Halliwell Manor Attic - San Francisco, CA
Eun-Ji returned to the Book of Shadows, determined to delve deeper into its secrets despite the commotion echoing from downstairs. Ignoring the chaos below, unwilling to concern herself with other factions, she focused her attention on the ancient tome before her. Running her fingers over its weathered pages, she recognized that each entry held a wealth of knowledge and power, waiting to be unlocked.
Flipping through the pages, Eun-Ji’s eyes scanned the intricate script and faded illustrations, absorbing the wisdom contained within. She paused at a page detailing a spell for protection against malevolent spirits, her mind racing with possibilities. The meticulous instructions and elaborate diagrams spoke of centuries of magical witchcraft expertise passed down, offering glimpses into a world beyond her own.
As she continued to read, Eun-Ji’s curiosity deepened, her thoughts consumed by the ancient rituals and incantations described in the book. Each entry offered a tantalizing glimpse into the arcane arts, hinting at the vast potential of magic and a menagerie of evil beings. She had always been solely focused on her own chaotic abilities, that looking at the varieties that existed were intriguing.
Occasionally she would look up and to the attic door due to the commotion going on below. From the sounds of things it seemed whatever was going on was escalating. Illuminati dying didn’t bother her as she returned back to her investigation.
Posted by : Lorem
San Francisco, USF, Turner Kramer’s Dorm, Afternoon After Kramer’s Death
Lumina had been mildly infuriated when Corinth stamped out his cigarette into the carpet. Not only was it horrifically disrespectful, but it was also not an insignificant risk to leave such an obvious trace of their presence in a place upon which they were trespassing. She wondered if he had even been aware of his behavior, or if he had been acting mostly on habit and muscle memory.
Despite her anger, Lumina was thoroughly impressed with how quickly Corinth solved the cipher. The nature of the Halliwell Sisters was not known to her, but if Kramer thought there was something important about them, perhaps following up on this code could reveal more about him and why he had been killed.
“I mean, sisters of Fate? That’s a bold claim. Still, this is something new. You’re a Warlock, you like books and stuff right? Think the library here might have something? Shit, probably not, but it wouldn’t hurt to check. Maybe I can find something on the sisters, address at least. Think There’s a phonebook around here? Yeah, I doubt it. Haven’t seen one of those in years. Still, I can make some calls and see what I can find. Meet you at the car in an hour to compare notes?”
“Sounds like a plan chief,” Lumina replied to Corinth. “I’ll also plan on trying to purchase some minerals for spells that might be hard to find elsewhere while I’m here, hopefully this won’t take me too long, but I will let you know if I get held up.” Lumina was about to walk out of the room with the fringe physics textbook but then paused as she looked again at the cigarette in the carpet. She wasn’t sure it was her place to tell Corinth what to do, but considering the risks, she felt she needed to say something. Summoning as much courage as she could, Lumina pointed at the cigarette and stammered, “Oh, and one last thing… Can you clean that up? W-we can’t afford to leave such obvious traces of our presence in this place that we are not legally supposed to be. We need to be more careful.” Putting her money where her mouth was, Lumina took a photo of the code Corinth had detected and went back to the closet to place the book where she had found it. She then hastily made her exit from the dorm.
Lumina decided to go shopping first. Asking around, she found her way to the storeroom, where she was able to get directions to someone she could buy supplies from. Although she got a curious look when she provided her motley list of ingredients, ranging from phosphorus and sulfur to gum arabic and bat crap among others, the ingredients themselves were innocuous enough that they were willing to sell them to her.
Once she paid up, she made her way to the library, which was easy enough to find with additional directions. Lumina was starting to get used to helpful people throughout the campus aiding her by this point, so her first inclination was to ask the librarian what she knew about the Halliwell Sisters. It turned out she didn’t know much, other than that she vaguely recalled seeing somethings in the news about them awhile back. While not super helpful, of note was that the librarian was pretty sure that she had heard about them in the local news, so at the very least the Halliwells had been at or near San Francisco. After thanking the librarian for her time, Lumina texted Corinth and asked him if he had found anything on his end. As he had predicted, He had been SOL when it came to finding a phone book, let alone one with the Halliwell Sisters in it. Lumina relayed what little she had learned to him, after which Corinth informed her that he had suspected that their address was most likely nearby and that he had already reached out to his handler for help in acquiring an address. Dalia would hopefully have something for him soon. This reminded Lumina that she could probably get such help from her own handler, so she reached out to Owen and asked him if there was any chance he could look up police reports on the Halliwell Sisters in the Greater San Francisco Metropolitan Area. He replied that he would see what he could find out once he got out of a meeting.
With that angle covered, Lumina decided to see what she could find out about the Warren Family. Warren was not a particularly uncommon last name, but after quite a bit of research, Lumina was able to cobble together a list of fairly well known Warrens, ranging from actresses and models to photographers and politicians. Apparently one rather infamous Warren had been a matriarch of a family in Salem Massachusetts that had been accused of witchcraft during the infamous period most people think about when they think of Salem Massachusetts. Perhaps she has some relation to the Halliwell Sisters, who seemed to have rather witchy vibes? Probably not.
Another detail that Lumina found during her research was that there had apparently been a Warren living in Florida over a century ago that had disappeared under very unusual circumstances. What those exact circumstances had been were not being elucidated in the article she found, but they had apparently been so bizarre as to be considered noteworthy enough to make it into the public record. She probably wouldn’t have made much of this event except for her own unusual experience the night before when her Clairvoyance spell had reacted unusually with the trees near where Olivia had perished. A little bit more reading suggested that the Warren that disappeared in Florida was likely a descendant of the Warren matriarch in Salem. Certainly curious. If the Halliwells were related to these Warrens, then there was potentially a connection between Olivia Warren and Turner Kramer. Could there be a connection like this to Gail Iris as well?
All of this left Lumina with more questions than answers, but they weren’t answers Lumina thought she was going to find in the USF Library. Just then, Corinth texted her back. Dalia had found an address. 1329 Prescott Street. Apparently the Halliwell Sisters had lived in a now abandoned manor in the older part of town, which was still known by the locals as the Halliwell Manor. Dalia had also reported that the place apparently had an ill reputation, which perhaps explained how a property like that in the middle of the city hadn’t been bought up yet. Lumina asked Corinth to look up the street view of the address as she returned her books and papers and made her way back to the car.
As she did so, Owen called her back about his findings regarding the police reports involving the Halliwell Sisters. Apparently one of the sisters and a police inspector had been killed near the manor, and other deaths of neighboring residents were suspected. There were also reports of strange parties that occurred at the Halliwell Manor. By the time Lumina made it back to the car, it was obvious to her that it would likely be worthwhile to visit the place. There was just too much weirdness involving the place to overlook it.
Lumina met Corinth at the car and started to gush about her findings when he stopped her. “It sounds like we have a lot to talk about, and I’m famished. Let’s get something to eat and catch up there.”
Lumina’s stomach growled as if in response, and she felt herself flush. The cheap complimentary breakfast at the hotel hadn’t quite cut it, and it was getting close to two. Lunch was a good idea, especially considering that they were going to an abandoned house likely previously inhabited by members of the Secret World. Lumina had learned to be prepared for anything in a place like that.
Posted by : Sky
Halliwell Manor - Basement
JP with mdman, Jaxx and Cindy
Agent Powers was in awe by what he just saw. He had his mouth open and a blank look on his face. He was not sure what he just saw, but it looked oddly like a bunch of movie trailers combined into one. Was this some kind of magic vision or did they do commercials? Was it some kind of magical documentation for others to see later on? There were a lot of unanswered questions for the teen hiding in a large man’s body. Then Alyssa’s voice snapped him out of his trance and he looked around to see he was still in the basement. He remembered he was holding a family album and decided to mention it. He replied, “Uhhh yeah. I don’t know what that was but I found some kind of family album if you want to see some pictures of the women who probably lived here.” Agent Powers held up the album to show Alyssa.
“Well, then let’s take a look,” Alyssa took the album from Max, found an old dusty bin and put it on top so both men could see. “Well, according to what I found in the database. This was Prue Halliwell, she died a while back. This is Piper, Phoebe and their half-sister Rose.” Alyssa pointed them out as she went through the pictures. “That was their Grandmother Penny Halliwell who raised them after their mother died. She left them this house.” The other pictures seemed a bit more random. "I don’t know who some of these people are.”
Agent Powers looked at the many pictures and tried to remember the faces with the names. Sadly he was an average student so he would need to go over this a few times to remember who was who later on. As he pondered that he remembered the fancy technology Alyssa used in her van as he asked, "So can your computer copy the pictures and compare them to the ones on the internet?”
“Yes, I should be able to get info on a majority of them.” Some of the pictures looked old, she wasn’t sure about those, it could be wrong information or none. "I can work on them.”
Agent Powers felt good as if he had contributed to the team. He smirked and nodded as he replied, "I hope it helps. Oh by the way in the tubs are a lot of women’s clothing and costumes, but I also found a lot of jewelry, costume props and odd trinkets. I don’t know if they are valuable or important. Should we get someone to check it out in case they are related to magic or something?”
Choi looked at the pictures. The sisters seemed very close on them. He wondered what had happened to them.
“How did Prue die?” he asked, then added, “I wonder if any of these others are Emma or Marquardt.”
It was at that moment that chills went upwards from Choi Yeong’s arms to his shoulders. The temperature in the room dramatically decreased.
“There’s something else in here,” he insisted to the others. “Do you feel that presence?”
Agent Powers looked around but not seeing or feeling anything. He was confused. Maybe it was magical or spiritual? He was not familiar with stuff like that since he was raised to be a fighter. His thinking skills were limited to home school, text books and some video games so he was rather daft in this environment. He replied, “Ummm…I don’t see or feel anything.” This was true for the muscle headed teenage boy, but then he wondered if his outer body was keeping him from feeling that “presence” Choi mentioned.
“I only got as far as Prue died under mysterious circumstances. However, there was more which I’ll need to read later.” The sudden shift in temperature distracted Alysssa for a moment. “Yes, I felt that. That sudden cold.” It was an uneasy feeling, Alyssa just knew this couldn’t be good.
Posted by : Cindy
Halliwell Manor - Basement
JP with mdman, Jaxx and Cindy
Choi lifted the lantern, seeing the same shadows upon the walls as before. Yet, there seemed to be a difference. Something was added or taken away. He began to look at each, drawing from his memory of them before he was joined by the blue agents.
“Headless body, check,” he began to recount. Head on a spike, check. Shadow of a person, and toothy monster.” Choi hesitated. There was another shadow between the toothy monster and the spiked head. “Here is something new,” he verified to the others, beginning to seek out what cast the shadow, but nothing was between the shadow and the lantern.
Agent Powers was a bit confused as he looked around with his headlight lighting up the area. He was wondering if maybe a small animal was in the house like a bat, rat, racoon or squirrel maybe. He was not sure why the others seemed to be on edge. So he looked around for movement and was ready to punch it if needed.
Alyssa looked around and listened carefully but found nothing that would be making that shadow. She knew about entities, that they existed but that had more to do with training than any personal experience. The young woman, not being great at fighting, had really not wanted to encounter one.
She almost instinctively started to go for the small pistol she had strapped to her left ankle under her pants. It was her best method of self-defense, though she realized it might be useless depending on what they encountered she decided to pull it anyway and hold on to it.
“Any idea what’s causing that?” Alyssa’s voice had turned to hushed tones.
“My best guess is a shadow,” Yeong said. “I mean, of course it’s a shadow, but I meant a shadow entity. If it had a hat on, I’d say it’s Hat Man, but this isn’t him.”
Choi began to recollect what he knew of shadows. “Whatever you do, be brave and don’t be afraid. These things feed on fear.”
How did one fight a shadow? There was literally nothing to swing at with the nunchucks. Maybe he could coax it to show itself in a physical manner.
Putting down the lantern, Choi retrieved the nunchucks and encouraged the others to step away. He began to masterfully twirl them, concentrating upon the figure on the wall. He approached it and struck the wall where the shadow was. Nothing happened. He backed away. Then the thought occurred that it was a shadow, so he swung where the shadow of the nunchucks struck the shadow on the wall. He physically felt something that time, and a force through Choi backwards through the cellar, over top of the tubs that Powers had organized.
Posted by : Cindy
Halliwell Manor- Basement
JP with Lorem and Cindy
The Shade had been passively observing them with a malicious intent. It was in a weakened state from generations of being bound and unable to feast on the misery and anguish of humanity, or else it would have made a direct assault out of wicked hubris. Therefore, it had simply been biding its time and soaking in the anxiety of those present in the dark of the basement; trying its best to go undetected.
It wasn’t necessarily fear and anxiety associated with the situation in the basement it was nourishing itself with. Those present were unusually courageous for such a moment. Instead, it was tapping into their other anxieties to start. For example, Alyssa’s anxiety being the center of attention in a crowded room of strangers. Or Powers anxiety of others discovering his secret.
It tried hard not to move when the burning sensation of light touched its form. That would have instantly given itself away. It was all in vain though, thanks to their keen observation. Once it became obvious that it had been discovered, it flung into action.
The shadow dives into the many other natural shadows in the room. There were too many to account for and it was instantly lost to their sense of sight. The air itself grew even colder as it no longer was masking its presence. A feeling of dread descended over the room like a thick fog, making those present contend with the notion of never being cheerful again. A pervasive whisper hissed throughout the air, the grating sound of grinding and gnashing of teeth. The few lights they had began to wane, as if straining under the weight of an evil covering.
Alyssa was able to move quickly enough to avoid being taken with Yeong as he went flying. “Yeong are you alright?” The woman asked.
Suddenly, the darkness in the room seemed to grow despite the lights. Her own small flashlight flickered, then started to dim. She clicked it off, as it wasn’t doing any good at the moment and slowly reholstered her pistol as that would be useless and might even be more dangerous out, given the circumstances.
Then suddenly as if the floor had turned to glue, she felt unable to move. It wasn’t fear. She was standing brave but the overwhelming sense of dread engulfed her. Her very soul feeling an invisible anchor that felt that it would never leave.
A whisper seemed to echo through the room. A whisper she couldn’t quite make out. Alyssa could almost feel the shadow’s hunger. She took several deep breaths in order to maintain her calm.
Alyssa was like a fly tangled in its web of despair and hopelessness. She could feel that unsettling feeling prey experiences when a predator is drawing closer unseen. The dark around her legs became more tangible and gripped her roughly all the way up to the knee. With a forceful yank, it tried to pull her to the floor and drag her off into the darker recesses of the basement.
Posted by : Cindy
Halliwell Manor- Basement
JP with mdman, Lorem and Cindy
Yeong’s head popped out of a tub. A pair of the aforementioned lingerie was tangled about his head. “I’m okay!” he said, lifting a finger in the air.
He heard a whisper in his ear. “You failed. You are a failure.” It was faint, but he could hear it. He understood. It was trying to pull his fear of failure working without Master Park for the first time. He wanted to prove his worthiness for being granted this mission.
Stupid! he thought. How do you take out something not physical with nunchucks?
He stood up, swiping the lingerie from his face. He wasn’t certain where the shadow was at the moment.
“Alyssa,” he sternly said, “you have everyone’s information. I’m sure you can let the others know we need assistance.”
He wondered what Powers could contribute. “Powers? If you’re a bee, what ability can you do? Perhaps you can help that way.”
Choi began to center himself. Closing his eyes, he began the dahnmudo. Reaching out, Cho tried to determine the other presence.
Finding it, Choi paused. He didn’t wish to alarm her, but he had to warn Alyssa. The dark force was wrapped about her feet.
“Alyssa!” he authoritatively spoke. “When I say, jump to one side!” The motions of dahnmudo continued, building up the strength within him.
Alyssa’s head began to fill with ambient noise at first, quickly becoming clearer. “It’s your fault. Your fault. He’s missing because of you. Your fault.” It repeated over and over filling her mind with the words. Making it hard to feel or hear anything or anyone else. A tear fell gently down her face, she hated showing that side. “You are such a disappointment.” However, the shadow or her mind changed to her mother’s voice with that last statement. That sudden changed shifted something and she heard Yeong telling her to jump to one side when said to. Her mind was still echoing it was her fault but she managed to utter a hoarse, barely able to get out the words, "Got it.”
The dark shadow around her lower legs maintained their more incorporeal appearance; however, behind her, out of the floor started to emerge a silhouetted shape. Her anguish was feeding it, making it stronger.
Like an alligator head surfacing from the waters of darkness, something that resembled a human face began to appear. It was void of all facial features, a blank canvas of pale sickly skin pulled too taunt over what lay beneath.
Yet that wasn’t the most horrifying sight. Worse still was its slowly opening mouth. It was like a giant lamprey maw, circular and filled with rows of razor sharp jagged teeth. It could be deduced that if it latched onto Alyssa, then it would either suck her innards out or take her entire petite form into itself like a wood chipper.
Posted by : Cindy
P with Jaxx, mdman, and Lorem
Choi felt the strength within him. He had come to realize that spiritual strength is powerful. In some aspects stronger than the force that Powers might generate.
“Now!” he shouted, sending the built up force within him directly at the face that was forming.
Alyssa jumped, to the best of her ability, when instructed. Her legs being held though made that difficult, so it looked more like a fall to one distinct side. The force brushed past her legs and spun her on the ground like a top, effectively prying the hold the creature had on her lower body. Now though she should be concerned about striking into other objects on the basement floor.
The spiritual shockwave struck the dark entity, peeling back the darkness in layers like an onion and taking pieces of flesh from the front of its face, if you could even call it that, and ripping it back like a half peeled orange.
A terrifying sound pierced the entire basement, indicating that it was potentially wherever there was darkness, not just where they saw its mouth forming. Its semi-tangible silhouette was pummeled backwards. As it flew back though, it was like water being thrown into water, darkness into more darkness. And just like that it was absorbed and lost from their sight. The lights continued to dim, it was still feeding on their negative emotions. If the light went out completely no doubt they would be overwhelmed.
Almost as quickly as it vanished, it sprung up from a shadow behind Choi. It was more tangible the stronger it became, but also more deadly. This time the dark peeled back to reveal gnarled extra long arms reaching out to tackle into the man. It was fueled by revenge for the blow it just suffered. Its half mutilated face opened even wider to try and bite into Choi’s left side.
Meanwhile Agent Powers was very confused as he began to hear whispers of a sinister voice telling him he was weak and helpless and never going to be good enough. It reminded him of his training with his adoptive father who was very spartan with his training. At first he was freaking out from all the harsh negativity. His body began bubbling as his muscular form was looking more like a mutated slimelike body. Then as it was becoming overwhelming he began to hum a tune that kept him sane during his harsh training in the past. He mumbling…dum de dum de dum dum de dum de dum…
I stay out too late
Got nothing in my brain
That’s what people say, mm-mm
That’s what people say, mm-mm
I go on too many dates
But I can’t make ‘em stay
At least that’s what people say, mm-mm
That’s what people say, mm-mm
But I keep cruisin’
Can’t stop, won’t stop movin’
It’s like I got this music in my mind
Sayin’ it’s gonna be alright
‘Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play
And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate
Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off (hoo-hoo-hoo)
Heartbreakers gonna break, break, break, break, break
And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake
Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off (hoo-hoo-hoo)
I never miss a beat
I’m lightnin’ on my feet
And that’s what they don’t see, mm-mm
That’s what they don’t see, mm-mm
I’m dancin’ on my own (dancin’ on my own)
I make the moves up as I go (moves up as I go)
And that’s what they don’t know, mm-mm
That’s what they don’t know, mm-mm
Agent Power’s eyes were glassy and unfocused as he was doing his Karate practice even though his body was in pain from his harsh exercise. He was reliving his training all over again and using the song in his head to keep his focus from giving up and disappointing his father. In his mind he was blocking baseballs flying at him from several directions and then ninjas were attacking him from the opposite side. He was drenched in sweat and breathing hard as he was fighting to the beat in his head and the dance in his step. He couldn’t count the number of times this song kept him sane during his struggles.
Posted by : Cindy
JP with Lorem, mdman and Cindy
Yeong heard Powers singing a song. What the hell? He was fighting a shadow and the all-powerful Powers was singing and not fighting.
Choi felt the presence behind him, and heard the whispers. Somehow, he needed to build up energy. It would take too long. Balance was his thought. He could not give way to fear. Then, he felt cold teeth upon his side. He reminded himself that he experienced success, otherwise the shadow wouldn’t be so pissed.
That caused Yeong to confidently laugh. He had hurt the thing. He was successful and would make better progress. The laughter continued at a crescendo.
Powers continued to sing. It was silly and this made Choi laugh harder.
The teeth were irregular in size and shape, jagged and sharp from forceful grinding. They were aligned in multiple rings of concentric circles radiating from a black hole in the center, no doubt a doorway to a hellish and grotesque fate. The teeth, especially along the outermost ring, pierced into Choi’s side, effectively clamping against his flesh and creating a vacuum seal. The rest of the inner rings swelled with the creature’s hunger and raised up to also press into his side. It was effectively turning its mouth into the same motion of a drill that bores through the rock of the earth. Choi was in a deadly predicament, made worse by its elongated arms wrapping around him possessively.
Interestingly enough, the lights still left flickered and got a tiny bit brighter. The laughter was cutting off its constant food supply from them; however, it had enough to have materialized its upper body. From roughly the waist down there was nothing but shadowy tendrils. Because of this, the creature couldn’t gain its balance, and was completely dependent on its grip on Choi for stability.
Its face was applying a great pressure into just under his rib cage. Its cheeks began to ripple as if it was going to start sucking soon.
Alyssa felt worn out as the shadow left her, the voices inside left nothing but an imprint. She scrambled to her feet, with the sound of Max singing in the background.
The creature was surrounding Yeong, Alyssa glanced at Max who seemed useless in this fight, except the laughter his song brought on. The laughter seemed to be weakening the spirit.
She could see the spirit was holding on to Yeong.
In all the action the hood had fallen off revealing her face, which gave more credence to what she was about to do. She started laughing with Yeong. “Hey Max, think of something funny.,” not even sure if the powerhouse could hear it. Physically attacking it seemed to be making matters worse, maybe bombarding it with happiness would be more than the shadow could stand.
Choi saw and felt the teeth. They were as ugly as a rusty saw blade, gnarled and twisted, each tooth a jagged remnant of some forgotten battle. The gaps between them whispered secrets of decay, and their uneven edges seemed to mock symmetry.
Yeong shouted, “You’ve been a bad boy, shadow. When’s the last time you seen a dentist. You should know the drill by now!” His laughter became louder.
Where was the pain and anger? The fear and remorse? The half corporeal shade released its mouth’s latch on Choi and gagged violently as if it tasted something horrible. As if allergic to mirth, it’s mouth foamed like a rabid dog and stank like burning rubber and pestilent decay. Black gunk spewed out onto Choi as it coughed and heaved. It did not let go though, its fingers extended with claw-like ends and dug into his flesh, desperate to bring forth a different reaction from its prey. It seemed less confident, as if it knew it was vulnerable for the first time in this fight.
The wound in Choi’s side stung and looked like a shark bite with the pattern of the rings of a bullseye. It was bleeding. It looked like a lot of blood, but truly it was more his blood just mixing with the generous quantity of shade saliva.
The creature let out a piercing wail, that could be heard throughout the entire house, trying to solicit more fear and trembling from those present; it needed the rest of its body to come forth from the shadows to murder them all.
Posted by : Cindy
Alyssa knew it was working she kept laughing thinking of anything she could to elicit that response. Of course, it helped that Yeong was a ball of merriment. The crack about the shadow’s teeth made her laugh even harder.
The piercing noise was the creature’s way of trying to bring fear back into the picture, Alyssa recognized that. “Oooh…scary” Her voice dripped with sarcasm, making wiggling motions with her fingers, like a cartoon witch.
Choi felt the pain, but remained focused. He was determined to win this fight. The claws dug into the side opposite of the bite.
“You need a manicure,” Choi joked. “Those are pocket nails because that’s where you should keep them. And that breath is like a decaying skunk carcass had crawled into your mouth and died a second death there.”
Choi’s laughter was boisterous despite the pain. “Come on Powers! You know this is funny!”
The shade made a gurgling and bitter sound from its disfigured face, the skin hanging like tatters around the front of it face flapping with the vibrations. It was an intelligent entity, and it realized that its current victim was responding in an unnatural way to pain. It’s grip released and it hurled itself back towards Alyssa.
Before it did so though it began to dry heave until what looked like a bloody and dark ink covered mass was being coughed up. It emerged as the face of her father inside its mouth fighting to come out. Eventually it did, prying the shade’s original face in half; it was clear the things bone structure was absent despite the commonality with human anatomy at first glance.
Her father looked at her with murder in his eyes as he dove at Alyssa across the room, covering more distance than expected without legs. Its arms and claws reached for her. “You miserable wretched child.” Her father’s toxic and verbally abusive tone shouted on route.
While Alyssa maintained her composure the disgusting mass that was expelled by the shadow made her stomach lurch slightly.
It wasn’t her father, logically she knew that but that constant disappointment at being just not quite good enough seemed to shoot at her from the words the shadow leveled at her. The weight was dragging on her like quick sand. Words began to turn into images.
She closed her eyes for one brief moment and shouted. “YOU’RE NOT HIM! YOU’RE NOT HIM!” But it wasn’t enough as the claws reached her and she felt her body dragged to the ground.
The few lights once again began to dim. The dark was shrouding around the creature, making it harder to see and leaving more of its frightfulness to the imagination. More of its lower body was beginning to form out of the shadows and it wrestled to pin her down beneath itself. Its goal was to hinder her movement so it could engulf her entire face in the slowly widening mouth of her father; once again revealing the lamprey teeth. Meanwhile, before any final strike, it’s gruesome vomit and ichor was drooling down onto her.
Posted by : Cindy
Choi was losing energy fast. He began to lose the battle against the pain.
Looking across the basement at the now revealed pretty face surrounded by flowing red hair, Choi wanted to help her, but felt himself falling to his knees. Now, the reality was coming to Yeong. He had failed. As his eyes closed, he witnessed the disappointment upon Master Park’s face.
“I’m sorry, Eun-Ji,” he mumbled, blood oozing from both sides, “Powers, take good care of Alyssa.”
He grunted as the room began to fade. He swore he saw the shadow but it was only darkness. Choi then fell face first to the floor.
“Alyssa, that sounds like quite a racket, you alright?” Sartre said through his chip.
“We…” Alyssa was having problems communicating due to the shadow pushing very loud thoughts into her head, and it being on top of her.
Her father’s face with the gnarly teeth and slime coming closer.
Dark, damp, the rain hadn’t stopped for days. Seattle weather. Alyssa was waiting in her gray nondescript van - like every van that came before and likely after.
Up to now she had spent most of her time in a computer room, only sent out on one brief mission in the past. Her father had asked for her on this mission.
The memories in her mind then disjointed into a nonsequential jumble. Blackness. A scream. The single word “NO”. Blood.
Alyssa spoke what words she could get out, though they might have been said a little louder than expected. “Peter, Help. Dragon down. I’m down. Max …” That was all before her mind went back to memories.
I’ll be right There Alyssa!" He pulled out his Agartha ball to teleport to the nearest anima well near the house.
Posted by : Cindy
Alyssa was fighting valiantly against the creature. Despite her going in and out of reality, due to the assault on her mind, she was physically resisting its attempt to overpower her. Her father’s face began to rip at the seams as it strained to get its maw closer. Like a great white shark, its jaws were unhinging to gain more inches past its face to get closer to her smooth skin.
The rest of its body had finished forming, it was completely material at this point. Its deathly pale skin was eerie. It looked malnourished and desperate as it violently thrashed atop her. A prehensile tail was the last thing to slip out of the shadows, the end of the length sported a claw like talon. Time was running out for Alyssa. Even if she could keep its claws and mouth from getting to her, how would she stop this tail once it gained control over it?
Sartre fired with his glock 19 but missed two shots. He hit the shadow on the 5th shot.
Sung burst into the room through the door and he took quick account of things. He moved around everyone and a sword appeared in his hands using his Draw Sword-Draw Blood technique he knew he could not miss and move before the shade. The KI ran through him and his sword. As he cut the Shade in a diagonal cut being of the Punisher class he would not miss
Satre fired three more shots and struck the creature, missing one shot. He had four more shots, he tried to get his first ever glance at Alyssa’s face. Two more shots would hit before he ran out of ammo, and had to find cover to reload. He reloaded trying to get a decent view through the front sight.
“Hey Green Emerald, your fellow dragon is down here!” he had to scream over the chaos.
The creature had been so distracted by its failing attempts to get at Alyssa, that it had not been aware of the two new arrivals. In order to maintain its form, it needed to feast on real live flesh. Since it hadn’t done so since biting Choi, it was racing against a clock. It had to get stronger or else it was more vulnerable than it was as a shadow form.
It flinched at an awkward angle as a sword slashed through its backside, followed quickly by several bullet wounds. The sword cut deep and the bullets blew large chunks out of the surrounding tissue. Black ichor sprayed out in large amounts; the toxic thoughts of those in the room. Everyone present could hear the negative emotions of those that it had been leeching off of since the beginning of the fight. The voices sounded resentful.
The creatures cringed and crippled in pain. It collapsed off of Alyssa and was doing its best to right itself. Its spiked tail flailed around randomly in the hopes of striking anything that neared it.
Posted by : Cindy
"Weren’t these three sisters smart enough not to leave shades in Jars?” Satre commented. “Don’t go chasing waterfalls” was probably on the radio when they put it in there.” He fired once more, missing. Another shot missed. four left. The next shot was spot on. He looked the computer tech in the eyes and then fired at the creature.
Many of the images Alyssa saw were very real vivid memories. Memories usually play out in dreams. Some through the shadow created to make things worse.
Pinned to the ground, her mind being assaulted she came close to retreating into her mind but managed not too.
Next thing she knew the creature was collapsing off of her. She hadn’t realized who had come into the basement until then.
With it off her, Alyssa wasted no time. She was worn enough that getting up required too much effort so the young woman crawled out of the way and away from the creature as quickly as possible.
The next shot Satre misses. He had two more shots, with Alyssa out of the way he hit a direct hit. Sartre had one shot left. Another direct hit. He dove for cover and watched the scene as he reloaded.
The monster was now fighting a war on multiple fronts. This was not how it operated. It had not experienced opposition like this before and was not prepared to respond well.
More shots came in its direction. One hit its right shoulder, completely shattering the connection to its torso. The right arm hung limp by a few strands of skin. Gravity was causing the skin to stretch, so it was only a matter of time before it completely fell off.
The other shots struck its midsection, causing wounds that would eventually bleed out for a living being, but in the short term it pissed it off into more of a rage.
The creature eyed the closest threat, Master Sung, and attempted to attack. It was a poor attempt due to its current condition; however, still potentially harmful if not defended or avoided.
"When we meet these sisters!” Sartre said.
Posted by : Cindy
Sung took advantage of the moment attacking the Shade with two attacks this time with another translucent Wakizashi cutting whatever could be left with the two strikes the swords cut like a hot blade through butter. this strike should kill the Shade thought SUng.
There was almost a whimper sound escaping the creature as one strike sliced through its prehensile tail with the barb on the end. The appendage went flying across the room and knocking over a bunch of junk. The right arm finally fell off completely and landed with a sickening thud on the concrete. The second blade would have ended it; however, it protectively brought up its left arm as it flinched backwards with an irregular arch in its spine. The left forearm was sent flying across the basement in the opposite direction.
The creature howled in spite and defiance at Master Sung. It lunged at him, face first in an effort to bite a gaping hole in the man.
The lights began to return to their initial luminosity.
Sung had been doing this too long to be fooled. He moved his swords using a patient Defense it seemed like Sung moved in the blink of an eye speed and almost appeared to the side of the Shade. his swords agen being ready to strike. The Shade probably did not stand a chance.
The vile and ruined creature was in no physical condition to avoid the killing blow. It’s head was severed from its body cleanly. Due to the forward momentum of the lunge, when it hit the ground the body slid a yard before friction brought it to a halt. The head, though, rolled much further before it came to rest up against an empty basket. No further movement could be seen coming from its lifeless form. The coldness and sense of dread dissipated from the atmosphere. The fight had come to an end.
Posted by : Cindy