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Post by Haji Morei on Jul 17, 2020 18:10:02 GMT
Haji would look back towards the doors that had begun to rattle and shake violently, as if something monstrous was attempting to break forth from its restraints. The screams had become overbearing. Desperate. Pleading. Wanting. It shook the man to his core, and he would take a deep breath to steady himself. Even knowing full well that this all couldn't be entirely real, it felt real enough to get under his skin and try to shatter him whole.
He wouldn't let it.
Their descent was blocked by a boy in a gas mask. His clothes were torn, but the most curious, and terrifying thing, was the fact that his feet were complete bone and muscle. They reminded Haji of the flayed state his own leg was in, and he was wondering if this boy was also a victim of these illusions, or something more sinister.
"Running gets you nowhere." He said, pointing at his feet. Haji stared at him for a moment, wondering what happened to him. He thought back to the hounds in the alleyway, and the demonic man that had conjured them. Was the boy serving as a warning, or perhaps a harbinger of something darker himself?
Haji would grip his blade tightly, shutting his eyes for a moment as he tried to tune out the screams and the rattling.
"I am done running." He would say at last, opening his eyes as he would follow the others carefully. He intended to pass by the boy without intent to harm him, but if he did anything, Haji was ready to run him through with his blade.
He didn't want to run anymore. It was clear that being on the defensive would just wear them down until they were finished. Everything happening, every word said to him thus far in all of this had showed him that running was a grave mistake. He did not want to endanger Ariadne and Loie, but he wanted to face this head-on. If he was wrong in his determination, then he was finished either way. At least he would go down with his honor intact.
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Post by Zi on Jul 18, 2020 7:38:56 GMT
The boy stood to the side as the trio stepped down the stairs. Each individual step sank further and further, almost literally dragging them down. "Face your fears or die to them," the boy said once they'd passed. If they turned around, however, he would no longer be standing there. Instead, he would be hanging from the ceiling, noose around his neck, feet tapping against the railing every few moments.
At the bottom was nothing but darkness that was almost numbing. Within, they could hear whispers and cries, but nothing intelligible. It was a blanket of black that could suffocate if left alone for two long. Slowly, however, two lights would shine in opposite directions: east of them it was as if a spotlight shone down on what looked to be Sebastian, strapped to an upright table, beaten and bloodied and barely alive; west of them was an open door. In either direction, there were several yards separating them from what they would go to.
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Post by Ariadne on Jul 18, 2020 15:09:22 GMT
[attr="class","dialogue"]
Addy didn't turn back around to look at the boy, mostly out of fear and her desperate attempt to stay focused. His words didn't comfort her in the slightest, but she needed to stay optimistic if they were going to get out of this situation. Even as her feet felt heavier with each step, she knew she had to keep going forward. Keep moving. Get Haji out and get to safety. And then probably never leave her room ever again.
Loie didn't get back to her about the 911 call, so Addy considered it a lost cause.
When they reached the bottom, the darkness was enough to make Addy blink and squint a few times, hoping to get her eyes adjusted, taking hesitant steps forward as though she expected to hit a wall in front of her.
Luckily, though, lights would illuminate either end of whatever corridor they'd entered.
On one side, a door...
The other-- Sebastian?
"Guys... is that?" She spoke, noting how beat-up he looked. She glanced between the door and Sebastian. A possible exit, a way to get out of this horrible nightmare, or they could save Sebastian and try to get him out. She thought about Haji's leg and how he needed medical attention fast, but she couldn't just leave Sebastian here to face a worse fate. She was conflicted and torn on what to do, but recognized that waiting for an answer wasn't exactly an option.
Addy glanced over at Loie and Haji. "Do you guys want to try and get out? I'm going to go get Sebastian, but I'll be right behind you in any case." She gave Haji a stern gaze. "Don't stress your leg out any further. If you guys want to stay here real fast, we can leave together." She wasn't going to tell them not to follow, seeing as Addy honestly felt terrified by herself, but she didn't like the idea of Haji walking the distance to one end of the room and then crossing twice that distance to get back to the door.
She broke into a soft run towards Sebastian, slowing her pace when she realized that if he's here, strapped to a table, then the zombie guy from the mall might not be far behind. Which meant she needed to hurry. Sebastian had done so much for them that if there was even a chance of getting him out of here too, then she was going to take it. A slight detour wasn't going to make the exit door just... disappear. Right?
When she reached Sebastian, she'd attempt to undo the straps if unhindered. "C'mon, dude, we need to get out of here." She'd offer him any support he needed in getting up, walking, etc.
[newclass=.dialogue b]color:#95a1eb;[/newclass]
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Post by Loie Prim on Jul 18, 2020 18:30:25 GMT
As expected, Loie didn’t receive an answer to her call. She quickly pocketed her phone and glanced back at the boy who was now hanging from the ceiling. She quickly looked away. Hopefully they were getting closer to the exit, she couldn’t take much more of this. When they reached the bottom there were two ways they could go. One looked like the way out, but the other led to the photographer who risked his life for them.
Obviously they had to help him, but part of her felt like this was a cruel trap. None of them would leave someone behind in need, and perhaps Sebastian was there to distract them from their one chance of escape. Even with such thoughts whirling around in her head, she was still determined to help the man.
Loie raised her eye brows at Addy’s suggestion. Hadn’t she ever watched a horror movie? As short of a distance as she’d be going, you never separate the group in a situation like this.
“Absolutely not,” Loie’s voice came out surprisingly even, “Splitting up is a bad idea even if it's for a little bit.”
She would follow Addy and gesture for Haji to do the same. When they reached Sebastian, Loie would check his pulse in attempt to get an idea of his condition, but she took care to stay out of Addy’s way. If he was in shock, moving him wouldn’t be for the best but they didn’t have a choice.
“Hold on, we’re almost out,” Loie said, then glanced at Haji. She was speaking to both of them. Loie had no idea how she always managed to get out of these nightmares relatively unscathed and she wished that she could take their wounds upon herself. |
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Post by Haji Morei on Jul 18, 2020 19:05:55 GMT
"Face your fears or die to them."With those words, Haji would look back, only to see the boy hanging from a noise. It was a horrific sight, one that would surely haunt him for ages to come. He would clench his fist tightly, but would attempt to keep his emotions in check as he walked away wordlessly. There were too many tears. Too many victims. Too much pain and sorrow. There had to be an end to this. There just had to. The darkness was overwhelming, as were the cries and whispers. Try as he might, he could not tell what they were saying, but in his heart, he felt it better that he didn't know. Soon, however, there would be light. Haji looked up to see two different things, shocked to see Sebastian brutalized and strapped to a table, and the other would be a doorway and presumably an exit out of here. No, like anything else it had to be a trap. Everything had been a trick. Everywhere they went, exits would close. Paths would become endless. People would die. Hope was extinguished. The fact that that thing had managed to beat Sebastian and tie him to a table in such a short time was terrifying in itself, but who knows how much time they had truly spent in this hellhole. Ariadne told him to take it easy, though in his current state of mind, that was not the statement he wanted to hear. He would remain silent as the two of them headed towards Sebastian, checking on his condition and attempting to free him. From here, he figured he would only get in the way. But he had other plans. "I will watch our backs, then."Haji would move towards the center of the room, between the doorway and the other three. As he made his journey, his blade would come out, slicing off two parts of his sleeve. He would lay them on the ground, kneeling down before bringing the sharp edge of his blade to his palm. Gritting his teeth, he would slice into it enough for blood to come forth, and he would lower his katana for a moment before using his finger to dip into the dripping liquid and write on one of the pieces of clothing. It was not quite an omamori, but he hoped that his bit of a blood offering was enough to imbue it with the same protective properties. From there, he would use the other cloth as a tourniquet, while tying the katana to his bloodied hand. He would halt the bleeding, while ensuring his weapon remained in his hands. Holding his blade in one hand, and his charm in the other, Haji would stand and stare at the door on the other end, lifting his weapon as he assumed a defensive stance. He felt that the monster from before was still lurking around, and where better to come from than their only hope of an exit? He was prepared for a fight, and he would give it everything he had. His own blood to make a pact to protect him and those around him, and he vowed to face his fears. He would rather die fighting them, than to die running from them. And if Sebastian was placed here, it was a very clear and obvious trap set for them. "No matter what happens, we leave here together. All of us."
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Post by Zi on Jul 21, 2020 2:50:30 GMT
Eyelids stuck shut from dried blood would slowly force themselves open, as Sebastian noticed the trio approaching him rather than the exit. A soft, choked whimper escaped him, and he tried to throw himself forward or give any sort of sign, but he was stuck here. Instead, the table just rattled as he shook. He opened his mouth as if to talk, but no words came out - only blood and sounds of choking. As they got closer, it would appear his throat was slashed, and there was some sort of syringe in the side of his neck leading to something they could not see due to the darkness behind him.
The whimpering sounds increased, before suddenly they stopped altogether as a loud slamming sound could be heard. Just like that, the light from the door had faded entirely, leaving them alone with Sebastian under this spotlight, unable to see anything else in the room.
"Interesting," a voice rang out from the darkness, seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once.
By now, Ariadne was able to undo several of the restraints tying Sebastian to the table, but the more she removed the more obvious it would become just how wounded he was. He was a large man, and he would not be able to get anywhere on his own.
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Post by Ariadne on Jul 21, 2020 17:50:07 GMT
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Ariadne felt a plummeting feeling in her chest as she watched the light of the exit disappear. They couldn't see anything-- how were they going to get out?
"Gods, dude..." She didn't know how to help Sebastian in the state he was in, but she knew that they needed to get him professional medical help as soon as they could. They'd find an exit. They're going to get out and everything's going to be fine. Stay focused. To think that all this happened to Sebastian because he was trying to help them escape...
What were they even doing?
Ariadne's head whipped around as she heard a voice, but she couldn't see anything in the darkness around them. She focused on ridding Sebastian of his binds. She knew she couldn't help him, but they couldn't just leave him here, either. With as severe as his injuries were, Addy wasn't sure how he was still conscious. "Hey, it's alright. We're going to get the hell out of here. We're going to get you help. Just stay with me, okay?" She'd carefully pull the syringe out of his neck and support his back as she'd try to get him to sit up. She needed to keep him awake if she could. She wasn't sure if they could support all his limp weight between the three of them.
"Loie," she'd call to the younger girl. "Help me get him up. We need to try to find a way out."
She'd turn her attention back to Seb. "Can you walk?" She'd bring his arm on her shoulder to support him from one side, allowing Loie to do the same for the other if she could.
[newclass=.dialogue b]color:#95a1eb;[/newclass]
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Post by Loie Prim on Jul 22, 2020 4:03:37 GMT
When Loie finally comprehended the severity of Sebastian's condition, she found herself looking at Sebastian's neck. In a situation like this, securing his air way was crucial. He was actually astoundingly functional considering his wounds, but they still couldn't risk him dying on their way out just because they were in a rush. Normally she wished she had saline, PRBC's or a few other things, but the only thing she could do right now was apply pressure to his arteries. Her torn up cardigan was still upstairs, so she'd have to make do with what she had left.
Loie would swiftly rip off the right leg of her lantern pants at the knee and fasten around Sebastian's neck. She made sure there was some pressure applied to the arteries and not his trachea so his airways were unobstructed. This was to keep the blood inside his body and hopefully inside the blood vessel, but not to the point where it would stop it from reaching his brain.
Loie did all this very quickly and her hands were sticky with blood by the time she moved to help Addy support him. He was large so it would definitely take at least two of them. She took out her phone and turned on the flash light, pointing it in different directions around the room in an attempt to see if she could find a door or any possible ways out.
"Who are you?" she called, "Please, we need to get these men to a hospital!"
At this point, Loie was terrified Haji and Sebastian would go into hypovolemic shock. She moved to shine the light where the syringe was leading toward something in the darkness. What was that voice? Was someone holding them captive? Loie clenched her jaw and tears stung her eyes once more. It didn't matter to her what it was that they wanted. Money? She'd find a way to get it for them. Hell, she'd give her own body parts if it just meant the others would get out alive. |
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Post by Haji Morei on Jul 22, 2020 5:08:42 GMT
Haji could hear Ariadne and Loie behind him, but hadn't yet turned around to see how Sebastian's state truly was. He was focusing on the door ahead, but then it had suddenly shut on them extinguishing half of the light that was in this room. It figured that Sebastian was set up for them as a trap, but not a single person here would abandon someone in need. Sebastian saved them thrice, and in turn, the three of them would make sure he made it out of this hellhole as well.
As the voice sounded from the darkness, Haji would back up towards the others, keeping his weapon trained at the ready. He needed to make sure he could defend Ariadne and Loie if something came out of the darkness, and the nature of the voice meant that he couldn't quite track it down to the source. He would take a quick look behind at the others, shocked to see how badly brutalized Sebastian was, but the two of them were trying to tend to his wounds.
"This is over. This game of yours is done. This man needs our help. So either let us out, or show yourself so we can end this here and now."
He would grip his sakabato tightly in one hand, and the protective charm in the other. He was tired of this being dragged on. This torture and torment had gone on for too long, this pain was overextended. If their ends were to be here in this place, it was better to get it over with, but he would go down fighting. He wanted to make sure that the others got out, even if it cost him everything. There was evil here, and he would strike it down.
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Post by Zi on Jul 22, 2020 5:21:23 GMT
Loie and Ariadne were able to help Sebastian, but as the syringe was removed, a strange black liquid still pumped out and hit his skin in a slow but constant stream until it was pulled away. This liquid seemed to seep into his skin, paling him and making his veins visible, and as black as the liquid itself. The bleeding seemed to be taken care of for now, but he began to spasm and seizure quite violently with the removal of the syringe. Carrying him, even with two, would be incredibly difficult - let alone with a threat lurking every direction around them.
Even with the light provided by Loie, nothing definitive could be located. Every time she'd shone the light in a specific direction, she'd find nothing but a bloodstained floor, or an apparition of a familiar figure that lasted no more than a split second. When she shined it in the direction of whatever the syringe was coupled with, there was a single large, unfamiliar machine that seemed like a pillar in this large and otherwise empty room.
"Done?" the voice rang out, sounding as if it was coming from inside all of their heads instead of just from the room. "No... no, it's just beginning," it continued, followed by laughter. The darkness got more hazy, before they heard the sounds of stomping coming at them from the direction of the stairs. There was nothing apparent at first, before they could make out the figure of the man from the mall as he suddenly stepped into the light. With incredible speed, he stepped forward and swung his right fist for Haji's face, and as he did, the forearm and tricep literally ripped off of the arm, separate flesh extending and contorting into what looked like an enormous mouth that would try and bite down on Haji's head.
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Post by Haji Morei on Jul 22, 2020 5:44:45 GMT
Haji could hear Sebastian struggling behind him, and he was gritting his teeth as he did his best to not let it get to him. Haji would be trying to focus through all of the noise, the voices, the laughter. It was just beginning. No, it was going to end. They had to end this.
The vision before him looked hazy, but he saw what looked like a strange machine in the darkness. What in the world was that? It seemed connected to something they pulled from Sebastian's body, but there was no time to investigate. He heard stomping from the way they came, and Haji would look just in time to see the large man from the mall charging at him.
Face your fears, or die to them.
He would immediately back away from the man, raising his blade, as the man's arm ripped off and turned into some terrifying entity of its own. Backing away in a mixture of fright and reflex, Haji would attempt to drive his blade into the mouth of the arm that was coming for him, the intent to impale and slice through it. As he did so, he would attempt to strike at the man, anywhere he could, with the charm in an effort to dispel whatever was going on with this thing.
"No, we are done, you piece of shit!"
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Post by Loie Prim on Jul 22, 2020 21:51:09 GMT
Loie’s gaze fell on the strange machine just ahead, but she was a little preoccupied with Sebastian. Her knees nearly buckled as he thrashed around and it seemed like he was having a seizure. The air began to get hazy and Loie sucked in a breath when she heard the footsteps crashing toward them. The monstrous being from earlier was back, and he dove straight for Haji. They had to move fast.
“I think we need to put Sebastian down for a second!” Loie said to Addy. If she agreed, Loie would quickly pull Sebastian behind the table and hopefully out of the demon’s sight to set him down, all the while struggling under his weight. She would then move him onto his side to help him breath and loosen his neck bandages. She only wished she had something soft to put under his head.
“Don’t hold him down,” she said. She didn’t have time to explain but restricting someone having a seizure was dangerous to their safety. Loie turned to look at the machine again.
“If they were using the stuff in this syringe to immobilize Sebastian it could be useful against him,” she pointed to the man attacking Haji, “I--I just don’t know for sure! I'm gonna look at the machine!”
Loie scrambled to her feet and ran to the foreign machine, turning her phone flash light on once more to observe it and see if she could figure out what the substance was. Even if she couldn’t, any identifying information she could gather about who was terrorizing them would be valuable. At least, if they made it out alive. |
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Post by Ariadne on Jul 22, 2020 22:44:58 GMT
[attr="class","dialogue"]
The arrival of Malldick, Sebastian's spasming, and Malldick's hand turning into a mouth were all things that shocked Ariadne in that moment. But none was so shocking as to hear Haji say the word 'shit'.
Concerned for her lover's safety, Addy couldn't help but let out a startled, concerned "Haji--!"
She had to stay focused, though. Haji was a more skilled fighter than she or Loie were, so Addy needed to trust that he could defend himself for a moment.
Loie mentioned putting Sebastian down, and Addy stared at her, puzzled, but helped anyway. "What do you mean? We need to get out." Addy had fought Malldick before and she knew that they couldn't take him on now. They needed to run while they still could, or all of them could end up like Sebastian. Or worse. They couldn't let all of Sebastian's efforts to help them escape to be in vain.
The younger girl mentioned the machine, and wheels started turning in Addy's head. "W-Wait, like a sedative?" She inquired. Come to think of it, she hadn't realized before that he had started spasming and convulsing after she took the syringe out. Shit... could they use it on Malldick to sedate him? She wasn't even sure how the machine worked, or what was in the syringe, or if it would even do anything. For all she knew, it could end up being some steroid that beefed the fucker up. She didn't even know how steroids worked.
But if they weren't going to run, what other options did they have?
Without further contemplating the issue, and before Loie could tell her anything conclusive about the machine or what's in the syringe, Addy ran and grabbed the syringe from the floor, before sprinting around Malldick and attempting to stab him in the back of the neck.
[newclass=.dialogue b]color:#95a1eb;[/newclass]
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Post by Zi on Jul 23, 2020 14:33:11 GMT
Haji would pierce the mouth, but found a strange black rot seeping up the blade and creeping toward his hand. If it touched him, it would burn through the skin rapidly. The charm, meanwhile, he would find had no effect - perhaps his kami had abandoned him. With wide eyes, the man laughed, twisting at the hip and slamming his fist down into Haji's face with brutal force, like being slammed into by a speeding car. The mouth, meanwhile, would chomp down on the blade, prying it from the man's hands.
As Ariadne came around from behind and stabbed the man in the neck, he whirled around and backhanded her, the force enough to send her flying off of her feet and into the darkness. Almost immediately as her body left the light, she would feel as though many small things were starting to crawl along her skin, biting at her and tearing into her flesh. The man, meanwhile, began to chuckle as the black seeped into his neck.
"You thinnnnnk this will ssssstop mmmme?!" He bellowed, turning to focus on Loie now. "It's bbbasically mmmy bloooooood! HAHAHAHAHA!!"
Loie would be able to make out very few legible details, in that the container with the substance was labeled "CTPAX." Before she could get any other information, the man approached from behind, swinging at the side of her head and looking to slam her into the ground.
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Post by Haji Morei on Jul 24, 2020 4:43:54 GMT
Haji's eyes widened as his pierce didn't do much, nor did his charm. It settled as much, this thing wasn't exactly an oni. It was a calculated risk, but one that did not pay off. The man's fist would strike into Haji's face, and he felt an immense pain overcome him as he heard a sickening crack. Slamming to the ground, Haji's nose and lip would be bleeding profusely, and he'd lay there dazed as his katana was pulled from him against his will.
Everything was spinning. Everything was overwhelming. Everything was red and black.
It felt like hope was fading away.
Through dazed vision, he saw Ariadne being thrown aside like nothing, and Haji would reach out towards her.
"A-Ariadne..." He called out, struggling to get onto his hands and knees. He wasn't sure what all was broken, or how much blood there truly was. His face felt so numb, yet so much on fire all at once. But he couldn't give up yet. They were all going to get out of here. All four of them. He couldn't let this happen again.
Seeing the man approach Loie, Haji would try to scream out the best that he could, hoping to warn her in time.
"LOIE! BEHIND YOU!"
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