the flame had flickered was barely charred, as they watched the fur regrew. "You're moist, as in, mostly water, you're gonna need one hell of a fire to do anything, and believe me I know, besides, this condition comes with instincts, if she knows it'll kill her, they'll take over."

He stared at the group, it was quite a cozy setting; everyone clustered around the fireplace, deep in discussion about Michelle’s condition. They’d considered everything, from crushing to freezing, fire to magic, and every time they’d come to him, asked, and been disappointed. If there was a way to end his condition, he hadn’t found it in a thousand years, but they never gave in, it was a characteristic of the living.

Tier walked off, leaving the group in further discussion. Michelle had taken a shine to the vampire, and they spent a lot of time talking, which was only to be expected, they were in the same situation, more or less. She hadn't had to go through the hell of regular feeding, the estrangement, lack of sleep, but she knew what was coming, she had immortality and all its horrors to face. They'd tried to talk to him of course, since he had a lot more experience, but the conversations always died, ebbing away into those uncomfortable silences, he knew he could never tell them what it was like, they were too alive to understand.

He smirked, a vampire? Too alive? I bet that hadn't been said too often. He sighed, it sounded like someone squashing a wet sock, and went back to work. Work, he was good at that, just as long as he had something to do, no matter what, or how long it'd take he'd get it done, even if it took a hundred years, literally.

"Hey, thought you might want these, take a bit of filling out of course."

Tier turned to face the rabbit behind him. His mind flickered a bit, ah yes, Thomas, the one who read books. He stared at the rabbit’s outstretched hand.

"Citizenship papers? What for?"

"Well, I just thought-"

"That I might want to vote? When everything will be the same in a hundred years? And I'll be around to see it? Hell, why not? Who's the guy you want to win?

Tier spent the next half hour filling out the forms, it was just something else to do, people got all excited about the most insignificant things, he'd seen good government, and bad, and all that really mattered was that everything came to an end, eventually. After that he went back to rebuilding the wall, then clearing out the basement. As he worked his mind plodded on thinking of the upcoming civil war. It seemed everyone was always fighting one another, no sooner had the last battle finished before people were rushing off to another. He remembered...

A red sky, not sunset, but at night, fire from the ground spiraling into the air. The world was thick with noise, and blood and life. The dog was ahead of him, then behind, slumping to the ground, a rabbit on his left, a quick swipe and nothing more. They were too busy fighting each other to notice the red streak of death that cut through their ranks. Another there, and there, slash! Stab! Feed whenever possible, the battlefield filled with those like himself, but alive, at least for now. Shots rang out, he felt pressure, but moved on, no need to stop, no need to think, this was home.

[Doubble Dutch]

Michelle stared up at the ceiling and counted the cracks in it for the hundredth time. Geez, even the vampire could sleep, this was going to take some getting used to. She felt something, in that strange way she'd got used to in the last few days, sitting up slowly she saw a rat, black and sleek nibbling her big toe. They never ate anything living she noticed, at least if it was bigger than them. She let it get about halfway through before almost unconsciously swiping out at it and biting it in two. Hell, why not? Apparently this was her future diet. She'd tried normal food; it made her sick just to put it in her mouth, even raw steak tasted foul. It had to be living. She'd already got the nickname 'rattrap', something she was oddly proud of.

She sat back and let her mind wander, exploring her new ability to detect life. She could see in her mind the little lights, each one a rabbit or rat, scuttling about their own business. She could even see Louie, a different.. shade? Taste maybe? But asleep all the same, lucky sod. She felt around, assigning names to the specks, feeling rather oddly like an invisible spy. There was a rat nest, young ones in it too, have to see about that tomorrow, over there was Thomas, with his wife, more late night reading, and there were the refugees, the first early arrivals, and the place hadn't even been cleaned up yet! She sighed, so much to do, so much activity, she'd never been good with people, because she'd never had the chance to meet any. This was all so new, so exciting, for now her condition could wait, it wasn't like many people notived, or cared, several had been forced to eat rats themselves, most were just glad of a warm place to stay. She named every single one she could remember, recalling her brief talks with them during the past day.

She focused on that one speck, currently in the basement, the only one her instincts said 'like me' the only life signature she wouldn't attack no matter how hungry she got, the others... There was something out in the forest; it pricked her mind, another taste of life, no several, a group. She focused muzzily on it; watched figures half a mile away meet, interact and then disperse. She wondered idly what they had been; she'd spent a lot of time in the woods, all her life. She'd been expected to be able to work since she'd been five, and had spent many hours before that repairing family equipment in the hut, even more so after mother had died. They tracked down the bandit together, her and father, the werewolves had found what they left, and that’s what he had deserved. Werewolves, was that them? She held on to this thought; there were said to be some around, she'd have to start stalking the woods, her new condition offered, possibilities, there were rewards, father could use the money.

She lay back and thought of sunny forest days until the soft dawn light told her it was time to get up. People would be wanting breakfast, and she was a good cook.

[Monolith]

yay

[acid]

Nice chapter. I feel like I'm missing something, but that's probably because I haven't read the rest of the story in too long.

I might as well do everyone a favor and drop out of the running. It's obvious I won't be able to keep up with the new schedule. However, I will stick around and keep reading the rest of the story.

[Doubble Dutch]

Dear lord! At the rate this story is shedding contributors it'll have a single author in no time! [What do we do with all the authorless characters?]

[Coppertop]

Merge them in anyway. They've been established, we may as well use them. I'd suggest getting the author's permission before doing anything drastic such as killing them however. What do you guys think?

BTW, excellent chapter, DD.

[The SlaYeR]

We don't need author's permission for use of they're characters.
It might seem rude to use them but it's all in the best interest of the story.
If it's necessary too kill them, then so be it.
Just don't make them die at random and it will be ok.
They abandoned the story so I imagine they could care less about they're character.

And I've very much enjoyed reading the past two posts.
Thank you for keeping this story alive.

[The SlaYeR]

HI. I'll get started on one of those flashback thingies for Gary Parker tonight.
Just to keep things going.

NEXT IN LINE, START WRITING PLEASE.

[Coppertop]

Toxic Bunny, I believe?

[Alister]

I know, I know. I haven't forgotten.

I've been working on summaries of each round: <a href="http://www.alister.eu/jazz/story.html">Yes, this page again</a>.
This should make it a little easier for people who are having trouble keeping track of a plot that's been spread out over almost two years now.

So, I'm sorry, I've only just started my chapter. But at least it stands a better chance of maintaining continuity and coherency.

[Alister]

<b>Chapter 34: Transition</b>

They had begun to arrive. Refugee centres had sprung up all over Carrotus. Provincial governments, city executives and village councils from east to west, from pole to pole, had arranged accomodation on a scale that dwarfed King Jazz's proposals. The new Greenthorpe Mansion Refuge was among the least accessible, but still they came. The Carrotus Interior Ministry had set up a database to try to fairly distribute the newcomers among the various centres, but it was proving to be next to impossible to administer. Diamondus was emptying, and Carrotus was a popular destination.

Gary Parker smiled as he watched the latest news bulletin on the situation. There would be so many people who, for whatever reason, would fall through the cracks of the system. So many people who would not be missed.

"So, let me get this straight," said Tony. "The vampires hate the werewolves because the first werewolf killed the first vampire, Kaijin."
Tony, Alexander, Tom and Susan were taking a rest in the library. They had been hard at work all day, helping the refugees settle in.
"'Killed' may not be the most appropriate term, but yes," replied Alexander.
"It certainly seems like the vampires have the moral high ground," said Tom.
"Creatures of the night, dear," interjected Susan. "I don't think the moral high ground really matters to them."
"Besides, that's just their side of the story," said Alexander. "Werewolves think Ronahin, the first werewolf, was framed. There's even a theory that Kaijin faked his own death."
"So he may still be alive?" asked Tony.
"I doubt it. If he is, he's been very well hidden for thousands of years. Anyway, it's not that important right now. Our intelligence suggests most vampires and werewolves on Carrotus have formed an alliance. There's a strong feeling that they're not going to have to compete so much for prey."
"With that pleasant thought in mind, I'm afraid I have to go," said Susan. They said their goodbyes, She kissed Tom, and then she was gone. Tony turned to Tom.
"What about you, shouldn't you be out campaigning?"
"Parker's ahead in the polls, he has the sympathy vote from the death of his aunt to look forward to, and the election's tomorrow. There's not much I can do."
"But if he gets elected..."
"I know."

As Susan walked down Old Main Street, she noticed a few dark glances from passers-by. Not everyone approved of the company she was keeping these days. Word had got out, as it would in a small community, that she was consorting with vampires. Most people accepted that Louie was good, but there were many who didn't believe a vampire could ever be anything more than a monster. She reached home and went up to Yakira's room. Louie was there, removing her bandages, applying the lotion, then redressing the wounds. Susan had been uneasy at first about leaving Louie with Yakira as her bleeding could have been too great a temptation. Louie, however, would not leave her side. At least Majo was there.
"How is she?" asked Susan.
"She hasn't moved or said anything since you left. I think her pulse may be steadying, though," replied Majo. "How are the people at the refuge?"
"The injured ones were treated in Oakloma, and only a few of those need post-operative care. But there are a few who are showing symptoms of delayed symptoms of Diamondus Green Vine poisoning. They were stowaways in a ship carrying the stuff, but they wouldn't admit it to the authorities in Oakloma."
"But they told you?"
"They were coughing up bile, they didn't have much choice."
"You were able to cure them, though, right?"
"Yes. But we'll be run out of medical supplies quite soon if we keep getting this many sick people."

<p align="center">* * *</p>
"And now we go live to Greenthorpe, where Gary Parker is waiting for the reults from his hometown."
The screen changed from the presenter's face to the Greenthorpe council chamber. The councillor's benches were covered in neat stacks of ballots, and small groups of anxious locals were milling around.
"And, indeed, waiting for the results from across the province. But right now the Greenthorpe Returning Officer is stepping up to..."
His voice faded out and Councillor Dalton read out the results. A cheer went up from half of the room, and the screen changed to show Gary Parker's reaction.
"An interesting result from Greenthorpe. Gary Parker has lost to Felicity Jadsworth, getting only 35.3 percent of the vote," commented one of the co-presenters. "If he wins, this will certainly overshadow his governorship."
Gary Parker looked devastated. The screen returned to the presenter.
"We'll get an interview with him as soon as we can. Meanwhile, over to Quillanham, which Mr. Parker is widely expected to carry. If you've just joined us, Gary Parker is in the lead, but has lost in his hometown. Felicity Jadsworth is currently in second place, but Halen Neilson could still pull ahead to join Parker in the second round."

Gary solemnly got into his car, and asked his driver to take him to his campaign headquarters.
"How did the count go, sir?" asked the driver.
"Badly." He glanced up at the rear-view mirror and confirmed that the driver had no reflection. "Not that it matters. It's one small town in a huge province. It's an embarassment, but if I feign a bit of humility over it for a few days, it'll be fine."

Tom had just got home from the count. There was nobody around on the ground floor, so he went up to Yakira's room. He opened the door to see Susan and their houseguests clustered around Yakira's bed.
"Hello. How's..."
Susan interrupted. "Ssssh!"
Only then did he hear her patient trying to speak.
"Bit... better."
"Is there any part of your body you can't feel?" asked Susan.
"No... Hurts ev... rywhere."
"What can we call you?"
"Yyyak... ira."
"Yakira," said Louie. "What happened to you?"
Susan reprimanded him. "Medical questions only!"
Yakira coughed. "'Sss okay."
Louie leaned closer. Yakira let out a guttural sound as she tried to continue.

The Screen returned to the face of the presenter. "And it's official, there will be no second round. Gary Parker has an absolute majority, and is Peddleburg's next governor."

"Es...Estella."
Louie froze.

[Doubble Dutch]

Progress! Excellentation!

[Strato]

I am expressing interest to cram myself back into the story.

[Doubble Dutch]

Well then, I'm sure if you write something the great Coppertop will forgive you, and your characters can be released from the abandonment home.

[Strato]

He's still in usage, actually. I find that odd.

[Coppertop]

Oh, it's not my forgiveness he needs, it's Slay's. Maybe if he asks real nice and presents a three-post chapter ... hehe.

[Strato]

Slay already gave me the go-ahead. As such, I've started anyway, and I'm at a page and a half of writing, so it'll probably be an average size.

Edit: Well, I've hit page 5. I'm trying to get it out there as quickly as possible so that you guys don't regret my re-introduction =P.

[Coppertop]

Awesome. I look forward to it.

[Strato]

Chapter 35 Perilous Proceedings

"We go now, live, to the campaigning base for the Parker administration. Gary what do you thin..."

Tony flipped off the screen as the room filled with a melancholia. It had seemed for a while that the election was going to be a clear defeat for Parker, but the results were simple and plain to see. The group seemed to be distracted momentarily from Yakira to let the news sink in. Tom paced around shaking his head, with Susan patting his back in a vain attempt of comfort. Tony still seemed fairly lost in this new setting, and stayed at Yakira's side for lack of a better idea. Alexander's green-blue pupils dilated as he imagined the implications of an undead overlord in power. Nervously, he pushed up his silver-rimmed glasses. Tier and Michelle were withdrawn to each other, quietly whispering. Louie braced himself on the foot of Yakira's bed, staring straight down. Majo held her hand to her face with one finger pressed lightly against her lips. Yakira was drawing pained and short breaths, while coughing occasionally.

A loud snapping noise erupted in the room, to which everyone was taken completely by surprise. Majo, looking excited, had snapped her fingers.
"I got it. Why don't we just kill Gary Parker?" she proposed. "He's just one rabbit. With a lot of influence. We easily have the power to take him down."
Louie scoffed and shook his head. The unexpected reminder of Estella's existence, and the fact that she was so close now, made him sick. He felt his blood hammering away in his neck. He cocked his head to look back at Majo now. "We, meaning myself, do not have to power to face off the legions of very angry followers, living and dead, that will be triggered against us if we even so much as think of doing that. Let's leave political assassinations to the paid professionals." Louie finished bitingly.
Majo was taken aback. She drew her right paw up to her chest in a gesture of surprise. Inwardly, she had been expecting full support for her plan. The idea seemed decent enough. "You're forgetting about Alexander. Schism will cover up the murder, right?" She had turned to Alexander and looked up at him hopefully. Alexander paused briefly before giving his own reply.
"What makes you think I want to help you? Or anybody here for that matter. My job here is done and I didn't have to lift a finger. A vampire with a massive bounty on his scalp is in the same room as me. And if that wasn't valid enough, your predicament in no way affects me." Alexander smirked and shot a glance at Louie. "Personally, I think your troubles would be easier solved if I killed this guy and got out of here." Louie was in disbelief at this. He couldn't imagine what would trigger Alexander to say that. He opened his mouth, remembering to bare a couple of teeth, and was about to browbeat Alexander in return.
"You have a lot of gall." Susan uttered. She had turned away from Tom on the other side of the room, and began to walk up towards Alexander, finger raised. Louie snapped his mouth shut and looked at Susan. "The nerve of you, to come into our house and threaten our friend like that. We gave you our hospitality, and he even spared you your life." She was yelling at this point, barely inches from Alexander.
"Why I oughtta-" She stopped for a second, quivering with fury, and then whipped her paw across Alexander's face with a satisfying slap. Alexander's head was turned slightly to the right with a very surprised expression. Nobody had expected Susan to be capable of that level of anger. The whole room feel into an unsettling silence again, spare for Yakira's uneasy breathing.
"I think...she needs help." Tony timidly submitted. The tension of the environment ebbed as people began to remember Yakira's pain. Susan's face turned utterly pale as her head drew towards the ground. Tom sprung up to guide her into a chair.
"We're doing the best we can." Louie grunted. He relaxed his arms and let them fall to his side. Michelle got up and quietly hurried herself to the kitchen. Louie took to the back porch. He pushed open the sliding glass door, and leaned against the railing with both arms. He let his anger flow out from his body as he tried to cool down from the heat of the moment, but it was ineffective. His anger towards Alexander quickly manifested itself into his anger at Estella. Ever since Yakira arrived, he had felt something about her. Pity, perhaps, but it was unimportant until now. All of her problems, they stemmed from Estella Bane. Curse that name, Louie thought, as he slapped his palm down on the railing. Susan was working on re-applying Yakira's bandages up in Yakira's bedroom, like she did thrice a day, and Louie felt the urge to help her. But something was holding him back. Louie was anchored by some indescribable emotion that prevented him from walking over to aid her. It was a combination of his feelings against Estella, and the disturbance he felt about Yakira. Susan came down into the living room, and looked outside at Louie. He was pre-occupied in his own thoughts and wouldn't have seen her anyway. After a moment, she took a seat by Tom's side

Up in Yakira's room by her bed, Tony was standing there, his mind reeling. He felt around behind him for a place to sit, and grasped the seat of a chair. He drew it up next to Yakira's bed and fell into it. He had just diverted a crisis. The last thing the group needed was in-fighting. Tony let the thought of Mayo's plan sink in a little bit. To kill a prestigious leader of both the living and the dead? It seemed an almost unthinkable plot. But still, he couldn't help toy with the idea of it. That hero's mentality; he could almost taste the satisfaction now. He couldn't help but smile a bit while fathoming the plot, the rewards, the banquets in his name. His facial expression must have seemed vastly out of line for the current mood, as Majo gave him a queer look. Noticing this, Tony quickly wiped the smile from his face and began to focus on the situation at hand. He let his vision drop onto the broken rabbit next to him, and he felt her pain inside himself. Tony began to feel a bit disturbed, and was compelled to do something. He reached out with his paw and placed it on her shoulder.
"Are you still awake?" he asked quietly.
Yakira's eyes slid open. She looked back at Tony's nervous face.
"Y...yess. Is there some...something you needed to..to ask me?" she queried. Tony thought for a second, and then said no.
"I just wanted to tell you that you're safe now, from wherever you came from and whatever hurt you so badly." Tony declared "Louie and I are gonna make sure of that." Yakira smiled at this thought, giving Tony a sense of reassurance, before her eyes shut once more. Tony felt slightly at ease again.

Susan Bradhurst, though looking quite flustered, was sitting upright on a couch under a window with Tom trying to comfort her by her side. He repeatedly stroked her arm and asked how she was doing.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. I just got myself carried away a bit for a moment." she answered. Susan looked around for a second, and then leaned in to Tom's ear. In a whisper, she continued.
"But the nerve of that man. I swear."
Tom felt hesitant before saying what was on his mind. He let in a good breath and then spoke.
"We need him though. If we want to kill Parker."
Susan pushed Tom away and looked struck in shock. "You're not serious, are you?"
"In all honesty, it needs to be done. And why not by people we've only you know, just met? It's imperative that we get him out of power as soon as possible. Who knows what he might do with that position. We can't run that risk." Tom asserted.
"I am agog." Susan stammered. "In all my days I would never consider you one to even think about doing something like that. I never should have let you surround yourself with this horror show."
Tom looked away from Susan's eyes. He couldn't belive himself either. Susan bowed her head and placed her paw on Tom's.

[Strato]

Alexander was checking his person to make sure that he still had everything he came with. He reached into his coat's inner pocket, and felt around, counting to himself. One...two...three syringes of Silver nitrate. Injected into an artery, the chemical would easily kill a rabbit, and spell a very excruciating death for a vampire. He felt his face and ran his fingers across his slightly uncomfortable stubble. He pushed up his glasses, and then ascertained that the rest of his belongings must be up in the room they placed him in. He walked up the stairs and walked up to his bedside. Much to Alexander's relief, his crossbow was still intact. He picked it up, and felt the incredibly heavy Rocktree wood in his arms. He hefted it, grasped the strap, and slung it around his shoulder, letting it rest on his back. Alexander then bent over to pick up another piece of his equipment, a simple combat knife. However, he was still missing his most prized possession. He felt around under the bed for it nervously. Finally, he felt his fingers grasp it's wooden handle. He pulled it out, and held it in front of him to bask in it's glory. Alexander placed his pipe firmly in between his lips and began to dig around in his pocket for a small parcel of tobacco.
"I didn't take you for a smoker."
Majo's voice came as an unexpected surprise to Alexander. She was standing in the doorframe with one arm rested against it, leaning in. Alexander paused to give her a dirty look.
"Nothing helps you get through the hard times like and addiction." he uttered, and then drew out a small bag of tobacco. He ripped it open and filled up his pipe.
"Does that make you feel badass or something stupid like that?" she asked. Alexander gave no reply, instead he lit up and inhaled deeply.
"It's a shame that second hand smoke stuff is so terrible, because what I'm breathing in is great stuff." Alexander mocked. Majo rolled her eyes and set her paws on her hips. She walked in farther to Alexander's room, and stood across the bed from him.
"I was hoping-" she started. "That I would reconsider your proposition?" Alexander finished. "No deal. Besides, I highly doubt I'm welcome with your pack any more." he released a small plume of smoke with each syllable, and then took in another long breath with one hand lightly supporting the end of his pipe. Outside on the staircase, Louie was creeping up to eavesdrop. He began to listen at the edge of the hallway.
"Pack eh? You make us sound like dogs. And after all that time we spent working together to give a home to those Diamondus war refugees, and you still want to break away from us and go back home? What happened to companionship?" Majo accused. Alexander exhaled another cloud of smoke, and then removed his pipe to talk again.
"My job here is finished. Nothing more, nothing less." Alexander stated in a definite manner. Majo threw up her arms while turning and walking away.
"You're impossible. Honestly. Think about it this way. When you go back and talk to Schism, they'll probably just make it your next mission to kill Parker anyway." Majo said, tying to coax Alexander to her side. However, Alexander still remained defiant. He placed his pipe back into his mouth and smoked again.
"My business is with killing the undead, not with killing a political figure head." Alexander declared. Majo's head was searching for an argument to this point, but before she could find one, Alexander had started heading towards the doorway. Louie tensed, and began crouching while laying flat against the wall. He waited.
"I'm almost flattered that you want my help. But sadly, I just can't see why I should have anything to do with you." Alexander finalized, and then continued to head towards the door. Louie sunk back farther into the shadows in preparation. Alexander walked out of the door, merely inches from Louie's jaws. He turned and walked down the stairs. Louie shot up almost instantaneously, and entered the room with Majo.
"We're not going to kill Parker. What ever the hell made you think that was a good idea, you had better cut it out. Plus we've got a much bigger problem on our hands now. Yakira, that girl. Estella tore her to shreds just to send me an ultimatum."
"Oh, so that explains your inability to stay in the room with her. You're scared, aren't you Louie?" Majo derived.
"Of Estella, no." Louie replied nonchalantly and totally dodging what Majo was trying to get him to say. "I'm not scared. I'm angry. I want to know why she's trying to destroy me. And that girl probably didn't deserve to be Estella's vessel of misplaced anger. All I feel is hatred towards her now." Louie was now talking in a low hiss. Majo felt defeated inwardly. For the second time, she had tried to drive at something with Louie, only to be rebuffed. She was attempting to unearth empathy in him, but realized that Louie was more undead than ever before, and growing colder, at least towards her. She almost began to feel jealous that Louie's attention was spread across the board now that they had settled in with Tom and Susan and everyone else, and that she was no longer under his vigilant eye.
"Cold, calculating vampire." she replied with a bitter tact. Majo immediately felt childish for chiding Louie like that. She tried to cover-up what she said by mentioning Parker again quickly, but didn't listen to his reply. Inside, her brain was racked with one massive dilemma. Why did she lash out at Louie like that? What had made her get so upset about him? Did she love Louie?

[Strato]

Tier walked out from the room where everyone was gathered and down into the kitchen to find Michelle. He stepped onto the tiled floor and leaved up against a counter. Michelle was racing from station to station preparing a platter of what looked like rat omelettes. Tier smiled a wicked looking, but sincere, half smile.
"You're not cooking for yourself. Did you forget that or something, Michelle?" he taunted. Michelle looked down at the food she had prepared between her mitts.
"I...I guess you're right." Michelle set down the tray on the counter next to Tier's arm. He took the liberty of grabbing one and taking a monstrous bite out of it.
"I'm nervous about these people. I'm just trying to earn my keep with them right now." Michelle admitted. Tier finished swallowing before opting to speak, minding his manners of course.
"They're not too bad. They're hospitable enough. But when you're acting like a vagrant, it's best not to be too picky." Tier commented. His paw was moving around wildly as he spoke, making small gestures and sending egg and rat meat everywhere.
"Great, now you've made a mess too." Michelle sighed. As she bent over to pick up some of the scraps, she continued talking. "I guess the vampire one is alright. Louie was his name." Tier laughed at this statement.
"Don't get too attached. Especially to a fickle minded vampire who's more powerful than you. As our kind says, let the vampire deal with the vampire troubles. All this masquerade crap does is slow one down."
Michelle laid her paws against the edge of the counter and gripped down with her fingers.
"That Parker is spelling out trouble for us, isn't he?" She asked. Tier shoved the remaining slab of food into his mouth, and licked his digits.
"What's gotten into you and suddenly caring about the affairs of vampires? You need to become a bit more detached from the world of humans. You're dead, remember?" Tier said while giving Michelle a light tap on the arm over the counter. Although a reassuring gesture, Michelle was slightly unsettled by the fact that she could feel her bones slightly cave with the pressure of Tier's paw. Her body was still decaying, and she was far from used to this new sensation.

Tony was sitting alone at Yakira's bedside. He felt a bit sick. Of all of the people he was with, why did it seem like he was the only person who cared about her well being still, he wondered. Tony banished the thought though, realizing that so much has happened recently, and that they're already doing the best they can do. He almost began to feel guilty. Everyone was going through some personal drama at this point, and he didn't have anything to occupy himself. Except for this girl's troubles. He reached over with his left paw to pull up the sheets closer around her neck. He grabbed the hem of the spread, and felt a slight irritation on his skin. He let the sheet fall out of his grasp, and looked at his paw quizzically. A light powdery film had collected on his fingers, and it was making his skin itch. Tony left Yakira's room and made his way down to the kitchen to wash it off his hand. Michelle and Tier were still talking when he entered.
"Hey, where is the sink? I've got to wash this stuff off." Tony asked, preoccupied by holding his wrist. The irritation was turning into a terrible pain.
"It's over there." Michelle said with a head jerk. She resumed talking to Tier. "I wonder..what's going to happen to use next? Are we going to sta-"
She was interrupted by an unholy cry of pain. Tony had withdrawn his hand from the running water and was holding it above his head. Blood flowed freely from gouges that had etched themselves deep into his skin.
"What the hell? What happened?" Tier bellowed. He locked eyes with Michelle for a minute, whom mirrored his expression of confusion and fear. They both rushed over to Tony and tried to restrain him, whom all the while was screaming.

At this point, Susan had made her way into the kitchen. She began to announce that everyone was to go up to the living room, but quickly began to shout and run over to the scene that was unfolding in the kitchen.
"His arm...it looks like Yakira's." She commented in disbelief. "The ointment we use is up in her room. Michelle, run up and get it, and be swift." she commanded.

"I don't care if you think it'll work. It's way too dangerous, and no way in hell am I going to work with that nutcase who's trying to kill me." Louie shouted. Majo had her arms crossed, and had a look of fire in her eyes.
"And what is so much more dangerous than Parker coming into power anyway? It could be the start of...uhh...a civil war. Or at least an open war against the undead. And why risk it?" Majo yelled back. Michelle suddenly burst into the room at this point. She looked around confused, and then embarrassed. She drew her paws up to cover her mouth as she gasped.
"I'm so sorry." she stammered. She pivoted and was about to step back into the hallway, before Louie called out to her.
"It's fine. What's going on? You seem to be very upset by something." he questioned. Michelle stopped moving and dictated over her shoulder that they would have to go to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Alexander was in the living room of the Bradhurst house, stopping his exit long enough to thank Tom for his generosity.
"It was no trouble. Besides, this town has certainly entered an empathetic spirit, what with all of the giving to the refugees, no?" Out of the blue, their conversation was decimated by the sound of Tony's cry of pain. Tom drew his paws up to his ears, and all color left Alexander's face. In pure silence, they both dashed as quickly as they could to the source of the sound, joining the entire party minus Yakira, for obvious reasons, and Michelle, who was entering right behind them. She forced her way up to Tony, who had been held down into a chair and his paw was thrashing around. He was pressing down with his right paw on his wrist to try and keep it from moving. Susan was kneeling by his side, clutching the armrest. Michelle forced her way past the onlookers, and began applying the lotion onto his lacerated hand. Tony winched in pain, but the affects of it's application began to take in, and his arm started to relax, but still occasionally twitch. Susan took the bandages that Michelle was holding out of the crux of her arm, and prepared them.
"Thanks." Tony said with a gasp after Michelle had finished rubbing in the ointment. She turned a color that put red to shame when she realized that she was still holding on to his paw, and stepped back.
"No problem." she said quickly, and retreated back to Tier's side.
Louie was standing side by side with Alexander towards the back of the crowd around Tony, and leaned over.
"What the hell do you think caused that?". Alexander's mind ran through every possible substance he could think of, and came up blank. He gave a frightened no, and then began to sort out mentally what was going on.
"(-), do you think Yakira is cursed? Her wounds aren't healing, and now it's spread onto Tony." Louie suggested.
"Don't kid yourself. You would've been able to sniff out a curse on her a mile away." Alexander submitted bluntly. This statement however, shocked both of them back into remembering exactly what the other person was. Louie pushed the feeling aside, and tried to make light of the situation.
"And I'm sure with your experience, you could have told us that from the start."

And as such, the seeds of an awkward friendship, or at the very least mutual respect, were sown in an unsettling moment.

[Strato]

A silence grew between them, and Alexander took the time to walk up and ask Susan what had happened.
"I...don't know. He was washing his hands and suddenly, his left one began to be sliced apart by it."
Alexander looked down around his feet, and lifted his leg up a little to see beneath it and realized that Tony's blood was indeed pooling on the tiles below. He stepped back into a dry spot on the floor, and looked up again. Tony was in the chair, now looking comfortable but shaky. He repeatedly rubbed his left arm, either out of nervousness or for relief.. Susan had gotten up and was holding Tom in a long embrace. Michelle was glancing up into Tier, who was staring straight ahead towards nothing in particular. Majo was leaning against a counter lost in a trance of though. Louie stood alone at the end of the room near the doorway. In the center of the kitchen stood Alexander, taking one last puff on his pipe, and pondering their next move. Everyone was quiet. But Michelle became restless. Her ability to see life forms was acting up in an alarming manner. Finally, she had to say something.
"I think all need to talk. Let's find a nice place to sit." she expressed, and to which the whole silently agreed.

After the group had taken their seats and settled into the living room, Susan was the person directing the meeting.
"Let's all relax and try to think what is going on. Maybe make a list of some sort." She said from the couch at the end of the room. All of the furniture had been arranged in a circle to accommodate the impromptu council. Tom sat beside her, resting against the arm of the couch. Across the room from them was Louie on a window seat next to Majo. In a recliner to their left, Tier was sunk in a half-listening state. Alexander was one more over from Tier in a fold-out chair. Tony was seated to the right of Louie, his paw bandaged up and with a glove covering it all. Lastly, between him and Tom was Michelle, fidgeting around and unable to sit down, instead swaying incessantly. Susan continued to address the group.
"Yakira is in a very serious condition, but she is stable, and will remain that way probably. We're doing the best we can for her. So long as we continue to provide a healthy environment for her, she will recover slowly but surely. Tony's injuries are minor and will heal rather soon."
Susan paused for a moment. Tom, who had been feeling a bit usurped as master of the house, decided to control the direction at this point.
"Gary Parker has taken the position of governor now. He's gaining political prestige at a massive rate. He's a substantial leader of all walks of life now, and a man as shady as he in power...I don't know what will come of this." Tom quivered. The rest of the people in the room remained still, giving Tom cue to continue.
"The idea of killing him is out of the question as of this moment. But mayhaps..it'll come to that someday." Tom appealed. Susan tried to inconspicuously shoot Tom the evil eye, but he evaded meeting her look. Undaunted, Susan directed the discussion to other topics.
"Michelle, why do you look so rattled dear? Is something the matter?" she asked. Michelle wasn't expecting being thrust into the center of attention, and thus awkwardly began to clear her throat.
"I...uhh...ahem. I have this thing, where I can see...uhh, people. What I mean is that-" she shuddered. Thankfully, Tier interrupted her at this point.
"What she's trying to say is that her ability to see life forces has been acting up considerably, and in a greviously distressing manner. Namely that hundreds of bodies are closing in on this village as we speak, and are already encircling it." he finished. Without missing a beat, Louie's eyes gleaned.
"Are they rabbits, or-" he began to ask.
"Nope. Werewolves." Tier answered. "And they look in the mood for trouble." he added. Alexander looked surprised, and then smacked his forehead.
"Oh crap. I must have lured them here when I ran into their pack earlier." he grieved.
Tier gave a hearty laugh.
"No pack is this big. Plus their movements...they're acting like an army, not a group of hunters." he ascertained. Tom stood up to take charge.
"We have to warn the town. I'm going to leave right now to try and shout out for a call to arms. Louie, Alexander, Michelle and...uhh... Tier. Get ready, you've all probably got a fight to look forward to." he ordered. Tom turned and grabbed a jacket off of a coat rack, and burst outside of his house. Tony got up and went the other direction towards the stairs to the bedrooms.
"What're you doing? You're injured." Susan said, getting up to usher him back to his seat.
"I'm going to my pistol. You can't stop me from a good fight." he said defiantly. Susan gave up and retracted back onto her couch. Alexander walked up to her and spoke.
"Don't worry. You're work is cut out for you. If there truly are hundreds of werewolves out there, there will be much blood and injured for you to handle when the day is through." Alexander walked outside the door following Tom and disappearing from sight. Susan crossed her hands in her lap, feeling utterly helpless against the dawning chaos.

Alexander was walking along the dirt path up to town at a hurried pace without trying to look too urgent by running. Louie and Tony were close behind, while Tier and Michelle hadn't left yet. They were making their way up to the mansion, where the greater bulk of the people in the town were clustered and unaware. Louie and Tony jogged up to fall in line with Alexander as he started to ascend the large grassy knoll up to the mansion. Louie's mind filled with the realization that this was going to be where most of the upcoming foray would occur. That the grass of his own house was the be watered in blood.
"Can you still fight?" Alexander grunted to Tony, who was carrying a compact version of the standard blaster pistol in his right, non-dominant paw. His other one had been bandaged up almost to the point of immobility.
Tony shrugged. "How hard could it be?" he replied, while wondering to himself how good of a shot he was right handed. Alexander turned back to inspect Tony at this point. He looked up and down, from Tony's head to feet.
"You may have won a few bar fights in your time, racer. But when it comes to the undead, you're a total newbie. I don't want you to be a liability, and I don't think it's in your best interest to die today." Alexander berated after finishing his judgment.
"You certainly take your work seriously." Tony miffed. His grip on the blaster tightened a bit, as Alexander's words began to fill him with a self-doubt.
Louie broke the run-in up before it could get out of hand. The trio was almost at the door to the mansion. "Stop. We make our stand here." he dictated. "You two need to go inside and inform the inhabitants of what is about to happen. Make sure they don't panic."
Tony and Alexander glared at each other for a second, before confirming their order and walking inside. Louie remained standing outside of the entry-way with his arms folded defiantly over his chest. He waited until a breeze flitted by, and sniffed deeply. Trace scents of blood and rot lingered in the air. The a small crunch was heard from the undergrowth to Louie's left A small mammal? Squirrel maybe, or. Louie knew better. He darted over into the trees, and grabbed a werewolf by the scruff of his neck. He twisted him around to stare at Louie directly in the eyes.
"Found you." Louie hissed. The werewolf's eyes filled with panic. Louie felt his fangs growing in his mouth. The urge to bite was whispering softly to him; tempting.
"Leave us to do our business. There are an uncountable number of my brothers and sisters in these woods behind me. If I don't report back, they'll know something has happened. And believe you me, their revenge with be painful and deadly." the werewolf said in an attempt at intimidation. Louie rebutted.
"I'll revel in their dismemberment." he paused just long enough to let it sink but short enough so that the werewolf couldn't reply.
"Why are you here?" Louie asked, and he jerked his other paw, nail outstretched, like a knife into the werewolf's belly. The werewolf jerked around, and then gasped for a breath.
"Let's just say that we're serving a higher cause than our own selfish packs now." he said. With that, he thrust his left foot into Louie's sternum, sending him fly backwards in surprise while letting his grip go. The werewolf howled and panted at Louie, before scampering away back into the woods. Louie laid on the grass for a moment. That kick much more out of him than it should have. He rolled back up into a standing position, and glared into the woods.

[Strato]

Simultaneously, Alexander was inside the mansion. He had let Tony do the talking, as he might have seemed a recognizable figure with a more charismatic nature, and instead chose to lean on the inside hallway spanning from the door to the area where most of the refugees were settled in. Tony had attracted a large crowd around him as he vividly explained what was going to happen to a mass of grim faces. Alexander realized the enormity of what must be happening to them. The recent destruction of everything they had every had, and now they weren't even safe. However, nothing seemed to answer, in Alexander's mind, why he was still here. He didn't care about the lives of everyone he had met. But he still felt a very strong attraction to stay with them and support them. Or at least protect them. Susan was right, they had given him everything, including his own life. And he still remembered the face that he woke up to the first morning he arrived, and how he was struck breathless in a heart beat. Alexander buried his thoughts suddenly as deep as he could muster, realized that he had to focus on the situation at hand. Tony had finished talking to the refugees, came up to Alexander, and said "They're ready, let's go.". The two exited and met up with Louie who was standing just outside the door now. He made no effort to hide the blood soaked claw, and made a shot at Alexander.
"You're still here? What appeals to the big bad hunter to stick around with us?" Alexander smiled and gave a smug reply.
"Ten coins for every pelt I bring back when off duty.".

About five minutes later, Tom had wound his way into town square. Rabbits were walking past going about their daily business. A couple had taken a seat on the giant fountain that dominated the square. Beyond them, a shop owner was sweeping his stoop. In Tom's mind's eye, he saw the fountain in rubble and blood soaking into the golden cobblestone and dust beneath his feet. Tom swallowed and climbed onto the lip of the fountain.
"My fellow rabbits." he bellowed. The entirety of the people nearby locked their eyes on Tom. He was on the spot now. "Hear my call. Do you strive to be a part of a cause that needs you more than ever before? I urge all of the vigilante in each of us to my side. Our heart beat's are mimicking the sound of the footsteps of fire, destruction, and death which clamor to our little town. An insurmountable darkness is encroaching on our lands to reduce it to ashes. I beseech all of you to join up arms by my side, and strike a blow deep into the heart of despair, and fight off these blasted, twisted concoctions of evil."
The crowd was hesitant. Tom's heart sunk as he wasn't met by thunderous applause or raised fists at all. All hope felt lost, when suddenly a voice rung clear above the din.
"What are we waiting around for? We need to make a stand, both for ourselves and for the refugees." Tom smiled. Susan was right in the nick of time. The group's attitude shifted, and and a flame of resolve spread through the crowd, dancing in each of their hearts, compelling them to stay and dare fate. They quickly were shouting plans, yells of valor, and began to run to every which way to stir up the entire town. Tom smiled in front of the teeming mass, inspecting his handiwork before stepping down to find Susan. She had separated herself and was standing next to a bench with her paws crossed in front of herself, beaming.
"You certainly still know how to rile a crowd. You had them eating out of your hand." She said, clasping her arms around him.
"Without your addition, it would have been a miserable failure." Tom replied. Susan looked down and to the right while still smiling.
"Every great leader needs an activist to promote him." She maintained. Tom simpered affectionately.
"Nobody better than you." he said, and pressed his lips against hers tenderly.


Tier and Michelle were standing outside on the path leading up to the Bradhurst estate. Tier was hanging back at the doorway.
"Are you sure you want to stay here?" Michelle asked with a quiver in her voice.
Tier gave a very certain reply. "Yes. You will be fine. What better way to find out if you can hold your own than your first battle? And besides. I need to stay here and watch over Yakira." Michelle looked down at her feet and felt the dust beneath them.
"Fine. I guess I'll head over there right away. Don't want to keep them waiting. Oh Susan. I didn't see you coming."
Susan had returned from the rabble rouse and was making her way back home again without Tom.
"Yes, I'm opening my house up as a home for the injured again. I have to clean up and make sure everything is ready for the rush. Will you be staying here Tier? I'd love to have some company. Tom is in his leader of the land mood. You should see him, strutting around like a king, airs and all. I think he's up with Louie and the others preparing for the assault. Looks like you're going to go meet up with them."
"Yes missus Bradhurst." Michelle affirmed with utmost respect. Tier shrugged his shoulders.
"I'll be glad to help you. I'm at your service." he said coyly. Susan smiled.
"Good. I wish you all the best of luck Michelle. Oh and bring back our boys safely, alright?"

Michelle met up with Tom, Louie, Alexander, and Tony at the foot of Greenthorpe mansion turned haven for the war victims. Susan was right. Tom was prancing around with his shoulders raised and chin held high. She chuckled at the fact that she knew him so well. Tom caught notice of Michelle's arrival and gave a heart felt greeting.
"Ah, hello Michelle. I didn't fancy seeing you joining us here. Thirsting for glory, perhaps?" Michelle couldn't help but smile at his carrying on.
"Why yes, commander. In fact, I heard it that you were quite the man of words down with the people." she lilted falling right into her part and boosting his ego. Tom's eyes lit up.
"Oh ho, most definitely. I must have turned a hundred men, maybe more, down there. They are just straining at the leash, ready to take their shot." he delivered, internally bursting with a sense of pride.
He continued. "I'm sure Louie and the others would be more than happy to know you're here, so why not settle in with them? I'm sure they've got plenty of jobs to occupy you." Michelle bowed her head, and then worked her way over to Louie, who was busy tentatively setting up snap traps for their unknown enemies. This was it, she thought to herself.

It was a most intense day of hard labor, crafting traps and building a gun barricade for the minute men to make their stand in. Slowly, the mansion's peaceful but dilapidated demeanor changed into a menacing fortress overlooking the town. The wooden fence around it's yard was torn down and used instead to construct a gun barricade that half-circled the hill, ready to fill up with eager vigilantes. Bear traps and trip wires had been supplied by zealous townspeople, and were being put to use all around the mansion. It was nightfall by the time it was all said and done. Torches had been propped up every few feet to help them all see. Tom, Louie, Alexander, Tony, and Michelle were seated around a campfire made behind the barricade in a small alcove that had been dug into the hill. The flame's light danced across people's faces and the moist dirt wall behind them. Everyone except Louie was relaxing, almost meditating, to prepare them for the fight. Louie was poking his head out of the alcove to look up.
"(-). A full moon." he cursed. Tony sighed.
"Are you serious? Ahhh crap." he moaned. Tony looked over at Tom, who seemed to be in a trance. Louie laughed at Tony.
"It gets worse. They're already here." The people in the group all looked at Louie in disbelief. He was pointing outside of the alcove towards a figure in the darkness, a bestial silhouette was in front of the empty barricade, standing tall. He seemed to be waiting.
"Go on general." Michelle urged, her voice shaky and meek. Tom felt queasy the whole walk up to the figure. Tonight he would discover whatever higher power had in store for him. He grabbed a torch from the barricade as he walked around it. Each step felt like a million pound weight on him. However, he kept his resolve, and walked up to face their envoy. As he approached, the light revealed to him a very shadowy looking werewolf. His fur was grey with eons of life beneath him, a very old werewolf he must have been. His left eye was lame and had rolled to the back of his eye lid. Or maybe it was a glass eye. It drew in a raspy breath and then taunted Tom.
"Hahaha..." It's voice personifying decay. "The town of Greenthorpe lays asleep and comfortable in their beds, yet you're still here? Not quite the fight my gentlemen were expecting." he finished. Every word spoken was heavy in the air. He gave a very wheezy cough.
"I have a few tricks up my sleeve. You've all fallen into a trap. My troops have encircled the entire forest, and will be creeping up behind your bandits as we speak." Tom declared with confidence.
"I see. Then I'll just start the attack now so you'll have to play..catch-up." the decrepit beast insinuated. He reached into his cloak and slowly drew out a large red flag. As he raised it above his head, faces sprung out of the underbrush surrounding the mansion. Tom ran back to the barricade, torch in hand, and saw Louie and the others taking a defensive stance. Louie turned back at Tom and almost menacingly demanded to know where their allies were.
"I'll have to run down to the village to get them." Tom said. With that, he ran back up without hearing what Louie or the others had to say.

[Strato]

Gary Parker rest the phone back on the receiver as an advisor opened the door to his office. The advisor looked very up tight and angry. He came over to speak to Parker over the desk in the room.
"All I have to ask is what the hell do you think you're doing?"
Parker's face was devoid of humanity at this point. He started speaking in a very machiavellian, almost ungodly tone.
"I will not have it any other way. The fools. They embarrassed me. They gave a full around slap to my face. Betrayed politically by my home town. Well, all I can say is that if you sign up for the wrong outfit, you get what you deserve. Do you know what I mean? By the end of tonight, Greenthorpe will burn. And all those refugees won't be missed. They've already probably slipped through the cracks and go uncounted for. Nobody will notice their disappearance until it's far too late. And then you know what I'll do next? I'll use it to further my political career. I'll just keep on using the empathy of the oh so terrible events that happen to me and just ride my way to the top. The beauty if it is that nobody knows what I did tonight." Parker reveled. He turned menacingly to the advisor.
"Not even you." Parker loomed over the advisor, fangs coming to bare.

I'm not cut out to be a general. Tom said that to himself over and over again as he ran down to the village. He had been disillusioned. Nobody came to help build the barricade. Nobody helped set up traps. Nobody was up on the hill, guns poised to kill. Tom cursed himself, a tear running down his cheek. He had been holding out on hundreds of his friends at his side on that hill, but he didn't persuade a single heart to his cause. As Tom pushed open the creeky iron gate to the grounds, he saw just further down the path lights in the town square. Perhaps people were there. Tom practically lept down, but well before he even made it, he had slowed to a jog. Then a trot. Finally, when he reached the fountain at town square, he was walking. Four people were huddling around a fire one of which was female. She looked up at Tom and bit her lip.
"I'm sorry. It looks like we're the only ones who came to you." she said.

[Strato]

Technically it should have been 4 parts max, but I didn't want to cut paragraphs in half.

EDIT: Stupid censor.

[Doubble Dutch]

You did Tier too cheerful, he's a grumpy old sod, like Derby.

[Strato]

Meh. I tried to make him more or less the cynic of the group actually.

[Monolith]

Wow Strato, that looks like it could have been two or three chapters.

[Strato]

I have a penchant for writing very long, slow-paced chapters these days.

[Coppertop]

Cobbie's up next. Tick are you still planning on writing?

[The SlaYeR]

Like I've told you before Starto, brilliant writing. :)
And I still stand by that. You've given us a brilliant cliffhanger as well.

Cobsie, carry on then :)

[The SlaYeR]

Go Cobs go!!!

Someone should either tell her about this or we should carry on.

[The SlaYeR]

Hey guys, I wrote a little flashback to explain how Gary Parker came to be such an evil person.

I hope no one minds that I'm posting before my turn and this doesn't count as the actual chapter I'll write later on. But I thought it'd be good to keep this thing alive and it's the first time in a long while we see another bit of the story posted nine days from the previous chapter ;)

This shouldn't lead to any mix ups incase someone started writing their next chapter. It's a flashback and I am planning on writing one about Majo as well.



---


The life and death of Gary Parker.



Everything that is evil starts out as something good.

“Gary? Where are you Gary?”
Several childeren where playing their favorit game, hide and seek.
It’s funny how something as simple as that can entertain us so in our younger days.
“This isn’t funny anymore Gary, please come here.” Meya shouted. “I’m going to tell your aunt about this and you’ll be in trouble.” She paused to see if he would respond to this threat, but he didn’t. “I swear, I’ll do it.” But she knew that Gary wouldn’t believe her if she heard him. She was to fond of him to tell on him and get him into trouble.
She’d have to miss him for days if she’d tell on him. And who would she play with then?
Marcus, who she had found in less then a minute because he was to fat to fit in the barrel he tried to hide in. Or Reglia, who always pulled her ears if Gary wasn’t looking.
Timmy wasn’t to bad, he was a little quiet ever since the kids went on an adventure that took them to Greenthorpe mansion. Nobody knows what he saw and nobody ever asks him for it.
Somethings are best left unknown and even though they were still young, they knew this was one of those things.

“Gary?” Reglia shouted. She was starting to get worried as well. She knew that he liked a joke but this had gone on long enough now. “Let’s go look for him.” Marcus said lazily.
Even talking costed him to much energy and it didn’t look like he was going to get out from underneath that tree even though he suggested to go look for Gary.
“What do you think we’ve been doing lardhead?” Reglia said. “This game is called hide and SEEK for a reason, geek.” Meya giggled.

“He may be a lardhead but he is right.” Timmy said. “It’s getting dark and if we don’t get home in time our parents will start to get worried.”
Marcus wanted to get up, but after a few sighs and puffs he decided that it was best for him to stay behind in case Gary came back.
Reglia gave him a soft kick against his big behind and shook her head. “One day you’ll sit still forever because you’d be too fat to get up.” Timmy smiled.
He thought she was pretty, two golden brown pony tails were hanging down her shoulders and her eyes would sparkle if she made one of these mean comments. He enjoyed hearing her voice, he had enjoyed it ever since they started to play together. The people in town called them ‘The little pack.’ Wherever they went. They always went together.
If only they had stayed together this time…



“Gary? Where are you Gary.”
Dear Meya, if his feelings could be described for her in adult terms, they’d be called love.
But how does a child call those feelings? All the signs were there.
The blushy cheeks underneath his fur when she talked to him. The way he teased her to hide what he really felt. It’s funny how little rabbits at that age did that to show a girl they liked her. His dad always said that he would never understand a woman, but he could imagine that it was just as hard for women to understand them.

He walked a little further into the cave he had discovered.
Gary was looking for a good place to hide and stumbled over something underneath the grass.
When he looked to see what it was that made him stumble he noticed a hole in the ground, just big enough for a small rabbit to squeeze through.
In the eyes of an adult, his next move would have been one of great courage or stupidity.
But in the eyes of a child, it was the perfect hiding place.
A narrow tunnel crawled through the thick and dark earth towards the north. Several strange crystals in the sides of the tunnel lit everything up so that he could see where he was going.
His mind told him to stay put but he decided to ignore the good advice and he wandered on.
“I’m going to tell your aunt…” Sweet Meya. ‘I know you won’t’ He thought to himself.
He reached the end of the tunnel and entered a massive cave underneath the earth. Lit up by hundreds of Crystals. He stood there in awe over the size of this cave.
A cold stream of wind playfully teased his earlobes. He didn’t know why and he knew he should not do this. But he took a few steps into the cave and stepped into a small stream of icy cold water. His foot blocked up the path of the water like a dam and it felt like the cold water bit in his feet. But he was to bedazzled to feel anything.
This was how the archeologists must have felt when they discovered the grave of king Nozz. The first king of the old times that had united the rabbits of Carrotus.
The air in here was thick and smelled sour, could he have been the first person that had entered this cave in thousands of years or more maybe. He could have even been the very first person that entered this cage since the beginning of time. His imagination seemed to have no limits, but he soon found out that his last assumption wasn’t correct when he noticed a drawing on the far wall.



“He must’ve dissapeared somewhere around here.” Timmy said.
The sun was setting over the treetops now it would not be long untill it would be dark. An hour, maybe less.They all searched down the area in which Gary had dissapeared, inch by inch. Untill Meya noticed a hole underneath a patch of grass.
It seemed that Gary hadn’t covered up his little secret as well as he hoped he had.
“Here, look.” One of his wristbands was resting in the sand.
Timmy, Meya and Reglia were all looking at eachother. They looked rather scared.
“Gary?” Meya said. Softer then before, scarder then before.



The drawing depicted the monsteresque form of a man, thick black lines where drawn over him. As if he was locked in a cage.
Gary was drawn to it’s eyes, as if the drawing had placed an enchantment upon him.
‘Touch me Gary, touch me and free me. Please Gary I’ve been alone for ages.’
The drawing had gotten inside of his head. The young rabbit’s mouth hang open and a small stream of drool fell from the corner of his mouth.
A muffled “Yes…”. Barely audible escaped from his lips and he brought his fingers to the drawing. ‘Good boy. You’ll be rewarded Gary, you’ll be a rich man. I’ll give you everything you want Gary, free me.’ The monsters voice was so friendly and calm it was soothing and it was not long before his fingers touched the cold rock.
Gary’s heart stopped, for a second, for a minute. For one brief period of time he had lost all track of time. It felt like an eternity of pain and anger soared through him.
He did not scream, he could not scream. The monster was his throat, the monster was his head, his eyes, his ears. And then, all of a sudden. Everything seemed to go back to normal.

“Gary, you scared us. Didn’t you hear me? I called out your name.”
The young boy turned around and looked straight into Timmy’s eyes.
All colour left Timmy’s face. He had looked into the eyes of a monster before and it had left him crippled. He wasn’t sure what too say and decided that it was best not to say anything at all. It had helped him out before.
Gary gave the two girls a big hug and then turned his back on them to look at Timmy.
He grinned and placed his pointer finger on his lip. His eyes glowing.
‘This could be the start of a beautiful friendship Gary.’

[Doubble Dutch]

Ooooh! Niceness!

[Monolith]

Nice, Slayo.

I think Cobra will be away for a week or so.

[The SlaYeR]

That's ok. I'll just write another one of these then just to keep things going.
Maybe some of you guys should do some flashbacks.
I find them a lot of fun to write and it gives the story and characters some more depth.

[Doubble Dutch]

Hmmmm, you got a point there, they *are* fun. I may start on one, just to copy you. [Not an origional thought in my head I tell you]

[Ninja 101]

oh wow!!! I can't read all that! honeycomb big yeah yeah jeah, it's not small, no no no. see! I'm crazy as a coconut! I have no chance unless it's comedy.

[Ninja 101]

please write an overview of what has happened. Is it about the characters created by you people?

[Doubble Dutch]

There *is* an overview of everthing that has happened; its even color coded.

It is located here: http://www.jazz2online.com/jcf/showthread.php?t=10912

[The SlaYeR]

http://treacle.hewwo.com/jazz/story.html

^ That one is better since it's updated untill the last chapter.

[The SlaYeR]

Cobra told me that she would like to go after me which means that it is either Spaztic's or Coppertop's turn.

[Ninja 101]

ugh. I asked for a SUMMARY slaYer. Not the whole thing.
Put Jax the runemaster in... go on I dare you.
he's orange by the way. he wears a medieval helmet etched with runes because he scratches them on things when he's asleep. that's the extent of his power.
the only feature of his face you can see are his blue glowing eyes. he wears a rune etched suit of armour under his cloak with those generic dangly sleeves. only his feet poke out the bottom of his cloak. hos cloak is one of the 'Circle of Mages' cloaks and therefore it is covered in runes (only on the chestpiece, not the sleeves)his cloak is black and red in gradient. he is 27. he carries a purple gun, similar to jazz's exept it has a cartridge, a scope, a laser sight and a torch. he has the abitity to cast a great many spells and is a grade 8 (out of 10) exorcist. his spells include shield, summon, fireball, lightning and curse of the runes.

[Tik]

I plan on writing a chapter next week from my cottage in the fields of Ohio.

[The SlaYeR]

ugh. I asked for a SUMMARY slaYer. Not the whole thing.
Put Jax the runemaster in... go on I dare you.
he's orange by the way. he wears a medieval helmet etched with runes because he scratches them on things when he's asleep. that's the extent of his power.
the only feature of his face you can see are his blue glowing eyes. he wears a rune etched suit of armour under his cloak with those generic dangly sleeves. only his feet poke out the bottom of his cloak. hos cloak is one of the 'Circle of Mages' cloaks and therefore it is covered in runes (only on the chestpiece, not the sleeves)his cloak is black and red in gradient. he is 27. he carries a purple gun, similar to jazz's exept it has a cartridge, a scope, a laser sight and a torch. he has the abitity to cast a great many spells and is a grade 8 (out of 10) exorcist. his spells include shield, summon, fireball, lightning and curse of the runes.



We have enough characters as it is.
(I might have considered it, if you had actually read this story, go hide in shame.)

[Strato]

SlaYo you idiot. You were supposed to write one out for him D''':

[Alister]

SlaYo, he dared us. We have no choice.

[The SlaYeR]

Those are all good points guys. I don't know what to do now.

<s>We could use some cannon fodder.</s>

[n00b]

Is that all it takes? A simple dare? In that case I dare you to put in MY character, Billy bob jimmy bo billy.
He's a frog THATS INVINCEABLE!!! AND HIS LORI'S COUZIN!!1!

[Doubble Dutch]

Deal! [He's about to find out he's not so invincible]

We could use some cannon fodder.

You can shoot my characters; being already dead means they can have nasty accidents...or cause nasty accidents to happen to reccently arrived characters.

[Coppertop]

Cobra told me that she would like to go after me which means that it is either Spaztic's or Coppertop's turn.

Ugh, been away all week. If Spaztic would rather wait I can start writing.

[Coppertop]

For anyone wondering, I finished my chapter last night and will post it as soon as I get home from work. Consider this a placeholder post.

EDIT for chapter

As Jesse fled far from his homeland, other events were taking place.
The fires had died down in the police station, leaving smoldering heaps of debris within the gutted building. Firefighters had come and gone, speaking vaguely about beginning the work of salvage soon. The media hounds came also, describing the fire as an act of terror, emphasizing the depravity of an enemy that would do such things. The death of one officer and injury of another became yet another political tool, a weapon of a different sort in the war.

Adrian sat in an uncomfortable metal-framed chair, bandaged hands wrapped around a thick ceramic coffee mug. He stared fixedly down at the waterstains marking the cheap pasteboard table in front of him. Across from him, looking equally uncomfortable, sat an elderly-looking rabbit, fidgiting and looking frequently at the clock that adorned the otherwise bare wall.
Adrian shifted his attention to that wall. It might have been white once, but was yellowed with age and grime. Cleaner streaks, carved through the dirt by water, marked where the roof leaked. The paint peeled near the ceiling. Bare, dirty lightbulbs adorned the ceiling, casting a distinctly yellow light over the room. The lighting did not flatter the other rabbit, making him look even older and wearier. It sparked off of Adrian's dark fur.
Adrian's companion cleared his throat rustily, clearly hoping to break the awkward silence but instead making it even more awkward. The old relic ought to have been retired years ago, Adrian thought uncharitably. He had been answering the same questions for the past half-hour, and was in a decidedly uncharitable mood.
"So," the aging rabbit said unctuously, clasping his pudgy hands on the table in front of him. He leaned forwards, making the chair creak dangerously. Adrian entertained thoughts of the overburdened chair collapsing beneath the substantial weight of his interrogator, depositing the ineffectual idiot in an undignified heap on the floor.
"So," the other repeated again, the chair having held up despite Adrian's fantasies to the contrary. "Can you describe your attacker once more for me?"
Adrian lifted chilly, pale eyes to the other's weak face. He had described Jesse, in detail, four times already, losing more patience with each repetition. Now he was past anger, feeling only numbness. He was tired, so very tired of this. Something must have shown on his face, for the other swallowed with some difficulty and repeated the question. Adrian deliberated, looking down into his still-full cup. His wintery eyes lifted again.
"No," he said thoughtfully. No inflection betrayed the emotion he might have felt. His back hurt. The bandages felt wet again. His hands still bled, freely though infrequently. He suspected that they were bleeding again. "No ... I do believe I'm done for today," he said, making a token effort at politeness. If anything, it frightened the other rabbit all the more. Adrian rose from the rickety chair and gently set the cup down on the table.
"We're not finished, Adrian," the other told him. Adrian smiled humorlessly.
"That's where you're wrong," he said. "We are. Good day." He turned and walked out of the room. The dented metal door shut behind him with a satisfying finality.
Adrian walked aimlessly, seeking only to leave the run-down hospital behind. His thoughts centered on the cause of his current woes, Jesse.
Adrian was an experienced spymaster. He had directed numerous operations, and executed countless others on his own. He was not stupid, nor careless, but he had to admit that he had seriously erred with Jesse. Syamin's loss was more than acceptable; had the moronic officer not died in the fire, Adrian would have seen him executed for his fumbling.
Even Syamin's disastrous error could have been rectified. But somehow, somehow, a boy ten years Adrian's junior had not only defied them, but fought and escaped him. And that was not acceptable
Adrian was not satisfied with the promises he had recieved, that Jesse would be found and dealt with. He had been a government agent for too long to rely on the empty words of his employers. If it was to be done properly, he would have to do it himself.
He found himself at the ruined station. His hands ached. He really shouldn't have been walking yet, but the pain in his feet wasn't so bad. He would have to watch how he moved; the burnt stripes across his back were newly healed and would break open easily. The fire had left Adrian badly hurt, skin completely charred in places. The hospital had patched him up but the pain still lingered. Another indignity that Jesse had to answer for. And he would answer.
Adrian's cell rang. He answered it without taking his eyes from the ruins.
"Adrian."
"Adrian, I heard what happened. Are you all right?" The tinny voice, full of over-done concern, belonged to the man who had been Adrian's handler in the government. The spymaster had worked without him for the past six years.
"Raspen. I assume you have a good reason for contacting me."
"Look, Adrian, I know we didn't part on the best of terms -"
Adrian snorted. Their parting words had been less than civilized. He still seethed inwardly when he considered how Raspen had abandoned him to the wolves, so to speak, at the height of an operation.
"- but I'm calling you onto a job."
"I'm already on a job. Get yourself another operative."
"Not anymore. They're pulling you off and putting you on a different one. Low-profile. In case this guy comes after you."
"Oh, sure. Now tell me the real why."
"You have too much publicity up there," Raspen almost shouted. "We both know it, Adrian! You can't operate as efficiently."
"And what about the kid?"
"Forget Jesse. We'll deal with him. You screwed up, Adrian. Now you get to work it off."
Adrian snarled wordlessly. Raspen's words had been anticipated.
"Screw you, Raspen. I'll deal with Jesse myself."
"Not happening. We'll do what it takes to bring you in, Adrian, if we have to."
"Try it," Adrian said, feeling an icy calm settle over him. "I dare you to."
"Threats don't work, Adrian. It's over for you, my friend."
"Spare me the melodramatics. I will deal with Jesse."
"Adrian -"
Adrian snapped the phone shut and pocketed it. It began to ring again, insistently. He ignored it.
It was time to deal with Jesse.

The roads were clear as Adrian left the town behind, at the wheel of a "borrowed" police vehicle. He would have to ditch it soon, it was too easily traced. He ran a thumb over the fresh bandages on his hands, which had stopped bleeding finally.
He intended to know who exactly Jesse was before he traced the boy's steps. Knowing his enemy would give him ways to anticipate and get at Jesse, so that he could silence the boy. Adrian was a perfectionist. Leaving an error like Jesse unrectified was unimaginable.
He flipped his cellphone open and stiffly thumbed in a number, glancing frequently at the mirror. There would be no pursuit for some time, Adrian being the only surviving agent in the town. Demyas would have his hands full, and explaining why he was chasing his superior would take time.
The phone rang without answer. Finally, a recording came on.
"Hi, you've reached Fierro Dembarra. I'm not in right now, but if you'll leave your name and number, I'll get back to you." The standard voicemail greeting. Adrial swore but didn't hang up.
"Fierro, it's Adrian. Call me ASAP. No official channels." He ended the call and dialled another number.
Two rings and a breathy female voice said, "hello?"
"Hayley, it's Adrian," he said calmly. "Can you talk?"
"Adrian," she said, losing her breathiness in record time. "It's been a while. Go for it."
"I need an ID on someone." He described Jesse briefly to Hayley, who remained attentively silent. "He may be in trouble with the law," he added. "No official channels, Hayley."
Hayley was quiet for a moment. "You gone rogue, Adrian?" she asked, a strange tone to her voice.
"In a sense," Adrian said. "Unofficial assignment. I need this fast."
"I'll call you when I have it," Hayley assured him. Adrian thanked her and hug up.
Other agents would have lied to Hayley and assured her that they were still clean. Adrian knew better. His contact system was built on mutual trust. One lie found out, and it invariably would be, would muddy the waters, break the trust, and Adrian would suddenly find himself unable to trust the information he was being fed. He expected Fierro to ask the same question. He would answer similarly.
Adrian had one more call to make. Fierro and Hayley were excellent informants and would get back to him soon, but more needed to be done to give him time. Flipping open his phone one last time, he punched in a 12-digit number from memory and listened to it ring.
On the fifth ring, the phone was picked up on the other end in silence.
"It's Adrian," the spymaster said quietly. "I need your help."
"You screwed up," the other said quietly, in a soft androgynous voice.
"Yes," Adrian admitted. "I need you to keep my trail clean."
"You know what I require."
"I'll see what I can do. I'll fill you in later on my plans. Call me when the pursuit starts and keep me updated."
The other did not have to reassure Adrian that it would be done. There was a brief pause and then the reciever was gently replaced in the cradle and the line went dead.
Adrian hung up and drove on.

That night Jesse dreamed, and as he did his sleep became restless and light, for the face that haunted his dreams was the face of Jonathan.

[The SlaYeR]

Very nice Copper, I enjoyed reading it. Good job on the details and keeping an alternate storyline going. I'll try to finish the next chapter as soon as possible.

[Coppertop]

Yeah I'll try to write more action into the next one. I look forward to reading yours, Slay.
(Tick, as soon as you're ready.)

[Doubble Dutch]

Ah, the story is picking up; I blame my signature.

Lets see the talent flow people!

[Good stuff Copper, very good stuff]

[superjwren329]

...Uh...May I join? I've got too much free time on my hands...

[Doubble Dutch]

Yeah, c'mon Strato, let 'im join!

[Strato]

Group vote.

[The SlaYeR]

Yah, come on Strato. Let him join.

[Coppertop]

I don't care. Whatever the majority wants I guess. :)

[The SlaYeR]

Hey guys, I figured Spaztic had no intention to start on his chapter so I started working on mine. I've finished about 10 pages so far (Not A4 format, normal format.) I think I'll have it up in about 3 days.

[Doubble Dutch]

Woohoo!

[I like this semi random stuff]

[The SlaYeR]

Chapter 36: The beast within.

This was it, within moments all hell would break loose.
None of the people in the battlefield were sure they would come out of this alive.
Their hearts were racing and all of them were oblivious of the fact that no additional support had shown up.
Tom Bradhurst felt betrayed and out of place as a leader, but he realized that this was no time to mope and inspected his new troops, all four of them.
They had the look of four warriors hardend in battle and could come to good use, even if things seemed like all of them would die here tonight.
“…Susan.” He mumbled when he realized that he would not be able to say a last goodbye.
He would die without ever seeing her again.
“Are we going to stand around here while those people are trying to save our town?” One of the men asked, he was the shortest and had two long streaks of furless skin over the back of his head. A big cigar was hiding almost half of his small face. And he kept a firm grip on his semi-automatic assault rifle.
Tom shook his head and seeing these four, strong people in front of him gave him a confidence boost. Which was just the thing he needed right now.
One of them carried a heavy looking gun he recognized as a sniper rifle.
“You, position yourself in the bell tower over there.” He pointed at the tallest building in green thorpe, a large bell that had served as an alarm system for the entire town. It was right next to the town hall and overlooked a large area. It was the perfect spot.
“And you three, come with me. And run, I can hear that the fighting has already started.”


‘Darn it Tom, what’s taking you so long?’ Tony thought to himself.
He looked around at the others. Poor Michelle seemed so scared and her body looked as if it could not take much more. A patch of skin fell off of her and landed on the ground.
Alexander and Louie seemed to be communicating through sign language. He had no idea what they were saying but they seemed concentrated on something apart from their personal hatered. He could not help but notice that his hands were shaking, he had to miss one of his arms and he was still pondering over what Alexander had told him before.
He had never fought the undead, he was skilled with his guns and in hand to hand combat. But there was no way on Carrotus that he was going to practice hand to hand combat against a werewolf, let alone dozens of them.
Several clouds appeared in the sky, but none of them covered the moon yet, what a shame.
Alexander had told him earlyer that a werewolve loses a lot of its strength when the full moon dissapears. He looked at Michelle again, she was giving him a quick wink and a thumbs up.
She did a good job at hiding her nervousity, but it made him feel better and took his mind off of Alexander’s comment.
The ancient werewolf that appeared to be the leader was holding on to the red flag and dozens of werewolves were standing in front of them. A feeling in his gut told him this was only a first attack wave.


Three of the werewolves came running towards the small and very outnumbered group of warriors. It had begun.





Gary Parker lay restless in his bed. He had been haunted by unpleasing dreams of the past.
Of the smell of his mothers hair and the way she used her smile to bring him to silence when he was being a brat. The monster inside of him did not leave him a lot of peace for himself, but he was reminded of who he had been every now and then.
He kicked then covers off of his bed to put them back on five minutes later. He repeated this process for hours. Somewhere out there he had send an army of wolves after a group of people that might pose a threat one day. He dared not to think about how he really felt about all of this. The monster would make him go through terrible pain again.
He had learned to hide his feelings and emotions, but he had a bit more difficulty keeping control of himself on this particulair night. His mother, his friends, these strangers who ment no good human being any harm and tried to save them from the pain and misery that he caused. Why was this happening? His thought got cut short by an excruciating pain that soared through his head. ‘Calm down Gary, we’d best put your soul to sleep now shall we?’
Gary’s eyes lit up for a split second and with a maniacal grimace on his face he let his head sink deep into his pillow before he fell into a deep sleep.


The enemy had invaded their home and they would all die defending it if they had to.
Ten minute men were to handle the guns that they set up earlyer today, but after the first werewolf had shown up, they all ran and hid in the mansion together with they’re family and friends. Hoping that they would all be able to say ‘Good morning.’ To eachother as soon as this was over.
The first of the wolves reached out it’s sharp claw in an attempt to slash through Tony’s neck. His plan fell to pieces when a bullet from Alexander’s gun pierced through it’s hand.
The beast let out a shriek of pain as the first blood of the night was shed.
‘Thanks.’ Tony said softly. He raised his gun to level it with the werewolf’s forehead.
He quickly pulled the trigger to finish the beast. His first kill, that would surely show Alexander that he wasn’t just a rookie that was still wet behind the ears.
He did not have a lot of time to enjoy the satisfaction this moment brought to him.
The werewolves had witnessed one of their brethren being killed by the enemy. The old wolf was covered in pieces of brain and blood and let out a cry. “Kill them all.”


Michelle felt a sense of pride soar through her as she watched her new friend tighten his grip on his pistol. She did not know what was to come of any of them. They were heavily outnumbered and they were not to expect any support from the refugees who were safely hidden away inside the mansion. In all of the chaos and confusion she knew one thing.
Tony had, in a way, already won. He conquered his fear and fired away at the monstrosity’s.
Everything had gone so fast. She had a job, a home and somewhat of a life before she let herself get bitten by Tier. A lonely life, but a life none the less.
A vampire killed her brother and in the confusion and panic that followed, she had made a choice. She would kill the vampire even if it costed her, her life. Which it had, technically.
Michelle could not hate Tier for converting her into one of his own, the undead turtle had given her the gift of immortality. She might have liked it even better if things did not have to be this messy, but still.
A werewolf came storming towards her, drool flung through the air and speckles of slime landed in her fur. The young girl was caught unaware and with one powerful strike, the werewolf had taken off her right arm. She did not feel any pain, for her central nerve system had shut down toghether with her heart. The only emotion she could feel in this moment was hate for the wolf. She had enough to deal with at them moment and the moment of hesitation on the werewolf’s side when it noticed that it was dealing with a zombie was enough for her.
She grabbed the beast by the jaw and crushed it completely with one single movement.
The werewolf sank down to it’s knees in front of her. He wanted to strike her again but was to late as Michelle had grabbed his neck and pulled his head clean off. The terrible sound of the flesh and muscles ripping would have made her stumach very upset. If it were still active.
“There seem to be more benefits to this then the mortality alone.” She told herself while she picked her arm up from the ground and placed it against her joint. The bone and dead tissue regenerated within a matter of seconds.
“Hurry Thomas.” She heard Louie shout from across the battlefield.
He was appearing and dissapearing around the place, strucking a lethal blow with one of his compact scythes. He had a grace and balance unlike any she had ever seen before. He killed a beast and moved on like a shadow to the next one.
Alexander fired away, his body was relaxed. His calculating mind always noticing everything that went on around him. Years of training had made him familiar with situations like these. And years of experience made sure that he knew just what to do and how to do it.
He did not let a single bullet go to waste and seemed confident.
Three or four brave refugees had gathered enough courage to come outside and they manned the guns. Firing away at hordes of wolves. It took six or seven bullets to take one down, but they had to protect their families. And with this on their minds they fought like there was no tommorow.

[The SlaYeR]

A big explosion lit up the battlefield and several torches shot up in the air as firework.
A dozen of burning werewolves rained down onto their fighting brothers and sister.
Tom arrived on the hill west off the mansion followed by three strangers that were armed to the teeth and heavily armored. A wave of panic soared through Michelle’s body.
Where was everyone else? Susan adressed at least 50 people earlyer today.
They were riled up, they were ready for blood to defend their Greenthorpe. And this was it?
The explosion had killed several wolves and created some space for everyone to fight in. The burning corpses had lit up the battlefield even better then the torches had and the refugees fought bravely and shot down wolf after wolf.
Tom still was not sure wheter he’d make a good general or not, but there were more important things to be dealt with now then his personal emotions and he ordered the three strangers to take place. The smallest of both man took place next to the refugees and armed one of the guns. “Greenthorpe will forever be in your debt.” He told them after a quick look at their scared faces. He was hoping this would give them some courage. They could use that.
A rain of bullets were spat at the wolves who’se howling seemed to go through flesh and bone. ‘Maybe we’ll make it.’ Michelle thought to herself.
Extra-ordinary situations call for extra-ordinary people. And it could not get any stranger then the group of people that were gathered here.
Two more werewolfs moved in for a kill, but they got taken down by the little man who raised one of his thumbs in her direction. Another group of werewolfs seemed to move away from the battle and made their way into the village.
Michelle looked around to see if anyone had noticed, but they were all too occupied in they’re own affairs. She did not hesitate for a second and ran after the pack.


The woman that was part of the supporting troops stood next to Tom on the hill.
“Werewolves, vampires, zombies. Are these your friends?”
Tom nodded. “I’ll fill you in later.” He said, while firing away at a group of wolves that came storming up the hill. She drew her blaster and fired away at them. “I’m Jamie.” She said without looking away from their attackers.
Tom had already fired several founds and finally hit a wolf.
“I’m Tom.” The accountant said with a pleased grin on his face. “Let’s get aquinted later over a cup of tea, if we ever get out of here.”


Louie looked around and counted a total of ninty-four wolves left.
They had been doing well but things would get a lot tougher soon. His companions might be getting tired soon and run out of ammo. A wolf collapsed right next to him.
He looked around to see where the shot had come from and noticed someone in the bell tower. ‘Ah, a sniper.’ He told himself to confirm what he had thought as soon as he saw the corpse of the wolf. Another wolf collapsed at his feet. The bullet had left a big, gaping wound.
Louie seemed to float over the battlefield as he disemboweled two more wolves with a quick and precise cut. He moves his way over to Alexander who was still firing away calmly, shoulder to shoulder with Tony who did not seem to want to leave his side.
He looked confident but seemed to like the idea of having someone more experienced close to him during this situation. “We’ve got a sniper on our side. He’s hiding in the bell tower.”
Alexander nodded. ‘Excellent.’ The three of them were surrounded by wolves and stood back to back to fight them all off. Tony quickly changed his round of ammunition and the three of them patiently waited for the rest of the wolves to strike.
Dozens of their brethren lay strewn across the ground in front of the mansion.
Galleons of blood had been spilled and the blood made the sand turn into mud in which most of them were now covered.


Tom and Jamie were still firing away from the top of the hill.
“Looks like Jake is holding up alright.” She said while looking at the little man.
Tom payed no attention to her comment and fired away while giving a quick glance at the refugees. One of them had retreated into the mansion. He could not blame him, he had lost his house, his job and his day to day life because of the war. These people were tired and not ready for a fight. And it was his job now to make sure none of them came to harm.
The largest of the men that had shown up was shouting for help, but no one heard him.
The roaring of the wolves that had him surrounded reduced his pleading to a whisper and they all moved in. One after another cut through his skin untill the last one cut open an artery.
They were planning on keeping him surrounded untill he bled to death. But one by one they got taken down by Jamie.
‘I’m sorry Adam.’ She said, looking over the barrel of her blaster. She fired a quick shot the went through the heart of her friend to relieve him from the terrible suffering the wolves had cost.


“How many?” Tony asked as he saw the wolves closing in on them.
“fifty-five.” Louie said after a quick count.
“You’re out of ammunition aren’t you?” Alexander said. And without waiting for an answer he handed Tony his combat knife. He would not let anyone touch that knife under normal circumstances, but he could hardly let the guy die.
Tony felt over-confident thanks to Alexander’s trust and stormed towards three werewolves who were about to attack. He slashed through the gut of one and forcefully planted the knife in the face of another wolf. He was amazed at how well he managed to fight with only one hand. He was not quick enough to dodge the third wolf though and before he fully realized it he could feel the sharp claws of the wolf enter his stumach.
Tony looked the beast in the eyes and could smell the rot enter his nostrills as they came face to face. He managed to plant the knife in the wolf and watched it’s eyes get watery as he shoved it deeper into the wolf’s chest. They stood there for a short moment before both of them collapsed to the ground. The last thing he saw before he closed his eyes were the faces of Louie and Alexander who came running towards him. He felt accepted and at peace just by the worried looks on their faces. He was accepted as a warrior.


Michelle was staying close behind the pack that were making it’s way through the village. She ducked behind the fountain and watched them move silently through the night.
None of the lights in the houses around the main square were lit, but a ‘daring’ villager here and there was peeking out from behind the curtains. As soon as Michelle looked over to any of the houses the curtain were drawn shut with such a force that she was surprised none of them had come down yet.
The pack of twelve payed no attention to the houses though, it seemed as if they had a goal in mind. A chill crept down Michelle’s spine when she realized where they were heading towards. ‘The Bradhurst residence.’ She was unsure wheter Tier would be able to put up a good fight.
He had lived through ages of war and even killed a vampire or two in his days, but that was in the past, he was tired of fighting and could care less about most of the things that went on around him. She worried about the others.
Misses Bradhurst can hand out a great slap, but that wouldn’t do much good against a werewolf. Then there was Majo, the young brat who she had so much in common with. Save for the fact that she was still alive ofcourse. Majo wouldn’t be a match for them and neither would Yakira, who seemed more dead then alive.
It seemed like it was up to her to weaken the pack before they reached the house.


“(-).” Alexander said as he leaned over Tony while Louie managed to fight of several vampires. “How is he doing?” He yelled as he kicked a wolf into another.
“He’s losing a lot of blood.” Alexander said. He shot a wolf in the head without even looking up from Tony. “We have to get him to Susan as fast as we can.”
Louie felt his lust for blood growing. He should have eaten before they headed into this fight since it was taking a lot out of him. He did not want to feed in front of the others and it was hard to find time for ones self these days.
Alexander removed Tony’s bandana and wrapped it tightly around his stumach.
Jake had witnessed Tony fall down and jumped over the barricade to make his way to him.

“It looks like you guys need a hand. Is there anything I can do?” He asked, genuinly concerned. Alexander and Louie exchanged a look before Louie replied “You can take him to the Bradhurst residence. Walk down mainstreet untill you reach the grocers. The house is 30 paces East of there.” Jake picked up Tony and threw him over his shoulder. He seemed very strong for such a short cat. His whiskers twitched as he nodded at Alexander. “I will run as fast as I can. He’s in good hands with me.”
“He’d better be or…” Alexander got cut short. A firm kick in the side blew the air out of his lungs. “This has taken long enough.” The leader of the werewolves stood over him, every word he spoke seemed to echo through the air. “Your life ends tonight.”
Greymane bared his fangs as Alexander drew.

[The SlaYeR]

Tom and Jamie were still struggling to fight off the many remaining werewolves.
The loss of Tony had made an impact on Tom, he hoped they would get out of this alive after the unfortunate dead of Adam. Something seemed wrong.
After the things Louie had told him about werewolves, he had expected them to be a lot stronger then this. ‘It could have been worse’ He thought to himself.
“Look, they’re going for the mansion.” Jamie said while pointing her blaster in the direction of the fort. The thirty remaining wolves headed straight for the mansion and jumped over the barricade. Two of the refugees stood by the door and it was closed before the werewolves could enter. A lonely remaining refugee let himself fall to the ground and covered his eyes with his arms. Certain that death would be near.
“Not on my watch.” Alister screamed as he ran off the hill followed by Jamie.
They both fired away at the werewolves that had the poor man surrounded.
It seemed to work, Tom and Jamie had bought him enough time to enter the mansion.


Louie witnessed another wolf getting shot by the sniper. ‘He has got a good aim.’ He thought to himself. ‘Through the head, every single time.’
He looked up at the bell tower and saw to his surprise that the gun was aimed at him this time.
He dodge in time for the bullet to miss him.
Alexander lay on the ground as Greymane loomed at him. Louie threw his scythe over at the beast, it’s pierced through it’s hand, seperating it in half.
The sniper had reloaded within a matter of seconds and took another shot at Louie, who was a little slower this time and felt the bullet touch his arm, leaving a small patch of flesh smoldering. Alexander had gotten up of the ground and kicked Greymane to the floor.
‘He’ll handle it.’ Louie ran for cover to buy some time. He glanced around the corner the remains of a small brick wall that had been around this garden in the past.
He carefully calculated his next steps. He would run to the bell tower and take out his assasin.
The fountain would make a good cover, but apart from that it would be up to his speed.
Louie jumped out from behind the wall and ran for the fountain.
The sniper had reloaded and had Louie’s head in his scope. He smiled as he pulled the trigger.


Michelle reached for her pocket, the ‘cookie-cutter’. She just remembered Tier had told her that this device would take out a werewolf without any effort.
“Hey, back off.” Michelle shouted. Jake came walking towards the house and slowed down when he noticed that it was unsafe to walk on. He had to take care of Tony and couldn’t leave him lying around. Several werewolves had broken away from the group while the rest continued to head for the house of the Bradhurst’s.
Tier hadn’t been lying, she used the device on the first wolf and it literally crumbled away in front of her, leaving nothing but a pile of dust. The other wolves started to back off and ran for their lives.

“How is she doing?” Susan asked Tier who was sitting by Michelle’s side. He took notice of Susan and raised his shoulders. “Her situation hasn’t changed yet.” They’re eyes met, Susan was the first to look away.
“Say, would you mind sitting by her side while I go outside for a moment? I can feel something’s not quiet right.” Tier said as he walked towards the door. It was typical of him not to wait for a response. “Sure, no problem.” Susan said after he had dissapeared from the doorframe. It was his way of telling her she was bored and had enough of sitting around. He was going to get a good book to read or find at least something to do. Tier did not come a second to late, he walked off the stairs and saw Majo staring out of the room. “We have company.” She tried to say while keeping her head cool. It didn’t take long for her to shout out in panic. “Help!.” Werewolves, he never had a problem with them before during their previous encounters. Greymane and his wolves had always ignored him before.
As if he was an annoying little fly that always made sure he never got close enough to hit.
Tier opened the door and stood face to face with a group of eight wolves. An unexpected surprise to say the least. The biggest of the group kicked Tier in the stumach, which was an even bigger surprise. The kick send him flying through the house. Majo wanted to run towards Tier to see if he was ok, but a wolf grabbed her by the wrist and drooled all over her clothes when he came in closer. His jaws opened and his sharp teeth and rotting smell made Majo realize that this would be the end of her short life. She was almost defenseless, apart from a well placed kick in the wolf’s groins. No matter how foul the species, a kick in the manhood was always the best defense. She ran for Tier as one of the wolves spoke “Where is the girl?”
“She’s right herel.” Tier said. "Come on buddy, we go way ba..."
“Where is the girl?” The wolf repeated, slightly more irked then before.
‘They must mean Yakira.’ Tier thought. ‘If we give her to them, we might get rid of them a lot easier.’
“Are you just going to sit here or what?” Majo whispered in his ear.
For a moment, that seemed like the best idea to him, but hey. He wasn't in for a fight.
“Hang on, let me show you.” He said as he got up. “I believe the girl you are looking for is this way.” He said, pointing to the kitchen.
The largest wolf that had asked them walked closer to Tier. “You’d better not be lying.” He said as he raised a finger and pricked him in the chest with it, to make his point come across stronger. Tier was not impressed though and gave the wolf a smirk.
“You shouldn’t have done that.” And with that, he took a bite out of the wolf’s finger and ran for cover.
The beast screamed and the other wolves readied themselves for the fight that was to come.
Another figure appeared in the doorstep.
The young girl took out her weapon and struck two wolves with it who reduced to dust like their brother had done before them.
Two of the beasts tried to escape but met the same fate before they could leave the house.
“It’s useless to run, you should not have come here.” Michelle spoke but Tier had a different plan. “Run to your master and tell him to leave us in peace, it’s useless to come back. We’ll be ready and waiting.” He shouted from behind the couch.
And with this, the wolf that had asked for the girl ran off into the woods to rejoin his master.
Jake walked into the house with Tony over his shoulder.
“Who the heck are you?” Tier shouted as Susan came walking downstairs.


Alexander had fired two shots at Greymane, both of them didn’t seem to pierce through the wolf’s thick skin. ‘This is impossible.’ He thought to himself.
Then he remembered that he was carrying two armor piercing bullets with him. He reached for his pocket as the wolf struck. His claws soared through the air and cut open his arm.
“(-) it!” Alexander shouted. He could feel the bullets against his fingertip and closed his hand around them when Greymane struck again. This time it was a little more serious, a hard kick in the stumach made Alexander fell back and he lost his grip on the bullets who rolled through the grass. Those two bullets seemed the only way for him to get out of this nasty situation. The smell of Alexanders blood made Greymane lose it and he forcefully struck again. His victim rolled out of the way and made the werewolf bury his claws in the blood soiled ground. Alexander felt one of his bullets against his cheek as he had rolled right on top of it. He quickly picked them up and loaded the bullet into his gun. He only had a single shot to dispose of the werewolf.
He aimed his gun but the wolf moved around to fast for him to get a good focus.
“Stay still so I can shoot you.” Alexander mumbled.
The wolf had no intention to obey and kept dodging Alexander’s gun.
Alexander pointed his gun away and kept his eye on the beast. ‘You’re going down one way or another.’ The wolf stood still underneath a tree, a big branch hanging over his head provided the perfect opportunity. Greymane breathed heavily and his eyes were tired and thick. Alexander’s last bullet cut through the branch and landed on top of Greymane.
The beast screamed but did not have enough strength left to free himself from his prison of nature. Alexander leaned over the wolf. “Who ordered you to kill us?” He demanded to know.
“Why won’t you just end it Alexander? You know I won’t tell you anything.”
Alexander walked back to the place where he had found his Armor piercing bullet. After a short look around he picked up the second one and turned back to face Greymane for his last few minutes. He loaded his gun and aimed it for the wolves heart.
He felt sorry for him when he looked at his face. He had enough of life and could not wait for Alexander to set him free. The bullet spat out of the gun and the wolf turned his eyes away, breathing even slower then he had done before.
“He used us, as puppets. He’ll come…”
Alexander knew it. The werewolves hadn’t been themselves today. They seemed much weaker then normal werewolves and they never hunt in packs greater then ten.
The silence was broken by several shots from the sniper in the bell tower.
Why was he still shooting? Most of the werewolves were gone, he noticed something else. He was the only one left on the battlefield, the door to the mansion stood open and the fighting went on inside, screaming refugees made him run for the broke down door, hoping he would be in time.

[The SlaYeR]

Tom and Jamie had entered the mansion and were firing away at the wolves from in the doorframe. “We should close the door and fire from the windows to keep them out. We’re to vulnarable here.” Jamie noted. Tom nodded in agreement as he took the left door.
They closed it in perfect harmony and ten of the refugees, including two small children came running to barricade it. “You two shouldn’t be here now. Go upstairs and wait untill we’re done.” The children obeyed and ran upstairs. Tom thanked the men for their help and quickly followed Jamie into the main hall from where they could find a perfect spot with a view on the main door. The wolves tried to break down the door by repeatedly running into it. The refugees managed to hold them outside but didn’t know how much longer they could handle the pressure. Several crack started to appear in it as Jamie and Tom found it’s way to the huge amount of refugees and sleeping bags.
They heard a loud noise coming from the hallway. The old and fragile door had given up sooner then they thought. The refugees could make a run for the main room before the wolves had a chance to tear away at them. Tom and Jamie moved back into the hall and fired away at the wolves that came storming in. One or two managed to break through the rain of hail that came down on them and went for Jamie. Two shots and they were dealt with. Alexander stood there, his guns smoking.
They needed a rest, just like him.
“Glad you could make it in time.” Tom said as he shot the last of the werewolves.
“We made it.” Jamie shouted in excitement. The people in the room cheered and everyone wanted to shake hands with their saviours. Little good blood had been shed tonight, and this had to be celebrated.

Another fight that no one was aware of still went on outside of the mansion. Louie was running for the fountain but arrived but a moment to late. The sniper had fired his gun and the pulled pierced through Louie’s right eye. He fell down to the ground, there was little left of his face. Dry blood and pieces of soft tissue surrounded the hole that had taken away his right eye and a part of his mouth and nose.
He did not move and the sniper was pleased. He quickly dismantled his sniper rifle and put it in a backpack which he swung around his shoulder. The rabbit removed her bandana to reveal long flowing dark hair that came to rest on his shoulders.
He took a small box of cigarettes from his baggy trousers and put one between his lips.
The dark green furred rabbit did not light it as he descended off the stairs.
He walked over to the fountain and stood over the body of the dead vampire. It wasn’t untill he made sure that the vampire was dead that he lit his cigarette, the dancing flame smoldered the tip and he inhaled deeply. The rabbit closed his eyes to enjoy a good ending to another hard days work. Louie opened his left eye and grabbed the rabbit by the ankle.
The rabbit was horrified, the vampire should’ve remained still for at least another hour. Which would’ve given him plenty of time to inject him with the lethal dose of nitrate.
He had been wrong and now the vampire was gently crawling up. He reached for the needle that contained the nitrate. It wasn’t to late yet to dispose of him. He just had to move a little faster. The rabbit pushed his cigarette into the gaping hole in Louie’s face.
Louie’s rage and anger had gone beyond control, he grabbed the wrist with which the rabbit was holding the needle and snapped it. He then snapped his other one and managed to pull himself up. The hole in his face was slowly generating, but came to a stop when his mouth was finished. “This is all I needed.” Louie told himself and he sank his fangs into the rabbits neck draining him from all of his blood. With every drop he took another piece of tissue was restored untill he had drained him empty. Louie let go off him and the dead rabbit lay in front of his feet. “You couldn’t resist biting an innocent could you?” He heard, followed by the click of a gun. “It’s not what you think it is Alexander.” He said, truthfully in his defense.
“These bullets are filled with a dose of silver nitrate, your dead will be inevideble.”
Alexander fired but Louie quickly dodged the bullet and jumped into the fountain. He had just fed and all of his strengths had restored to it’s fullest. Alexander ran for the fountain but could not find Louie anywhere in it. “Come out and fight like a man.” Alexander shouted.
“Listen to me and then decide wheter you want to shoot me.” Alexander fired in the direction where the voice had come from, but all he hit was a tree.
“He was the sniper that was part of their group, he started to fire away at me and hit me…” He got cut short since Alexander fired another round. “… He walked over to me to inject a lethal dosage of Nitrate into me. It was either him or me.” Alexander lowered his gun when he looked the man in the face. “Cooper.”
“You know this man?” Tom asked.
“He’s with my orginization. He’s an aural sniper. An enhanced vision and the ability to detect monsters from miles away. He probably could not tell Louie from any other vampire and decided that he’d make a good pray.”
“An innocent misunderstanding then?” Tom asked when he spotted Louie walking towards them. He looked healthy and more alive then during the fight.
“It seems so.” Alexander put his gun away. He should probably apoligize, but he was only doing his job and decided that an apoligy wasn’t necessary.
Good or bad, he was a vampire after all. Jamie seemed to share this logic.
“Can anyone tell me why you are standing up for this vampire?”

[The SlaYeR]

“It seems like it’s over.” Majo said. She was worried. Had all of them survived?
She was glad Michelle was alright , the young girl who she had so much in common with, except for the fact that she was still alive ofcourse. She felt rather guilty about that. How would it feel to be so young and dead, and knowing that you’d never live the same life again. Your body rotting away underneath you. Hiding for the ‘normal’ people. She was worried about Tom as well. He had been such a good man to all them, giving them a place to stay and sharing his food with them.
Alexander was the grumpy one but she was absolutely sure that he wasn’t as cold hearted as he seemed to be. He was fighting on their side while he could’ve headed off long before the werewolves came. He had risked his life for the well-being of the refugees and for them.
And Louie, would he be alright? Would he be pleased to see that she was alright as well or would he walk past her and be his cold and lonely self again?
She’d soon find out. Tier opened the door and walked out.
“They’re all here.” He was more pleased then he thought he thought he would be.
Majo ran to Louie and jumped at him holding him tight. A faint hint of a smile could be seen on his face as he put her arms around her too. How bad could it be to show a little affection every now and then he thought as let his defenses down and felt some warmth for the first time in years. Susan cried as she saw Tom enter. “My brave general.” She whispered. “I’m so proud of you. You brought them all back and you returned in one piece.”
Tom knew he had done well. If it was only for the affection Susan showed him. The love and pride she felt from her made him feel this way. And he loved her.
“How is he doing?” Alexander asked while looking at his young pupil.
“He’s a strong guy, he will be alright thanks to Susan good care.” Tier said while looking at Michelle. He was glad she was ok, but wasn't the kind of guy that would say this out loud, ever. Tony opened his eyes to look around the room. “You did well, kid.” Alexander said as he stuffed his pipe. He’d been longing for this thing on the way home and was glad to finally be able to take a hit. Jake put his hand on Tony’s shoulder.
“Thank you.” Tony coughed a little, which seemed to hurt. He closed his eyes again to get some more rest. A serenity like no other filled the room.
Absolute peace of mind now that something had become very clear to them.
After tonight, every person in this room knew they stood a chance.
“The refugees have invited us to come celebrate our victory with them, I think we should take them up on their offer. We deserve a party. After all, this was only the beginning.” Alexander said. “I agree, we seemed to have forgotten our manners though.” Susan said.
“Have any of you bothered to introduce yourselves to our new guests?” She looked over at Jamie and Jake. “I guess we should go first.” Jamie said.
“My name is Jamie LaGrande. I am, or was, part of the lucky charm. We are a small group of independed soldiers that fight wherever we are needed. We heard of the group of refugees that were send here and we were closeby. We decided we would lend a hand.”
“How noble.” Louie noted. She didn’t like him to much and he started to take a real disliking for the kind of people that thought he was a bad person, just because of this curse Estella had placed on him.
Jake continued. “My name is Jake Dellaine. Our partners were Adam Bing and Dane Cooper, an ex-schism employé.”
Tom had removed himself from the group and went through a small container that kept several boxes. “Carroleum, Animorpills, ahh.. Absentis.” He took out the small box that contained a flask of transparant liquid.
“We have to attend to the party tonight, Jake and Alexander. Would you please be so kind as to empty this bottle in the water tower, east of the mansion. Behind the Greenthorpe family tomb? It will make sure that everyone who drinks from the water will have forgotten the past few hours. Making it seem like the werewolves attack never happend.”
“We will join you guys later.”
Louie seperated himself from the group as well, he wanted to check in on Yakira.
He opened the door to her bedroom to see her sitting up straight in her bed.
Her mortal cover had been ripped open in several pieces. She pressed the sheets against her chest when she heard the door open.
“I was wondering…” Louie paused. How could he think that this innocence could have anything to do with Estella, apart from her being torn up by his enemies claws.
“I’ll be fine.” Yakira said and she stepped out of the bed, wrapping the sheets around her body. “Your voice, you’d look over me. But I haven’t seen you here in a while.”
“I did not break my promis. We took care of the wolves, they had us heavily outnumbered…”
He got cut short again. “Don’t apoligize.” I would be dead by now if you people had not taken care of me.” She lost her balance and fell on her bum, onto the bed.
“Are you alright?” Louie asked concerned.
“My skin itches and burns.” She said. “I know, you gave poor Tony quiet a scare.” Louie smiled. For the first time he really smiled. And there was no one around that could see it.
He brushed off several patches of Jade Dawn that were still covering her skin and slowly burning it away, preventing it from healing by itself. His hand started to burn the moment it made contact with the chemical. His hands would heal fine by themselves and the pain did not outweight the fact that she’d be feeling better by the morning.
“Stay in bed a little while longer.” He said softly.

“Welcome to our humble settlement my dear saviours.” One of the child refugees said.
His parents probably made him study that line over and over.
The Diamondians had done their best to make their settlement as cozy as possible and when they entered the main room, Tom noticed that the Diamondians had brought several bottles of booze with them. Carrot ale (one of his favorits), a couple of bottles of Hash’kin wine (Home-brewn most likely) and even a bottle of ’82 New Carrotian Cider.
“Should we really be sitting with them, drinking their wine, while they have so little left?” Susan asked Tom. “It would be unpolite to refuse a drink, we saved their lives and they want to repay us for it. Let there be no worries on your mind tonight and just enjoy the party.
Louie fired up his old gramaphone player as Alexander went through his record collection.
“It seems like we do have something in common.” He said as he held up ‘Ode to the Earian bay’ by ‘Jaggin Banks.’
“It used to be a favorite of my mother. I’ve always been fond of the piano play in it.” Louie said.

[The SlaYeR]

“Before we begin I would like to make a toast.” Tom said.
The refugees were all ears for this man in front of them, he was impressive, not for his posture or his soft voice, but because of the fact that he managed to create even the least bit of order in the fight today. And in this group of people in front of them. Several of them looked rather strange. One of the males was rather pale under his fur and his eyes seemed off. Sort of liked the druggies that lived underneath the bridges in the capital.
Then there was this young girl who had given everything to defend them.
They were very grateful, but the smell she brought forth and the thick layers off clothing seemed off on an occasion like this.
Tier had remained home, he did not care much for these kind of occasions and someone had to look after the sick. The girls had handed out a glass of water to everyone.
“We are very grateful for your hospitality and we welcome you to this house. It is yours as long as it has to be. We will give our lifes to defend all of you, for you are the future of Diamonuds. And I can garantee you that there will be one. We’ve fallen upon hard times. But our history has had to deal with more then this before. And we’ve always struggled to survive and always have. The future will know our story through you and your grandchildren and their grandchildren. Raise a glass with me. On the future.”
“That was an awfull speech.” Alexander said, with a laugh.
“They seem to love it though, and we had to hand out the water one way or another.” Louie replied. “I wonder how much good it will do. They’ll come back, better prepared and with more forces.”
Suddenly the door opened and Gary Parker entered the building. Accompanied by several of his henchmen. “My congratulations to all of you.” He wished them dead but was a briljant actor, and his congratulations seemed real enough for the refugees.
A silence hang over the group of people that knew about his real plans.
“Thank you sir. We did the best we could.” Jake said. Unaware of what the others knew.
“Why, I’m sure you did.” He said as he took a glass of water.
Michelle smirked when he gulped it down all at once. “I would like to invite all of you to an honorary dinner on Wednesday evening. Does that suit you and your friends, mister Bradhurst?” Tom did not quiet know how to respond.
“We will be there, mister Parker. Thank you for the invitation.” Alexander replied.
“Most excellent. I will see you on Wednesday. Carry on. Oh, and I love this song.” He said before him and his henchmen took off again.
“Thank you for the invitation?” Michelle said. “Have you lost your mind. He wants to dispose of us. Did you see the hate in his eyes?”
“It was a good thing of Alexander to accept that invitation.” Louie said.
“Several of us should go and question everything and everyone that works for him. It will be a dangerous endevour, but it will be a great oppurtinity for us to learn more about his plans.”


The party ended early in the morning and the sun had come up before they all went home.
Tier was still up and without greeting anyone he took of to find his sleeping bag.
“Goodnight everyone.” Alexander said when he walked to the attic, he smelled of cheap wine and almost tripped over the last sport on the steps.
Jake sat down in a chair opposit of the coach Tony lay on.
Louie walked upstairs when everyone went to bed and sat down against Yakira’s door before he closed his eyes and dozed off.




---

I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I hope it shows (And I hope anyone will take the time to read all of this hehe.) Cobra, you're up, I hope you'll find it easier to write then before.

(Wow, posting this took almost as long as writing it :P)

[Doubble Dutch]

Nice chapter, have sent note.

Brilliant stuff; just goes to show what happens when you mess with the undead of various types.

[Hareoic]

I'm starting to wish I'd joined this thing sooner. And for those who are concerned, I don't care where my plotlines go when others pick them up and my characters are no longer godlike. If I manage to read through all of this stuff, I'd like to join in.

[Strato]

We'll be like New R.E.N.T. =D, all the initial cast members leaving to be replaced by new guys.

[The SlaYeR]

I'm starting to wish I'd joined this thing sooner. And for those who are concerned, I don't care where my plotlines go when others pick them up and my characters are no longer godlike. If I manage to read through all of this stuff, I'd like to join in.

If you read through all of this then feel free to join.
Make sure you really read all of it though and don't just start writing something random. Oh and your character should have weaknesses. Gods are not allowed ;-;

[Hareoic]

Oh and your character should have weaknesses. Gods are not allowed ;-;

Does an unreplicatible mineral that exists in extremely limited quantities throughout the universe that causes a near fatal allergic reaction count?

[Doubble Dutch]

Well it can't be unreplicatible, or else none would have formed in the first place. Ordinary minerals are hard enough to make as it is.

It would be interesting to see a mineral based character though, what would they eat? Sand?

[The SlaYeR]

Does an unreplicatible mineral that exists in extremely limited quantities throughout the universe that causes a near fatal allergic reaction count?

Don't call it kryptonite, and give is a bit of a description about your character please.

[Monolith]

That's crazy long, but it goes well. Good job SlaYo.

[Coppertop]

... Slay, I think I love you. O+

I must confer with Ducky and Tick as to how we are going to fit our little group into the big picture.

[acid]

Wow, Slay, that was an incredible chapter. I could not put it down, in the sense of the metaphor. Excellent work, and great to see that this still has momentum.

Of course, the perfectionist in me could not go without pointing out that there were a few spelling errors. The only one that really stuck in my mind, though, was: "Galleons of blood had been spilled," which should be "Gallons of blood had been spilled."

Keep up the good work!

[Doubble Dutch]

I dunno; 'galleons' would make a great eggcorn [Expression misspelt but being more fitting than the origional]

Either way, it is an awesome chapter. Who's next?

[The SlaYeR]

Wow, Slay, that was an incredible chapter. I could not put it down, in the sense of the metaphor. Excellent work, and great to see that this still has momentum.

Of course, the perfectionist in me could not go without pointing out that there were a few spelling errors. The only one that really stuck in my mind, though, was: "Galleons of blood had been spilled," which should be "Gallons of blood had been spilled."

Keep up the good work!


They came by boat ;|

(And thanks guys, Cobs is up next. But you know Cobs, always busy prancing about and hitting on emo men with long, dark hair.)

I'm sorry about the many spelling errors this time. I told you I would have it done in two days which I did. I wrote everything and tried to get it up in time. I posted it so fast though that I did not do my usual run through, I hope it has not been to much of a distraction. (Oh, and I can not always word things exactly the way I want to in English. I guess I should take some more classes. I also apoligize for the many uses of the word I in this message. Thanks)

[Alex]

yay :D

[The SlaYeR]

I think we should skip Cobs. She does not seem to be paying much attention.

[Doubble Dutch]

Well you know how it is; so many emo guys, so little time... *sigh*

Well if she aint goin, lets hear it for whoever's next!

[Strato]

So would that be Ducky?

[Cobra]

I just moved to a place with no internet, but the new chapter should be up soon :mad: Unless you have already decided to skip me.

[Doubble Dutch]

See Strato? Threatening works!

[Strato]

Even with girls? =D

[Coppertop]

If you're still planning to post a chapter I see no reason whatsoever why you should be skipped. Slay?

[The SlaYeR]

Yah, if she's going to post soon then that's alright.

[superjwren329]

In response to Doubble Dutch: I'm sorry. I'm a bit careless...

[The SlaYeR]

I dont think this is going to work Jwren.
First of all, your character is to powerful, second of all, your character just did something that totally messed up the storyline we have going.
Why did you not read the previous chapter in which we already killed off all of the werewolves? And what's with the game quotes? We're going for something original here.
Really, I don't think this is a good idea guys.
You should change EVERYTHING you've written thus far.

[Coppertop]

Unfortunately I find myself agreeing with Slay, for the same reasons he has stated. Superjwren, your character doesn't really fit in with the storyline and world that we have been creating. The characters should have definite weaknesses and realistic strengths that allow for more interaction and possibilities in the storyline. Also, we need to work with each other, expanding and continuing what another has written rather than rewriting events to suit our characters. At this point, your character seems to have little value to add to the cast, and your contribution does little to enhance the storyline.
Besides which, it was Cobra's turn next ...

[superjwren329]

Fair enough. Don't worry about it. I guess I gotta get back to my other story at GameFaqs...

[Doubble Dutch]

I believe you could fit all of the above into the storyline with one simple sentence: 'And then he awoke.'

I though Cobra would be any day now...?

[The SlaYeR]

She is working on it and it's starting to look very good.
So you all have something to look forward to?

[Cobra]

She had been dreaming again.
Not the deep rest she once achieved. As her body would slip past the stages of sleep where her mind unwound into coils and spasms of thought, she would brink upon the stage where her eyes would move. And it woke her.
Her eyes were on fire again. With a shriek she writhed more, scabs being rubbed off her body and wounds reopened with every movement. The burn in her eyes was gone now; it had been a dream. But the deep burn over her body would not stop.
Her writhing stopped; she slid off the bed in a mass of bandages and sheets. The dull thud of her head against the floor was of no comfort even though it took her mind from her current state.

Louie's own slumber was interrupted by the movement in the room. Soundlessly he flew up and opened the door, beholding the poor creature inside who flinched away from the unknown. She must have felt the shift in the air as the door opened.

He knew better than to ask her if she was alright; the harried breathing and oozing wounds were enough. Instead he went to her, returning her to her place on the bed. He had no intention of leaving her, but her arm snaked up and clung to his.

"Please don't leave me." she said in a small voice, sounding much younger than she was. "I know you won't hurt me." It was the same voice he heard from her the first time he saw her outside of the mansion.
"Of course I won't." he said, as she pulled herself up and clung to him.
He was safe to her. Something felt different about him yes, but safety in the darkness was hard enough to find. Her fingers flew up to her eyes, but he stopped them. Her hand was diverted, and instead went to his shoulder.

"Try not to rub, it only reopens the wounds." he said softly. She responded by moving her hand to his mouth, not covering it but feeling his words come out.
"I never realized," she said in a voice not so young anymore "how much is missed without sight." Her hand went up to his forehead, soft fur rarely touched. She moved it down, wondering if she could translate touch into an image in her mind. They slid across his eyes, fingers wandering over the features. He was strangely cold.

Unshaken by this sudden familiarity, he let her continue. The smell of blood was strong on her. Not strong enough to make him take her, but still a thick perfume. He felt his fangs reacting to the scent.

"This is a familiar feeling." she said softly to herself. She had done this before, but not to him. Who had it been?
She stopped abruptly as her hand went over his upper lip. Something was different. The feeling of lips over teeth was not the usual. Yakira was no expert on teeth, but she felt something different about it. Without thinking, she slid a lone finger along the curve and realized that it was not something she had in her own mouth.

A sharp inhale and she stopped moving. In fact, Louie noticed that she stopped breathing at the feeling of his fangs. Immediatley he made the connection. Both he and Estella had such teeth.
"What is this?" she said, her voice deepened with dread. His response was vaulting up, intent on reaching the door and tearing away from her.

But what happened instead astounded him. Even with his improved vampiric agility, he was not fast enough. Bloodied arms were around his neck, and he felt the full weight of her trying to pull him down. He stepped to balance himself and felt an angry paw hurtling over his face. Two fingers hooked into his mouth with far too much precision at avoiding his fangs. The world violently inverted as nails tore into the roof of his mouth and his back hit the floor. Immediatly her foot was in his chest in attempt to keep him down as the two fingers in his mouth were replaced by four, and his jaw was wrenched open with a pop.

Although this sudden burst of agility from Yakira had startled him, he could have overpowered her. It was not the foot with its increasing pressure that was keeping him down, but the sight above him.

Yakira's eyes were wide open and fixed on his mouth with a certain hate. Her awakened pupils met his, and with a hiss she wrenched his jaw again, as if she wanted to open his head. "You are the same as the one who did this to me!" A glance at the gashes on her chest was equally astonishing; the blood had stopped flowing at it was as if the flesh was pulling itself back together.

The strangeness of this sudden change had left Louie wordless. Through the pain in his jaw he met her eyes again, his unblinking and unrevealing. And in that moment, something in Yakira's eyes changed. The lids softened, the pupils clouded over and a lone trickle of blood streamed forth from each eye. Her paws loosened, the nails no longer imbedded in his pallet, all strength leaving them. The wounds reopened as scabs ripped apart and newly fused muscles shredded. With a barely audible cry, one of her paws attempted to jerk away from the pain. This sudden movement raked skin across teeth and brought the taste of blood to Louie. But this was no rabbit blood. This blood tasted strangely reptilian.

She reeled backwards and fell, writhing and letting out small cries as Louie vaulted to a sitting position and tried to catch her. Her breathes were coming out in rapid fire while her heart was pounding erratically. He gathered her into his arms, and as she started shaking he could not help but wonder what had come over her. Certainly this was not the common reaction of most in her state. And while healing suddenly was nothing unknown to him, he knew that mortal creatures were not prone to such behavior. His eyes tried to meet hers, but there was no life behind them.

In the smallest voice he had heard escape her, she whispered "Please leave, do not hurt me." She extended her arms to try to pull herself away, but the lack of sight was too much and she found nothing. Louie watched her struggles, seeing how weak she had become. How the blood was now spewing on her face and hands, down her arms and pooling on her chest. A hunger awoke in him, burning as he stared at the life fluids collecting on her and pooling on the floor.

The hunger was overwhelming. He could practically taste the blood and feel the warmth it gave him. His eyes were fixed on the temptation, and no matter what he did it pulled at him. Pulling, twisting, aiming his thoughts at nothing more than the thought of skin rending beneath his fangs and the glory that resulted. WIthouth much thought, he lowered his head to drink from the collection at her chest.

To Yakira, it was not that much. A sensation of heat, his presence and everything else was enveloped in the pain of her wounds. But something happened that startled her. It was a familiar feeling, so much like the time that Estella had ripped her open. But instead of the feeling of tooth and nail on her right forarm, it was warm and almost pleasant. The anxiety lurked in her as he moved from her right arm to her left, sucking and licking the blood from the wounds. But something in it comforted her, and the promise he had made came to mind, filling her almost with ease.

Certainly this blood tasted different to Louie, but the bloodlust had come and he could not stop himself from wanting more. Although his body ached to take her and all of her blood, he instead went from wound to wound, licking up the excess blood and moving to the next before he could start draining her. But his saliva was affecting her in a way not so good for him; as he lapped up along each gash, the skin would heal. As he moved from each crude version of Esetlla's name, it disapeared. Soon he was left with nothing more but the pool on the floor, which was already cold and inedibable to him.

Something was amiss about the wounds especially by her hands and feet. As he ran his tongue along the gashes, his mouth felt a slight heat, and as he pulled away the heat burst into full flame. The soft flesh of his mouth started peeling and ripping, but it soon had closed.
He turned to her neck and observed the blood pumping through it. Her slightly opened mouth was gasping in strange silence, and her half-lidded eyes still did not see him. He wanted to continue, to taste so much more. His lips were open, and he wanted.

But for some benevolent whim of fate, a sound at the door halted his movements and cleared his mind of all the red. His fangs retracted. For in the doorway was Majo, arms furiously clenching at her side. "So you are preying on our invalid now, are you?" She crossed her arms and scowled.

Louie had been used to such statements, but none of the typical malice was in Majo's voice. He looked down to see Yakira, her robes opened at all the places Estella had marred her. The bed was rumpled with sheets on the floor from the struggle. And in made sense; she was accusing him of being a different kind of predator.

But as Majo stood there, he could see her breathing had changed. The corners of her mouth were starting to turn down. Her anger was not at him, but at Yakira. Majo turned and left the doorway slowly, then accelerated.

As Yakira was placed back on her bed, she could feel differently. She could feel. Not the grate of opened nerves, nor the heavy chill of blood pooling outside of her body. Aside from the burning in her head, she was better than she could have remembered. Her fear faded into the haze of her mind, but it was not so dim now. Although she could not remember anything that had just happened.

~*~
Forgive the wonky paragraphs, I'm trying to make it easier to read.

Casting the doubts to the lurking depths of her mind, she righted herself then worked towards the door in search of food.

[Coppertop]

Wow, awesome chapter Cobbi.

[Monolith]

Awesome indeed. I liked it.

[Doubble Dutch]

Excellent stuff; a lot more professional than you see in net fiction these days. I'd comment more, but its evident to everyone that this chapter rules.

So Spaztic is up next...

[Alex]

:D nice :D

[Strato]

With the way we're leaping around, I thought it was Ducky next, then DD, then Alister, then myself.

[Doubble Dutch]

Really? Well, you heard him people, any of the four people he mentioned may as well post something; I wouldn't call this leaping around, more like plate tectonics.

[The SlaYeR]

DD, even though it warms my heart to see how much you support Stratn, it's not Ducky's turn. It is Spaztic's since he asked for several of us to go first. After that we're back on track. Okbye.

[Strato]

I thought we skipped Spaztic cause he wasn't posting on time. Ah crap, whatever. Slay is the law of the land. All bow to him!

[Doubble Dutch]

Blast! I keep forgetting who's in charge here, both your names start with 'S' its very confusing. Either way, I don't see why people can't make a start on their chapters now.

[The SlaYeR]

That's a good idea. Everyone should start on their chapters right NOW!
So that if someone changes a lot of things they have to delete it and do the whole thing over again. Why did I not think of this before :D

Anyway, Spaztic said he'll be writing whenever he feels like it. (That's the spirit, old chum) So our dear Ducky is up next. I hope anyone can find her and get her to post this week. Otherwise it's your turn DD. (I don't feel like waiting months between posts anymore, so I'm going to speed things up a little. Even if that means there'll be only three people left eventually.)

[Strato]

Am I one of the three? =D

[Doubble Dutch]

That's a good idea. Everyone should start on their chapters right NOW!
So that if someone changes a lot of things they have to delete it and do the whole thing over again. Why did I not think of this before

As far as I can see, little actually changes between chapters, and when it does its stepwise, predictable and logical. At least some preperation can be done before chapters are posted; all of mine were almost done by the time the previous chapter was posted.


Now, let us go Ducky hunting!

[Tik]

It's my plan to post a short chapter tomorrow or later tonight. If I don't get it done then, I'll probably just pass.

[Monolith]

You better get it done then.

[Strato]

Is that a pass?

[The SlaYeR]

It is, lets give Ducky three days to reply. She's been inactive for a while.

[The SlaYeR]

Ok, DD is up next :)

[Doubble Dutch]

I don't believe you until Strato says so; if I did anything now I'd probbably ruin someone's nicely prepared chapter.

[The SlaYeR]

Ok, skipping DD and moving on to the next person in line.
Good luck Alister.

[Doubble Dutch]

Okay; I'm assuming The Slayer is in charge here and posting a chapter, so if this annoys anyone its his fault okay? Just to play it safe I've made this nice and general and not used anyone's characters, so this shouldn't be too big of a disruption.



The fight was almost three days previous.

Michelle stared at the small mound of dirt in front of her, marked with a crude wooden cross; the only marker that said her brother had ever been anyone, had existed. Her family had never left a big impact on the world, or even shown an interest in it. They hadn't patrolled and fixed the lines because they were employed to do so, but rather because they always had. They'd stuck together and cared for each other because that wass the way life was, and nothing else was even imaginable. Her mother had died just after her birth, falling down a ravine in the dark, and the three that remained, her, her brother and her father had just got on as well as they could. She'd been so close, that was what people didn't understand. And then he'd gone off all full of hope and a better life just a hundred miles away from their turf, and he'd never come back. She'd heard of his death by radio, seen it on a TV screen.

Michelle felt a small inkling of a sensation she'd become increasingly used to, the feeling of life in her location. She turned and saw the two figures behind her, Tier and Alexander both keeping a respectful silence. Alexander was the first to speak, approaching her and gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "The others wondered where you were, you've been gone almost two days, have you been here all that time...? I guess its hard to remember what with all this that we've lost a few people. I- I'm sorry; I guess there's not really anything I can say is there? I guess you were really close. Michelle sighed "You have no idea; the only time you saw anyone else was either when you bumped into another patrol by chance, or once a month when we went to Skite for supplies. Can you imagine that? A town called Skite." She laughed bitterly. "Course, it was really nothing more than a supplies store for parts and food, we were never given real wages as such."

Alexander paused, he was way out of his depth here and he knew it. He didn't even know what the hell he'd come out here for, or what he'd been going to do. "Uh, so you've still got your father? What now?" There was a long pause before she answered in a small distant voice. "I... don't know. My father can join another patrol, or retire; he's always talked about it. I don't really think I can go back, not now." Alexander stood in the uncomfortable silence then eventually wandered away, with the odd backwards glance, leaving the two zombies together.

The silence persisted for the best part of half an hour, Michelle losing track of her thoughts, being roused from her contemplation only by a quiet cough from Tier. "I warned you about this. I said there was no going back." When it came, the reply had tones of ice. "So what? So that’s it then? Don't think I didn't plan for this! Perhaps you may think it fine to go around all emo, but I for one plan to use this to my advantage, whatever I do!" There was another silence; zombies had a lot of time on their hands to think things over. Finally Tier spoke. "I'm going to this dinner party everyone's talking about, and I'm quite sure you will to, not that we'll be eating anything." In the meantime I suggest you go have fun with your new friends, they have a lot to be thankful for.

Tier turned and headed back the way he'd come. He'd only been there to show Alexander where Michelle had gone, and he'd known her location more out of prediction than anything else. The sun was setting but the darkness held no fears for him anymore. He felt strange these last few days, a feeling he was finding hard to pin down, it certainly wasn't excitement, or fear, anger or hatred or anything else that could be caused by this latest conflict. He'd seen wars before, up close and from a distance, hell, he'd seen everything pretty much, and this new... eagerness perhaps? was worrying him. He was welcomed at the door by Susan who, he guessed from the vague odor of alcohol was out for a bit of fresh air and a recovery. He'd never seen anyone so sensitive to booze, it was amazing she didn't get tipsy just breathing the fumes from inside, where there was a kind of low level social event had been going on for the last day or so. It was far too subtle to be called a party, more like a get-together.

"Hey, I hear you're inviting yourself to Parker's big dinner party; be careful huh? I really don't like the feel of this whole thing. Tier smiled, but it was a smile with no humor in it, one that always unnerved anyone he talked to. "And if I'm not? What then? What can they do to me? Shoot me? Set me on fire? Cut me to pieces? You saw Michelle with those wolves, she was never in danger of getting hurt, she didn't feel anything and there's not a scratch on her now. There's nothing they can do to either of us and you know it. The refugees at least admit it; you can see the looks we get." Susan smiled back, if anything it had even less goodwill in it than Tier's "Yes, but my friends will go with you, and if anything happens to them..." she broke off in mid sentence and went back inside. Tier went out back and worked on some plumbing. He'd be there till morning when things had quietened down, and then there would be the wounded to see to. After all, he didn't drink or sleep and there was work to do. There was always work to do, somewhere.


* * *


Michelle stood in the darkness and saw through it perfectly, eyes that didn't see cutting through the ebony night like a lance. She saw the lives dance around her, split, change and fade away, the whole world glowed. And she strode through it, aloof and unchanging, a sliver of darkness in the noise and tumult that was existence. And she had power, incredible power. She would never end, never change, never grow weak or old or tired. She grabbed a passing moth and crushed it; felt a tingle of energy as it gave up its life force to fuel her.

And she could reach out so much further than she'd ever dreamed. She stretched out a hand and watched as a tree wilted and withered to a rotting stump, she twirled through the night riding the cold and the dark, capturing life force to continue the mad dance.

And couldn't stop. She saw her friends around her, running and screaming at her approach as she whirled past them the crumbled to dust amid screams of anguish. And still she feed, off the noise, the screams, the life Nobody was safe, friends, family... her father; they were all gone in a flash of feeding. And others fell too, too many to count, the forest burned and the seas dried up, land moved and stars died, the universe flowed around her as she sucked the light from it.

And then it was over, nothing but cold and dark and quiet, a universe of silence and death. And she was alone. And there was Tier, watching her in the darkness with dead eyes, still and silent and cold as the rest of creation, alone with her in a prison of a thousand years.


It would be wrong to say she awoke, for she hadn't been sleeping, as such. It was more a drift back to reality. It hadn't been a dream, or a nightmare, just a train of thought that had left the tracks. She'd still to get used to not sleeping, or crying, breathing or the many other small changes this 'life' forced upon her. She shivered in the dwindling light and made her way back to the house. She needed the light and the noise to drown out her thoughts.

She never had the chance to reach the door; she was met halfway there by a blue rat standing on the porch. "Hey, you're the chick they use around here to keep the vermin down right? Me'n my friends just wanted to say hi, but it seems Mark and David got distracted by some somewhat more lively girls, and Amaya passed out on the couch before you got here, I told her it was no good drinking after losing all that blood but who listens to me? Anyway, my names Szev, which is gonna be a real problem if you lisp." He held out a hand, which Michelle eventually accepted. "Yeesh! They aren't kidding! You're as cold as last night’s leftovers! Hey is it true about all the no pain and regeneration and stuff? I mean, I caught a rat in my pillowcase this morning and I'll let you have it if you'll stop staring at me like that, I feel like a main course.

Michelle smiled, she felt better already. "Hell, why not, show me this captive of yours and I'll show you fourteen ways of cookin’ him, but you're eating half; I can't stand cooked food anymore."

.

[Strato]

I was never in charge. I'm not sure where that idea came from. D=

[Doubble Dutch]

You commissioned the group vote n' everything!

[Doubble Dutch]

Well? Is anyone actually reading this stuff? Who's going next?

Hello? *pokes*

[The SlaYeR]

I have read it. Alister (ToxicBunny) is next.
It's a shame you felt like leaving all of those characters out, that was not really necessary. Apart from that it's another very well written chapter, but I came to expect nothing less of you.

[Alex]

nice.. :)

[edit:] by the way, were were you this morning? I waited 2 hours.. :(

[The SlaYeR]

What the explicit?

[Alex]

(she never reads her pm box, so i just posted it, yesterday was my b-day adn she usually shows up around the time I eat my breakfast... I dont see her that ofthen because of that time difference, but yesterday, the school started 2 hours later then normal...)

back on topic plz..

[Coppertop]

Back on topic indeed.

Nice chapter DD, though I must agree with Slay that there was no reason not to use other characters. Nevertheless I enjoyed it.

[superjwren329]

This story is great...I am in the work of genius. Keep it up! I am happy that I have read this!:-) :-)

[Doubble Dutch]

Nice chapter DD, though I must agree with Slay that there was no reason not to use other characters. Nevertheless I enjoyed it.

Oooh, you can't use people's characters without their express permission; not only is it ilegal, but they get real mad into the bargin.

[Alex]

isn't that just the goal of this story? (using a group of comman characters with multiple writers) (no, I didnt mean sueing eachother for ripoff)

[Alister]

Yeah, because what this story really needs is more people dropping out.

[The SlaYeR]

I'd rather have her drop out then act like this.

[Doubble Dutch]

I've been kicked out lets see, three times for using other people's characters. I don't dare anymore.

I can get rid of my characters in a flash if that's what people want.

[The SlaYeR]

No one is kicking you out.
Using other peoples characters is the whole point of this isn't it?
If you don't want that, then you should leave. We are not kicking you out though.

[superjwren329]

...Something tells me that this could end badly...let's all just try to keep the peace. The last thing we need is something like this turning out into a full scale flame war. That wouldn't be pretty...

Doubble Dutch is a girl?! I didn't know that. :o :o :o

[superjwren329]

Oh....The Dimension in Darkness has a new story in the works. Come by and see. You can also offer input and characters to my story...If you wish.

[Alex]

yeah, shes a girl...


back on topic...

WE WANT STORY !!!!!

[superjwren329]

You want a story while you wait? Just come the Dimension in Darkness link. It's good...I promise... I wrote it, after all.

But... I only post on weekends, Wendsday and sometimes Thursday/Friday.

[Strato]

Yeah, let's get all worked up over our bunny rabbit story!

Look, I don't care if people use my characters. I don't even like Alexander. I made him years ago. I rather liked the chapter, and I dont' care that it didn't include the full cast. It'd get really old if people were forced to use everyone constantly. I understand if people get worked up over it if somebody dosen't use other character, but she's gotten the idea that we shouldn't. So instead of going at eachother's throats, I think it's time we changed our focus a bit.

This project has changed dramatically and I think our methods and ideas need to be retooled a bit to fit the dynamics. Certainly, the authors that are remaining have all changed writing habits, and that might be creating some friction. I for one like to write huge passages, but I'm rather picky about when I do it. As such, the turn based system dosen't work for me very well because I'll be inspired when I'm not supposed to write, but I won't have a very relevent outlet except for tangent story arcs. This is just an example, but I think we should all discuss exactly how we feel about the story and any suggestion we might have.

[Coppertop]

Superjwren, please do not endorse your own story in a different thread. It is offtopic and just a little rude. I'll leave your current two posts but any more I'll remove.

Strato, do you have any specific suggestions?

[Doubble Dutch]

I vote for random insertion of chapters by people whenever they have something to contribute, it may move things along faster.

[The SlaYeR]

I told you before that this is not a good idea.
What if I was writing a ten page chapter and someone added a 4 page one in the meantime bringing changing to the timeline. That would totally mess my chapter up.
So how do we work this problem out?

You could always just write a flashback for your own character. I guess Tier and Alexander have plenty of history.
I did it myself for a couple of times. That keeps things going as well and it won't interupt our story. As a matter of fact, I'm working on one right now.

[Strato]

How about the "I got something" system? Somebody makes a post when they think they've got a good idea. If somebody else wants to make the next chapter, they can talk it over with the other party.

[Coppertop]

I still like the turn system but it seems that the writers involved haven't committed themselves to the story. Besides which, I think communication is a problem. How are we going to merge the separate storylines? Are we planning on killing any characters (imho, we should)? I'm not suggesting that we lay down a definite plotline but I really think we need to communicate more with the other writers involved.

[Strato]

I tend to talk to people over mIRC when something comes up. But yeah, we used to have a thread for the united story. Why don't we use that anymore?

[Doubble Dutch]

That's a good point. A mixture of random and turn chapters would be an ideal situation, allowing flexibility and progress.

[The SlaYeR]

If this is what the majority wants, then its fine by me.
I will post a flashback chapter somewhere between now and three days from here.

[Strato]

Well now the majority hasn't spoken yet. It looks like 2 to 2. We probably shouldn't change anything.

[Alex]

I vote for DD's idea.

[The SlaYeR]

The man from Earian, part 1. (flashback scene)

He had kept track of the days he had spent in solitude in the beginning. Just to give himself something to do. Time ment little to a madman however and in no more then two years he had given up. He welcomed in the thief that came to collect his sanity.
There was no other choice then to let the maelstrom of incoherent thoughts wash over him.
As a stream of lunacy in which to baptize the insane.
In the beginning there was Estella to keep him company and teach him all he had to know about his new found so called life.
She had told him a vampire was not able to take his own life, for the need for his kind to survive was to great. The vampire was considered a threat to each and every other form of life in the known universe. And therefor many were out to hunt them down. And kill them all.
He had cursed himself enough over the fact that he could not kill himself.
The many attempts he had made had failed miserably, for his entire body shut down whenever he tried anything to put it in danger. In the eve of the new moon. Exactly seven years since he had died. Louie could be found in the garden of his mansion.
He sat next to the oak his parents had plant for him when he was born. A common customary among the wealthy residents of the Peddleburg area.
He watched out over the lake. Memmories of better times were all he had now.
His body shook and he curled up to protect himself against the cold. He often looked around to see if someone was coming towards him.
The town has stopped growing and the few people that stayed behind believed the ghost stories that went on around the mansion. There was nothing to gain for them so they stayed away. Those new to town however, the few that were, knew not.
And so it came to be that a stranger arrived at the mansion. Seeking shelter from the cold night. The open gate gave him the idea that he was welcome here. A brown robe which seemed to be made out of drapes covered his old and wrinkeled body against the winter cold.
A smile on his old face when he noticed the light behind one of the windows.
Louie had shot up when he had heard the man enter his gate, one of the many traits of a vampire were the enhancement of his senses. Without a sound he rang along the wall and peered around the corner to examine his unexpected guest.
“Prey.” He startled himself by his own whisper. It had been so long since he had heard his own voice. The rats and the other small animals in and around the mansion had put his hunger to rest in the years before. He had not want to leave the mansion in the hope that Estella would return. And here it was. A meal on wheels right in front of him, ready to be devoured.
“You know, it is very rude to let an old man wait in the cold, vampyre.”
A voice ripend by age and surprisingly calm for someone who knew there was a vampire only a few yards away from him. Louie stood behind the corner for a while, looking over the old rabbit. The image of his body rotting in the ground beneath him gave him second thoughts.
His new guest leaned on his cane and kept looking at him with eyes that seemed to take the time to take in every small molecule in his line of sight. Louie walked out from behind the wall and bared his fangs at the rabbit. “There’s no need for this vampyre. There shall be no bloodshed tonight. Come on in.”
Louie was puzzeled. This rabbit was supposed to be scared of him, whatever happend to him being at the top of the food chain?
“You must have many questions vampyre, let us go inside.”

----


I will continue this later, but I figured a flashback should not be to long.
The man from Earian is important to a side story-line thing I want to create, it will only be two or three parts and it will have something to do with the rest of the story. Who is next?

[Doubble Dutch]

Ooh! Nice chapter!

[Alister]

Susan was not feeling her best. But she was the hostess, and the guests needed their carrot slices. She chopped them slowly and carefully, fearful that her usual efficient chopping might lead to a nasty accident. She didn't see Majo come in from the hall, and only noticed her by the time she was at the back door.
"Hey, what's the rush?"
Majo stopped. Without looking at Susan, she said "Nothing."
"Is something wrong?"
"No, I just need some fresh air."
Majo opened the door and walked out, letting it slam behind her. Susan was a little perturbed, but shrugged it off. She took the sliced carrots through to her guests, then went to fetch Yakira's soup.

Alexander was strolling along beside Peddleburg Creek. The moonlight shone on the rippling water. In the distance, he could see a scattering of lights telling him how near to Greenthorpe he was. As peaceful as the scene seemed, Alexander was well aware that he was entirely alone, in the middle of nowhere, late at night. His transceiver beeped. This was something of a surprise. Reception had been so poor since he'd arrived in Greenthorpe, he'd not heard much from headquarters. Now, out here in the wilderness, he was picking up a message. He pushed a button and it played in his ear.
"Investigative reporter due in Greenthorpe. Name is Alice Frowley. Represents Carrotus Daily News Channel. Potential global television broadcast. Target is the recent Class 7 Type EB incident in Greenthorpe. Mr. Garand, you are instructed to ensure that no credible account is made available for broadcast. ETA 2330 hours."
An electronic voice took over and informed him that the message was sent 7 hours, 3 minutes previously. Alexander looked at his watch. Just past midnight. She'd be in Greenthorpe by now. Alexander broke into a run.

The soup was sloshing around in the bowl more than Susan would have liked, and she watched it intently as she ascended the stairs. With her eyes focussed downwards, the first thing she saw on the landing was a pair of feet. Her gaze shifted upwards. Her balancing act finally subsided and half a bowl's worth of soup found its way down her shirt.
Yakira took the bowl out of Susan's hands and rose it to her lips. Several large gulps later, the bowl was empty, and she handed it back.
"Um. Okay," said Susan.

If Alice Frowley didn't know any better she'd have sworn she was under attack from the restless spirits of Greenthorpe. The video camera had stopped working, and it had taken three hours for her cameraman to fix. When she'd checked the morning's footage, she'd found that it had all been erased. And, of course, all good things come in threes. Her notebook containing all the details of her exclusive was nowhere to be seen. She'd torn her room in the tavern apart, she'd completely emptied the news van, but it had vanished off the face of Carrotus.
She only had the afternoon to complete the story before she had to leave. Still, at least she'd get this interview in the can.
"Mr. Dalton, what's it like to live in Greenthorpe?"
"Life in Greenthorpe is great. Everybody knows everybody else, to some extent, and so we have a wonderful community spirit. We don't have a problem with crime. We're in one of the most idyllic parts of Peddleburg. The roads are quiet, so you can ride bicycles or horses without worry..."
"It certainly sounds nice. But are you familiar with the rumours surrounding your town?"
"No, I'm afraid not. What rumours?"
"Rumours of attacks by mythical creatures?"
"Attacks by mythical creatures?"
"There have been a number of suspicious deaths here recently, and..."
"And you thought you'd make a story about how we're all so superstitious out here in the sticks? That's just sick."
"No, I just..."
"This interview is over. Good day, madam."

Susan found Yakira sitting on the terrace in the back garden. It was a clear, lukewarm day, and Yakira was watching a small bird flitting around the bushes.
"Hello," said Susan. "How are you feeling now?"
"Not bad."
"Have you seen Majo. Nobody's seen her since yesterday."
"I'm afraid not."
"Mind if I just...?" Susan held up her medical case.
"No, go ahead."
Susan checked her pulse, her blood pressure, and her temperature. All normal.
"It certainly seems you've made quite a rapid recovery. If I didn't know any better..."
"What?"
"Oh, never mind."
If there's anything Susan had learnt over the last few days, it's that she didn't actually know any better.

"So, how did it go?" asked Alexander.
"She feels like a terrible person. I didn't like doing that," replied Dalton.
"No. It isn't always easy. But you've done the right thing."
"I know."

Alice was in a better mood now. She'd been interviewing liars half her life, and Dalton was one of the worst she'd come across. If only the refugees had been as bad. Luckily, she'd finally found one she may be able to get some answers out of.
"So, what's your name?"
"Charlie."
"And how old are you, Charlie?"
"I'm seven and three-quarters years old."
"Well, you are very grown-up, aren't you? Now, Charlie, can you tell me what happened here four nights ago?"
"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers about that."
"But I'm not a stranger. You've seen me on television, haven't you?"
"Yes."
"So, how can I be a stranger?"
"I don't know."
"That's because I'm not a stranger."
"I suppose."
"So, do you want to tell me what happened?"
"Okay."
Tony entered the room. He had been out in the hall, changing a light bulb, when he'd heard the exchange.
"Hello Charlie, who's this?"
"This is Alice Frowley from the television."
"Oh? And what are you talking about?"
"We're talking about the big fight that happened a few days ago."
"Really? Well, your dinner's almost ready, and you don't want it to get cold, do you?"
Charlie ran out of the room. Alice glared at Tony.
"What are you people hiding?" she asked.
"Look," Tony whispered conspiratorially, "His parents had a huge argument a few days ago."

In the staff room of the Cholmondely & Smith offices, three people were watching the local CDNC broadcast.
"The town of Greenthorpe has fallen victim to a large-scale internet prank. Greenthorpe, where a derelict mansion was recently restored to house refugees to Diamondus, is just south of Almsbury. The rumours range from the mansion being haunted to a large werewolf invasion of the town that allegedly took place a few days ago. The rumours have been widely dismissed as an attempt by political activists to discredit Gary Parker, who was a Councillor in Greenthorpe before he became Governor. Mr. Parker has dismissed the rumours as 'Absurd'. And that's all from Peddleburg Press, join us tomorrow at the same time."
Jack Cholmondely switched off the television.
"Gary, you are doing a terrible job of keeping things under wraps," said Ranford Smith.
"I agree," said Cholmondely. "I think this incident reinforces our conclusions vis-a-vis our association with you."
"And what are your conclusions, gentlemen?" asked Gary.
"That we should terminate all association forthwith." replied Smith.
"I see. Well, gentlemen, my plans from here on out do not require participation from either of you. If you do not desire a seat at the top table, that is your loss."
"We don't believe there will be a top table," said Smith, "let alone any seats. So we rather think our decision will be our gain. You owe us a lot of money, Parker."
"Oh, it's 'Parker' now, is it? Well, I don't think you need to worry about your money."
The blows were swift and immaculately timed. The Cholmondely & Smith legal team ceased to practise.

Their bodies lay there for three days before Estella found them.

(Apologies for the British spelling)

[Coppertop]

Wow, nice cliffhanger there. Nice work.

Slay, I love your flashbacks. WANT MORE.

[Strato]

I am next, correct?

[Doubble Dutch]

Indeed, that appears to be the case.

I have a flashback for use when nobody has anything to type.

[Strato]

My life is currently interfering with my ability to work. Skip me for now, and I'll post after that.

[The SlaYeR]

Well, I could get started on the next chapter since nobody else seems to want to.

Doubble Dutch, it would be nice if you'd post that flashback. I enjoy reading those and encourage people to write more of them. (Then again, they don't seem to write much at all :D)

Is everyone alright with me going next and posting a flashback followed by a chapter? (It could get rather lengthy though, I hope that's no problem.)

[Doubble Dutch]

Fun fact: DD only writes after 1am in the morning, this explains a lot.

* * *

A long time ago...


"Hey c'mon! What are you? Rabbits or shellians?" Adrian heard the yell and fumed under his hard hat. "Fine for you ya blowhard; you're not the one risking life and limb!" Technically that wasn't true Adrian knew, but still this was risky and boring work. He stared at the pile of rubble in front of him, then at the hillside it was half buried in. Judging by the shape of the former building it had been some sort of barracks; so it probably didn't have anything worth salvaging in it, but you never knew, once he'd happened upon a stash of jewels in an abandoned kitchen, and there were stories of guys striking it lucky in this business. He set the explosive charge and stepped back. That was all of them. He scrabbled over the already evacuated rubble to the safety zone, called out the warning signal and detonated the charges.

There was the usual loud boom and the building partially collapsed. The machines moved in to salvage any metallic fragments found. Amidst the noise and commotion Adrian moved in, now was the perfect time to scavenge anything valuable. Technically of course he was supposed to report any finds, but why should other people benefit from his hard work? Some of the things you found were valuable too; there was the inevitable gold and jewels, and plenty of spent ammunition, not surprising considering they were digging up an old war zone, but some of the most valuable stuff were the antiques; ornaments, jewelry even odd things like old jam jars; after a hundred and fifty years in the ground they were suddenly worth a lot to the right people.

(-); the building had been filled with debris; all the floors had collapsed; probably due to a bomb hit; there would be little of value inside and excavation would take up most of the metal inside. He removed his earmuffs and trudged back toward the explosives shack. It would take several hours of course; there were bound to be the remains of rabbits inside which would need to be collected and sent off for proper reburial. Then rather suddenly, a large piece of wall tilted and tipped over, nearly crushing several evacuators. "Hey c'mon people! Let's be careful huh? This is a salvage site not a playground!"

Utterly terrible! People didn't know their butt from their elbow around here! Adrian stalked off to the explosive and equipment shed, there was a technically illegal bottle of whiskey there and he needed to destroy the evidence. He didn't make it halfway across the quarry before the yelling started. It was quiet and confused at first, but rapidly grew in intensity. Several people rushed past Adrian, then a few seconds later ran off in the other direction. Someone started shooting and Adrian got worried, guns weren't allowed, but lots of guys carried them 'just in case' After several more shots were fired there was a final strangled scream, then silence.

Adrian realized he'd been crouched behind a pile of scrap metal; he'd nicked his leg somehow too, and it was bleeding profusely. The right thing to do would be to back off, call for backup, then approach the scene with caution; raids were rare on salvage parties, but that didn't mean they could be any less deadly. However Adrian was incurably curious so he cautiously approached the attack site. At first there was little to see aside from discarded equipment, he kept hidden, crouching behind machinery or rubble until a rather warm, wet sensation underfoot made him look down. He quickly wished he hadn't when he saw what, or rather, who he was standing in. He staggered backwards in shock, staring at the soft red mess that had once been his supervisor. There wasn't much left. He shouldn't have done that either, now he had an undisturbed view of the site and what had happened to the people there. About a dozen rabbits hadn't made it, though it was hard to tell from the scattered remains. Adrian slipped on somebody's arm and was almost sick. He turned to run and was knocked to the ground.

Adrian stared up in sheer wordless horror at what was now on top of him. What it was was hard to tell; its features shifted and twisted into horrible shapes, but it was vaguely shellian shaped. It snarled, splattering Adrian with unidentifiable gore, then giggled. It was a horrible sound, half choked and eerie, something from a broken mind. It stared at him for a few seconds as if trying to figure out what he was, then spoke. It was a strangled, weak voice and sounded as if it hadn't been used in a long time.

"The... date... what date?"

Adrian panicked "Monday! It's Monday!" He tried to get up but the creature was pushing him down with a force that seemed greater than its weight would allow. It snarled again. "Day! Month! Year!" Adrian told it, and it sat still for a long time. As it did it got less and less repulsive until it finally dawned on Adrian that it really was a shellian sitting on him; its appearance however did not do anything to sate his fears. While it was distracted Adrian took the chance to wiggle out from under it and hide behind a pile of rubble. It was still sitting there, staring blankly into space when he dared look, several minutes later. It was obviously some sort of zombie, silver garlic would stop it right? (-), no, hang on...

It was giggling to itself; rocking backwards and forwards slightly, and gigglingand muttering to itself! Despite his terror, or maybe because of it, Adrian leant closer to try and hear what it was saying. The words were very indistinct and slurred, as if from a drunk, or someone half awake. "Hah hah! One hundred and fifty four years! Hee hee hee!" The words were repeated over and over, shot out like bullets from a machine gun so fast as to almost be unintelligible, finally the creature stood stock still and let out a hideous yell before dashing of into the distance way too fast for something dead to be moving.

There were shouts behind him, someone had sounded the alarm. Adrian turned around and walked stiffly toward the rapidly approaching figures. Right now he wanted to drink and to forget; when the asked what had happened he told them it was a raid by bandits.

[Alex]

ooh, bloody :) Did they dig up an undead turtle from the ancient battleground, who had been buried 154 years? cool :P

[Coppertop]

Err, is this my Adrian?

EDIT: Forgot to mention, I like the chapter.

[Doubble Dutch]

No, different Adrian, sorry, forgot about yours. This is a long long time ago flashback.

[Coppertop]

Ok, might want to clarify then. Just to avoid confusion, y'know?

[Doubble Dutch]

I'm pretty sure I did, it says right at the top of the thingy, besides, people asked for a flashback.

[The SlaYeR]

Very good flashback. It provided a nice read. I guess I shall get started on my flashback + Chapter now.

[Coppertop]

You still alive, Slay?

[n0]

*claims 666th reply*

[Coppertop]

666th is mine, since everyone knows that mods are evil.

I hesitate to suggest skipping Slay, since he's really the driving force behind this whole idea. Shall we wait a little longer? :P

[superjwren329]

Might as well. It's not like were going to do anything else. Dang, this story is long! I'm getting dizzy...

[Monolith]

It's been like a month... might as well continue on.

[The SlaYeR]

Working on it, give me another three days.
I haven't been doing anything for a while because I noticed nobody seemed to care about this thing anymore. It's been a month since anyone has even said anything in this topic. That really takes the motivation out of the writing.

[Coppertop]

Very true. I don't know if there's really a solution to it though.

[Monolith]

*says something in the topic*

[Strato]

I kinda pictured this story as something we did for ourselves though. I mean, recognition is nice and all, but it's not really that important in my opinion. Although on a professional level it leads to monies.

[Alister]

I don't want to be the one to say this, but...

Perhaps we should be thinking about moving towards an ending?

[Coppertop]

Ending? Are you kidding, we haven't even hit the climax of the story yet!

I agree once more with you, Slay, but it is rather difficult at this point to drop authors (and their characters) once they have grown bored with the idea.

For the record, I fully intend to write my chapter when my turn comes.

[The SlaYeR]

I'm working on it and I'm almost done.
And I agree with Coppertop, we can't really start thinking about an ending yet even though I'm going to try and do my best to move it along.

[Strato]

We're definitly not ready for an ending. Right now it's still building up. To make the climax chapter and an ending chapter the same feels waay too rushed. An ending will come though, as we're probably about halfway done at this point.

[The SlaYeR]

First draft is done guys. Just need to put this into the computer (Since I enjoy writing stuff by hand first.) and I have to take out several errors and maybe change a thing or two.

[Coppertop]

Awesome. It'll be easier too as we collect characters together, if their authors want to drop out and let someone else take over that character. Just tossing the idea out there, if some of us are finding it too inconvenient to write.

[Alister]

I'm not saying an ending would be in any way appropriate with respect to the story. I'm saying that, given the time that passes between new chapters, it may be necessary. If even SlaYo is taking ages to post a chapter, we're in trouble.

[The SlaYeR]

Well, it IS only the first time I let this happend and kind of a lot has been going on. But it's up this weekend. I'm sorry for slacking off, but we shouldn't let that happend to the story in general. There's a lot more we have to do, writing wise. It'd feel weird to just have a sudden ending like that now. We need at least a few more rounds from all of the writers that are still writing now.

[Alister]

The story is dying, just like the community!!!

Okay, so perhaps I was being somewhat premature.

[Coppertop]

As I said, it will be possible to write with less authors, the way we have been gathering the characters into groups. For example, I could take care of Ducky and Tick's characters should they decide to drop out.

By the way guys, please don't use this as an excuse to drop out, since it will make it much harder for the remaining authors.

[The SlaYeR]

I'm sorry I made you guys wait so long, I hope you enjoy the read.

---

Chapter 41: A dinner and a showdown.

Susan and Yakira had excused themselves earlyer this evening and were sound asleep by now. Thomas remained tat the mansion to watch over the refugees as the settled in and tried to make the best of their situation.
Louie enjoyed having a bit of time for himself after several hectic days.
He had spend many years in solitude and being surrounded by so many people all at ones was only something he knew from very distant memmories.
His body was tired but he knew he had to enjoy the few moments he got for himself and tried to make the best of it. The news channel showed reports of the situation on Diamondus, hundreds of soldiers would die for a greater cause as the southern troops marched on to the northern borders. Diamondus looked more and more like (-)ation by the day.
Louie looked around the room and even though this house was a lot smaller then his, he knew this made a better home for the group. The cozyness, the warmth his new family gave him.
Little by little emotions started trickling back into his soul that had been empty for so long.
Everything around him felt more alive and more real then anything had in his dead house.
A portrait of Susan and Thomas hang over the fireplace, staring into the room overlooking it’s visitors. They were a happy couple and he was hoping that they would still be when and if all of this madness ever ended.
He thought of Yakira, the little creature that through her own pain and suffering made him realize that there was a world of people out there to watch over.
She alone broke through the shell he had build up over the years and he had allowed her in with open arms. He thought of Majo, the girl that had taken a liking to him and whom he had dissapointed so much. Even if it was not his fault, he felt an incredible guilt.
How would he ever explain and would she listen to him if he did?
He rubbed his paws through his eyes, sleep was taking over. Louie decided to get some sleep, but a knock on the door held him out of the grasp of a slumber just as he was about to ascend the staircase.
Majo gave him a filthy look, she was disgusted by him. “Listen, you got it all wrong.” He said in a tone that lacked compassion nor regret. It might still take him a while to pick up those traits again. She did not respond and walked straight passed him without considering him to be worthy enough for a second look in the eyes. Majo dissapeared up the stairs and when she had closed the door of her bedroom behind her he whispered ‘I’m sorry.’ And he ment it from the bottom of his still heart. He looked down at the ground and scratched himself behind the ear. “I don’t know what you did, but you sure blew your chances to score with that one.”
Louie did not turn around, he recognized the voice of Alexander.
He felt like responding but lacked the energy to pick a fight and without a word he walked up the stairs to finally get some rest. “There’s time enough to sulk about her later. We have more important things on our hands then love affairs.”


Gary Parker walked through his dining room. The necassary preperations had been made and the sparkling plates and glasses stood in long rows on the massive oak tables.
The finest white satin clothes were layed out and enough staff would be available tommorow to meet the guests every desire. Cholmondely and Smith’s bodies had been disposed of in an orderly fashion. The last trace of Orson Cholmodely could be found on Parker’s napkin that dangled from the pocket of his suede cloth nightrobe.
The senator turned and faced the empty room that would be filled with people tommorow.
“Ladies and gentlemen…’ He started and chuckled with satisfaction over his achievements.
“Rise for your new master.” Gary sank down on his knees and raised his hands towards the heavens above. “Not even you can stop me now Carrotus. I will feast on your women and swim in the blood of your men.” His screams echoed through the room as it grew darker. Even the light seemed to fear this man. There was one person however, who did not.
A soft applause could be heared. ‘Very impressive.’ It felt as if even her voice carressed his skin. He turned around and looked into the most beautiful face he had ever seen.
The monster in Gary calmed down and followed every movement of her erotic physique with hungry eyes. He shook his head and pulled himself together.
Estella with her golden curls and innocent look approached the monster without fear and stood still next to him. “Are we having a party?”
Gary’s hand shot out and grabbed her by the troath. All she could do was smile at the brutality of this man. “How dare you enter my house?”
She grabbed his hand and looked deep into his eyes. His grip loosened and she took his paw into hers as her face moved closer to his. “I want to form and alliance.”

Everyone was sound asleep that night untill Alexanders Closed Circuit Communicator started beeping. He jumped out of bed and got into his clothes as fast as he could. Minutes later he stood in the hallway. He was greeted by a worried Susan and a slightly annoyed vampire who were the only ones who had not slept through the sound of his CCC.
“Is everything alright Alexander?” Susan asked worried when she saw the panicked look on his face. Alexander immidiatly shook his head. “I have to go. There’s something amiss at my headquarters.” He wanted to rush off but Louie stopped him.
“You can’t go alone. You should at least take Tony with you.” Tony showed his head, as well as Majo and Tier, who had just gotten back from a hunt.
“I’m going with you as well.” Majo said right away. The thought of being away from this place made heading into danger sound not all that bad.
“Let me get dressed.” Tony said right away.
“The rest of you better head back to bed. We have to get up early in the morning.” Louie said to Susan and Tier.
The latter one raised his shoulders and went off to his room again seeing as how he did not care to much about any of this anyway.
Alexander tried to contact Shism several times while everyone got ready for the trip. “Find out what you can” He told Louie who took place against Yakira’s door and raised his thumb. Outside the three were greeted by Michelle, who had returned from her nightly business. Something seemed different about her, she seemed a bit healthyer and more at ease then she usually was. “Your coming with me.”

Thomas got home in time for breakfast and got an update on last nights happenings.
Tier gave a little cough to ask for everyone’s attention. ‘I will join you this evening if you do not mind. I myself am wondering what mister Parker is up to.’ He looked at Louie who nodded. ‘That’s settled then Thomas and Yakira will accompany us.”
Susan felt an urge to object but the comforting hand of her husband on her knee made her hold her breath and figure that they would need him more then she would tonight.
Yakira enjoyed being able to eat by herself again. Her sight had not restored and Louie would ocassionaly shove something she wanted within reaching distance for her.
“I can not wait to go dancing.”She said as if she did not have a care in the world and as if nothing bad had happend over the past few days.
No one around the table could find it in their heart to make her feel any different.

Alexanders group had managed to rent themselves two horses and were making rapid progress. The cold wind swept across Tony’s fur. Majo sat behind him and held him tight. It was an interesting experience to travel in such an archaic way. The bigger city’s were filled with the most modern means of transportation. The contrast between those cities and the countryside was so vast. She was used to archaic means of transportation however as she had walked miles and miles on foot. To her this felt better then the big cities. Lush forests and open plains. Sleeping under the starlit sky and the adventure and excitement of not knowing what was lurking behind every corner. Tony enjoyed all of this to a lesser extent.
He had been a racer before he came here. Always struggeling to be just a little faster then the last time. Loved and admired by the people back home. Here he wasn’t, he had to struggle but it had never been this hard before. He had faced death closer then ever before.
He never believed the other rabbits when he heard them say that a person can change. He was that person now though. He thought he could stay that happy go lucky racer forever.
But that was before he had almost died by the hands of a werewolf. This was a new world to him. A world of treehugging vampires. A world in which rockstars with bad attitudes hunt down mythical creatures that should have stayed in their books. And a world in which accounts picked up arms and turned into generals.
In this worlds friendships were formed within a single battle. And when the dust settles you realize they’ve already left you for a place in the heavens where they joined the goddess, but he believe that same goddess must have brought them here to aide these people.
He believed he had a purpose in a life. And that feeling made him stronger then he had ever felt before. Even if he was uncertain.
He looked to his left. Alexander and Michelle rode next to him. Two wonderful people to have around in a situation like this he thought. He felt Majo’s breath is his neck. He would fight to keep them all breathing untill this thing was over. Well, except for Louie ofcourse.

[The SlaYeR]

Alexander had still not made contact with his headquarters. The silence on the other end of the Com device felt more threatning every time he tried.
They would soon arrive and he knew what could be in store for them. He looked at Majo and shook his head. He had dragged an innocent girl into this. There was no way she would be able to make it thought all of this. Even he had a hard time fighting off the werewolves, but he was lonely in the fact that he could never let it show. One of shisms first lessons. Insecurity spreads like a disease. Michelle returned to her senses still oblivious of the things that had happend to her last night, she met Svez and the other creatures and they had taken her to some place. Apart from the dry blood in her fur and the taste of raw meat in her mouth she had no clue of what she had gotten herself into.
A strange sensation made her aware that she had said goodbye to innocence however.

Susan looked over her husband and their guests. “You all look very charming.”
Her husband was wearing his finest suit. It might not have been the newest or most fashionable, but she thought it made him look like quiet the handsome rabbit.
Tier was wearing one of Thomas’ older suits which weren’t exactly a snug fit.
He also had to use half a bottle of cologne to mask the smell of dead and decay.
He’d be alight, as long as no one wanted to shake his hand to firmly.
Yakira was wearing the dress Susan wore in celebration of the 500th festival of the moon. She had met her husband there and decided to move from the busy town to this quiet village.
Yakira looked beautiful as opposed to Louie who was wearing one of his own suits.
Time had been rough on it but Susan had done her very best to patch it up and cover the holes formed by the moths who must’ve thought of it as a delisious snack.
Susan enjoyed the few chores she had to do for the greater whole. Thomas’ wife prefered staying on the background. Away from danger, helping the people that needed her.
They heard the horses being halted to a stop outside of the little house and went outside.
“Senator Parker sends his compliments, please enter.” A creepy looking toad said, bowing deep enough to be kissing their feet. His smile bared his disgusting, yellow teeth.

The first guests arrived at Gary Parkers mansion, just outside of Greenthorpe.
Parker sat at the head of the largest table accompanied by the vice president of Carrotus, Neela Jasu, she occasionaly threw a smile at Parker as he looked at her. But this man made her feel uneasy. Her mother told her never to trust a man who’se hair is shinyer then a bed of ice on Lake Tamhu when the frost had started to set in. He looked slick and everything there was about him was, in the eyes of most of his guest, absolutely perfect.
She could feel there was more to him then that however. Gary Parker was a man who wanted to much. Her father had been that kind of man. He had protected her as they grew up, but he was never happy enough in life. He always said that great things would happend to him one day. He worked as a clerck at a lawyers office but he wanted more. He wanted to see his name out there on the front sign in big, golden letters. One day her father had started to come home with exact the same glint of power in his eyes. From there on it all went down hill.
Her mother who worked in the local flowershop was not good enough for him anymore and he left home one day and left young Neela in her care. Jason Jasu got what he wanted.
His name still stands, proud golden letters glimmering in the sun. The glint of power took away her father and she was now confronted with it again, in the eyes of the man next to her.
He must have wanted to take over her position more then anything in the world and she didn’t feel save. She did not know why, but she just did not feel safe.

Torque Nafas, a buff turtle enjoying every bit of attention he could get sat on the other side of Gary. He waved when the camera’s of the press were turned in his direction. Torque, head of the royal guard and official represent of the king had never made a secret of his support for his friend. His glass was filled again by the monster using Gary’s hand and smiling at Torque.
‘You could prove to be very useful.’ He thought.

The carriage arrived just in time for dinner. The four latest arrivals were greeted at the door by a small rabbit who shook his head. He was clearly displeasured by the arrival of these slobs. Well, the girl was alright. “Interesting choice of clothes, gentlemen. May I have your names.” He said, making sure to avoid eye contact with these filthy beggars.
“Bradhurst and… friends.” Thomas said, he was sure that the little man at the door would let them in right away after hearing his name.
“Who?” The rabbit said. Mister Bradhurst was slightly displeased.
“Thomas, dear friend.” A fat rabbit wearing a shabby brown suit that made theirs look very fashionable indeed walked outside and pushed the little man out of the way. It looked as if his pants could barely contain his enormous stumach. He reached out his hand, dripping in gravy. Left overs from the ‘little apetizer’ he must have enjoyed before the feast began.
“How are you my boy?” The fat man said. It seemed as if he sang every word and he let out a small pant after all of this. Going through the tremendous efforts of gnawing on everything edible in sight must have really worn him out.
“Hello Montgomery. It’s a pleasure to see you here.” Thomas was grateful to see him and his smile was a warm one. Montgomery knocking over that annoying little man was reason enough to smile. “I take it you are not very hungry?” Louie whispered to Tier who shook his head in return. “You’d better see if you can find Parker’s office, there might be something useful in there.” Tier nodded, he liked it if things were kept simple.
Louie and Yakira were introduced to Montgomary and the guests sat down at the table.

“Dear ladies and gentlemen. I present to you, the new governor of Peddleburg and my good friend, Gary Parker.” Torque Nafas belted through the room and his words were followed by a standing ovation that lasted several minutes. “Like sheep to the slaughter.” Louie mumbled. Thomas mimicked an applasure and Yakira searched for Louie’s hand.
“It’s so loud. I can heard all of them.” She turned her head to face him, the wounds around her eyes had started to heal and for a moment Louie thought she could see him.

“Thank you my good man. And how nice of all of you to show up here. Please feel free to get drunk at my expense tonight, we are celebrating after all.” With those words Gary began his speech. And his four years of lies and treachery.

[The SlaYeR]

“We’re there.” Alexander stopped his horse quiet abruptly near the small village of Tahamo. “But we are in the middle of nowhere.” Tony cleverly stated.
Majo was excited and jumped of her horse at the sight of Tahamo.
She had spend several months in the peaceful and archaic village untill she left it because she thought that life on the road would be much better then getting stuck in one place. Lots had happend since then and she had second doubts about her initial decision.
Her excitement grew when Alexander walked towards the town. She let out a small scream and ran for it, as quick as her feet could cary her.
Alexander turned around and looked at Tony who raised his shoulders. “Don’t look at me man. I don’t know what got into her.”
The small clay houses of the village lay spread across a peaceful hill. A quiet and peaceful place enjoying the last few rays of sunshine of the day. The animals sought up eachothers company and lay on their bellies in the tall grass.
And the rabbits, old and young alike made sure to take their time with everything they were doing. An attractive young girl enjoying a picknick with several of her friends waved at Tony.
“Looks like you’ve still got it champ.” Michelle said. The girl was just about as old as her she was much more alive unfortunatly. And that would most likely be one more thing she’d never have. Love. Most guys would pick a girl with a pulse over her any day of the week.
“Your still the loveliest girl I’ve met since I’ve crashed on this planet.” Tony said and he quickly stroked her arm. Something in his eyes gave her new hope.
“I’d better…” Tony started pointing at Alexander. Michelle nodded ‘Ofcourse, ofcourse. We’d best make sure his friends are alright.” They both stood there looking at eachother for a moment and then Tony ran to Alexander.

Majo overlooked the village, the church that stood at the very center of the hill. Overlooking the marketplace in which several occupants were busy exchanging goods, haggeling, enjoying the many warm delicasies and meeting their friends. Majo looked to the right of the marketplace. A great willow tree provided the bench in front of it with plenty of shadow.
“Keith.” Majo’s memmories of that place were fond, she had spent quiet some time there with the only young man she had ever truely loved. He would take her there and always have a basket ready filled with the most delisious goods and fresh yellow roses that smelled so wonderful. She had left the village because she was afraid to get settled. Even though she loved this young man more then anyone. Her free spirit took the overhand and she left him promising she would return to see him one day. How she wishes she would’ve stayed here.
That would’ve made everything so much easyer.
“Majo, are you coming?” Michelle waved at her and pointed at Alexander who just entered a local tavern. Majo made a gesture showing them that she’d catch up with them.
She needed some time to be alone, she wanted to meet some of her friends and visit the places that now seemed so distant to her.
Majo knocked on the door of a small cottage, a fresh layer of yellow paint had been applied after she left. A planter box in front of the window was filled with yellow roses, she plucked one and let the smell carry her back to the days of yore.
The door still creaked in the same way as it used to and auntie Gerda still looked the same.
“My dear Majo.” From behind her glasses her little eyes peered at the girl in front of her and she opened up her arms. “Oh, auntie Gerda, I’ve missed you so.”
The hardness of the cold travelling and the many hours she had spend in solitude were shaken of in an instant now that she was safely in aunties arms. “Come inside dear, please I just made dinner.” Majo entered, the sweet, old lady always made sure she had plenty of food incase someone would drop by as the often did. “Have as much as you want my dear, you look like you could use it. I want to hear all about your travels.”

Tier walked through the silent hallway. His ability to detect life forms proved the be very useful on his stealth mission. A guard nearing him might be nice enough to tell him the location of Gary’s office. If Tier managed to motivate him enough to share this kind of information. With the proper pressure, everyone was nice enough to reveal something though.
Tier hid in the shadows and patiently waited for the right moment to jump out and knock the guard against the floor. Before the poor man knew what was happening he had Tier’s foot on his neck and looked down the barrel of his own gun.
“I’m going to lift up my foot, and you are going to tell me where Gary Parker’s office is. Is that understood?” Tier raised his foot and the guard gasped for breath.
“Please, please don’t kill me. I’ve got a wife and family.” Tier cocked the gun.
“I asked you a question, answer it and I will let you live.” The guard sobbed and stuttered as he pointed Tier in the right direction.
“You’ll find that I’m a man of my word.” He struck him hard with the back of the gun forcing the guard to take a nap.
He hid the body in an antique trunk that was occupying the far wall and continued to Gary’s office, which was unguarded. How convenient.
The door was unguarded, but locked. The small lock was not much of a challenge to Tier, he broke trough the door with his fist and pulled it out of the doorframe.
‘This is all a little too easy. And too easy is never good.’ He thought as he stepped into the neat and tidy room. An all to familiar smell hid the dirt that had been removed from the eye. The scent of death, many a rabbit had lost his life in this room.
Gary’s desk seemed like a logical place to start, but apart from a rotting apple core, several work related papers and five pens ordered neatly by colour, it was empty.
Tier walked around the room, past an aquarium full of exotic fish from the farthest depths of the ocean. There were even some in there that he had never seen.
‘You’ve got quiet a nice place for yourself, don’t you Gary?’ He said to himself staring into the clear water that seemed to glow in the reflection of the bright light above it.
A bookcase caught his interest. It seemed like mister Parker had quite a nice collection of books on the occult. “A brief history of demonology’ by Alconsus Foley, ‘Plunging into the shadows.’ By Adelaide Sylphor. Tier let his hand glide across the many books untill he spotted something that took his breath away. Methaphorically ofcourse.
‘Chronicles of Bruhn. How did you get your hands on this.’


Bruhn was a mythical being, the creator of darkness and the father of all that is evil.
He was born in a time in which there was only good. Bruhn was born with an unhealthy dose of curiousity however. He wanted more out of life and this blinded him to the beauty of the paradise around him. There were lands to explore outside of the first city, lands that were untouched by men before, for everything the people needed could be found inside the city.
He lead a group outside of the gates with the permission of the great leadress, Carrotus. She had granted him permission, not seeing any harm within this young man.
His group had settled far away from the great city in a dark and desolate landscape. The darkness grew on them and the joy for life had left their bodies as they absorbed the darkness around them. The need for entertainment arose and they retorded to sick and twisted games.
They conjured demonic creatures made up by Bruhn and set loose in a pit to fight eachother to the dead. But the people wanted more and more. And the land on which they used their foul magic began to rot underneath their feet.
Bruhm passed on some of his magic to seven of his subjects so that they would divide across the planet and shape the world in the image of Roth. The first settlement of the evil-doers.
Eight settlements had formed around the great city, but it still wasn’t enough. And as it often goes with megalomaniacs, Bruhn wanted to much.
He began an attack on the city and stories say that he destroyed millions before he came to his end. His body died, but the magic in him had grown to strong for his soul to dissapear into nothing and he was imprisoned far underneath the planets surface.

There were only two of these books left in exsistence and one of them was here, right in front of him. He reached out his hand but as it touched the surface of the book a liquid substance sprayed out of it covering his hand. It started to eat away at the flesh and would soon eat its way through his hardened bones. He quickly pulled the book from the shelf but it only came half way. He could hear a click however and heard something slide away behind him.
He walked through the office as his hand softly hissed while the flesh dripped onto the ground and the acid started gnawing away the bones.
Tier walked to the closet where the sound had come from and when he opened the door a staircase that led down into the darkness was revealed.
“Well, here goes nothing.”

[The SlaYeR]

Louie looked through the room, his eyes shifted from one person to another.
Tier was taking quiet a long time, he would have expected him to have shown up already.
He scratched his arms and noticed he was rather nervous. He shook his head.
Hordes of werewolves were no problem, but here he was sitting between all of these people in the bright light that shone from the chandelier above his table.
Those beasts they had fought earlyer could care less about his appearance or the fact that he somehow had been risen from the death. It was different with this crowd, people peered at him and exchanged whispers. A young boy a few seats away from him kept staring at him and quickly looked away when he noticed a woman, appearing to be his mother gave him a dirty look. She smiled at him and threw him a fake smile. In the hope that would suffice as an apoligy for her sons rude behaviour.
Everything had gone so fast the past few days and here he was, letting the words of Parker fly by him, dissolving in thin air. Since all of it were lies anyway as far as he was concerned.
He adjusted himself in his seat once more, just to appear busy and evade the looks of the curious. Yakira had taken a spoon between her thumb and index finger and lightly tapped the side of her cup with it. The man across from her turned around and coughed.
‘What’s your problem buddy?’ Louie blurted out and he immidiatly wished he could have taken it back. It was never in his nature to be very rude. Unless someone really deserved it ofcourse. Like Alexander Garand. The man scratched his throat and quickly turned around to listen to Gary Parker again. Louie took the spoon out of Yakira’s hand and placed it back on the saucer. ‘We’d best not draw to much attention to ourselves.’ He whispered at her.
Yakira was at ease. The pain she had gone through over the past few days seemed so far away. And she was here with two man of whom she was sure that they would protect her with all their power. Louie, whom had been there to look out for her and had not left her side by to far. She did not know why he went through all this trouble, maybe he needed someone to save because nobody had been there to save him. She wasn’t sure and she didn’t dare to ask him.
And then there was brave Thomas. The ordinary man who had been plunged into this, his home invaded by these colourful figures. Yet he was here, in the den of the dragon. Because he had to be here, for them and for the countless people that he was lying to.
Thomas had also been nice enough to give all of them a place to sleep and to allow her to heal. She was very grateful to him. Thomas was following the speech more closely then the others. He grew madder with Gary Parker by every lie he heard.
He would turn Greenthorpe back into the wealthy village it once had been and restore the crippled economy of the region. But at what cost, he failed to mention that.
He promised safety for all of the refugees the region could handle. But the truth was that he wanted to tear down the mansion, which was safely blamed on someone else.
Who had surprisingly dissapeared from the political stage and was now enjoying a nice vacation. The press hadn’t been informed of his where-abouts because the person in question would rather be left alone.
Tier had better hurry up, a security guard was trying to contact someone and it seemed like there was trouble.

Tier entered a small room with an interesting and beautiful altar in the middle. A large marble stone covered with specks of gold and a sticky, red substance. A small pool of what appeared to be rather fresh blood surrounded the base of the altar.
As Tier looked to his left he saw a sight that would’ve made every regular persons stumach turn. A pile of fresh corpses lay stack neatly in a corner of the room.
He recognized the politician that had dissapeared days before over the mansion scandal. Several beheaded bodies of what appeared to be young girls made up the rest of the pile, there clothes torn from their bodies and chunk removed from it. As if someone returned here to eat from them every now and then. A small card lay on top of a small table filled with strange and no doubt occult relics. ‘Cholmondely and Smith legal team.’ It read, followed by the adress, a business card. He stopped dead in his tracks when he was faced with a depiction of Bruhn.
‘He’s a worshipper.’ Tier took a few steps back and almost stumbled over the base of the altar. ‘Time to get out of here.’ His wrist stung which was a good sign, his hand had started to restore itself. He grabbed the old drawing from the wall and stuffed it down the pocket of his suit and took a sprint up the stairs.
He closed the office door behind him and ran down the corridor. He detected several life signs, the guard had been found and his exit was blocked. There was no way for him to get back to the others undetected.

Alexander entered the bar followed by Michelle and Tony.
“Hey Leandra. How’s business.” Alexander walked over to the lady behind the bar and gave her a quick kiss. She looked quite worried.
“I’m glad your here, I haven’t been able to get into HQ, nobody is replying.” He held up his CCC. “I know, I’ve been trying to reach them myself. Did you hear or notice anything out of place?” She shook her head, she had been here ever since Shism broke contact with her and then nodded her head in the direction of the two rabbit standing behind him. “Can we trust them?” That’s all she had to know, she didnt care about their names or where they had come from, as long as Alexander said they were alright by him then they were alright by her.
“You can trust them, let’s go.” Leandra led the party to a backroom filled with barrels and kegs and Alexander threw her a strange glowing device.
“You know the routine, twist to the left two times and then to the right.”
They both pushed a keg out of the way and each removed a loose tile in the floor to reveal a small slot. After she had done her part Leandra headed for the door. “Please be careful, you don’t know what’s down there.” She adjusted her shirt and headed back into the tavern.
“Get your weapon ready Tony.” Alexander waited patiently for exactly one minute, then a screen popped out of the side of a wall, it had been there all the time but was cleverly disguised as one of the bricks in the wall. He manually entered a code, followed by a retinal scan and a voice regonation. “Alexander Garand. Open up (-).”
The floor under their feet seemed to dematerialize and the slowly sank down. “This might feel a little strange, just, hold on to your hats.” The plunged into the darkness that had formed beneath them and fell down at an incredibly high speed. Michelle and Tony both screamed in panic but after a fall of several seconds they slowly stopped and felt a strong wind blow over their bodies. “Reversed sucker tubes.” Alexander explained. “They keep us stationary, we are checked here to see if we are not carrying in any strange diseases or unwanted guests. We will most likely skip that process now since nobody seems to be here.”
The sucker tubes calmed down after a minute or two and they were graduatly brought down to the ground. Alexander opened a small door to the west of them. “Welcome to shism headquar…” He got cut short in his sentence. “Oh god, no. NO!”
The floor was scattered with bodies, bathing in their own blood. Computer screens smashed to pieces. They had descended into hell. Tony hauled up his breakfast by this gruesome sight.
“M…monsters.” He stuttered as he whiped the corners of his mouth clean and felt his stumach cramp up. “Who could do such a thing.”
Alexander was horrified and walked around aimlessly looking for survivors while his brains told him there weren’t any. It screamed that he should get out of there.
An idea supported by Michelle. “I’m sorry for your loss, I really am, but we have to get out of here as fast as we can… There’s something still here.”

[The SlaYeR]

“He’s in trouble.” Louie got up and walked out of the dinner hall, followed by the eyes of several of the guards who started talking trough their ear pieces. Two buff turtles followed him out. “Here we go.” Thomas said, more to himself then to Yakira who he grabbed by the arm and dragged with him after Louie.
“Excuse me sir, you are not allowed to enter here.” They were stopped in a hall, over the shoulder of the buff guard Louie could see another one being calmed down by some of his collegues, Tier had definatly been here. The vampire smiled at them.
“But gentleman, I’m sure we can come to some sort of understanding.” He grabbed the big one by the neck and kneed the other one between the legs. He bared his fangs and moved closer to them both “You let me pass and I’ll let you live.”
“Oh, that’s a briljant idea.” Thomas shouted, but when he saw that the rest of the guards drew their guns he kicked in the door of a room and quickly threw himself and Yakira against the floor. Bullets flew through the air and several of them hit Louie in the chest.
A misconception in the world of demons often is that vampires do not feel pain. If only this were true. He grabbed for his scythes only to discover he had left them home incase they would get searched. Several more bullets pierced trough him and the blood spat out against the walls around him. He made a leap for the group of guards, feeling countless bullets ripping him apart so very slowly. “Looks like you could use a hand.”
Tier showed up behind the group and grabbed the heads of two guards, smashing them together with such a great force that they spat apart like ripe fruit.
The guards were now the ones that were surrounded and kept firing away at the demons in front of them. No matter how many bullets they would fire, the men in front of them would not go down. Chunks of flesh were seperated from bone, one bullet went straight trough Tier’s heart and he had not let a single sound escape from his lips.
“Lay down your weapons.” A strong voice behind them echoed trough the hall.
Torque Nafas held a gun aimed straight at Louie’s heart. “I know who you are, Greenthorpe. And you are not getting away with this. I place you both under arrest for taking the lives of four innocent men. And don’t try anything funny. If I am not mistaking, silver nitrate can end your pity existance.” Louie frooze, or, his body did. Self preservation over everything.
Tier did not hesitate to move either. He wasn’t friends with this vampire but he could prove to be rather useful. Louie would dispose of Torque easily if it hadn’t been for the fact that he just lost so much blood in the fire fight.
Thomas overheard the conversation that took place in the hallway, he peered around the corner and saw Torque standing with his back towards him. He did not hesitate for a moment and ran in to him with all of his power, he knocked over Torque.
“Quick, this way.” The three of them ran back into the room just in time to avoid a rain of fire from the guards that had made their way to the hallway.
A large, glass window provided to be the only way out. There was no time to hesitate, this wasn’t a time to ponder and Thomas knew this, he took a deep breath and jumped through the glass with his hands in front of his face and his legs crossed. The window broke and shards of glass flew through the air, some bits cutting its way trough Thomas’ skin, but he could not feel pain. There wasn’t any time to feel pain. Soon the guards would enter the room and start shooting at everyone that was still in there. Tier was the next to jump and safely landed on his feet. “Yakira, trust me.” The poor, helpless girl had looked forward to this night so much, this would be her night. She should have been dancing, she deserved to be dancing and these bastrds had taken all of that away from her. What did she do to deserve all that had happend to her? Louie picked her up and carried her in his arms, the guards had entered and fired away, the wounds had turned his fur into a stick, red mess. “Out of the way, you fools.” Torque shouted and he aimed the gun at the vampires heart a second time, there was no hesitation this time and he fired just as Louie jumped. The bullet had barely missed him flying into the wall and falling apart there. “After them! Get after them!.”
A stagecoach was parked right in front of them, as if Carrotus herself finally blessed them.
The several shots the guards fired all missed their target and the stagecoach rode away into the night leaving the enemy behind in a dustcloud.


The carriage arrived at the Bradhurst residence later that night.
“We can not stay here, pick up Susan and get ready to leave this place. I’m afraid this place is no longer safe. We are going to have to leave Greenthorpe.”
Louie knew this was the only thing they could do.
“What about the others, how will we find them again?” Yakira said in panic. “We can’t just leave them behind and clueless about these happenings.”
Tier shook his head. “The vampire is right, there is no other option. We should take all we can carry and leave this place.”

Something was still inside the Shism headquarters and it had noticed it was not alone…

[Strato]

Since I was skipped last time, I'd like to elect to go next. I'm working on my section as I type this, so expect a rather speedy follow-up.

[Coppertop]

Excellent.

Still loving it, Slay.

[Alister]

SlaYo :D

[Ducky]

Hey.
Slay prompted me last week or so to get off my (tail) and get back over here; I was just a little confused because the last several chapters have been by like, the same two or three people, and not in any order. Is that all who is left writing now? Or is that because they are the only few hanging around at the moment and are just keeping the story going?
Sorry, all, for the lack of involvement.

[Strato]

Yeah, people are dropping out, but you're always welcome back! Anyway, I'm wrapping up a chapter at the moment, cause it took a helluvah lot longer to write than I anticipated. After that we can work you in order again. Unless we want to do it right now. I don't know.

[Coppertop]

Indeed, I'm thinking we should revamp the order in which we are writing, since it seems to have become rather fuzzy.

Ducky ;-; long time no see.

[Alister]

The story archive page thingy has become <a href="http://www.alister.eu/jazz/story.html">several</a> story archive page thingies. The "characters" section is <strike>still out of date, but stay tuned...</strike> now up to date!

In the meantime, flashback!

<b>Mythical Escapes</b>

It was the end of the academic year at Relwick University. Tom and Jay were alone in one of the many computer labs.
"Engineering? Are you kidding me?" exclaimed Jay, incredulously. Tom was somewhat taken aback.
"The world needs engineers," replied Tom. "There aren't enough of them about."
Jay couldn't believe what he was hearing. They'd been doing the same course for a year. He'd seen Tom almost every day, and had witnessed nothing to suggest that he was having any trouble with the material.
"But you're good at this stuff!" he protested.
"Am I? I've looked at next year's stuff. There's no way I'll be able to keep up. Besides, I don't see the point. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people who hates mythology subjects. They're just not my thing. I want to help us advance into the future, not wallow in the past."
"Oh, don't give me that (rhubarb). This isn't wallowing in the past. This is about beliefs which people all over the galaxy live by today, and will continue to live by in the future. I know you aren't a believer yet, but you can't deny..."
"Yet?" Tom interrupted. "When are you going to get it into your head, I'm never going to believe this stuff."
Jay knew he'd gone too far, but he couldn't back down entirely.
"Fine. But don't get (annoyed) the day I say 'I told you so'."
"Fine, I won't."
"But you'll still have thrown away a year of your life."
"Yeah, I know. But there's nothing I can do about that."

* * *

"For his extensive studies, especially in the field of extra-sensory perception in quasi-vampiric entities, it gives me great honour to announce that Jayden Lyle has been granted the title of Doctor of Vampirology."
The gowned academic handed Jay his diploma. They shook hands, and the audience applauded.

After the ceremony, Jay walked to the Explanatory Notes, a small pub he and Tom had been to a few times before. They met fairly regularly, and were still good friends. Tom was sitting at a table towards the back. He had an ale for himself, and an orangeade for Jay.
"Hey, man. Congratulations," said Tom.
"Thanks," replied Jay, sitting down opposite him.
"How was the ceremony?"
"Good. And by 'good' I mean 'long, drawn-out, and boring'."
"Good to hear you had fun, then."
"Yeah."
The conversation meandered on for a while. Jay described the highlights of the ceremony. Tom described his progress in his own studies. They reflected nostalgically on the years they'd known each other.
They talked until 6 o'clock, when Tom had to leave to catch a train. He was attending the quincentennial Festival of the Moon.
Tom knew he wouldn't be seeing Jayden for a while. Jay, on the other hand, knew this would be the last time he'd ever see Thomas.

[Coppertop]

Gasp! Foreshadowing!

[Doubble Dutch]

Excellent chapter sir!


I know you aren't a believer yet, but you can't deny..."

It always amuses me that although there are spiritual aspects to nearly all fan stories the concept of God is shunned.

(Sorry for barging in, but that has always intrigued me.)

[Strato]

I'm ready to post this, however first I'd like to run it by Double Dutch to make sure she's ok with how I used her characters, as last time there was some trouble. However, I'm not sure if she's here or not, cause somebody else has been using her account from what I understand.

[Alex]

DD? youre back! :D

wait.. maybe not indeed :P
we'll find out soon enough :P

[The SlaYeR]

Hello everyone. I had a question.
Unknown and risps chapters don't really tie in to the story and do not 'contaminate' the story line. I say we delete these to avoid confusion, bring it down to a more compact size and just make it look neater as a whole.
Let's vote about it so that Coppertop can delete them if we all agree.

Furthermore, Strato told me he would post up the chapter on Sunday if he has not heard from the real DD by then.

[Coppertop]

I have no problem with that if it's a majority agreement.

Does silence count as assent? :P

[Alister]

I don't think it's necessary to delete them. Perhaps just add a bit to the top of those chapters saying that they're no longer part of the story?

[n0]

Comment them out, then leave a note saying they are commented out, so people can read them if they wish.

[Strato]

Place-holder. Having troubles posting the chapter =(

[Strato]

Ok, the JCF freezes up after one post. I'm thinking I'll just send the chapter to Alister and have him put it up there. Sorry for the inconvenience.

[The SlaYeR]

Strato was having difficulties as you can see, so I am uploading the chapter for him. :+


---


One Last Job to Do

Schism, supposedly the greatest counter-force to the supernatural, lain to waste. It was unnatural. The bodies were strew about with no discretion, some with limbs lopped off, others with holes blow clear through their torsos. Almost all were contorted in some way or another. Computer screens left smashed and broken. Alexander couldn’t even see his own ankles through the blood bath, let alone the once shimmering steel floor. Everything was coated in an ethereal darkness, as almost all lighting had been destroyed. To the three unfortunate souls that were forced to bear witness to the aftermath of whatever events had just occurred, the scene gave a fairly clear image of hell.

Tony was the second to speak after Michelle. “Hey chief…wha…hmm…” Words understandably failed to escape him. Alexander turned back slowly and looked into Tony’s eyes. Pupils dilated and breath wavering, Alexander remained equally as speechless. Michelle on the other hand remained distant. Had she not been dead, she certainly would be experiencing a heart attack. So close. So close was the thing that created this destruction. Oh god, why would nobody listen to her, she thought. Suddenly, a disturbing calm overcame her. A second-death was staring from behind, and she felt it’s cold eyes against her neck.
“We’re about to join them.” She said, indicated with a rotting claw towards one of the dead rabbits around her feet. Tony fumbled a bit with words, before meekly nodding in agreement.
“Boss…we gotta leave.” Breathlessly spoke Tony, almost to the point of inaudibility. However with a gleam in his eye, Alexander looked sharply at Tony, and then to Michelle. “I’d advise running kiddos. I’ve still got a job to do.”
Michelle inhaled, about to argue before Alexander cut her off. “You say something’s still here? I want to meet it.” Michelle needed not to give a reply, as the lurking horror began shifting as if to answer anyway. Practically frozen in time, they watched the blood ripple and wave. In the dim lighting, Alexander could barely make out a blurry shape, until a grey hand larger than even his chest slammed on the ground, sending more waves through the blood. Each finger however, was a shade of purple and orange, with worms tearing through it’s flesh. Finally, ancient white hair flown from it’s knuckles and floated on top of the surface of the blood. Another hand, this time with large black claws instead of fingers slapped into sight on the other side. Finally, the muscles contracted and pulled the rest of the body slowly forward. The arms, similarly grotesque but thankfully covered by more hair came into sight, finally connecting to large sockets located at the base of a cyndrilical body, protected by a loose hanging kite of obsidian colored armor on large gold trimmed chains. Finally, with one finally pull, a head loomed out of the darkness, completely grey and wrinkled, and lacking all facial features spare three evenly spaced, perfectly round holes where it’s eyes and mouth should have been. A faint, rhythmic whistle came from all three holes, suggesting breathing. Overall, the monster rose almost twice as high as Alexander who was a giant on his own standards. This was the stuff of nightmares.

Alexander huffed. “I’ve seen better.”

Alone on a window seat, Majo stared out into the setting sun. Flickering across her mind were memories, wonderful ones, about childhood, life, love… Her Aunt Grenda placed a paw on her shoulder. A smile danced across Majo’s face, breaking up lines in her cheeks that formed over her travels. She finally resolved to give up her travels. But firstly, she needed to set up her life again.
“Auntie…do you have a room I can unpack my things in? I think I’m going to be moving back in with you for a while.” Her Aunt lit up like a candle.
“Oh of course sweetheart! You’re always welcome here! Let me go make a bed for you and you can settle right in dear.” With a flourish, Grenda turned on her heels and scurried upstairs and out of sight. Meanwhile, Majo amused herself with more thoughts about her newfound lifestyle. Fantasies of opening a small shop, making a garden, and settling down again almost brought a tear to her eye. Suddenly, only one thing occupied her mind. Keith.
When her Aunt came returned from upstairs, Majo asked her about Keith.
“Hmm, Keith. Well, not much happens in a small town like this. If I can recollect, he still lives just down the lane, working for the military or something.” Grenda answered with furrowed brow and hard thought. “But I’ve been getting battier and battier. Tell me, why do you want to know?”
Major’s heart almost stopped. A flood of dread came down on her like a hammer.
“I’ve got to see him. Right now.” With that, she bolted out the door and blindly started down the dusty road. Her Aunt called after her. “Wait! You should at least take a bath before you start kissing boys again!”
But kissing him was Majo’s last concern. Please let it not be Schism, please let it not be Schism. I don’t want that again were the thoughts playing through her mind like a record. As she overcame the final hill, all thoughts escaped her. There Keith was, outside raking leaves in his own yard. He had not taken notice of Majo, who by this point was barreling down like a bat out of hell. At the last moment, he looked up to see Majo, arms outstretched leaping towards him. He had less than a second to go “Whoa SHI-OOF,” before being tackle hugged by a hysterical Majo. Together, they tumbled to the ground and rolled to a stop. Keith rose up above Majo, and looked down at her. His blue eyes moistened slightly.
“I told you I’d return someday.” She whispered eagle-sprawled. Keith gave a small chuckled and replied with a smile.
“You smell terrible.” They threw their arms around each other, and Majo’s smallest concern suddenly shot to pole position. Their lips met, right as the sun finished it’s descent beneath the horizon.

The beast slammed it’s right clawless hand down onto ground, sending large waves through the blood. Anyone would be able to figure that it was getting agitated, and that definitely wasn’t good. However, descretionless Alexander couldn’t have cared any less.
“Haha, you think I’m scared of you? Huh? Answer me you grey (-).” He yelled and cursed at the thing, only to get the same steady whistling as a response.
“Hey, sphincter face! I’m talking to you!”
Tony cleared his through. “Boss, I don’t think it can hear you, and if it can it’s got no intent on replying.” Again, the thing raised it’s fist and slammed it into the ground, twice in succession this time. Tony blinked for a second. “Why isn’t it ripping us apart right now though?”
Michelle answered. “I don’t think it can see us.”
“Can it see thi-“ Alexander interjected
Tony asked a question to cover up Alexander’s obscene gestures. “Why do you think that Michelle?”
“It’s got no eyes.” Tony was taken aback by the simplicity of the statement. All of the insanity abounding made him unable to see the obvious. In an attempt to recover some minor dignity, he chuckled.
“Huh, guess that makes sense. But if it’s blind, how else do you think it’d move around?” Michelle fell silently thoughtful and raised a finger to her chin. The thing slammed the other fist into the ground this time.
“I think that it tries to feel vibrations in the ground to find things. But with all this blood pooling on the ground, it’s probably obstructing it’s senses. It’s slamming it’s fist in the ground, probably trying to send out waves, kind of like echolocation.” A wicked grin appeared on Alexander’s face.
“So if it’s blind, that makes it easy to kill.” He sloshed forward with a little difficulty towards the monster. Suddenly, it stiffen up and ceased moving. It pivoted to face Alexander.
“Wait, stop! It can feel your movement!” Michelle called out a half-second too late. A massive cable like arm whipped out from the creature’s backside and wrapped itself around Alexander’s chest, squeezing his arms tight to his body. It began to crush his body with a fierce tightness. A single thought raced through Tony’s mind: I’m going to die.

[The SlaYeR]

“Susan, if we stay, we die! I know it’s difficult but-“
“No Tom. Absolutely not. This is our home, and I’ll be (-)ed if we have to leave it!” Louie and Tier relaxed downstairs in the Bradhurst’s living room on what might be their last time there. The fight carried on above them for what felt like hours, as Tier and Louie half eavesdropped half didn’t care. Tier was standing up pouring himself a flue of fine wine while leaning against an old record player. Louie had an arm behind his head and lazed on their sofa. More muffled shouting could be heard through the house, so Tier blew the dust off a record and delicately set the needle down on it.
“Didn’t Tom say it’d only be a few minutes?” he asked while trying to poke the play button and not destroy the thing. Both came true, as classical violin music flirted through the air but his claw broke off the button.
“What a piece of crap. Care for a drink?”
Louie gave another shrug of the shoulders. Annoyed, Tier raised the glass to his lips.
“Hrmph. More for me then.” He downed the glass as quickly as possible, accidentally breaking the glass in half. With a very agitated grumbled, skipped the glass entirely and began drinking straight from the bottle. More yelling could be heard from the room above them. Surprisingly, Louie coughed a bit and asked Tier if he found anything about Gary Parker.
“His guard’s heads are softer than melons. Barring that though, I made my way into his office. Initially I didn’t find anything that looked out of place, but I quickly found a passage down into a hidden chamber below.” Tier took a moment at this point to have a particularly large gulp of alcohol. “Ah. Well, it was pretty crazy down their. He had a blood-stained altar set up with bodies set-up for sacrificing, neatly stacked about 10 high. Tables with relics adorning various evil deities, mostly minor ones were down their too. I picked up a small depiction written on the back of a business card of a particularly interesting figure.” Tier stopped again to drink more. While lowering the bottle, he walked over to where his bullet-torn suit hung, and removed the paper from the inner pocket. A hole burnt through the corner of it, but the drawing and most of the writing remained intact. Tier flicked the card onto Louie’s chest and took a drink again as he looked.
“Hmmph.” Louie grunted while lazily bringing the card up to his eyes. When he saw the figure, Louie’s pupils shrunk to pin-points. He propped himself up slightly on his elbows. “This…what is it’s name again?”
“Bruhn.”
Louie’s eyes never wavered off the card as he spoke. “Estella worshiped this same being. She tried to convince me to as well, but I…it would have destroyed us. Yakira…she was harmed by Estella. Probably to help her gain power and favor with Bruhn.” Tier harrumphed.
“You sure your ex just wasn’t being jealous?” Louie shot Tier a dark look.
“I hate you because you’re smug.”
“Hmm…what do you know about Bruhn? Perhaps it’ll help us understand Parker’s motives.”
“Well, as you known, Bruhn is a soul that has transcended with enormous power, to almost a deity like state. However in his life he was an atrociously evil being, so it goes to show that he would be an atrociously evil demi-god. However, he with his ultimate banishment to the core of this world, he lost the power to directly act, and was forced to manipulate any potential followers into his will.” A loud thud came from the room above them. Tier and Louie paused to look up. Both shrugged, and Louie continued. “If I remember, in his early years, Bruhn was so spiteful about his situation that he would reach out and kill anybody who attempted to appease him. Their bodies would generally end up being incredibly mutilated. Eventually, he matured I suppose and now only kills the greater bulk of people who worship him. Parker must be somehow useful to Bruhn for him to not be outright mauled yet.”
Tier downed the last sip of bubbly and whipped his mouth across his arm.

“Sounds like a wonderful guy.”

“I agree Auntie, he’s amazing.” Majo and her Aunt were sitting at a table, sharing a conversation and coffee. “Although I have to wonder why he’s remained single for so many years.” By now, the sun had set long ago and the stars were almost coming into their full glory. Majo had freshly showered after her engagement with Keith. She walked on air without the stress that years on the road gave her.
“Well, he was probably waiting for you dear. And so have I. You’ve just returned and you’ve spent all day galavanting around. Why, you haven’t even unpacked yet. Please, settle down for a while. I made your bed and everything.” Majo sighed. While she thought, a light tapping sound beated against the roof. A small drizzle of rain had set in and nobody noticed.
“I suppose I should. It’s almost midnight, and here I am making you stay up so late. Well, I guess I’ll be heading up there. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Majo got up and politely pushed her seat in. She grabbed her small box of belongings and dragged it upstairs into her new bedroom. Cozy and small, this was where Majo hoped her new life would be. A bed, albeit a bit short for her now rested flush underneath a window. An end table with a reading lamp. A wooden bookshelf sagging under the weight of it’s literature. Warm yellow wallpaper that peeled at the corners. Majo let out a contented sigh, and dumped her belongings out on her bed. She sat next to the items and sifted through the pile. She barely had time to figure out what to bring, so the bulk of the stuff was clothes randomly grabbed from her dresser. She pulled out an undershirt to sleep in and out of it tumbled a small necklace. Majo bent over, grabbed it, and brought the necklace up to her eyes. A blue marble wrapped in silver. Suddenly, she instantly regretted looking at it. The necklace reminded her of how she got it, which reminded her of Louie. She wondered how she could possibly have been so foolish. He was a vampire for god’s sake. Majo told herself that she had no business to associate with him for as long as she did. She felt emotions, jealousy and anger building up in her. Other memories of Tom, Alexander, Tier, et cetera. Freshly met people who impacted her so much. She hated them all. She reached across and slammed the necklace down on her dresser in an outburst of this. Majo had crossed the point of no return. Turning back was out of the question. She was no longer a part of the group.
Suddenly, she realized that she hadn’t checked up with Alexander or the others in several hours. She didn’t care for them, but acknowledged that she would have to at least go back and tell them of her decision. She forced herself off the bed and grudgingly walked down the stairs again, making sure to walk lightly and not wake up Aunt Grenda. The door gave a creek as she pushed it open and stepped out into the rain.

Alexander’s chest felt like it was collapsing on itself. The tentacles bound so ferociously tight he couldn’t breath. Michelle was screaming. Tony babbling. It would prove to be a humiliating end to Schism unless somebody acted fast. Michelle’s shouting suddenly stopped when she remembered her own fighting prowess. Mustering up a bit of courage, she charged head-on towards the beast with an unsightly speed. She couldn’t even feel the liquid slowing her down as she practically skimmed across it. Michelle gave a battle roar that although needing practice, shook Tony out of his funk and into action. Thinking on his feet, Tony grabbed a blaster pistol out of a dead guard’s hand and began shooting blindly into the thing’s face and eyeholes. Michelle jumped up towards the monster and sunk her teeth into it’s flesh, not penetrating very deeply but hopefully causing pain. The beast didn’t even shudder, but it’s grip on Alexander relaxed. He fell to the ground, took a gasping breath, and immediately jumped onto it’s claw arm. With a huge effort, he bent the claw finger back upon itself, and with a large grunt, he felt it break. Michelle paused on biting her opponent for a nano to wonder why it released Alexander. Her attack didn’t do any major damage. Perhaps it was really just all bark and no bite?

[The SlaYeR]

The next second she was blinded with pain and flying through the air. Apparently it formed it’s tentacles into a thick baseball bat like cylinder and gave her a massive thwack across the ribs and through the air. Tony ducked his head just in time as she flew through the air above him. Michelle crashed against the far wall with a sickening crack of her back and neck, and bounced limply into the ground face-down in blood. Tony wasted no time to rush to her side.
“Michelle…Oh my god. Please say something!” he panicked. He grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to flip her over. Her torso did, but her legs did not. The crash had broken her spine in the center, and her body was no longer connected. Tony yelled in horror. He flipped her back around immediately and jumped backwards. There was nothing he could do.

Alexander did some great damage to one of it’s hands, although at a great cost of stamina. It seemed to be crippled though. The tentacles formed themselves into a large blade now, and sliced at Alexander’s body with deadly accuracy and astonishing speed. He couldn’t keep up, and repeatedly got nicked on arms, legs, neck, everywhere. He only just then noticed that Michelle was down and Tony in shock. He jumped away from the monster and landed in the middle of the gap between Tony and the beast.
“HEY! Mourn later, battle now!” he bellowed. Tony looked back up at Alexander, tears flowing from his eyes. He pulled out the blaster and fired again at the monster.

“Tony!” Michelle shouted. She was experiencing tunnel vision, and the colors seemed ethereal. Yellows, violets, and greens dancing across her view. Tony gave no reply. Instead he turned around to face back at Michelle. In Michelle’s eyes, she couldn’t see anything but Tony’s face, getting closer and closer. When it looked like it was inches away, she tried to purse her lips, but yelped in horror instead. Tony’s skin began to melt off of his face until it was just a skull in a pool of blood. Michelle suddenly snapped back from her hallucination into the reality of the battle. She was face down in blood, practically on top of another dead body. It dawned upon her about what she had to do to survive. With her last instinct, Michelle lowered her mouth down around the corpse.

Tom and Susan Bradhurst were having what could probably be called the longest fight of the century. Susan was adamant about not moving out of their house and made quite a point of expressing that at the top of her lungs. Tom sat helpless at the foot of their bed, trying to convince her otherwise. Ah the fights married couples share.
“Tom, I’m afraid that we can’t do this. We’ve lived her far too long to suddenly move in one night. I don’t care what you have to say, we simply can’t do it. I don’t know, maybe your vampire friends can run away, but I’m not going to hear a word of it.”
Tom rubbed his temples in frustration. He tried to rationalize to Susan.
“We’ll die. There is no other way to put it Susan. If we don’t try to escape, we’ll die. I hate it just as much as you do but please. These are our lives we’re talking about here. Why throw that away?” Susan put her hands on her hips.
“Oh please, and who is going to be the ones who kill us? Werewolves? Zombies with guns for arms? Maybe a crazy vampire bear who breaths fire! Tom, NOTHING will harm us if we stay here. The only reason we’re in any danger is because of your sudden change in company, and inviting a freak show into our house.” She cursed. “I knew I shouldn’t have gone along with this whole idea. This has gone on long enough. You’re going downstairs to tell them to get out now mister, so help me god I don’t beat you into doing it.” Tom shouted back again.
“No! They’re the only people who will be able to protect us when the time comes. We can’t fight for ourselves! We’ll be slaughtered, mauled, just brutalized.”
“Tom, nothing will happen. I’m normally always here to support you in your every endeavor, but not this. I even played your game while you were dancing around on the fountain in front of everyone we know trying to act like a hotshot general of some inane war. Tom, these people, this world you’ve fabricated around us. This whole battle idea. I'm not going to support this anymore. You've got to face up to some things!”
"Like what?" Tom questioned with sarcasm.
"You need to face the real world, face your failures, and especially face the fact that you live a LIE!"
Tom gave no reply. The comment had taken both of them by surprise. Although Susan grieved inwardly about what she said, she had to press on to gain the upper hand in this fight.
“Yes. You live this way because you thought it would be fun and fulfilling to your boyhood fantasy to participate in some epic war for justice. You’re an accountant, not a general, although obviously you want to prented it’s not true. Well it is Tom, and that’s not how it works in reality. It must have been quite something to stand in front of everyone and rally them to battle, but…no more. Just please, no more of this?”
Tom looked down into his hands that lay lamely in his lap. With a long breath, he finally spoke.
“Consider it done. I’ll go down and tell them to pack up and leave right away.” Tom got up and walked past Susan out the door. He walked down the stairs, all the way to where Louie and Tier sat in the living room. Immedtiatly the stench of alcohol flared up in his nostrils, making him slightly dizzy. Tier acknowledge Tom first.
“Heeeey, it’s you again. Did you have make-up sex yet?”
Louie got off of the sofa and stood in the center of the room. “Are you prepared to leave?” he asked.
Tom made what felt like a megaton decision.
“No.”
Louie reacted with a disgruntled remark. “We’ve got to leave right now. There is no more time for these antics. Get ready.”
“No.” Tom shuddered.
Louie grunted. “What do you mean no?”
Tom gave a sigh and explained. “I mean no as in we’re not leaving.”
“What?” Louie dropped any semblance of kidding around, and his tone fell flat.
“Let me rephrase that. Susan and I aren’t leaving.”
“Well I am.” Louie shoved Tom out of the way and walked up the stairs towards Yakira’s bed chamber. Tier looked at Tom and shrugged awkwardly.
“I guess…thanks for your hospitality. And sorry about the suit.”
Tom idled, giving no reply. He stared down at the ground, completely at a loss of what to say. Yakira walked down the stairs followed closely by Louie. She tightly gripped Louie's hand and felt around for the walls and railings.
“You ready to leave Tier?” Louie asked on his way out.
Tier shrugged and said “I suppose.”
“Then let’s leave.” Louie replayed.
Tier scratched behind his head and looked over at the man who had welcomed into his house. “Goodbye Tom.”
The trio walked out of the door and into the brisk midnight air. About midway through the driveway, Louie froze. Tier did a second later. Yakira took another step before realizing that everyone had stopped. A werewolf that looked not unlike the leader of their pack that the group had to just recently fight stood at the end of the lane, apparently waiting for them. He flashed a disgusting grin, and snarled.
“I’ve been waiting for you to leave. I’m here to kick your (-).”
Louie shot a very enraged look at Tier.
“Why didn’t you tell us that there was another living thing just outside?”
“I’m drunk, what do you expect?!”

[The SlaYeR]

Upstairs in Tom and Susan’s bedroom, Susan asked whether Tom had done what she wanted or not. Before he could answer, a booming thud echoed through their window.
“What the hell?!” both shouted in unison.

Alexander looked forward as Tony emptied bullet after bullet into the creature. Although repeatedly impacted and greviously injured, it didn't even shudder when hit. A few bullets ricocheted off of the chains holding it's obsidian plate armor. Tony's aim was suffering as he was distraught too much by the catastrophic ongoing. As if like a light was switched on, Alexander realized the way to beat this thing.
"The armor. Obviously, it's covering something vital." he said to himself and then to Tony. "Aim for the links." As Tony complied by half aiming at the links, Alexander ran two steps forward, before a flashing streak blew past him. The rush of wind and wake in the water startled all three people in the room. Tony became the first to deduce what the streak was.
"Michelle?" he whispered uncontrollably. To confirm it, Tony looked down where Michelle lay moments before, and saw nothing. Alexander watched utterly stunned as Michelle jumped up much like she did on her first attack, gave a solid punch to one of the links, and completely shattered the chain around it's neck. The armor gave a loud sliding sound and thunderously crashed on the ground, to reveal that it's torso was hollow, with a pulsating black heart connected by multiple tubes. A second later, the beast began to teeter on it's one good hand. Apparently the sudden loss of a massive weight sent it off balance. And like the walls of Jericho, it titled backwards and slowly tumbled down. After the blast of air from it's collapse, Alexander ran up and jumped onto it's body. He kneeled reaching into it's chest and rested his hands upon it's heart. He felt it beating rapidly now, and with powerful contractions.
"This is the end of the line for you." Alexander droned. He had a fire in his eyes, but a dullness in his mind, perhaps the most dangerous combination of all. He placed a hand on either side if it's heart, and began to apply mighty pressure against it. The contractions sped up, and the beast's body spasmed violently.
"And with this, I have finished my final assignment." Alexander yanked his arms high above his head, pulling the heart out of it's torso. As the tubes and viens ripped out of the muscle, black ooze squirted in every direction. The heart in Alexander's hands gave a few parting beats before stopping forever, and as for the creature, it's body gave a massive quake and then fell limp.

Michelle, who had landed on the opposite side of the monster, looked up at Alexander's nightmarish act. Tony, far behind Alexander, almost passed out from the combination of physical exertion, emotional somersaulting, and traumatizing actions. Alexander, covered almost head to toe in a thick bile, tossed the heart aside, and silently walked back to the elevator. Michelle matched his funeralial like pace and fell in step behind Alexander. Tony waited until both passed, before schlopping his way into the elevator with them. All three were covered in blood, sweat, and tears, but none would be more content with their safety. All except Alexander, who's eyes traded for the dullness, but his mind gained the fire. He punched the code for exiting, practically burned a hole through the wall staring directly ahead while the machines went through the procedure of letting them pass.

The bar was empty and closed. It was past midnight, and a little town like this had no alcoholics. They wormed through stools and tables. Alexander reached the door and ripped it off it's hinges on the way out. Fearing for their lives, Tony and Michelle solemnly followed on his heels. The rain was a blessing, although cold. It washed away the blood, and hopefully the memories for now. Not daring to ask where they were heading, Tony instead wondered about the next thing on his mind.
"How did you do it Michelle?" He would soon regret ever asking, because stopped and gave the answer.
"She drank the blood of one of my friends." Unable to see through the dark night, neither Tony or Michelle realized that he had stopped and was mere inches from both of their faces. They both knocked into his chest, as he towered above them. His hair caught the wind and lifted slight in the breeze. Tony would never be able to describe the feeling on that black night, seeing Alexander's shillouette against the faint grey clouds above. The rain intensified, falling harder and faster.
"Schism is done with. Therefore, I'm done with you. Tomorrow morning, three horses will return." He turned and began to walk away.
"So what? You're going to turn tail and run on us?"
"Sounds about right."
"We need you, and you need us. Yet naturally, you're just going to run out the door again. How you managed to get a wife it a great mystery to me, since you're so detached from the world."
"Who are you to tell me how to live, considering you're the dead one here."
Tony shifted very uncomfortably. The remark cut down to the bone, yet Alexander showed no remorse. Michelle oddly didn't seem to notice, as she carried one without pause. "Although I may be a corpse, I can still see life. And you're just leaving yours in an ice box."
"Haha, your words are nice. But life isn't an abstract concept. It's a state that you're no longer a part of. Not like I would know without the infinite wisdom obviously doled out to the non-living."
In the middle of the tension, the sound of a person struggling through the mud could be heard. Majo approached the group holding a latern high above her head and fighting her way up to them
"Glad I could find you guys. I've come to say one last thing, and I wont' be convinced otherwise. I'm leaving the traveler's life behind and settling down here."

[Doubble Dutch]

Hmmmn, you took no notice at all of DD's reply did you? You totally ignored it!

[The SlaYeR]

In all honesty, he has given her plenty of time to reply.

[Coppertop]

Ooo battle.

[Strato]

I skimmed it, and she said that her quips didn't apply to my chapter. Plus with a few people were pressuring me to just get it done.

Of course, upon re-reading it, she did mention a bit about how her characters feel no pain, which probably should have been mentioned.

Edit : Plus with my problems with posting, I had to have somebody else post a different, un-edited version anyway

[Doubble Dutch]

Either way, she's still quite upset. (No, I mean *quite* upset.)

[Strato]

As it stands, I can't upload my version anyway. I had SlaYo upload his copy which I sent to him before I consulted DD, to make sure that he was fine with the character usage. I figured it was alright because she literally said in her email that her quips didn't really apply to my chapter. I can change some bits, but it won't be easy since SlaYo will have to edit his posts.

[Doubble Dutch]

I wonder what the problem is, that's real odd...

Quite frankly, I don't care. (Well, the spelling and grammar mistakes stir up the ol' polemic a bit.) but DD's new meds have made her real touchy. (And no, I'm not joking.)

Also, with girls, you'll probably find that 'literally' isn't good enough.

[The SlaYeR]

What do you mean 'Made her touchy'? She's always been terrible.
And if Strato wants me to edit the chapter than I will, but frankly, I don't see why we should.

[Doubble Dutch]

Okay, she's *more* touchy; mood swings, sometimes it's almost comical how she can start of all chirpy then get annoyed as hell. Frankly, I don't care either way considering this story will like as not never get finished, but she seems to feel very strongly about it.

[superjwren329]

That's a problem with some stories like these. They tend to go on for ages, forgotten about, left alone for ages before it's started again.

Thus, creating an endless cycle...

[The SlaYeR]

That's a problem with some stories like these. They tend to go on for ages, forgotten about, left alone for ages before it's started again.

Thus, creating an endless cycle...

Please, shut up.

[Doubble Dutch]

Well, someone needs a glass of warm milk!

Really, from what I've seen in my few brief years of life, things tend toward decay more than construction, especially group projects. Ironically enough I was part of a group story like this about a year back, it may get a new post any month now. (Besides, I'm saying this is a 50:50 pass/fail, not that it's doomed to failure.)

[Coppertop]

I don't see how DD has anything to complain about. Those are the risks of being part of a group story. If someone uses your character, tough. That's the nature of a collaborative story. Personally, you could take my characters tomorrow and kill them both; as long as it furthered the story, I really wouldn't complain. If DD has specific complains, PM them to Strato. We don't need an argument to clutter this thread.

superjwren, this story may have been going on for some time, but we have put a lot of effort into it. I think it is very likely that we will finish this, even if we only have two or three authors in the end. I inted to stick it out, in any case, and I'm pretty sure Slay feels the same. If you have some helpful critique, then by all means , say it as unoffensively as you can. As it stands, your comments are not contributing anything but frustration.

[superjwren329]

....This isn't exactly going according to plan, is it? Heck, insanity is just taking over and nothing is getting done. Let's all calm down, and come to some agreement. Now, if we just calm down, we'll get this place nice and settled down.

Now, ya'll calm yourselves down, ya hear?!

[Alister]

So... who's up next?

[Coppertop]

I can never remember. I think it's Cobbi but I'm not certain.

[The SlaYeR]

Next one after Cobs please. Or anyone after her who wants to write a chapter and who posts within a few days.

[Doubble Dutch]

C'mon people, get a-typin; you don't want me to do something now do you; you don't want it to come to that...

[Alex]

suer we do :) also, we want to see you on msn.. plz.

[Doubble Dutch]

Hey, if nobody else has time I can whip up something.

(And I'm on MSN early, you're on late.)

[Coppertop]

DD, it is your turn next.

Oh, I'm reposting the list here for convenience's sake. Tick, I'm not certain when you write, hence the question mark.

Cobra.
Spaztic?
Coppertop.
Alex.
SlaYo.
Risp.
Acid.
Ducky.
Doubble Dutch.
ToxicBunny.
Strato.

Reposting for the sake of convenience, I realize that this list is out of date but it will have to do until I have more time to correct it.

It is my turn to write next, I will start immediately.

[Doubble Dutch]

Huzzah! We're gonna get a treat now!

[Coppertop]

Okay, so I realize it's been over a month since I started. I do apologize most profusely for the wait. Life has been unpredictable, to say the least.
And, since I don't write four page chapters, this one is comparably short. Again, sorry.


The spy network is an amazing thing. Anything worth knowing, regardless of how inconsequential it may seem, somehow finds its way through the appropriate channels, to the ears of those interested most.
Reg’s call sparked a chain of events. Jesse Aimon’s name ensured that the information was passed on, filtered through informants and contacts, until it fulfilled its purpose and was filed away for future reference.

Adrian had built a fairly complete picture of Jesse. Fierro and Hayley had done their work efficiently, if somewhat hesitantly. He had been put in contact with an agent, alias Lyndsey Savon, who had been instrumental in the removal of the Aimon family. Her failure to eliminate Jesse seemed to have been excused by her handler, but Adrian did not approve of such errors. He disregarded the fact that Jesse had also eluded him, justifying it with the fact that his slip would shortly be rectified. It did not appear that this agent had even made an attempt on Jesse’s life, following his escape from the fire that had consumed his home. Adrian questioned her further, attempting to learn Jesse’s character and personality, before excusing himself amiably.
Ten minutes after their parting, Lyndsey Savon became the tragic victim of a drunk driver, who walked away from the accident and disappeared. Adrian was nothing if not thorough.

Fierro’s call came the next morning. Adrian had found another vehicle, nondescript and generic, procured from one of his many contacts. He was already preparing to move out when his phone rang.
“Adrian.”
“Fierro here.”
“Line’s clear?” Adrian demanded.
“Yeah, I’m sure of it. Got news on the Aimon kid.”
“Talk,” the dark-furred rabbit said tersely. Fierro did.
Adrian was not a stupid fellow. His mind was working long before Fierro finished.
“Tetracolyhydroxide?” What could he possibly want that for?
“That’s the stuff,” Fierro confirmed. “This kid’s not an addict, is he?”
“No,” Adrian said shortly. “Not with his psych profile. Not the type at all. He wants it for something else.”
“I’d say, since he got about two and a half gallons of the stuff.”
“Right. Anything else?”
“He paid the dealer in Carrotan gems. Medium quality, not large stones. Had a fair quantity.”
“Gems? Carrotan gems?”
“That’s what I said. That’s all the info I’ve got for you.”
“Where do I find the dealer?”
Fierro told him.
“Alright, thanks Fierro. I’ll follow up.”
“Yeah. Keep your trail clean, Adrian. Later.”
Fierro broke the connection before Adrian could respond.
Adrian was not a stupid rabbit. He had an excellent memory and a keen intelligence, which enabled him now to recollect the pertinent facts about tetracolyhydroxide. Putting two and two together was easy. Adding in the Carrotan gems, which indicated another ally for Jesse, and the result was logical.
He’s leaving Diamondus.
Well, Adrian would follow him. He had a score to settle, which was becoming intensely personal. The kid knew his name, knew his face, knew his voice and mannerisms, knew altogether too much for Adrian’s comfort.
The black rabbit conveniently forgot that his authority did not extend past Diamondus, indeed did not go past the edge of southern territory. To him, this had become a matter of self-preservation.

Jesse woke suddenly, coming fully alert in the darkness. The sound of his father’s voice still echoed in his ears, carried over from dreaming into the waking world. The teenager sought the comforting hum of the ship’s machinery, eager to erase the dream dialogue from his memory.
He dreamed frequently of Jonathan Aimon, these days. It was bitter irony that he should cringe from the memory of his father, once his greatest hero, now a dangerous, treacherous enigma. He had not approached Verity about her experience with Jonathan, and shied away from the idea. His image of the general had crumbled far enough. He had no wish to aid in its further destruction.
Something had woken him, not the dream; he rose silently and padded into the hallway, leaving the cabin he shared with Icarus. The other rabbit slept soundly, and Jesse had no wish to wake him. Their day had been busy, painting the ship with the tetra he had obtained. Icarus had been exhausted by nightfall.
Once in the hallway, the youth paused and listened carefully. Something was different about the ship’s sound, some ineffable variation that he could not place, that should not be present during the night cycle. Following his instincts, he drifted towards the cockpit, feet soundless on the deck. He paused at the threshold, observing the interior of the room and its’ sole occupant.
Verity was hunched before one of the terminals, its brightly lit screen painful to Jesse’s dark-accustomed eyes. She was not yet aware of his presence, and he debated leaving her to her solitary research. She bore him no love, after all, and his presence would undoubtedly prove unwelcome.
He had made no noise, but Verity twitched and swung around regardless, sensing his gaze. Her eyes widened and then narrowed with ill-concealed suspicion. Jesse looked away and considered the blank terminals, deliberately refraining from eyeing her screen.
“What do you want?” she demanded, her voice loud and jarring in the dimness. Jesse shrugged after a few seconds, laconic, attempting to look unthreatening.
“I heard someone,” he said. “Guess it was you.”
She favored him with a hard glare. Jesse wanted nothing more than to avoid this female, to ghost back into his room and return to sleep.
“You hate him so much,” he said suddenly, on impulse. “Jonathan. You hate him enough that you were going to kill me just because I look like him.”
“I thought you were him,” she snapped. “I’m still not convinced.”
She was lying, he thought. She distrusted him for other reasons. But he found suddenly that he needed to know, badly.
“What did he do to you?”
The question was so childish that Verity stared, briefly silenced, and in that moment Jesse looked younger than his seventeen years. He was so quietly confident that those around him often forgot that he was still a teenager, inexperienced by most standards. The reminder was unwelcome to Verity.
“None of your business,” she said, brushing away the concern and pain that Jesse’s voice expressed.
“It is my business,” he said quietly. “It became my business when I almost died because of what he did. I think I deserve to know what you almost killed me for.”
“No one needs to know except myself and Jonathan,” Verity said sharply, lifting her chin and daring him with her eyes to argue. Jesse dropped his eyes to the floor, considering his words. The silence stretched between them.
“You know he’s dead,” he said finally, breaking the quiet. “They burned his house to the ground with him and his family in it.”
“You can’t know that,” Verity objected flatly.
“It was all over the news,” he said quietly. “Showed his picture. He looks a lot like me. People said so then, too.”
He wanted desperately to tell her that he was Jonathan’s son, that Jonathan had hurt him too. Verity did not have to tell him what kind of a character his father was. Others had mentioned things as well. Reg, the lizard dealer, seemed to know Jonathan well; he had seen the resemblance between the two and his puzzled comments to Jesse had told the teenager far more than Reg knew. He wanted her to know that he shared the same kind of pain.
Of course, her predictable reaction would be to transfer blame from father to son, and carry out her revenge. Jesse was keen on survival. He kept his mouth firmly shut on the words he would like to say.
“I don’t believe you,” Verity stated, and the truth of that was obvious. Jesse shrugged again.
“Don’t, then.”
She spun her chair about and went back to the terminal, studiously ignoring Jesse. The white rabbit eyed her curiously.
“What are you doing, anyway?”
He began to wonder if she had even heard him, when she finally replied.
“I’m verifying our data,” she said, flicking to a new screen. “We have one chance. I want off this ball of dirt.”
“I can understand that,” he said dryly.
No answer was forthcoming, and she resumed ignoring him. Jesse turned, inwardly amused, to return to his cabin.
Tomorrow they would make their attempt, and Jesse prayed fervently that it would succeed. He, too, wanted off of Diamondus, but for his own reasons.
Adrian was still out there, and he had neither forgiven nor forgotten.

[The SlaYeR]

Thank you for that most wonderful chapter Copper. I feel almost guilty being after a chapter as well written as this one was. I am just not quiet sure if it does not clash with the storyline the three of you had going so far. Thank you for writing though.

I guess I'm up next.

[Doubble Dutch]

A golden chapter from our copper, all you can do is go for silver Slay.

[The SlaYeR]

I'll try ;)

[n0]

< ct 3

[Torkell]

Since this has been on my "to-read" list for a while now, I decided to do something about it. That something was to turn the thread into something I can read on my Palm.

A text file with pretty much everything chapter-like from this thread is here (http://thomasmccorkell.me.uk/junk/greenthorpe.txt), and a PalmDoc version is here (http://thomasmccorkell.me.uk/junk/greenthorpe.prc).

This is probably not the most accurate collection (there's many disagreements over chapter numbers and the like), but it should all be there. I've tried to keep section breaks, but they may be wrong as I placed them by using the powers of Find/Replace. I've also credited each chapter to the current username of the poster.

Feel free to ignore this, I'm only posting it as if someone else wants the same thing then it saves them an awful lot of Copy/Paste.

Quick edit: if anyone would rather I didn't make this available, let me know and I'll disappear the file.

[Doubble Dutch]

*Hem hem!*

Well then... anyone?

[The SlaYeR]

Almost done now!

[The SlaYeR]

I figured I'd post the first half of my chapter up now. More to come in a day or two.
Have fun reading.

---

Chapter 44: Crossroads.

Thomas turned away from Susan, planning on running down the stairs and out of the house as fast as he could.
Susan grabbed him by the arm and gave a short tug at his sleeve.
"You are not planning on going out there are you?" Susan tried to give him an angry look, but her fear took the upper hand.
Thomas was determined to aid his friends and he pulled his arm free from her grip.
"I'm going Susan. Go to the basement and hide until all of this is over..." Susan wanted to interrupt him, but he shook his head.
"Not this time Susan, you'll listen to me for a change."
His eyes showed no sign of fear and she knew there was no point in trying to stop him, she passed Thomas and descended the stairs as she whispered for him to be careful.
Susan entered their small basement, a washing machine whirred in the corner. The small opening between it and the wall provided her with a place to hide.
She took a quick glimpse out of the window and her eyes grew wide as she saw a severed arm lying inches away from it.
"This is madness."

Thomas stepped outside, Louie's body was resting on the ground, his fur covered in the thick mud that had formed after the rainfall.
His eyes were open he did not move a muscle. His stomach was ripped open with one clean cut and his arm had been forcefully torn from his body.
Tier's head rolled to Thomas' feet. The rest of Tier's body was trying to fight of the Werewolf with a combination of ballet and 'You stepped on my toe.'
"Oh god, we're doomed." Thomas whispered.

Tony and Michelle had accepted Majo's invitation to warm by her fire, clean themselves up and rest.
The warm water felt like eternal bliss after the hardships they had to endure. Tony's worries ran down the sink as he closed his eyes.
He heard Michelle enter the bathroom. She stripped down from her blood soaked clothes and looked at herself in the mirror above the sink.
Her fur was hanging loose in several places to reveal deep, black gashes. She slowly brushed over them with the top of her fingers, she grind together her teeth waiting for the incoming signals of pain that would not come.
Tony's hand came out from behind shower curtain, he felt around for the towel Majo had provided him with. He wrapped it around his waist and got out.
Michelle gave him a faint smile and looked into the mirror again. She sighed and rested her hands on both sides of the wash basin and looked down at the droplets of blood that made their way down her body.
Tony stood behind her, looking over her shoulder at the same body, looking past the deadness he saw beauty and insecurity.
"I think..." He wanted to start a sentence, but he could not think of the right words. Their eyes met in the reflection of the mirror and she turned around to wrap his arms around him and kissed him.

Alexander was miles away from any kind of comfort, he walked through plains and meadows. For miles and miles with no clear purpose.
Hours after he had left the village he sank down in the tall grass of a field and looked up at the clear, dark sky.
The two moons lit up the area around him, he calmed down and the anger in him cleared up to make place for sadness.
He had been cursing his co-workers for their ostentatious nature.
All he could think about now were their good attributes and the pictures of their families adrift in the seas of blood.
His hands clutched several patches of grass and ripped them out. He has lost everyone he was even remotely close to in one night.
He could taste the bitter tears that ran down his cheek and entered his mouth.
A bright light flashed in the night sky.

The ship shook on all sides as the crew entered the cockpit in shock.
Verity avoided all contact with Icarus' eyes out of shame over something that was not her fault.
Icarus sat down in the chair next to her and looked over the controls and the on screen status report. The shields had been completely knocked out after the first four hits.
The fifth shot had hit the ships stabilizers and they were now being pulled down to the planet by it's gravitational field.
Verity brought the main defenses of Carrotus on screen. 'I'm afraid we ran into some technical difficulties. Our estimate was 80 kilometers, seemed we were a bit off."
Icarus shook his head silently as he saw another blast of energy was released from the planet's surface.
It made impact as they entered the planet's atmosphere. The right side engine shook heavily and would not last much longer.
Naomi pushed Jesse down in the seat and put on his safety belt. He was incredibly afraid and he pushed his back into the chair with so much force that he was afraid he might throw it out.
"We're going to crush into the planet." Verity said stating the obvious. This wasn't the way she expected this to end, she wanted to find the vampire that would embrace her, but life often took unexpected turns.
They were so close to the planet right now and Icarus tried his best to keep his ship under control. With an incredible noise the right side engine broke off and it crashed down into a nearby field shooting up dust, sand and grass into the sky.
Only ten seconds to impact.

The werewolf laughed at the sight of Thomas in front of him. "Look at this, I just defeated a vampire and a zombie. And now I have to take on an accountant. Oh the horror." His voice was deep and ancient.
That's exactly what the young man was thinking. What on earth was he supposed to do? Take out his pen and write him to dead?
"Well, I'm going to..." Thomas wanted to start a brave speech, but before he had a chance to even finished his first line the beast came running at him with both his claws and fangs bared.
Several things flashed through his mind 'Why did I get involved in all of this? Will Susan be alright? Why didn't I bring a clear pair of shorts?"
There was one thing the werewolf had forgotten however, Thomas' wife who would always stick by his side, no matter what.
Susan slammed an iron rod into the wolf's teeth and it, being caught by surprise, fell down to the ground groaning in pain.
She hit it over the head a couple of times after this, until the beast had stopped twitching.
She ran over to Louie first, seeing as how he was the only one with both supernatural powers and a clear head.
"Please, wake up." She took his arm and slapped him across the face with it. "Just wake up will you, you have to get us out of this mess." She shouted.
The wolf groaned, making notions of getting up soon.
Louie looked over at Susan, giving at least a sign of consciousness. "You have to get up, he's going to rip me and my Thomas apart if you don't."
The vampire twitched and took his arm back and placed it against the hollow socket in his chest where it once used to be, it fused together as if it were metal melted together under high temperature.
Susan looked at him in awe as he stood up and kicked Tier's head back to it's body. "I need a little something to get me going Susan." He said.
She jumped as he looked at her with blood red eyes. "I need blood, please get me some soon before I'll do something I'm going to regret."
He opened his hand and revealed his sharp claws after which he reached out his arm for her neck. "Now!" He shouted and he had the hardest time to keep him from grabbing her tr oath and devouring her.
Thomas shoved a fat rat in his mouth and he devoured it in an instant. The color returned to his face and he looked over at the wolf which was crawling up and gave him a frightened look.
"You're not going anywhere." He grabbed the wolf by the skin of the neck and pushed it against the wall of the house. The bricks cracked as the wolf wash pushed against it, bleeding and groaning.
"How many of you do we have to kill before you get the message Sebastian?" The beast gasped for breath and it's eyes were about to pop out of their sockets.
"Stop it, just stop" Susan shouted and Louie released his grasp on the wolf immediately. "Can't you see what you're doing? You are no different from him."
The vampire stood in front of her and it felt like he had grown inches and cast a deep, dark shadow over the fragile woman.
"Thank you for saving us however, that was really kind of you." She said with a small voice.
Tier had picked up his head and placed it on top of his body just in time to see the wolf was getting back up again, on his way to bury his paws inside of Louie.
He had pulled his arm off and smashed the sharp end off it through the werewolf's brain. "Stay!" He shouted to the beast and giggled over his own terrible joke.
Yakira picked up her backpack and threw it over her shoulders, she was ready to go and there was no doubt in her mind that Susan hadn't changed hers.
They would all be getting out of here tonight and she was re leaved that they would all be leaving togheter.
Louie wanted to be sure however. "Do you still feel like staying behind Susan?"
Susan walked inside and emerged from the house minutes later with both her bags and Thomas' packed.
She took one more look at her house and burst into tears. "I'm sorry I've been so stubborn, I really am."
Tier took another sip from a small flask of liquor he had taken from their house and raised his shoulders Apathetically when he noticed Louie's disgruntled look.
"We'd best get to Peddleburg station and take the train to Earian, I know a place over there where we can hide and where no one would ask questions." Louie looked at his traveling companions, who wear all incredibly tired and beat.
Either that or drunk. "So you are suggesting we run and hide?" Tier smelled of liquor and gave him a half cross-eyed look.

[The SlaYeR]

"Yes, for now. Untill we can come up with a better plan." He grabbed Yakira by the hand and she could feel that he was trembling with fear over what was to come.
Her vision was improving and she was sure she'd be fine without him guiding her, but she did not want to let go off his hand and walk beside him quietly into the night.

Tony woke up the next morning with his arms around Michelle and to the smell of fresh coffee.
Michelle smiled as Tony kissed her on the cheek, she turned over to him and held him tight.
"You made me feel alive again last night." And she was so full of love and lust for life again.
Tony got out of bed and grabbed his pants as he heard a noise downstairs at the front door.
Someone came running upstairs and almost kicked the door to the spare bedroom open. Majo averted her eyes when she saw the two of them weren't dressed yet.
"Hurry up and get dressed" She said out of breath. "There's police and special armed forces and by the looks of it, they are here for the both of you."
Tony catched his clothes and got into them as fast as he could, almost ripping apart his shirt.
Michelle got dressed and grabbed Tony by the arm. "You have to get out of here, let me..." Tony put a finger on her lips.
"I'm not going anywhere without you." He kissed her again, maybe for last time, but he did not want to think of that.
Majo interupted them. "Someone ratted you out. The lot of you are all over the news. They say you are plotting to assassinate Gary Parker."

The light in the sky grew bigger and Alexander could make out the outlines of a ship that came rushing in towards the planet's surface at high speed.
The engine broke apart from it and he started running towards the lake, it crashed into the ground and the enormous force of the collision made him fall face down into the grass.
He could count himself lucky, if he had not noticed it sooner, it would have crushed him and reduced him to a sticky pile of bone and fur.
Alexander got up and followed the ship, whoever was in it would need help. And he was not about to let anyone else die today.
Naomi faced the back of Icarus chair and wanted to shout out to him that she loved her when the ship slammed into the body of water.
Water shot out of the lake and almost washed Alexander away if he hadn't grabbed on to a tree in time. The back of the ship stuck out of the water and was slowly sinking down.
There was no time to panic and hesitate and Alexander dived into the water after the ship to see if there were any survivors.
"Oh god, we have to get out of here. Icarus, Icarus please wake up." Verity shouted as water started running into the ship through cracks in the window and outer hull that were caused by the impact.
The cracks in the window grew larger every second and she knew it wasn't long before it would give in to the enormous pressure. She slapped Jesse in the face to get him back to his senses but it was of no use.
The safety belt on his chair had snapped and flung him through the cockpit. Judging by several stains of blood against the far wall he had smashed into it and then into the ground.
Jesse breathed heavily and grind his teeth together not to shout out in pain. "Please Jesse." Verity spoke softly, the other two were rendered unconscious but still breathed and had been blessed by Carrotus.
Only a small cut in Icarus' forehead and several bruises on Naomi's arms and legs, but they had bumped their heads against the back of the seats and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't wake them up.
"Please, someone help us." Verity needed an extra pair of hands to get her new found friends to safety. If she opened up the door, she would only be able to swim out with one of her friends and the ship would sink to the bottom of the lake.
Out of her reach, leaving two of the people that got her to Carrotus to a cold, watery grave.
Alexander swam into view and Verity shot up. "Help us, help us!!" She shouted and knocked on the front window.
The window cracked and a large hole appeared, a stream of water ran into the cockpit, Alexander tried to swim away but he couldn't and he got caught in the stream of water that entered the ship like a small waterfall.
He was pulled towards the ship and the window caved in under his pressure. The cockpit would now be filled to the brim in a matter of seconds.
"They are all still alive, you have to help me save them." Verity looked around panicked. She usually kept a cool head, but that is what being stuck in a sinking ship minutes away from dead does to you.
"You grab her." He said as he pointed at the unconscious Naomi. He grabbed Icarus and Jesse and tried to stay above the water which was now up to his mouth.
He glanced over at the door and shouted for Verity to open it, swallowing the fresh water of the lake in the process.
The young girl let go of Naomi's body for a second to push the door open, she came up with her moments later.
"We can't get out." She coughed up some water she had accidentally swallowed. "It's no use, we're trapped in here."


Tier silently walked in front of Thomas and Susan. Followed by Louie and Yakira.
None of them said a word as they walked to Peddleburg train station.
It would take them another hour, but the cool and calm night put everyone at ease. And would help get Tier over his drunken state a little easier.
He hated all of this responsibility, he had his fair share of it in the past. Tier just wanted to be left alone, but he got in to this to deep to turn back now.
Yakira's sight returned ever so slightly. She could now make out the outlines of the people near to her. Susan's slender body holding her hand and her husband Thomas, his silver-rimmed spectacles gave a little sparkle in the moonlight.
Thin and fragile, yet he sounded so strong and confident in the midst of all of this. And he was always there for her.
Tier, the arcane turtle with the unique scent, she thought of how lonely he must've felt in the ages passed.
And the there was her protector, tall and determined and always on the look out for everyone but himself. She felt sorry for him, she just felt how scared he was and she knew he knew so, so much more then he was telling them.
She thought he must've been quite handsome as well, she had stared at his face trying to see, but her vision was too blurry still. A
And when he turned to look at her she quickly looked away and pretended to be pre occupied by the blurry trees in front of the dark background.
They arrived in Peddleburg early in the morning, right on time to catch the next train.
Thomas wanted to buy five tickets but Tier stopped him. "You might want to read this first." He said as he pushed the newspaper under Tom's nose.
The article showed holographic images of him and the other people he had been involved with over the past few months.
"This is terrible." Thomas gasped. "I know." Tier said. "It's a terrible picture."


"Step aside m'am or we will enter your house by force." A tough looking turtle covered in metallic armor stood in front of Gerda.
The entire village was overrun by men in armor and hovercraft's. "You are harboring two highly dangerous criminals suspected of assassinating Governer Parker. If you do not step aside, we will use violence."
She abided but shot the man a mean look. "Don't be to harsh on them."
He entered the small house with six other turtles while the rest of them spread out to cover the grounds making sure to leave Tony and Michelle no means of escape.
The turtle demanded that the last man closed the door and leave Gerda standing outside. "If they won't come quietly, you'll shoot them without any hesitation?"
They moved up the stairs, guns ready to be used if the occasion arised. "Tony Waterbeck and Michelle Crompton. We have a warrant for your arrest. Come with us quietly and no one will get hurt."
Michelle jumped out from behind a door aiming Tony's blaster at the turtles. "Wrong, there's going to be a world of pain awaiting you."
She opened fire and shot at the commander. She hit the metallic armor he was wearing and the bullets bounced right off of it.
He aimed his gun at Michelle and fired, but the agile rabbit managed to evade the hail of fire from the unit and jumped into the bedroom where Tony was waiting.
"We can't get out through the window." He said as he pointed to the three units waiting outside.
"You're not suggesting we'd surrender, right?" Tony looked at his feet with nothing much to say. "We're outnumbered at least fifty to one, I'd say we'd better go with them and make a run for it when the odds are a bit more even."
She kissed him and shouted for the commander to stop firing as she kicked her gun over the floor and out of the door for the unit to see.
Tony and Michelle stepped out of the room with their hands in the air.
"I think you made the right choice." Auntie Gerda walked into view.
"Thank you for turning these fugitives in ma'am." The commander told her.
"I'll do anything to keep my little girl save from these madmen."

[Tik]

I know this is a bit unusual, but I did write another chapter. It takes place before CT's last contribution, and its placement only makes sense there (thus the 42.5). I don't know how it'll work out exactly but for now I think it's enough that I actually bloody wrote something.

-----------------------------------
Chapter 42.5: Icarus's Augury
-----------------------------------
"These should do the trick," Icarus said as he walked out of the hull of the ship. He was carrying two objects that looked suspiciously like hand held vacuum cleaners. Jesse knew immediately what they were and nodded as a broad smile crept over his face.

"I haven't seen one of these since I was a child," he said, "and my father and I..." Suddenly his smile narrowed and his eyes turned downwards.

Icarus set down the sprayer and snapped his fingers at Jesse's face, "We need to get this over with quick. It's best to do this efficiently and fast in case there's someone on to us."

Naomi and Verity were already inside the ship, prepping it for launch. Naomi had given Icarus a walkie and her voice suddenly chisseled through the static. "You there, Icarus?"

Icarus set down the other sprayer so Jesse could pour in the Tetracolyhydroxide. He pressed down the green talk button on his walkie without taking it off his belt and said, "Sure am. What's on your mind?"

"Verity told me that although the Tetra will disable our shields, it's a fine way to see if the stuff is actually working. So I'm going to start her up in standby and activate them. We'll let you know once they've been rendered obsolete."

Icarus almost laughed. "Rendered obsolete, ten-four, batten down the hatches," he mumbled to himself. A very strange, foul smell was suddenly snaking its way into his nose. Then he remembered to press down on the button, "Gotcha, love." He turned towards Jesse and noticed he was very carefully pouring the Tetra into the sprayers. "Is that what that God-awful smell is?"

"Oh, sorry about that," Jesse started, setting down the Tetra and pulling a couple face masks out of his satchel. He tossed one to Icarus and pulled the other over his mouth and nose. "This stuff will certainly make your hairs stand on end. I had forgotten what it must smell like." Icarus pulled his own mask into place and nodded absentmindedly. Jesse finished pouring in the Tetra as the ships engines began humming idly. Snapping the tops into place, he looked up at Icarus. "What if this doesn't work?"

Icarus returned the look but didn't answer. Instead he grabbed the sprayer by the handle and took the hose in the other, turning towards the ship. But Jesse wouldn't let it rest, and he asked it again. "What are the stakes?"

"The stakes, Jesse without an I or a last name?" Icarus asked wryly. "What am I supposed to tell you? You know your own stakes. I've been smuggling people on and off this God forsaken planet for years and never wanted to know their stories." He hadn't turned around until now to face Jesse. "I'm not one to get involved. So don't look to me to tell you what will happen if whatever you're running away from catches you. Let's just get this over with, shall we?" Jesse nodded and they began spraying down the ship.

Icarus began spraying the chemical onto the ship, but not thirty seconds later Naomi was speaking over the walkie. "Icarus? Icarus, are you there?" He set down the sprayer, moved his face mask down over his chin, and pressed the talk button.

"There a problem, Naomi? We just started spraying on the Tetra moments ago."

"The shields are already down. If you only just started spraying that stuff on it must be pretty powerful." Icarus breathed in deep and got a sudden whiff of the stench.

"Indeed."

"Are you alright?"

Icarus coughed. "I'll be fine, this stuff just smells something fierce. I'm gonna coat the ship with more, we can't be too careful." He quickly put the mask back over his mouth and nose but felt a little dizzy. Nothing came back over the walkie so he simply picked the sprayer back up and continued.

It took hours to completely coat the ship. Everyone figured they had done much, much more than they needed. Jesse had even opted to quit early, to Icaris's chagrin. By the time it was finished he was utterly exhausted. He entered the ship fully intending to go straight to sleep, but Naomi greeted him as he entered his room.

"You look terrible!" She exclaimed.

"Thanks," he mumbled and plopped down onto the bed. She scooted close to him and held his face.

"I.. we need to take off immediately. I was hoping you could be in the control room with Verity and me as we went. I'm still a little worried and I was hoping you could be there.." Icarus, however, didn't feel like he was in any place to be doing much of anything right now. The sickly stench seemed like it was still lingering in his nose. It was almost as if he could taste it. And he was so tired. So unimaginably tired.

He tried to reply but felt he couldn't move his jaw or his tongue. His eyelids drooped as if tied to weights. Distantly he became aware that Naomi had left the room. "I must have gone to sleep," he thought. Then he started. "How am I thinking if I have gone to sleep?"

Suddenly that unbearable weariness left him and he felt a stinging roll of electricity race up his spine and explode in the back of his brain. It was as though all the energy in the world had spontaneously built up and was released the only place it knew to. Tentacles of fire raced through his skull in a burning fury. He felt himself sit up with completely open eyes and looked around him.

The walls of the room began to quiver and flow as if they were standing pools of water suddenly disturbed by a dropping pebble. He felt his paws move up to his temples but he wasn't controlling them. What was going on? His heart raced and his fur became damp with sweat. The walls continued to wobble and soon the floor joined in. The waves became larger and larger until everything seemed to run into itself.

And then, there was nothing.

Icarus felt himself to be freely floating in a perfect empty void. He had no limbs, no body, no eyes. There was only silence. He could still think, however, and it all seemed to register somehow. And then the silence was broken with a distantly familiar voice, but he could not tell where it came from.

"No one's going to die," it said.

"What?" Icarus thought. The phrase seemed to register as being recent.

"No one's going to die," it repeated. And another time. It continued until Icarus thought he was going to burst. How, he didn't know, but it had to stop. Its simplicity and calmness was even more maddening. "No one's going to die. No one's going to die. No one's going to die."

In what seemed like an eternity later, a rush once again came over him and the void was replaced with a beautiful meadow of grass. The sky was a brilliant shade of blue and two moons hung in the sky. He became aware of himself again and that he was laying down. Naomi's face appeared above his looking panic stricken. "Icarus!" she yelled and pulled him up.

As he rose from laying in the grass to rising to his feet, the scene around him completed obliterated. Dark clouds rushed overhead and the ground shook violently. There were rabbits running everywhere. "We have to go!" Naomi said and tugged at his arm. He looked down and found a gun in his right paw, but it did not strike him as unusual. In the distance he saw a ship crash into the ground, bursting into flames.

"This is Carrotus," he thought. "We made it!" But what was going on? Naomi tugged again at his arm and they began running through the grass. Naomi raced ahead, letting go of his arm, and Icarus strained to keep up. He was panting and his legs felt like they were going to give. The beautiful girl before him slowly went further and further ahead until she was a speck on the horizon. Icarus gave up and stopped running. He stooped down to catch his breath, staring at the dirt and his paw touching it.

He blinked. When his eyes reopened his surroundings had again changed. The grassy meadow had become a dark, abandoned house. "Now where am I?" There was a crashing sound from above him and he heard struggled screaming, seemingly from a female. A bizarre urge came over him that he must go upstairs immediately, so he stood. He squinted and tried to find a staircase or a promising hallway, but once he attempted to take a step forward the floor gave beneath him and he fell through it.

There was a short sensation of freely falling before he hit the ground. It was no longer dark. As he turned to look up, expecting to see the ceiling of the house, he was greeted once again with a blue sky. This time, however, he was surrounded by dirt. His limbs felt weak and he couldn't stand, but he opened his mouth to try and yell for help from above. A smiling face greeted him, looking into the hole, but the smile wasn't friendly. It disappeared and suddenly his mouth was filled with dirt. Someone was burying him. He struggled but it was of no use. The light from above slowly faded to be replaced with the weight of more and more dirt.

Once again, there was nothing.

[The SlaYeR]

And I am glad you did decide to get something done since it made for a good read and it feels in place. I will post the second half of my chapter up as soon as I can. Welcome back Tik.

[The SlaYeR]

I continued this chapter and I included a flashback.
This is the flashback by the way. I'll post up the final part of this chapter soon!!

---


Louie was awakened early in the morning by the sound of the creaky crypt door. Tobias entered with a cup of coffee and sat down next to him on a cold, marble slab.
He was annoyed to see that the old man was still in his house as he rubbed the sleep from his face.
"Good morning." Tobias' friendliness went to waste as the vampire turned his back to him and walked out of the crypt to wash himself clean in the pound outside.
The old hare walked over to the grave at the center of the crypt.
"Here lies Lawrence Greenthorpe, founder of the Greenthorpe village. Visionair, husband, father."
Tobias' hands followed the letters. "I miss you old friend."
Louie had cupped his hands together and was about to wash his face as the words the old hare had spoken reached his ears.
He walked back to the crypt, his fur wet from his early morning bath. "You knew my father?"
Tobias smiled. It had taken him a while but he had finally reached out and made contact with Louie.
"He was a brilliant and charismatic man." A tear ran down Louie's cheek and it seemed as if he had finally woken up out of a long coma.
As if the realization had set in ... "He's gone, isn't he?"
The stranger came over to him and gave him a warm hug, as his father often had done when he was sad and he grieved over their loss.
He sat down by his mothers grave and stroke the marble as to feel a physical link with her. "I miss you mommy."
Tobias walked over to the pound to wash himself up. Together they had made a start to a long and slow process.

Estella woke up the same day, miles and miles away from Greenthorpe.
The fresh corpses of two young, dead men held her company. She had drained them from their life fluids and snapped their necks. They lay on the bed together in a macabre entanglement.
Estella had not spared a single life ever since Louie's, she kicked the lifeless rabbits out of her bed and got up.
The thick, brown curtains were drawn close and a thick musky scent filled the room and made her nauseous.
She drew open the curtains and the sunlight covered her milky, white body.
"Time to move on precious." She told herself. Estella had lost her mind ever since she ran away from Louie and had grown more mad with every bite from every corpse she took.
Nothing mattered anymore. She stepped over the corpse of one of her latest victims and got into her clothes. She clipped her garters to her panties and smirked.
Men were the easiest prey there was, all it took was one pretty smile and they were hers.
Estella opened the nightstand of her rented room in another random town and picked up a volume of the chronicles of Bruhn. "I've not given up looking for you yet, pretty." She said as she cackled like a maniac.
"You'll set us all free." Estella kissed the book and put it in her handbag, she walked out of the room to become a lady again for a few more hours.

"Focus." Tobias shouted as he knocked Louie on his back for the fifth time in half an hour.
"I can't, I've had enough for today Tobias." Three months had past and Louie had grown close to his mentor. Who had shown up to give him company. To teach him both the ways of the warrior and the scholar.
They were sparring with sticks on one sunny morning as Tobias told him to count up to a hundred in Gastarian, a dead language used by the first followers of the temple of Carrotus.
"Nijan, Garo, Pathek." Louie felt tired and with one firm blow Tobias smashed the stick out of his hand and into the lake. He firmed his grip on his own stick and with a steady hand made a notion to hit Louie over the head who in returned grabbed it and brought the old man out of balance making him roll to the grass.
"You're growing stronger." The old man coughed as he tried to get up, Louie reached his hand out to him to help him up. "You're forgetting one thing though, don't think you are victorious before you are."
Tobias grabbed Louie's hand and threw him into the lake.
The vampire grabbed his own stick and jumped back into the shore with such a force that his feet were buried ankle deep into the soft shore. He made a swoop with his stick and broke Tobias' fighting stick in half.
"I give up." The old man smiled, proud of his young pupil.
"Let us go inside and rest under the pleasure of a cup of tea. I think you've earned it."

"You know I can't drink this, Tobias." Louie said and Tobias laughed as he said "I may be old, my friend. But I'm not quite senile yet." His eyes sparkled with life.
"This is tea from Kahani leaves, they grow near the mills of Pneum Arklik. Quite an extraordinary place. You should see it for yourself some day."
He poured two cups, a feint flowery smell emerged from the pot of yellowish tea.
"This tea evaporates inside of the drinkers body and the steam has healing properties. Not that you need that with your regenerative capabilities, but an old man like me likes to treat himself with a cup or two every now and then."
He winked at Louie who smiled at him. Meeting Tobias was the best thing that had happened to him after years of loneliness. They took their cups in their hands and clinked them together over the good work out they had.
The vampire had always taken his friend for granted but a question had been burning on his lips for a while now and in a quite moment he blurted it out.
"Why did you come here Tobias?"
Tobias put his cup down. "You're father and I were best friends, we told each other we would always look out for one another. Unfortunately, I failed to do my job."
"You could not help it, Tobias. It was by his own hand he died. It would not have mattered any whether you had been there or not."
Tobias nodded his head. "You can not help it either Louie, but does that make you feel any less guilty for what happened?"
Louie quietly shook his head and the old hare continued.
"When I could not help him, my concerns for your father became my concerns for you. Concider it my inheritance."
Tobias paused for a moment to take another sip of his tea. "I was devastated to hear that your father had past on into the next life and after I heard eyewitness reports from this area that told of a creature haunting the Greenthorpe mansion. I knew it could only be you."
Louie was shocked to hear this. "But, how did you know? How come you know about these mythical beings that are a secret to the rest of the world?"
Tobias laughed. "My dear Louie, a secret this big can hardly be kept without someone uncovering it. Do you think Estella and you are the only vampires that roam Carrotus? The world is filled with mythical beings. Vampires, zombies, ghosts, there are thousands, hiding in the dark."
Louie's had spun, Zombies and ghosts? Surely he must have been joking. "Are you sure there are no side effects to this tea?"
Thomas continued as if he had not heard him. "Your father was not just a wealthy industrial land lord, Louie. Him and I have studied the occult ever since our years in high school. We have done excessive studying into the nature of these beasts and their history." Louie was sitting on the edge of his seat hearing all of this. He could not believe his father had been involved in all of this.
"I think it's time I showed you something, follow me." Tobias stood up and walked out of the drawing room to the grand library.
Louie followed after him and noticed him grabbing a book and turning it to a page with a strange, dark symbol on it. Tobias pronounced it and the floor of the Library shook. Four lines of equal size formed in the floor forming a perfect square.
It materialized to turn into a trap door which opened itself up revealing a flight of stairs that led down underneath the ground.
He treded down the stairs, lights in the long walkway popped on as he past them, as if they were controlled by magic and after what seemed like ages he entered a library that seemed at least four times as big as the one upstairs.
A skeleton of a beast he had never seen before stood in the far, right corner of the wall. A plaque underneath read 'Loup-garou'. "A werewolf." He mumbled to himself. "Unbelievable."
He looked around some more and noticed a drawing of what seemed like a large mill with several hooded figured kneeling in front of it worshiping an deity.
Mounted on the wall in front of him hang a framed picture of a ghastly being imprisoned behind bars of earth and bone. "I notice he caught your attention." Tobias' voice startled Louie.
Everything seemed so much more scarier in this damp air. "Yes, who is he?"
"His name is Bruhn, he gave birth to evil." Tobias said. One short sentence but the impact was enormous, because Louie had never heard fear in Tobias voice until now.
"It is written that he will return and clean the world of all that is good, he will act as an executioner and only the wicked will roam the earth."
"Surely this is just a legend?" Louie asked him hoping to see Tobias light up and slap him on the shoulder while letting out a hearty laugh.
"It could be." Tobias tried to calm him down and walked over to the first bookcase to the right of the stairs. "Follow me."
Louie walked backwards towards Tobias, not breaking free from the terrible eyes of the end of everything.
"I want you to read this, it's a story of sacrifice and bravery.Your father showed me this once and he had always believed it to be the absolute truth. I want to hear what you think of it."
Tobias pushed the book into Louie's hands and walked back up the stairs, Louie followed after casting one more glance on Bruhn.

[The SlaYeR]

Another month had passed and the book had revealed a lot to the vampire. It's title was 'Rapture' and it spoke of the return of Bruhn and the fall of all that is good.
It was a doom scenario that spoke of how there would be no resistance against it, and how our happiness would be carried away on the wings of the horned god.
The world would tumble through the vast universe for all of eternity and infect all of those it would come into contact with. It was, absolution.
The book gave no hope and Louie wondered why Tobias had given it to him, he feared Bruhn, the beast from which there was no escape.
He sat by the lake one day when he heard the cry of a young girl. "Tobias?" He shouted, hoping he would hear her too, but there was no answer. It was then he decided to do something he had not done in a very long time.
Louie passed the gate that lead to the village of Greenthorpe and followed the cries until he came to a clearing in which a young girl lay with a bleeding knee.
He moved closer to her to see if she had been hurt, she must have been no more than two years old and he wondered how she had gotten here in the first place.
He picked her up in his arms and noticed two hungry wolves who emerged from the thick bushes up ahead.
They growled at him and slowly moved closer towards their prey. The wolves bent through their front legs a little, making notion to jump until Louie let out a terrifying growl that sent them running back into the bushes.
He picked up the girl and carried her in his arms to the village up ahead.

"Oh, my little girl." A man came running towards him and took her in his arms and held her tightly to his body.
The villagers rejoiced when they saw her and gathered around her and her father.
"Oh, how can I ever repay you kind sir, for bringing our daughter back to us?" The mother asked Louie, she gulped when the daze of glory left her and she noticed his pale complexion which looked far off from the norm on this bright, sunny day. "I, uhm..." The villagers stepped back a little.
"You're welcome." Louie spoke and he walked back to the mansion where he was greeted by a worried Tobias.
They went inside, Tobias had made his famous tea. "That was a very noble thing of you, Louie."
"I could smell her fear, I could practically taste her blood in my mouth. And I wanted to Tobias, I wanted to." He shook his head in shame and anger.
"But you did not." The old man said with a twinkle in his eyes. "And that is what sets heroes apart from monsters."
A stone crashed through the window of the mansion hitting Tobias against the side of the head.
"Tobias, are you alright?" The old man crawled up, a trinkle of blood ran down his face. Louie looked outside, a horde of angry villagers had picked up their torches and pitchforks and were on their way to the mansion.
"You save a life and this is how they repay you, I'm sorry old friend." Tobias felt true regret for Louie, if only they could understand he was different from the true monsters. Then they would surely understand.
Another stone entered the room through the crumbling window and barely missed Louie, instead taking out a small vase on a cabinet.
Louie and Tobias made their way out of the house through the windows in the back of the drawing room that led to the lake, but were stopped by several angry villagers.
"Don't hurt them Louie, they don't know what they are doing." One of the villagers threw his torch at Louie and a patch of his fur was burned away.
"Stand still beast, you will never touch my child again." The father of the girl who had expressed his gratitude earlier now came rushing towards Louie with his pitchfork drawn up, read to impale the beast through his chest.
Louie could quickly jump aside but the villager impaled the weak Tobias with his pitchfork.
"No, oh god, please, Tobias!" Louie screamed at the top of his lungs and sank down on his knees next to Tobias who had been mortally wounded.
The vampire took his mentors head into his hands and begged for help, but the villagers all took a step back. It had never been their intention to hurt an innocent man. They only came here to slay the beast.
"Tobias, please. You are the only person I have left." Tobias grabbed Louie's hand and motioned for him to come closer.
"Don't believe everything you read, my friend. You can still put a stop to the rapture." He coughed up blood and grind his teeth togheter.
"I don't understand Tobias, what are you trying to tell me."
"The end is not inevideble. Find, them. You can not do it alone." Tobias coughed again and reached for his pocket.
"You a... the pure vampire." Tobias spoke in riddles and handed him the dark, black symbol he had used to open up the hidden library. "Take this."
He closed his eyes and with his last breath he spoke a single word. "Hope."

Louie turned to face the angry mob. "Why?" He screamed and he tried to get up to walk towards them, but his legs were to burdened with this sadness he had to bear and he fell down on his hands and knees.
"Why did you have to kill my only friend?" He cried as he felt two strong men pull him up and drag him over to the old tool shed by the lake. They threw him in and locked the door before they lit the shed on fire.
Louie clenched the drawing in his hand and rolled it up in a ball to prevent it from burning up as he felt the flames eat away at him.
The villagers stayed to see the shed burn down because they wanted to make sure the monster had been taken care of.
After the flames had died out, the last ones that had stayed behind left.
And out of the ashes came Louie when he thought the coast was clear.
Opening up his dark fist that would take quite some time to regenerate to reveal the picture that had stayed intact.
He would go down into the library and read every book there was, hoping to find a sign. Waiting for the others of whom Tobias had told him.
One word etched into his mind. "Hope."

[The SlaYeR]

Finally done with Chapter 44.
On to the next person in line <3.

--

Alexander grabbed Icarus and Jesse and took one last breath before the cockpit had filled itself with water. He looked behind him and noticed Verity pointing at the broken front window.
It was completely under water which meant they would be able to swim out of it without being pulled back into the ship.
It was a long way up however and the slender rabbit did not look like much of an atlethe.
He swam upwards and made rapid progress when Icarus smacked him in the face. He was still out cold but it seemed as if he had a frightening nightmare.
Alexander knew he had to hurry when Icarus gasped for breath and inhaled the filthy water of the lake.
Verity's agile body shot past him and reached the shore before he did.
She surfaced and gasped for breath pulling Naomi onto the shore. She took a second to capture her breath and pushed down on her chest to get the water out of her lungs.
The water ran down Naomi's cheek in small streams and she gasped for breath, still out cold.
She shot up as she heard the splash behind her. Alexander appeared holding Jesse by the fur of the neck. "Where is Icarus?" Verity called out to him as Alexander pushed Jesse out of the water.
"He will be right here little lady." He dived back into the blurry water of the lake, Icarus was slowly sinking to the bottom, kicking and punching making him sink even more rapidly.
'Oh no, you don't. You're all going to live.' Alexander thought as he grabbed Icarus by the arm and brought him safely to the surface.
"Quick, get out of the way." He shouted at Verity as he threw the rabbit down to the ground and pushed down on his chest.
"Oh god, it's not working." Verity panicked and looked over at Naomi who seemed to be in a peaceful slumber. "It's not fair." She mumbled as she thought of Raphael.
Alexander did his best to save the life of this stranger. "Come on man, breathe."
Icarus coughed and sat up straight. "No, no!" He shouted as he tried to whipe the sand from his fur.
It took him a moment to adjust to the fact that he was back in the real world. It had been the second time he had the vision and it had been the exact same as the one he had before.
The voice in his head that told him everyone would live, the mansion and the calm patch of grass and the deep grave he was thrown in and in which he had been covered with sand that entered his mouth, nose and eyes.
He coughed but there was no sand, just water. And everyone lived, just like his vision had told him.
"Naomi." He shouted and he crawled over to her on his hands and knees. "Naomi." He kissed her and stopped panicking when he saw her breathing softly.

Alexander overlooked the smoking engine, it had died down and did not pose any threat of explosion. He examined the close premesis to notice if they had attracted the attention of the creatures of the night.
Everything seemed quite, but it often did before all hell broke loose.
“Thank you for coming to our aid. The name is Verity.” The slender rabbit walked over to him with graceful paces and reached her hand out to him. “The name is Alexander Garand and it was my pleasure.” He told her as he shook it.
He looked over to the other rabbit who was holding the other girl in his arms. “Icarus.” He spoke giving him a quick glance before focusing his attention on the woman he seemed to care a great deal about.
“That's Naomi and this guy here is Jesse Aimon.”
“Sounds familiar.” Alexander said, but he gave it no further thought since Jesse seemed to have woken up.


“We are wanted for plotting against the senators life?” Susan needed a moment to let this news sink in.
"I am wanted for plotting against the senators life?" She repeated softer, her look focused on a trash bin in the far distance, her mind wandering. She saw herself behind bars, eating food out of a tin, unwashed cup with a wooden spoon. Surrounded by hags that were out to brutally ravage her.
"You!" She stood up and pointed her finger at Louie who took a step back. If he had learned one thing about Susan, it was that you do not mess with her. Ever.
She slapped him hard across the face. "You got us into this mess, I demand you do something about it right now!" She crossed her arms and looked at him.
Louie sighed and scratched his head. "Hey, don't get cocky with me. You're going to straighten this mess out and when we're done, I'm going home. Thomas, come with me."
They boarded the train and left Yakira, Tier and Louie standing on the platform. Tier laughed at Louie. "She's a fiesty one, isn't she?"
He followed the loving couple onto the train.
Louie walked up to Yakira to look at the rising sun, covering the trainstation in a romantic, orange glow. He wish he could share this sight with her.
"What will happen to us?" Yakira's question remained unanswered as the conductor motioned for them to come aboard.
Tier shoved his shell in the comfortable cushions of the Earian Express as the television sets in the train were automatically turned on.
Several health product commercials flashed by before the early morning bulletin started.
"Ahum, you might want to watch this." Tier told the others when a newsreport about Gary Parker came up.
The text on the bottom of the screen read 'Governor Parker issues statement about fugitives.'
"Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you not to panic. As you can see, I'm still in one piece." Faint laughter could be heard from the reporters.
"An attempt has been made on my life, but I ask you not to fear. The fugitives can not run far, police are looking for them nationwide and knowing them to be quality men and women, I am sure they will not rest before all of them will be apprehended." The reporters rose up and put up their hands, dying to ask the new governor a question.
"I am proud to tell you that they have already been brought in for questioning and they are interrogated now. It will not be long before we have found their companions. I must go for now, but I ask you again not to panic."
The silence in the coupe was broken by Yakira. "Two of us have been captured?"
She did not notice their portraits were shown on television. The other passengers in the train had noticed the group of fugitives and were nervously whispering to one another.
"Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea." Thomas put his hand on Susan's, the poor thing was shivering with fear.
They heard raised voices come from the next coupe and the door opened. In came a group of heavily armored soldiers, armed to the teeth with the most advanced weapons.
"You are under arrest for plotting against the assassination of a political figure, do not resist or we will open fire."

[Doubble Dutch]

As Tom Lehrer once said, 'Who's next?'

[Torkell]

I've updated both files with the new chapters. Note that the chapter numbering in these files doesn't match the numbering used in this thread - I think I may have a couple of extra chapters in there.

Text version (http://thomasmccorkell.me.uk/junk/greenthorpe.txt)
PalmDoc version (http://thomasmccorkell.me.uk/junk/greenthorpe.prc)

[The SlaYeR]

Thank you for working on this Torkell.
(Now go read!!)

[Doubble Dutch]

Ah excellent, all threads need something like this. Isn't it Ducky's turn next?