Skeletons in the Closet

[Fox of Hearts]

Milton remained by Kelsey's after Jace left. He stood silently behind her after offering her one of the plump pillows to hug. He hoped she'd be more herself after a while but she continued trembling. He cleared his throat loudly. "Marten? Ana?"

He didn't say anything after that. All he did was raise his eyebrows ever so slightly. The implied message was that one of them should take his place. Comforting people wasn't really his forte. He preferred sitting down with his distraught friend and analyzing their problems from every angle possible. Slowly, he'd nudge them towards their own epiphany. However, that wasn't what Kelsey needed right now. She was better off getting smothered in Mrs. Nolan's bear hugs. Those hugs were the best! Ethan gave good hugs too but right now his roommate was too busy laughing like an ass. Milton doubted the guy was in the right frame of mind to comfort their friend. Nerves? he wondered.

"Oh, erm, thanks!" His request had been acknowledged. Gratefully, he stepped away from Kelsey and started to do some snooping of his own. The very first place he headed to was the notice board. He shifted his weight from foot to foot while he studied the pictures carefully. He shuddered. The contrast was really chilling. Innocent and creepy. No wonder people loved involving children in horror films. How interesting. He'd definitely want to research more about this symbolism. Realising that he ought to move on, he looked over the pictures one last time then ....

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip!

He tore down the three pictures. Rolling them up, he walked over to where Jace stood. He unzipped Kelsey's backpack gently and stowed the drawings inside. He had a feeling that the Hayes children wanted them to find these clues. As he pulled away, he spotted a present tucked underneath the bed. He tilted his head to the right to get a better look.

"Kels! Your foot," he called to the three girls. "Her foot. Present ... there's something under there."

He started walking towards them when Jace freaked out. Milton blinked dumbly as he saw the team's bravest member lying on the floor looking very pale. Wh - what? Jace's freaking out ...? Kindle knew the guy for about three years now and this was the first time he'd seen Jace so shaken before. The sight was frankly more unnerving than any Casper in the closet. Fear gripped him for less than a millisecond. He only felt the slightest tingle touch his spine before a different emotion took over. Without realizing it, Milton abandoned the rest and ran after Jace. The two of them ended up in the hallway alone.

Standing at a safe distance in case his friend started lashing out, he called out to the Native American. "Hey bro, you okay? You gave us quite the scare there. I don't think anyone wants to stay now." He stopped long enough to make sure Jace was listening. Milton sighed. He didn't want to do this but Jace looked like he needed it. Awkwardly, Kindle stretched out a hand and gave his camping buddy a few stiff pats on the back. The soft thumping was so fast and erratic that Milton might as well be thumping a choking person. It was, without a doubt, textbook pre-Heimlich procedure. "You know, we can chill in the hallway or head back at Salem's room for some sanity. Kelsey too, ya?"

 

[Fox of Spades]

Collab between @IceQueen, @Cartoonicat, and @Fox of Spades (Ft. DJ Haru)

It was just like Jace to chime in with wholesome advice. He'd always been a responsible older brother figure. Even back when they were kids, it had always been Jace who saved her and Ana from silly predicaments.

He pulled her into an embrace, and Kelsey allowed herself to lean in for a brief moment - a well-needed bit of warmth in the house of horrors that was Henbard Chateau. She didn't really have the words to thank him, so she gave Jace's arm a soft thank-you squeeze before he pulled away to investigate the wardrobe.

Kindle was surprisingly concerned enough to check on her as well. On any other day, Kelsey would have brushed him off and answered him with a wry smile and a snappy comeback. Today, however, she accepted the pillow quietly - aware of how awkward this probably was for Kindle (he sucked at comforting people), but nonetheless appreciative of the gesture.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "You're an ass sometimes, but you're a good - my foot?"

Ana took Kindle's place and walked up to Kelsey and sat down for a moment. There wasn't much to say about the whole incident, Ana knew she was scared down to her bones so Kelsey must have been too. After all, she had been in the dungeon long before them.

Leaning into Kelsey out of instinct, Ana kept close to her best friend giving her hand a sharp squeeze. "I really just want to get you out of here Kells." She mumbled softly, looking at her. "I want to make sure everyone knows we're ok." She added.

Kelsey returned the gesture and gave Ana's arm a brief hug.

Before she could inspect anything else in the room Ethan called out to her. Brows raising, London looked up. Her mouth formed a little 'o' of surprise. "The Cryptodex!" She hurried over. Reached out to take it between her fingers and flip through the pages. Then, offered Ethan a warm smile of gratitude. "Thanks, man."

There were so many things she needed to jot down, to keep track of. Only, London had no writing utensil. Unless… London eyed the crayons decorating Ella's desk. Resorted to taking them because, hey, she'd still have her own pencil if the Hayes hadn't taken all of their stuff.

With an almost haughty air about her now, London made her way over to the desk. Picked up a handful of crayons - and then promptly dropped them when Jace launched backwards from the wardrobe with a shout. "Wait, what-?" London's question ended abruptly as Jace walked out the door, Kindall not far behind. She blinked, eyes wide.

What did he see? Jace was the tough guy; their group's immovable mountain. Whatever he'd seen had to be bad to elicit such a reaction. Swallowing, London gathered the crayons from the floor and moved further from the wardrobe. She'd just snapped out of her earlier funk; London didn't need anything pulling her back under the ocean of paranoia.

Maybe updating the Cryptodex will help… sort of.

Jace let a yell and a flurry of curses before promptly falling onto his behind. The sudden sound and Jace's out of character reaction was enough to snap Kelsey back into "Fight Mode." The hell did he see in there. "Jace!" She called out. "Hey, what's wrong?" He was out the door before the words could leave her lips. Kindle was hot on his trail.

She exchanged a worried look with Ana, before standing up and leaving one of her oldest friends.

It was just her, London, Marten, Ana, and Ethan now. Joseff had been there too, but he seemed to dislike Lenore and had followed Kindle and Jace out the door when he had the chance. The happy dog wasn't acting like himself at all.

Kelsey wanted to see what was in the wardrobe, but after Jace's reaction, she was all for leaving without gathering more emotional trauma.

Marten seemed to be checking the box under the bed, the one Kindle had pointed out before he stormed after Jace.

"I'm going to look at something real quick." She made her way to where the drawings had once been. Kindle had pocketed them for future use. Why was Ella going around drawing the creature in the woods.

"Guys," she turned to everyone still in the room. "Are you still looking around? We should go after Jace and Kindle… Salem didn't sound well either."

She nodded to the walkie-talkie in Ethan's possession. "We haven't heard from Salem since he brought up that thing." She turned to London, their resident Cryptid Encyclopedia. "What do you think he means? I sure as hell didn't see Butzy in their house, but sometimes I'd hear them talking to people who weren't there. The past few weeks have been fucking crazy."

Looking up from the Cryptodex crumpled over her knee, London chewed her lip. "Yeah… He has been pretty quiet." Closing the makeshift journal and stuffing the crayons in her back pocket for now, she hummed low in thought. After a few beats, she responded: "More ghosts, maybe? Like Polly - erm, Sally, if that's her name." Scratching the back of her neck, London appeared anxious. "I've been thinking and, well… what if the Hayes were prisoners once? Like, you know… kind of like us right now. Except they never got out. Whoever he is could be the guy behind all of this crap."

It was a solid theory. Of course, if they reported any of this to the cops they'd possibly be arrested for drugs "Those newspaper dates go way, waaaay back. Salem and some of the other people were in it too. You might be onto something London." There was a slight pause. "Hey, Ethan. Can you try contacting Salem on the radio? Make sure he's still there."

Ethan looked at Kelsey, his brows furrowing in doubt. "Can I at least ask him if they have some milk to spare? I gave him one of my cartons earlier and now I don't think he deserves it anymore." Cheeky little bastard better have something to substitute that one carton, or else there will be flames! Flames! Regardless, he reached into the pocket of his costume and began to tinker with the bulky thing, turning the dial on the gizmo back and forth, encountering nothing more but static after static, never once hearing any ever-faint sound of...anything really. Just static, it's like there was some sort of scientific mumbo-jumbo he didn't understand that was interfering with the signal. He sighed and slumped, handing the thing to Kelsey to see if she might have any luck with the thing. "No dice, Kels."

She arched an eyebrow at Ethan… he was taking this surprisingly well. Then again, he'd always been good at deflecting stress with jokes. It kept things light. He was their rose-colored boy after all, a term London had coined for him. Fitting. Still, she worried that if he kept deflecting things, he'd eventually blow up. "You don't think… he's not dead, right?" She noticed Ana shuffling around the room with Lenore, but was too focused on the walkie-talkie to see what her friend was getting up to.

She accepted it from Ethan and tinkered with the dial.

Looking around the room Ana brought the bird up into her arms. "He's actually quite friendly you know." She mumbled, still holding the bird as she offered him up for some relaxing head scratches. After a few seconds something caught Ana's eye. Something that was normal for any little girl to have but seemed a bit off.

"My little ponies." She mumbled, standing up with the bird as she wandered over to the display. There were the usual main cast of ponies, and a few extras. The ponies looked alright, but the cutie marks were strange.

"A doll, a venus flytrap, and a spider." She mumbled, naming each one as she picked them up and set them aside. That was when Ana noticed the far larger ponies sitting behind the others. She first picked up the one that had the same collar as the bird.

"This one's Lenore." She mumbled, looking at the large black pony. "And this one looks like Paul." She mumbled, looking at the cutie mark. Grabbing the whole collection of strange dolls Ana tossed them on the bed. "Guys, what do you make of this?" She asked, starting to get a really creeped out feeling.

"Make of what… you're joking. Even the little girl has gone full-on creep." Kelsey could feel a headache coming on. Who on earth thought it would be a good idea to make My Little Pony dolls creepy? Apparently, the Hayes. "I… I don't know. This is from a kid show, right? Ana, you watch it. Anything symbolic? Um, maybe anything that parallels our situation?"

She left Ethan for a moment to stare at the ponies Ana had gathered on the bed.

While a few of the ponies seem child-friendly enough, a handful had strange non-cute cutie marks. And she was starting to see what Ana meant by 'This one's Lenore.' Two of the biggest ponies didn't fit in. The black one had a picture of a bird engraved on its skin. The bird appeared to be a crow surrounded by a tangle of vines - it seemed to be imprisoned.

"The letter had a poem about a trapped bird."

The second pony had an axe between two outstretched wings. It was a dark crimson, blood-like. If Kelsey was being honest, it reminded her of the communist hammer and sickle but that didn't make sense at all. "They're not like the other ponies, but I don't know what they mean. We should bring it up with Kindle and Jace. If anyone can crack the case, it's going to be our resident Sherlock." She turned to London and Ana once more. "Do you two have any ideas?"

Marten was being awfully quiet. "Hey, Marten! You okay over there? What's with the box?"

The walkie-talkie in her hands crackled to life.

Kelsey abandoned the ponies and the box in a heartbeat. She brought the radio closer to her face.

Shrrrkkkkkkkkkkk. Shrrrrrrrkkkkkkkkkk.

A wall of static. Occasionally a fizzing sound would surface from the nothingness, but it was so faint. She jammed her pointer finger against the button. "Salem. Salem is this you? Do you copy?"

Shrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrkkk. Shrrrrrrrrkkkkkkkkk.

Shrrrrkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk - help - hrrrkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk - me - kkkkkkk - too - kkkkkk - late - kkk.

There was another sound. A voice? The static made it difficult to hear what was being said. The more Kelsey tried to tune in, the less audible it became. Just white noise. Just static.

"Nothing," she sighed. "So these ponies..."

 

[Ashi]

[Collab with @Fox of Hearts]

​

Jace ambled out into the hallway, not waiting for an answer from his friends or for anyone to follow. He just couldn't stand to be in that room at that moment. What he wanted most right then and there was some fresh air, to go outside and breath in the cool autumn night. At home, going outside to sit on the porch at night was how he often cleared his head. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option now.

He found support against the wall, bracing himself with his hand flat against the wooden panel. It was cool and firm beneath his sweaty palm, which offered some reassurance in some obscure fashion that he couldn't put a name to. Jace closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to steel himself; however, those agonized faces lingered before his mind's eye as if they were burned onto his retinas. He turned his head to glance at Milton over his shoulder, not saying anything for a moment.

"I'm fine." Jace said, the words only barely audible. They were an obvious lie, as he was still visibly shaken. He didn't really want to tell Milton what he saw, given how pragmatic he was. There was no way he'd believe him. This was strange too for Jace had never cared before whether Milton believed in the same things that he did. Their friendship wasn't based on that sort of thing.

​

Milton didn't believe Jace. He knew the guy well enough to sense when something was wrong. Tempted as he was to probe more, he doubted it would do either of them any good. He had an inkling what was troubling his friend and it gave him even more reason to avoid the topic. He would probably try to deny everything and that would stress Jace out even more.

"You don't have to tell me," Kindle reassured his friend. "I know it's bad. I've never seen you this pale before. Not even that time when you were too sick to get out of bed."

His gut feeling told him that he wasn't making things any better for Jace. The guy was oddly quiet as he leaned against the wall. Milton sighed. Where was Ethan when you need him? The guy was so much better than this. Heck, even London could do a better job.

"I think I got something to cheer you up."

Milton signaled for Jo to come over and the dog scrambled to his feet. The Inu wagged his tail hopefully as he waited for the human to play with him. "Borf, borf?" the pumpkin dog asked. "Borf, borf, borf?"

"Not me," Kindall clarified. "Go on, go to Jace. Yeah, yeah, that's it. Go to Jace!"

Feeling a little impatient, he nudged Jo's back legs gently with his shoe in attempt to get the tubby fellow to walk faster. It didn't do either of them any good. Jo simply plodded on at his usual speed. It looked like all that excess weight was starting to bog him down.

The resident Sherlock started coughing again. This time didn't seem too bad. He was able to stop relatively fast. Milton swallowed a gulp of air, appreciating how it cooled his throbbing throat. He wanted to sleep more than anything at the moment but wasn't going to happen until he was back at his dorm room.

"Do you wanna … maybe try talking about it? I mean we saw some pretty weird shit down by the river so … yeah." He cut himself off abruptly. Thinking of the crows and that little girl made his stomach feel cold all of a sudden. It was the weirdest reaction he ever had to the supernatural. He couldn't help wondering what happened to his healthy dose of skepticism. "I could check it out. I mean it's almost the same as you telling me. Talking about it probably is better. Yeah."

Jace raised a brow at his friend's declaration, wondering exactly how he planned on cheering him up. He employed Jo for the job, which Jace rather should have seen coming. He couldn't help the one-sided smile that broke through his worried expression or the chuckle that shook his shoulders. He bent down and picked the Inu up, holding him close and petting him. It really was therapeutic; although, it made him long for his own canine friend.

"Well.." Jace frowned a little and eyed his friend skeptically. "I moved the dresses to one side, hoping to find more of our stuff in the wardrobe; but… hanging in the back was a...a straitjacket...and a photo." He paused momentarily to gather his composure before continuing. "It was a picture of a corridor. It was long and dark; I think possibly it was here in the chateau. There were... people in it. Not because they'd been captured on the film. They didn't look..that substantial. They looked... ghostly." Jace was clearly struggling with describing exactly what he saw, stammering a little and searching for his words.

"They were moving around and their faces…. their faces were... contorted, like in pain or fear. It was almost like they..were looking right at me." Jace heave a sigh and finally set Joseff down. "I know it's crazy, even I feel like it should be impossible, but.." He drifted off into mumbles, gaze slowly falling to the floor. "There was a caption that read: Charity Gardens Sanitarium, 1943. I think that the chateau may have been an asylum back in the day." It didn't take much thought really to connect the dots. Actually, it seemed obvious somehow.

Milton resisted the urge to scoff when Jace mentioned the straitjacket. He bit the tip of his tongue. Classic scare tactic! Horror movie cliche! His mind retorted on his behalf. Yet the second half of the explanation didn't make any sense. Moving pictures? That sounded like stuff straight out of Harry Potter. Sanitarium, patients in agony, moving pictures ….? Okay, he definitely can't explain that away.

Coughing saved him from answering straightaway. It gave him time to ruminate over things. His mind shuffled back and forth through his memory archives. Snippets of information flitted here and there like paper being tossed around. Finally, he recalled a history book in the university library. The book detailed the history of the town between 1920 and 1950. It was quite a thick book and he ended up skimming, a fact he'd never admit to either Ethan or Kelsey. They always believed he'd read a book from cover to cover and wasn't going to change that impression.

Let's see, he mused. There was a great fire. Asylum - was it Charity Gardens Sanitarium? Yeah, sounds familiar. It burned down. Location? Closer to the university apparently. Opposite direction from the one we took to find Kelsey. He sniffled to buy himself more time. Oh right, there was this research team too. Something about plants but he can't recall anything right now. One of the team died in a fire. That was all he could remember at the moment.

Brushing that last thought aside, Kindle drew out his handkerchief and sniffled a bit. He should have taken that roll of kitchen towels. Now he regretted not having it on hand. He made a mental note to steal as much tissue they could possibly carry after the team reassembled. Now he needed to continue the conversation for bit. Maybe snoop as well before everyone abandoned the place.

"I remembered reading about an asylum around here. The staff were cruel and sadistic. Not an uncommon trend for the 1930s and early 1940s. Those places were overflowing and things were stressful … oh right!"

That was how he and Kelsey met. Unofficially, actually. He published an article talking about Charity Gardens Asylum and he compared it to Waverly Hills Sanitarium. He mentioned how it was likely to be haunted too. Sod! Had he actually been into this stuff back then? He was a little surprised to be honest.

"Ah never mind," he covered quickly. Nope, no way in hell was he ever mentioning that first meeting. He sounded like a completely different person. Unless he had always been a skeptic and meeting Kelsey made him even more dogmatic. Talk about mysteries within a mystery, he sighed. He could use some ibuprofen right about now. "Tell you what … I think I'll go check out the cupboard. Don't worry I am dragging Ethan with me."

Jace wasn't at all surprised to hear that there was an asylum in Bellwoods at one time or that the patients there were treated cruelly. Sanitariums were awful places back in the earlier decades. He was sure that they probably learned about it at some point too in school, but Jace couldn't remember back that far to details that weren't important enough to him at the time.

"But, I mean, I don't know. While it would make sense, at the same time, there are holes in that explanation." Jace shook his head. The theory about the chateau having been an asylum at one time seemed plausible but left answers to be desired. Like what did Butzy have to do with it? As obvious as it seemed, something just wasn't lining up. Jace was almost surprised that Milton wasn't disproving this theory already.

"I don't know, man. I wouldn't, if I were you." Jace could just see it now. Milton and Ethan both would go to check it out and they would see nothing. The jacket and photo, sure, but the ghosts? It was turning out just like a bad horror movie. Even so, he sighed and nodded, following Milton back in. He wouldn't go near the wardrobe again, rather he'd just stand guard by the door and wait for developments.

 

[Haru Nyan]

Collab between @Cartoonicat, @Haru Nyan, and @Impudimp (Ft. Milton and Kelsey)

"I hope not…"London frowned. If Salem had died, what were they going to do? He was the only one actively trying to help them. We should probably find him soon.

Coming to stand at Ana's side for a better look, London's brows pinched together. She'd always wanted to get into My Little Pony - the characters seemed fun, if not cutely designed - but every time she'd tried to watch the series more pressing matters had popped up. Like entering a small-prize game tournament or getting absorbed in new research regarding Whittle Grove or other cryptid sightings elsewhere. Now, though, she wished she'd just bit the bullet and given in to Netflix. Maybe she'd be able to understand - or, at least, help Ana understand - what they were looking at.

"Um… These are... really creepy," is all she could offer. London reached for the Paul pony and scratched lightly at the beard with one finger. "Do the ponies actually have beards? Erm… nevermind." While she was by no means opposed to facial hair in real life or anime, it seemed weird added to a pony figurine. But that wasn't what they were focusing on, so she cut the chord of that thought and set the Paul pony back down.

Shaking her head, London looked to Ana and Kelsey. "I've got nothing. The-… Oh, hey!" An idea struck her and London pointed at Ethan. "Let's use his phone to take a picture of these. We might find use for them later."

Static poured out from the walkie-talkie at a deafening volume and London winced. More than that, her eyes shot towards the door as though the noise would attract unwelcome guests to their friends outside. "What's wrong with it-" London froze, swearing she heard a voice. Still, all that sounded was static.

Maybe she was imagining things and there had been no voice. Regardless, static in horror films never meant anything good. London chewed her bottom lip.

"We should... go. Like, now. Please. If that wasn't Salem trying to reach us, it's gotta be some Slenderman shit warning us something is nearby."

Ethan still didn't trust the raven, for all they knew, it could be some sort of demonic scout, reporting in to Salem and the rest of the Hayes through its magical demon eyes. Even if it did have a really poetic name. "Friendly or not, I still say we cook and fry it later." His eyes followed the direction Ana was going...back to the shelf, displaying the main characters of the now (in)famous show; My Little Pony. He recalls them being dubbed the Mane Six or something to that effect.

"Dumping a bunch of ponies to a bed, Ana? That's like, an internet dweller's wet dream come true." He laughed, trying to make light of the situation, attempting to ease everyone's nerves. They were no good if they were all wrecks. And if he had to make a guess, he'd say that these wayward ponies and their booty marks are someone's OC's or fandesigns. Their marks looked awfully out-of-place in contrast to the usual cute and lighthearted ones the show was known for, not a heart or a rainbow or sparkles, etc. before he could even began to say as much though, the walkie-talkie he had handed to Kelsey emitted a deafening noise that shook him out of his thoughts.

That is straight up Silent Hill static if he ever heard it. He wanted it to stop, immediately. He didn't care if there was someone else on the other line (Well, he did, a little.) , he just wanted the static to stop. It was getting grating to his ears, and everyone else's probably. He sighed in relief when Kelsey turned the damned thing off and everything became quiet again.

His reverie however was short-lived when Kindall entered the room and began to drag his hand, and himself, towards the wardrobe that made Jace scoot outta the room in the first place, explaining that they needed to investigate it further. If he really wanted to, Ethan could break Milton's grip, but he was willing to hear him out, but not without giving him a piece of his mind first.

"Dude, there is no way in hell I am going to check that thing out with you." Even before Milton had hatched up an idea to drag him into searching for answers about the cupboard, Ethan's mind was already set in stone; no way, Jose'. If that thing made Jace paler than the freaking moonlight, then there's all the more reason to steer clear away from the thing, even if it did hold some sort of super-secret file that answered most of the holes in the story of the chateau, he wouldn't do it. He nodded his head back and forth in defiance.

He felt tempted to ask however, "Ya really think the folks in Henbard are ghosts? Ghosts aren't real, a-aren't they?" there was a hint of fear and hesitation in the tone of Ethan's voice, he had always been a seeing is believing kind of guy, and up until now, his idea and notion of ghosts were nothing more but mere fiction and superstition that one only saw and heard about in books and crazy rumors, the stuff of urban legends really.

"I… Well, I think it's more complicated than that," London said. "Erm. Obviously it's complicated but-... okay, um, so we've seen the newspaper clippings but the only body actually found was Sally's. I personally think she's Polly. The others - the actual residents of the mansion - I think are like us. Were, at least," she corrected herself. "Like, they got trapped but never made it out. So… possibly ghosts, in a way, but because they were stuck here they've never actually experienced death? Erm, if that… if that makes sense." She was quiet for a beat, then: "As for ghosts being real, we all saw the poltergeist at the creek. We... well, we can't exactly pretend that didn't happen."

The box had taken all of her attention as soon as her eyes laid upon it. It was impeccably crafted like nothing Marten had ever seen up close before. These were the type of keepsake boxes that old people took to be appraised after generations of family cherishing only to discover it was worth a buhjillion dollars or something. Plus, it was metal and so required some fiddling with to open. She was just happy that it hadn't needed a key to open or something.

We've had enough crap thrown our way tonight already without suddenly needing to find keys for hidden passageways. Rolling her eyes she spun the case to see if there were any hidden clues in the design. God forbid they come to that point. She didn't want to be locked anywhere in this creepy place.

She blinked slowly, having been expecting the fanciest hat this side of the falls, but instead she discovered a note. "Give this to who's friends though…?" She murmured under her breath in wonderment. Her eyes were fixed on every inch of the inside. There was no signature, or any indication of who it might belong to, but because they were in Ella's room she could only assume that it was from the little girl. The items themselves didn't seem all that remarkle: a little toy soldier reminiscent of something out of the Nutcracker, a pair of glasses probably more for reading than anything else judging by the thin lenses, a scarf, and a dainty looking pair of gloves, a woman's most likely.

She stood holding the ornate, metallic case in hand and open, finally taking in the room again and present enough to realize that static really was awful to listen to at any point in time, especially during high stress. This really was going to be the longest night, wasn't it? Kelsey was getting worn down alongside everyone else, even Jace's nerves of steel were getting ground at. Sighing, she did the best thing she could do… She put a smile on her face.

"Guys, what do you think of this stuff. Apparently it belongs to Ella's friends. Are you thinking what I am?" She hummed noncommittally because honestly she could have been wrong, but Ella was probably a ghost and even if she wasn't the girl had already admitted that her friends were. So they had some ghostly keepsakes on their hands now. The better question was what to do with them. Was this like some collect and return quest in an RPG? She figured that since they had been taking everything else that they could take these things as well.

"Assuming ghosts are real, and we are in a weird dimension trapped with them right now, what do you all want to do? I can't help feeling that we're running low on time to find Salem…" She gave a pointed look at the now purposefully silent walkie talkie in Kelsey's hand.

As the group continued to chat about ghosts, Kindle continued to stare at the wardrobe - distracted and seemingly not listening to anything that was being said. Ethan didn't want to go with him, so he swiped the cellphone from his childhood friend's hands.

He asked for the password.

Under normal circumstances, Ethan wouldn't have given it to him, but his childhood friend begrudgingly took back the phone and unlocked it. Kindle made his way to the wardrobe, cautiously pulling it open. There was a creepy picture of an asylum and what appeared to be a straight jacket. Her arched his eyebrow at it before snapping a few pictures with Ethan's phone. "There's a straitjacket in here."

He tried prying the painting off the back of the wardrobe so he could show the rest, but he didn't have much luck. After a few tugs, he backed away. "Stuck to the wall."

"You done?" This time it was Kelsey who was speaking. "I'm with Marten on this, that radio call, if it was even a call, was ominous as hell. We should wrap up and go." She didn't know what to make of the box in Marten's hands, but once they'd finished making sure Salem wasn't dead, she'd give her friend a tap so they could look at the contents more thoroughly. Kelsey's eyes flitted to Jace. She was concerned… he still seemed out of sorts, whatever he saw in there, it couldn't have been good.

 

[Fox of Spades]

As the rest of her friends examined the items they'd gathered, Kelsey approached Jace and pulled the map they'd received out of the backpack's outermost compartment. The library was on the second floor. All they needed to do was leave Ella's room and head for the hallway in front of Salem's. That would lead them to what appeared to stairway leading to the third floor. If they ignored the stairway and went in the opposite direction, they'd find the library.

"Come on, guys. If London's right and Slendy's right around the corner, I don't want to have to meet him." Kelsey was back to her normal self for now. She motioned for the rest to wrap up whatever they were doing so they could all leave, but before making her way out into the hall, she turned to Jace. "Hey, you sure you're feeling okay?" She wanted to ask him about what he'd seen inside the wardrobe, but Milton had seen nothing and she didn't want to make Jace feel any worse by reminding him about whatever he'd seen. She gave him a reassuring tap on the shoulder. "Like you said, we'll pull through. We got you."

Kelsey was the first one out the door.

Joseff plodded after her in his pumpkin suit. The dog still had his eyes focused on Lenore, but he was no longer snarling. Still, he was far from the happy, bouncy dog that Joseff often was.

Kelsey crouched down to run her fingers across the dog's smooth fur. "You'll see Matt really soon, boy. I promise. I bet you must miss him." She smiled when Joseff's ears perked up at the sound of his owner's name. Kelsey continued to smother him with affection until everyone was back outside and ready to head to the library.

"Hey, Marten, remind us to take a closer look at that box later." Kelsey said as they made their way down the hall. Once they were in front of Salem's room they headed down a hallway that lead to second floor's landing.

It was a spacious area in front of the stairway. It was a little empty compared to the rest of the house. There were two sofas on each side of the stairway, some potted plants, and paintings. On the opposite side of the stairway were the two towering wooden doors that presumably lead to the library.

All was quiet in the mansion.

Kelsey looked to the rest of her friends, trying hard to mask her hesitation.

---

He was running running out of time...

Salem sported a nasty gash that ran all the way from his elbow to his wrist. Warm blood trickled down his arm and onto the library's hardwood floor. It was a shame that he was going to leave such a horrible mess in the place he cherished the most. The morbid thoughts threatened to drown him. He took a deep breath and pressed himself against one of the many shelves in the room. Salem was trying to be as quiet as he possibly could. If he was caught, it would be the end of the line for him.

Why was he hesitating?

Disposing of him would have been all too easy...

Salem was tempted to poke his head around the corner to steal a glance at the creature, but his knees wobbled and his heart hammered wildly in his chest. All it would take was one stupid decision. He shifted in place, wincing as his arm knocked into the shelf. It felt like liquid fire was racing up his forearm and he bit down on his lower lip until it bled.

The wooden doors creaked as someone turned the knob.

Salem's eyes went wide and he leaped out from behind his hiding place - a bloodied deer caught in headlights.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Following her friends out into the hallway, a sense of urgency prompted her forward. London hadn't felt as anxious in Ella's bedroom, but out in the open hallways? He could come from wherever. Behind them, in front of them. Maybe even the ceiling or floors. It sent chills through her bones. Whatever awaited them in the library, at least they'd be with Salem. Well, hopefully.

Hopefully, we aren't too late. London tried not to think about what it'd mean if they were - if Salem was gone.

London wasn't about to attack Salem right off the bat like Jace had threatened, so she pushed herself to the front of the group. Diplomacy first, war second but only if needed - right? Chewing on her bottom lip, she looked to Kelsey. Gave her a subtle nod. Curled her fingers around the metallic handle. The gusto to reach the library that had propelled her feet earlier seemed to evaporate. What would they see on the other side of the door?

What will we see if we wait? She swallowed. Took a deep breath. Then, finally, twisted the knob. With a push the door gave way and London took the first step inside the library, glad not to be at the tail end but also dreading being first. She didn't know what it was about Henbard Chateau and their kidnapping, but less than twenty-four hours ago if someone had told her she'd be fighting off a poltergeist and leading a charge into a haunted library, she'd have laughed. Called them an idiot. Asked 'Do you even know me?' because certainly, they did not.

London was starting to not recognize herself, either. A complicated dance between squeamish anxiety and the need to help was changing her into something else - someone else - and she didn't know if she liked it or not. She'd been reckless at the creek, and was reckless now:

Right in front of them, a shadowy humanoid paced around the room. It looked as though it were searching for something. Or, more likely, someone. Her breath hitched. Crimson leaked through fingers of its clenched fist, droplets falling to the floor below. The shadow stopped as Salem leapt out from behind a bookcase. The creature stared at him, seemingly prepared to make a move.

London watched everything in slow motion. The Cryptodex flew through the air before she could stop herself. "Vete!" Her eyes widened as they meet the shadow's; two white sockets turned at her shout to bore holes into her. Dark wisps flared out wildly from the shadow before it sunk into the ground entirely, disappearing beneath the floorboards. The Cryptodex thudded against a bookcase and dropped to the ground.

"Vete..." She inhaled deeply, only then just realizing she'd been holding her breath. Her eyes fell on Salem and her heart lurched. Had we waited just a few moments longer, he-... Holy shit, he's bleeding. If he was bleeding, did that not mean he was alive? And if he was alive and being attacked by him, then surely they were on the same side?

"You-... You're bleeding - alive, bleeding - and that-..." London glanced towards the bloodied floorboards then back at Salem expectantly. It couldn't be anyone else, could it? No. "That was..."

Him.

 

[Ashi]

[Collab between @Cartoonicat, @Fox of Spades, @Fox of Hearts, @Haru Nyan, @Impudimp, and @IceQueen]

Ella's Bedroom

Jace idled by the door, uncomfortable and anxious. He stood with his back to the door frame, Kelsey's backpack sandwiched between his shoulders and the wood. From this position, he could see the bedroom and the hallway. That way he'd be ready just in case anyone or anything came their way. His arms were crossed over his chest, rolling pin in one hand, and his lips quirked in some sort of a scowl. He had always acknowledged the existence of spirits and of creatures like Butzy. It was an integral part of his beliefs. However, none of it seemed real until just now. It gave a whole new meaning to "Seeing is believing."

When Milton saw nothing but the jacket and photograph, Jace shook his head. "Of course." He thought, feeling a little like he was losing his mind. Perhaps Milton was immune to the supernatural since he was so pragmatic? It didn't seem that Ethan saw anything either though, which left that question up for debate.

Milton didn't say much as he exited the room. He simply looked deep in thought. The resident sherlock paused long enough to give Jace a long, hard stare. It wasn't an unfriendly type of stare but the type Milton usually wore when he was stump. A phenomenon so rare that people often mistake the look for intense anger or (oddly) constipation. The latter interpretation was popularized by Ethan and Kelsey. Ana, of course, joined the teasing.

"Eh maybe it's scared of me," he joked. "Or I'm too dense for these otherworldly energies."

The self deprecating humour provided the smallest of clues to Kindle's current inner state - confusion. The evidence he gathered since they entered the forest supported Kelsey's wild assertions about ghosts, monsters and other "fairy tales". A little too conveniently, he might add. This left him with a sliver of doubt. A measly 5% left out of his original (fanatical) skepticism. He wouldn't be much of a detective otherwise.

Remaining doubtful was a very good motivator for truth seekers everywhere. For now, he planned to act like he was impervious to even the slightest hints regarding the supernatural. He doubted it would help group if he started flipping out too. They already lost their unshakeable rock, Jace.

"Let's go anyway, ya?" He suggested. "Our group has voted. I don't necessarily agree about checking on Salem but there's no benefit splitting up either." He shrugged. "Eh Ana, what do you plan to do with the bird? I don't think you'd want to keep that feathered accessory all night."

The sarcasm served as a thinly veiled warning. He hadn't quite forgotten the birds by the creek although he acted otherwise. Neither has he forgotten Kelsey's movie. If there was one lesson he learned, it was never trust birds. Ones with fancy Poe inspired names probably topped the list of creatures to keep at a distance. His opinion anyway.

"I suggest you let it go or locked it up somewhere. I wouldn't even leave Jo with it." He glared at Lenore. "I don't trust you," he muttered, jabbing it in the chest with his finger. He was beyond caring that it made him look a tiny bit loopy. "Jo, you believe me right?"

Glancing at Milton Ana looked at him with question in her gaze. "I'm going to keep him. He's rather calm, he's tame, he's not hurting anyone. Plus he loves head scratches." Ana said, giving the bird's neck a quick scratch. "He's harmless Milton, don't be such a wuss." Ana said, wandering after the group with the feathery friend in her arms.

The friendly inu merely wagged his hidden tail happily, creating soft thumpity-thumps against the hollowed inside of his pumpkin costume. "Borf, borf!" he barked. The dog was simply happy to be acknowledged again. It proved that the humans still loved him despite the black feathered competitor held tightly in Ana's hands. "Borf, borf, borf!"


Terror in the Library

As Kelsey seemed ready to leave, Jace nodded in agreement to her assertion that they should go and headed out the door. The library wasn't a long walk away, and while Jace wasn't at the head of the group on the way there as he had been earlier, he was one of the first to enter for safety measures. The first thing he saw when the door opened? It, whatever the hell it was.

"Fucking shit!" He breathed, shocked by what he was seeing. The shock delayed his reflex to raise the rolling pin. By the time he thought to use it, London had thrown the Cryptodex at the thing. Then it was gone; and there was Salem. Had he been there the whole time? Jace felt like he was missing something. "Oh, Salem…" Right, he was going to beat the punk into next week. Before that could happen, he realized that the kid was bleeding. Ah, the monster beat him to it. Jace sighed in aggravation, marched forward, grabbed Salem's arm, and lifted it up.

"Keep the wound over your head or you'll keep bleeding." He said brusquely and turned to London. "Get my med bag out of the backpack. I'm sure there's something we can use."

With a jolt London appeared to snap from a panicked haze. She nodded sharply and stepped forward, fingers fumbling with the backpack zipper. In the next moment, she'd handed over the medical kit and rezipped the backpack. "Here," London said. Looked between Jace and Salem. Turned her head towards the bloodied floorboards.

Suddenly, an expression of horror paled her skin. Yet the girl said nothing; simply stared, with wide eyes, at where her cryptodex had fallen. It was gone.

Milton facepalmed. He knew London was going to flip and do something weird! He knew it! He had been a fraction of a second too late to grab her hand. Now that book of hers is gone. Dragged down between the ….

OH ….

RIGHT!

Snapping his fingers loudly, Kindle straightened visibly. That's right! The floorboards. They rattled earlier, so whatever that thing was it had to be corporeal! The deduction excited him so much that he didn't stop long enough to rethink his current plan. He needed to check it out. Now!

"I'm going after it," he announced to the group. "Chase it, whatever. I think … well, it'll be a big clue to this madness."

With his eyes gleaming with excitement and his words a lot less coherent, Kindle behaved no differently from Kelsey whenever she chased after her mythical monsters. Milton spun round and started dashing towards the door.

"The cellar," he shouted as he reached out to pat Ethan's shoulder on the way out. "I bet we can check out the bottom of the house. Come on!"

"Ana? Marten?" he barely acknowledged as he dashed pass them in turn. "The more of us the better! We can overpower that thing. Right? Jo?"

"Borf, borf, borf!" the shiba responded suddenly swept up in Milton's excitement. Jo assumed Milton wanted to play with him, so he happily started running off after the crazed young man. "Borf, borf!" he barked, beckoning the rest to follow them.

"Dude, what?!" Ethan was straight-up flabbergasted at Milton's statement, he wanted to remind him that that thing, whatever it was, was clearly not a force to be reckoned with, and now his friend wants to go after it?! He had half a mind to speak up and outright deny him any chance of cooperation and just stay here in the library, at least it was safe...kinda.

He sighed, trying to figure out a compromise to the situation. "Let's maybe not follow the ghastly figure that London just threw her Cryptodex at, eh?" He asked his friend to be more rational about the situation...Well, more rational than he usually was. He weighed his options…

On one hand, he definitely wanted to figure out what kind of Eldritch asshole did it crawl out of, and getting to see a ghost...That's something that'll both terrify his mind for years to come and also something he would probably brag about to everyone when he-they, eventually overpower it.

On the other hand, that thing looked VERY much like something that shouldn't be messed with, or even followed in the first place! And the fucking cellar too! It's an unwritten Horror-genre rule that basements, cellars, attics, etc. are just prime hiding places for unspeakable horrors that look like they just came out of Cthulhu's bum. So if he, and whoever else Milton wants to get involved with in this little shadow hunt wants to live, they're probably better off staying.

The young man fumbled and grumbled, he scratched his head and sighed, defeated. "All right...but the moment we see some kind of monster egg breeding ground or ritual circle, I'm outta there!"

Jo yipped happily as Ethan followed them. "Borf! Booooorf!" The dog allowed himself to lag behind so that he could jog alongside Ethan. "Borf! Orf! Orf!" he encouraged. It sounded like Jo was trying to say 'faster, faster, faster'.

Ana did not like anywhere this was going. Throwing the cryptodex was a terrible idea, Ana had to agree with that. Now the monster had taken her book and SOMEONE (cough Milton cough) had decided it was a brilliant idea to go running after it. Groaning at her two friends stupidity, Ana glared after Milton.

"Are you NUTS!" She called after him, only to see Ethan reluctantly run after him. Groaning, Ana tucked the bird under her arm tightly. "I'll send the bird if we get in trouble." She said, hoping that even if Lenore wanted to eat her guts that he'd at the least warn her friends of danger first. Panic was still running through her veins after He decided to pay a visit. Everything about this place but the bird was giving her the major creeps.

Did that really just happen? Kelsey's eyes flitted from the fallen cryptodex to the splotches of blood on the wooden floor. She'd seen it… a shadowy shape that disappeared through the floorboards, but she'd only caught the tail end of the encounter. She believed in all things supernatural, but even she was having trouble believing her own eyes at that moment. It had been right in front of them.

Jace's brusque words snapped her out of her thoughts.

Salem was bleeding and London was fumbling for the medical kit. The boy was pale as a sheet and losing more blood by the second, but it didn't look fatal. And despite the rather spaced-out look he wore on his face, Salem still had enough calm in him to follow Jace's instructions.

Slowly, the boy raised his arm over his head. He was wincing and clearly in a lot of pain.

"It was," Salem's voice was hoarse. He locked eyes with London. "It was him."

"Who is he supposed to be?" Kelsey blurted out.

Her question went unanswered. Instead, Salem turned to them with a panicky gaze in his eyes. "Why… why are you here? I told you not to come. I told you it was already too late for me." Gone was the calm and collected boy from earlier. "He knows I've been helping you and it upset him."

Okay so they were walking toward the library. All well and good, they could catch up with Salem and get the hell out of dodge before something else happened to them. In order of escalation, the athletic girl figured the next instrument of distress would involve some type of medieval torture device. Of course she was just overreacting. Yup, overreacting. Like Jace and his startle from the armoire. Or Kelsey with her wormhole travel at the entrance. Or this whole fucking night in general! Her thoughts were a mess. What was this? Where were her normally flowing, rainbow-dappled happy thoughts! She wanted to think some happy thoughts, but… This stupid castle in the woods was becoming more and more like a place where happy came to die.

The grunette ran fingers through her hair to calm herself down a little as they were reaching the library door. Lo and behold it was all for nothing. What kind of mutated squidrilla was this monstrosity, "Holy…!" There was only blackness, not even the regular color, or a deep indigo like the sky at night, but literally an absence of light. What the hell is that?! Flailing back she narrowly missed her friends behind and to the side of her. The book that went hurtling forward almost seemed to just materialize as London got a good look at the monster for herself. Had the dark-haired girl thrown that? This was not freaking Butzy! She was expecting Pumpkinhead not the stinking Babadook!

Marten felt the air entering and leaving her chest in a way too rapid motion. Hyperventilating, she was hyperventilating. The shadows seemed to move, and there was blood on the floor. Who the heck was bleeding of all things when these shadows- oh wait no, that was her vision. Only the metal box held tightly in her arms seemed real to her in that moment. She felt frozen and strangely cold.

In a fair away sounding voice, she noted the retreat the ever-increasingly-manic Kindall heading off toward the cellar- again?- of all places. Was he daft? No, not daft, more like daffy. Good to know she wasn't the only one losing. Their. Damn. Mind. In this place! She was way too tired for this shit.

Thankfully, her resigned acceptance of her own exhaustion triggered the slowing of her rapid breathing. Sadly, after a near panic attack, she was even more tired with a pronounced slumping of her shoulders. The sequence of previous events came slamming back into her consciousness, and she turned with narrowed eyes, shouting, "Milton, you idiot, like hell you're going back in that creepy basement! This isn't Scooby Doo!"

"Wait, don't-!" She protested, but Kindall, Ethan and Ana had already gone. Hadn't any of them watched a horror film before? Never separate!

Steadily, the sea of nerves began to rise - even more so when Salem spoke. London pulled at the skin of her lip, chomping at the bits. Of course it was him. It was just in her luck to have, on a whim, thrown the Cryptodex at the madman - mad thing - pulling all the strings behind this nightmare. Worse yet, he took the damn journal with him.

First the poltergeist, now him. What would have happened if she'd stayed put? Not given into the sudden uproar of protectiveness and let someone else take charge? Salem would be dead or, assuming he holds grudges, one of her friends might have a target on their back instead.

So… This was okay. Being a potential first target was okay. Better London than any of her friends, even if she was irked by a few of them - over what she realized now were trivial things. She never wanted to relive the feelings of loss that had plagued her after Kelsey disappeared. If avoiding that meant playing soldier on the front lines when push came to shove, she'd do it. Try to, at least.

Hopefully she wouldn't get sliced open in the process, like Salem's arm, or drowned beneath still waters like Sally.

Running shaking fingers through her hair, which caught on the braid and tousled the locks, London squared her shoulders. A false bravado that gave her the extra inch in height she rarely used, daring him to just try and come back. Really, though, she just felt sick to her stomach. Wanted to puke, cry even. Instead, London swallowed the bile rising in her throat and looked to her remaining friends. To Salem and his bloodied arm.

"Be glad all we heard was static," she said, eyes following the trail of blood. "Or that-... that thing would have-..." London pinched the bridge of her nose. Shut her eyes and inhaled. Panic continued to bubble in her chest - Not now, dammit! - and she fought to keep it at bay.

"We came. We're here. You're alive. Sort of, there's lots of speculation about that… but, ah…" London took a deep breath. Waved an out for herself, hoping someone would pick up where she left off, and leaned against a bookcase further away with clammy skin. Began to count backwards from one-hundred in her head.

So much for keeping it together, huh?

Peeved as he was, Jace opted to play doctor. He let go of Salem's arm to take his bag of first-aid supplies from London with a soft "Keep it up" to the boy in regards to his arm. Jace fished an alcohol wipe from the bag, tore open the little package, and proceeded to wipe his hands and Salem's arm. It undoubtedly stung and Jace wasn't exactly being gentle about it either. Selecting a gauze pad, he deposited some antibacterial ointment onto it and placed it on the wound. The adhesive edges would keep it in place. He stuffed the trash into a random pocket on the backpack. As much as he disliked the Hayes, he wasn't going to litter.

"You should consider yourself lucky we got here in time." Jace scolded, pointing a finger accusingly at Salem but inches from his face. London's rambling revived the question that Kelsey had asked but a moment before. Salem had ignored her. After the hell they'd all just gone through, Jace wasn't about to let the kid off the hook.

"Look," He said and grabbed his arm again. "As unfortunate as it is, we need you in order to get the hell out of here. We need you in order to get answers. Now, tell us what you know. Who or what is he? Why did you bring us here? What is going on?" Jace tightened his grip on Salem's arm with every word, intent on not letting go until he got the answers that he - that they all - wanted.

"London…" Marten felt her best friends' name tumble from her lips as she watched the girl move off to the side on her own. She so rarely dealt with negative emotions that often when she has to there was some type of "insufficient funds"-esque mental incapacity for her to deal with them. Ergo she self-destructed long enough to annihilate all feels which left her some kind of smarmy idiot that forgot that she wasn't the only one going through shitty waters in life.

But as long as she had the presence of mind, hell if she wasn't going to fix her emotional unavailability. These were her friends. Her most loved and cherished people; her extended family. Not only were they worth getting into messes for, but they were worth dealing with the crap afterwards to. They would wade through this clusterfuck together. With what she hoped was a determined face- the only other option was constipated- she moved over to the crumbling heroine and gave her the biggest hug. Of course she dropped the hatbox in the process, but as long as it didn't crush any toes what did it matter?

"We're going to get through this, okay? All of whatever this is… together." She wasn't going to cry damn it. The achingly familiar prick in her eyes said otherwise, but she would hold firm. "Thank you for being strong…" What else could she say to the abnormally-pale-even-for-London London? She wasn't good at words, but she could hug like a bear.

???​

As the two friends consoled one another, someone hidden in the chateau had other plans. There was static hiss coming from the walkie talkie in Salem's hand. After it cleared, soft singing could be heard …

Here in the cellar, deep be'low
Is London's notebook, just so you know
It is mine, all mine, just so you know

I'm a'keep it, a'keep it's mine
London's notebook is all mine, here be'low

The taunting song echoed in the library, causing some confusion. A brief search revealed that the same song was issuing from the walkie talkie in Kelsey's backpack. This meant one of the remaining walkie talkies had been turned on.

It was in the cellar, so the person claimed. He or she (it was a little hard to tell) repeated the same several more times. Each time the song got softer and softer. Finally, the singer decided to change last to lines.

Run quick! Run! Or you'll never…
Have it found. Or ne'er have it again.

There was a soft pop indicating that the channel went offline. The static hiss from before filled the room once again. The warning was clear. If London wanted the cryptodex back, she'd have to go find it soon. There was no telling how much time she had left.

Even though she'd promised herself to be a figure of strength for her friends - a harder feat than she'd imagined - London let Marten sweep her into a hug. It seemed they both needed it; the stability, the comfort, that a hug had to offer. More than a little overwhelmed, London returned the gesture, burying her face in her best friend's shoulder. Finished counting down in her head until the panic, more or less, subsided.

Marten was right: They were going to get through this. Together. Which meant only one thing, and that was that they needed to not split up. United we stand, divided we fall, she thought of Asop's tale regarding the Ox and the Lion that her abuelita used to speak of.

It didn't matter if she was irked at Marten for keeping something as big as dating Kindall from her. For all London knew, Kindall had been bluffing down in the cellar. She needed more info - needed to ask Marten directly - but now wasn't the time. Slowly, she let go, stepping out of the hug.

"They went to the cellar-" London paused, the walkie talkie crackling to life. She listened to the song specifically speaking her name, eyes going round. Listened to the mention of her cryptodex.

So she was a target, then, and someone was challenging her. Normally London wouldn't take the bait but Kindall, Ethan, and Ana were heading that way and the creature wanted them to. Plus, the cryptodex had valuable in-the-moment info logs she'd rather not have to shackle her brain for on the fly. It could come in handy trying to figure out this mess. Swallowing dryly, London looked to Marten with a wavering determination.

"I'm going to need my katana back," she said, fingers curling around the wooden handle. With one last look at Marten and a quiet "Stay safe" London headed towards the door. Paused, halfway, eyes falling on Jace and their walkie-talkie.

"Salem should have a walkie," she said, raising her arms to catch their spare communications device. "Toss me the extra."

And then London was gone, running down the hallway in the direction they'd come, Jo's distant barking guiding her way.

The answers to Jace's questions didn't come. Rather it seemed any chance of Salem speaking up was interrupted when the walkie talkie in his other hand crackled, indicating that the channel it was on was live. A creepy ass song came softly over the static, a taunting claim to London's cryptodex. Jace slowly turned his head to look at his coffee buddy, the anger and resentment he felt for Salem reflected in his eyes melting into concern for the dark-haired girl. His heart beat funny and his stomach lurched as dread washed over him yet again. He didn't think she should go down to the cellar, not when who - or what- ever that was had called her out directly; however, she was taking her katana, ready to follow Milton, Ethan, and Ana out the door.

"Sure." Jace muttered, taking the backpack off of one shoulder. He fished the walkie talkie out of the bag and tossed it to her. "London!" He called as she started out the door. "You got this." He offered a smile and a nod of confidence. Even after her moment with Marten, she needed the encouragement.

Jace slid the backpack on properly again, eyes falling on Salem in a glare, and promptly snatched the walkie talkie from Salem's hand. He didn't trust him with it. "One of us needs to sit by Salem at all times. No one takes their eyes off of him and no one else leaves this room. We need to stay together." Jace said gruffly, making his distrust of the boy quite clear. He didn't want to sound bossy, but it was time to be the big brother again, not to act scared.

 

[Fox of Spades]

Library: Jace, Marten, Kelsey, and Salem

They were splitting up... Kelsey felt sick to her stomach. Rule number one was to never ever split up. After hundreds of horror movies, she thought her friends and Kindle (smartass extraordinaire) - of all fucking people - would know better. But no, they were splitting up right after some goddamn ominous radio call from who knows what. She didn't know whether she was angry or downright upset, but her friends had slipped out the door before she could stop them. Kindle. Ethan. Ana. One by one, they exited the library and disappeared down the hallway.

She should have stopped them from leaving.

Kelsey gritted her teeth as Jace's voice echoed throughout the library. "Yeah, okay. We'll sit tight for now." Splitting up was the last thing she wanted, really, but if the others thought it was for the best - for whatever reason - she couldn't stop them. Damn Kindle and his need to play Sherlock. If anything happened to them... Kelsey shook her head.

Now wasn't the time to point fingers, and Marten looked like she needed some reassurance.

The green-haired girl had done a good job helping keep London together. Marten had always been the braver and more outgoing of the two, but it didn't mean she was made of stone either. Kelsey slowly closed the gap between them and swung her arm around the younger girl's shoulders. She pulled Marten close and ruffled her hair the same way she usually did when she was teasing or when the two were messing around. "London's one of the smartest people I know, she'll be okay." Kindle was smart too, but considering he'd ran out of the room just earlier, she couldn't quite say that about him right now. "And they've got Ethan. He might be our Rose-colored boy, but he's one helluva wrestler. If shit hits the fan, he'll keep them safe." Her grip on Marten loosened. "We'll be fine too. Like you said, we're all in this together, right? We've got each other."

The speech Jace had given her back in Ella's room had stirred up some hope within her, and Kelsey found just a little bit inside her to pass it on to Marten. They had to be there for each other. They couldn't let Henbard break them.

Salem wore an eerie thousand-mile stare. He would nod weakly when spoken too, but ever since the weird radio call, the boy had been terribly quiet. He was still as pale as a sheet, and while Jace's first-aid had been a blessing, the gauze pad was starting to turn a light pink. It had been a bad cut. Salem swayed on his feet, before finally deciding to lean against one of the many shelves. He sunk to the floor, tucking his knees against his chest as he sat down.

He kept his arm raised though, listening to the advice Jace had given him. They had every reason to be upset and angry, he understood, he really did. "Thank you," he whispered under his breath.

Kelsey gave him a quick, worried glance. However, it had only lasted for a brief second. She steeled her expression, leaving Marten to stand in front of the bleeding boy. "You never answered Jace's questions."

Salem looked up. He appeared to be struggling to focus.

Kelsey felt bad for him, but her friends' safety came before his. "Answer him."

Salem winced, finally lowering his arm to his side. "I honestly, for the life of me, do not know what he wants." Salem let out a tired chuckle. "What year is it?"

"2017," Kelsey answered curtly.

Salem arched his eyebrows, looking surprised. "I went missing in 1965. I found an injured bird in the forest and was releasing her when I saw a pair of orange eyes staring back at me from deep in the woods."

"Moss-like skin and bones..."

"Yes, that's what I saw too. Next thing I knew, I was playing make-believe family." Salem lowered his voice, wondering if he ought to say more. He decided he might as well - he was a dead man either way. This had been the first time He had tried to kill him - the first time it had cut into flesh and made him bleed. "I don't know what it wants, but it likes to play games. It takes people. I'm sure you've heard of all the other missing cases? Some of them, he does away with. Some of them he keeps. Perhaps, he liked me enough to keep me. In all honesty, I don't know if that's a blessing or a curse."

I just want to go home.

He almost said the words, but instead, settled for a tight-lipped smile. Hoping was painful.

Salem's grey eyes settled on the three friends. "He's taken a liking to your group—" Salem paused.

The boy's eyes went wide and he brought up a hand to his mouth as he began to cough. It was a wet, wheezing cough. He brought his hand away from his mouth to see a black liquid coating the palm of his hand.

Fear gripped him. "It... it might be too late for me."

 

[Fox of Spades]

Cellar: Kindle, Ethan, London, Ana, Joseff, and Lenore
​

During their time away, the cellar had morphed into something quite... different. The round table and the chairs they'd been strapped to earlier in the evening remained in their designated spots. However, the room's atmosphere had changed - gone were the slabs of stone that served as the cellar wall. Instead, moss and grass worked in tandem - spreading rot and engulfing the room in a thick patch of growing vines and leaves. The growth continued to spread before everyone's eyes.

Dark colored leaves of green and brown, growing only to turn black as they withered away.

Aside from the leaves, there was something else inside the cellar, a strange creature. It appeared to be a jack-o'-lantern with a body and limbs of vines and grass. It looked like one of the many tiny pumpkin plushies sitting in the window display of the toy shop in Bellwoods Plaza. Autumn Leaves had been the name of the small corner store. It was a favorite for tourists visiting the area and the was one of the best places to buy handcrafted goods from. The pumpkin creature was sitting on the floor beside London's open Cryptodex, staring at the pages with its empty, dark sockets. Whether it was reading or not was unclear, but to its left was one of the group's missing walkie-talkies.

It sprung up to its feet the moment it noticed the group.

Squeaking loudly, it picked up the Cryptodex and hefted it over its tiny body. The little pumpkin wobbled on his scrawny feet as if it would topple over due to the notebook's weight. Surprisingly, it managed to right itself and began sprinting erratically across the room. Those who took chase, found that the vines creeping across the wall would lash out to trip them.

"Borf Borf!" Joseff broke into a sprint. Despite being the tubby dog that he was, he was quite capable of running and jumping when he wanted to. Key word being when he wanted to. Matt's walks were a different story.

Hopping over vines Joseff darted after the miniature pumpkin.

Lenore had an adverse reaction to it as well. The once calm bird began flapping wildly in Ana's arms before it started cawing loudly. This went on for several more seconds before Lenore outright began flapping her wings in Ana's face. If Ana didn't let go, Lenore would fly off anyway, giving her a face full of feathers in the process.

The chase was on.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Collab between @Cartoonicat, @Haru Nyan, @Fox of Hearts, and @Fox of Spades

Down in the Cellar — Hello Butzy!

"Guys! Wait up, I'm-..." London slowed to a stop at the height of the cellar stairs, having followed Jo's barking long enough to catch up, more or less. Peering down, she saw the shapes of her friends descending but also a subtle difference in the walls. Stepping down cautiously, London watched as the stone slab walls grew covered in flora, only for the leaves to wither away. She frowned. Resisted the urge to touch the growth, wary of what it'd do if she did but also dreadfully curious. What is this…?

She hadn't noticed the pumpkin creature until a squeak caught her ear. London turned and stared, dumbfounded, as what resembled a familiar jack-o-lantern plushie heft her Cryptodex over its head. Only, instead of fabric and stuffing, the creature looked made of real pumpkin and vines. Before she could fully process the situation, Jo ran out from under their feet in hot pursuit.

The fact that it was getting away, with her Cryptodex, practically hit London upside the head. Without warning, she slipped between Ethan and Ana and took off running with a sharp "Get back here-"

Only to get tripped by a vine and stumble forward sloppily, cursing.

"Shit-!" London noticed the vines, then; each time she made to pursue the pumpkin creature, a vine would lash out of nowhere and threaten to trip her. Fear creeped back into her system, but instead of send her cowering to the corner - a place she likely couldn't even make it to with the vines preventing her - it spiked her adrenaline. And her anger.

Gripping her katana, London began smacking the vines relentlessly. She wasn't going down without a fight.

The vines continued to lash out, whirring across the room towards ankles and legs in an attempt to trip everyone up. The intent was clear - but it wasn't exactly what one would call malicious or dangerous. If anything, it seemed as if the vines were protecting the mini pumpkin who was darting around the room with London's cryptodex.

The small creature would wobble every now and then when the weight of the notebook appeared to be too much. It would always right itself though, and whenever any of the people got too close, the vines would change their priorities - leave behind those far away and concentrate on the person who was closing in.

Lenore was squawking loudly, using Ethan - the tallest person in the room - as a safe zone. The bird's talons dug into his hair as it perched on its head and flapped its wings wildly. Whether the bird was holding on tight enough to draw blood was unclear, what was certain however, was the sheer panic Lenore was feeling.

The loud squawks continued as feathered wings slammed repeated into Ethan's face. To make matters worse, vines had wrapped around his ankles, his feet was pulled under him and he was slammed into an unsuspecting Ana.

Both of them promptly slammed into one of the moss-covered walls.

Joseff was in a similar situation, and yelped as he was easily caught in a tangle. Vines were wrapped around his body and legs, rendering him immobile on the floor.

Vines were lashing out at both Kindle and London as well.

"Gah, what the-?!" Ethan exclaimed in surprise as the fuckin' bird suddenly latched on to him like some fucking wooden post, flapping its wings wildly and thrashing about like it's about to get fucking cooked. The young man swore that, if the fucking bird somehow manages to survive with them, he is going to cook it and exact revenge on it for this sole reason. The avian's talons, sharp as they were, dug into Ethan's skin, and faintly he could feel as if the thing was drawing blood or something, he tried to get his bearings and adjust himself, attempting to pry the winged beast from his hair, hesitantly at that, just in case it was in there deep enough to get the blood out.

While he was dealing with Poe's dead girlfriend of a raven, a thick thing enveloped itself around his lower body and the next thing he knew, SLAM

Dizzy, pain, reeling...In that flash of a second, Ethan swore he saw the pearly gates of Heaven, he groaned. His dazed vision only allowing him to realize that tentacles were violently thrashing about at everyone in the cellar, even poor Jo!

He cursed, first it was horror, now it's a fucking Hentai doujin?! Oh god, these tentacles better not be going up any places he thinks they are.

Instead of doing what Ethan feared, the vines merely held him down, trapping poor Ana underneath his weight. They looked like a flattened sandwich - and due to their position on the ground, were easy enough to tie up.

Struggling, squirming and trying to free himself from their botanical binds, Ethan tried in vain as he tried to compose himself even whilst Ana was below him. Damned it all! If these tentacles were just a little bit looser, then he could get both himself and Ana out of their bind.

Things seemed to grow still - a soft thumping sound came from one of the large closets…

A familiar voice called out.

Ethan swore he was hearing things, that voice just now...Could it have been? As if on cue, upon hearing the disembodied voice call out from within the wardrobe, the vines entangling themselves upon both himself and his friend began to feel...slackened, their grips not as deadly as before, allowing him and hopefully Ana as well to breathe and move around easier, not by much, but Ethan's noggin' began to hatch an idea…

He fumbled and move about in place, inhaling and exhaling at a modest pace, as if steeling himself for something big. Once, twice, he did it again. Sweat began to drip down his body. Thrice, another one. And then…a flame, a spark, like a fuse that had been lit.

"TOAAAHHHHH!" With a herculean roar, Ethan used up all of his musculature to break free from the vines that had imprisoned him in their botanical grasp, all of that training at the wrestling club was starting to pay off. He felt a rush of adrenaline coursing through his body, murmuring an apology to Ana for crushing her under his ponderous weight he began to make short work of the vines constricting her as well. The ones pestering London and Kindall seemed to have quieted down as well…

The words were incoherent, muffled by the large oaken doors. However, it was clear that the person inside was crying - that he was scared and in pain. Matt was pleading for his life, reduced to mumbling about friends he needed to find.

He banged his fists against the closet's interior walls.

They had promised to regroup at the entrance to Whittle Grove at exactly 6pm.

So when six hours had come and gone, and when his friends had up and disappeared just like Kelsey and Joseff… well, he had set off to find them.

The danger having subsided, Ethan pointed the attention of the others towards the closet having a distinctly familiar voice. Cautiously, he stepped towards the wardrobe, the voice giving him the faintest idea at the back of his head...and it wasn't pretty.

Yanking the doors of the wardrobe open, the black-haired young man was surprised at the sudden blur of what seemed like a falling humanoid creature, or was it?

The oak doors gave way and Matt tumbled out from the dusty wardrobe and straight into Ethan's arms. Pale-faced and as a pallid as a ghost, the boy's body crumpled against the milk-man's chest. Cold sweat was streaking down Matt's face and his eyes were wide with panic yet foggy with pain.

Disoriented. Hurting. Lost.

He'd been reduced to a deer-in-headlights, an animal staring down a hunter's rifle in its final moments. Wide, brown eyes scanned the room, traveling from face to face.

It took awhile for anyone to notice anything wrong - the horrible stench of sweat and copper coming from within the wardrobe, the blooming bloodstain on Matt's white jacket, and the blood.

There was so much blood.

Beneath his jacket, his shirt was soaked a deep crimson. Matt took a wobbly step away from Ethan, revealing a large stain on the larger boy's clothes.

Matt looked down to his stomach, surprised.

How was this happening? There was a gaping tear and blood. He brought his hands to his stomach, staring in wide eyed fascination as his noodle like insides slipped between his fingers.

He started to scream.

In all honesty, London hadn't stopped smashing the vines until a scream split the air. Worried one of the vines had struck her friends, she whirled in the direction of Ethan only to see the last thing she'd ever expect. And, ever want.

Matthew Lyons. A hurt Matthew Lyons.

He was covered in blood and the gaping gash across his stomach threatened to spill his guts to the floor. Staring, London's blood ran colder than ice, her own stomach burning with the tell-tale feel of impending vomit. She covered her mouth with her free hand, katana slack in the other, and forced an inhale through her nose. Forced herself to think.

Matt is here. Exhale. Matt is dying. A hiccup, wet and painful. London's chest hurt because, as Matt bled out at an incredible rate, she knew they'd run out of time. Matt had run out of time, somehow, and where were they during it all? Off playing stupid fucking games with the Hayes and chasing Salem around the damn Henbard like a twisted version of Hide and Seek. Now, Salem's injury and her Cryptodex seemed miles away. Her concern for any of the Henbard residents, really.

How could they do this to Matt? She wanted to scream. Fuck Henbard and everyone in it!

Salty tears dropped onto the hand covering her mouth, telling London she'd started sobbing. But what else could she do? She had little know-how when it came to first aid and, as far as comforting went, London had poor bedside manner. Especially with Matt, considering she'd spent the last year of knowing him actively avoiding conversation with and about the guy. London regretted that now. She regretted it so much it hurt.

Looking everywhere except at Matt, because London had no idea what to do and watching only hurt, her eyes fell on a bundle of Shiba Inu tangling with a pair of vines. Suddenly, London knew what she could do. It wouldn't help save Matt - she doubted he was even savable - but maybe… maybe it would help ease things for him. Gripping her katana, she forged a path to Jo easily, what with the vines having relaxed some and her being unnecessarily aggressive in her swings, and picked up the Shiba Inu. Suppressed another wet hiccup.

"It'll be okay, buddy," she whispered, turning towards Ethan and Matt. Took a deep breath, then approached and held up Jo for Matt to see. She couldn't say anything - the threat of sobbing was too high - but she hoped that Jo's presence would calm Matt somewhat.

Kindall wished he had his bat. His hands were doing a poor job as weapon against the vines. He slapped, stomped and punched in random directions without any result. All it did was make him more annoyed. He swore loudly. Some chase this turned out to be. That sneaky thing had an entire fucking team behind it. No wonder it dared to taunt them like that.

"Fuck you," he yelled to the retreating orange thing. "Just go get smoshed or … something."

How does one threaten a pumpkin anyway? Milton actually stopped to consider the point long enough for the vines to swoop in. Thick tendrils wrapped around his ankles. "Crap," he swore.

He tried tugging his ankle free only to end up on the floor. He threshed around wildly, getting tangled up in more vines. He was mentally prepared to go down fighting when the vines retreated. "Huh?"

They were gone just like that. This left him feeling more perplexed than ever. Vines? Running pumpkin dolls? What next? Voodoo? Kindle frowned. He had simple reacted to everything the moment he entered the room but now that he had time to reflect he realized nothing made any sense.

He had a very fixed view of how the world should be like. Everything following the laws of Science. Almost everything they witnessed so far at Henbard violated one law or the other. Screaming paintings, running vegetables and writhing vines. Just what the heck was up with this place? It was far weirder than any crappy haunted house Kelsey made him visit.

He picked himself up and stood there a little oblivious to the events unfolding before him. He wrestled with the disparate facts he managed to gather while trying and failing to come up with a workable framework to process their collective experiences in Henbard. He was finally forced to admit that something "supernatural" was at work in his godforsaken place. It felt really weird to finally agree with Kelsey over this.

"Hey!" he snapped when London brushed passed him on her way to retrieve Jo. Grumbling slightly, a very miffed Milton crossed his arms and watched her making her way back towards Matt.

Milton blinked. Wait, Matt? How? When? More questions went off in his head. A sickening tangle of emotions grew from the pit of his stomach. Shock, worry, anger. Matt's here. He's hurt. They hurt him. The thoughts flashed rapidly through his head, causing his anger to grow. Soon Kindle was balling his fists.

Forcing himself to take deep breaths, Kindle managed to tame his anger enough to start thinking rationally. They needed to tend to Matt first. The wound looked bad but Milton believed they could still save their friend. All they needed to do was to push the guts back in and bind up the area tightly. The pressure should lessen the bleeding. Hopefully it would also buy them enough time to get him to the hospital.

"We should do something about the wound," he croaked, striding towards the group on the floor. "I mean I can push his guts back in but I need something to bind his wound." Milton dropped to his knees and attempted to pull Matt's hands away. "Trust me, it's better to have them inside than out. You'll lose less blood and water this way. Dehydration is the worst way to go."

The last time he had to react like was in First Aid class. Kelsey had been the volunteer victim and according to their instructor she had been involved in a car accident. Huge glass shards had impaled her gut and her stomach was punctured. Yeah, they more or less killed her. Someone had accidentally pulled out the glass too fast which caused an artery to burst. It wasn't pretty. Wait! That person was actually Matt.

"This will be like First Aid. 'Cept there's no glass and we won't be killing Kelsey." That last bit didn't sound that reassuring now that he had said it. He tried to change the topic and keep London from panicking more. He guessed she was panicking because he most certainly was. "Hey. Hey … we passed that course, ya? Most of us. You are in good hands."

Matt was crouched down on the ground when his friends began to approach him. London arrived first with Joseff in her arms, and the pale boy looked up at her with empty eyes that resembled slowly dimming fog lights.

There was a sliver of recognition there, but it was clouded by fear.

At this point Matt was catatonic, pressing his bloodied fingers against his stomach as Kindle's words went over his head. "Jo…" his throat was dry. Why, why was it so hard to speak. "Jo..." Salty tears streaked down his pale face as his entire body started to shake.

"Oh come on! Seriously? We should are trying to minimise infection here. Why do you want Joseff?" Kindle's mind was already on edge. Matt's request irked him no end. Didn't anyone remember anything from First Aid? Something called Infection? Milton sucked in his breath loudly. "L-London, Ethan, whoever, can you talk some sense into him? We need to tend to the wound. Stop the complications."

By now London's cheeks were shining slick with tears. With Jo in her arms, she crouched down to Matt's level - but she did not pass over the Shiba Inu. Instead, she spoke, voice strained and threatening to burst with emotion: "H-Hey. Jo is… here. He-... He needs you to hold on, okay?" London hiccuped, lip trembling. "We all do, but-... hold on for Joseff. You're gonna b-be fine. We'll fix this."

"Please don't talk like he is on his deathbed," Kindle asked through gritted teeth. Matt's guts were cradled in his arms. He knew that the human intestine could be as long as 6 meters. These felt like a slippery fire hose. So impossible long that it was borderline insane! No matter how much he grabbed, there was a lot more on the floor. "Y-you're fine. Soon. Give me a hand here." Setting Jo aside, London wiped her hands and did as was asked.

As the horrible scene unfolded, Joseff stared on at the trio hunched down on the floor.

For some reason, there was no recognition in the Shiba Inu's eyes.

 

[Impudimp]

Collab Between @Akiko, @Impudimp, and @Fox of Spades

So, it was official. Everyone had lost it. From the supposed smartest of them to the most shy, the majority of their rescue party had skedaddled off into the unknown, probably dangerous darkness, leaving the wounded behind. Well, at least, she thought Jace had some idea of what he was doing. Marten was pretty sure she was on her very last brain cell. A part of her mind desperately wanted to know what time it was in the real world. It had to be something like 3 am right? She definitely felt like someone who had been up for that long. What with all the inward thinking she had been doing.

Her green gaze would cut around to the contact on her shoulder. A hand? When had that gotten there. As if the air had snapped back into place, her ears began working again sending Kelsey's voice her way. Of course she accepted the consolation. If only for the moment she wanted to soak up the warmth. Maybe it would re-energize her internal batteries and prevent her from sitting and not standing up again. To be fair they had been knocked out earlier, but… Drug-induced sleep just wasn't as good as the real thing.

"Thanks Kels… I- I think I'm just..making my way over the hump, right now. I'll be better from now on. You know.. Supportive." She put on a small smile. Truth was she was tired as hell and wanted some therapy, prescription medicine, and about 2 weeks of medical leave to get her shit together, but Jace would just as soon sprout wings and start laying golden eggs…

She snickered a little, physically shaking herself. "Alright, shaking it out…" She clapped her hands to align her thoughts and turned all of her arousable attention on Salem, "Tell us everything you know- Er, wait, are you dying?" No matter what the kid was… Nothing was supposed to produce black bodily fluids. Black… was very bad.

"If things were normal," he forced a laugh. Suddenly, Salem sounded like a very tired and very old man - far from the youthful 17-year-old he appeared to be. "If things were normal, all of us would be dead, or at least, very old." He looked to Marten with tired grey eyes. "I've been 17 for a long time. I don't know if I'm dying… but I don't want to die. I want to go home." Where was home? He knew he'd never see it again, at least, not in this lifetime. Salem had a faraway look in his eyes, as if he were detaching himself from the whole thing and trying to merely float away, back into the warmth of his living room where his parents waited with open arms. "I've been missing for more than half a century, and I still don't know a thing about this." He gestured wildly, wincing as the gauze pad turned from a light pink to a soft red hue. "He likes to play house. He likes to gather up different pieces and come up with pictures."

She returned his gaze with sympathy. What else could she give him? It would be hard to empathize with someone in such an… otherworldly situation. Stolen from home and trapped ageless for ages? This was a tragedy of the worst kind. Only Shakespeare would touch on such a thing and only just so. "How do we mess up his picture then? Break the frame and escape?" Sure it was a bad metaphor, but just as Salem had been pining for home, so was she. And she didn't plan on waiting long to get there. There was always a way out. Always.

"We've been trying, some of us for centuries. You either play the role you're given or you disappear forever." It was a gloomy conclusion, but after years of trying to find a way out of the woods… Salem had lost hope. Paul, Adelaide, and Ella, became family and he listened to Him to protect the last sliver of normalcy and humanity that he had. "If you kill him, maybe you'll be different, maybe you'll go home." There was a pause. "Promise you'll try to help the others?"

Jace narrowed his eyes at the little bit of information that Salem gave. So it was indeed him that the newspaper clipping spoke of. Still, it wasn't enough to really give them answers; it wasn't enough to get them out of here. His already present frown grew.

"Don't talk like that. You're going to be fine." He said, trying to be positive though unsure if he even believed his own words. He lifted the sweater and removed his belt, the one article of clothing he'd kept from the clothes he wore that morning. The borrowed jeans dropped a couple of inches, kept from falling completely by his hips. Most pants that fit his height and length of leg did not fit his waist.

"Whatever you do, keep talking. You have to stay conscious." Jace crouched and tightened the belt around Salem's arm, just above his elbow. "So, you've been here since you disappeared? How are you not… You should be - what sixty-something? How is the fact that you haven't aged a day even possible?" He asked, growing more and more concerned with the faraway look in the boy's eyes. "We.. we'll try." Jace murmured.

"It's not possible, but neither are forest monsters, right?" The boy found it in him to give the trio a wry smile. "Fairy tales and children's books." His life had been reduced to that. "Henbard is strange, nothing seems to change here." He didn't know if it was the creature's home, but it would come back now and then - come back with new toys, new playthings. The dog had been the first new thing in a long time, and then the girl and six others. Salem wondered if He was growing tired of them and his stomach lurched for his family.

Paul, Adelaide, Ella…

They were still playing their parts, weren't they? He had gone off script and there was a chance they would suffer for it. A hopeless laugh nearly bubbled to the surface as Jace continued to tend to his arm.

The belt was tight… painful, it kept him grounded and awake.

"You said you saw a creature with moss for skin and bright orange eyes." It was the first time Kelsey had spoken since her conversation with Marten.

"Yes, but most people see different things."

"I saw it too," Kelsey told him. She'd first seen the creature when she was eight-years-old - a silhouette of grass and bone staring from deep within the white woods as she walked down the dirt path to her home. It's eyes shone like fog lights in the darkness, and it was the image that had stuck with her ever since. Orange amidst the trees. She'd obsessed over it for as long as she could remember, but had it been watching them since then? Since before then even? Kelsey felt sick to her stomach. "You don't think… it's been willfully targeting us?" She looked to Jace and Marten.

"It likes to toy with people," Salem admitted. "At least, that's what I believe. Otherwise, why would an otherworldly entity want to play house, right?" He looked more grounded now, less distant. "It didn't take your dog on purpose. The dog followed one of its pets into the woods. I guess he thought your furry friend was cute. I don't quite understand it."

Jace met Kelsey's concerned glance with one of his own. While Salem didn't answer the question of who he was, he did answer one question that had been circulating: that the Hayes were indeed prisoners here. Even if they did act on his order, even if they did commit an awful act, it wasn't like they had a choice. Did that make it right, though? Was it just survival at that point or was it still a betrayal?

Marten chewed her lip agitated by the slew of bad news. The extra information was satiating in its depth. So many questions answered, but her sleep-addled mind wasn't processing how any of it was going to get them closer to leaving this place. She hummed, thinking on her feet, "You all are playing a part- actors, but you're allowed to leave here. We all saw and met you in the forest earlier today. So what keeps you bound here? Why can you leave and go so far but never escape? Why can't we even get past the front door?"

If it was that easy, he would have left long ago. "The forest is strange too, like Henbard. You saw it with your own eyes at the creek, you saw the hands. You're from Bellwoods too, aren't you?" Salem imitated a local's drawl. "Do not go into the woods. This forest holds secrets."

It was something all children knew, but something plenty never listened to.

Salem laughed softly to himself, on and on until his eyes rolled into the back of his head. The last bits of laughter died on his lips as only the whites of his eyes became visible. He started to convulse on the floor.

Kelsey shot towards him but came to a grinding halt a few steps away.

Black liquid was seeping out from his eyes, his nose, his ears… even his mouth. The same black liquid he had coughed up moments ago. Salem was screaming. It was gurgling, ear-piercing scream. His hands reached for his face and he dug his fingers into his cheeks, clawing hard enough to draw blood. Crimson started to mingle with the blackness that seemed to seep out of his pores.

It didn't look like it was going to end.​

 

[Fox of Spades]

Things fall apart;
the center cannot hold
the falcon cannot hear the falconer

​

Unraveling. Salem's life was unraveling before him like spools of thread being pulled and pulled and pulled. He was drifting further and further away - could practically feel his consciousness slipping out of his skull as he convulsed on the ground. The pain that had once burned hotly felt like nothing. The nothingness was scarier, far scarier than the pain.

He tried to think of home, but couldn't.

Salem Johnson. That had been a lifetime ago, so long ago that his parents' faces blurred and melted - like plastic lit on fire, like ice cream on a scorching summer day. Deformed shapes, faded outlines, his life prior to Henbard was nothing but a blurry image in the back of his brain. Henbard Chateau had done strange things to him.

He was still screaming, still convulsing on the ooze-covered floor.

Salem's mind, however, was elsewhere. His last day of freedom. It had been windy, he'd tucked Lenore into his jacket, and had kissed his mother and father goodbye. He remembered hopping onto his bike, promising that he'd be home in time for lunch. He was going to release the bird, her wing had healed and she was ready to take to the skies again. The feel of the autumn breeze against his skin had been great, and Lenore had cawed happily as they left Bellwoods.

He was watching Lenore hop across the ground when he'd noticed the orange eyes...

Salem sounded like a drowning man.

Wet gurgling mingled with his never-ending wailing, and Kelsey wondered if his lungs were slowly filling up with black ooze, or blood, or both. He hadn't stopped screaming since he'd fallen over and the girl stared at the convulsing boy in wide-eyed terror. Salem was dying. He was dying and they couldn't do a damn thing.

Fuck. This. Place.

The same thought ran through her head over and over again like a bad pop song stuck on replay. Her mind screamed at her to do something, to do anything. Instead, she stood there and watched him as her insides churned in terror.

It took a fresh bout of screaming from Salem before Kelsey finally managed to tear her eyes away.

Jace and Marten were as terrified and stunned as she was. "Jace," Kelsey's voice was hoarse with fear. "Jace." It all felt like a waking dream. "Jace!" She finally found it in her to scream. "What... what the fuck do we do?"

He was always prepared.

Jace had answers. Jace was team survival - he would know what to do.

He would know.

"What do we do? What do we do? What the fuck do we do?"

Kelsey repeated the question over and over again, seemingly unaware of the fact that she was repeating the words like they were a prayer. Her wide-eyed were focused on Jace, waiting for some kind of answer.

He would know. He had to know.

The panic was messing with her thoughts, was clouding her judgement.

As she waited for an answer, something started happening to Salem. His voice changed and grew a few octaves deeper... and the screams, they started to sound different - less human.

The whites of Salem's eyes were gone now. It was just black ooze dripping out of empty sockets - just black ooze streaming down his nose and mouth and skin. His skin was changing. His complexion had turned an ashen grey and black feathers had began to sprout from his skin, tearing through flesh as if to replace it.

Kelsey turned around and stared.

Salem was keening loudly. He had stopped convulsing and had pushed himself to his hands and knees. He was more animal than human now, a misshapen creature of black ooze and dark feathers.

There was the distinct sound of cracking bones, as Salem - or what was left of him - pushed himself to his feet. Talons tore through his fingers, feathers continued to grow, and Salem began to thrash around wildly, his wing-like arms smacking against the shelves that surrounded him.

One shelf fell to the ground with a loud crash as books rained down around him.

And then, the screaming stopped.

Salem looked at them with beady grey eyes that were void of recognition.

The creature let out a low, predatory growl. With wings raised, it charged towards them in a blind fury.

 

[Fox of Spades]

Words drifted in one ear then out the other.

Matt remained lying flat on the stone floor, his arms spread wide in imitation of a blood-spattered snow angel. His eyes were sunken in and dead, but still focused on Joseff. His lips had already started to turn blue and they quivered with each ragged breath he took. His breathing was shallow and wet as if his lungs were filling up with his own blood.

He was vaguely aware of Kindle frantically trying to help, of London staring in wide-eyed terror, and of Ana and Ethan somewhere in the room. He could hear their voices, but he couldn't move...

"You," each word that slipped through his blue lips sounded painful. "You... didn't come back."

The boy on the floor began to shake. Cold sweat poured down his face, the tips of his finger nails were dark, he looked like he would throw up at any moment had his guts not been on the floor.

"6pm," he sputtered as hot tears continued streaking down his face. "6pm. 6pm. 6pm."

The Shiba Inu was surprisingly quiet.

There was a thoughtful gleam in his usually spirited gaze, and there was a somberness in his usually springy steps. Joseff was easy to distract, but at the moment, ignored everything from Lenore's flapping to the mini Pumpkin's squeaks in the background. His eyes were trained on one thing, on the dying boy splayed out across the cellar floor.

He padded towards the human, ignoring Kindle and London as he stood beside Matt. He lowered his head as if to nuzzle against the human's neck. It took a moment for everyone to understand what had happened.

Joseff, who ran away from angry cats and scurried beneath tables during thunderstorms...

Teeth sunk into flesh.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Collab between @Cartoonicat and @Fox of Spades

Try as she might, there was no saving Matt. With each intestine she helped Kindall stuff back in the gash, another handful covered the floor. London was sure she'd have thrown up by now, if not for the rapid pump of adrenaline reminding her that every second counted; every movement, every breath. But, in the end, it'd all be for nothing. Seeing the blue tint to Matt's lips, London choked out a sob. Stopped tending to the gash, because there was no use.

"Kin-Kindall… Kindall, stop!" She cried. "Guys, he's… No, lo siento, Matt. There was so much-," another hiccup, "-so much to say, I- We..."

Through the blur of tears, London saw Jo approach. Wiped her eyes with the shoulder of her sleeve, smearing what few drops of blood had made it that far up Adelaide's windbreaker onto her cheek. It didn't help, though; the tears only fell harder when Jo nuzzled Matt's neck.

And then Jo bit the dying teen's cheek.

London blinked. Inhaled sharply. In a knee-jerk reaction, she swung her arm out and smacked Jo upside the head hard enough to rip him - and a hefty chunk of skin - from Matt's face with a yelp. "No!" She shrieked, sounding more like a strangled cat than a human girl, and stared at what she'd done. "I didn't- I only-...." Her words trailed off, eyes widening.

Matt sat up, his left cheek peeling and hanging off the edges. It looked like someone had shoved his face across a cheese grater, but he found it in him to smile anyway - it was the same dorky smile he gave teachers when he was late to class, the same one he used on puppies he'd come across whenever he went on his morning walks with Joseff.

"Thanks for trying to help, guys." He let out a hollow laugh.

Brown eyes flitted from friend to friend before he eyed London. "You're cuter when you're smiling." The words melted in his mouth as he spoke, as if they were being said by a dying voice mail machine. Matt's eyes rolled into the back of his head before he flopped onto the floor, flesh and bone dissolving into a black goop.

The mini pumpkin burst into a roar of squeaky laughter.

London sat there, slack-jawed and numb. Slowly, relief spread through her veins, the feeling so intense laughter bubbled in her chest. It wasn't Matt. It wasn't Matt! That meant he was alive. It also meant they had been horribly, horribly played; London doubted she'd ever be able to look at Matt the same way again, much less get the gruesome image out of her head until the day she died.

"You…" she chuckled, arms going slack and hands dropping into the blood-turned-goop around them. "Tu hijo de puta. Dios mio..." An airy breath of laughter. "He just- We-... Hah." Turning her head towards the squeaking pumpkin, London grabbed her katana and made to stand. Smiled at the creature, because Matt was alive and she could rest easy while busting some heads.

"I'm gonna kill you, you sick fuck."

 

[Ashi]

​

Jace sat back on his heels, still crouched next to Salem, a grim expression on his face. The boy's words echoed deep into the recesses of his mind: "Do not go into the woods." It was almost an unspoken rule, something that was easily understood just by standing on the edge of Whittle Grove and looking into the trees. All children who grew up in Bellwoods knew it, yet many didn't listen. Salem was one of those children. He became one of the cautionary tales, one of the many who disappeared and were never found. Were he and his friends about to become one of those stories, fodder for the local legend?

There wasn't time to contemplate that. Salem's eyes rolled back until his irises were completely gone and he began convulsing on the floor. His soft laughter became a scream, warped by the black ooze pouring from every orifice into a violent gurgling wail. Jace stood with a start and took a step back. The strange liquid seemed to be weeping from nowhere and everywhere, coalescing with the blood Salem drew when he dug his fingers into his face. The sight was the definition of agony.

"What the fuck do we do?" Drummed in Jace's ears, yet Kelsey's frantic screaming didn't register. This was just too surreal. "Do? Do? What do we do? What do we--?" He thought, gazing unblinking at the pitiful and terrifying sight at his feet. "Do! I know what to do!" He remembered with a jolt and snapped out of his daze.

"T-treat it like a seizure! We need to get him on his side so he doesn't choke."

It was too late for that though. Salem was no longer convulsing; he was trying to get up. The boy's skin was gray and feathers were sprouting over almost every visible part of him, accompanied by the ripping of flesh and the cracking of bones. Books cascaded from the shelves that Salem's arms - no, wings - collided with as he clambered to his feet. Slowly, Jace extended his arm; not to touch Salem, but to pick up the rolling pin and walkie talkie he set down to tend to the boy. The screaming stopped suddenly as Salem's empty, dark gaze landed on them. Jace's grip tightened on each object in his hands. His thumb, unbeknownst to him, held down the button on the radio.

"Run." He said in a low voice as he backed away, indicating the maze of bookcases with a jerk of his head. Salem charged them with a growl.

"Fucking run!" Jace yelled. Drawing his arm back, he swung the rolling pin at the bird-boy with all his strength. The cylinder of wood impacted with a crack. What cracked? Jace couldn't be sure, for he didn't stick around long enough to find out. He made a mad dash into the maze. Salem reeled back a moment before charging ahead like a bulldozer, plowing straight into a shelf and sending books flying.

 

[IceQueen]

Ana was going bat shit crazy. First there was a group of them running down to a cellar, then there was a pumpkin monster wielding the cryptodex was screaming around the basement. By the time Ana had gotten down there and realized what was going on there was something banging in the closet, or screaming rather.

When Ethan opened the doors Ana dropped Lenore from her arms, her eyes widening at the gaze in front of her. There was Matt, the man they had left behind at the lodge, dying. His guts spilled out onto the cellar floor. Ana didn't have time to think before the feeling of her dinner coming back up. Leaning over to the side Ana promptly puked onto the floor, her gut heaving intensely as the others rushed over to Matt. Despite being the hardcore fighter Ana lost her lunch quite easily. Flopping onto her side next to the puddle of vomit Ana sat there for a moment, trying to get the lightheaded dizzy feeling to go away.

"No!"

A loud smack rang through the cellar, causing Ana to stir a bit from her slumped pile. Wiping away the bile from her lips Ana glanced over at London in time for the dying Matt to melt into goo.

He wasn't real.
None of that was fucking real.

Anger and disgust flared up in Ana all at once, her shaky body slowly getting up but not before London could go bat shit crazy. She looked like she would kill someone, hell she probably would if no one stopped her. Ana would have joined in but a screaming came over the walkie talky. Something that shook her to the bone.

"London." Ana called, scooping up the bird that she had dropped and tucking him back under her arm. Seeing no movement, Ana walked over and grabbed her shoulder. "London! Jace and Kelsey are in danger." She said strictly, tugging on her. "You don't want what he made Matt into to happen to Jace or Kelsey right? So let's go!" She said, tugging on the cussing latino.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Liar. Lied. Lying. It's just a lie. It's messing with us again. Protecting itself.

London shook off Ana and swung her katana at the miniature pumpkin. Watched, enraged, as the creature narrowly evaded it with a squeak. "I'm not falling for it!" She yelled. Lunged after the running pumpkin and brought the tip of her wooden sword down hard - only for it to slam into her Cryptodex instead, trapping it to the floor.

Another squeak and the creature darted away again, leaving the fallen journal behind. Breathing heavy, London closed her eyes. Willed herself to take a deep breath; What if he's not? What if that was really Jace? With the blood rushing to her face and numbing her ears, calming down was hard to do. All she wanted to do was break something.

Break him.

So that's what she'd do - after she saved her friends. Snatching her Cryptodex up off the floor, London dug her nails into the cardboard cover and spat out at the creature who'd caused them so much grief: "Tell your boss - whoever he is - that we're going to wreck him." She took a step back, heart hammering in her chest. Pointed her katana at the creature. "Vete al infierno, you little shit."

 

[Haru Nyan]

"M-Matt?!" a blur of emotions was plastered on Ethan's face, one of both confusion and relief, as his friend planted face-first into his chest. He glanced at his friend, trying to get over the initial shock of the sudden intrusion, and needless to say...Matt looked like shit, absolute shit, like he just gotten run over by a....a....a....

As the milk man's eyes darted lower and lower, confusion and relief turned into one that of disgust and terror. Blood. No, not just blood, Ethan tried to look away, to pry his eyes from the mortifying sight that he was witnessing. It was like a car crash incident, it was violent, it was gruesome, a tragedy just by setting your sights on it, and yet you couldn't look away from it all. Ethan stepped back, queasy and disillusioned, trying to process what the actual fuck was going on.

London and Kindall were there trying to console and give him first aid...or lack of thereof, and he just stood there...His eyes glued on at the scene like it was from fucking Final Destination, everything just started to feel meaningless, hopeless...The two were telling him to say something to snap back into consciousness but...nothing, the words wouldn't register and click in Ethan's brain, as if he didn't hear anything at all.

Death...Dead...Silence, those were the only things that made themselves clear in his brain the moment Matt's body began to go limp. Matt's dead....Matt's dead...Matt's dead, like a broken record, the hauntingly clear image of the corpse of what was once their beloved friend began to seep deep well into Ethan's brain, and everyone else's too, no doubt. He balled one of his hands into a fist, "GOD. FUCKING. DAMMIT!". The young man slammed his fist hard into a nearby wall, it hurt like hell but none of that mattered right now. Once, twice, another one, tears began forming in his eyes, he didn't care...Everything felt meaningless.

He sniffed, if they couldn't save Matt how the hell were they going to save themselves?! Tears still flowing down from his eyes, the young man gave a confused look as Matt's corpse suddenly got up, giving off a terrifyingly nostalgic smile...Was it...Matt's spirit? Even though that would have been just as horrific in and of itself, Matt suddenly began to melt...Wait, melt?

Using one his jacket's sleeves to wipe off the drool and tears, the cute pumpkin creature from before, staring at them with a devious smile plastered on its face before bursting into a hysterically maddening laughter. London's words began to echo in Ethan, slowly. It. Wasn't. Matt? So...Matt was safe? Still in Bellwoods, safe and sound? Not spilling his guts on the floor like bad spaghetti? He wanted to believe it, he HAD to believe it. He couldn't even get mad at the creature, just the scenes unfolding themselves in his head again just made him feel defeated, it wasn't worth it. There is something that was worth it though.

The walkie-talkie. Still in a slump from the whole ordeal, Ethan slowly picked up the walkie-talkie and firmly grasped it in his hand, "What she said." He said, pointing at London.

 

[Fox of Hearts]

Kindall's tenacity shone brightest when the world around him crashed and burned. He ignored London's begging and continued stuffing the guts in. Shoving everything in handful after handful. Blood dyed his white sleeves red. His hands were almost indistinguishable from the cuffs.

"No. J-just stop, London. Stop, okay? Matt, he's looking better already. We didn't know his stomach could hold so much in it."

He would have given London a reassuring smile if he had any energy left. Everything was channeled into this futile act of keeping dog boy alive. Milton wasn't even sure why they were even trying anymore. The polished floorboards looked no different than the floors at the butchers. Blood, bits of flesh and lots of intestines everywhere. A carnage would have been the most apt description at the moment. A massacre of Matts rather than the murder of one Matt.

These thoughts floated by like driftwood in the streams of his consciousness. Milton had become a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Intelligent Milton kept trying to regain control of his mind but Panicky Milton refused to budge. This resulted in Kindle shutting out the rest of the world. His mind was trained on Matt and only Matt. He could practically count every shallow flutter of his friend's chest and note how cold the oodles of intestines were getting. He was so shell-shocked that he didn't even do a double take when Jo tore off Matt's cheek.

Everything made sense in a really weird, surreal way.

Matt dying, disintegrating and then finally melting away. It was like being thrown into the technicolored world of the Life of Pi. Seeing everything unravelling and reforming. Nothing at all like the real world.

His hands had nothing in them now. Kindle stared at his white hands. The sleeves whiter than he remembered. He clenched and unclenched his hands in quick succession. What in the world? One moment Matt existed then he didn't.

Milton wondered if they had finally entered the twilight zone where the different planes of existence melded. A weird place where Matt could be alive and be dead at the same time. Practically, a living paradox, a Schroedinger's cat.

He wasn't sure. He thought of that entity as un-Matt. A funny shadow thing that resembled their friend and yet wasn't quite their friend.

Some of Matt's quirks had been missing.

Strange, he didn't realised it earlier. Matt had been way too calm and nonchalant about dying. The original Matt they knew would have lost it. He would have blubbered uncontrollably, would have struggled more to reach out to Joseff and stay alive.

So was that even Matt?

His thoughts shattered thanks to an annoying high pitched laughter. He never felt such an urge to kill before. "Will you stuff it?" he roared. "I'm trying to figure out Matt's existential crisis here."

Naturally, his pleas fell on deaf ears. London declared war on the living pumpkin. The righteous fury coursing through her body gave her a speed boost. She had never been so fast nor agile outside of her computer games before. Milton simply went. "Oh…"

He had forgotten about the critter. London seemed so obsessed with correcting that mistake that he decided to let her burn off her rage. There was no way in hell he'd ever want to stand between her and revenge. Seriously, no one would after watching her hunt down her PK-ers. Milton swore she had a secret sadistic streak ever since. That was why he never tried pushing her too far. Just a little bit but he'd back away when she started growling.

"I suggest you back away," he told Ana. "One simply does not trifle with London Brackett. She's wielding a katana for Christ's sake."

It being a toy katana didn't matter. He prefered keeping that gut spill imaginary. Ana getting cleaved open would be the start of their real descent into madness. Still, he decided he'd need to snap London out of her blood lust. Ana's right. Jace ordering a retreat was not a good sign. The guy wasn't the type to back down in a fight ever. If he did, you could be sure that the group was screwed.

"Let me go instead," he insisted. "I can dodge that katana better than you can. Maybe. Hopefully Ethan will tackle her before she splits my skull open."

London appeared calmer for some reason but Milton didn't trust her not so rage-y facade. She had this weird smile on her face when she went all out against the poor PK-ers. He stopped a good two feet from her, praying it was well out of her katana's reach.

He cleared his throat. "Well said. Now that we've decided not to burn the thing at the stake, let's leave. Like now now. I don't like what we're hearing from the walkie talkie at all."

The mini pumpkin lowered his arms slowly. Now that he was sure that he wasn't going to cracked open like a piñata at a birthday party. He stuffed the tips of his arms into his mouth then blew a raspberry at London. Chuckling, he simply dodged the swing of her blade and poofed. Black wisps collapsed onto the floorboards. They vanished less than a second later.

"Errr yeah, let's go! Ana!"

Their short friend was crouched on the ground as Lenore pecked her arms constantly. Faint red lines started appearing where talon met skin. Kindle didn't know why but he grabbed London's sword arm quickly and kept it pinned down. "Wait," he ordered. "Look!"

Lenore seemed to have given up waiting on them. She simply flew off after given Ana one last frustrated caw. As she vanished, her intended message finally sunk in. The bird was asking them to hurry.

Footsteps echoed in the cellar as the four friends scrambled after Lenore. One person was clearly ahead of the pack. Someone other than Milton. The sherlock was right in the middle of the group with two very winded people at the back.

The front runner ended up very winded too by the time they reached the door. Milton stopped beside them looking totally fine. He was barely panting as his hands grasped the handles.

"Geee," he said after sucking in a lungful of air. "I hope you won't be needing to run after this. You look like you had a crossfit session."

He didn't even bother waiting for the remaining members to appear before throwing open the door. He regretted his choice immediately but it was a little too late to shut the door. Now that it was open, there was no way he could slam it shut and leave the rest inside.

"Oi!" he shouted. "Get your butts outta there!"

 

[Fox of Spades]

Memory
​

The last sliver of self-awareness in Salem's eyes disappeared the moment the rolling pin cracked against his skull. Wood splintered before his eyes as his head was knocked back by a powerful force. Black spots danced across his vision as sticky crimson ran from his forehead down his ashen face. Red droplets splattered on the ooze covered floor.

His memories were unraveling, one by one - images turned to blots of colors, blots of colors turned into nothing.

There was only hatred for whatever - no, whoever had inflicted his hurt.

An inhuman caw left his throat. The creature raised is wings in the air, flapping rapidly before launching itself at the teens once more. Its wingspan was about six feet long in length and it knocked down books as it resumed its chase.

Run. Jace was screaming at them to run.

Kelsey's body had never felt as heavy as it had in that particular moment. It were as if here bones and flesh had been replaced by pure cement. Her eyes were focused on Salem - on what once been Salem. She believed in the supernatural. She had always believed in the supernatural, but seeing something like this happen right in front of them... it was crazy scary. It was unreal and holy hell it was time to get the fuck right out of there.

Her feet began moving of their own accord, but she stopped before she could take a single step.

Marten wasn't running. Why wasn't Marten running?

Kelsey took a hard left, and dashed past Marten, her finger's wrapping around the green-haired girl's wrist as she ran. "Run." She yelled out the same Message Jace had screamed before pulling the green-haired girl towards a series of shelves. They entered the pathway of bookshelves and escaped the creature's field of vision around the same time Jace disappeared into the maze. There was a loud bang as Salem crashed into one of the many shelves.

"Jace!" She screamed. She and Marten were safe, but that bang. Did it.. did it get him? "Jace, say something!"

There was another loud crash as the creature started tipping over shelves in a wild fury.

But then the doors were pushed open.

Empty eyes landed on Kindle as the boy screamed for his friends to run.

***​

Unknown to the group standing before the library doors, something interesting was taking place behind them. Black shadows seeped out of the floor boards, rising to form a solid shape. The mini pumpkin from the cellar had reappeared, unseen and safe. He cracked a large smile before bending his knees to prepare for a surprise attack.

He crouched nice and low and then launched himself into the air like a spring.

The mini pumpkin collided into Ethan's back, purposely choosing the tallest and heaviest member of the group for his attack. He was surprisingly heavy and strong for such a small creature. The impact sent Ethan crashing into both girls and finally into Kindle. All four of them were knocked straight into the library.

Mini Pumpkin, now back on his feet, brought two hands to his face and did an imitation of a flying kiss.

He laughed his squeaky laugh and with shadowy tendrils, closed the door shut.

The creature that was once Salem now had the entirety of his attention focused on the newcomers. He stopped his frantic chase, instead reaching for the book shelf nearest to him and lifting it over his head. With a wild screech, he tossed it into the air and towards the group lying by the entrance to the library.

It sailed over their heads, crashing into the doors. Books and shards of wood were sent flying across the room before the shelf topped over in front of the entrance, serving as an obstruction to their planned escape.

​

Kelsey stared at Marten, wide-eyed and afraid. "That... that was Kindle, right?" The voice had lasted for a mere moment, but before the crash, she'd heard him calling out to them and telling them to run.

She grabbed a book and stepped back into the open.

Lying on the floor and scrambling to pick themselves up were her friends. Salem was skulking towards them. She pulled back her arm and threw the book as hard as she could. Kelsey watched with terror as it collided with the back of Salem's head. As she anticipated, he turned around to stare at her with his empty eyes.

Every fiber of her being told her not to do it, but she'd never been good at doing the logical thing.

"LEAVE THEM ALONE YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"