Evil Dead

Cyclist<Well, I don't really have another seat on the bike, so....>
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R"How should I know? It could happen at any time."

N"Hey, how do the cops know how to take orders from you?"

*Roatha shrugs.*

R"I don't know, they just sort of do. But it's only some of them. He hides himself from most of them."

N"So the ones he talks to--do they know Ira personally?"

R"I don't think so. They have some idea of what's going on in this town, but they don't know a lot of details. Why?"

N"If they aren't involved with Ira directly, someone has to be telling them to listen to you. Someone high up, who they wouldn't dare question. The chief of police, maybe?"
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L"Fine, watch all you want, but don't think we're not going to fight this!"

T"Unless their guardians sign something, they still have patient privacy rights, which means we have time to figure out our case."

*Tirea stares up at her aunt and uncle*

<Don't do it...please...>

Mr. Aakin:<We, uh, need some time to think about things.>

Azuma: "Our case is they think we've gone bananas. If I told you, I damn near got ripped apart by an ape-thing, would you believe me?"

"I guess I could ask my dad about this kind of stuff... if he would believe any of it for a single minute. He's with the police."

"Then I guess I'll just stand right here."

L"That's not what she means & you're not helping."

T"In any case, we can't stand here arguing about this all day."
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Cyclist<If you say so, Man.>

*He sets off.*
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R"That can't go anywhere good. Either he won't believe you, he'll be involved, or he'll be killed."

Azuma: "You mean that thing you've been doing walking in? You just finally decided to stop."

Kentaro: "What's really going on with you? Why isn't Mimiru here?"

Azuma: "She's dead. Roatha killed her."

"Thank you!" Stefan called after him, very self-consciously.

"You're not wrong," Astarte shrugged and ran a hand absently through her hair. "If there's nothing else, do you want to head on out before you turn into a serial killer again? Maybe step right into that crematorium of yours? Maybe you can't come back from ashes."

Tirea:<Yeah, he killed Cameron too!>

*The Aakins look at each other, then back to Tirea*

*Sidon awakens in the dark, bound & gagged on some kind of hard surface. Though he's disoriented, he has the sense that he's lying down, with his arms tied behind him, on the underside of whatever he's laying on. It feels cold, probably metal, & is narrow, almost like a table. His legs are stretched out, probably just tied to the end of it. It's definitely rope biting into his wrists & ankles. He hears heavy, clapping footsteps echoing around the room--someone walking up above, probably on a concrete floor.*
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L"This isn't helping either."

Doctor<Who is this Roatha, if you don't mind my asking?>

L"He's a friend of ours, but we haven't seen him in a couple of days."

Nurse<If he's your friend, why do you think he's killed your other friends?>
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*After a while, Stefan notices people starting to come down the road, then seeing him & turning around.*
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N"Hey! If that was supposed to be a joke, it wasn't funny!"

*Roatha stands up. Nero points at him.*

N"You sit right the fuck back down!"

*So he sits back down.*

Astarte looked back and forth between Roatha and Nero, shrugged and checked her phone, "So, the rest of them went to the hospital."

Stefan ignored the other citizens, looking only for signs of the unnatural.

Sidon acted accordingly to his circumstances, and did nothing.

Azuma: "What do you care? You won't believe a thing we say about it anyways. Comes with the whole being crazy thing."

Eve:<He is not currently in complete control of himself and has been known to target us.>

L"It's like you people WANT them to think we're crazy!"

Doctor<There has to have been some precipitating cause of your delusions. For that, we will need to know more about your group and its fears.>

Nurse<Should I go ask the police if they think that Roatha is dangerous?>

Doctor<Please do.>

*And so she heads out.*

T"I don't think that we should answer any questions until she gets back, we don't want to self-incriminate."
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*Eventually, the cyclist comes back with glorious PANTS!*
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*After he's spent enough time being boring, Sidon hears that this person is descending the stairs to his level.*
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N"Yeah, I figured."

R"Why, what are they doing there?"

N"Tirea & Azuma were hospitalized. You don't remember?"

*He shakes his head.*

R"No. What happened?"

N"They went to look at the church & our crazy priest attacked them. How do you remember what happened to Euryale, Mimiru, & Cameron, but not them?"

R"Wha--they didn't die in the church, they died in a girls' bathroom. They were attacked by that crawling thing. Euryale, I'm guessing, had to pee, & the others came to check up on her."

N"It was just waiting for them there?"

R"It can appear anywhere the Shadow wants it to. And it's usually doing Ira's dirty work, like disposing of bodies."

Azuma: "Guarantee she'll come back with nothing."

"Do we want to bother going there?" Astarte asked, then looked sidelong as Roatha and smiled. "Maybe you could come see how forgiving everybody else will be?"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Stefan accepted the pants and started putting them on. "You're a life saver. How can I pay you back?"

Sidon tried to get a lot at the person coming down the stairs if it was humanly possible.

Tirea:<Maybe you guys should leave.>

Th"But we should stay together."

L"Yeah! What happened to cooperation & not blurting out every random thought about stalkers to people calling us crazy!"

*Nurse Leslie comes back in.*

Nurse<The police say he's not a suspect in anything. And that students who don't return to their dorms the next day usually just had a one night stand.>
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*Eventually, someone shines a bright-ass light in Sidon's face while looking around the room. He can't see the face, but he can tell from the uniform that it's a cop, & from the hips & chest that it's a woman.*
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Cyclist<No biggie, Man, just keep your pants on.>
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*Roatha barely glances at her before returning to staring dully ahead.*

R"Forgiving of what? Ira didn't do anything to you."

N"I don't know if they'd be much help...."

R"Well, what else are you going to do?"

N"We could try to find Schreiber, see if she can keep Ira away from you."

Astarte's smile faltered at 'didn't do anything to you' and she gripped the bed sheets hard. When Nero stopped talking she stood up and looked down furiously on Roatha, "Go fuck yourself- this could be an act to try and catch Schreiber off guard, or something-- how about you fuck off?"

"Thanks so much," Stefan forced a sheepish smile. "Oh, uh, could you give directions to the hospital? I think I might need to get my shoulder looked at."

Sidon tried to ask who it was, forgetting for a moment his gag.

Azuma: "Bam, nothing. Should've made a bet."

Tirea:<Yeah, but you guys can't stay here for however long they plan to keep us.>

*Roatha flinches but does not look at her.*

R"Hector & Eduj were killed & erased by the Shadow acting on its own. Nobody knows what it did to Noctis, not even Ira."

*Nero starts forward.*

N"Hey, you're not one to talk, you've been egging him on this whole time, it's only natural he'd tell you to shut up!"

R"It's not payback, I'm just telling the facts."

N"Shut up, Roatha!"

R"Okay...."
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*Jane moves the light a bit so he can see & then moves forward.*

Jane<Well, I'll be, something IS going on here after all.>

*She pulls out the gag. The flashlight exposes the gurney that he's been tied on & the open crematorium door behind him, which she glances into as she starts untying him.*

Jane<This was definitely used recently, but it looks like whatever was burned in it was scooped out.>
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L"We don't plan to stay here for another 2 days, we'll leave after we've had a chance to talk--privately."

Nurse<But this still doesn't tell us why you think that your friend is trying to kill you.>
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Cyclist<Yeah, there's one just up that road over there.>

*He points to the next road on the way to the campus.*

"Why don't you just cry about it, Nero?!" Astarte tried to maintain her tone of anger, but backed away from Nero without thinking. "When I saw his face I thought I was going to die- sorry I can't just bury every emotion I associate with him in a few minutes!"
Her volume lowered as she went and her bottom lip started quivering, and she looked at Roatha, then her feet.

"Thank you again, goodbye," Stefan waved a hand and smiled for the cyclist again, then headed for the hospital.

Assuming Jane removed the gag first, Sidon immediately started with questions, "Is that you, June?! Good God, June, I thought you might be here to torture me! How did you know I was here?"

Azuma: "Does it matter? You won't believe a word we say nor can you be of any help."

Tirea:<It doesn't matter, we're crazy remember.>

Mrs. Aakin:<Well, I give you permission to talk to Tirea privately.>

*The doctor sighs.*

Doctor<Alright, if you insist. We'll go check on a few other patients.>

*So he & Nurse Leslie finally fuck right off. At this moment, Lilith's phone rings.*
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Jane<I didn't, I was here pursuing a suspect on a tip. I didn't even recognize you until now, & I'm not sure what your name is. Mine is Jane, by the way.>

*She manages to get his wrists free when something in the corner behind her opens its eyes. Its big, glowing red eyes. It's tough to say how far away it is, but it's easily the size of a large man, at least.*
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*It's going to be a long & boring walk. Fortunately, there are a lot of people around, including a lady in gray sweatpants and a pink hoodie walking a dog walking in the opposite direction, a bald old man in jeans & a thick jacket crossing the street, & a group of college guys (& 1 girl) smoking in leather jackets because I think it's still 1950.*
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*Nero takes a few steps back, looking guilty for a second. Then he shakes his head & points at her.*

N"Oh no, that's not going to work! Emotion is one thing, but you've been deliberately hostile since he got here! Before that, even!"

R"Maybe I should just go."

*He stands up again, so Nero rounds on him.*

N"Fucking--NO, & sit DOWN! How many times am I going to have to say that?!"

*He reluctantly sits down again.*