Waiting to Die

*Tirea looks up at the ceiling, then back to Roatha. Eve lowers her voice*

Eve:<(I...I...)>

*She closes her mouth and stares at her shoes*

Maybe...No, I can't start thinking that way. I can't...

Eve:<(What's the plan, then?)>

"Why don't Roatha and Lilith go and deal with his mother?" Astarte suggested, though she seemed conflicted as to what 'deal with' should mean.

L"Why me? I don't even have a flashlight. And what if they both get all possessed while I'm alone with them?"

S"Let's just try to avoid her. You, yell up there. Tell her that you have everything under control."

*He points at Roatha, who nods & moves towards the kitchen--a fairly simple L-shaped room with an open entrance that leads to a dining area & a more enclosed exit that leads to another room--& calls to the ceiling.*

R"H--hey, Mom! If you can hear me, don't come down, just answer!"

*The footsteps above them stop, replaced by a voice faintly coming through the ceiling.*

<Roatha? What are you doing here?>

R"I, uh, left something here the last time I visited! Me & some friends came by to pick it up! The power's out, but don't worry, we're going to the fuse box!"

<Okay...could you let your dad know? He should be on his way home.>

R"Sure thing!"

Eve:<(We should have picked up flashlights in town. Oh well.)>

*She looks at Roatha, waiting to be directed to the fuse box*

Astarte hung back, keeping an eye on Stefan, who appeared overwhelmed.

S"(Don't bother. Your power has surely been cut. As have any land phone lines.)"

R"(What about cell phones?)"

S"(Jammers can be easily constructed from house hold materials, then disassembled to avoid being caught.)"

R"(Okay, so where is she?!)"

S"(I don't know. She could be anywhere.)"

*Roatha cautiously leads them out of the kitchen & into a living room. Lilith overtakes him, holding out her knife so she can see if anything is reflected in it.*

L"(I...think the coast is clear."

*Anyone who peers out from around the edge will see the front door, a window on either side, & a fairly standard living room with a coffee table surrounded by 2 couches & 2 armchairs & a TV on a dresser along the far wall. Near the TV is yet another door*

R"(That leads into the basement.)"

S"(Go for it. I'll check outside.)"

*As Roatha starts across for the basement, Senthose begins to open the front door. He is abruptly shoved down when it is pushed from the outside. Dr. Schreiber & Vanessa rush in, & coming up the driveway behind them is a hulking blur of white, flared wings, & red, pulsing eyes. As the duo close the doors, they can see that her gun is drawn as their flashlights begin to flicker & an electric hiss fills the room. Vaessa jumps back from the window as the creature abruptly plants its face on it & Dr. Schreiber points the gun in Stefan's general direction. Lilith rushes forward & they both fall to the ground.*

Schreiber<You IDIOT!>

*A flash from her gun is followed by a loud bang that causes everyone's ears to start ringing as a bullet blasts apart the ceiling, causing fibers to rain down, stinging their eyes & hurting visibility even more. In the blinking lights, they can see another shadow running around along with their own; a very tall one, sporting a porkpie hat. If they haven't already hit the deck, Stefan & Astarte are next to go down. Astarte has a blinding pain in her side, but Stefan's is in his throat as an alarming amount of blood gushes from his mouth. Roatha is next to go, grabbing his head & falling backwards as Thiera runs for her sister.*

Stefan choked out a frightening gurgle of a cry and tried to pull himself along the floor towards the center of the room, while Astarte screamed with the effort to throw herself away from the Shadow with as much vigor as possible.

*Both Eve and Tirea hit the deck a when the commotion started. Eve moves towards Thiera and Lilith, keeping her eyes on the shadow and staying low to the ground. She attempts to keep a firm grip on her flashlight and knife. Meanwhile, Tirea grabs Astarte's hand and tries to help pull her away from the shadow*

The two drop because it's the cool thing to do and move away from the windows and the Not!Slenderman, towards the kitchen.

*In the commotion, Vanessa runs to Astarte, pulling her to her feet & helping her run to the kitchen, where they see the lacerated form of Hector dancing jerkily as if on strings. Lilith & Dr. Schreiber are lifted into the air, but the Shadow drops them after a few more gunshots go off, sinking back into the shadows. The door busts open as the white monster comes in, knocking Schreiber's gun from her hand with a swipe of its claws. While it's focused on her, Lilith grabs Thiera & Eve & assists them in running back to the kitchen. A dark haired woman in a night gown, presumably Roatha's mother, can be seen coming to the room as Roatha sits up. He grabs at the gun, but Senthose snatches it away instead, as he follows Lilith. Stefan decides to hide under the coffee table for some reason, still spitting up blood. When he glances up, he can see that the TV is now playing the scene of Roatha shoving Euryale's corpse into the incinerator.*

*Eve runs along side Lilith into the kitchen, glancing back at Scheider. Meanwhile, Tirea continues holding on to Astarte as she runs*

They pick themselves up and high tail it out through the kitchen.

Apparently being supported by both Vanessa and Tirea, Astarte just stares at the abomination in the kitchen with wide-eyed, fearful disgust, and tightens her grips on the others subconsciously to a painful degree.
Stefan clamps his hands over his ears and squeezes his eyes shut, screaming 'STOP' when his mouth isn't full of blood.

*Vanessa does her best to shove Astarte along, & the figure seems to be gone a moment later as Senthose fires a couple of shots into the darkness. The flashlights also cease flickering & the TV flips back to static. They hear the muffled sound of a woman screaming & rushing upstairs as Roatha gets up & charges Senthose. Schreiber grabs the door & pushes against it with all of her might, pinning the white monster. It hisses & claws at the air as it slowly squeezes inside. During this period, Stefan is largely ignored. Those who kept running without stopping now find themselves back in the mudroom.*

*Eve follows Lilith and Thiera, while Tirea continues supporting Astarte. Eve keeps glancing back over her shoulder when it's possible to do so without running into things*

Astarte, depending on her level of pain, attempted to become more independent of her helpers, "What do we do?"

Stefan noticed that he hadn't died yet and opened his eyes to look for an escape route.

*The door to the basement is still closed, the room & the path to the stairs is empty as far as he can see, save for Schreiber struggling to get to her feet & keep the white monster pinned in the door. She glances back to see him.*

<You there! Help me get rid of this thing!>
============================
*Senthose wrenches open the door & points the gun through as Lilith tries to see what she can with her flashlight. Recognizing a way out, Vanessa books it.*

S"Looks clear. But no sign of Roatha's father."

L"How far back into town is it? Did you walk here?"

S"Yeah. It took me about 20 minutes to get here from campus following Schreiber & Vanessa, but they were making it a point to stay out of sight."

*They hear the footsteps pounding on the floor behind them, but by the time they turn around, Roatha has knocked Thiera to the ground, grabbed Senthose's right wrist in 1 hand, & is holding his throat with the 2nd. The gun goes off twice during the struggle before Senthose uses his free hand to grab the hand choking him.*

L"Sorry!"

*Lilith steps up & jams the gravity knife into Roatha's right elbow. When she pulls it out, blood spurts on the floor & his arm goes limp.*

R"Fucking ginger bitch!"

*Eve moves her flashlight under one shoulder before yanking Thiera to her feet, away from Roatha and Lilith. Tirea starts moving towards the door, presumably still holding on to Astarte*

Stefan ran to the door and threw his weight against it, avoiding hitting Schreiber.

"Shoot him!" Astarte yelled at the scene between Roatha and the others.

While the idea of taking a shot at Roatha is a good one, Azuma hurries Taiyo through the door to get the hell out.

*As I've mentioned that the gun went off twice, Tirea feels a searing pain in her side as a tile off behind her somewhere explodes, while the 2nd shot knocks out the kitchen window, scattering broken glass all over the floor.*

Th"No!"

*She tries to hang back, but Lilith pushes her & Tirea along. She looks back after hearing something clatter down the stairs & picks up the gun that Senthose had dropped. Roatha kicks him down the stairs & turns around, grabbing a chef's knife, but Senthose is already up & running.*

S"We've got what we came for, just go!"

L"Where's Stefan!?"

S"Forget him!"

Th"We can't!"
================================
*They force the creature out & Scrheiber locks the door, but it's wood, so the frame starts to crack as the creature pounds it from the other side.*

Schreiber<That won't last long, we need to head out the back door!>

*So she runs towards the kitchen.*

Astarte moved on outside, potentially switching to holding Tirea up due to her pain.

Stefan followed a step behind her, and yelled "I should stay!"

OOC: Is Lilith pushing along Thiera and Tirea or Thiera and Eve? I kinda assume the later, since Eve was the one grabbing Thiera before hand.

*Tirea screams in pain, now clutching Astarte tightly. She lets Astarte lead her. Eve stays beside Lilith and Thiera, still clutching Thiera's wrist*

Eve:<He's right, come on!>

Schreiber<Don't be an idiot!>

*She grabs him by the shoulder & does her best to force him forward as she runs & the white monster breaks through the door again.*
=====================================
*Thiera continues to fight them, but there's more people pushing & dragging her, so she's steadily losing ground.*

Th"We can't!"

S"Maybe if we get around to the other side of the house, we can put down the beast! Would that ease your conscience?"

Eve:<Do you think we can do that without all getting killed?>