"W-What the hell are you talking about a Queen fo-" Mason barely managed to speak out about it before the light around Jackie enveloped her, causing Mason to fall into a sit in a panic, crawling away from the figure until his back hit a wall as he stared up at her now taller figure in shock and a bit of fear, unable to fine the proper words to speak to her as he was just left staring, his eyes wide and his mouth agape. He remained in his shock until he heard the creatures shrill screech of agony that took him out of it, already putting Mason in another panic attack as he tried to search for his inhaler again, but to no avail. He didn't hear a word of what Jackie said as he patted his pockets for his inhaler, already feeling a fit of heavy breathing taking over once more.

As Raven looked back at where Sammy was, she was already resting her back on the couch, looking over her cellphone as she gave a wave to Raven when she looked back, a grin coming to her face as well as she kept her gaze on her phone. Despite the fun time she was having, she was a bit taking back by the lack of any texts. "Where's that big dork at? He usually texts me around this time when I'm gone for too long. Guess he must've fell asleep again." Sammy decided that the best course of action was to send Mason another text in the hopes that he'd answer.
Yo! U Awake :P
Gonna be out for a bit
Think I got a new friend for us ;)
Night, dudes

Jackie observed her nails while the creature squirmed under her, though she did keep an eye on it long enough to ensure that the liquid had been ingested. Her gaze eventually drifted to oniikee, watching its chest heave heavily. "How nice of you to join us again. I hope you're conscious enough to still comprehend, for we have a few questions that have answers that we're interested in you see–"

"The damns...I am able to gift towards your interests do not exist!" It snarled, snapping its jaws at her.

"Is that so? Well how fortunate it is that one of us has been force fed a elixir of sincerity that will be taking effect. I'll be generous and let you in on a secret. It wasn't me. It would be best to make this easier on yourself."

"You will rue the day you dared to interfere with the works of Heiliar!"

"Ah, there's a good start. This Heiliar, what about it? What does it have to do with big and scruffy over there?" She said, motioning towards Mason.

Grunts and growls flooded from the creature as it attempted vainly to keep its jaws forced close. But eventually the elixir forced it to give way little by little. "Eve--rything!"

Jackie furrowed her brows. "And so this Heiliar individual is the one responsible for sending you then?" She paused. "Over the passed couple of years there have been other attacks, many of them in fact.But I'm sure you're more than aware of that yourself. Why is that so? What's the motive behind taking the lives of these people?"

"Ha..hharr....vesstting..." The oniikee was forced to growl. "Harvest...ing...magic....for the Dael."


~


While Raven was waiting for the drinks she was going to take a seat at one of the plushy seated stools that were available, but something caught her attention. Something that smelled lightly of spoiling oysters or dying dog. Taken aback by the stench, she took a small sniff at herself to make sure that it wasn't her and thank god that it wasn't.

Mason wanted to blurt out his own questions, wanting to shout why he was getting dragged into the middle of this, what all this talk of Speakers was and how he could get away from it all and go back to just typing on a laptop. But despite that, he couldn't find the right words. His body was busy trying to not fall into a real state of panic as he clutched his chest, doing his best to calm down naturally as he couldn't find his inhaler

Sammy's gaze returned to Raven who was sitting at the stools. She couldn't help, in her current mood, to playfully rub at her eyes in a crying motion before waving it off, her attention going back to her phone to search through the news. One thing that caught her attention was some live updates on an entire neighborhood being destroyed by what reports were calling "a deadly sinkhole". Sammy just rolled her eye, "More dumb clickbait", and she swiped through it without another thought. She turned over to the bar where she could see Raven, her eyes looking over her body from the back as she was at the bar. Feeling a bit playful, she let out a loud yawn, loud enough for Raven to hear, not knowing about her thoughts as she spoke, "Boy, I'm getting kinda tired waiting here. I wonder where that DJ girl walked off to". Clearly, Sammy was grinning from ear to ear at this

"What's wrong with me?! Nah, what's wrong with YOU? You're the one that brought that creature here! This is YOUR fault, you racist piece of---o-of trash! And now you brought us to who knows where and we're gonna be eaten by who knows what!" She swerved once more when coming across the fleshy balloons. She grumbled to herself, "And now I have no idea where we're headed!"

"It's not like I freakin SUMMONED the thing! You're the one who was waving around that stupid stick like a japanese witch so one of your STUPID magic spells must've backfired and it wants to kill you now too!" Nicholas did his best to not be thrown around by Yoon's swerving while he yelled back at her. "And we're STUCK HERE because of you! YOU'RE the one driving! A-and your face is dumb–" But before Nicholas could continue on, the radio screeched to life at a frequency that forced him to cover his ears immediately.

The knobs to the radio began to turn, the screen scrawling with some sort of static green shades and the buttons mashing themselves randomly. The lights flickered harshly and in the brief few seconds that they did so, the radio crackled until a distorted voice pushed through. "Yoon! Can y–me–" Though not exactly clear due to the signal strength, there was no mistaking Yasha's worry riddled voice.

~

Raven's reaction to Sammy's playfulness, however, would never be seen. The light blush that would have crept over her cheeks from behind her mask, or the way she would have curled the end of a strand of her hair nervously in hopes that she was really joking like she thought that she was. When the room door swung open and slammed shut, her head turned immediately just as she was heading back to Sammy with their drinks.

Dressed in glittering silver stalkings and bras that were wrapped in neon lights that flashed simultaneously, were two of the club strippers. They were twins, both of them the same height with matching "uniforms" for the night and short black hair that had been covered in glittery stars at the night's beginning. But now there was no glitter. Their bodies were drenched, water looking as if it were melting from their skin. Thin trails of black ran down their face from their eyes. And in the silence that overtook the room momentarily aside from the music that continued on its own accord and the people who simply just didn't care, they stood there in silence with their gaze moving around the room slowly. Searching, until their eyes came upon one of the only other people standing.

"U-uh...are you two oka–what the f-" Raven wanted to gag when a pungent sour smell punched her nostrils, but her throat constricted as she found herself stuck where she stood under the stare of them both. The crawling she felt creep over her skin told her that something was off. She could feel what was once the sporadic and energetic atmosphere being smothered by a unsettling sticky feeling. A feeling that made her feel like she had missed out on a decade's worth of showering. Like she had dirt underneath her skin–like murky contaminated water was being poured onto her.

~
"A Dael?!" Jackie's relaxed posture stiffened some, and she had to pause to prevent from breaking her composure. But broken or not, there was no denying that what she had just been told couldn't be ignored. "What, are you and your squad of pesky amateurs really attempting to resurrect a Dael? And what, you planned on making our friend here its host?"

"You A deep gutteral chuckle came from the lizard-porcupine-thing, its resistance still present. It began to hiss something in a shrill, monstrous manner. A language that the word "foreign" wouldn't describe, for it would be an understatement.

"Oh for the sake of us all, English please. No one fan understand that repulsive croaking and I don't believe either of us care to learn it."

The creature squirmed within the chains, growling. But the way its supposed face was stretched back around its mouth...it was grinning widely at them both. "You will all perish! The blood of yae will bathe the Kingdom of--"

"Answer the damn question!" Jackie snapped impatiently.

The command caused the potions effects to strengthen. The creature choked on its laughter, its shrieks of despise being twisted and forced into words that complied. "N-no...the Dael has...other uses for th...the so called Keepers." It began to laugh yet again, despite the harm that resisting the liquid from the vial brought. Its eyes turned to Mason and they glowed with hunger. "You will be the death...of everything, and the rebirth of that in which is deathly!"

Sammy gave a light yawn again, a bit too intoxicated from the weed to pay immediate attention to the two as she spoke again, "Hoo boy, this sure is taking a bit. I hope that DJ girl didn't run off no- no-.... Oh, what the fuck!?" Sammy finally spoke as the smell had reached her nose. She covered her nose with her hands and turned her head to see them, a bit disgusted at the sight of them, as she hid herself behind the couch ever so slightly and thought, "Is this some kind of fucked up new fashion they got going here or something? No, that's not possible. Probably another drug addict or something" But as she saw that their eyes had fallen on Raven, she stood up a bit, hoping to lighten the mood of the situation. She walked over, playfully resting her elbow on her shoulder, though still speaking through her closed hand around her nose and mouth,
"Hey, kid. What's the get up on these two supposed to be?"

Claudio Was sitting in his black car, sitting at a red light and driving down the road in total silence. He didn't want to listen to much of the radio right now, especially with the apparent word of some strange happenings going on in the city. It was the last thing he wanted to hear right now. It would just irritate him. He had also shut his phone off as well, not wanting to get a barrage of phone calls from the Pepper's Shoes. He was also having a bit of an obsessive desire to brush through his hair, making sure it would stay in the right way it was brushed with his hair

"I SWEAR TO ALL GODS IN EXISTENCE THAT I WILL PUSH YOU OUT THAT DOOR RIGHT NO--AHHHH--!" Yoon jolted when she heard the radio come to life, her heart stopping for a fraction of a second seeing the buttons take control on their own. But then her eyes widened when she recognized that voice. "Y---y-yASHA!!!!" She yelped, turning the volume all the way up. "YASHAHELPME!!!" Yoon cried desperately. The magical being on the other side of the communication device could hear the terror and distress in Yoon's shaky voice. "I d-d-don't know where I am--i dont knowifmybrotherisokay--a-and a demon is chasing me and this racist punk a-and I don't know where I'm going---" There were long pauses where Yoon had to sniffle and catch her breath since she had begun to cry just a little.

"Y-your freaking radio is talking now?! What the heck? WHat the heck!" Nicholas was breathing heavily, pressing himself against the seat. His eyes moved back and forth between the radio and the passenger's side mirror.

"Yoon listen to me! I–...hold–..this...–spell, so I'm going to need you to focus!" Yasha's voice spoke to her urgently, finally clearing up some. "Right now you're confined inside a pocket dimension that belongs to the creatures that are after you. Usually these dimensions mirror where they were before the transition to said space occurred. But something that's also left behind are tracings that can be used to open a pathway of sorts back to this dimension," she spoke quickly but clearly. "At the moment the tracings are the most potent at near your residence. Are you anywhere near that location?"

~

It took Raven a little while to realize that Sammy had been speaking to her, though she didn't exactly know if that had been due to the whole "kid" shtick or the fact that her head felt as if water were swishing around within it. She was trembling, so that she could feel some of the alcohol spill out onto her gloves. It was when the twins both took a sudden step towards her and Sammy did she manage to finally move herself back a few steps out of fear. "S-Sammy I think we need to go..." She whispered to Sammy.

One of the employees, a security guard named Brian that had left to grab some towels for the twins, returned. He moved passed Sammy and Raven to approach the twins with the towels. "Amy, Anna, what the fuck happened? Did somebody–" Crunch

The glasses that Raven were holding shattered against the ground as she stumbled backwards with a shriek. She only heard the sounds of gasps and screaming briefly before everything drowned out, her mind trying to process why Brian's face was facing her while his body was still facing the twins. Trying to process why it kept turning and turning like it was a cap being twisted off of a bottle.

Mason didn't know if this was really happening. He was always a skeptic to this kind of stuff, to creatures like this existing, and yet here it was, standing right in front of him with this woman getting information from him. And every time the creature answered one question, it just added five more to Mason's already fragile psyche at this point, making him cover his head in frustration and ask, "What is he talking about all this Dael and Keeper stuff for? This all just sounds like gibberish"

Sammy gave a chuckle now as she heard Raven ask to leave, speaking out loud, "What, from these two? They look harmless. You can't really be-" But as she was finishing her response, her eyes turned back to the man in front of them, and when she saw that his head was facing them now in a brutal display, Sammy's playful and care free nature was finally met with shock and fear. At the sight of the man's head being spun about, and with Raven being in shock, Sammy was able to get herself out of her shock and grab Raven's hand, running toward the back with her as she shouted, "Backdoor exit! Does this place have one!?"

Yoon’s eyes streamed with tears as she tried to comprehend what she was being told. She felt like she was going to pass out at any moment now, but she needed to focus. “R-Residence?” Yoon repeated. She thought back to the last thing she saw before they made their appearance in this dimension. “I-I was passing by a the B-Burger King near my house,” she recalled, “A-And I kept going left—s-s-so that means I already pass or I’m about to pass the m-motel d-down the block?” She stated more like a question because she wasn’t sure. “I-I-I don’t want to be here a-anymore!” She sniffled to the radio. “P-Please...”

"Yoon if there is any time deemed appropriate for that peculiar stubbornness of your, now would be that time," Yasha's voice spoke to her before giving Yoon and unknowingly Nicholas, who had become a sponge to the bewildering information that was being given, reassurance. "I'm going–" her voice was replaced by radio static for a few tedious seconds. "–you out of there. You just–..back to where you first encountered the–" The signal that kept Yasha's voice going through the radio began to be disrupted again, skewering her words here and there with spears of white noise.

~

"It speaks of the force of evil that its service belongs to," Jackie gave Mason the brief answer to save them both the trouble. She then spoke to the creature directly, asking another question. If what she was being told was truth, then she was going to need all of the information that she could gather before the potion wore off. "What of the Keepers? I'd say it would be safe to assume that the death tole so far suggests that your boss's plans aren't going too well in terms of having an absolute way of locating them. Which is why you left that little stalker hickey on him," she motioned towards Mason.

"Oh but they are–more than you are aware of," The reptilian being hissed menacingly and more voluntarily than before. Bubbly blotches boiled onto its scaly skin suddenly. Its body started to bulge first at its neck, and then one of its legs and hands. "More than you will ever come to know!" The chains that bound it tightened inevitably around its rapidly expanding body.

Jackie, though shocked, reacted swiftly by throwing her palms out in front of herself with her hands in the shape of a "C".

It took only the fractions of seconds for the walls to be blackened heavily with crisp char, sections of the ceiling melting away. Between them and what was left in the wake of the creature's sudden destruction was a barrier of green that had expanded across the width of the room and shielded both Jackie and Mason from a certain doom.

~

Raven couldn't bring herself to answer. It felt like air had lodged itself into her throat, unable to pull her eyes away from the horror that they fled from. Not even as the thick crimson ink began to gush from the openings of stretching flesh when Brian's head was in the process of being separated from his body. Her legs wobbled and she felt everything she had eaten up until now made an unpleasant shift to leave her stomach.

All around them panic ensued within the room, the once lively night now a one of dread. People fell over one another, pushed at each other frantically in a race to escape.

"H-Huh?! I-I can't h-hear you!" Yoon spoke to the radio. But moments later she put two and two together of what she had said before the static cut her off. "B-but... that m-means I'd have t-to..." Yoon gulped, glancing at the rear mirror. How was she supposed to turn around and drive straight towards the danger?! Her grip on the steering wheel tightened, feeling her tears dry some as she became quiet in thought. "o-o-okay...." She mumbled to the radio. "I-I trust you..." She rubbed at her nose some before her attention went to Nicholas. "J-Just letting you know... If it catches us I'm throwing you out the car f-first." Her brows furrowed some before she suddenly stopped the car, putting it in reverse before the whole vehicle turned to the right until it was facing where the danger was coming from. She inhaled deeply before revving up the engine. And with her foot pressed on the gas pedal as hard as possible, Nicholas found himself having to hold onto something as they were now zooming forward, swerving through the eerie bumps they had passed before.

It had been a long time since Yoon had gone to church. But right now, as she drove recklessly, she prayed all prayers she remembered under her breath.

Mason was looking at the creature and Jackie as it began to expand in size. And at the sight Mason could feel the danger in that moment. He didn't know how, but he knew it was a threat. Hey covered his head in a fruitless attempt, only saved by Jackie's sudden magic. As he looked up to see the destruction in front of him, he was quick to open the now broken door of the room and walk to his van in aggressive silence

Sammy didn't dare look back at what was happening. She could tell it was nothing good by the sounds of flesh and bone tearing In ways she didn't think could be possible mixed with the screams of club patrons. She did turn to Raven as she was still silent and shouted "Yo, snap out of it. Where's the exit to this place?"

"Wait wait wait?! Back? No! Back is bad, what the heck are we going back for?!" Nicholas nearly yelled fearfully. Were they really going back towards the danger after all they had done just to get away from it? There had to be another way.
And when Yoon told him that she would basically throw him out to the creatures if they were to get caught, he took it exactly as it was, and he found himself secretly agreeing to himself that when push came to shove he was just going to have to be prepared to do exactly the same.

Again he would hold on tightly to the side of the door, wondering what is was that he had done to deserve to be put in such a situation. To have some eldritch pyramid-heads coming after him. And most importantly...why deep down he was thrilled that it was all coming to be.

-

[Yasha]

"Yoon? Yoon can you hear me?! Damn it!"
Yasha's eyes fluttered open, a sharp breath of air entering her lungs. The flames on the wicks of the muddy candles that surrounded her wavered and then flickered out as the connection failed to sustain. They must have moved just out of range. Which meant that she needed to hurry. She was unsure if whether or not Yoon had been able to hear her, but would just have to believe that she had. She moved with haste, gathering the items that she brought along with her but coming to a stop while heading towards the kitchen. Her gaze upon the Christmas gift that she had gotten for Sangeon, the nerf gun that thrown across the floor with a couple of missing pieces in its frame(from being thrown at the creature by Yoon), her resolve only solidified further.

~

Jackie didn't follow after Mason immediately, having to take some time to level out her breathing while letting the barrier fall. Having to have acted in such a short frame of time, she unintentionally used a lot more magic than intended. "If you're going to barbecue yourself at least have a bit of class," She muttered to herself. That had been a close call, much closer than she liked. She took another look at the unlucky half of the room and sighed. Ugh, she's going to kill me when she finds out about this. She habitually dusted off her clothes, her cape flailing gently as she turned around and left the building in a hurried stride.

~

"Back...u-u-uh the back wh-where we came in," Raven stammered when the sound of Sammy yelling reached her ears. However when she answered she sounded like she would puke at any given moment, her voice just above a whimper of fear. "The emergency exit! W-we can go there!"

"Y-You know what's bad kid?! T-this xenophobic piece of crap attitude of y-yours!" Yoon growled, her pupils dilating slightly. This only encouraged her to drive faster, completely oblivious to any possible bumps in the road now. "You know what else is stupid?!" Yoon's cheeks flushed in anger. "That the total amount of student debt in the United States is almost 500 billion times more than national credit card debt! Haha, and what's funny is that the financial aid program is biased and will categorize all asians above the middle income despite some of us gaining less than $25,000 a year a-and you know what's EVEN MORE STUPID?! THAT RACIST PEOPLE LIKE YOU STILL EXIST AND HELP STRENGTHEN THOSE STUPID RULESS!!!" Yoon snarled, her eyes beaming with a yellow aura. The anger that built on within herself infiltrated and caused her own magic to react, the car now going twice as fast with some sort of protective bubble that made the nearby icky clouds to explode in contact. "YOU KNOW WHAT'S EVEN MORE STUPID?! THAT THIS BUTTON LETS ME OPEN YOUR DOOR AUTOMATICALLY WHERE I CAN EASILY KICK YOU OUT; HOWEVER IM STUPID FOR NOT PRESSING IT!" She growled, not even noticing they were nearing the pyramid-shaped monsters that were chasing after them. In fact, when the car seemed like they were going to crash into them, it simply glitched in and out of existence at contact where they were now passed the creatures.

* * *

"I know! Can you believe it?! The fun somehow starts when you're not here!" The pink haired stripper shouted into the phone as she walked back and forth with dozens of people running passed her. She was finishing her drink from the bar rather calmly, her outfit that consisted of straps having several bills attached to it. "That's no fair!!!! Uuughhhh, fiiinnnneeee...." Kore mewled into the phone, hanging up and slipping it into one of her straps. She rolled her eyes and tripped one of the guys that tried touching her earlier with her feet, chuckling down at him with a wave. "Hmmm..." She thought to herself, watching all the people struggle in attempt to leave through the same door. "Silly folk." She giggled, before suddenly the door was ripped open along with several pieces of the wall surrounding it, which facilitated the escape process.

Mason, in his state of anger, exhaustion, fear, and just lack of caring anymore, got into his van, resting his head on the tire of his car, only jolting back up when he hit the horn on it by accident. "Fuck!" He couldn't help but shout as he was brought out of his slump, giving a sigh. He would start the engine and try to run away from this woman, but something made him believe that it would be a wasted effort. Instead, he just sat there and waited, checking his phone to check Sammy's messages. Seeing that she would be out for a bit, he was at least able to breath some relief knowing that he had some time to think of a better excuse before he leaned back in his seat, his hands rubbing against his face as he groaned.

"Awesome!" Sammy shouted in her own attempt to calm her down, using her shoulder to smash the door open and make her way out, Raven's hand still held tightly in hers. As she was running back to the floor of the dance club, some people were staring in surprise as they saw the two run out of the building, some giving immature chuckles at their own thoughts, but all of them were still oblivious to what was going on in the backroom. Sammy, however, was paying them no mind, running toward the emergency exit passed the crowd

Nicholas didn't have enough time to respond to anything nor was he fully focused on what she was saying for better or worse due to the speed that the car moved at. "SLOW DOWN!! SLOW DOWN!" He gripped the side of the car tighter, breathing heavily.

Gurgle-grumble. Gurgle grumble.

Uh..oh... "I'm...not feeling to–BLEUUGH–" Bits of rice and beef mixed in with a gravy brown liquid spewed from Nicholas's mouth and all across the dashboard and some on the gears. Try as he did to cover his mouth and hold it back, it was in vain. He groaned, stabbing his finger at the window button to roll it down before it was too late.

~

While Mason was taking the little time he would have to take a breather, Jackie stood outside of the van with her phone pressed her ear. "Lunchbreak? You've got to be kidding yourself–now of all times? It's almost midnight for pete's sake!" She let go of a slightly more agitated sigh, knowing very well what this meant. "How does she even know?" She grumbled, her words only being confirmed when she received a scowling text message before storing away her phone. When she opened the passenger's door, she spoke to Mason. "A handful of individuals from my organization will be here shortly for cleanup. In the mean time, it's about time we make our leave in a hurry now, Keeper."

~

Raven's leg, much like the rest of her body, were still numb from what she had witnessed so with Sammy taking the initiative that she couldn't was a relief to her. The grip of her hand was reassuring enough to keep her fully there while they rushed through the crowd. She could still feel the frantic energy from the backroom, and to her it felt like it only amplified the further they got from it as it meshed with the still wild energy of the obviously more oblivious crowd. Too Raven it was more like a massive mixture of two things that didn't blend well. Untamed intoxicated energy and unbridled terror. She could feel the connection to the music and crowd reaching out to her, reaching out to its output. But for the first time in her life since she had started her career, she didn't want it. She didn't want to reach out towards it. She didn't want to be a part of it. She just wanted to get as far away as possible. And the person who's hand she held so tightly now, the person who stopped her from being consumed by the energies that she felt around her, was her only escape. The door...it was close. She could see it from where they were, reappearing and disappearing every time a few people in their way jumped to the music.

But all that seemed hopeful in her mind would soon sway when hands found themselves onto Raven's shoulders and yanked her grip away from Sammy's.

Raven was horrified. She could feel the cold holds of fingers wrapping around her. "No–NO! GET OFF OF ME!! LET..ME GO!!" She shrieked, pulling and reaching out for Sammy. "No! leave me alone!! Sammy! S-Sammy help me! Help me!" She cried out. The moment her hand left Sammy's it all came to her. The energy. The maliciousness that crept within the crowd, hidden. The maliciousness that now had a hold of her.

But it was unnatural how fast she was consumed by the crowd around them, pulled back into a sea of bodies and flashing lights.

"Oh no. I'm not moving this car and neither are you" Mason replied now as he crossed his arms, speaking once again, "Not until you explain to me what the hell is going on! What was that thing, what is a Keeper, why was it after me, why are YOU after me, and why the hell did he just explode. And no more dodging the question, alright! I demand an answer!" Mason said, trying his best to keep his stern tone, which he broke almost immediately when he followed it up, "Please."

As Sammy was running toward the door, she felt her arm get yanked back as she turned to see that Raven was pulled away just as quickly, left in a state of shock. Both at what she had just witnessed and how she had known her name without her ever telling her. Regardless, be it some sort of affection or some other reason, she ran right back. Despite that, her brain was telling her otherwise
"What the hell am I doing?"
"She only kissed me once"
"Why am I even going back?"
"What if I die here?"
Regardless, Sammy was quick to rush back into the crowd, following the screams from Raven, even going as far to reach into her back pocket, pulling out the knife she had threatened the man before earlier in the day. She didn't know what good it would do, especially with whatever she was dealing with, but she was going to use it in some way. She would've never gone out of her way to help anyone like this. In fact, she could feel the fear rising in her heart, rising in her body, telling her that this was a mistake. All she could think about was "This is a bad idea". Yet her body refused to turn to the exit and leave by herself. She refused to stop moving back into the ground, the unfolded blade in her hand ready to be switched open and used on whatever the hell had dragged her back.

Yoon's eye twitched slightly as she witnessed the boy besides her throw up. If she wasn't as mad as she was now, she most likely would have reacted the same way and thrown up. The young woman rolled down the windows some more, cursing under her breath at the kid in her own language. But she felt an odd feeling of satisfaction at Nicholas's sickness, he deserved it afterall. And she wasn't going to slow down until she saw something familiar from when they first appeared in the new dimension.

* * *

"Excuse me--Pardon me--HEYWATCHIT--coming throouuughh!" Kore had skillfully jumped on someone's shoulders and continued her way to the now wider exit by hopping past people on their shoulders or heads. In some moments, she had to somersault her way through above the crowd. She weighed less than a feather in the air, mimicking movements that could only be seen by performers in the circus or movies. "My great-grandma is faster than all of ya'll and she's dead!" Kore exclaimed in a matter of fact way. She finally jumped on top of one of the rails from the emergency entrance she broke open more, her eyes squinted in search of the cause of the problem within the crowd. The flashing lights made it a little difficult, and she debated just shutting the lights off at one point.

Jackie's emerald eyes blinked at Mason for a moment as he added in the "please" to his demands for answers. Her lips puckered lightly in thought until she spoke. "I hope you're well aware that half of those questions have already been answered previously. But I'm curious. Do you really believe that you could stop me from moving this hunk of metal if I so pleased?" She asked, though by the tone of her voice she expected him to humor her. "How about this. We get going to that friend of yours along with you giving me your name. I'm not very fond of referring to you as Keeper and would prefer at least some level of professionalism. Meet these requirements, and I'll consider answering all of your questions from top to bottom and as a bonus, I can perhaps put in an excellent word of recommendation for a occupation worth your time. Have we a agreement?"

~

Raven for the first time, feared the flashing lights around her. She feared everything around her, and this fear caused her fight. She fought as hard as she could, cursing and yelling to be set free. But a hard squeeze around her neck muffled her speech into coughs and gags. The people around her only kept dancing it seemed like with each few they passed, some were only staring blankly directly at her. Watching her being dragged off like some sort of animal. And they did nothing.

Others were wide eyed and looked as if they wanted to do something, but for whatever reason couldn't. Or didn't decide to follow through.

Raven's eyes were filling with tears as she tried to gasp for air, only for the musty smell of rot and saltwater to greet her.

~

Nicholas slumped against the door, having to turn his head in the opposite direction that the car was moving in when more came up to escape. Most of it that went out the window only ended up splatting onto the side of the car. He groaned again while trying to sit himself up, still feeling sick but unable to empty anything else from his stomach. But then he paused, his body stiffening in a way that only fear could cause, his eyes on the mirror. And then he asked, "....How...many of us..got in the car?"

"W-What are you talking about?! I Don't need another job! I'm quite fine with my job I have" Mason lied with poor skills in doing so. Truthfully, he hated his job. Not that it was hard or irritating, but it just wasn't what he wanted. Also the comments that people leave telling him that he's full of shit wasn't exactly helping him any. But whatever it was that she had in mind, he knew that it would make his job far less of a struggle. Regardless, he answered, "It's Mason. And you can keep that offer of yours, I'm alright. Now can I get some answers please?"

As the crowd was staring back at her being dragged, Sammy was eventually, if barely, able to finally catch up, having to shoulder ram a few people to get them out of her way, her pocket knife already unsealed and in her hands, as she was running over, without thinking of it much, she grabbed hold of Raven by her ankles, not knowing that was she was doing could cause her to choke more if she didn't, but was acting quickly as she took the knife and tried to stab at the slimy arm that was around her neck, screaming, "Get the fuck off you... whatever you are!"

"Huh---what the hell are you saying?!" Yoon exclaimed, still a little agitated from earlier. But she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the boy since he reminded her of her brother just a little. She groaned, reaching in the backseat for the bottle of water she remembered leaving when she got off from work. She tossed it in his lap. "Drink, it'll help..." She grumbled.

* * *

"Aha!" Kore spotted the location of trouble thanks to Sammy's outbreak of turning the opposite direction from everyone else. She was about to transform into something that looked completely different from her current status, but stopped herself due to the many eyes present. "Agh, fuck it."

The colorful lights that beamed in the club suddenly exploded, a few shards of harmless glass falling onto the escaping crowd. The lights on the street beyond the exit made it easier for people to find the way out from the disaster. Kore took immediate action and jumped off the rails, somersaulting in the air before landing on the ground. Her eyes easily adjusted to the darkness unlike for other people, a special aura guiding the way to the rogue strippers dragging Raven away. She bolted through the tiny gaps between the crowd, pushing some out of the way until finally, she undid the straps from her legs where it glowed slightly before she used it as some sort of ribbon on a stick. Twirling the glowing ribbon, Kore coiled it around the assaulters before giving a supernatural tug at their arms and ribcage to release Raven. The ribbon left a burning sensation, soon to be revealed that it was a mixture of special oils and herbs.

Jackie gave a tongue click when Mason declined her offer. However, she didn't seem to be offended by him doing so or anything of the sort. She climbed into the van, crossing her leg in an almost regal manner. "Fine," she sighed out. "I guess lying to yourself if your right, I suppose." She says with a shrug. "That creature, as we went over before, is an oniikee. Why was it after you? Because you're a Keeper and judging by the information we gained mere moments ago, they seek to capture you in any condition suitable." But then her brows furrowed. "As for what Seekers are...I'm afraid I'm still learning myself. However, there is someone who will be able to explain much more. Now as for why the oniikee exploded, my speculation is that it was probably meant to incapacitate you that is, if you were able to harness your own magical abilities. But also..." Her brows furrowed further in thought. "I don't think that such a thing occurred on the accord of the oniikee, but rather on that of the individual pulling the strings. This..."Heiliar" that it spoke of. And if this is the case and your friend is a potential Keeper, they will come for her as well."

~

Nicholas felt his stomach lurch again and as the bottle of water landed in his lap, it was left to roll forward and onto the floor at his feet. If it weren't noticeable before then surely how hard he trembled now was, his jaw clenched tightly.

And from the back seat a voice like a searing spear made its presence there known. "I believe what he is saying is that you have yet to offer your third guest your insights and hospitality." Only Yoon would recognize this low raspy voice, most likely as one that had acted as a catalyst for her misfortune months ago. Two burning red eyes stared into the rear view mirror at the two in the front seats from the darkness of the large hood thrown over his head. "Hello again...Yoon Park....Nicholas Naepoal." The voice that spat their names as if they were foul and vile tastes was nothing short of demonic. "It's been quite some time."

~

The knife that Sammy used did in fact hit its mark when she stabbed at the slimy arm of one of the twins. But instead of blood, a liquid that looked like dirty water began to pour from under their skin. And though this got their attention and one of the hands that held Raven released her, it seemed to have virtually no effect. However, it was only when they turned around to Sammy could it be seen. How the skin from their shoulders down was to their hands were dark and suffering from discoloration, the skin bloated putrefying. The rot seemed to bind them together, their bodies almost molding into one another. The teeth of the right twin chattered constantly despite the heat in the club from all of the moving bodies and smoke. Just before the lights were blown out, Sammy would witness how the twins had began to change. How their heads began to gain angles that were abnormal for a human being if not impossible all together. How their single arms on the opposite side began to pull and tear from the skin until a second pair reached out.

And then everything became dark. Raven's struggling had started to lessen as she lost strength in her body. She didn't know if it was because of clearly not getting much oxygen or just the fact that it had become dark so suddenly or perhaps it was because her consciousness was starting to slip away. But she felt as if she was steadily being lifted into the air. Like her feet were leaving the ground, rising a few inches–no, a few feet. The next thing she knew, she was floating through space. Or rather falling. It was almost peaceful. Like death knew that she would have rather not seen what was coming. But this was short lived as the rude and painful awakening of a hard floor brought her back to reality.

The concoction of oils and herbs was enough to send the twins-turning-creature into agitation within the darkness. Then there was a shriek, one inhuman. One loud enough to easily further shatter any glass material around them.

What followed it was large one thud after another, the people still within the club as well as those who were attempting to flee suddenly became petrified before falling unconscious in entire groups, all aside from a few handfuls.

Mason gave a sigh, hoping to at least get more info, but it just left him with more questions, leading him to groan in annoyance before adding, "I regret asking" Mason said as he got the car in drive, remembering that Sammy was a few blocks down next to the beach where the gym was. Getting the van moving, he asked another one of his questions, "So what you're saying is that I have some magic in me or something? Like, what, Harry Potter or something? I'd say you were messing with me, but I don't even know anymore"

Sammy was brought to nearly a statue-like freeze as she looked at the creature. She was prepared for anything. Anything but this. She was used to all sorts of messed up stuff in the world, having seen enough drug addicts and would be sex offenders in her time going around. But this, this was different. This was inhuman. She was only knocked back into reality when the lights in the club had gone out, barely able to make out someone hitting the creature along with her. Sammy wanted to ask who the person was, what she was doing, or at least offer a thanks. But instead, on her hurry, and in the dark, she felt around for Raven, picking her up off the floor in a sort of slump. "H-Hey, girl! Are you awake? Can you move?"

"---EEP!" Yoon jolted at the new voice that entered the atmosphere, or rather, the backseat of her car. Now it was her turn in the feeling of throwing up, her heart dropping to the pits of her stomach. Her hands had unintentionally gripped the steering wheel tighter when she recognized the voice, the small hair on her back and neck rising. "....g-get.... g-get out of my F-FUCKING CAR!!!!" Yoon suddenly swerved to the left, causing the demon to crash on the left side of the car. "YASHA GET ME OUT OF HERE NOW, NOW NOW NOW!!!!" Yoon kept swerving left to right, breaking at times to send the creature in the back in different directions.

* * *

"Oh please--WOULD YOU BE QUIET?!" Kore snarled when the twins released their inhumane shriek. "Some of us have sensitive cochleas!" And though it was dark, Sammy could see the faint pink glow that vibrated off the skin of the pink-haired lady that seemed far from human. Her hair mimicked the ripples within water with two protruding branches emerging from her temples. Her facial features were animal like, and her hands and feet were abnormally large. In fact, the lady was completely naked now that she had used her straps as ribbon weapons. She began to wrap more of the ribbons around the twins, slashing at their skins with the holy oil the more she tightened them. Her eyes became slits before she yanked harder, completely cutting through body parts of the rotting skin. And then her eyes met with Sammy's, a brow of hers raising. "Whaddya doing, get the fuck out of here!"

A grin was brought to Jackie's face when Mason compared the situation to Harry Potter, a series that she had long since finished in childhood. It held a special place in her heart. "Yes, actually. But think of it more as Harry Potter being the very tip of a hypothetical iceberg. The very basics, though with a few rustic cliches here and there that are definitely fairy-tail material. Or in layman's terms, utter bullshit. Other than that, I'd have suspicions that Mrs.Rowling may have been a witch of sorts herself. Most likely a household one at that, no offense to her of course."

~

Raven mumbled something to Sammy in a slur, not being able to understand what she was even trying to say herself. The back of her head stung, and her ears rung some from when it had smacked against the floor.

The creature continued to shriek, yanking its body in one direction and then another. But as the heads of the twins morphed into a more triangular shape within the darkness and their bodies conjoined into one, continuing to grow, they started to tear at the straps, pulling them away from their bodies. That is, until is lower pair of arms reached out for its hands to grasp the straps. Its midsection rotated in one violent motion and flung Kore off to the side. It torso moved in the opposite direction of its upper body and pulled all of its parts back around to facing Sammy, the teeth of the pyramid-heads clacking loudly. With the few steps it took towards her, bodies were crushed. The bones could be heard breaking, skulls being crushed beneath its feet as it moved carelessly for Sammy and Raven.

~

Nicholas was frozen in his seat, beads of sweat practically leaking down his face as he sat as still has stone. It felt like a force was there, holding him in place. Well until Yoon started swerving that is, causing him to slam into the door until he was able to stop himself. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know who the man was, but he could somehow feel that he was much worse than the pointy headed things that had been after him. And he could feel it down to his bones that whoever this person was, his intentions were undeniably not good at all.

"Ah, yes....Yasha. The Pohji that hails from Terra." The man's voice was steady, his cloak being swayed from side to side but his body somehow remaining stuck in one area as if the car was traveling on a straight road without interruption. "Yasha...Yasha...Yasha." He snarled the name with a sort of chuckle. "And tell me, will she be coming to rescue you? To save you?"

Sammy couldn't even see anything aside from the single glow that was from the girl next to her. She was frozen stiff, as she heard the sound of something ungodly approaching her and Raven. Even when she was told to run, she was frozen solid for a moment. She didn't know what was walking toward her, but she didn't want to find out. In her haste, she picked Raven up off the floor, groaning a bit, as she was not used to much heavy lifting, even for someone as light as her, and rushed toward where the exit was, crashing into it with her shoulder again, groaning in pain as she finally found herself back outside the club and in the alleyway, a few police sirens started to sound from outside the club. Sammy was not ready to stick around for what would, in her mind, end in disaster, so she made her way down the alley, panting as she was still carrying Raven, rushing toward where the beach was "Holy shit! Holy shit! What the fuck is going on!?"

:"I think crazy person is more appropriate" Mason said, not wanting to get into the touchier subjects of her works before giving a sigh, "So what you're saying is that I can perform magic? Like... actual magic? Like can I shoot fire from my hands? Can I levitate stuff? Can I turn invisible? You can't really be serious, right?"

"--Oof!" Kore's body met with the railings of the spiral stairs when she was flung to the side. She watched as Sammy carried Raven out the club, sighing some in relief until she heard the cracking of bones from below. "Ew--" She muttered, balancing herself on top of the tube. Kore eyed the monster, her pupils glancing the the dances tubes momentarily. She jumped off the railings, swinging from the hanging lights to reach the dance stage. And with incredible strength, the naked woman ripped the dance pole out of its place, running toward the danger and pole vaulting her way towards the pyramid-headed creature. When she landed, the dancing pole was stabbed through the center of its body. Kore wasted no time, quickly running up its back and neck until she was at the very top of its head. But instead of causing any physical harm, Kore somersaulted her way towards the ceilings, her legs skillfully breaking the several fire sprinklers and causing a rainfall of water to drown the club. However, this wasn't any type of regular water. For the typical human, it tasted and smelled like normal water. But in this case, it was a heavy shower of holy water for the creature. Kore hopped off the ceiling, swinging around the rod that stuck through its body until she landed in front of exit, her body low in a defensive fighting position.

* * *

"I-I don't know if there will be any saving once i blow your fucking brains out!"

Click

The man found a gun aiming right at him. Yoon's foot was still in the gas pedal, but she faced the opposite direction with her shaky hand pointed at him. This was one of the few times she was grateful for Yasha's planning, and didn't find it so illegal now to have a gun stored away in the compartment of her vehicle. "N-Now get the HELL OUT OF MY CAR!" She growled, her eye twitching.

The man's headed lifted at the sight of the gun, but he didn't move any further than that. Not only that, but there was a sickening curiosity in his voice as he asked, "And tell me, just what do you plan on accomplishing with that?" The grin in his voice was obvious.

"Hey...u-uh..."

"Go ahead. Take your best shots. Use it to your hearts content. But before you ever think to use such a contraption...perhaps you should return to taking lessons on automobiles.."

"HEY HEY HEY HEY–LOOK OUT!" Nicholas tried to warn, choking on words that he couldn't get out fast enough. However by then it was much too late.

With the driver's attention behind them instead of on the road ahead of them, the car was forced into a jerk to the left out of its bubble. The back tire slid, hitting one of the writhing blotches and causing it to burst violently and in turn, blow the rim almost from the tire completely and sending the car into a hard swerve.

Nicholas was screaming for his life, his grip on the door tightening to the point that his knuckles had gone white.

~

Raven's head throbbed in agony as the movement from Sammy made her have to try and hold her head steady, as uncomfortable as it was. Despite this, she felt as is she had just been pulled out of an ocean who's waves were bordering on a storm, no longer being drowned in the feeling of the crowd. And that within itself was just as relieving as getting out of the clutches of whatever that thing was.

-

Back within the nightclub, the twin-headed creature writhed, its arms reach for the pole that had been stabbed into it. However, it was not alone in the task that it had been given. It gurgled, black ooze seeping from in between its teeth.

Around Kore came the individuals who had been watching Raven be dragged off. But it was strange, for it was almost like they could see within the darkness the way they stalked around her. Their eyes and expressions were blank, seemingly unconscious yet active.

The creature's heads began to vibrate, which then spread to its body before it melted down into the water with a drop like motion that made it look as if it had dropped into a hole.

~

"That will most likely depend on what you are," Jackie answered. "It lies within your strengths as well as your weaknesses. If what I've been told about the Keepers are true, and so far it seems that it indeed is, then I wouldn't be surprised if your bloodline hails from that of late Nephgian ancestry if I were to base my answer on your size alone."

BANG! The sudden swerve of the car caused Yoon to accidentally pull the trigger, firing the gun just an inch above the man in the backseat–it creating a hole as it punctured through the ceiling of the car. The fireback sent Yoon backwards, the echo of the gunshot ringing through her ears. She felt sick, feeling her hand wobble uncontrollably until she dropped the gun on her lap. It took her a few seconds to realize what was happening before she forced herself to gain back control of the car. She slowed down its swerving and fixed it back into gear where it would follow the same path but at a slower pace.

* * *

*Beep Beep*

Kore blinked, the last remaining strap on her that held her phone vibrating some as it rung.

"Hello?" Kore's brows furrowed, still in her huddled defensive position as she observed those who observed her. But then her nose wrinkled in disgust as she heard what came through the phone, having to stand straight to address such serious issue. "Buffalo Cauliflower?! That is a straight up crime to buffalo wings! If I show up home and I bite into a vegetable soaked in buffalo sauce I'm going to kick your ass!" Kore shouted into the pink cellphone, already making her way out the club to further argue with her friend on other communication line.

By the time the car's swerving had finally stopped, Nicholas looked as if he could barely contain contain another wave of vomit. But luckily this time around the only thing that came forth was a belch that just smelled of vomit. He was breathing rapidly, almost to the point of hyperventilation. His eyes darted to the rear-view only to find that no one was there. Not the glowing orbs of red, nor the cloaked figure that had darkened the backseat.

But he wouldn't be gone for long, his voice breaking into the minds of both Nicholas and Yoon. And he let one thing be known. "The moment she arrives...I will end her. She will die. And you..will follow...but not before I break you open...and take what I desire." And like that...his voice faded.

Yoon’s eyes widened at the warning that she was told, and now she had to make sure Yasha didn’t come. But the radio no longer functioned as a means of communication due to the connection being severed. She glared at Nicholas for a moment, thinking that if he wasn’t here she would just get out this car and hide until she found a way out without Yasha’s help. Her nails dug into the leather of the wheel. “You need to teleport us back into our dimension. Right now.” She looked at him. “Or else we will both die. I-If we can focus our magic into one goal we can get ourselves out of here. But we must do it fast.”

"How..many times...do I have to tell you..." Nicholas had to catch his breath until something else boiled forth. "I DIDN"T FREAKING BRING US HERE! I CAN'T take us ANYWHERE! I CAN'T teleport! Who in their right minds would come HERE!?" He snapped at her. "Or eLsE wE'lL DIE–" He mocked. "You ALMOST KILLED US!" He flailed his arms, upwards. And then two and two came together. "....ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? You tried to blame this on me when THAT GUY obviously wants to KILL US!? And he knows Yaesha Yoshi whatever the heck–and you know her and she knows you which means she knows him which means... And you KNOW him!?" He glared at her. "This...this IS YOUR freakinG FAULT!"

“ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP ARGUING OR ARE YOU GOING TO HELP ME GET US OUT OF HERE?!” She growled with a twitch in her eye. “That guy in the back tried killing me earlier, and if we don’t get our shit together he’s going to succeed this time, except you’ll be his dessert.” Yoon said. “Now... I-if we put our minds together maybe we can spark some sort of portal or something... I-if we picture something from our dimension hard enough th-then maybe we can make ourselves appear there! I need you to think of Burger King. That was the last thing we passed by before we ended up here, okay? Close your eyes and fucking picture it!” She ordered, clearing her throat some as she began to do what he told him to.

"How about go SCREW YOURSELF lady!" Nicholas growled. He had been running for the majority of the night. He had fell and scraped his knees and elbows an easy three to four times–all in which he could still feel stinging when he moved a certain way in the seat, and his noes was possibly either fractured or broken with no in betweens which made him have to breath out of his mouth. He had been being blamed for ending up in some strange dimension, puked out all of his supper, and now found that he had been being blamed for nothing and they still were probably going to die. Not to mention he no longer had a phone to call a phone because of her. He'd be darned if he was going to keep take crappy orders by someone shorter than he was. Now was his time to take action.
Hesitation only lasted a few seconds before he reached over and snatched the pistol that had fell into Yoon's lap. It didn't take long for him to have it adjusted in his hands and pointed at her. And somewhere from deep down inside, the courage that the creature had buried began to dig itself up. "N-now you listen! My dad was in the military, so I k-know how to use this!" He cocked the hammer on the small pistol, his trembling fingers on the trigger. Tremble as they did, however, his hands remained steady. "We're going to where the lady said! Y-you're going to stop yelling at me, and you're going to stop being a freaking BULLY! I deal with enough of those at school, and I'm not about to get killed with one telling me what to do!" He licked his lips anxiously before he decided on something. He leaned the seat all the way back and moved himself between the front and back door while keeping the gun pointed at her.

Yoon’s eyes widened in genuine shock when she now found the barrel of the gun being pointed towards her. She felt her lip twitch, holding in the boiling anger she had for the dramatic kid. And she found it odd that the kid hadn’t realized yet that they already passed where Yasha had indicated where they should be, but to no avail did they end up teleporting to the new dimension. She watched him crawl to the backseat, her eyes now full of hatred and frustration for the young boy. This was not a nerf gun. This was a real gun being pointed at her and the boy was not cooperating. And with that, she took her foot off the gas pedal and stopped the car completely. After all, they were already in the location they were supposed to be. “Give me the gun, Nicholas.” She ordered, turning off the engine completely.

"No," Nicholas said shakily, but sharply. And when she turned off the engine, his will to keep it in his possession only strengthened when her earlier comment popped into his mind. And they stayed as he spoke. "Doesn't feel to good when the sock is on the other foot now does it Park? Or whatever your stupid name is!" He said rather harshly for a child of his age. For the most part, the hatred was obviously mutual. He glanced out the window for only a second, only vaguely recognizing the road from when he had been on foot in their dimension now that the car had stopped. But there was something offsetting about what he was seeing. His eyes were right back on her not a second later. A brief silence and his mouth opened to speak again. "Get out of the car."

Yoon grumbled under her breath, keeping her hands high where he could see them while unlocking the vehicle. She shuffled her way outside, hopping on both feet until she landed on the dirt. She glared at Nicholas the entirety of the time, a few wicked thoughts about him passing her mind. “This is your last chance, Nicholas. Place the gun in the driver’s seat before we are both eaten alive.”

Nicholas paused for a moment in thought, considering whether or not complying would be the best thing to do. But then he realized right now, there was no "best" option. And now that he was out of the car, he took a deep breath and spoke against the fear that he felt. "Just so you know, if they catch us then I'm throwing you at them first." He stated, turning her own words from before against her. But now that he was able to get a good look around, his brows slowly lifted. "No way...." He muttered to himself. What was this place? But he didn't let his attention wander to far before it would turn back to Yoon immediately just in case. The way he held the gun, his left hand cupping the right which gripped the pistol showed that he had enough experience to use it. And if it was anything he was grateful the most towards it was that his father knew what he was doing. When a man makes a decision for himself, its a decision. No ifs, no ands, and no buts, he remembered being told.
He eyed the pistol, and then Yoon. He would throw it as far as he could before he let her get her hands back on it. "I don't trust you. So you're g-going to walk and I'll be behind you."

Just a few meters away from the club, Sammy was still running, panting a bit as some cars and pedestrians, oblivious to the events at the club, watched in confusion as she passed by. Sammy gave a tired pant before she finally feel to her knees in exhaustion. She had never run like that in her entire life. She could feel her legs on fire and her lungs ready to explode as she panted, having to drop Raven onto the ground slightly just to catch a break "F-Fucking shit! I think... My lungs are going to stop!"
She didn't check to see if they were still being chased. She didn't dare to. She just kept moving until she was sure they were far enough away.

"Neffi-what?" Mason said, unable to understand her despite how casually she made her response. He just shook his head as the van had finally pulled up to the street they were headed to, the moonlights distorted reflecting off the waters from the beach, waving up against it. Mason kept the car moving, hoping to find Sammy with her usual strange hat that she considered fashion

“If you do not hand over the gun right now, you will be officially left alone. There will be no following behind me. I will make sure of that. I will make sure we are separated and the trail of vomit you left behind will only help target your scent alone faster. And you will die a slow painful death being eaten alive.” Yoon warned with her hands still raised. She left the keys in the ignition when she had hopped off. “1....2....” She counted.

"Nephgian," Jackline repeated before sounding it out. "Neff-Jee-An. The Nephgian are a tribe of half-breed giants that are said to be the last remaining descendants of another race of powerful giants that were known as the Nephilim according to my studies. And according to knowledge from my grandmother, the Nephilim have been extinct for thousands upon thousands of millenia. My grandmother claims that she was once acquainted with one herself, one of the, if not the last purebred."

~

The more they moved, the more Raven was able to somewhat ease her aching head. When she reached back to touch where it ached, she cringed hard at the sting that came immediately. When they came to their eventual stop, she felt a bit embarrassed to have Sammy working herself to pull her around. And not wanting to have that be the case and tire out the woman, she finally got back on her own two feet despite having to wobble her legs out of their sleep. Her mouth was dry, and she still wasn't exactly sure how to explain to herself what happened. Or rather she didn't want to. "Hey...uh...you...you okay?"

~

Bang! The bullet shot into the ground next to Yoon's feet. "Shut up and walk Nancy!" Nicholas snapped. "O-otherwise I'll just shoot you in the leg and leave you for dead!" He didn't know if he would actually do it, or if he even had the heart to. But when push came to shove, he was going to have to think of what to do next. He heard the shrieking of the creatures not to far off. But as he began to look around for a place to possibly hide, he noticed what was wrong. "Wait a minute...we're in the wrong place!" He exclaimed. And that's when it hit him. What to do next. The epiphany caused him to run backdoor of the car and yank it open, shoving the pistol into the waist of his pants. Out of car he pulled bottles of water that he began to shove into his pockets, as many as he could before grabbing the rest of the case and throwing it onto the ground while hurriedly and nervously repeating the lyrics to "Times Like These" by Foo Fighters. Moving out into the cracked road, his eyes searching for a big enough pothole of some sort. He then began to open bottle after bottle of water only to pour it out onto the ground. He kept the gun

"I may be big, but I don't think I'm a giant" Mason said, though he has been called one by Sammy on occasions. He shook his head in thought, "Besides, I don't think I'm capable of any magic stuff. I try to avoid confrontations if I can help it." Mason's eyes panned to the window at his side, trying to find Sammy around the beach as best as he could, his eyes panning across slowly, only finding a few drunk people and some party goers running down the street as fast as they could. Mason just left shaking his head at the sight, "I tell you, this town's going to hell with the drug use"

Sammy was still panting, wiping the sweat and fanning her face with her hat as she looked over at Raven. What was once playful joy was now turned into skeptical suspicion of her as she placed her hat back on her head. Sammy continued panting before she spoke, "Okay, question time. How... the hell did you know my name? You shouted Sammy when that freak grabbed you and I don't remember giving you my name. What... what was that about? Are you some magical thing to? You don't seem dangerous, but I can't exactly say that I'm familiar with you."

Raven froze when Sammy confronted her about earlier. "U-uh, I..uh..." She gulped, trying to think of something, any excuse. And before she could stop herself she panicked and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Uh...ya know...uh...I got a little tip from someone that um..you'd be around town and stuff so I was asked to keep and eye out. And..ya know...show a newcomer a good time here. A-and of course not! Me? magical? Haaa!" She laughed nervously, only to wince again, her hand going to the back of her head instinctively but not touching where it hurt this time. Her eyes darted around them while she spoke and it was obvious that she was more than just paranoid now.

~

The passenger's door opened again suddenly while the van was in mid movement. "Whatever it is, drug use isn't the cause I can ensure you of that." It was only then that Mason would realize that Jackie was actually reentering the van somehow. She had been able to catch a good bit of what Mason had said before she had worked a little magic to get a better fix on what was outside of the vehicle. "I'm afraid we'll have to pick back up where we're going to leave off. Something's close."

Sammy stared at her now, this look on her face that Raven knew meant that Sammy didn't believe what she said. Instead, Sammy just crossed her arms before she shook her head, "You know, if that were true, then that would be extremely creepy. But whatever." Sammy didn't bother to continue, before she looked back at her, "You should probably take that mask off. You're probably suffocating in that."

"W-What?! Something" Mason said, a bit of worry in his voice now as he now. He was originally going to shout at her to close the door and not poke her head out of a moving vehicle, but when she mentioned that something was coming, he froze up, a look of worry on his face as he spoke, "H-Hey, if something's coming, you keep the fight outside. I Don't need my house getting destroyed, okay!?"

Yoon shrieked, jumping just in the to the side to avoid the bounce back of the bullet. She growled and eyed the pistol from where she stood. At several moments she could have just tackled Nicholas and taken it back, but she decided to stay down in case it accidentally shot on its own. “You’re on your own, kid.” Yoon finalized her decision. “Keep wasting water, why don’t you?” Instead she occupied herself by opening the door again, grabbing as many items as she could from the compartments, even if they were small and useless. She used a few plastic bags to wrap around her feet and avoid leaving a trail or footprints. And once she was done, she pulled the hood of her hoodie over her face and began walking.

Nicholas ignored Yoon's comments. But as she started walking the only thing he fired back with was "Keep going the wrong way why dontcha," Mocking the sound of her voice. Out of all the people in the world, why did she have to be stuck with her? Now he was only working off of a hunch, one that he had no idea why. But things were just entering his head, making sense. All the water bottles stuffed in his pockets were emptied out onto the ground. Despite the way his heart hammered away in his chest, he was starting to see things. See directions that came in the form of ghostly white and red ribbons. He heard the shrieks again, and the hair on his neck raised. The exhaustion that he felt was only encouraged to push itself aside as he too finalized a decision long before now. He was going to have to try and use it again. Now. It had to be done. He could feel the tingling not only just in his arm, but running throughout his entire body.

The boy's eyes became a golden static that buzzed around his irises in the shape of squiggly rings that dilated and contracted. The water that he had poured out was now a large trailing puddle across the ground. He focused, focused with all of his might. He strained as much as he could, a headache being the least of his worries. And then finally, the phenomenon occurred. Golden streaks and strings lifted from his palm, entwining until they expanded in one bright burst into the compass of energy that had displayed itself prior to leaving the apartment. The deep gold colored needle spun wildly as the compass was summoned, the directional points unfolding themselves until it was complete.

~

"House?" Jackie glanced at him with a raised eyebrow, a chuckle that she tried to hold in escaping her. "I suppose it did slip my mind that this is your place of residence. But if it rests your nerves, outside it is if it comes down to that." It's weak, this mana I feel. At least one of them was, anyway. But it was strange. Though weak as it may have been, she could even sense it from the people that were booking it down the street with their lights dangling messily and their glowing paint smeared. She wouldn't have thought twice about it if it weren't the same exact traces of mana emitting from all of them. If it weren't for the traces of magic she felt shifting–moving. Or...it's leaving them?

~

Raven was cursing to herself internally, knowing well enough now that Sammy didn't believe her. Hell, she wouldn't have believed herself either. And the fact that she even would have thought it were creepy even if that it were true made her want to crawl into a safe space. So when Sammy suggested that she take her mask off she was already shaking her head against it. "N-no I'm good, I'm fine, I...–" She had to stop talking, a shortness of breath getting to her for a moment. "Just...tired." Which was an entire understatement within itself. Her head was still pounding. "What..wh-what do we do?"

Yoon exhaled through her nose, her small palm itching the punch something. Usually she would throw her pillow against the wall back home but now she didn’t have that luxury. She turned the opposite direction and headed a different way now, grumbling to herself as to how Nicholas decided to finally use his magic when it came to his own selfish life. She was going to have to find a way out of there, and she knew the only way out was with her own magic. How was she going to do it? No idea. But she understood that anger had helped her in the passed react in some magical way, so perhaps it would work again. But then she cringed when she heard the shrieks of the monsters become more audible. They were close, too close.

"I suppose that's all I can take" Mason replied, leaning back against the seat now as he looked around where they were, seeing even more people running by, some of them in strange attire as he asked, "Jeez, did something happen? I hope there wasn't something really bad." Mason had to drive at a slightly slower pace now, moving the van slowly down the road as to not hit anyone, but still moving ever slightly. He looked down the road illuminated by street lamps and buzzing neon signs as he responded, "This is about the last place my friend was at. Any reason I should be picking her up? You know, given that I myself almost died?"

Sammy rolled her eyes at the thought, giving a groan, "Really, because you sound like you're about to suffocate with that damn thing" Sammy's mood was completely shot now, her fun loving attitude shifting to one of short temper, if only because she was trying her best to not freak out or cry or be left sniveling. At least, that was her justification to it. But Sammy just crossed her arms, leaning against a wall of the building they were next to before she responded, "I think we're safe now. But since we are, I would like to get some answers from you. Like how you know my name. And I mean actually. I haven't been here long enough to leave even the slightest impact. I've only spoken to a few store clerks, that girl I mentioned, a local dealer, and you, and my dealer was a dude, so that rules that out."

The needle of the compass spun and spun until finally, it stopped. First it pointed south down towards the puddle of water. The water, who's reflection of the buildings were upside down–buildings and the street with moving cars. Except where the south was supposed to be, there was north. And once again, hope found its way into him. YES! He had been paying more attention to whoever had spoke from the radio than he had thought. They had been going about what they had so briefly been told all wrong the entire time. If this screwed world or dimension or whatever she had called it was truly supposed to "mirror" their world, then it was a crappy imitation. His head snatched away from the puddle once he heard another shriek from the monstrosities and he came to realize something. While they had been going down the road, those things had never once attacked the car nor did he actually see them. And though this could have simply been that he hadn't noticed due to being occupied with not trying to die in a car crash, he thought differently. And once again, an epiphany struck. They weren't being chased because they were being lured.

~

"Picking her up? You should be focused as well on calling her to ensure that she isn't dead. If she's a Keeper as well then they surely have gone after her and gods know who else." Jackie replied, brows furrowing. This may very well be much bigger than I assumed..

~

Raven was stuck in a situation she did not want to be in, and she picked her mind for a way out. Anything. At any moment, something that she had been able to keep separate and hidden for so long could come tumbling downhill. And she didn't like that one bit. She was terrified, only adding on to the unnatural mess that they both had just barely managed to escape. So she did the only thing that she had left to do while doing the best she could remain as Roux. "Can we...can we at least..ya know...go somewhere else and talk?" She looked around them anxiously, not knowing if that thing was going to pop out at any moment again.