The Arrival

*Roatha walks in, muttering under his breath.*

R"Didn't really expect anyone to just agree to that...."

*He walks into the bathroom, disappearing from view behind the wall.*
===========================
*In the elevator, Euryale stares at the button panel, her finger hovering in front of it.*

E"What floor did she say?"

Eve:<She said room 123.>

"I don't know, not really a fan of daytime TV in general," Astarte said. "Anything you would recommend?"

"Should we not check her home?"

Taiyo: "First floor then?"

"Not really," Noct said with a shrug, "I use it more for video games, and movies really. Wow, I must come off as some kind of weird recluse, huh?"

--

Sab waits in the hall for Roatha to make sure the coast is clear.

*There continues to be no further sign of Roatha, nor sounds of anything going on in the dorm.*
==========================
"Yup."

*Euryale pushes the button & soon they're on their way down.*

"No, I'm the same... though I might be kind of a recluse," Astarte smiled a little. "TV isn't that great."

"R... Roatha? Is everything alright?" Sab asked, looking from the open doorway to Aroma.

--

"Yeah, there are like... two or three good shows right now, and I usually just watch them online anyway," Noct said. "So, what exactly are you into. I can put on Netflix or something."

Taiyo stands close to Euryale, holding her hand.

Monu:<Sure, but let me try her house phone one more time.>

*And so he does*
===
*Eve stands in the elevator*

OOC: I've decided it would be simplest to treat the dorm rooms as small apartments.

*And so, they eventually make it to Thiera's door. Euryale knocks, probably a bit too hard. A blue eye appears in the peephole, & then Thiera slowly opens the door, undoing a turn lock & a chain lock. She gestures into her living area, which has a couple small, vaguely S-shaped chairs & a small sofa, all white, around a black coffee table. On the back wall are a couple of [url=http://uploads1.wikipaintings.org/images/m-c-escher/butterflies.jpg]paintings, with a narrow vase between them, about 3 feet tall & made of gold & white spirals. Lilith, sitting on 1 of the chairs looking grim, waves.*

T"Please, make yourselves at home."

E"Not that we feel like you don't want visitors, but Taiyo & I were actually just headed to the gym."
=================================
*And so he again gets no answer.*
=================================
*Still no noise from inside of the dorm.*

A"Is he...using our bathroom...? No, that can't be. We'd hear water running, or something moving."

*Eve enters, and nods at Lilith and Thiera*

<Thank you for letting me come over on such short notice.>
===
Cameron:<Anything?>

*Monu hangs up and shakes his head*

Monu:<Nope, now I'm really worried. Her house isn't far from here, could we walk over together?>

Taiyo: "You have a really nice dorm."

Astarte shrugged, "A few things. As long as it's done well, I don't mind."

"Sure," Hector looked for the bar tender, since they wouldn't be able to finish the food. He also took out his wallet.

"Uh, I'll just bring it up, and we can look through until we find something cool," Noct said, doing just that.

--

Sab cautiously takes a step into her dorm, "Is everything alright?"

*Aroma follows, at which point a dark shape looms out of the bathroom. Completely devoid of features & depth, it nonetheless stands in front of them, in real, 3-dimensional space. It is mostly humanoid, resembling a man wearing a long coat & a porkpie hat, but it obviously isn't. Aside from having no flesh & being akin to a living shadow, it has undefined borders & its fingers are vaguely claw-like. It turns, as if to look at them, & a lightbulb near its head--it almost touches the ceiling--begins to flicker.*
===================================
*The bartender is walking past.*
===================================
T"Thank you, Taiyo. And it's really not a problem, Eve. Actually, we just got word about the case, so it makes sense that we should start sharing it now."

Astarte leaned back and sipped her drink.

"Hey," Hector called for the bartender's attention, drawing money out of his wallet and extended it out to him. Eduj put his half down on the counter. "Gotta go, didn't really get to try your food. Another time."

Sab stares in abject horror for a brief moment, her mind not able to comprehend what it is that she is looking at. For an instant nothing seems real, but quickly reality dawns. She can feel the cold sweat on her forehead, her knees shaking. The realization that she isn't out of body, or dreaming puts more panic into her than the figure in front of her. In another instant she screams, and grabs Aroma's hand, "We have to go!" She pulls Aroma towards the door, and begins bolting down the hall to the staircase.

--

Noct flicks through the 'Anime' section until she reaches Spirited Away, "You into Ghibli movies?"

"Yeah," Astarte smiled, feeling kind of nostalgic. "They're pretty sweet."

<Oh? Do tell.>
===
*Monu and Cameron wait by the door*

*Aroma is dragged along at first, but catches up to run side-by-side, holding her fists at her side awkwardly.*

A"But what about Roatha?"
===============================
<Uh, alright.>

*He gets some Styrofoam containers for them.*
===============================
T"Oh, you're going to love this. Not only did they not find anything, they're claiming we made the whole thing up."

E"What!? That is bullshit! Wait...maybe it didn't happen. No, hear me out...what if the Shadow took them?"

T"Shh!"

*She makes the "shush" gesture, then points back at Lilith.*

L"What did she say?"

T"Uh, she asked if you could ask Senthose if that one guy is still around."

L"Oh, that's right, he knows one of the attackers, doesn't he?"

*She digs out her phone & starts dialing.*

"What do you think WE can do about it?" Sab asked, "We need to get out of here! Once we're safe we can worry about helping Roatha!" Sab opened the doors to the stairwell, and began descending.

--

Noct selects the movie, and takes a sip of her drink, "Yeah, I think so too. Better than nothing, at any rate."

Astarte leaned towards Noctis and continued to drink while watching the movie.

The two waited and then joined the others at the door, "Lead on."

Taiyo: "I wish it didn't happen..."

*Vanessa sits at the bar.*

<Do you want any-->

"Shut up."
======================
L"Hey, Senthose? Listen, I have a question."

*She heads into the bathroom to continue her conversation.*

E"Well, I want to get to the gym & back before it starts to get dark. Just keep us posted, if you will."

T"Alright, then...goodbye, & be careful."

E"Thanks. Later."
======================
*The landing, & door to the next floor comes into view.*

A"Where exactly are we supposed to go? How will we know when we're safe?"