Sangeon's eyes were fixed on the movie playing in the tv screen in front of him, his back resting against a pillow he stole from his mother's room to sit on the rug of their living room. Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Yoon was washing the plates her and her brother recently used for the small feast of Korean Barbecue their mother spoiled them with for Christmas. However, she herself wasn't able to attend since she had already said yes to working a shift late at night and wouldn't be back until 12.

After drying the last bowl, Yoon washed her hands and helped herself to the last piece of her favorite side dish. She finished up cleaning the kitchen, treating herself with a blue Powerade she hid from her mom at the very back of the refrigerator.

Ding!

Yoon's brows furrowed at the unexpected text message since she never got any. And for a moment, her eyes widened in hopes it wasn't the gas station lady realizing she was being a creep online. She inhaled deeply and fetched her phone. Once she read who it was from, she sighed softly in relief. But then she blinked as she made her way to join her brother in the movie, not sure how to respond or what was the correct way of responding. She munched on the junk food she had gotten earlier, leaving Yasha on read for 20 minutes as she debated what to send back. One moment she was typing, the next she stopped and deleted what she was going to say. She felt herself sink into the couch before finally replying back: Thank you :). But immediately, she deleted it and sent: You too!

"uuuughhhh..." Yoon stared at her screen and deleted the other message before replying safely with a smiling emoji, a thumbs up, and a Santa Claus emoji.

At 8:43 Raven was already out of the shower and into a mirror with a tint of blue being scrubbed into the fibers of her hair with one hand while she simultaneously brushed her teeth in a hurry. 8:45 came and she was spitting out toothpaste harshly in disgust after some of the hair dye had manged to get into her mouth which left her scrubbing the bristly hygiene tool across her tongue furiously a second time in hopes that it would get rid of the taste of chemicals and what she thought was plastic. By the time 8:55 rolled round she was throwing on her choice of clothing and three minutes later sitting on the edge of her bed tugging on her boots. As the clock was striking nine, she was already at the door, taking a few seconds to first look through the peep hole and then to peek her head outside for quick glances down the hallway in both directions. Seeing that the coast was clear, she eased out of her apartment and locked the door quickly before heading to the right towards the exit that would take her out behind the building.

There were two secrets that she kept so secretive that not even her small number of close friends knew about. Not even her therapist knew. One of those secrets is that almost every night like a werewolf under a full moon, she would become someone else completely. Her anxious self would become calm. Her self doubt and self hate would twist and morph into confidence with a bit of ego. The small little person that life had tried to box her in as would escape into the night. The mask became her and she became the mask, her alter ego would become who she was. The fragile soul that was Raven who stammered when she spoke sometimes, was a nervous wreck at other times would become one that was strong and enough to sway entire crowds. By nightfall, she would become the culmination of the night that crafted the pinnacles of the party animals' midnight. With the lights fell into a shine and the curtains opened, only Roux would be there in Raven's shoes.

~

By the time Yoon had replied back to her message, Yasha had already gotten down the street and was nearing the block that the nightclub was on. However, the message would also go unread since she had taken the liberty of turning her phone off to avoid distractions. For some reason every time she heard the sound of a notification she hadn't been able to resist checking the device which left her wondering if it were some sort of very minor hypnosis.

Looking around, she saw what she thought to be people already coming forth in their best for the nightly extravaganzas and it caused her to look at her own clothing when she noticed the extreme difference between theirs and hers. Most had less on while she had more, and it made her roll her eyes. Just like the blasted onis. The thought caused her to roll her eyes dismissively at the comparison, but it also brought a little of the homesickness she had been feeling back. She could only hope that the orders of her world were already at work. But now was not the time to reminisce on home, though the thought still lingered. Soon...I'll return soon.

Sammy had finally dressed herself back into her attire from the gym, a short light blue tank top that revealed her slim stomach, a pair of black shorts that hugged her lower body a little tight, the way she preferred, and a pair of black running shoes that were far less striking than her designer boots. But of course, she kept on her hat and sunglasses as she took them from her locker and made her way outside, a purse around her arm as she looked inside for her phone, sending a text to Mason since she didn't feel like going back to the van just yet. Though she knew she could handle herself, her thoughts were still on the strange man they met today. Even Sammy admitted to herself she was a little taken aback by the man's grin. Of course, she refused to tell herself she was scared of someone like that. She shook the thought out of her mind and continued the text
"yo gonna explore a bit.see ya." With a smiling emoji at the end, and she sent the text as she was already walking by the van, not taking the time to notice the lack of Mason inside

Mason's music was interrupted by Sammy's text, already giving him a slight annoyed exhale from his nose as he lifted the phone from his pocket to see Sammy's reply. Looking over his text, part of him was bothered by the grammar errors but he was a little relieved that he didn't have to go back to the van immediately. He responded with a simple, "Alright" and put the phone back into his pocket, continuing his music. But despite trying to think of something, all he could think of was that man he had a run into with today and the strange things he said. It bothered him immensely, yet he didn't want to think anymore about it. He tried his best not to think about it and continued walking, ignoring the several party goers, making his appearance stand out a bit more now for how casually he dressed

Yoon's eyes squinted at the small screen in her hands as she awaited a Message Read notification. But after a few minutes, she eventually rolled her eyes. "Yeah, check every other notification except mine." She grumbled under her breath, remembering how distracted Yasha was with her phone every time they were together in her car. Yoon put her phone aside and hugged one of the pillows from the couches, her eyes going onto the bigger screen that was playing a scary movie. "That's a stupid movie." She commented at the woman with abnormally long black hair whose body twisted in supernatural ways.

"Y-Your cartoons are stupid." Sang Eon mumbled behind a pillow he held defensively.

"They're not cartoons." Yoon corrected her brother as she crunched on another chip. "At least mine have real-life events."

"Pretty sure a demon is more convincing than a talking bird named Happy."

"It's a CAT!" She threw a pillow at him and scoffed.

The moment she reached the sidewalk for the next block over, Raven already felt familiar feeling within her. That special spark that would lead to the electrifying end to the night. She inhaled slowly, biting down softly on the straw-like tubes that pulled the smoke from her vape pen into her lungs and when she exhaled, it seeped from the two vents in her mask. She felt eyes look and some heads turn already but unlike her normal insecurity-filled-self she welcomed them. She bathed in their looks of awe and discomfort, at some of the wander that was given towards her costume and clothing. But most importantly, the familiarity that was to come. She had already planned on taking the bus instead catching a Lyft from the place that she'd usually camp out at. For all she knew, the Lyft driver could've ended up being the drugged out weirdo from earlier. Then again, maybe her current attire would have scared him into a bad trip and run him off. However, taking that chance wasn't going to be a part of her schedule.

-

Yasha's eyes wandered from face to face, and which each one she noticed something similar. The illuminating face and body paint that a lot of the individuals entering the club had. "Fye," She muttered to herself as she walked down the long line of people that were already awaiting entrance through the front doors. Finding a quicker way inside for herself was definitely going to be a priority, but she didn't believe that it would be too difficult. But perhaps blending in will just as much a necessity, She started to think to herself while stepping behind one of the people there. Afterall, even with the simple change of hair she was still recognizable to some of the diehard fans of Lauren.

~
[Two hours earlier.]

Below the light of the moon that poured through the broken windows of the old factory building three figures disguised and hidden by draping torn rags lurked within the shadows. Their backs were unusually straightened and what little of their pale gray and sore riddled skin that could be seen writhing slowly. They trembled and twitched uncontrollably, the sound of constantly chattering teeth present under their unusually sharp and triangular shaped twin hoods.

Approaching them was a man with brown hair and in civilian's clothing. The footsteps of his loafers echoed quietly and when he reached them he immediately fell into a bow. "The stratagem has been set in motion, Heiliar. The last tracking spell has been placed. We are ready to complete our purpose."

"I see." The tall figures stepped aside, a smaller individual walking to the forefront. "Superb. But tell me, What of your hand?"

"There was unexpected interference–that of a powerful sorcerer dawned in cloth whites and silvers, eyes like the evergreens of Terra. She wielded no blade, but her magic cut like that of the sharpest."

The cloaked man was silent for a moment, his hood hiding the deep scold that had come upon his face. "Were you followed?"

"She engaged in pursuit but was left to search in her own loops, for I lost her in the tunnels of concrete below."

Again, the cloaked man was silent in thought. This would pose as a problem if left to pester, The hellbound being spoke to him. He knew what needed to be done. "Very well. Take the Gemimies and continue as planned."

"What of the Poji, sire? Would you allow me to deal death to her as well?"

"No. Though it seems that her strength has yet to return in full, the Order has taught her well. I will handle her when the time comes, along with our unwanted guest."

Sammy was already making the best of her gym attire, adding a bit of makeup to her face, as well as a big of flair by changing the style of her hair a bit. If she was going to be out on the town for a good few minutes, she wanted to look her best. She didn't have a destination in mind, so she just decided to keep walking, thinking it would be best to check out what the town had before she went back to the van to get some sleep. But even she thought that, after the busy day, it would be hard for her to get any sleep

Mason, after having walked for a good long while, finally decided it was best to head back to the van to turn in for the night. Though a part of him felt it would be hard to get any sleep, he still decided to take the chance. After all, he thought he could probably squeeze a story out of the strange grinning man incident as a sort of powerful drug or alien mind control or something of that matter

While Raven was heading down the street, she pressed a small button on the back of her mask that caused the lines that traced the gnarly teeth and fangs of her mask to light up with a smoky red light. Slipping her hands into her coat pockets, she finally got to the bus stop which was vacant of the amount of people that would have usually been there in the mornings and afternoons and instead settled for the three or four that stood by idly. She gave them a wave with one of her sharp fingered metallic gloves, only to not help but smirk when two of them seemed to ease away from her. "It's cool dude, I don't bite," She joked, which didn't exactly seem to help.

But that's when she spotted them making their way up the street in large groups across the road, some of them having on entire helmet like masks and masks that covered their entire faces. A lot of them were cloth with LED lights that glowed greens and mixed blues and pinks. Her fellow ravers and party animals of the night. Already her mind had detoured from the bus. She knew that she had to get to work, but there were just so many of them. And what was being late if she could bring the party to club? Man fuck a bus!

She cupped her hands together over her mouth. "YOOO," she called out. At first she didn't think that they heard her until a few stopped and looked over in her direction. It wasn't until someone pointed that she knew that she had struck gold. After all, no one dressed quite like her at this time of day. "If you mother fuckers are tryna rave–and I mean rave hard, follow me!" And just like that, she had her group started. She could feel it grow, the tingling in her fingers. The feeling of bodies itching to dance and rave until the sun rose. Yet it was all bottled up since none of them had reached a destination in their search.

~

While Mason was heading back towards the van, eyes lurked in the dark close by. Close but hidden. Cloaked by the shadows and wrapped within the night, they stalked the large man as if he were a mouse and they belonged to a cat.

Sammy was unsure of where she was going at this time of the evening. She took notice of groups upon groups of people in strange fashion, lights glowing off their bodies, wearing masks. Something about the masks freaked Sammy out a little, but if there was anything happening at this time of the night, it was clearly here. But given the circumstances, she thought it would be best not to get involved with this sort of crowd. Or so she thought until she heard someone shout from the opposite side, grabbing the attention of the party goers, and even Sammy's. Taking notice of the girl wearing an LED mask with blue hair took her by surprise. Even compared to all these people, she stood out the most. Something about her just had this alluring personality that screamed to be the center of attention. Suddenly, Sammy's disinterest faded and turned into curiosity as the party goers moved to follow after her. And due to both curiosity and a desire to not return home yet, she found herself following along with the group. In any other situation, this would be considered absurd or some weird art project. But at this moment, Sammy was the one who felt so out of place.

Mason couldn't help but feel a sense of someone looking behind him, watching him. He wanted to turn around to confirm his suspicions, but he thought it would just be him giving into his fear and worry. He refused to turn around, refused to let it get the better of him, unaware that he truly was being watched. He just put his earphones back in and started up one of his favorite podcasts to help calm his nerves

As Yoon continued to watch the movie, her ears caught sound of a quiet snore. She paused her chewing to glance at her right, catching sight of her brother with closed eyes and a drooling mouth. Toon wiped her fingers on a towel to rid her crumbs before sighing softly to herself. She got up and turned off the TV, then tied her hair into a loose bun. She made her way to the other side of the couch and gently cradled her sleeping brother in her arms–taking him into the room he was forced to share with their mom. It was quite the obstacle course with all the pieces of legos lying around, and she didn’t want to wake her brother by accidentally stepping on one and screaming. Eventually she arrived on the left side of the bed and laid him down there, tucking him in almost motherly. “Brat.” She mumbled quietly, but the frown slowly turned into a small smile. She made sure the night light was on before walking out the small room and gently closing the door.

On the crowd went down the street with their unexpected follower oblivious to the one who led them along. After all, Raven was far too distracted by the people around her. Distracted by the conversations, some that pertained to herself–or rather Roux. She got a few compliments on how "sick" her mask and clothes were, and that alone was enough to make her feel a little giddy on the inside since she had worked so hard on putting them together. Upon closer inspection, her mask was a few grades above the rest in terms of not only looks, but also capabilities. Sure it was for aesthetic and show yeah–that is, until it wasn't. Not only that, but none of the clothing she wore for this nightly routine were cheap compared to her average everyday clothing.

"It's justa couple more blocks down," she was saying after being asked where it was that they were going exactly. "Trust me, ya won't regret it."

"We will if this shit ends up blowing." A guy with glow sticks around his neck and cat whiskers made of glowing face paint spoke up.

The fuck are you, the devil's advocate? Raven scoffed internally. "Does it look like I waste time on shit places?" The question seemed to work in her favor and shut the guy up for now. But not wanting to sound like a prick, she added. "Take my word, it'll be fun. Plus if ya stick around long enough, there's a breakfast spot that's usually jammin' on the weeknights, open 24/7."

~

It scaled buildings like small hills, the skin between its fingers stretching to the lengths needed to grasp and pull. They were excellent climbers, its kind. With its large and wide green and black eyes, it watched Mason push the earbuds into his ear at first from up high. They had superb sight, its kind did. But the closer the man got to his destination, the closer it began to lurk until it could no longer help itself. For just a second, it was close enough to where its long arms could take the man by surprise, strike and constrict his neck and body like serpents. They were very quite hunters, its kind were. And within that second, its severely forked tongue inched from its mouth and its hot breath smelling of animal carcass as it tasted the human's scent. Unlike previously, it didn't taste the salty sweat and musk but a cleaner and less appealing one. Despite this, it would have to make of it what it could.

~

Just down the road from the apartment building that Yoon and her family occupied, a car alarm began to sound off loudly after a couple of minutes. It beeped and beeped until it was silenced by a harsh sound of shattering glass that hid a yelp within a sound that could almost be compared to a faulty jackhammer or a car crash. It was loud enough to cause a disruption, but brief enough to be shrugged off by the average person.

However, what couldn't be ignored was what came next. It came in the form of a smell that was as if somehow ocean water had spoiled. Like creatures of the sea had washed up onto the shore of a beach dead in large number and decaying. It could be compared to crab or shrimp shells after a few days of sitting in a garbage can but amplified tenfold. Salty and displeasing to the sense of smell, the disgusting aroma lingered and spread into the apartment building.

Sammy's eyes darted around to the many different people around her, suddenly feeling like she didn't really belong in this situation. However, she didn't feel like leaving right then and there. Something about the woman leading them, her personality, her style, it was all so captivating to her. She felt drawn in by her aura, or something. Whatever it was, Sammy's full attention was on wherever this mysterious woman was leading the group.

The voice of three men laughing at strange jokes was all that Mason could hear, yet he had this feeling of something lurking nearby. It could be that he was cautious after the encounter with the man earlier in the day, but he just felt this sinking feeling in his gut. And as he was walking, he could feel... something behind him. He couldn't hear it, but it was almost as if he could feel the things breath against his body, the heat rolling down his neck. It was enough to make him stop dead in his tracks, and slowly turn his head around to see what it was that could be behind him

A couple blocks of small talk and a few complaints later, Raven was leading her group of ravers and the extra unexpected person along the sidewalk that was just across the street from their destination. Upon reaching the crosswalk, she pointed across the street to a short looking building with the name "La Soirée Epicée" in bright neon, alluring bold and cursive lettering. The words flashed, each flicker revealing the "i" as what appeared to be a lit cigarette. Or, as Raven already knew, a lit blunt.

"Whoa, look at that fucking line are you kidding?!" A girl wrapped in barbed wire fashioned LED lights exclaimed from somewhere near the back. "Its going to take us all night just to get to the door!"

"Like HoooLLLY shIET!"

But Raven only smirked from behind her mask as she was presented with an opportunity to make herself be a bit cooler. "Yeah yeah, long lines mean good business and good business means that this place is off the chain. But lemme ask ya somethin'. Who says that I was gonna bring you guys through the front?"

"Wait wait wait," One of the guys near the front spoke this time, chuckling some out of disbelief. "Are you saying that you're going to get us in for free?"

"What? Fuck no," Raven scoffed at the idea. "But opposed to the thirty bucks or fifty depending on if security likes ya or not, I can getcha in for five."

"Noooo fucking way, are you serious?!" Random raver thirteen laughed from somewhere in the middle. "She's kidding right?"

"When you're the shit, what's the need to kid around?" Raven's reply was smooth, much more than she would have been able to as her regular every day self. "If ya think I am though, feel free to stand in line." And with that, she made a gesture to those who were willing to follow to do so as she started further down the street.

At first, a lot of them were unsure. But after a few started going after her excitedly, it didn't take long for them to join in.

~

When Mason turned around, he would again find nothing there but space and the air that occupied it along with the sidewalk that he was leaving behind him. Maybe it would be his imagination, or maybe it would him letting his mind getting the best of him.

But if he stared long enough, if he looked hard enough, the air would seem to almost sway back and forth. And slowly but surely, the outline would become apparent. A tall mass of something, seemingly unnoticed by the others who walked the streets, stood there. And then it appeared to him in a much clearer way. Five more feet above his own head, a pair of nasty green slits would blink down at him, staring hungrily before disappearing from sight.

Yoon jolted when she heard the car alarm go off, cursing in Korean under her breath. It wasn't something uncommon, but at this hour that was personally very late for her, it was more than just annoying. She grumbled to herself, turning off the lights immediately as she was always told to do so in case there was a robbery.

She was about to lay down on the couch before the foul smell entered her nostrils, in which she immediately gagged and stopped herself from eating the salty chip that was between her fingers. She figured a sewer pipe or something must've broken outside, quickly getting back onto her feet to close the windows. However, the smell still lingered and she wondered if it was actually something inside the apartment that broke.

Sammy was taken by surprise at the woman's offer. Five dollars to get into a place like this? Sammy felt that it was far too good to be true, and yet with everyone heading in, Sammy had to go in. She knew that her purse only had twelve dollars left after buying her latest supply, but a part of her wouldn't let her pass this up. "So much for getting drinks" Sammy thought, as she followed the girl and the crowd to the back, curiosity leading her now

Mason turned around, not seeing a thing behind him. He looked around him just to be sure, but when he couldn't see anything, he was ready to just shrug and turn around. That was until he noticed a waving in the air. His eyes squinted a little to get a look at it, thinking that it looked like smoke. But for just a moment, he thought he saw something... unearthly. Something staring back at him. His squinted eyes shot open for a moment, but when he saw the smoke-like thing was gone, he took another look around before he rubbed his eyes, "I must be more tired then I thought. I need to get home and get some sleep." With that, he turned once again and made his way back to the van, which wasn't too far now

While Yoon would be in the middle of closing the windows, the streetlights outside flickered and the lught that they emitted dimmed into a dull reflection of itself. The atmosphere of the night transitioned into a mash of bitter and clammy. The lingering stench only became stronger.

But then there was a scream of terror, the seconds brief between it and the violent rattling of the apartment building that occurred next.

Metal groaned and creaked from places outside of the apartment. SNAP. Silence. CRASH! The impact of two tons of steel enough to rock the first floor with a loud clang while wires were left to be flung about.



~

The pursuer, having come to a stop as well when Mason had turned around to face it, stared down at the man with eyes rooted deeply with despise and hunger. Present in its mind just as heavily present as he was to the man were thoughts and estimations of if it could clasp the head of it's target within the long fingers of its hand. If it could crush it so that the crimson matter that rested within the shell of a skull would ooze out like paste onto its awaiting tongue. And perhaps it was the disliking for the moving sack of flesh and bone that was present that fueled its rage when the human turned away. And it again it had to calm its restless nerves with the reminder of them being closer to were they needed to be in mind.

The lot, unlike prior to Mason's brief leave, was almost completely vacant except for rusted red 1997 Toyota Tercel that was parked a couple of spaces behind the van.

~

Yasha's attention was on the individuals across the street, her head turning for her eyes to follow them across the road. By Eldars', there's more? "The more the merrier I suppose," she quietly spoke to herself sarcastically. The line hadn't moved much of anywhere while she was waiting, and each step felt as if she were just entering the line all over again. Not only that, but she hadn't detected anything unusual yet either. That is, until her ears picked up on what would be her quick ticket in.

She had to focus a little harder, but she found herself picking up on a bit of information about an alternative entrance after overhearing a few choice of words. But she would decide to wait until there was less people that she would have to avoid before she would make her move for the back of the building.

-

While they were crossing the street Raven pulled her hood over her head, noticing that there were way more people that were waiting to get into the club alone than she thought. Sucks for them, she thought to herself nonchalantly while leading the others down the new street. With a turn here and another there, the alleys spit them out behind a cluster of buildings–an area that she noticed was surprisingly much cleaner than usual for a weekday.
Their detour from the front brought them to a stop behind the club, the blue and red paint that halved the door still fresh from the previous day. "Hope the walk gotcha warmed up enough," She turned and glanced at the group. After giving a hard bang on the door, she spoke to the group again as the door was opening. "Wallets out, takin' bills at the door!"

Mason made his way back to the empty lot where his van awaited him. Giving a slightly loud yawn, he approached his van, only taking a second to notice the red car that was parked behind his van. If at any other point, he would probably feel a bit odd that the car was parked so close to his van, but due to being tired, plus wanting to get away from the horrible smell that he still couldn't pin down, he made his way towards the van, rubbing at his eyes slightly

Sammy's curious and slightly intimidated mood had gone away completely now as they neared the nightclub, the neon lights lighting up the dark streets, the amount of party goers that she found herself surrounded by, and the sheer energy radiating from their hostess, changed her mood into anticipation and excitement, like a child on Christmas morning. She waited behind the mass group, ready to hand her money in and make her way inside of the club, barely able to contain herself now

The door of thin metals was now just a little passed halfway open and while everyone was retrieving the bills of green that they would need to get in, Raven was fist pumping a tall and wide built dark skinned man who's security shirt looked as if it were tearing just being on him.

"Hey Al, this bunch is rocking with me tonight. I'm handin' out passwords so do ya think you could keep an eye out at the bar?" Raven asked.

The response given was "Shoot me some?"

"You know I gotcha dude."

He smirked. "Shiii. say no moe. What the move is white girl?"

"We're goin' halves," Raven answered, not bothered at all by the way security spoke. It was sort of their thing and Al was pretty chill for the most, so she didn't really mind portioning out some quick money to him. "I have a feeling that tonight's gonna be a good night."

"Word? On some Black Eyed Peas typa shit? Then again, it always is when you here. Aiight, so what the word is?"

Raven paused and thought over the question for a moment, a grin coming to her face a second later before motioning for him to lean down some. After a few exchanged whispers she was back at the door and standing to the side, motioning for the people–and their money, to start pouring in. "Alright, that's five dollars here. Want drinks for only two dollars? Find the big black dude named Al at the bar and he'll ask for the password." And with that, she started to accept the money person by person in exchange for a much more cheaper entrance and the password. It was in that moment that people got a closer look at her disguise/costume.

~

The dead stench followed Mason when he kept on his way to the van but in doing so, it shifted from one side to the other. But it wouldn't be until the reflective surface of the van's window was approached would the large eyes be seen glaring down at him from sockets that were slightly slanted and sharp looking.

Mason reached down into his pocket for his keys, his head low as he started sorting through them. But once his eyes lifted up, he caught the eyes staring at him through the window. He jolted up right, his keys dropping do the ground as he turned around to see what was behind him, but nothing was there. He started to hyperventilate a little, patting his jacket pockets for his inhaler to steady his breathing again, "T-That was just my brain.. right? I'm just really tired. There wasn't a crazy freak beast behind me, right? I'm just tired, that's all." These thoughts ran through his head as he patted down his jacket in a frantic manner, finally fumbling his inhaler out of his pocket and putting it to his lips

Sammy slowly saw herself approaching the girl as the line got shorter and shorter. Excitement start to get her knees shaking a little bit, but regardless, she followed behind, hearing the faint sound of music and chatter from within the club. It was only once she was finally up to the girl that she got a good look at her uniform. And even to Sammy, it was something quite out there, "Pretty avant garde stuff" She thought. She felt a little envious of the fashion. But her eyes moved up to the girls face with a smile, brushing her light colored hair a little, tilting her shades down as she spoke, "I hope this will suffice, madam"

Just as Mason was putting his inhaler up to his lips, a minacious voice agreed with him. "Perhaps you are, human." The words hissed, snarled and gurgled at him all at once, warm mucus like saliva drooping down onto Mason's left shoulder. And unlike before...the eyes were still there. "Perhaps you'd feel much more rejuvenated as skin stewed between my jaws."

Out of the corners of his eyes, Mason would barely see what appeared to be long transparent arms that were camouflaged against the air. The van shook some as something gripped the edge of it around the top.

~

"Yeah man, you guys have fun–password's yeet as in...well, Yeet...Keep it cool tonight, password's yeet....party hard fellas, password's yeet–" Before she knew it, Raven found that she was $75 richer than she had been beforehand and was already thinking, This'll be more than enough for some waffles later. Because after her second week doing what she did, she was more than sure that she was going to be practically starving. But little did she know that her world was going to be turned upside down the moment she lifted her head.

Oh FUCK. It took her second to register the face of the person in front of her after her while the woman was approaching. When she did she felt her tongue go numb as she was face to face with Sammy, someone she hadn't planned on seeing until tomorrow. And even after she was complimented on her clothing(or at least she took as one), she was only able to gawk at her until the woman spoke about the price. "O-oh uh, yeah–five is all it takes," she stuttered a little with a sort of laugh. Luckily, the mask muffled her voice enough to be at least distinguishable enough from her normal voice if purposely trying to make it a little deeper didn't. She took notice that unlike everyone that she let in, Sammy wasn't in rave attire which made her wonder how she hadn't even noticed her until now since she seemed so out of place among them.
She tried to remain as casual as ever as she took the money while her hands shook slightly from nervousness. And again, she had to reinforce in her mind that right now, she wasn't Raven. And by the looks of it, Sammy hadn't suspected anything. Taking a deep breath, she took a hit from her vaping mask and exhaled slowly. "The password's yeet to get a cheaper price on drinks, around two or three bucks."

Mason felt the dripping from his shoulder, slowly turning his head to look at the strange substance that rested on his shoulder, and when he saw more drip onto it, he jolted forward, looking up at the van, but barely able to make out anything standing on top of it. Mason's eyes were wide open, his hyperventilating started up again as he stared up at the empty space on top of his van, "W-What are you!?" Was all he could say, his body stiffening in horror at the thought of what the thing could possibly look like without it's camo. The thought of it existing at all was enough to make Mason shake in fear

Sammy chuckled, taking notice of her slight stutter and joked, "Oh, come on, I ain't that breathtaking, am I." Sammy gave a sort of laugh as she walked into the club, not wanting to take up the time of those behind her, and walked into the bar, but she turned around to Raven with a smirk, pushing her sunglasses back up to hide her eyes before she turned her attention back to the inside of the club, already the lights breaking out from the back, luring her toward where the fun was, "Ha. I bet Mason wish he came with me now"

"What am I?" The creature repeated the question with a chuckle that almost sounded like the third cousin of a garbage disposal before answering it mockingly. "A crazy freak beast, so it seems. But alas, it matters not. You will have no use of becoming knowledgeable of your inferiority in death."

~

Raven felt her stomach give a odd little flip and her cheeks become small embers under her mask as she watched Sammy on her way into the club. And when she received the smirk from her, she looked away out of embarrassment. Not understanding why she was feeling so nervous, she had to tell herself to snap out of it. Get your shit together Raven, it's just a coincidence. She returned her attention to the people that were left and hurriedly went back to getting them into the club, hiding her anxiousness while she was at it.

Coming into the inside of the building the smooth walls were covered in splats of paint that consisted of only neon colors. The ceiling was covered in a line of white lights that stretched down the hallway in two directions at the other end. The right side led to the restrooms while the left would take Sammy in the direction of the music and the many streaks of light that pierced the thin watery looking curtain at the end. The fabric was like a threshold, the featureless floor transitioning into glossy tiles that disappeared on the other side. The music, what sounded like a mash of dubstep, rock and hip hop, was blaring, and the bodies of those who had already made it inside beforehand could be seen already getting into the groove of things.

(Raven's Costume/Disguise #2)

Mason looked up at the direction of where the voice came from, his heart pounding in his chest like a hammer, no longer thinking about his hyperventilation, as all his thoughts were on the creature that was speaking to him. Thinking back to what he saw just a few blocks before, the creature that was following him, Mason gulped in the hopes of finding the courage to ask his question, "W-What do you want?"

Sammy looked around in amazement, as if she had stepped out of the world she knew and into something far more unseen, almost alien, and yet it drew her in almost immediately. She could feel the vibes of the place getting to her as well, already feeling her body moving to the beat of the music, feeling herself getting into the rhythm almost immediately. She had no desire to get any drinks, since she didn't want to be too messed up before she met Raven tomorrow, but that didn't stop her from having a good time almost as soon as she stepped in.

“Yooooon, can you BE QUIET!!!” Yoon heard her brother shout from the inside of his room he shared with their mother.

The young woman jolted again, and her eyes widened in realization at the possibility that someone might be after her. She rushed into the room her brother was in, locking the door and closing the windows in there .
“Eeewww... what’s that smell... did you fart—“ Before Sangeon could finish his sentence, he found his sister so hand covering his mouth to remain quiet, ordering him to scoot underneath the bed and remain there.

There was a silence that weighed throughout the apartment building, the sound of the crashing metal echoing out into the night. Strangely, it would go unchecked. Not a door to be heard opening, nor voices of concern.

Tap tap tap tap tap tap. The sounds of worn out sneakers being stomped against the floor frantically broke through the silence, a voice breathing heavily as it spoke. "Help! Somebody! Anyone!" The voice of a boy entered the hallway of the second floor, the door to the stairway being flung open.

The sigils that Yasha had placed around the apartment were starting to glow with a burning orange, and Yoon would come to find that Yasha had apparently been actively at work while the family wasn't there. Within the room, the symbols of protection began to sizzle from their hidden places on the wall.

~

The secret back door closed finally after seven more people managed to be squeezed in. Yet even while Raven was heading out to the floor, she couldn't shake the small bits of anxiousness that crept up at the thought of Sammy being in the same place at such a time. That is, until she started to get closer to the main area where the thumping of the music reached her ears. Reached something within her as it did every night. Now she could feel it just at the threshold. The electrifying waves of angst and ecstasy and anticipation and freedom all awaiting to be unleashed. And though she felt these things she could feel still that it wasn't time just yet.


~

"Your life and eternal soul," The creature answered sharply. It inhaled deeply through its nostrils. "The aroma of your fear, oh so deeply rooted. I can no longer hold my hunger. I would like to taste your flesh–extinguish your light in the name of the cursed peoples."

It chuckled again as it was speaking, something heavy enough to nearly push Mason to his knees landing on his shoulder. Something sharp began to pierce through Mason's clothes and the flesh around the front and back of his shoulder easily as he was suddenly snatched eight feet off of the ground. And it was the slivers of silver light from the moon that revealed the towering figure of the creature.

The cloak of air that hid it began peeling back, first unmasking the the blood red face that stretched into jagged ears. The long horns that curved from its wide head reached towards the sky, it's face pulled back into a permanent grin of clusters of teeth. A grin that was reminiscent to the ominous man from earlier in the day. Stuck to the back of its head was a thorny bush of quill-like dirty black hair. The garbs upon its body were something that was just as unusual. The long limb that held Mason up in the air was covered in bandages of cloth near its hands, a section of its scaly skin left exposed until its arm connected into the shell that covered its torso. Around his thick neck was what appeared to be some sort of dead-green cape.

(???)

Sangeon fidgeted under the bed, eventually being able to remove Yoon's hand from his mouth. His ears caught the sound of a boy screaming out in the halls, and he jolted at the sound. Despite being hushed by Yoon, he continued.

"S-Someone is in trouble!" He whispered loudly. "We gott--"

"Shhhhh----" Yoon's eyes widened as she too heard the voice. She signaled him to stay quiet and to ignore the voice. "Don't listen to it!" Whether it was a trick or not, she didn't trust any other possibility.

"B-B-But he needs h-help!" His eyes saw the glowing sigils in the room, the light in them reflecting on his brown pupils that were already beginning to tear up.

"Help! So–" A yelp was heard from down the hallway which was followed up quickly by the soft thud of a body. "P-please, somebody.." The voice of the boy whimpered. "I-its tr-trying t-to–AAAH!!" The was another scream of terror when the floor sounded as if it had been torn from the very foundation that it was laid upon.

And though she couldn't see it from the other side of the door, within that moment there was a large spike of something that felt stressed and afraid that Yoon would be able to sense. It was almost similar to what she felt from Yasha when the poji used magic around her, except that it was completely different in form and far less mature in nature. And compared to whatever else that accompanied it, it was far smaller in comparison.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!!" The boy's voice screamed, closer to the door than it was before.

But what responded was something that didn't belong there. Not in the apartment building. Not in the city. Not in the state or even the world. A high pitched inhuman screech echoed loudly through the building, croaks of the same caliber following behind it.

Sammy made her way into the center of the crowd, a few people bumping into her along the way, but still kept her good mood as she moved to the center of the room. She wanted a good view of the people playing the music, wanting to see what kind of music they would play. Plus, something about their hostess' energy was a thrill to Sammy, yet she couldn't understand why.

Despite Masons size, he was lifted off the ground with ease, struggling as he felt the pain from the sharp grip pull him off the ground, groaning in pain. He couldn't scream, part of him knowing that it would do him no good. In an attempt at doing something, anything, Mason's legs kicked at the creature as hard as he could in this state, kicking it a few times in the stomach, and occasionally in the crotch, hoping to escape it's grip on him

"Y-Yoonie c-c-call the police!!! I-It's probably that evil monster we saw in the m-movie!" Sangeon begged from where he hid, trembling now in fear while holding a pillow tightly. "d-do SOMETHING don't j-just stand there!!!"

Yoon cringed at the screech, having to cover her ears. She felt her heart drop when she was scolded by her younger brother, hushing him again before whispering. "T-The police won't do a-anything...." She learned the hard way unfortunately. Yoon took in a deep breath and cursed to herself before retrieving her phone and handing it to her younger brother. "H-Here, call Lauren!"
She ordered him. "A-A-And stay here!" She began to tuck pillows around the crevices of the bed to hide the fact he was under it and making sure the blanket hid the entire thing. Yoon looked around for a weapon, her eyes wandering to the nerf guns carelessly on the floor. But then realization struck her, and she remembered that her wand was in her room. Which was... across the living room.


"aaaaaghhhhhhhh...." She grabbed a nerf gun and held it tightly before leaning against the door. "1...2....ugh..." She stopped herself from opening it. "1...2...3!" Yoon slowly unlocked the door and slid out quietly with her hoodie hiding her face. And before she knew it, she was shooting nerf bullets at all directions while making a dash to her room. "goawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoaway!!!&qu­ot; She shrieked on her path.

It wasn't something that was noticed immediately but as Yoon went on her mad dash through the living room with Yasha's gift to Sangeon, the bullets that came from it were much louder than they were supposed to be. But it wasn't that the bullets had gotten louder, however. Instead, everything else seemed to have become much more quiet as if every other sound in the apartment building was drowned in silence.

The heavy breathing from outside the apartment door was still there though, sounding as if it had been amplified. The thuds of running feet down the hallway were like small claps of thunder in an empty space until there was a light screech from the floor before the door to the Park's apartment rattled shortly under the force of a thud from the opposite size, bringing forth a cry of pain that eased into a quiet whimper.

~

If it weren't a strange and horrifying encounter as is, the crotch shots that Mason took at the creature were just as futile as the kicks that were thrown at its body brought about small nudges and a grunt of annoyance. In fact, it didn't seem as if the thing had any genitalia where Mason kicked to began with. The creatures skin seemed to sink under the blows as if it were rubber stretching. "The Heliar was indeed correct to graciously task me with retrieving your head. Your heart." It pulled Mason towards it before smashing his back against the side of the van with so much force that the vehicle rocked onto one side, the tires on the right side lifting off of the ground for a number of seconds.
Crackle. crackle. The creatures wide jawline shifted back and then dropped downwards. Snap snap. In just a second, it's jaws were open wide enough to possibly take off the majority of Mason's head with a single bite. The putrid air that seeped from its mouth smelled heavily of only saliva and death.

But then something spectacular came about. The horrible stench of the creature's mouth started to waver and instead be battled against with a scent of citrus and sage and another underlying smell that was almost majestic but couldn't be identified. And despite his situation, Mason would get a strange feeling that something was coming towards him and the creature–and fast.

~

Raven had already decided on how she would have to go about things when she entered the room full of people who were already getting hyped by the music and going for drinks. She couldn't let Sammy find out who she was, sure, but something in her challenged every reason she had to try to avoid her for the night if she could. It was something about her costumes that gave her more confidence than she doubted she'd ever have normally. She was a lot more daring with her mask and more prone to see how far she could take things, and knowing this scared her shitless. On one hand, she hoped that Sammy would decide to leave a little early. On the other hand, she felt like she wanted to know a little more about the woman before tomorrow. Luckily, the more cautious part of her convinced her to beeline it for the booth while the current DJ was working the music on stage.

Yoon dashed across the living room, stopping for nothing on her way to her own bedroom. And once she got in, her hand trembling in attempt to keep the toy up while rattling through the mess in her room in search for the wand. But she eventually realized it was silly of her to keep shooting once she ran out of bullets. “Uh oh...” She muttered, dropping the toy to open her cabinets and throw all her underwear everywhere to find the stupid stick. And once she did, which was currently serving as a beanie holder, she grabbed it and began collecting bullets quickly to recharge.

Meanwhile, Sangeon was no longer under the bed. After failing multiple attempts to sign into his sister’s lock screen, he decided to stop once he heard the cry of pain followed by a whimper. Against Yoon’s wishes, he snuck out from his room and now found himself pressing against the main door of the apartment to hear what was happening. “a-are you okay?” He whispered in a shivering voice. And when he heard nothing, he concluded maybe this whole series of events was finally over. He had to get on the tip of his toes in order to open the door.

Mason stared into the creatures aping maw with nothing but absolute terror, still in a panic as he tried in vain to struggle out of the creatures grip, unable to find an escape from the beast. He wiggled and writhed but nothing would break him. Even when he felt the presence coming for him, it did not calm him down. If anything, it only made his struggle that harder as he tried to break from the beast, thinking that it had more coming for him

Sammy finally made it to the center, some of the patrons already getting tipsy off alcohol and were moving in a sort of slowed dance as the alcohol took effect on them. Sammy was still moving to the music in her own pace, but what she wanted was to see more of that masked woman. Something about her electrifying personality, it was like a drug that Sammy couldn't get enough of. It already put her in a mood to party, and she couldn't wait to see what it would be like when she started playing

[link]

CRASH!

Nicholas sat frozen and trembling from both fear and his cold damp clothing, staring at the space where the half open elevator just had been before being snatched downwards into a speedy descent. An elevator that he just had been forced to crawl out of in order to escape. With each thud that the metal made as it crashed into the walls on its way down, he flinched hard.
And then he heard it–the loud chattering of large teeth from below along with a sickening croak. The sound got him into a scramble to feet quicker than anything had in his entire life only to almost slip due to the soles of his soaked shoes trying to run. "Help! So–aah!" Just before he could call out again–Shhleek. His foot slipped across the sleek floor and before he could catch himself, the side of his cheek greeted the wall and caused him to slid to the floor with a groan. "P-please, somebody..." He could feel his throat constrict. "I-its tr-trying t-to–" The floor a couple of feet behind him jumped upwards with a loud bang, bringing a scream of fear from him as he pushed himself backwards across the floor.

And that's when by the grace of god, it happened again. He could feel his hand tingling with a sense of direction that spread through his arms and over his body. He could feel the presences around him, one that was faint and soft, yet frigid and just as frantic as he was. The other was pure malice and felt unnerving and sticky. It was like a body of water but if the water was muck and oil all mixed into a pot of rotting fish and sour crabs and old cheese, which was exactly what it smelled like to him. The smell, the exhaustion, the pain from the scrapes on his knee and arms along with the fact that he was cold and soaked brought forth some sort of courage out of him as he shouted, "LEAVE ME ALONE!!"

But when the response came as a screech that hurt his ears some, he scrambled to his feet and fleeing again. Please work please work please please pleaseplease, he pleaded while triying to focus on the tingling that was tailing through his body until finally his heart jumped with joy."Y-yes!" Sparks of golden light began to spill from his palm and tug him down the hall and towards one of the apartment doors, and he could just barely here someone shrieking from the other side. Unable to stop himself from the tugging fast enough, he fell face first against the door. Crunch. He yelped, pain shooting through his face, most of it coming from his nose. He could feel the warm blood start to leak down his upper lip, tears blurring his vision. Once again, it had led him to nothing. Once again, he began to question what was happening, his sanity. And once again, he regretted not taking that stupid medicine that made him so tired and sleepy.

“A-are you okay?”

Nicholas stiffened at the sound of the voice, his eyes widening. His call was finally answered. Before he could actually respond, the door was already opening. But in the same instance, he made the mistake of taking a quick glance towards the elevator. His blood ran cold at the sight of the triangular shape that was starting to pull itself up onto the second floor. Without a second thought he rushed into the door, bursting into the apartment and slamming the door and pressing his back against it.

The boy looked to be a couple of years older than Sangeon. His thick brown hair was wet and still hanging messily because of it. The golden light that he held within his right hand would be only a faint glimmer within to Sangeon. Yoon however, would be able to see it clearly. The streaks of gold that entwined lifted into a display of curves that eventually shaped into what looked to be some sort of compass of energy with the north, south, east, and west directions, the needle–which was an even more defined color of gold–pointed towards Yoon's room.

~

Once she reached the back booth, which was just two or three meters to the left of the dj booth, Raven immediately let out a sigh of relief. She greeted some of the workers who were making their way from the back, some in which were strippers that had gotten called in for the night. Now all that was left for her to do is unpack what she needed for the night which consisted of her discs, a black baggie the size of her hand, and her favorite pair of headphones. She flexed her fingers and stretched a little to prepare for work, the swirling energy of the club growing and growing further as the night progressed.

~

As Mason struggled the next thing that he would see is a flare of orange light and in the next instance, he would be released and left to fall to the ground.

The creature on the other hand was suddenly staggering back and hissing in agony, the hand that had been holding Mason a sizzling stump. But before it could realize what was coming, something zoomed passed Mason fast enough for the force of wind that it carried to move his hair. The object smashed into the creatures chest, sending it flying across the air and onto its back.

Then a thump on came from on top of the van and was accompanied with a voice. "Tsk tsk tsk, how fast bravado goes out the window when you're flat on your ass hm?" Standing on top of the van was a woman, a twisting tail of vibrant, fiery red and copper hair draped across her shoulder as it hung from the large white and silver hat on her head. The clothing of white and black that she wore were a little revealing but peculiar, for she had a cape that hung behind her and the sleeves were abnormally baggy until they got to her wrists where the cuffs were tighter and buttoned. "It's really a shame that you weren't able to enjoy using that hand a bit longer."

"Wretch!" The creature snarled, now recovered from the blow and well enough on its feet.

The woman scoffed and retorted, "I'd call that rude if I didn't believe that you were referring to the one who birthed you with that statement." It was then when the object that struck the creature had started floating back towards them could Mason see that it was....a link. But it was far from ordinary. It's straws were unusually curly and almost floppy while the brown-orange handle glowed dimly. And apparently it was also sturdy enough for the woman to use it as a foundation to not only step down onto, but also keep her balance perfectly as she walked across it.
Once she reached the ground and stood beside him, Mason would be able to immediately notice that she was surprisingly tall–almost a foot taller than him herself.

(A New Age Witch)

Mason fell onto the ground, still a bit in shock, his eyes wide and his mouth agape, yet his eyes moved up slowly once he heard the sound of something bumping on top of the van. Once he saw the tall woman, he felt like screaming once again, yet he covered his mouth to keep from screaming, since he could at least tell in the moment that she was more interested in the monster. As the two struggled, he looked under his van for the keys, hoping to find it and make a quick getaway during the altercation. Yet due to the darkness of the night, it was hard for him to find it, and his hand felt around in the darkness from under the van in the hopes of finding it, and fast.

Sammy, despite moving to the music, as if in a trance, kept her gaze on the booth. It was as if she was waiting for the girl to come on there. She was hypnotized by her, and yet, she wanted more of it. It was almost addictive to her. She continued to dance to the music, letting herself enjoy the music, even if she stood out from the rest of the crowd, she was still ready for a good time

"O-Okay, tie a rope with the sheets and e-escape through the window--" Yoon muttered to herself as she loaded the last bullet. She quickly rushed out her room, but at the sight of her brother and a complete stranger that seemed to possess magic, her heart stopped and her eyes widened in horror and fear.

Unlike Yoon, Sangeon's eyes were wide in bewilderment yet curiosity as he stared at the trespasser. But before he could ask what was happening in his trembling voice, Yoon shrieked for her brother to get away from him. She began shooting him with nerf bullets without hesitation, forgetting she had her wand. And despite efforts of Sangeon to stop her, Yoon ended up throwing the gun once it was empty at Nicholas harshly before dragging her brother away from him. She aimed her wand at him with Sangeon behind her, scooching him backward to force him back into the room. Her trembling hands whipped the wand back and forth, yelling at it to do something while warning the new incomer to stand back.

The woman began to step forward towards the creature until her attention was drawn to Mason. "I suppose it would be a good idea for you to wait in the car. Allow me to give you a hand," She reached behind her to the handle of the door only to find that it was locked. And so she yanked it open so forcefully that it would be a miracle that nothing broke on the door in the process. But the entire time the rest of her senses remained on the enemy as she pulled Mason up to his feet suddenly and shoved him into the car(and almost all the way over into the passenger's seat) with surprising physical strength. "Stay down!"

Her voice came from somewhere that wasn't where she had been before while the van's door was slamming shut, catching onto the ankle of Mason's pants. With a shrill hissing that could have only belonged to the creature, small holes began to tear into the van in many areas like it had been caught in the crosshairs of a firing squad.

The woman had taken cover behind the opposite side of the van with her broomstick in hand for only a brief few seconds, already concluding her suspicions of why the creature was there to began with. She held her broomstick out in front of her horizontally and spoke, "Chaenga, Opanatus Sieolaeas." The broom twisted in shape with the help of her hands, wood splintering seconds too fast for the normal human eye to see. The aura that drifted around it consumed it and with a subtle poof, it transformed.

~

The moment Yoon came out of her room, the needle on the projected golden compass spun wildly and in a second, it stopped with its arrow pointed towards Yoon.

Much like Sangeon, Nicholas's eyes were widened in bewilderment. He could feel the tingling within his palms become a pulse and the glow of the needle increased further. He was dumbfounded, never before seeing something of the sort occur. What did it mean? Who was this person? He didn't have time to register any of the questions that spun around his brain, the hail of nerf bullets were raining down upon him. "Ah–hey–" Caught by surprise he tried to shield himself, the golden light dispersing. "Stop it!" When he heard the clicking sound of the empty toy, he found himself having to scoot as quickly as he could to the other side of the wall when it was thrown at him. "What is wrong with you!"
At the sight of the weird stick she pulled out his brows raised in confusion, and when she started flailing it around like some sort of witch he started thinking that maybe this really was all just some sort of weird dream that he would wake up from. Despite this, he was still going to attempt to make some sort of explanation of what was going on or try to get her to stop yelling until–

EEEaaEEeerrrrghhruugh!!! Another shrill and baleful shriek rang out.

Nicholas was as pale as a ghost. Holding his hands out in front of him just in case there was something else being aimed at him. "Listen, listen! W-we have to get out of here right now!"


~

After about 30 minutes, Raven was dusting crumbs of green off of her fingers and hands, her "nature walk" as she liked to call it now completed and her headphones's ear pads over her ears. She didn't usually smoke all that much on work nights because she was a believer of keeping work things at work and home things at home, but she had been feeling unusual in a way that made her get the shakes just a few minutes earlier. She wanted to brush it off as nervousness, but she didn't feel as nervous as she had been when she first found that Sammy had been there. It was more of an unsettling feeling. And so rolling one helped her calm her mind just as much as it was going to do when she smoked it.

She could already hear the music outside easing into the slower sequences of music which they usually did when it was almost time for the DJs to switch out. Gathering everything she needed, she prepared to head out of the back booth.

Mason couldn't say a word as he was lifted from the ground with ease and thrown into the van. He was hoping to take cover near the mattress, but found it difficult once he saw that his pants legging was stuck in the door. That, added with the creature putting holes into the van, the light from outside breaking into the van, Mason was left in a state of panic, unable to control his words, "What's going on!? W-What!? Who!? Why!?" All these words were rushing around his head and eventually his mouth, panic still driving him to bury his head and hope that he'd eventually fall asleep and it would all be a nightmare, but even he knew it was more than bad dream

Sammy's movements slowed down along with the son, taking notice of the other ravers slowing down in their fun as well. Her eyes kept lancing over at the booth from time to time, waiting impatiently for the girl to appear up there. She just couldn't help herself, she told herself. She wanted to see more of that fiery personality

"No, YOU have to get out n-now!" Yoon shrieked with her PJ pants of baby sheep on and flailed arms. However, she still aimed her wand at him until completely dropping it when she heard the eerie scream, which in turn caused Sangeon to yelp and hide behind her sister. Yoon breathed hard, quickly making her way to exit with her brother through the window of the room. But upon looking down, her eyes widened at the long distance to the ground. Her heart pounded as she began to tie blanket upon blanket, reaching for her phone on the way and dialing Yasha.

"Me?!" This was Nicholas's response to being told that he was the one that had to leave which insulted him much more than it should have considering that's exactly what he wanted to do. His gaze followed the girl and her sibling to the window and continued to do so when she began to tie the blankets together. With his heart pounding and blood rushing through his ears he didn't catch on to what she was doing at first, but when he did he immediately moved to try to help. He was stopped short though, nearly jumping out of his skin when the kitchen's faucet quite literally burst with water. The difference, however, was that he knew that it wasn't normal water.

With that memory still fresh in his mind he rushed over to look out of the window only to see exactly why Yoon hadn't just climbed out. "Freaking freak!" The distance between the window and the ground brought a twist to his stomach. He hadn't even noticed how far he had gone up during his dreadful time on the elevator, and now that he could see with his own two eyes he knew that there was no way that he would survive the jump. Yet he felt that he could have a better chance when compared with the thing.
I'm going to die..we're going to die,. The thought hit like a train and a bus colliding into one another at full speed.

And it wasn't made any better when Yoon's phone finally went to voicemail. This is the phone of Lauren, voice your mail here please and thank you, Yasha's voice came from the phone–or rather Lauren's voice with Yasha's way of speech.

~

A force that almost was able to throw it over onto its side crashed into the right side of the van, a grunt from the outside leashed behind as jaws snapped savagely but presumably only coming down on air. The next couple of seconds afterwards filled with a sequence of flashing hues accompanied by what sounded like a combination of a banshee screaming and a loud smack with each one.

The door to the van swung open suddenly once again. But instead of Mason being thrown in, the tall woman's head stuck inside, panting lightly. "Things are almost finished here," she paused momentarily with a grunt. The unmistakable sound of something breaking was heard and the creature's shriek of pain spilled into the van. However, the woman just rolled her eyes and continued. "Be a darling and don't allow those quills to prick you. They're toxic and extremely painful. Sit tight, I'll be with you in just a moment."

And with that the door was closed again. Not only that, but now that they were mentioned, the 9-inch shard-like quills that were a lot more noticeable. Some of them had pierced through the side of the van completely and stuck three inches deep into the opposite wall of the inside.

~

"No thank you, I prefer wine." Yasha stepped passed the young man in his early twenties and ignored the drink that he offered. She was sure it was laced with something because as she made her away around some of the people from the moment she had got in through the back of the club and even outside in the line, she discovered that a lot of the people present were consuming colorful little bites of something that came in many different colors and some shapes. What they were exactly was of no interest to her either. She also had taken notice of the people who were still clothed in things that related to the holiday and briefly her thoughts went to Yoon and the ridiculous outfit she had been wearing to promote the salon. And trying not to snicker at the thought, she quickly went back to what had caught her attention before.

What she was focused on more than anything was the atmosphere within the club. Despite the slower pace of music, there were many there who still moved about as if things were much more energetic. She would have started thinking that perhaps the drugs were taking their course as a factor, but she also noticed that it was like they were waiting for something. Not only that, but the fluctuating energy within the vicinity was attempting to influence her to move. To join everyone else in the sea of dancing bodies. She couldn't pinpoint the where the energy was coming from either because it felt like it was all around her, but she could feel that she was close. And little did she know, much closer than she would expect.

The flashing club lights dimmed, and the music transitioned into radio static that caught the attention of the club.

"Shit shit, here she comes! I'm tellin' you man, this is about to blow your mind!" Someone who was closer to where Sammy was was talking to one of the club's newbies.

The lights dimmed further, the space being filled now with faces illuminated by glowing face paint and glow sticks and bodies partially wrapped in blinking Christmas lights. Behind the DJ booth, gnarly teeth outlined in a deep neon pink light swayed back and forth for a moment as a voice altered to sound like an AI spoke. "Systems loading." The sound of an upbeat and quick paced drums was behind the words of the voice as they were spoken. "Registering sound sequences." The sound of the drums made a smooth transition into the tapping vivace snares. "Initiating Hype." Cymbals entered into the fray of extending sounds, matching the tempo of the snares.

The exhilarating ambiance of the club increased further and further with each new sound that came. The people within the club shifted into a phase of restlessness that was like a chain that connected the growing anticipation of the collective ravers. People were beginning to down drinks like water.

A particular part of the beat began to increase in speed, one of the red neon lights that had been flashing prior now starting to do so at the same time. Finally, some of the lights were switched back on and centered on the DJ booth and revealed none other than Roux just as the build up reached its climax with the voice saying, "This DJ Roux(a play on the word Rocks) Your World".

And in that moment everyone seemed to sync, feet leaving the ground as everything went silent for a fraction of a second, landing just as heavy bass dropped into the club like a bomb. The floor felt like it shook.

Yasha, taken by surprise, could feel a tsunami of ebullience and rapture crash down around her and was almost caught in the wave.

The atmosphere was like all of their hearts had become one giant beat to the music, bodies jumping and dancing.

Sammy's eyes immediately tuned up to the DJ booth, her gaze locked on the girl from up top. For a moment, she didn't even notice the sound coming from the sound system. Once she did, she felt the mood of the music move through her body, feeling the vibrations move through her like a sensation. She could feel her body moving with the motions of the beat, a sense of joy and excitement hitting her like a crashing wave. And once the music reached the breaking point, hitting the club with a loud beat, she reacted in unison with the group, bouncing and bobbing her head, her hair swinging back and forth like a cape, her body moving wildly to the music, and her mood shifting to what felt like an other world experience.

Mason struggled to get his pants leg out of the door, contemplating taking his pants off to break free, only to fall back once the woman opened the door. He stumbled back slightly, his chest raising up and down quickly before his attention turned to the quills next to him. At the sight, he saw that his hand had just barely avoided touching it, and he pulled his arm back quickly. Hearing the screams from outside, his eyes darted from back to back, thoughts racing through his mind, "W-What the fuck is going on here". As he stumbled to his car seat to get a better look, in his frantic struggling, his arm hit the radio at the front, turning on one of Mason's favorite tracks loud enough to almost drown out the struggle from outside

Up at the DJ Booth, Raven could feel euphoria seeping into every fiber of her body. Her hands were moving across knobs and switches quickly, sections of the music being adjusted as desired to enhance the overall sound. With the movement of each knob and button pressed on her launchpad she felt a jolt of something unexplainable course through her fingers. With the sounds being produced, she felt as if she had become one with the crowd. It was almost like she could hear what they desired to hear–she could feel which thump from the music kept them going. She scratched one of the discs and increased the bass just a little more simultaneously, decreasing the treble as well.

Meanwhile, Yasha unknowingly had began to bob to the music just a little. The more wild movement from the people around her was making her path through the crowd a bit more difficult now that she had to avoid swinging arms and pushing bodies. She could sense the energy being bounced around from person to person rapidly, following the strings of it that were left loosely attached but tightened at certain parts of the music.

~

While looking out the windows Mason would just barely catch the glint of thick steel, the rattling of chains going unheard under the blare of loud music. Sight of the woman was brief through the mirrors on the side of the van as she was seen sprinting unnaturally fast. And then there was silence. Or at least from inside the van there wasn't anything else to hear when the outside noises ceased to reach.

The next minute later the body of the creature, its neck constricted by two loops of the thick chain, came crashing down on the hood of the van and caused it to cave inwards under the force. And slowly, it's body slid off–or rather was drug from the hood with one forceful yank that looked like it could have snapped its neck if it was just a little harder. And within a few seconds, the backdoors of the van were thrown open.

The tall woman stood there reeling in the chain until the creature was at her feet and before Mason could interject, she had already hoisted the creature up and threw inside onto the mattress, it's knees down to its legs hanging out the back because of its size. Aside from the gash across her cheek, she seemed to be all in one piece and completely fine. She let out a relieved sigh and spoke. "'Hope you don't mind it too much love, but I'll be requiring this space for our friend here."

*Sammy was completely lost to the music now, her body moving in this rhythmic pattern. She wanted to shout in joy, be for more, but stopped, knowing her voice would be drowned out by the music and the crowd. She knew she'd get her chance to shout and cheer. Until then, she let her boy lose control to the music, her arms, legs, and hips moving to the music in a trance like state, and enjoying every last second

Mason jolted back once again with a startled screen as he saw the creature get thrown onto the hood of his van, only to jolt back again once the van's back door was open and the monster was thrown into the back. He wanted to shout many things, one such thing being, "Yes, I mind". But he was still in a state of shock and fear, that he didn't say a word. He didn't even react. He just sat at the end of the van, still slightly in a panic, his gaze down at the monster

"ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!??!?!" Yoon shrieked when she was sent to voicemail. She had a mini heart attack as she buried her phone into her pocket, telling herself she was going to slap Yasha if she ever made it out alive. When Nicolas came into the scene, she scooted away uncomfortably, making her brother do the same thing. Mumbling to herself in Korean, she assembled more of the rope through various sheets she had. She ordered her brother to stay away from the strange man and remain silent, even though she herself was panicking.

* * *


“It’s funny, considering he was decapitated and the wife still went on with an open casket ceremony.” Despite the disturbing ending to the story, the intoxicated group in the club surrounding Kore laughed with rosy cheeks, clueless of what she was saying. The pink-haired woman took another sip from her third free drink of the night, observing the group apathetically as the music penetrated her ears. She was never fond with the type of music, but it enthralled her to see how others reacted to it.

Kore’s hair was teased more than usual, and the makeup she had on was a gothic-vibe that only accentuated her doll-like features. The rest of her pale skin was openly displayed through one of her glow-in-the-dark work outfits that could barely be considered an outfit. It was mostly just straps around her that glowed in the dark, along with dark colored stocking and heels. They barely covered anything but her nipples and barely anything in the back. However, she seemed to have no problem with it since that specific outfit was a great holder for money, for she already had hundreds attached to her around her thighs. Ironically, she had done nothing yet–just gone around conversing with people and telling morbid stories. Sometimes all she needed to do was stay quiet and let others do the talking, enough where they would spill all their emotions and eventually all their money.

The nightclub went on, the the overall ambiance only growing in power. And the more it did, the wilder the dancing started to become. People were grinding and mashing against one another, laughing and some shouting the lyrics to the songs put into the mix that they knew when they came around.

Raven was absorbed into her music and the people there like never before. Strands of her hair bounced with her movements as she went further into a groove of her own. As Roux, she was the groove. She scratched the records again and brought the bass down halfway to make a clean transition into an airy sound. The buildup was quicker this time, a sped up version of the first 13 seconds to Travis Scott's "Highest in the Room" before lowering the speed and pitch all the way down and reviving the mix with her personally dubbed version of the "Party Rock Anthem". And though it was what she would consider an "old ass song", she made it work.

It wasn't until she was just getting into the newer tempo did Raven catch sight of her in the crowd. She saw her flashing in the club lights, almost glistening under the flares of blues, pinks, and reds. And though she was surrounded by so many other people, she stood out among them all with no facepaints or neon lights to make her glow. Raven didn't think she needed it. She watched her dance with the crowd, yet somehow have so much fun by herself.

What am I doing?! Raven had to ask herself this as she put the mix into a quick loop. Messy, but it didn't matter. Her hands went under the desk part of the booth and started messing with one of the spotlights. Why? To get attention. I gotta be kidding myself. Raven what are you doing? And that's when the reminder hit her. Right now, she wasn't Raven. And that's when the atmosphere swallowed her, and she was unable to stop herself in the moment.

Once she finally got her attention, she would motion Sammy towards the booth.

~

Nicholas began to try tying the blankets together again with trembling hands, feeling just as nervous and wary of the strangers as they were of him. "Sun is shining in the sky, there ain't a cloud in sight–It stop raining–Everybody's in the play and don't you know–" he mumbled a song to himself anxiously, a habit that he had. He stuttered over some of the words when a gargle of a croak came from much closer than he liked. It sounded as if it were right there in the room with them.

~

The woman blinked a time or two, following Mason's panicky gaze down to the creature. "What? Is it that you are afraid of him? It's understandable. After all, he is quite an ugly one isn't he?" She said with a chuckle. "You shouldn't worry though, it's definitely incapacitated. Although I would still be cautious of the quills. It may be sedated, but those aren't obviously. Give me a moment and I'll see what I can do about that nasty thing on your arm."

Yet when Mason would look at either of his arms, he wouldn't see anything there at all.

"Now to do something about these–ah! I've the perfect solution!" The woman exclaimed. She cleared her throat, holding up the opposite end of the chain in her hand.
"Gaelilali." When the woman spoke these enchanted words her voice carried a quiet reverb of heavenly echoes.

The heavy looking thick chain dispersed before Mason's eyes into a millions of specs of light that whirled into a different shape within the woman's hand and formed from the handle up until a large 7 foot menace of a ridged blade of silver-coated steel stood mighty within her grasp. She started to measure out her swing, using the frame of the back of the van as a means of marking where she would presumably cripple the creature severely in order to close the doors.

((Gaelilali, a mighty Zweihander))

Sammy continue to move her body to the music, getting more and more crazy and wild, her senses lost to the music, letting her hair down and letting her body shake along to it. Though a few people approached her to dance, she kept her distance from them, seeing how she wasn't interested in anything but the girl up top. But as if on cue, as if her thoughts were heard, she saw the girl wave her up on stage. Her heart started racing faster with excitement, pounding in her chest like a hammer. Yet, she wasn't going to refuse. She quickly made her way to the booth, pushing past a few of the dancers before finally finding herself close to her again. She greeted her with a smirk once again, lifting her glasses up above her eyes and shouted over the crowd and music, "Did you miss me?"

Mason looked over at his arms, still in shock, mouth still agape, before he turned over to her, "W-W-What..." Was all he could manage to say with him bein gout of breath, ready to pass out from shock and exhaustion. But he soon found new energy when he looked at the massive sword in her hand and exclaimed, "W-Wait, you're not gonna swing that in here, are you!?"

"Of course not. The space within this van would be much to small. That's why I'm outside," the woman remarked. She started to spin the sword slowly but skillfully by the handle with movements of her fingers and wrist. "And here weee, go–"

Whoosh. The chop was clean and swift, the creature jolting up with a salivating shriek of agony as its legs were swiped clean off, only to be smacked back into silence by the flat side of the blade. The woman scoffed lightly to herself. "I stand corrected. It seems that I did have to swing it inside after all."

~

Raven, despite her heart cramming into her ribcage, smirked behind her mask, replying with "Maybe, maybe not. It depends." Their eyes met, and she felt her heart jump. Oh god, what am I getting myself into? She was telling herself that she shouldn't be doing this. "I saw that you were havin' hella fun down there ya know. Whaddaya say to some real fun hm?"

Mason kept himself pressed against the walls of the van as the massive blade slashes the creature in front of him. He turned his head away, yet the scream was something he knew he wouldn't forget about for a long time. His eyes turned to see the damage done, just a bit thankful that the creature was dead before his eyes moved up to the woman and he asked, "W-who... or... what are you?"

Sammy's eyes stared back into Raven's, one of her brows raising at her question, but her smirk returned more as she replied, "Hmm... well, I shouldn't really talk to strangers, but... you seem like such a treat. Why the hell not? But what do you consider fun, if I may ask?"

The woman swiped the massive blade to the side with a flick of her wrist to throw the burning pale blood from its coat of silver. "Those are some fantastic questions. How about I answer them for you while we're on our way?" She replied, shutting the doors afterwards.

Mason would have to wait a couple more seconds as the woman worked her magic to store away the grand sword while also discarding the severed limbs of the creature in a blaze that reduced them to ashes.

But also to take a brief moment to make her change.

~

Raven paused, and after letting the question go over in her head along with what her answer was going to be, she was pushed along by the music. She had taken it off of repeat while Sammy had been making her way up to the stage, and with the current song now building up she bit her lip.

It was only then did Raven notice that the crowd was chanting. "Go! Go! Go! Go!" It was like they had been inside of her head and knew what had crossed her mind and encouraged her.

A treat huh? "What I consider fun?" She stepped a little closer to Sammy, pulling her face mask up just enough to free her lips. The rate of her heart felt as if it were matching the beat. And as the silence occurred before the drop, she answered. "Putting on a show for the people." And with that she did the unthinkable and pressed her lips into hers.

The moment their skin touched there was an explosion of bliss between the two that lit the club with excitement, the crowd going into a frenzy of cheers with another quaking bass drop as the dancing continued.

When Raven pulled away she panted softly, her body having a light case of the jitters. Yet the energy of the atmosphere she created was like a crown upon her head that gave her the confidence to speak while so flushed. "Welcome to La Soirée Epicée. Hope I didn't just steal your first kiss," she said with a chuckle and surprising herself yet again as she pushed Sammy off the stage and into the awaiting hands of the crowd.

The crowd would throw Sammy up and down in the air across the sea of people and pass her along like a wave.

Sammy kept her confidence as she looked at her, but even she was taken by surprise at what the woman did next, pressing her lips against hers, bringing her to a sudden state of surprise that she couldn't find the words to explain. She just let her body react naturally, enjoying the sensation, having to keep herself from lifting her hands and feeling around her. After she pulled a way, a light chuckle came onto her face, only for her to be surprised as she shoved her off and onto the crowd, causing Sammy to burst into a joyous laughter, barely able to hold onto her hat and glasses as she was carried by the crowd. Even with the barrage of events, she still was a little shaken by the woman's sudden act of kissing her, not sure how to feel at the moment. But she knew that she enjoyed it.

"O-On our way?" Mason replied in a dumbfounded manner before he picked himself up off the van floor and replied, "W-we can't just go yet! I have a friend that will be wondering where I am an... Shit!" Mason replied as it all suddenly hit him, "Sammy's going to be here and she's going to see all this and either have a panic attack or want to beat someone up. And how am I going to explain that some monster came at me and was killed by an Amazonian with a sword"

Raven pulled her mask back down, deciding that any regret that came from what had just happened would be for tomorrow's her. She grinned like a fool who had been given the world, not even sure herself of why she did so as she watched the crowd carry Sammy with the flow of the music. She wasn't even sure of why she took such a risk, or even why she kissed Sammy to began with knowing that tomorrow she would have to face her once again as her normal self. But as of now, she didn't care and couldn't help but to laugh as she continued on with the music.

~

[Jackline]

Jackie waved some of the misty clouds of element dust from around her face, straightening out the wrinkles in the white tank-top she wore and kept tucked within her polyester khakis. Too bad this job doesn't pay worth a damn, she thought to herself almost irritably. But then again, it was to be expected. After all, the organization had only just lifted off the ground. And of course with her being a reporter she made enough to be satisfied. She tugged her beige jacket all the way over her shoulders so that it was snug the way she liked it to be and caught some of what the man was saying as she continued on her way to the passenger's side door. "An Amazonian? A bit flattering if I'd say so myself." She said once the door was open.

When the van door opened, Mason would find that the tall woman was no longer there. Well she was, but no longer as tall and with a change of attire and hairstyle. She climbed into the seat, asking Mason to let her see his left arm.

Yoon’s eye twitched the more she heard the stranger speak. “B-Be quiet! You’re not HELPING!” She growled, but then widened her eyes and silenced herself once she heard the croaky gargle. She felt the hair of her skin bolt upwards, but she didn’t waste anymore time before tying the very end of the long blanket around her bed frame. She gathered the knots of the blanket she was able to tie together and threw it out the window. It was long, however, not long enough to reach the floor outside which meant a small hip at the end was required.