Waiting to Die

*Tirea bought a pair of blue jeans, thick gloves, a purple turtle neck, boots, and a heavy gray coat. She nervously enters the alley. Eve shrugs and follows behind Astarte*

*Assorted characters follow.*

S"There are enough of us now that I think we could take the priest, but it would have to be under cover of night."

L"Take him & do what with him?"

S"Tie him up, ask him questions. Maybe take him to the forest."

V"Yeah, & be sitting ducks for when the monsters show up."

S"That's what Schreiber's gun is for, is it not?"

Eve:<Roatha, do you know anything of what might be guarding the church or the priest? Or anything in general that might be useful?>

"Wait just a second- we shouldn't be moving on before we address this snake in the grass," Astarte pointed at Schreiber. "Do you want to tell everybody what you did?"

Azuma: "Of course not."

*He points to Azuma.*

"Yeah, pretty much what he said. I remember coming & going a lot, but I'm not really sure how he did it, & he mostly just antagonized the priest. It would be random whether or not the other creatures are there. Parishioners have pretty much abandoned it, though. Stefan might still be in the hospital, or the Shadow might have gotten to him."

Schreiber<Did what? Rescued you from the forest? Attempted to restrain & purge Ira at your own request?>

"Explain why you had us on that bus, explain why immediately after the crash you where nowhere to be found- you made no effort to save us from that wreckage- and explain why you took so long, and even made contact with some of us-- Azuma, you remember-- while we were being hunted and killed but didn't save us sooner?" Astarte spoke fast, feeling self-conscious now that she was speaking loud enough for everybody to hear at once. "Admit that you always meant us to be test subjects so that you could watch these things killing us and find weaknesses, and especially to keep the Shadow away from you. Our lives mean nothing to you."
She shifted back on her feet and glanced furtively at Vanessa as she finished, fists clenched at her sides and cheeks flushed with red by anger and aforementioned discomfort.

*Eve opens her mouth, then closes it and crosses her arms, waiting to see what's going to happen next*

*Vanessa looks surprised at all of this & stares dumbfounded at Dr. Schreiber, awaiting an explanation. Thiera behaves similarly, fidgeting in worry. Lilith & Senthose scrutinize her with shrewd expressions. Roatha seems to just be fascinated by a wall. The doctor simply crosses her arms, listening with a bored expression.*

Schreiber<Is that what Ira told you? Why you would trust that lunatic is beyond me. Roatha, do you remember me doing any of this?>

"Huh? Uh, no."

Schreiber<So there you have it. If Ira wants to convince you that I'm the Great Satan, why wouldn't he leave behind memories proving it? Unless, of course, he has no evidence, because he outright lied. Hardly a line too far for him to cross.>

*Vanessa's expression becomes decidedly more smug as she points at Astarte.*

V"Yeah, only YOU would actually be STUPID enough to believe IRA, of all people!"

Astarte turned to the others, pointing accusatively at Schreiber, "She's just deflecting the question without telling us anything!"
"Explain yourself!" She whirled back to Schreiber, almost yelling. "Why did you have us on that bus? Why did you abandon us to the wreckage? Why didn't you help us sooner? You can't just say 'no', you explain yourself, now."

*Eve continues to stare at Schreiber, arms still crossed. Her face is expressionless. Tirea, meanwhile, steps forward a bit and murmurs in a low voice that may be covered by Astarte's yelling*

<...She's kinda right...Ira didn't say that out of the blue...>

Schreiber<Very well. For starters, I did not put you on that bus, you signed up for my class, a class which was voted in by the department & assigned to me. Did you really think that I could just tell the administration that there were monsters in the woods & they'd shut down the whole program?>

S"Just keep going, we can't afford to stay in one place for long."

Schreiber<After the bus crashed, Ira's beasts broke in. That is why the interior was ripped apart & the bus driver was missing. Wary of my gunfire, they dragged him deeper into the forest. I pursued. I then spent the rest of my time in the forest tracking them & fighting for my life. I only discovered the cabin near the end of our time in the forest. I followed Azuma & Mimiru to protect them & ensure that they found a way out. Once they had, I went back in for the rest of you. It would be some time before I discovered that you were no longer in the forest. Save for the occasional appearances by Ira's latest host, of course.>

*She points to Roatha, who slumps his shoulders in an attempt to look as small as possible. Thiera frowns at him, but Lilith just makes the "stay put" gesture & turns back to Dr. Schreiber.*

Schreiber<Does THAT answer ALL of your questions?>

"If we take your word for it that the trip wasn't your idea, which I hesitate to do, it still doesn't make sense that in the effort to save the bus driver you would abandon your entire class to a terrible bus wreckage," Astarte looked incredulous. "Did you think we were all just dead? Didn't you think while you were going after this kidnapped bus driver other creatures might come for us?"

*Eve moves closer to Lilith and Thiera, her eyes never leaving Schreiber*

Someone had to do this...

*Tirea doesn't move, but her gaze shifts to her feet*

Schreiber<You can check with the college yourself, they'll tell you that's exactly how it works. And no, Ira only ever used 3. The orbs are more-or-less harmless & the little one tended to stay out of sight. There is the Shadow, but surely even you have noticed that it never goes directly for the kill. I saw a chance to eliminate the most dangerous ones, so I took it.>

Astarte looked back at the others- still obviously incredulous- and waited to let anybody else speak.

Azuma: "You done wasting time or did someone find some more to spend arguing?"

Tirea:<I wouldn't call it a waste of time...>

*Eve shifts uncomfortably, but still says nothing*

*Lilith & Thiera shrug.*

Schreiber<I would. I have other places to be. Fortunately I don't have classes to teach, owing to my untimely disappearance, but I do have plenty of staff meetings to discuss my next semester.>

S"What, right now?"

Schreiber<It cannot be helped. But if the rest of you can keep track of Ira's vessels, tomorrow morning we may be able to track down where he has been operating out of.>

*Eve looks annoyed*

<It would have been nice if you could have let us know earlier, but no matter. We'll contact you if anything of interest occurs.>

"I still don't believe she told us everything," Astarte shook her head, then turned her eyes on Vanessa and gave a snarling-smirk. "What about you? Going to follow your master like a good dog?"

Azuma: "You two not want to take your squabble with the rest of us?"

V"Fuck you!"

Dr<Believe what you want.>

*Vanessa shoves Astarte. Dr. Schreiber heads away because this is stupid. Senthose starts heading in the opposite direction, glancing back & gesturing to the group.*

S"Anyone who wants to avoid an awkward run-in with the cops & not be a part of a girlish squabble, come with me."

L"Come on, Astarte, let's just go, we have a lot to discuss before tomorrow."

"You sure showed me, puppy dog," Astarte laughed scornfully at Vanessa before turning her back to go after Senthose.

*Eve and Tirea follow, Eve looking extremely pissed at Astarte & Vanessa*

Eve:<Stop trying to antagonize each other. It doesn't serve a purpose and, frankly, it's annoying.>