Cabin in the Woods

Taiyo wiggles about, so Euryale's arm is not over her face.

Azuma: "Somewhere."

Azuma fumbles and feels around to get back to his and Mimiru's room where their flashlights are.

*Nero ignores him & keeps kicking through the brush, stumbling slightly. Roatha turns his flashlight on, keeping it trained on the Shadow Man, who seems to take a step in opposite directions at the same time. Suddenly, there are a pair of identical Shadow Men. One moves right through the bush towards them, while the other stalks off after Nero, casually, yet several times as fast as Nero can run.*
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*Euryale stirs, fidgeting & opening her eyes a crack.*

"What's wrong, hun?"

*Outside, they hear a loud bump against the wall.*
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*Azuma runs into a wall.*

"Seriously, two of them?" Hector shook his head and continued to flee in the direction they had come from. "Fuck this and fuck Nero, I'm going back."
Stefan stayed rooted to the spot, keeping the cross extended before him.

Taiyo: "I'm scared."

Azuma: "Bitch, ow!"

Azuma continues, his hand on the wall to guide him.

*Hector nearly runs headlong into the Shadow Man, who is now in front of him. Roatha turns.*

R"When did it--"

*Thiera is already climbing over the tree.*
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*Euryale props herself up on her elbow.*

"Who was that yelling?"
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*He feels a doorknob.*

Taiyo: "It kinda sounded like...I don't know his name. The one Mimi's with all the time."

Having not closed their door, it's probably the basement so he keeps going.

Hector immediately ducked to the side and attempted to run around the Shadow Man's left side, giving it as much distance as he could.

*Eve decides she doesn't want to go back alone, and gets off teh log, but stays near it. Cameron runs after Nero*
---
*Monu yells down the hall*

<You alright?>

*Now Azuma falls through an open doorway.*
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"Oh...well, do you think he's okay?"
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R"...I don't think we thought this through completely."

*He says this as the Shadow Man Clone starts to come into view. However, it doesn't bother turning back to face them. The trees around them become thinner, & blackened.*
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*The Shadow Man touches a tree & a branch falls towards Hector.*

Hector dived into a commando roll to avoid the branch, and provided he didn't collide with anything, he broke into a run coming out of the roll continuing the way they had come.
"This place is insane," Stefan said under his breath, turning and scrambling over the fallen tree. As he began to head off the other side, he felt a large splinter, probably due to the earlier explosion of wood, stab into his hand. He gasped and fell clumsily off onto the ground on the other side. His head landed painfully on an exposed tree root, leaving him dazed.

Azuma: "Fack!"

Taiyo: "Maybe."

Eve:<We depended too much of the water...>

*Eve follows after Roatha. Cameron clambers up the side of the log, then jumps down*

Cameron:<You alright?>
---
*Monu and Tirea sit on the couch*

Tirea:<Think we can try turning the lights back on?>

Monu:<I think we should wait a bit longer.>

E"Well, it's not like I can get up & check."

*She flips over, putting her face in the pillow, but quickly flips back over, because that's uncomfortable. She looks quite frustrated.*
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*Vanessa locates a light switch & flicks it on. Nothing happens."
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*This proves to be a bit trickier than it sounds, as Hector trips in the mud & eats a faceful of bush. That said, the Shadow Man has slowed down considerably, taking a step towards Stefan every few seconds. He's about 3 feet away. A soft, but freezing wind blows over him, as though the forces of nature themselves are trying to escape from it.*
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*They come to the cliff where the crash had happened. Maybe. The bus is now gone. But most of the trees are clear & the area is covered with charred tree parts & ashes. Nero can be seen in the middle of it all, on the phone.*

N"We're lost in the woods! Come & get us! ...From the crash, of course! What? Of course we're alive, who told you--hello? Hey! HEY! Shit!>

*He hammers on the buttons but decides to abandon that as the Shadow Man approaches, running along the cliff to the right, towards the tree line.*

*Eve stands still, not sure which direction to run*

Eve:<Did you get a signal?!>
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*Without waiting for an answer, Cameron pulls Stefan up and drags him down the path*

Cameron:<Damn it!>
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Monu:<Great, I wonder where the fuse box is.>

Tirea:<The basement, maybe? But we'd need some light to get down there.>

Monu:<Didn't you have some matches?>

Tirea:<Right!>

*Tirea starts feeling the way down to her room*

Hector probably got some minor abrasions but ignored them, putting all of his physical and mental capacity into getting back on track and running away. Meanwhile Stefan was able to make faltering steps with Cameron's help.
"Ah, shit, I think I might be concussed," He said moments before going rigid and spewing into the bushes. He dropped his cross onto the ground at Cameron's feet.

*The Shadow Man continues stalking after them. As Hector is running along, he distinctly catches the motion of someone waving at him.*

Elisia<Quickly, follow me!>

*He looks up to see a woman in white push through the bushes, exposing a more even dirt path. Meanwhile, the sky rumbles overhead.*
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*The Shadow Man turns toward them, stalking through the sudden haze of rain that falls in sheets over the light. Nero & Roatha move closer together.*

R"Do we--do we follow Nero?"

T"I don't know, why are you asking me?!"
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*She hits a wall too.*

"Astart--..." Hector stopped and stared for a moment before taking cautious steps towards the woman. "Mother?"

Azuma: "At least I'm not alone."

Azuma finds his or at least somebody's flashlights and flicks them on, turning the secomd one off as it has shown it works then sets off to the living room, shining the light in the other rooms as he goes.

Azuma: "How's everyone doing here?"

Eve:<I think we should.>

*Eve does that*
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*Cameron hurriedly picks the cross up, thinking Stephan might freak out later without it. Then he continues along*

Cameron:<We're going to make it out of here.>
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*Tirea laughs and rubs her head before continuing to her room*

Elisia Cyprus<We have a cabin. Look, there's no time to explain, it's getting closer!>

*She runs down the path, her & it bathed in silvery-white moonlight peaking out of the clouds. True to what she's saying, the Shadow Man is lurking just feet behind Cameron & Stefan, such that they can feel the wind on their necks like the breath of a predator.*
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*Roatha & Thiera follow, but the Shadow Man reappears right in front of them, the lower half of its face tearing open & twisting, like a grin carved through its head, its shredded "skin" making up sharp teeth.*
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"I'm still bedridden & useless. Why, what's up?"
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*She finds it by running into the door.*

Azuma: "Power went out. God knows what else is going on, decided to take a look around."

*Cameron follows Elisia, still helping Stephan, as it seems like the best option*
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*Eve darts several steps back, startled*

Eve:<(What's...the plan?)>
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*Tirea opens the door, and feels the way to her backpack. When she finds it, Tirea grabs her pack of matches before exiting the room*

Hector ran after Elisia, driven now less by fear and more by the desire not to let her out of his sight. Perhaps it was just a different fear.
"I'm no good, I'm not so good," Stefan mumbled to himself as well as several other, less intelligible things, while still stumbling every few steps.

*Elisia leads them down a surprisingly short path that leads to the cabin.*

<In here!>

*When she opens the door & steps inside, the moonlight abruptly dies, obscured by thick clouds. She plunges into the dark cabin. From the perspective of the cabin-goers, the cabin door flings open & someone runs in, but no one can see anything.*
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"Oh...that's not good, is it?"
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*A lightning bolt fires down, striking the Shadow Man & eviscerating him with a pulse of brilliant light. It lets out a long, high-pitched screech, contorting its limbs & torso around several times along their length, strips of shadow flying off into the night.*

Hector skidded to a halt at the doorway and yelled inside, "What's with the lights? Hey Mom?"

Astarte heard the commotion and Hector's voice, and sat up in her bed to listen to what was going on out in the living room.