The Arrival

Taiyo gives Euryale her I.D card.

Taiyo: "You think something stayed in my room?"

===================================

Azuma answers the door.

*Eve nods at Azuma*
===
*Finally they check out Cameron's house*

*Once again, nothing appears to be different. However, the bushes are moving, & Cameron gets a text message.*
========================================
"Maybe, who knows?"

*She starts walking to the door & sweeps the ID as she talks.*

"I just assumed that was one reason you weren't moving back in."

*She exhales & pushes the door open, turning on her flashlight & sweeping it around the room. Her brow furrows.*
=========================================
"Hello. May we come in? There's a few things I'd like to show you, as well."

*Tirea looks around for a rock then tosses it at the bushes if she finds one. Cameron checks his phone*

Monu:<Squirrel abuse.>
---
*Eve stands quietly*

Taiyo: "I actually enjoyed staying with you."

Taiyo sees Euryale's expression and reaches around to turn the light on.

===================================

Azuma: "Yeah, sure."

He steps aside to let them in. Mimiru is sitting on the bed, photograph in hand.

Azuma: "Who wants to share first?"

Noct stays with Mortal and Gabe as they finish getting dressed. Gabe, still a bit shaken, takes quite a while. Eventually they enter into the gym. Sab, who had been forced to find her happy place when people started yelling, and glaring, snaps out of it, and smiled, "Oh, you're all okay! I was so worried!"

Mortal shrugged, and said with added bravado, "You should see the other guys."

"I did! I was still worried!"

Noct smirked at that, though Mortal felt a bit deflated. "Like she said," Noct added, "We're fine. Let's just get out of here."

*And so they start moving as a congested mass towards the door. They can see a pair of parked ambulances & a pair of parked police cars outside.*

S"It was very impressive."

A"I agree, but...well...."

*Aroma hands Senthose a slip of paper. He stares at it.*

A"It's just, if we're ever in trouble again...I mean, not that I'm asking you to be our personal, unpaid bodyguard, or anything...."

S"...I don't live near you."

A"Well, that might also help."
================================
*They head in, then just stand around awkwardly.*

T"I'll go. It's just that we've found a couple of areas that might be of interest. This 'Father Grimm' came from an orphanage that has since burned down. We might also look at the old TB asylum. But I'm afraid that's all I've got for now, & we can't even follow up on those until Lilith calms down a bit. I'm sorry it's not the most exciting news ever."

*Thiera shrugs.*
================================
*2 events happen near-simultaneously. First, Cameron's text is from an unknown number, & reads "We're never far." Second, what bursts out of the bush is not a squirrel. The first thing they notice is its bulbous red eyes & clicking sound. Even though it's not quite night, it's still hard to pick out where the creature's form ends & the bush begins, but they know it has a thin, primate-like hand, as it raises the rock that was thrown at it & chucks it, knocking Cameron's phone out of his hand & breaking the nearest window. The phone hits the ground & shuts off. Afterwards, it starts crawling towards them, hand over hand, loping to the sides slightly, but quicker than a fox nonetheless. It adds a growling to the clicking.*
=========================================
*Euryale frowns. When the light turns on, the first thing that Taiyo sees is her books, clothes, & magazines spread haphazardly around the room, pages torn from them, crumpled & ripped up, & also lying about. Her posters have met a similar fate. Her bedspread has been torn almost off, with her mattress askew, & holes cut into it. Many of the items on her shelves are knocked over, on the floor, broken, or some combination. Several drawers have been pulled askew, with one ripped completely off & lying around.*

"I didn't tell you that it was clear yet."

Azuma: "We got a creepy photo."

Mimiru stands up and holds it out to Thiera for her to take.

===================================

Taiyo looks at the mess her room is and runs in and around the corner to the shelf where Kitters' urn is.

Noct feels a bit of shame when she realizes she never bothered to get Senthose's number. She pulled out her phone and chuckled humorlessly, "Uh, would you mind giving me your number as well. No need for a bodyguard, but I'd still like to stay in contact outside of class."

Gabe looked at the emergency vehicles, then at everyone else, "Should we, um... go over there and explain what happened?"

Mortal let out a sigh, "I suppose so."

Grimm tried to roll away from it, reciting passage and prayer to himself at high speed.

*Cameron grabs the phone then takes off towards the college, followed by Tirea and Monu*
---
*Eve leans over to get a better look at the photo*

*Grimm's attempts to move are already pretty lame, but they're stifled completely when tendrils of shadow arch out of the monster's wrist to hold him in place. Before he knows it, he feels intense heat, smells the burning of flesh, & can hear screams & wailing, but he can't see anything. The sensation reminds him of some descriptions he's heard of Hell. Then he loses consciousness.*
====================================
*The creature proves to be much faster. Grabbing Cameron by the ankles, it brings him down. His chin smashes against the pavement & a small pool of blood dribbles just in front of him, filling his nose with a scent like shaved iron. At first he thinks that knives are pressing against his back, just barely not breaking skin, but he soon realizes that the creature has crawled on him when he hears its clicking in his ear. Something darts out & stabs him in the neck, but it's not a claw.*
=====================================
*As mentioned before, it's a picture of Stefan's parents, with a human-shaped outline drawn between them in red marker, with a question mark inside. Thiera turns it around to see another message written in the same marker, "Which one's next?"*

"...Did you look at the other side?"
======================================
"I can't tell if they were looking for something or just trying to wreck up the place."

*It is missing. The photos that are surely in the vicinity have been knocked down, but in a way so that they face upward. Any instance of Taiyo or her immediate relatives has seen its face stabbed & the knife twisted around to make a noticeable hole. At this point, Euryale notices that Taiyo ran off, & walks over.*

"What's wrong? Well, other than...you know what I mean."
===========================================
*Once Senthose has given out his number, he puts his phone away, & walks towards the police who are getting out of the vehicle, Jane & a couple of fat dudes.*

S"Officers. These 2--"

*He gestures to Aroma & Sab, stepping aside because Aroma was trying to hide them behind him.*

S"Were attacked in their room by a fraternity student, he lives in Room 326. They were worried about their other friends, so we came here to find them under attack, which is why we called you."

Jane<And what made you think that there was another attack going on, here at the gym, & that your friends were the targets?>

*Aroma edges them back behind Senthose, then peaks out over his shoulder.*

A"Um, he told us that...some other boy told him to attack us because...well, you see...we're...."

*Monu and Tirea see and head back. Tirea kicks at the creature's head if she can see if, while Monu dials the police then tries to help Cameron up. Cameron is limp, in too much pain to do anything*
===
*Eve bites her lip, looking slightly scared*

"We're gay," Noct said flatly, "We were attacked as part of a hate-crime."

Sab, who was peaking over Aroma's shoulder, nods in agreement.

Azuma: "No. Didn't want to look at the front let alone the back."

===================================

Taiyo begins tearing up.

Taiyo: "Ki...Kitters urn is gone."

*Euryale puts her arms around Taiyo.*

"I'm very sorry...but right now, we should get whatever you need & go."
====================================
*She shows it to him.*
====================================
Jane<I see. And they told you that?>

S"That's what our guy told me."

Jane<So what happened once you came here?>

*Jane pushes open the doors, motioning for them to follow.*
=====================================
*The creature jumps on Tirea, knocking her down. Her head hits the pavement & her vision goes fuzzy, but the creature jumps off & disappears over a nearby fence when a man with a flashlight runs up.*

<Hey! Get back here! Damn, that kid is fast. Is he on PCP, or something?>

<What's your emergency?>

{My friends got attacked by something, and need help. We're at [Monu's address]. Thank you.}

*Tirea moans and holds her head, and tries to stand. She is stopped by Monu who instead helps her sit up. Then he lays Cameron down on the pavement*

Monu:<Cam?>

*Cameron's eyes, full of pain, flick to Monu*

<Glad you're alright.>

*Monu turns to the new arrival*

<That was a kid?>

Astarte, Hector and Eduj remained shut in their homes.

Noct and Mortal let out sighs at the same time as they are ushered back into the building.

"We saw a bunch of guys in ski masks next to the women's locker room," Sab said.

Azuma: "That is unsettling."

Mimiru: "Unsettling? This is worse than ever."

===================================

She sniffles some and wipes her eyes.

Taiyo: "Ye...yeah. Maybe it'll turn up."

"Yeah, maybe...."

*She looks behind her. Letting go of Taiyo, she slowly approaches the closet, & then rips open the door, to find absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, aside from a few outfits lying on the floor, it's barely been touched..*

"...I'm feeling a bit exposed, in here."
===============================
Jane<It's okay, you'll be out of here soon. I just have to get your stories.>

*Jane enters, stepping carefully over the large pink stains over the floor. Aroma clings to Sab with both arms & stares at the mess in revulsion.*

Jane<So, what exactly happened here?>
===============================
*Before too long, a police car parks nearby. One officer heads over to hear what everyone has to say. As the man explains to them all, he saw a withered person attacking "these youths" like an animal, & so it must have been some kid hopped up on PCP. He mentions that he climbed the fence, which the officer relays to his partner, who is searching the area with a flashlight. Said officer then peers over the fence, shining his flashlight around, before heading around to the front gate.*
===============================
T"I'm inclined to agree. We can't meddle, or Lilith will tell the police, & they'll probably institutionalize us. But we can't just do nothing, as they're sending a clear message that they're already looking for their next victim."

Azuma: "So what do we do then?"

===================================

Taiyo: "I should probably call campus security."

Monu:<My friend got stabbed here.>

*Monu, for once, looks rather annoyed*
---
Eve:<We stick together.>

*The cop bends down & kind of rolls him over.*

Cop<I don't see a wound.>

Partner<And there's no sign of anyone back here, either!>

Cop<Are you making up stories?>
=============================
"Yeah, but...let's wait until after we have everything you need & are out of here. Just a hunch."
=============================
"I guess. We could send out a message asking that everyone periodically check in."

*Monu checks it as well*

<I'm sure I saw him get stabbed.>

*Cameron nods in agreement. Monu turns back to the cop*

<Maybe it only looked like he did. Anyway, some kid definitely attacked us.>
---
<Sounds like a plan to me.>